Spot Aeration to Weak Areas

This summer, we are looking to improve turf health in some of our weaker areas around the course. On Thursday, July 11th, we spot aerated weak areas in a few fairways and the rough on holes 11,13,14 and 17. These areas exhibited symptoms of compaction, and should respond well to the practice. The areas also received some supplemental fertilization to grow in from the process. All of the affected areas are circled with white paint to denote ground under repair, granting relief to golfers if their ball lands in these areas.

Successful Aeration

We are happy to report that we were able to beat the rain and complete our deep tine aeration to our greens. We incorporated quite a bit of sand into our soil profile, and have worked to further dissipate our buried layer of organic material. Recovery from aeration in the spring tends to be slower than fall, due to lagging soil temperatures. Fortunately, there is a warming trend over the next 5 days that leaves us optimistic that our recovery will be quicker than normal for this time of year.

A sight for sore eyes. Each year we break through the organic material that once impeded our roots, our greens get a little stronger. As a Golf Course Superintendent, variations of the photo shown above will never get old.

Not too bad of a playing surface while we recover from the process

New Tee Markers

Members will notice that we have once again changed our course tee markers. While we were happy with the look of our in-house built tee markers when they were initially put out on the course, we have been unable to satisfactorily weather proof them, to keep them looking good throughout the year. The new “Pool Ball” tee markers should offer us a more consistent appearance throughout the year.

Old tee markers looked good most of the time, but would be overrun with mushrooms after rainy periods

New "Pool Ball" tee markers will hold up better to the elements

Improving Fairway Drainage

We are happy to report that after a couple very successful weeks of working on drainage, we have completed projects that will solve our issues with ponding on Fairways #3 and #7. While the drainage portion of these projects is complete, it will take us some time to get the trench lines back to playable standards, so in the short term, the trenching on these holes will remain ground under repair.

On #7 The Long Way is the Right Way

In our investigation of #7 we found  a pipe that already connected to the
drop inlet and were able to locate the pipe at the edge of the
fairway. This solid pipe was in great condition and easily flowed freely
 to the DI

When designing our drainage solution for #7 Fairway, we decided that rather than re-do drainage in the direction it was originally designed, we would take a longer path to the drop inlet near the green. The drainage was originally routed to the drop inlet near the cart path, which also happens to be positioned right next to a large pine tree. To avoid the tree and the havoc it can wreak on pipe, we took the challenge of a long run with minimal fall to help gravity work its magic. This required more time and materials to cover the length of the run, and also took more hand work to the trench to get the measurements just right. We believe that these extra steps will improve the longevity of the solution.

Sod harvesting began early the next morning

We then dug the trench with the back ho

The trench depth is meticulously manipulated to use gravity to our advantage

The pipe is laid and measured again, and then trench back filling begins

Phase 2 Extended to incorporate our bird baths toward the edge of the fairway

Sod is put back in place. Rolling and topdressing will help level out the trench line in the coming month

#3 offered us great fall, and a pretty straightforward run to daylight, which made it a far easier project than #7

Small Improvements Complete, Big Progress to Come

As the rain continues on into March, it seems like an appropriate time to update members on our progress with course drainage. To this point, we have only taken small steps to improve our drainage issues on the golf course. Little projects, such as running a new line of pipe from #12 cart path to the woods, and repairing the drain outlet to the right of #8 green, have been the kinds of small projects we have had the time to dig into. Much of our winter has been consumed with sand additions, and edging to our greenside bunkers. I am happy to report that we are closing in on finishing our winter bunker work. This progress should leave us free to dig into our key targets for drainage improvements. These areas include #7 Fairway, #3 Fairway, and #2 Fairway Bunker. While we may not be able to complete all of these areas, we hope to make significant progress in our goal to improve course drainage.

Smaller projects that can be completed in a single day have been very attainable in between our extensive bunker work this winter

#7 Fairway on March 5th

We have saved projects that may take more time and that could require dormant sodding until the end of winter, when we will be 
more free to give them the time and attention they need. We hope to get to as many of these areas as possible, but the weather can be an obstacle. Severe rain like the storm we had on Sunday, March 3rd, not only make these areas too wet to work in, but also create more work pushing up washed out bunkers when it does start to dry out. We will certainly be working hard leading up to spring to improve playable areas that hold standing water after heavy storms.
 

The wet weather we experienced in late February accentuated the increased drainage issue on #3 Fairway

What Do You Do On A Golf Course in The Winter Anyway?

Golf Course Superintendent's get this question a lot. Even though the grass isn't growing there is no shortage of work that can be done in the winter months. Here in the Tidewater, we are lucky enough to have a climate that is generally conducive to progress in the off season. Many members who have taken advantage of the mild winter we've experienced thus far, have already seen areas of progress, but not everything we do is immediately noticeable. Here is an inside glimpse into some of the things we have accomplished so far this winter, and an idea of some areas that we hope to positively impact in the coming months.

A big part of fall is spent prepping areas for winter, and this year we are increasing our efforts to reduce turf loss. We hope that this cover on #14 red tee, will help prevent what feels like inevitable turf loss to this tee.

The structural integrity of our pump house deck is all that separates our irrigation pumps from the wet well below them. This area can frequently accumulate rust and wear away over time. Repainting the deck, on an extremely rainy day prolongs the life of this valuable asset.

In the lengthy process of edging our bunkers this winter, we determined that the sand depths achieved during the Better Billy Bunker renovation may have left us with adequate sand levels when all sand is uniform in the bunker, but that the impacts of weather and regular maintenance make that a rare occurrence. For that reason we have accelerated our regular sand additions to give us a greater buffer to help maintain adequate sand depths. We anticipate adding a total of 120+ tons of bunker sand. This is a time consuming process, but will protect the improvements we have made to bunkers in the near future.  

Two years ago, we were thankful to receive capital investment from ClubCorp that vanquished our "lake" issue on the first half of #7 fairway. In the coming weeks we hope to begin in house work to fix the "bird baths" that have formed on the second half of #7 fairway.

There are many other areas of focus this winter that will help lead us into a successful 2019, but we hope you've enjoyed this peak into what winter is like working on a golf course.