Greens Mower Check

We double checked the greens mower today by mowing #18, everything looks great so the plan is to mow the greens Saturday morning before the course opens for the season. The chipping green is very saturated so we will skip that green, we will also not be cutting the putting green due to its rather poor condition in spots. There shouldn't be much if any snow left after the beautiful weather today. There were some bunkers that had a lot of snow when the crew made there way around today so they skipped them. Those bunkers will be addressed soon but should still be playable if you happen to find yourself in one.

It was kind of rushed to get the course ready for the opener on Saturday. Since we only had 2 days to prep I know we ran out of time and missed a few things here and there. The water coolers will be out early next week if we do not get them out over the weekend. The hazard stakes still have ice in the ground sleeves so they should be able to go out after some warm temps this weekend when that melts. Seed/soil boxes and mix will be out starting Monday if it does not get done on the weekend. And there is quite a bit of debris cleanup that will occupy a lot of our time over the next week or two, especially around greens and tees.

Course is Opening April 27, 2013

This is what the course looked like yesterday morning, full of a lot of snow, but today it is 90% all gone. Course opens Saturday morning but it will be a little wet and there are some rough spots here and there. The annual bluegrass did not enjoy the long winter and much of it is definitely not green. For the most part the only turf loss appears to be in the bowls and pockets in some of the fairways. The front of #16 green is also in pretty tough shape, there are some fairly large areas that do not look like they survived the winter. We will be evaluating it over the next few days as things warm up and take quick action to get it back in shape as soon as possible. With only a couple days of being able to prep the golf course for the opener I just want all the members to know that certain things might not get done. We will do our best to get through as many bunkers as we can, I predict there will be snow still in some of them along with some leaf/stick debris. Our plan is to mow greens Saturday morning if they are firm enough for equipment traffic, some of them at this point are not. They will be clean and playable regardless. Do to remaining snow and wet conditions throughout the course, including our cart crossings in fairways, there will be no golf carts until conditions permit. I'm predicting carts will be allowed on paths only Monday or Tuesday of next week.

So here we go...

2011 Renovation About To Start

( 2011_06_23 - Tree Removal Before Bunker Work )

The bunker renovations are about to continue, with only a few holes left we are almost done. Over the next week Hartman will be renovating 4 bunkers and adding 1. The 2 approach bunkers and right greenside bunker on #15 will be re-worked. The picture shows us removing the damaged Oak tree in preparation for the work, not only was it in the way for the bunker renovation project, its removal opens up the area for better turf conditions and it was almost completely hollow which is a safety issue. The other two bunkers being done consist of the fairway bunker on #2 and the addition of a second bunker a little further up from the first. As part of that work we will be removing the first two Ash trees along the left side of the fairway just beyond the current fairway bunker. Hopefully now the weather will start cooperating and allow the work to be done inside a weeks time, we are keeping our fingers crossed.

( 2011_06_02 - Deer Wandering Around #17 )

One of the joys of working on a golf course is the wildlife one sees on almost a daily basis. This young deer was wandering around #17 and #14 with another older one. It's pretty common to see a deer or two on a weekly basis. The turkeys have not been very abundant this year, but last year we counted over 20 in a flock on #16 numerous times. And of course there are always squirrels, egrets, blue herons, and various small critters. If you have been around the clubhouse in the past two weeks you are well aware of a not so pleasant critter being on the premises... Just recently 7 skunks were found living under the 4 season porch/deck area, and since have been removed. This is a first that anyone can recall of having a issue with animals under the clubhouse, but we are working to alleviate any further problems by closing up the openings that exist.

Renovations Complete on #16

 Before

After

Hole #16, What's Going On.

05-10-2011

05-10-2011

05-11-2011

05-16-2011

05-17-2011

Here are shots to summarize the work so far of the bunker renovation taking place on hole 16. It is expected to be completed by the end of the day today and sod should go down tomorrow sometime. In about 2 weeks we should be able to open up the new bunkers and surrounding rough providing the weather cooperated and the new turf roots down good. 

And on another note, #16 green will be open for play starting Monday the 23rd. We have kept the height of cut a little longer compared to the other greens to encourage better growth, especially once it starts getting traffic, and overall it is in great shape. There are still some thin spots but the bulk of the damage down the center of the green has recovered very nicely. Once the younger plants have matured a bit more we will start a topdressing program, same goes for #7 green, which should help with the thinner and uneven spots...

If this weather can start to stay more typical for this time of year we should have the turf back in no time.

Renovations Underway

( 2010_10_15 - Approach work #7 )

The renovation work began last week on holes 4,7, & 8. A complete renovation of the teeing areas on 4 and 8, plus the bunker renovation and approach grading on 7. Because of the amount of soil we needed to properly rebuild the 4th tee and renovate the bunkers on #7, we chose to re-grade the approach area on #7. This allowed us to properly surface drain the area and open up the site-line along the left side of the hole.

(2010_10_20 - Approach work #7 after grading )

Though the pictures do not do it real justice, you can now stand back at the fairway bunker and see the rebuilt greenside  bunker and left edge of the green. The majority of the water will surface drain off to the left, and we were able to make renovating the fairway bunker on 18 very cost effective due to the soil we could generate from the approach area. The bunker on 18 has no soil to work with and everything has to be hauled in, not too mention it requires a lot of soil to do properly.

(2010_10_20 - Renovations on hole #7 )

So all in all we have another week or so of renovation work. And then it is almost November and irrigation blow-out, snow-mold chemical applications, and greens covers will be on the agenda. Oh yeah, we also have a bunch of tree trimming planned as usual.

After The Championship

( 2010_08_29 - Looking back on hole 5 )

Congratulations to all the winners this past weekend, we had a great turn out for the entire 2010 Club Championship. Last I heard there were around 195 total players from Wednesday through Sunday, pretty cool if you ask me. I want to thank my staff for a super job getting the course prepped for our biggest event of the year. We had great weather to get the place a little firm and keep the speed up. A lot of people asked me how fast the greens were, we stimped them both days around 6:30am and were able to keep them right around 11. To put that in perspective, we have been able to hold around a 10 most of the summer and rarely fell below the 9.5 mark. USGA Stimpmeter Information for those unfamiliar with what the numbers mean and how it is measured. The other thing we were able to do thanks to my staff was mow all the fine turf areas every morning from Wednesday through Sunday, this kept the golf course in top shape throughout the entire event. I really hope everyone enjoyed a great tournament...

So now that the tourney is over we will start some of the normal end-of-summer practices. Fairways and tees will be aerified soon, and this year we will just be aerifying collars around the greens because of the MGA Tournament being held at IVGC on September 27 & 28. This will most likely push us to do our normal core aerification on greens next spring and then I am considering a deep tine aerification in the fall. As usual though, we will do everything we can to keep the disruption to play at an absolute minimum. 

Also this fall, early October, Hartman Companies will be out renovating the bunkers and approach on hole #7, the tee on #8, and the tee on #4. This plan is to tier the tee box on #8 so there are two distinct teeing surfaces, and make the tee on #4 much larger while re-aligning it with the hole. The space between the two holes will be decreased to about half the size and planted with perennial grasses as a buffer between. The left fairway bunker on 7 will be renovated in its current location while the right fairway bunkers will be filled in and a new bunker will be placed near the 100 yard stake. The green side bunker on 7 will be brought around the front corner a little and built up in the back for better visibility. There is a chance that 18 fairway bunker will also be renovated at that time, but that project is currently on a wait-and-see.

I know things start to slow down around the course once school starts, but I hope everyone can keep on coming out. There is a lot of great golf weather ahead of us.

Greening Up

( 2010_04_04 - Hole #6 )

Things have definitely greened up over the last week to two weeks. Leaves are even starting to emerge on some trees. There is no question that things are a little ahead of schedule this year, and that is a great thing.

Over the next couple of weeks we will be making it around to the few damaged spots we had in some fairways and the 16th green. Roughing them up and getting some seed and soil mix worked into them. To continue the theme of natural stone work we will be removing the wooden steps on the second tee and replacing them with ones like 9 and 16. We will also be doing some work around 16 with the cart path near the green and some drainage at the bottom of the hill. We have started the bunker cleanup and edging, taking notes on ones that need some sand added, and cleaning up the grass faces that have accumulated sand over the last season. The old style bunkers did not have a lot of that problem associated with them. With the newer bunkers and the high grass slopes we are realizing we need to do a little more maintenance to keep the turf in good shape. We are putting together a game plan and will have it worked into our normal routine shortly so we can keep the grass slopes in those problem areas in tip top shape.

The thirteenth fairway is coming along nicely. It has been mowed once and fertilized all ready. You can now see what the tentative idea for fairway and rough cuts are. There will be an intermediate cut also, like most other holes on the course. With the fertilizer and mowing, once things warm up, it should really take off and start filling in. Stay tuned...

Heat, Water, & Seed

The renovation on number thirteen was completed on Wednesday. Now with a some help from the weather things will be in good shape going into winter. We used erosion control blankets around the four catch basins and the approach area to prevent as much erosion as we can if we should get a heavy rain. The bunker surrounds were sodded also for this reason, especially concerning the steeper faces and mounding. We used a 80% premium bluegrass/20% ryegrass mix of seed, so we should see some seed germination in under a week. All in all the project went very smooth and the weather helped out a lot, save for the lack of rain at the end but once we got the irrigation up and running it didn't matter.

From what I have seen over the last couple of days, people are obeying the signs and staying out of the roped area if their ball should find its way onto the dirt. This is critical, one being the muddy mess that would be created and two the disruption in the seed bed would create "dirt" footprints as germination starts to take place. So thank you for your cooperation in this matter.

On another note. Greens aerification went great and after a week and a half the greens are looking very good. The greens should be back in tip-top shape shortly. We are about half way through aerifying the fairways and the tees will be done next Tuesday and Thursday.

Watering Dirt

What a busy ten days since my last update. All the greens have been aerified, and about half the fairways are complete. Tees are on the agenda for this coming week, along with finishing up fairways. And number thirteen is shaping up very well. All the irrigation is in and everything is working. The soil was so dry and hard that we needed to get the water turned on before any bunker work or seeding could take place. I have been watering the dirt heavily for the past couple of days trying to get the subsurface moist and start to melt down some of the harder clumps that would not break up. Monday is the big for finishing up the bunkers and getting one last grade on the fairway. Seed and sod will be finished up Monday and Tuesday, and it looks as though the weather will cooperate...

Just a reminder about aerifying... We mow greens every other day for about a week or so following plugging. We want as little stress on the turf as possible so we can get a speedy recovery. Tees are similar, and because of the soil content we need them to be dry before we can mow them after aerifying so the mowers are out in the afternoon. We try and disrupt play as little as possible during these critical cultural practices and we appreciate everyones understanding. In a couple weeks the greens should be back to normal and weather permitting there will be a bunch of days left for some golf.

Renovation Continues...

A lot of grading has been done, the bunkers are roughly shaped in, and today the main drainage basins and tile are being installed.

Renovation Is Underway

Renovation on #13 began on Friday. It should take 7-10 days to get everything graded, seeded, and bunkers built. Here's hoping for a great stretch of weather to get the new fairway established...

I stitched together a couple of snapshots I took of the clouds that rolled in this morning over the golf course, right before we got dumped on for about 5 minutes. Thankfully it was not enough rain to delay the project on #13 any longer. The bulldozer and tiller are now working on it as I type this. We've made the hole a par 3 for the time being, with the tee box located about 125 yards out on the left side of the cart path. We will be keeping the hole cut on the right side of the green to keep it as playable as possible. We may readdress the location once the fairway is seeded, because at that point there can absolutely not be any traffic on it while the seed is being established. Overall I think it works out well, and everyone can play to the green rather then a situation where a temp green is involved.

Early Morning Fog

I snapped this photo of Ron mowing the 3rd fairway on Saturday morning of the club championship. The brightness of the picture actually doesn't really relay the reality of the moment. The staff showed up at 5:15am on Saturday and Sunday so we could mow fairways, approaches, greens, and intermediate ahead of the golfers. This was a little different practice then routines in the past. Normally we mowed everything Friday and then came back and mowed everything on Saturday evening. Of course the greens were mowed each day, actually twice every morning, but the rest was just once over the weekend. I am very happy with the results of the new mowing routine. The dew was removed on all major playing areas, although it did settle back in for some of the early tee times, and the course looked great. The only thing that made this all possible was my staff. Everyone showed up on time and got straight to work, it was a terrific effort on their part to get the course in shape for everyone to play. I have to give them a huge thanks on a job well done. And for that matter, a big thanks on a great summer with little to no issues.

As the summer winds down we start to lose staff to school. As a result we start changing some of our mowing routines and we tend to tri-plex greens more then we walk mow. For the most part it probably won't be noticed, but just a reminder to you all. The main mowing stays on top of the priority list, but things like weed-whipping and raking bunkers 6-7 days a week starts to move down that list. Other odd jobs also get less frequent, but we do everything we can to make sure the course still plays in great shape. There is still a lot of golf to played in 2009...

Rain Delayed

I wonder what the people driving by the club think when they look out over 13 and 14 and see a dead fairway? After a good couple of days over the weekend the RoundUp has worked through the plant and the turf is checking out. I did spray it again with diquat on Sunday night after the club championship to burn it down quicker and Monday was a good weather day for that. Then Tuesday brought the rain and it looks as though the project will be delayed for a couple of days because it needs to be drier for the tiller and scraper.

We have also worked out a deal with Hartman that will get the project on 7, 4, & 8 completed this year also. We are currently working on scheduling and details for that. Stay tuned for a update of what's going on in regards to that and also the progress on #13.

IVGC Championship Week

We are almost off and running so to speak. The club championship starts tomorrow with the 18 hole women's division playing their back 9 round. So far everything is going smooth and the course is in great shape, the IVGC maintenance staff is doing a terrific job getting the place ready for the busy week. I took a photo of the blue heron on #6 today, not much to see on #13 fairway yet. I expect it will be a few days before we notice a difference in color. The good weather we are having should really help the RoundUp make it through the plant quick.

Last night the greens committee met to discuss and approve a plan for the renovation project on #7, 4, & 8. The gist of that plan is as follows: The bunkers on #7 will be renovated to bring them up to date. The first fairway bunker on the right will be taken out, and the second one on the right will be moved up towards the 100 yard marker. The Silver Maple will be taken out in that area to allow for proper playability and mounding around the bunker itself. The left fairway bunker will be tweaked slightly but mainly just be renovated in its current location. The green side bunker will built up similar to the one on #10 green so it is more visible from further out in the fairway. It will be slightly smaller and brought towards the approach a little bit. The soil for the project will come from re-grading the approach at about 60 yards out up to the green. This will create the much needed drainage in the area for growing a better stand of grass. It will also improve the site line up the left side of the hole, there is no plan to remove any of the ridge or right side of the fairway to open up that site line. The main reason being that it would take a very significant cut to open that view up and it would create a very manufactured looking golf hole. It would be something that would look very different to the character of the rest of the golf course. To go along with #7 we will be completely renovating the 4th tee and the back tee on 8. Using some of the soil from 7 and by cutting down the front 1/3 of #8 tee we will create enough soil to increase the size of #4. Number eight will have two separate tees instead of the single tee currently there. There is some potential to also add a little length in that area, possibly 10 yards or so. The white tees would then rotate between the new lower tee and the raised back tee. #4 will enlarged to the right, over the existing cart path, also better aligned with the golf hole. To remove the need for a retaining wall, the tee will be lowered slightly so a walkable slope can be created from the new cart path which will run below the current site of the water cooler and seed box. The committee decided to also include steps similar to #16 in the project to tie it together with #9 and 16, plus make it a little easier to get to the top. The two tee complexes will be separated by a narrow buffer zone of some type of ornamental, whether it is grasses or shrubs that is yet to be decided. It will allow groups to be aware of other groups and perhaps be more courteous to each other while teeing off. So the project is planned, and the board is currently negotiating with Hartman to see if we can get the work done in this calender year... Stay tuned.

Getting Ready!

We are getting ready for a couple of things over the next week. The Club Championship starts on Wednesday the 19th so we are giving everything that little extra shine. And the renovation project on #13 starts the following Tuesday, so we are prepping some things for that also. As noted in the picture, we have removed the willow tree next to the pond, and today we took down the two ash trees next to the fairway bunkers. The stumper should be in Friday to get everything chipped so we have plenty of time to get things clean before next week. On Monday of next week we will be spraying round-up on the 13th fairway in preparation for the renovation project. By championship weekend everything sprayed should be turning yellow and dying. This should not have any significant impact on play but mainly be a aesthetic issue. The goal is to have everything dead by Tuesday the 25th so Hartman can grade and till everything together without spreading live weeds and poa annua throughout the fairway.

To go along with the renovation on #13 this year, the 2010 renovation plans are taking shape quickly and could be tied into this year also. We plan to finish the front 9 bunkers by completing hole 7 and also completely renovating #4 and #8 tee complexes. The greens committee and board of directors are currently working together to come up with the final renovation plan and the proper financing method to get it done in this calender year. The BOD and GC feel that it is preferable to have everything done at the same time so next spring we are not digging into something and dragging out the renovation projects into the summer. The club is also hosting the MGA Senior 4-Ball championship next September so the other window for renovation would be October, which is still not being counted out... But if we can get 2010's renovation work done this year, it would mean no major construction work until 2011. And I think everyone would be on board for a nice long season (2010) without construction and renovation projects taking place. It also gives the GC plenty of time to come up with a solution for the renovation of #14 which includes soil sampling, pond, bunkers, and fairway work.

Stay tuned, I will update the blog on a daily basis starting next week to show off the championship and also the renovation progress.

Projects, Projects, Projects

Well we have a lot of this and that going on right now. Josh with Hartman is in for the day putting the finishing touches on the new 11th tee and also grading out the area for drainage. One of the directions we have started to go with tees and other construction type projects is getting the professionals in to do the job right. Not that we could not do the job in-house mind you, but there is added level of detail and finishing work that we can not do with our equipment. The laser level you see in the picture can make the tee perfectly flat, 1/4" slope one way or another, or put in any other slope you may want for surface drainage. The precision is a lot more exact then the simple level we use for our in-house projects.

All the sod we stripped from the area is being put to use on those eyesore spots around the cart paths and behind #16 green on the hill side. The areas we have left when we use up all the sod created will be handled with purchased sod or from the back of the driving range where we have been taking sod for various projects. The entire area around the 11th tee will be sodded along with the tee box itself, the sod coming from the beginning of the fairway.

Some of the bunkers needed a little attention so we are currently getting some weeding and edging done. Sand will also be added to a couple of bunkers where it is getting a little thin. We are also getting a much over due paint job on the #6 shack. We stripped all the loose stuff some time ago and have not had a chance to get the fresh paint on until now. When that building is done we will be moving on to the pump house and then perhaps the starter shack.

The area to the right of nine tee will also be getting a make-over soon. We need to regrade the area around the evergreens to get the standing water out of there, and also have plans for a set of steps to be installed. The current idea is to remove the planting and wall block and place the steps there where the path is already expanded. The flowers would be added to the area to the right of the path where we will be grading along with some hosta and perhaps other plant material.

There has been some talk about steps for the forward tee on #13. I would rather see golfers drive around the 12th green and past the water cooler to get to that tee. It keeps people on top of the hill rather then having to park below and climb up. We need to do a little tree trimming on the tree next to the teebox to open the area up a little, but I would guess the amount of traffic should not be a problem along the teebox. I hope this solves any problems associated with climbing the bank if it is wet and slippery.

The Beaches Are Open

The bunker renovations on #12 and #13 are now open for play.

You have been warned.

Image is from Google Earth...

Well the bunker work is done and all the loose ends resulting from it are completed also. Now we can get back to addressing the collars, approaches, and tees where the turf is a little lacking. The rain was a huge help and now it looks like warm weather is very near. A couple of eighty degree days and things will explode... Most of the landscaping around #16 tee is in, there is still a little more to do, and it looks great.

FYI on the imminent coming of the Emerald Ash Borer... We are starting our tree inventory, 4 of 18 holes are complete. To give you all an idea of how many ash trees we have, there were a total of 262 trees counted and just over 47% of those trees are ash. I would guess the rest of the course is going to follow suite and we are going to find out about 50% of all the trees on the golf course are ash trees. There is a new chemical option for tree injection that is giving 2-3 years of control for EAB, so there is a option for the ones we do not want to lose. At $30+ per tree to treat we would be looking at over $3,700 for just the ones we have counted so far ($1850/year). Some very rough numbers on the idea of treating - 18 holes ~ 1300 trees ~ 750 ash trees ~ $22,500 treatment every 2 years ~ $11,250/year. It is safe to assume we are not going to be able to treat every tree on the golf course. But it is reasonable to choose a fair amount to treat, since we have so many ash trees there are a lot that come into play and perhaps we do not want to lose them.