Drainage work update

Drainage work has been completed on 1,3,16 approaches. As you can see in the photos below the soil that was on 3 approach was all clay. This was the reason the water would never drain through causing a very wet area. The area was excavated out and filled with gravel and pipe.

Busy week

With the warmer weather we are having, we are able to knock out a lot of projects. We mowed greens this week. They have not been mowed since aerification and seem to be healing in nicely. We are also trimming up a few maples along 18 as well as taking down a dead oak to the right of 3. We have started to aerate all roughs (60acres). This will take about a week or a little longer. While the ground is not frozen, we have begun to level some irrigation heads and rework some basins. Lastly we will topdress tees one more time before winter sets in. There are a few more low areas on some fairways that will get topdressed as well.

Pressure washing

It's that time of year when we pressure wash and wax all of the turf equipment for winter. Next we will be doing oil changes and grinding the reels and bed knives getting the mowers ready for spring.

Tree removal

We have relocated several trees from the left of 18 cart path to 6 and 16. We added 6 maples and oaks behind the green on 16. This will give us a nice background come fall. 

Greens aerification

We have completed the greens aerification earlier this month. We used a 5/8 tine on a 2x2 hole spacing, followed by a heavy topdressing. For the most part the greens look good and the sand has drug in nicely. We first topdress the green. By doing this first we eliminate rutting of the turf from the spreader. Next the toro 648 core aerator comes along and pulls the plug, collects them behind the machine and dumps the plugs at the end of the pass. The plugs are scooped up and the sand is dragged in using brushes and blowers. A fertilizer was applied to help with recovery. Now that the cold weather has set in, there will be very little growth over the winter. My plan is to use a graden sand verticutter in April to further remove thatch from the putting surface.

Fairway aerification

We have started to aerate all the fairways. Holes 2,3,4,5,9,11,12,13,15 are complete. We will be starting to topdress holes 9,13,14,16,17 this winter. These are the wetter holes that take the longest to dry out. With some drainage and topdressing of sand, hopefully we can get things to dry out quicker. Look for more photos of the fairway topdressing program later.

Pines

We have taken the 4 pine trees behind 16 green down. Golf course architect Bill Bergin made a recommendation to take them down and replace with a few oaks and maples. These will come from 18 along the left side of the cart path. The plan is to transplant them sometime in December.