Sod and Stuff

Here are some photos from the past week. We resodded the walk up to #1 green with common bermudagrass and also included the gold tee on #2 and the red tee on #8. We are asking all players to avoid steppping over the rope on #1 as the sod is moist and slippery while we establish its root system. Please pull your cart to the back of the green

PLEASE DO NOT PARK HERE

SIGN DIRECTS PLAYERS TO PARK AT BACK OF GREEN

PLEASE AVOID WALKING INSIDE ROPES

THE MORE WE STAY OFF, THE FASTER IT WILL ESTABLISH

We also cleaned out the creek between #10 green and #11 tee. We do this 4x/year.

We also laid sod on #8 red tee and that came out nicely. In a week, we will roll it with our greens roller. Please avoid using the tee. The red markers have been temporarily placed on the front of the white tee, adding 15 yards.

#8 RED TEE

Despite the very challenging summer, there are always some nice shots of the course available as the following illustrate:

#5 FWY

#2 GREEN

#1 FWY (THE GEESE NOT SO COOL!)



Congrats Eric!

Eric Gifford, our current Assistant Superintendent was recently selected from hundreds of applicants nationwide to participate in the Green Start Assistant conference to be held later this year in Nth Carolina. His essay on the 3 biggest challenges to the golf industry caught the judges attention and Eric will be off to learn in late Nov. The conference will cove rmany aspects of our profession including agronomy, human resource management, budgeting and PR. This, combined with AGC's own excellent Assistant Superintendent Advancement Program, will have Eric ready to continue his excellent progress at WR and be on the fast track to becoming a superintendent. Well done Eric.

Eric with Bayer Environmental Rep Gordon Vosti

Here is a recent photo of the pond work on #10/18. Quite the progress from 2010

Green speed

The following article was taken from a recent industry publication. Tim Morgahan spent 21 years with the USGA selecting sites for USGA events and is now principal at ASPIRE golf. Tim has seen a lot of courses and has a good understanding of what it takes to prep a course for theat special week of play and how challenging it is to provide those conditions week in and week out (we do try!)

Trying to make your greens faster? Think twice before listening to those members who have a need for speed. Their desire could be your demise. What is it about fast greens that is directly related to manhood? Nearly everywhere I go, no matter the geographic region, I meet supers who have been tasked by members to make the putting greens faster. But the non-agronomic individual, typically a low-handicap player, doesn’t understand what he is asking of his superintendent, of himself, or of his golf course. Saying he wants the greens a foot faster, does he understand what it will mean to his game, let alone to lesser-skilled golfers? I doubt it. And by trying to comply with this request, the superintendent could very well be his own worst enemy. Of course, you want to keep your job and please the members. But where do you draw the line? I’m tired of seeing superintendents playing green-speed chicken, trying to outdo one another, with or without the resources and at the risk of losing turf. You know who you are. You’re not doing the rest of us any favors by swinging for the fences all the time. Compare the superintendent who lives at the edge with the one who has been around for a while – and wants to stay around – who wants his customers/members to come back, play again, and enjoy themselves, and who doesn’t want to put any unnecessary stress on his course, especially in the hot summer months. Who do you want to be? Design. Green size, surface contours, pitch and slope – these design features affect green speed and the ability to set hole locations. Any pre-1960 golf course, built when green speed was not an issue, presents challenges due to undulations and the era’s construction methods. There’s a big difference as to where holes can be placed on the green – depending on pitch and slope – when you go from 10.5 to 11.5 on the Stimpmeter. Speeding up greens takes away good-quality hole locations. That makes the game easier for the better player since most holes will eventually end up near the middle of the green. And while we’re talking about the Stimpmeter, just who is taking the readings? Does this person really know what he’s doing? I can speak with authority on this subject…as can my knees. Player ability. Here’s something you’ve probably noticed about golfers: They think they’re much better than they really are. That self-delusion leads to an interesting fallacy about greens, that a “fast green” is more challenging. I don’t believe it. On fast greens, you hardly need to tap the ball to get it moving, so you’re usually putting defensively. Slower greens require determining how hard to stroke the ball, how far will it roll, how much affect break will have – in short, the skills of putting. I don’t know about you, but I like to be responsible for my putting success (or failure), rather than be at the mercy of super-slick greens. Pace of play. Faster greens mean slower rounds and a snail’s pace of play, particularly at daily-fee and resort courses. Even private clubs will notice slower rounds on busy days. Consider investing in some lights for night golf. Firmness and moisture. Maintaining firm, smooth conditions is definitely the healthier choice for turfgrass than keeping it wet and soft. But firm and fast requires patience and resources, and the firmer and faster you want it, the more time, material, and manpower you need. Furthermore, the practices necessary to achieve and maintain these conditions are invasive – cultivation, coring, sand top dressing, regular heavy rolling – all need to be conducted when the turf is healthy and growing. So, the faster the greens, the longer and more often the course will be taken out of play. How will your low-handicappers like that? One more point about resources: Maintaining firm, fast turf requires labor, equipment, and resources means more money. Enough said. Stressed surfaces. Speedy surfaces are stressed surfaces, and it’s when turfgrass is stressed that some of the most common issues rear their ugly heads: nemotodes, bacterial wilt/etiolation, and anthracnose. And don’t forget the other effects of stress: hair loss, lack of sleep, and unhappy families. There was a popular expression when I was growing up that sums it all: Speed Kills. In our industry, it can get you fired. So slow down your greens for healthier turf – and your sanity.

#2 bridge is in place!!!!!

Yes it is true! After scheduling adjustments, our new Fibrecore bridge has finally been placed across the creek on #2. It came out really nice and we will be refining its landscaping in the coming weeks. Eventually that entire rough section leading up to the old bridge will be regrassed, once the underlying DG has been removed and good soil added.Eagle golf got a great kick out of demolishing the old bridge! We please ask that you obey the ropes and please avoid turning sharply off the ramps up to the bridge as these areas are still soft. We now join Arnold's Bay Hill CC and Merion as the only courses in the US with the Fibrecore Bridge. Enjoy the photos

Staging area 7am

Push and Pull with 2 loaders

could not roll it so we lifted it

Swinging the bridge into place on foundations

Bolting the flanges

DG added and compacted

Finished ramps. Landscaping to follow

Not a bad look

And remember, this is what we had before

Close to the edge

WR got their money's worth

Certainly enough cement

Kikuyu spray, fwy aerification and pond clean

This week saw application #1 of 3, 30 day apart applications of Drive + MSMA herbicide to rid fwys and appraoches of the dreaded kikuyu. This is on #10 approach and was taken 5 days after application. We have sprayed 125,000 sq ft and have another 65,000 to go in round 1

                                                               KIKUYU SPRAY #10

Smoked it!

Die! Die! Die!

The fwy aerification is under way with 3,14,17 and 18  complete. The process is aerify with 3/4" tines, Drag plugs then blow. A gypsum application was made this week to soften the soil. We are asking all members and their guests to please stay off the fairway being punched. The hole will be clearly marked with CART PATH ONLY ON THIS HOLE signs

#18 FWY AERIFICATION 08/08/12

Each day the hole to be aerified will be cart path only

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                                                                    #10 POND CLEAN

Slow work

A well earned break

New Bridge for #2

After much anticipation, the new bridge for #2 is on site. This spectacular bridge is made from fiberglass by Fibercore a dutch company that has a strong presence in Europe. I saw this exact bridge at the 2012 Industry show in Vegas in February and immediately saw the potential for #2. The base is a solid piece of fiberglass and is covered with a non slip surface.

As you can see, we will be relocating the crossing point on #2 closer to the center of the creek, inline with the pepper tree. Footings have bben poured and we expect to have it in by mid August. There are currently only 3 of these type of bridges in the entire US with the other two at Bay Hill and Merion. Pretty good company eeh! Enjoy.

Weclome Back !!!

I have returned. After briefly trying another blog program (and being disappointed), I will begin posting again.
I have included several photos of our recent projects, including rough aerification/soil amend and bermuda seeding, which is designed to improve the overall turf stand in our high traffic areas. The granular material should help hold moisture in these areas. A subsequent granular wetting agent application and a shot of starter fertilizer (8-30-15) will help with establishment. The membership can help greatly by keeping carts off these areas. This follows a successful program last year where we established close to 1 acre of new bermuda. We only have 90 days to get this done due to the required soil temps for bermudagrass germination.

The other project was to solve several areas that held water for extended periods of time. These were "bird baths", areas of slight depression in fwys 6,12 and 15, where water simply did not run off. We used an auger to drill 24" holes to a depth of 5'. Holes were then filled with gravel and the turf returned. So far they are working very well.

Also this past month saw us establish a massive(compared to the previous tee) new gold tee on #8. We are gradually reducing the height of cut to .325".  Fertilization this week should help it recover from transplant shock. Also, please note that even the coyotes observe the traffic stakes!!!