Dry December

On Tuesday of this week we decided to re-charge our irrigation system. Over the past couple of weeks we have been using water tanks (our sprayers) to hand water small areas of turf, but with fairways and tees now starting to dry, we were unable to keep up without the help of the irrigation system. Although it is relatively rare to have to run the system in December; the mild temperatures, extreme wind and lack of any significant precipitation over the past 45 days left us with little choice. This is especially true when you combine the fact that our Poa annua greens and Ryegrass fairways/tees are much more susceptible to desiccation then other cool season turfgrass species. At this time of the year the turf requires much less moisture to stay alive and healthy, but it is still very important for the crown of the plant to stay hydrated. So why it make look bizarre to see the sprinklers going off this late in the season, the turf will benefit greatly from the little bit we give it this week. We are planning on running another cycle or two before we are forced to blow out the system again early next week. It's safe to say that everyone on the Agronomy staff is hoping Santa brings some moisture this year!

Late Season Watering

Due to the lack of moisture we've had over the past 6 weeks, we had to get creative in our effort to get water to the greens.  Since the irrigation system is already winterized we rigged up our sprayer in order to hand water greens.  This time of year the turf plant does not require much moisture, but we were starting to see some areas show some wilt.  The whole course is dry and very firm, so hopefully we can get out of this dry cycle and get some precipitation sooner than later.

Late Fall Tasks

November 20th, we winterized the irrigation system and shut down all the irrigation satellites for the season.  This is a full day worth or work, but very important as we head into the winter months.  The process went off without a hitch and we should be in good shape with the irrigation system as we head in the the spring of 2018.  

We spent several days working on the bunker depths throughout the course.  All bunkers were getting pretty low on sand, so we got the depths back in the 3-4" range.  Due to the amount of sand that was needed to get the where we want them, the bunkers will be very soft but should compact and firm up as winter goes on.  To help speed up the process, we rented a plate compactor and compacted them ourselves.  This really helped firm them up, but until we get some good moisture the sand will play really soft.

#2 & #11 Landscape Bed Renovation

Below are images of what was recently planted in the landscape bed between #2 & #11 tee boxes.  We tore out the hostas and wild strawberry's (mainly weeds) and put down a weed liner, panted new materials and used rock to finish it off.  Come spring, it will start to take off and give us nice color all year long.  This will be be a huge improvement in such a highly visible area. 

Astilbe Rheinland

Veronica Eveline

Karl Foerster Feather Reed Grass

Hydrangea Pinky Winky

  

Venting Greens

With the 3" of rain over the past 5 days, the greens needed some fresh air!  Monday, we used needle tines and went about 3" deep to vent the top layer of the greens.  Besides being a little softer, this process does not affect ball roll what so ever.  The greens perked up nicely and really look healthy as we approach the winter months.  Weather pending, we will do this process one more time prior to covering greens for the season.   

               

Fairway Overseeding

Last month, we completed the fairway overseeding process which I started doing five years ago.  This process has made a huge improvement on the density and condition of our fairways.  During tee aerification, we overseed the tees as well.  In this process, we use a total of 4500 lbs of seed which breaks down to a 5lb/m application rate.  It is a long process, but well worth it when completed! 

                  

Fall Aerification

Last week, we completed aerification on greens & tees.  Both processes went smoothly are are back to their 'normal' playing conditions.  On greens we went with a process called 'DryJect' which does not remove any material from the greens.  It creates a channel in the green (5"-6" deep) and it is immediately filled with kiln dried sand.  We pump right around 25 tons of sand directly into the green profile during this process.  We also used this time to overseed greens with T-1 creeping bentgrass.  I'm seeing germination already (especially in the aerification holes) as this is our attempt to establish more bentgrass in the greens and slowly push out the poa.  It's a long process and time will tell if we make any ground in this area.  

On tees we pulled a 1/2" core, pulverized them (dusty mess) and then overseeded with Perennial Rye.  As of today, we have great germination and the tees are healing nicely from the summer stress.

Both processes were long  and tiring, but these practices are what allow us to have great surfaces throughout the year.  Great work by my crew on completing these tasks!