Irene

The hurricane was not as damaging as predicted, but still left all of the sand in the bunkers washed to the bottom and debris everywhere. We did have one totally uprooted tree by the shelter on 8, but it fell out of play and easily cleaned up this morning.

The good news is significant rainfall jump started the greens into recovery and many of the holes are already closed. We were able to get a roll and a cut on them this afternoon and they should be fully healed and ready for the holiday weekend.

Hope to see everyone at the softball game tomorrow night!!! I know after a full day of shoveling bunkers, my staff will be in great shape to run a few bases.

Conditioning the soil

The goals for fall aerification were to remove as much of the top organic matter as possible, give the roots oxygen to breath /create a gas exchange, relieve compaction, and create sand channels to increase water infiltration to the rootzone. The turf is very worn down at the end of the season and precaution must be taken with the turf to ensure proper recovery, therefore we perform a portion in-house and have a contractor bring in their less aggressive machines to finish it off. We began by pulling smaller cores from the top 4" on a very tight spacing, allowing the top layer to breath and dry out from all of the rain. The plugs were pulled to the side, hauled away, and any remaining debris blown off. We topdressed heavily with sand and brushed over the green two times to fill most of the holes. On Tuesday we rolled the greens after they were dry to eliminate sand sticking to the drums and creating a mess. This set us up for Dryject to bring in their machines on Wednesday. These sand injection machines are the best at punching a straight sand channel through the profile. We adjusted the pressure way down for our greens to aggressively attack the top layer with a fat channel. This procedure is very labor intensive as the machine needs to be filled with buckets (we used nearly 40 tons of sand for three machines). We followed that process with a brush and another roll before we added the organic fertilizer as the finishing touch. All goals were accomplished and the healing process has already begun. Below are a few pictures of our three day adventure:

The core aerifier pulling plugs from the green with the box attachment dragging them to the side, reducing foot traffic before the holes are filled.

This is the Dryject machine adding more sand to the profile

This is a picture taken last season after the spring aerification. You can see the distinct layer at the top that we have targeted with our agronomic practices

The top layer is not nearly as evident and a perfect sand channel was added from the dryject machines on the right. All of the small punctures on the playing surface are from our machines, while the larger ones are from the sand injection.

Aerification Update

We were very fortunate to have three great days with cool conditions and sunny skies to aerify the course. Michael had all of the equipment running to perfection and the Assistants kept the organized chaos moving full speed ahead. The crew took full advantage, working very long hours with no complaints and leaving very healthy turf behind. We still have a few fairways left to finish due to holding back the tractor on Monday with the soggy conditions. The first few groups will catch the slicer on 16 or 18, but that will be the only interference tomorrow and we do not need to close down any holes. I will attach a few pictures in the coming days explaining the process and reasoning in depth.

Chainsaws are sharpened and ready for whatever Irene may bring…

Aerification

For August aerification we will be utilizing a few different methods to reduce organic matter and add oxygen to the soil. Each is effective for its particular playing surface and will be beneficial in preparing the turf for great fall conditions and the cold winter months.

Greens will be aerified with small tines and topdressed on Monday and Tuesday followed by a contractor called DryJect arriving on Wednesday to inject sand into the top 4" on Wednesday. They utilize water and air pressure to create clean sand channels, allowing water to penetrate through the profile faster. The method is less abrasive than a standard aerification and encourages a faster recovery.

Fairways will be spiked to give them a breath of fresh air and shatter the soil profile from all of the compaction this season. Using the spiker will allow them to recover with no playability issues and no voids left for poa to germinate.

We began the tee slicing process on Wednesday with hopes of slowly poking away, but the rain has halted that operation until later next week. This machine is very aggressive and physically removes the thatch using saw blades. Below you can see a picture of how effective the slicer is at creating a channel through the organic layer. We hope to perform this process at least one more time this fall. We have a long way to go in eliminating the sponginess out of the tees. Trying to get water through the mat and into the rootzone has been a tough task the last two years.

Feel free to come see the process in effect on Monday thru Wednesday. If all goes well, we will have all 18 back in shape for Thursday golf.

Bouncing Back

The traffic areas at the ends of the fairways and green surrounds are bouncing back with some much needed rain and a little break from the heat. From a distance the color is still brown, but the picture below shows many new green leaves shooting up out of that recently dormant grass. We are letting the rough grow out of the stressed stage before we cut it again, so expect some diverse lies as you play the course this weekend. We will be back to normal business next week and the break should set us up for great fall conditions.