The weather finally warmed up about 2-3 weeks ago. The grass is now responding, oh boy is it responding! About .5" of growth per hour!! The close to 10" of rain in the last 2 weeks probably had a little bit of say in that and now we need to mow. I mean mow. "And when you guys finish hole 18, don't even think of washing the unit off, start again".
The warmth and plentiful moisture finally woke the turf up and it was all we could do to stay on top of it. This past week the rough machines logged as many hours as I've ever seen. The primary rough was cut 4 times in 5 days to stay fair for golf. The fescue areas were chopped down 3 times and raked up. Due to the slow start this spring, I've learned my lesson on using fertilizer to wake things up. I decided to hold off and let nature take it's course. I can't begin to imagine with a lb. of N on this rough what we'd been up against. Once we get some dryer, warmer weather heading towards mid summer we will apply a slow release product to keep the turf green and healthy through the season.
Prepping for the busy next three weeks of tourneys. Member/Member - Ladies Member/Member- Rivercrest Day Member Guest.
Just completed rough and fairway mows. See ya here again tomorrow!
Divot crew
Thank goodness for morning dew. Although the walk mowers hate when the triplex shows up ahead and steals it!
Final Day! We might just get lucky and get this in. Forecast looks rough
The dome was up! The tourney was a success and dry! INCOMING!! as the awards ceremony wrapped up
The left bunker on 8 green was a difficult bunker to maintain. Members commented to me that a golfball hit towards the rear of the bunker wouldn't roll down to the flat and made for an extremely difficult shot. We constantly checked optimum sand depth but this wasn't correcting the problem. The face just didn't have enough slope. Steepening the face was obviously a solution for playability but would lead to a amintenance nightmare. Every storm would wash this sand to the bottom adding hours to our tight schedule. I decided on sodding the face as we've done to many bunkers which will give golfers a smooth, flat stance to hit from and less time cleaning up after a heavy rain for us.
Good old eastern PA soil. Or should I say rock
Much cleaner appearance and better playability.
8 right side bunker. Reshaping the edges and prepping for new sod.
We spent most of the spring rehabbing bunkers due to appearance and playability. 18 greenside was one that was bothering me the most. The fescue face made mishit shots extremely difficult to play and overwatering from normal green applications caused difficult growing conditions. I opted to change to turf type tall fescue which will be maintained on a regular basis. The sod faces around the course we have improved have held up beautifully. Golf shots, if you were unlucky enough to end up there are much more manageable.
The before and after shots are dramatic!
I couldn't wait to jump in the backhoe and rip out this eyesore.
Lets Go guys!, sod will be here at 5:00 am. All hands on deck
When is it going to ever warm up? First pieces laid bright and early
Well, I can't remember saying okay guys, lets get out there and work between snowflakes instead of raindrops in April. Winter seems to have a wicked grip on the N.E. this season and looks like another decent snow coming this weekend. Lets hope they're wrong.
It was great to get a shot last week to begin mowing the course. Hearing the mower reels spinning gets my blood pulsing. We mowed and rolled greens and were able to get a first cut on the fairways. Easter weekend brought some mild temps and sunshine and gave the shortgrass a nice green up.
Luckily the snow didn't stick around too long Monday letting us cut and fertilize tees. Once temps get back to normal we should see a good growth spurt.
Instant green Up! Mowing off the top dormant blades.
Still dressed in winter attire but we're finally mowing
Pretty straight lines for the first mow in 4 months! Mower heights were bumped up to avoid scalping but we still bucketed a decent amount of grass clippings. Once we get a few more rolls to smooth out the greens surface the heights will come down and speeds will go up. Here we go 2018!!
5 green side bunker was another on our list for renovations. Members had commented to me that balls would get stuck near the lip on the right side and make for difficult recovery shots. We removed the liner to see what could be done to level or smooth out the uneven surface only to find solid rock. In order to keep a consistent playing surface or depth this rock had to all be removed. After the back-hoe loosened the edges, a great deal of hand work was involved to remove all the rock. The bunker was reshaped to a flat bottom with a sodded face. This allows us to keep a smooth consistent depth.
Nothing but rock.
Rock finally removed. Numerous carts of sub-soil added to smooth the bottom and finished with new liner.
Along with a few bunker projects, we are continuing the rehab of the tee edges. Over the years the "creeping bentgrass" has contaminated the tee surrounds. We have been re-wrapping, straightening the edges back to original specs. We will continue this through the season, weather dependent, until completion.
We have been renovating and repairing bunkers this winter to start the 2018 season. The practice bunker was the first we tackled. The face, over the years has been inundated with sand splashed up from practice shots. This covers the face and during hot weather quickly raises temps putting extra stress on the grass.Once we began digging down to the original soil base, we realized almost 18" of sand had accumulated.
Bare areas on the face from excessive sand. Notice the height at the peak heading down to the green.
The face was hand dug, reshaped, and then the backhoe re-contoured along the green-side.
The new edge smoothed and contoured. Then came dozens of carts filled with sand.
Almost completed, waiting for sod delivery. (the face is almost level with the green)
