This week has been a busy week to get some things accomplished while the course was closed.  We solid tine the greens to create air/oxygen to get into the root zones.  This will help to create a healthy environment for healthy root growth and bentgrass greens.  We did a medium topdressing to the greens to fill solid tine channels and to incorporate sand into the thatch to dilute thatch and create better air space around the crown of the plant. 

Fairways were overseeded using rye grass at a rate of 300 lbs to the acre.  We did 30 acres on Monday.  

Seed should start to germinate over the next week and after approximately 14 days we hopefully can get a mower on it to start the management process for the rye grass for fall, winter and spring golf. 

Virlina Dryject was here on Tuesday to do the greens.  This process involves taking kiln dried sand 

and inject it into the greens profile.  We injected it to a depth of 2-3 inches.  Our main goal was to incorporate sand into the thatch area to help with firmness and infiltration.  We do testing on the greens profile every couple of years to see how the greens are aging.  The last test showed the greens profile below 1-2 inch depth are perfect.  The top 2 inches is where we need to continue to incorporate strategies to increase air and infiltration.  This is a common tread with golf greens since organic matter can accumulate faster than we can ever dilute all of it and still manage to play golf.  

Arborscapes was here on Thursday to remove all the ivy from the sycamore trees around the clubhouse 

and to prune the limbs that have become so over grown.  along with making the trees look better they also will have health benefits for this huge trees  

The crew from arborscapes used ropes to lift them up inside the tree canopy 

so they could do select the pruning 

Our crew worked on checking and correcting sand depths in the bunkers on Wednesday and 

Thursday of this week

Aeration Plus Landscaping from Powhatan was on site to help us do some landscape enhancements around the clubgrounds. 

 

Aeration to greens

All greens were aerated with 1/2 inch hollow tines to a depth of 2.5 inches at a 1 inch spacing. All plugs collected and removed from greens. 

Removing plugs to get ready for sand.



Brushing and blowing sand. Practicing social distancing with the corona virus happening across the country.

Sand was added at 1/2 ton/1000 ft2 and rain followed that night. A second application of sand will be added to the greens next week at 1/4 ton of sand per 1000ft2 

Thatch Dilution

During the first part of March we did a few solid tine cultural practices to the greens. We first topdressed greens with sand to  1/2 ton per 1000ft2. Second we solid greens with a 1/2 inch solid tine to the depth of 1.5 inches. This is to create a fill area for the sand to end up in the area in which we know there is more organic accumulation. Then we had a 1/2 inch deep tine performed to the depth of 7 inches at a 8 inch spacing to loosen the soil to a deeper depth. This will encourage deeper root growth. 

No aeration plugs were  removed during this process. 

Brushing, blowing and handwatering in the sand was followed for the finial steps. With the new irrigation system not completely in operations at this point we were able to get water to all greens surrounds for handwatering options. This was a huge help. 

Sand and aeration to the bentgrass surface 

A look at the solid tine patterns of both machines once they both finished the green.

Small solid tine machine 

Example of the deep tine machine. (This was a picture from in the fall of the year) 

Brushing in the sand 



Holes filled with sand 

Top 1-1 1/2 inch is where the majority of the slow water infiltration is and organic matter is the problem 

Handwatering in the sand after the brush and blowers have blown most of the sand into the holes 

Irrigation renovation

The Irrigation renovation is under way! Close to 30 years of the original irrigation system and the time has come to replace it. The heads, fittings and pipe are past the expected life span. The new system is a state of the art Rain Bird IC system. There will be no control boxes on the course. Each irrigation head is basically its on computer module. We will have all controls through a central controller in the turf care facility along with I pads and app use through our cell phones.

The new system will give us better individual control of each head and allow for better water management throughout the entire course. 

Winter work

Over the last two months the weather has been warm to allow the staff to get a head start on some projects and continue with tree removal to help the Bermuda grass have the best chance for growth.  With more cart traffic over the last few years and like always the transition from rye grass to Bermuda grass coverage in the fairways the Bermuda needs every advantage it can get to out compete the stress that comes with the transition and cart compaction.  

Below you can see the guys are checking, adding and correcting sand depths in the bunkers. last week they went through all the bunkers and cut out the areas that had grown in over the last 12 month so we would not loss the definition and contours  

During the last week of January I went to the Golf Industry Show in Orlando.  I was able to play some golf, meet with colleagues from other areas around the united states along with new vendors. Also took some classes to learn some new ideas along with gaining CEUs and went to the trade show on my final day to see some new tools and technology 

Tree removal has been a big project so far this winter.  We have taken down over 100 trees that have a negative impact to turf quality or hinder sight lines and playability of the golf hole. 

Here is hole #4 where we have taken down the tree on the right of the hole to shift the fairway over about 15 feet.  Seven trees on the right up by the green were also removed to make way for a shot to the green.  As you can clearly see in the picture over half the green is blocked by trees and tree limbs.  This hole has been an ongoing discussion for 12 years.  I have consulted with the USGA, Andrew Green our architect during renovation suggested this 10 years ago and several golf professionals.  With the turf getting worse on the left side of the hole because of trees and shade we were forced to cut the trees and provide a better landing area and more shot making abilities to the green. 

 

The irrigation Contractors have started installing the lateral lines and installing the new irrigation heads.  The lateral lines are HDPE Piping. all the connections are fused together by heating and compressing the joints onto couplers or pipe ends.  This process is basically seamless

One of the lateral lines being plowed into the ground around 18 inches.  The lateral lines do not need to be trenched wish saves time, money and less seems from sod reestablishment. 

Here is a section of 8 inch HDPE pipe getting fused together at the road crossings at #1

Here is two sections of HDPE piping getting fused together in preparation to install at the bridge crossings

The first head being installed at hole #3

The irrigation contractors are doing a very neat job with the installation.

Here is the only disruptions that is left after the plow has pulled in the lateral lines.  A heavy 

asphalt roller is used to smooth these areas out. 

We have been planning an irrigation renovation to the course for around 4 years now.  We hired on Paul Roche from Golf Water Irrigation. Paul is an irrigation consultant that has helped us prolong the life of the old system we had for a few extra years so we could plan for the new renovation.  

Paul has helped us with bid meeting, design of the new irrigation, competitive bidding with contractors along with answering a lot of question about the process, timing, cost and installation along, with helping us find the best contractor to do the work.  We have hired Nutt Irrigation from Tennessee. They are a national irrigation contractor doing work through out the United States. We are happy to have them during our install. I have downloaded some picture of the mainline getting installed. Our system is a hybrid between PVC mainlines and HDPE laterals

Here is one of the trenchers creating a ditch for the 8 inch mainline.  Plywood is laid down 

so the machine does very little damage and the dirt stays on the plywood.  This makes it easier to put back into the trench and allows for a cleaner job.

8 inch mainline being installed

The mainline on #6 getting ready to be installed 

The mainline in this picture has been installed, the trench has been compacted and sod laid back 

over the pipe.

Here is one of the storage bins for the irrigation heads 

Some of the 8 inch main lines