Aerification in action

A demonstration of a walk behind aerification machine on a putting green.

Adding an irrigation sprinkler head

In order to add additional sprinkler heads on the golf course you must trench a new line and add new pipe to an existing lateral.

Pink Snow Mold

The correct name for the disease many know as pink snow mold or Fusarium patch is now Microdochium patch. Over the years, the fungus which causes this disease (now called Microdochium nivale) has been reclassified and renamed many times. Pink snow mold is common and troublesome where prolonged periods of wet, cool weather occur during winter and spring. The disease often occurs in the absence of snow and is favored by cool or cold wet weather when grass growth is slow. Disease development occurs rapidly when humidity is high and temperatures are 32 to 46 F with a maximum of about 55 F. The disease first appears as round, water-soaked spots, 1 to 3 inches in diameter, that soon turn into yellow, orange-brown, or reddish brown patches. Patches may enlarge and become light gray or light tan rings. Under snow cover or with very wet conditions, varying amounts of white fungal growth may be seen on matted leaves. Where there is snow cover, the disease may blight large areas. As the snow melts, the white fungal growth at the perimeter of the patch turns pink; hence the name "pink snow mold".

Greens mower demo

The last week or so we've been experimenting with a Baroness greens mower. It is being used on a few greens attempting to smooth out the putting surface. Baroness is relatively new to the United States and is originally from Japan. Some advantages this mower provides is the high and low clip frequency option, as well as a dual spinning grooming system.

Soil Sampling

Today I took a number of soil samples on greens 5, 12 and 17. On these greens we are experimenting with a different fertilizer and the soil test will be able to prove if this fertilizer is doing a better job than what we currently use. To take the soil sample i used a 3/4 inch probe, took a sample of around 6 inches because that is where the roots are located. I then shook the soil off the core and placed the turf back in the hole and repaired to minimize damage.

Greens Aerification

Monday the 14th we aerified, topdressed, broomed and blew the sand into the holes. This is very important for the health of the greens. Aerification helps with water infiltration, getting oxygen to the roots and removing thatch. Topdressing helps smooth the putting surface and fill the holes to provide the best putting surface possible. Additional topdressing will be needed to touch up areas and fill in holes that were missed. The course was closed the entire day making this process extremely easy and helping us complete it all in one day. 

Erosion Control

 The cart paths leading up to numbers 8 and 10 tees are very steep and have loose dunes sand along the edges. During the heavy rains we have experienced the last few days the sand has started to wash down the hill. Tuesday night and into Wednesday we were expecting to receive a large amount of rain in a short time frame. We placed these long hay filled tubes along the edges of the cart path to reduce the flow of water to certain areas of the dunes. We first needed to dig a small channel so the tube could fit in there snug against the cart path, than we pounded stakes behind the tube to hold it all into place. After that we did some touching up of the sand behind the tube.

Fairy Ring

Throughout the golf course there is alot of fairy rings on the fairways. There are 3 types of fairy rings, Type 1 causes the soil to be hydrophobic, Type 2 causes the turf to grow quicker and is dark green in appearance, Type 3 causes mushrooms to appear and all are in arcs or circles. Fairy Rings occur from decaying organic matter from a number of sources such as old stumps or decaying tree roots. First we aerified the whole surface in 2 directions than applied a fungicide and wetting agent in a drench application

Bunkers

Last week we backpacked sprayed the bunker faces with round up to eliminate the fescue and weed intrusion. We spray the weeds because it is more efficient than having the crew spend countless hours hand pulling the weeds, another reason is to eliminate the risk of pulling the bunker liner up with the weeds. I was especially careful with this application because any product reaching the turf would cause yellowing and eventually death. I also had to be very careful not to get any on my boots because than anywhere I walked would leave a foot printing affect.