Video of covering #11

Here is a video of us covering #11 green. It is a little long and gets a little boring watching us spread out all of the sandbags, pallets, blocks, ect. that we have to put on there to keep it in place. Most of the video is sped up a lot but the part where we actually unfold the covers is almost actual speed. I condensed a 26 minute video into just under 6 minutes. Due to the size of #11 green it has 2 covers that cover about half of the green each. This makes the covers a little easier to handle due to the size, but it makes it a little bit more difficult to keep both covers down in the wind. The temperature when we started pulling covers was still in the mid 50's so it was not too cold out there and the winds were just getting up, blowing around 10-15 MPH. The camera was on a tripod and the winds starts to shake it a little bit towards then end. These temperatures and these winds are not even close to the worst conditions that we have encountered when covering this green. We have covered it in 30 degree temperatures with 30 MPH winds. Both of these covers were not folded up like we normally have them. As crazy as it sounds there is a way to fold them so that it makes it as easy as possible to unfold them. The second cover that we unfold in the video had all four corners folded in a way that all four ended up in the same place and this makes it very difficult to unfold in the wind.

USGA article on reading greens

Here is a great article from a USGA agronomist on how to read greens.

AN AGRONOMIST'S VIEW ON HOW TO READ GREENS By Brian Whitlark, agronomist, Southwest Region

 

Putting greens on golf courses built before the modern era of course construction tend to slope with the general lay of the land.   Golf analysts often comment during weekend telecasts that the greens are getting firmer and faster throughout the day, especially if conditions are dry and windy. Other remarks may refer to the greens breaking toward a particular topographic feature, such as a lake, ocean or valley. Viewers may also hear broadcasters assert that recent rains have slowed the pace of the greens. Other analysts will claim that the grain on the greens grows in the direction of the setting sun, thus the ball roll will tend to break toward the west.    Through experience conducting USGA Green Section Course Consulting Service visits and leading agronomic preparations for USGA amateur and open championships, USGA agronomists have gained a scientific and practical understanding of the often misunderstood characteristics of putting greens. The objective of this article is to share our observations that ultimately may help the everyday golfer read greens with more confidence.   How does green speed, grain and break affect playing conditions? What are the most common misconceptions?     Read More

Colder weather

The first shot of cold winter air is supposed to hit our area tonight through Thursday. We have had a few frost delay's already but this will be the first time that the temperatures will dip into the lower 20's. We staged all of our greens covers around the golf course over the past two weeks getting ready for winter. Our plan is to cover greens either this afternoon or first thing in the morning (depending on when the rain stops) and leave the covers on until Thursday morning. We got lucky this week with our closed days being Tuesday and Wednesday we do not have to worry about pulling covers for play and then putting them back on for the night. Also, we are trying to use sandbags to help hold the covers in place. Last year we used anything and everything we could find and we are hoping the sandbags will be much easier to work with and hold in place better.

Big Break Invitational behind the scenes video

Here is a behind the scenes video that we put together from the week of the Big Break Invitational.

 

Big Break Invitational pictures

Below are a lot of random pictures from last week.

Golf Channel comes to town

Tower view from #11

Wednesday update

 T & B arrived on Monday in the rain with all of their supplies for the towers. They have set up 6, 7, 8, 9, & 10 at this point and they are steady working.

 

 

 

 

Here is the tower going up behind 9 Green.

 

 

 

 

Here is the view from the tower on #7.

 

 

We have also been working hard on the golf course. Here Billie is putting a good edge on the bunkers.

 

 

 

And here is Chris spraying greens. 

Quick update

We finished up adding the sand to all of the bunkers last week. We do still have a few to pack, but as long as we get a good week in this next week, bunkers should be perfect for the Big Break Invitational. We have also been getting in some of the loaner equipment from John Deere. This coming week will be crazy. The crew will be here to start putting up towers Monday and that will last all week. More loaner equipment will be delivered from John Deere and Club Car. The giant tent for volunteers will be going up behind the clubhouse tomorrow as well. Golf channel production trucks will be rolling in towards the end of the week. We are in the final stretch and I feel like we are in a good position at this point.

Tournament prep update

Here is another quick update on a few of the things that we have been doing getting ready for the Big Break Invitational. Starting last week and continuing into this week we have been capping all of our bunkers with fresh white sand. We are not taking any sand out, only adding 1-2" as needed to give them all a fresh look and provide consistent playing conditions everywhere. This is no easy process; the sand is hauled out, dumped in and then spread by hand.

 

 

After the sand has been spread out evenly the bunkers must be packed. Normal rainfall, raking, and foot traffic will compact the sand over several months if the bunkers are left alone. However, we do not have several months, more like several weeks, so a plate compactor is used to help firm up the bunkers. They must first be hand watered and then compacted.

 

 

We have also been double track mowing our fairways a good bit trying to get the 6-12 stripes burned in a little better. Straight lines with good contrast look better for television. We have also been doing a lot of spraying of fertilizer, pigments, and primo on fairways.

 



 

Our shop is also showing signs of the coming tournament. Two crane trucks are already here and it seems like something new arrives everyday.

 

 

 

These last few are just a few pictures of the golf course. We still have a lot of things that we want to get done over the next 2 weeks but we do think it is coming together nicely.