Tee aerification

This week we started aerating tees on the course. We should have this finished by next week. We will also be spot seeding some weaker roughs with a mixture of fescue and bluegrass. Please be patient as we perform this necessary task. 

Aerating range greens

Yesterday we aerified the range greens using 1/2" tines. These greens are not built to USGA specs. There is no internal drainage or gravel in these greens, therefor they don't drain very well at all. We maintain them at 1/2" height of cut. As you can see in this photo there is a lot of thatch in these cores. We only aerate these greens once a year. The greens on the golf course are aerated 6 times a year using both solid and coring tines. Along with our weekly topdressing and cultivating practices, there is very little thatch on these greens.

Wet conditions

The back of 4 green is very slippery due to all the rain we are having. This machine lost traction and went for a ride. Thankfully nothing got damaged.

Cleanup

We are going to take 1 or 2 holes a week and do some under brushing , trimming up some limbs and open up some views. The forest is creeping in on the golf course and its time to push it back out.

Snapping turtle

Found this little guy on 13 today while fixing an irrigation head. 

Dam maintenance

About every 3 months we open the intakes to clean them out. With all the rain we have been getting this year, the pond has been getting some silt in it. We also took this time to remove the debris collected on the grates.

Bug spray

This is just a reminder, when applying bug repellant , please do so on the cart path. The spray kills grass. This was taken on the first hole.

Hydraulic leak

It happens. A hose busted on one our fairway units on Thursday on hole 2. The grass will die and we will have to look at this ugly mess for awhile. We took the graden verticutter and tried to remove some of the dead plants. We then seeded bent grass into this area. Once fall arrives we will aerify and reseed this area.

Irrigation blowout

We were greeted on Tuesday to an irrigation leak on the first hole. With all the rain that we have had, the thrust block moved and allowed the pipe to separate. As you can see the water rippled the turf. We had to borrow the city's roller to help smooth the grass back down.