Course Update

 



Over the last two weeks we have gone from one extreme to another and we have had to change gears a little bit.  It seems we will be starting the growing season a little early this year.  With temperatures above normal even though soil temperatures are still cool we have already mowed the greens, tees and fairways which is always exciting!  It was nice to get them cleaned up a bit anyway.     With record temperatures at the end of February and lack of rainfall that forced us to get our irrigation system pressurized the earliest I ever have.  At least this will give us more time to continue to address any problems that we may encounter. 

 

 

 

Recently I attended the Mid-Atlantic Golf Course Superintendents Association 2017 Educational Seminar.  Over 100 people attended the conference to listen to speakers from universities and consultants in the turf field.  Continuing our education is very instrumental in keeping up with trends in the turf industry especially after summers like we had in 2016.  There were various speakers and topics discussed during the day and some of their presentations really hit home in regards to conditions that Superintendents faced last summer in regards to the weather.  As you can see in the picture above discussing soil temperature and how much more important that is than air temperature during periods of stress.  Just like the temperatures in our body if we get to hot we feel miserable and cannot function very well.  The same can be said for turf grass roots when the soil temperature gets to hot.  In a nut shell when the soils heat up the damage to the actual grass plant may not be visible until several weeks later and by that point your in trouble.  So just imagine waiting for summer to end if we get extremely high soil temperatures early on!  Basically recovery will only begin when the soil temperatures start to drop.

 

During the conference they raffled off a new bag with the Mid-Atlantic GCSAA logo on it and guess who the lucky guy was!  Can Steve Newsome please come up!

 

I would like to personally thank Dave Bell for adding a few bluebird houses to our course.  As you can see Mr. Bell spent some time on these beauties.  They are located to the left of the first green, in the native area between 4 and 5, in the native area between 5 and 15 as well as one to the right side of 7 tee box in the native area.  Nice work Mr. Bell and Thank You!

 

One March 1st we received a nasty front that moved in and unfortunately for us knocked down some trees on the course.  This is a willow down by the creek on the first hole.  We had the tree company on it first thing on Friday morning starting the cleanup process.  After they complete the chipping and removal of the tree the stumps are ground down below grade and we are left to cleanup the debris, fill the hole with soil and sod.

 

A favorite I am sure by many was this pine just short of the left greenside bunker.  If you look the background you will also notice a tree that fell on the right side of hole 16.

 

 

 

This was a pine on the right side of 15.

 

 

What better timing!  Our order of trees arrived at the beginning of March and we did not waste anytime getting them in the ground.  We installed the trees in a few areas where we had lost trees in the past.  Overall we planted 10 trees that have some good height to them already as you can see in the picture.  We planted 2 Maples and a Linden on the right side of 2 fairway, hole 5 received 3 Norway Spruces, hole 7 had 2 Lindens and a Maple planted on the right side and hole 8 had a black Gum planted on the left side.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Goodbye 2016 and Bring on 2017!

 

 I know it has been long time since my last post but I wanted to start off 2017 heading in the right direction by getting things done and that includes keeping the membership informed of current projects, practices and general information about what is going on at Montgomery Country Club.

 

 

 



Our logoed tee markers have been refurbished and look really good.  After about 3 years of this tee marker taking abuse from the weather it was definitely time to make them look good again.

 

Another project that stared inside our shop this winter was building some screening for the porta johns on the golf course.  We decided we did not need the one by the snack shed so we asked the company to remove that one.  We also moved the unit that was by 3 tee and put behind the green next to 4 blue tee.  Since we wanted to remove the landscape bed that is next to 4 blue tee we decided it would make a perfect spot.  After removing some lirope and spirea we hauled the topsoil away, installed the screening, added some sod and a new stone path.  We will be planting some skip laurel along the sides and back to add to it.

 

 

As we do every winter some necessary tree work was completed but that also meant taking down some trees that are in decline.  The picture above is an ash tree that is infested with Emerald Ash Borer.  What you are seeing on the outside are signs of woodpeckers going after the insect.  If you were to pull away the bark you would see tunneling for the Emerald Ash borer.  Unfortunately for us we had 5 ash trees that needed removing because of this destructive insect.  They were on holes 1,7,8 and 18.  We also took out an Austrian Pine along the driving range net that was diseased badly with diplodia and needlecast.  Along with these trees being removed we had our debris pile chipped up as well behind #6 green.  Since having our debris pile chipped up, several days of extremely windy conditions continued to blow leaving us with more debris an limbs to pile back up.

 

 

Another project we needed to get fixed up this off season was getting a wet spot fixed on the driving range.  For those who do not know our driving range is our septic field.  Yep, don't need to talk about that sh-t anymore. 

 

 

 

As a way to help continue to alleviate some areas that don't look as good as they should and that also take up a lot of our time as well we decided to renovate some landscaping beds on the course.  We decided that we could eliminate and at the same time add some interest without totaling losing the feature itself.  If you have been out to the course behind the 1st tee we eliminated the burning bushes and mulch bed behind the blue tee and added a split rail fence which gave us a really clean look. 
The picture above shows what the circle bed to the left of the first hole is staring to look like.  After disposing of all the landscaping we were trying to remove we kept exposing more rocks and more rocks.  You can see where this is going right?  We decided to just expose the rocks and create a new edge with sod and then mulch around the rocks again for a really clean look and also easier to maintain.
Next to the 6th tee station there was a small landscape bed that just needed to be removed.  It always seemed very busy over there any way and we just ground some stumps, graded the topsoil and sodded.
Another area we removed was the landscape bed behind the 13th tee.  We removed the existing landscape and installed sod.  Next month we will get a split rail fence up to go with the same theme on the 1st tee.

 

 

 

 

We did have a causality during a recent wind day.  This maple is to the left of the 18th blue tee.  Cleanup will continue on this for a while and the tree will probably have to be removed. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

USGA Northeast Regional Update

http://www.usga.org/content/usga/home-page/course-care/regional-updates/northeast-region/every-cloud-has-an-unseen-benefit.html

Course Update 8/18/2015

 

 

Trying to make time for all of the little details on the course.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The new netting is finally up and looking good.  Believe it or not but there are only 3 nets that were installed along with all new wire and hardware.  The netting used is the same type of netting fishermans use so you know it is strong and will last if it can hold up those those conditions.

 

 

 

 

 



Course Update and a Great Article

 

Golf Course Update

 

     It is hard to believe that August is here and that's when we start to think about recovery from a stressful summer.  We will be aerifying greens August 11th and 12th if the weather holds up.  As I am writing this the forecast does not look good for Tuesday the 11th.  If we need to push back aerification we will until Wednesday and Thursday but lets cross our fingers and hope that we can stay on schedule.  We need to be a little careful with this aerification due to the weather patterns that we have had over the past several months.  Even though things may look good on top down below is what I concern myself with during an aerification in August.  What I mean is that we have had several different swings in weather patterns during May, June and July.  May was dry and that is good for growing the roots down below.  June we received over 3 times the amount of rain we typically get and combined with high humidity it can do a number on the root system and the grass plant.  When we have conditions like this in June the grass becomes lazy, excess nitrogen is released from the soil causing puffy turf conditions, the grass is extremely hydrated, and oxygen in the root zone is minimal because of the saturated soils.  When conditions like this persist there is always things that we will battle for the rest of the summer.  Even though we can aerate with small solid tines to help with oxygen exchange in the soil, trying to dry something out is tough when we cannot manage the rainfall.  This is why we have sand greens.  As long as we can manage the top couple of inches and keep the organic matter and thatch under control we can continue to have greens that will have good infiltration rates during these times.  I have attached a very good article that everyone should read from the USGA about our area this year. 

 

http://www.usga.org/content/usga/home-page/course-care/regional-updates/northeast-region/climate-is-what-we-expect--weather-is-what-we-get.html

 

 

    Also this week the new driving range netting will be installed starting Wednesday the 12th.  Why are we doing this you ask?  There are several reasons -  first is safety.  We continually have nets that rip and fall down during high winds because of the netting was never installed correctly to begin with over 11 years ago.  Second the life of the netting has failed because it was never installed correctly. Each pole should have wire at the top and bottom and then going down each pole to attach each section of netting keeping it tight.  That is where they failed.  Instead of running a wire down each pole whoever installed the netting actually just used rope down the poles in several areas.  There are also sections of netting that are one net but actually cover two sections and the rope was just over top the net going down the pole.  The installers will work continuously once they start to finish the job.  I appreciate your patience during this improvement. 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Course Update 5/24/2015

 

 

What a busy week and it started off hot!  It felt like July on Monday and Tuesday but things cooled down before the weekend!  On Monday 5/18 we were able to get the greens double verti-cut, blown off, mowed and applied a light topdressing before our 1:00 pm shotgun went off.  We verti-cutt when the bentgrass gets what we call "leggy."  The light topdressing is more of a consistent thing we do but when we can get it into the grooves from the verti-cutter, that's a good thing!  We also received 1.75" of rain Monday night that helped wash in the topdressing which was right on time with how dry things were the previous week.

I know a big discussion around the club is why did we remove the broken tee boxes at the tee markers.  First the teeing area looks more inviting and open.  Secondly it is one more thing that the setup guy in the morning has to move.  The above picture is not what we want to see.  If you are willing to pickup your tee and throw it to the side, just take it back to your cart and leave it in there or put it into the trash can.  We still have to pickup the tees that you are leaving and it is basically littering.  Please help us keep our course clean!

 

 

Here is another example of where people are throwing there tees.  Next to the tee on #8 is a tree with mulch around it and about 20 broken tees laying in the mulch.  Another few steps and the tees could have ended up in the trash can or your cart.

 

 

With the pool opening a week earlier this year we got busy getting tables painted, setup, cleaned and pressure washed.  After getting the pool deck and strap furniture pressure washed we turned our attention to other areas that needed it.  Here you can see how dirty the concrete pad is under the covered pavilion by the pool, but not anymore!

 

 

Making the deck next to the snack shed look brand new!

 

 

Another concern we addressed this year was adding mats to the pool house in the ladies and men's bathroom to prevent any slip and fall accidents.  When we put the tile down last year it was becoming very slippery when the floor was wet.  We put 20 mats down to prevent any accidents this year but please remember to walk and not run while in the pool house!

 

 

Wow is that our snack shed?  Yes it is and it looks great!  Finally all of our buildings have the old T-111 wood siding covered with vinyl siding.  The snack shed also got new granite counter tops outside, stairs, door and screen doors well.  All of the exterior work to the pool house buildings are complete. 

 

 

Here is the before picture as they started removing the old windows.

 

 

Here is the finished product.  The pool house received a new roof, siding, windows, paint and all of the wood trim was wrapped in metal.  The pump house to the left got the same treatment and a real door was added.  You can see the swim team record board hanging in a nice PVC frame in the center of the pool house. 
I would like to say Thank You Shannon Allcock with Shanco Companies for doing such a great job!



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 







Golf Course Update

 

This signs of a new year are upon us.  It has been awhile since my last post and I apologize but better late than never.   

 

The first cuts of the year happened last week.  Now with the days getting longer and temperatures rising the grass is about to explode.

 

 

We completed our green aerification last week.  This Spring we decided to use a 1/2" solid tine instead of pulling a core.  Even with the inclement weather we had on Tuesday we still aerified.  If we were pulling a core this would not have happened due to the rain and wet conditions.  With the rain keeping the golfers away we were able to aerify the entire back 9 and half the front on Tuesday and we finished up early Wednesday morning to stay on schedule.  On Wednesday we kept the back 9 closed until we finished up verti-cutting the greens in two directions and topdressed.  Once we finished the back we closed the front and got the entire process complete on schedule. 

 





We finally got our roller back up and going in time for aerification.  Here you can see the roller smoothing out the green after we aerified it.  Sorry for the blurry picture but the roller was moving fast!

 

Here is #9 green on Friday after dry mowing the greens before the weekend.  Even though there was still some sand evident after a .25" of rainfall Thursday night we were able to get through this.  Typically I like to wait a few days and roll first then mow so we don't bruise up the greens with the abrasiveness of the sand.  All that is left is a good shot of liquid nutrients to get the color back and get some new shoot growth happening. 

Course Update

 

Over the past few weeks during times of heavy frost or really cold days we needed to change direction since the weather would not allow us to continue to keep working on the filling the holes where the trees were removed.   A project that needed some much attention was the pond banks.  We started to clean up all the tangled blackberry that surrounds the small pond on hole 10 and to the left of the 18th tee.

 

 

 

We were able to pick back up this past week once the snow melted that hung around for about two weeks and get back to clearing.  We have made a lot of headway and pretty much have everything knocked back and ready to be chipped up.  After chipping everything we will rake up the leaves and prep the slopes to prepare for seed.  Once we get into spring the plan will be to apply some post emergent herbicides and keep the blackberry from coming back giving us a pleasant sight line around the ponds.

 

 

Here is a picture from yesterday when the snow started to fall.  We measured about 3 inches of snow and by the looks of the forecast maybe more will be coming next week.

 

 



Course Update

 

 

 

 

Here is a picture of the first tee after a recent storm that had ice coating everything.  As you can see in the picture the only tee that has any standing water is the white tee and most of it is in the back of the tee.  Adding drainage to this area has been on the to do list for some time now.

 

 

With the help of some really nice weather on Monday December 15 th we pulled the trigger and decided it was time to get this project going.  We first painted a line where the sod cutter would remove the sod and laid it next to the trench so it would go back in the same spot as before. 

 

After the crew spent a few hours digging a trench and a mighty good one at that we installed some drainage gravel and pipe.  Once the pipe was covered in gravel we went ahead and put some topsoil and then replaced the sod.

 

We also had the tree company back in to remove 5 more trees.  Why are removing these trees you ask?  These trees are Austrian Pines and have been diagnosed with diplodia tip blight which have made them decline over the years.  I also would not recommend planting them.  After about 8 years old these trees are very susceptible to diseases and are very costly and tough to control.

 

The trees that were removed where on holes 1 and 9.  There was one to the left of the path and two past the fairway bunker on hole 1.  The other two were to the left of the left fairway bunker on number 9.

 

 

 

 



Course Update

 

 

 So far it seems that the best golfing days are on Monday's and if it is good for golfing it is really good to get some more cultural practices done before the deep freeze really sets in.  We took advantage of the warm weather on Monday and deep tined the practice green using the "Soil Reliever" to aid in drainage through the winter months and also the 12th fairway.  Even though no carts are allowed on the 12th fairway we still get compaction from mowing.  We were using solid tines that can reach down 6 to 8 inches and even deeper depending on the length of the tine so there was not much disturbance to the surfaces but the roots in the subsurface will greatly benefit from this practice.

Using the soil reliever on the practice green

 

 This week we also completed our last winterization project by blowing out the irrigation system with an air compressor.  I always try to do this during days when the course is not that busy because it can be noisy and distracting as we move the compressor from hole to hole activating the irrigation heads and listening for air to push any remaining water out of the system. 

We also have made some changes to the tee marker placement on the par 3's for the winter.  We are only keeping the red and white tee markers out and putting them together around the senior yardage since this is an area that does not get that much play in season.  We are doing this so the other areas get a much needed break during the winter.  Also we will be putting out the cupless markers out on the practice green so we can still move them even when the green is frozen and cutting cups cannot happen over an extended period.

 

 



Happy Thanksgiving!

 

 

The first snow of the year!

Seasonal Changes and Prepping the Course for Winter

We have had some really great weather this year and the fall has been no different. Already there have been some frosts this year and some blasts of really cold weather we are encountering now. These recent cold blasts has put tell us when we need to get certain things done and also when to stop doing others. There are so many things that we have to do to prepare not only the course but also the clubhouse and grounds for the winter. Up to this point we have been busy mulching leaves and trying to keep the playing surfaces free of debris, the tees received a heavy application of topdressing, patio furniture has been stored, the ice and water machine on the back patio has been winterized, the irrigation system has been drained but not blown out yet, the coolers have been brought in during the really cold snaps, the greens received a fungicide application for winter diseases like snow mold and the last cut on the tees, fairways and rough was completed. Even though we are experiencing some unseasonable frigid weather we will not be frozen for long which will allow us to continue to knock out some small projects. We have also cut back on our staffing levels for the winter which brings up some things to consider during this time of year when normal maintenance practices are limited by staffing. One of the most important items to address is raking the bunkers. There are times when the sand in the bunkers is frozen from the really cold temperatures but we always try to keep them raked during the off season when we can. You can help us out by just making sure to rake your footprints after hitting your shot. This picture below is what I do not want to see, after only 3 hours after raking this bunker on the first hole are footprints leading to where this golfer hit their shot and leaving his foot prints not raked.

If you look close you can see footprints starting below and walking towards the center of the bunker.




The sand based bentgrass tees were core aerified again this fall and topdressed and the other tees were just topdressed.  Our main focus was to first do the tees with a high population of bentgrass to help firm them up and dilute thatch.   

 

 

During some high winds the old netting on the driving range ripped.

 

Phil and Mike securing the netting back up.

 

Tree work on the driving range tee.  The two locusts on the driving range tee had to come down, they were dead and a hazard to anyone hitting balls.

An old pine tree behind 17 blue tee that snapped years ago needed to be removed as well.

 

 

This is the pine tree on the left side on 17 fairway.  Finally after removing a dead leader a few years ago the rest of the tree died an needed to be removed. 

 

  

White lines painted on the surface roots that need to be removed.

 

 

It's starting to look a lot like Fall!

 

I know it has been a while since my last post but we really did not have a lot projects going on.  With our hands full just mowing grass I wanted to wait until the Men's Member Guest was over before we started do a lot of the cultural practices that we typically do in the fall.  During October we have groomed and topdressed the greens twice after an application of a granular fertilizer.  The tees have all been aerified and select ones were seeded with perennial ryegrass.  The tees that have a lot of bentgrass were verticut in two directions. We were doing well seeding fairways and almost got through the ones that we wanted to seed before our tractor that pulls the seeder had to have a repair done, so we are still waiting to get that back.  The fall annuals were planted around the clubhouse earlier in the month.     Following our second frost of the year we have started to see the leaves really change colors.  This past Wednesday with nearly .8 inches of rain a lot of the leaves and pine needles that are shedding have started to fall.  This is just the beginning of about a 4 to 6 week leaf cleanup season.  While the grass is still growing and our efforts are still focused on mowing which is our first priority and leaves are second, we will do our best to keep them mulched up as best we can.

 

If you look closely you can see lines of new shoots emerging after grooming the greens.  This is just another tool we use in trying to get the grass to stand up before we mow the green.  Brushing and topdressing are other practices that aid in this as well. 

 

 

 

 

Here you can see lines of the newly seeded perennial ryegrass growing.  Typically at first until the new grass matures some grows taller than the existing stand of turf.  This will go away as the grass matures and after a few cuts.

 

 

 

Newly planted pansies on the back patio

 

 

 

Some mums added as well

 

 

 

This picture was taken on October 22nd on the 4th green.  I'm not quite sure what has happened here but I know it is not oil or gas.  We are going to keep an eye on this area and plug out any necessary areas that need it.

 

 

 

Here we are verticutting the tees that have a lot of bentgrass growing in them.  We verticut in two different directions to help thin out the thatch which we have a lot of.  After this is completed we mow the tee and back ready for play.  In the near future we will topdress these tees to help firm them up.