August Update

Another summer is drawing to a close in what has been another successful busy season for us on the golf course. Mother Nature has given us a mix of pretty much everything. June through early July was very wet and mostly mild and then from the second week in July until now it has been extremely dry and very hot. Through everything that Mother Nature has given us the golf course has handled it all very well. 

July was the beginning of having all staff working full time and we have tried our best to take full advantage of this. Bunker edging was completed in the first couple of weeks in July. This process involves us cutting away a very small amount of material along all of the bunker edges to re-establish a smooth/clean edge from overgrowth that occurs during the season. By the end of July a lot of irrigation improvements were taking place because it had been so hot and dry that we were starting to see where our irrigation inefficiencies were and where things needed to be fixed to ensure appropriate coverage.

A freshly edged bunker at 18 green

The last week in July saw us begin our major project work of the year. This major project involved installing new drainage (weeping tile and drainage rock in a trench) and new sand in a few bunkers that are traditionally wet and lacking sand. As of today we have completed 4 bunkers which were located on holes 3, 12, 15 and 16. We plan to complete a few more bunkers like this throughout the course continuing into fall. 

New drainage being installed

3 bunker after drainage and sand

August really began to test all the turf and our conditions as the last amount of precipitation had occurred a long time ago and we were seeing very high temperatures. We did see the development of some dry spots which were then taken care of either through hand watering to puddle and saturate the dry area or through the use of wetting agents. The wetting agents we use alter the soil to allow for the water to be retained and held within the soil and as a result help to reduce the occurrence of dry spots.

Hand watering a dry spot

Looking forward into the next month or so we have a lot of work planned. We will be performing a full core aeration on greens next week. During this process an aerator removes cores from the greens surface and these holes are then filled with sand. We perform this process for many plant health reasons. Some of these reasons include reducing compaction from golfer traffic and maintenance equipment operation, opening up the soil to improve water and nutrient infiltration, improve air/gas movement and exchange, and to reduce and remove thatch (the build up of dead and decaying plant matter from mowing at the surface), just to name a few main reasons.

We will then be soon getting into our fall fungicide and fertility programs to help prepare the grass plants for winter. Aeration will be performed to all tee boxes sometime in September also. And as mentioned previously some bunker and drainage improvement work will continue as time allows. 

We have accomplished a lot so far this season and are very happy with where the golf course is currently at. The hope is to continue this momentum into the fall and have a very successful end to the maintenance season.   

Hole 17 in July

Where Does the Time Go?

I looked at my last post this morning and realized that it has already been a month and a half since my last post. I should not be surprised as time always seems to fly by like this, but it still manages to surprise me every time. Since my last post we have been up to quite a bit so I will update you on what some of those things have been.

May started off extremely hot and really tested all of our turf in a hurry. Dry spots did develop but with the help of our hand watering and wetting agents we took care of the heat quite easily.

Hand watering dry spots

We saw our first really good signs of take-all patch the second week of May but since we were already well into our disease preventive fertilizer and chemical programs we made it through that stress quite easily and without taking any steps back.

Early signs of take-all patch

The second half of May saw rain so as a result we tried our best to take advantage of this by really getting into our fertility program throughout all areas of the course as there has been fertilizer applied everywhere now. This is quite obvious if you have been out on the course recently because as you may have seen the combination of rain and fertilizer has resulted in us falling behind on rough mowing as the areas are getting pretty long by the time we are getting back around again to cut the areas again.

Fertilizer applied to a fairway

We had an irrigation issue that occurred over the May long weekend which resulted in 5 greens being really dried out and browning off. The following week the problem was solved and the greens were sprayed with a wetting agent/drought management product which combined with all the rain helped us get those five greens back into shape in less than a week.

Top: what a green looked like after irrigation issue

Bottom: what that green looked like two days after drought product was applied

Irrigation breaks are continuing to occur quite frequently as they always do but we are staying on top of them and ensuring that water is getting out to all of the areas that need it. 

Irrigation break on 3 fairway

We are only a couple of weeks away from having our highschool students back to work full time which will be a big help to our team and really allow us to accomplish a lot. We will then be continuing with a few bunker renovations, general bunker maintenance, irrigation repairs and drainage improvements. 

We have a lot of work planned for the summer so if all goes well there should be a lot done by the time the fall is here.  

Sunrise over 8 green

Off to a Great Start!

The golf course has now been open for almost three weeks and we are off to a great start. The weather has been pretty good with the exception of maybe a little bit too much wind but overall I think we have been lucky. The long range forecast for May is looking more like July right now so I think we are going to be in for a great month.

A look at the forecast for the next 14 days

Our regular staff was brought back into work early in April and we have been very busy getting things done. We managed to rescue the tarp out of the pond behind 12 green early in the month which was a huge relief as I was worried this was going to be a much more difficult job. We removed tarps off of the greens on April 8 and were very pleased with what we saw. The greens had wintered perfectly allowing us to never miss a beat to start the season.

The tarp after it was pulled out of the pond

A view of 16 green after the tarp was removed

The golf course opened up on April 12 and the irrigation system was fired up April 18. Between the 12th and 18th a lot of manual tank watering was performed to keep the greens from drying out until we could get the irrigation rolling. We have had 8 irrigation breaks so far this season which is pretty good compared to normal but one was a mainline break so that may count for a couple extra. But as of today the system is fully up and running and doing a good job.

7 green being tank watered

Our mainline break in the middle of 1 fairway

We are about a week ahead of schedule program wise as we have already applied our first take-all patch prevention and fertility applications of the year on greens. We will be really getting into our programs fully this first week of May as we will begin to feed all areas of the golf course and really wake the turf up growth wise and colour everything up. 

Our first fertility app of the spring being applied on greens

We have a few irrigation improvement projects that we will be working on soon and then will continue on to a few construction projects. As mentioned earlier the long range forecast is looking pretty good so this should allow us to really get a lot done in the near future. Aesthetically, you can expect the golf course to look much different over the next week or two, that is for sure.

11 green looking excellent for only April 16

It's Almost Time!

Mother Nature has continued with the warm weather and as it is now we are only a week to two away from opening! The course has dried up nicely and the frost is starting to leave the ground relatively quickly.

Since my last update we have been pretty busy. Two of our tarps on our greens had rips from the November wind storm that had spread leaving exposed turf. One of those greens was manually topdressed with sand to protect the turf as the overnight lows were still cold enough that there was a risk of damage. 

The area that was topdressed when the tarp ripped

The turf conditions we have observed so far have been looking very good. As of right now it looks like things are healthy and that we have survived the winter pretty well. Tarps will probably come off next week so at that point we will see the full picture. 

A view under the tarp on 3 green

My assistant was back to work on March 1 and she was busy getting the course accessories refinished and ready. After that she cleaned all of our equipment inside and out and they are now shiny and ready to go!

Refinished accessories and clean equipment

The removal of snowfence has just begun and will continue this week and into the next. I will also have staff starting next week so they will be dragging out the rest of the cores left over from fall fairway aeration, helping with snow fence removal and most likely be tank watering some areas as they begin to dry out.

1 green with the snowfence removed

We are very close to another golf season and we will have things ready very soon so that everyone can be back out enjoying our beautiful golf course!

A beautiful morning last summer on 17 green

Is Spring Already Here?

Well the weather in the month of February has certainly been above average and as a result we really have no snow left out on the course. With this being the case we hope that the temperatures continue to stay warm because with no snow we might as well get any early start on things if we can! The month of February also saw the hiring of a new Pro Shop Manager for the club. Mitchell Lutz will be joining us this season and we are all very excited to have him here.

I am currently monitoring conditions on the course right now and things appear to be good so far. My only concern is the couple greens that have some ice buildup on them. In the next week or so we will probably plan to get out to them with a pump to remove any standing water off of them and expose the ice layer to the sun so that we can get it all melted. We are not too concerned about it as they have not been under ice that long but the sooner we could get the ice off the happier we will be.

Ice under the snow early in February on 6 green

 
Since my last post I attended the Golf Industry Show which like always was a great experience that I picked up a lot of new things to bring back with me that we will be putting to use this year. Most of the equipment servicing has been completed and there are just a couple repairs that remain. 

One of my education sessions at the Golf Industry Show

My assistant will be back to work next week as March is already here and she will begin preparing and refinishing all of the course accessories for the season. As stated earlier we are hopeful that the warm weather will continue as we would love to be out working on the course by mid-March if Mother Nature will allow us.

We will basically be finishing up the last few things before the golf season is here but we are prepared and ready for the busy season to soon be here and to have the golf course open again!

We are all very excited to be seeing this again soon!

A New Year!

2016 is here and we are excited about all of the new opportunities the new year will bring! It has been almost two months since my last post so there is quite a bit that I can update you on. 

The finish to the month of November was a difficult one as the temperatures just did not want to drop and freeze the ground for us. To top it all off we had the windiest day of the year which caused a ton of damage to our winter tarps and snowfence. We had two tarps totally blow off; one of which flew into a pond and will be frozen in the ice all winter. It took a lot of work but all the tarps were fixed and put back on as well as all the snowfence. So after that everything was once again protected for the winter. 

This was the tarp from 13 sitting 100 yards down the fairway

This was the tarp from 12 in the pond

The snow finally arrived a week before Christmas and things have worked out quite well ever since. We have seen nice temperatures this winter that have not been either too hot or cold and have had very little wind so this has allowed us to develop a nice snow cover that has set and will not be disturbed by the winds and should keep everything nicely protected. This is probably the most consistent snow cover I have ever had since coming to Mainprize even though it is not the most snow we have had at this time of year. 

This is our nice snow cover

During all of this time we have also managed to set all of the 2016 rates and budget. All of the reels have been ground and put back together and equipment repairs and servicing has just begun. I am currently in the process of hiring a new Pro Shop Manager for the 2016 season and we are optimistic that we will find the right person and have another great year in the Clubhouse as well. 

In the next month or so I will hopefully be finishing up all of the remaining equipment work and finish all of my fertilizer/chemical and cultural programming. I will be going to the 2016 Golf Industry Show the second week of February and will hopefully bring back many new ideas to help and improve our club into the future. 

The logo for the 2016 Golf Industry Show

I will try to write another post in February as to what we have been up to and our continued plans into 2016!

A look down hole 2 this past September

 

Winter May Finally Be Here

As I am sitting here writing this the wind is gusting up to 100 km/h and the temperatures are plummeting today. This is good and bad. The temperatures dropping is great as the ground will finally freeze and the turf plants will all finally go into winter sleep mode. The wind is not so good as I am preparing to have a lot of tarps and snowfence to fix after this before the ground is totally frozen.

Since my last post we have accomplished a lot. In the middle of October we completed our fairway aeration that we complete every October. We performed this to help to relieve compaction from golfers, mowing equipment, etc that takes place throughout the season. We also are removing thatch (dead and decaying plant matter), improving water, air and nutrient infiltration, and hoping to promote growth by performing this aeration.

7 fairway after aeration

Our final fungicide applications took place on the greens, tee boxes and a few select fairways. We apply fungicide before winter to prevent the development of winter turf diseases such as snow molds and Fusarium. Some of our fungicides are also formulated with a stress guard which we use to help to prevent winter desiccation.

Fungicide being applied on 5 green

Irrigation system blowout was performed during the second last week of October. During this process we hook up a very large sized air compressor to the system and blow compressed air through the all of the piping, connections and sprinklers heads to remove all water from these areas and prevent freezing of the system over the winter months. 

A sprinkler head being blown out

At the end of October every year we put tarps down on all the greens and then put snowfence up on all the greens and tee boxes on the golf course. The tarps act as a layer of insulation to help protect the plants from cold temperature and cold winter winds that dry the plant out and eventually lead to death (desiccation). The snowfence is used to trap snow and also provide a layer of insulation for those same reasons. 

11 green after being tarped and snowfenced

The process of grinding all of our reels and bedknives on our mowers will be completed this week. During this process the reels and bedknives are put on a grinding machine and a new cutting edge is established and any damage to the blades is ground out and the reels are brought back to square. 

A reel after it has been ground

Throughout the next few months I will then be continuing on with equipment repairs from the season, of which this winter there are quite a few compared to previous seasons. I will also be working through a lot of office work including budgeting, setting of 2016 rates, fertilizer and chemical programming and ordering, cultural and agronomic scheduling, safety programs, etc. 

That is all for now. I am looking forward to a successful winter and for this wind to disappear and leave my tarps alone so they can freeze down for winter. I will be back with another update next month. 

A look down hole 3 this fall