Good morning.  Today is our spray day for the fairways.  Prior to this application we mowed the fairways which required five men to complete in record time.  Tomorrow is the Women's US Open Qualifier so we are spending some quality time on the greens repairing ball marks and topdressing some thin areas.  A plant delivery arrives tomorrow so most of the crew will be installing shrubs and trees during the competition.  Please remember next Monday we are aerifying the greens and the course will be closed all day while we perform this important cultural task.  Sorry golfers!

 

Mowing fairways prior to spraying them.

 

 

Josh spraying with Tano as the training continues.

 

 

Tis the season for pollen and such.  Here we blow the practice green temporarily covered with oak catkins.

 

 

The step cut around the collars has been set and is now mowed to its correct height.

 

 

Seeding thin areas around five tee.

 

 

Trimming around trees on Monday as we play catch up.

 

 

Coach Rechin trimming on the fifth hole. 

 

 

 

We opened the driving range tee on Friday for the weekend.  This picture illustrates perfect practice allowing the turf to heal from both sides of the divot.

 

 

Here is an example of poor practice which will require additional time to heal.  The bermudagrass is just awakening so we will play off mats during the week until it is growing aggressively.

 

 

More nice mulch work by the crew.

 

 

 

 

 

Mondays are now our favorite day of the week!  Well it still is Monday but oh what a difference.  We are so much more productive and our labor is maximized to complete tasks that normally take much longer.  Thank you!  Yesterday we core aerated all the tees, sprayed greens, repaired divots on the front nine, aerified and seeded the driving range fairway and worked on the 15th tee beds.  Whew!  That is a weeks worth in a day.

 

Francisco core aerifying the 10th tee.

 

 

Luis seeding the driving range fairway after core aeration and dragging the cores.  About 600 pounds of perennial ryegrass was used.

 

 

The seed bed.

 

 

The crew working on the beds at 15 tee before they begin cleaning the tees.  Richard is watering the greens nursery in the foreground.

 

 

This will keep the weeds out.

 

 

Bent sod on the 18th fairway with bermudagrass poking through (the small dark spots).

 

 

A closer look.  Bermudagrass infested areas have been extensively seeded but germination is slow.  Soil temperatures are still at 50 degrees.

 

 

Divot repairs on the front nine fairways.  The guys used more than twice the amount of sand than the previous week meaning we have golfers!

 

 

Topdressing tees on Tuesday morning.

 

 

Our spring tulips have been exceptional- summer annuals are next.

 

 

18 green bed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The golf course is beginning to grow and fill in.  Soil temperatures have climbed to fifty degrees.  Seed is germinating and the power of spring in on full display!  Another productive Monday allowed us to accomplish more projects.  Dimension herbicide to prevent crabgrass was applied to most of the fairways before the wind made it impossible to spray.  This will be completed Tuesday.  Newly seeded areas in the fairways were not treated and will be keep moist as we try to improve our bentgrass stand in these areas.  A second application will be made in six weeks.  All aerification plugs were spread and seeded as well.  The rest of the crew worked on weeding beds in preparation for mulch. 

 

It has been a prolific spring for winter weeds due to the wet fall and winter.  Chickweed, henbit, bittercress and annual bluegrass are all in abundance this spring.  Generally herbicides are not required as these will disappear with mowing and warmer weather.  Roughs will be mowed to 2 1/2" for the first time this week.

 

 

Hairy Bittercress

 

 

Henbit easily diagnosed by it's purple flowers.

 

 

Waitea Patch on our greens- a given that this disease will be present in the spring somewhere on our greens.

 

 

Spreading plugs to fill in a perennially wet area.

 

 

An area on the driving range.

 

 

Beds weeded and waiting for mulch.

 

 

Pollinating garden in process.  We will raise the right side of this bed with aerification cores to prevent storm water from entering.

 

 

Storm damage and an unfortunate event to this Sargent crabapple.

 

 

We purchased a rotary bush hog to replace an antique.

 

 

Our tulips have been exceptional this spring. This bed at twelve tee is spectacular!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

Warm weather greeted us to start the week and the course is starting to blossom.  We had another successful Monday with fairway aeration nearly completed.  In addition a tree contractor removed specific overgrown or dead trees and ground all stumps on the course.   Most significant was the removal of three Bradford pears at the club entrance.  Did you notice?  These trees had become a hazard and needed to be removed before they removed one of us!  New landscaping will begin in that area later this month.

 

Aeration equipment galore as we start Monday morning.

 

Sunrise special!

 

 

Conditions were excellent for a good clean aeration.

 

 

Keep your eyes on the road or this could happen!  Yours truly was watching the purple martins and bam!  The operator and cart are fine.  One of the benefits of removing cores is the amount of soil we generate to fill in low areas, etcetera.

 

 

After the cores were removed and the fairways were dragged and blown they looked like this.

 

 

Seeding bentgrass into bermudagrass infested areas.  With some breaks with the weather we should make some progress in establishing more bent in these areas.

 

 

Here is a picture with the Bradford pears....

 

 

And after. 

 

 

Another view before....

 

 

And after.  New landscaping will be added soon.

 

While the fairways were being aerated the crew completed this bed at the 16th tee with new landscape edging. 

 

 

The 8th tee is about ready to open. This profile shows an excellent root system at least five inches deep.

 

 

Another casualty attributed to last season.  In over twenty years there has rarely been any algae in our ponds.  This is the pond on eleven.  Too much silt and excessive nutrient leaching has promoted this.  We are receiving estimates to remove the silt in this pond. 

 

 

Jack and Gill doing their thing!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our first week with partial close closure on Monday was a great success.  This promises to be a great help in keeping the course in better shape.  On Monday we worked on four specific projects without interruption.  We sprayed the fairways with a fungicide and growth regulator that had to be delayed due to cold.  (We would not have been able to complete this task if there had been normal play).  In addition we were able to repair nearly all the divots in the fairways.  The entire club grounds was aerated and prepared for overseeding as well.  Lastly we had a crew prepping for sod which was delivered and installed on Wednesday/Thursday.  Thank you!  The course and greens staff really appreciate it!

 

The soil is still quite cold but changes are coming soon.  This is from Wednesday afternoon.  We had three heavy frosts this week.

 

 

Monday morning Josh applying a fungicide and growth regulator to fairways with Tano in training.  With the course closed we were able to train him rather than use his labor on course prep.

 

 

Practice bunker prepared for sod installation on Wednesday.

 

 

What a nice job!

 

 

Richard watering freshly laid sod.  We are hoping for some rain Friday (can't believe I said that).

 

 

Removing the flower bed at nine tee and relocating the tee sign before sodding.

 

 

The crew raising and lowering rough areas by the 13th green to divert storm water into a drain inlet rather than have it travel across the 12th fairway. 

 

 

Seeding around the club grounds.  Please try and stay off these areas so the seedlings can get established.

 

 

Our wildflowers are starting to take off on the third hole!