A Little Facelift

One area of the course that was in need of a facelift was the 3 bunkers on the right hand side of #9. Fine Fescue grasses do well with minimal inputs and due to the location of the sprinklers this area was constantly being over-watered. This produced excessive growth and the grass to lay over on itself causing matting issues.  The plan was to re-grass the area to Kentucky Bluegrass so that it can be maintained and the irrigation coverage utilized. The area will be maintained at 2-3" from this point on.

Before.  The native grasses were clumpy and infested with weeds.

First we cut the grass as short as possible and prepared the area for sod cutting. As you can see, the sod cutter did not fare so well.

Martin weed whacking to make sod cutting easier

Josh and Corey attempting to sod cut

We decided to bring out the big toys to help with sod removal.

Once the sod was stripped, 4,500 square feet of sod was laid.  Over the course of a week, the right hand side of 9 has received a facelift. 

Finished Product!

 



 A couple weeks ago I had the fortunate experience to volunteer for The Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra, Florida.  This was my first time going to a PGA event so I wasn’t really sure what to expect.  I was excited to see how a golf course was managed at this level as well as taking in the pure beauty of the course.

  This was a great opportunity because it not only gave me the chance to see what goes into preparing the course for the biggest purse in golf, but also gave me a chance to network with other turf professionals from around the world.  I spent most of my mornings fixing ball marks, moving turning boards, and blowing off greens with a superintendent from Malaysia that had just got done hosting the CIMB classic. This was a unique experience that I wouldn't have gotten to experience anywhere else.


  

There were about 80 volunteers from all over the world paired with TPC’s staff of about 70.  It was interesting to see over 100 people working together day and night in order to make the course the best it could be.  It was also eye opening to see how much communication and team work is needed to pull of such a large event.  While I was bummed that I didn’t get the chance to mow 17 like Corey and Chris had in the past, it was a pleasure to be a part of this tournament. The way it ended on Sunday night made it even more entertaining. All of the volunteers including myself were  happy that they were able to finish on Sunday which  meant that we would get to relax a bit by hitting some balls on 17 Monday morning. I had a great time in Sawgrass and am looking forward to using what I learned on a daily basis at Rivercrest.