Spot Spray Fairways

Over the last couple days we have been spot spraying the fairways with speedzone, a herbicide used to control broadleaf weeds. Spot spraying may take a little more time but you are putting down chemicals only where you need it and not wasting any where it is not needed

Seeding

The 10 day weather forecast calls for rain everyday so the last 2 days we have been seeding approaches and green surrounds with 50 percent Ryegrass and 50 percent Fescue mix. We also seeded some shaded tee box's with straight Ryegrass. Ryegrass is quick to germinate and the Fescue is slower to germinate so we are hoping the Ryegrass grows quick and fills in bare spots and when the Fescue germinates it will take over. The sun is starting to get higher and stronger, some of our tee box's are fairly shaded and didn't do so well through the winter. With this Ryegrass seeding those areas will fill in and be ready for the upcoming season.

Cart tracks

If you have ever wondered why golf courses don't allow carts after a period of heavy rain....this picture explains everything.

In-climate weather

You are looking at pictures taken after 2+ inches of rain accompanied by high winds. Many trees are down, bunkers are washed out and filled with water, and sand erosion in some of the dune areas. Wet, Wet, Wet!

Chipping green

First things first, strip existing sod and prep area for construction.

Core out and shape new green. Core depth is approximately 18".

Paint out desired drain lines and start trenching.

Here we are about half way through the construction process of the new green. You can see the 4" gravel layer with the grade stakes in place to help us keep the desired contour of the green. The black liner you see on the inner wall of the green is so we can always find the original shape of the green, there is also a bio-barrier lining there to help to keep out root intrusion.

This stage is close to final grade. We added 12" of sand which contains 10% Dakota Peat Moss. The Peat Moss helps with moisture and nutrient retention during the beginning stages of the new green.

When constructing a new green the preferred method would be to seed it with the desired grass species. Due to the time of year and weather conditions we decided laying sod would be a better option.

The green was sodded with A-4 bentgrass and the surrounds was sodded with Perennial Rye grass.

Things that kill grass...

Anguina Pacificae Nematode - AKA Todes
Todes

And more todes, you know you have dead grass on a green when you can see it from 30 yards away. See the off-color/brownish area in front of the pin? Yeah, that's dirt.

How about hydraulic oil.

Yep, that kills grass too.

Transplanting a Cypress tree.