Cart Path Repair at Clubhouse

We have been needing to do some cart path repair at the clubhouse for quite some time now but with the location of the repair and our closed days we have not been able to work it out yet. Last week we had 2 closed days in a row and finally were able to get this work done. The concrete crew spent the first day tearing out and forming up the area and then poured for most of the following day. We kept carts off of it on Thursday and we were able to open it up on Friday.

Spring Aerification

On April 15th and 16th we aerified all of our greens with 1/4" core tines. This is our normal spring aerification but this year we are a little earlier than normal. We followed the same process as we have in the past. Our order of operations is as follows:
Topdress greens heavy with damp medium
Aerify with toro 648, 2 clean up laps, then fill in the middle. 2"X2" spacing
Brush with pull behind power brush, multiple directions
Blow off what sand and debris is left behind
Roll 2 directions
Add amendments
The rain on Tuesday morning did mess us up a little but with us being closed 2 days this week we were able to spill over into Wednesday and get everything finished up.

 

Expanding and Re-sodding tee on hole #2

On Monday and Tuesday of this week we had a chance to strip, expand and re-sod the 3 tee on Hole #2. We have always had trouble with this tee and have to re-sod this tee almost every year. We decided to change the grass type to Tifgrand. Tifgrand is fairly shade tolerant and stands up to traffic well. We also increased the size of the tee from around 900 sq. ft. to around 1400 sq. ft. Hopefully these changes will help us in the long run. We have also started using rolls of sod instead of pallets in areas that are large enough. This should help us to get back playing on this tee sooner than if we had used the smaller squares of sod that come on pallets.

Before, notice the new painted line 

Before, notice the new painted line 

Sod cut and being stripped up. The corners have to be blown out like this in order to keep the slope on the side of the tee the same as the existing slope once the tee is expanded. 

Clean up of cut sod

Tee mix added to each end and leveled with existing tee

Tilling entire tee with amendments 

Laying the first roll of sod 

Second row 

Half way across

Almost all the way across

Rolling the finished product to help smooth everything out

Full view

 

I wish that the sod would have been a little more green when it came it but with this cold winter the sod farms are not greening up like they should be either. It should not take long before it greens up and we are back playing on it.

Masters Week 2014

It was another busy Masters week here at Great Waters. We had 2.5" of rain on Monday that pretty much washed that day out but after that the weather was fantastic. The azalea's and dogwood's bloomed at the right time this year and our play numbers were high. Below are some pictures from last week.

The 2014 Linger Longer Invitational

                These last couple weeks have been filled with detailed preparation for the 2014 Linger Longer Invitational tournament. With 15 different universities in attendance, we have made a point to leave the players with the best course conditions as possible. With the cold winter that we have experienced we knew that our fairways and rough would not be at the level that we would like for them to be so most of our focus was on preparing the greens.  We did mow tees, fairways, and perimeters to clean up the divots and mow what little grass is growing on them but we did a few extra things on greens. The players and coaches were very happy with green speeds and firmness.

                Due to the level of talent that the golfers had, the already difficult course was set up in a way that would push each person to their full potential. Utilizing rarely used alternate tees, and placing pins in very difficult locations, the tournament was sure to test the abilities of each player. Saturday’s set up was not too hard with a few tees moved up and a few pins in some easier locations. This was done to ensure that everyone finished both rounds. The shotgun start went off at 8:30 and the players played 36 continuous holes that day. The University of Oklahoma was in the lead after round 1 with -19 but slipped to 3^rd after a second round score of +5. At the end of play on Saturday Georgia and Alabama were tied at -20. The final round on Sunday led to the University of Georgia taking the title, finishing the round at 7 under par with an overall score of -27. The closest team to them was the University of Alabama finishing Sunday’s round at 3 over par and an overall score of -17. On Sunday the course was set up very difficult. There were only 3 rounds under par that day and Georgia had all three of those on their team.

New assignment board in the Breakroom

We have been looking at installing a new tv in our break room to use as the job assignment board for our crew for quite some time. About 2 months ago we went ahead and installed it. The current set up has a separate dedicated computer that runs the 55" TV in the break room. We use a program called google drive to run a spreadsheet on the screen. Google Drive acts as an online storage database. This allows us to make changes to the spread sheet from any computer and any smart phone. The spreadsheet updates instantly when a change is made from any device. It has taken a little time to get all of the kinks worked out but we think that at this point we have it down pretty good. Google drive also lets you upload any photos taken on a smartphone straight to the drive. This helps us show pictures, both good and bad to the crew. We have also been using the large tv to show safety and training videos. The set up was extremely easy. We bought a USB to HDMI external video card, plugged that into the computer, then ran a HDMI cord from the card to the tv and we were done. The computer that runs the tv is located in a storage closet and it also has a monitor that is mirrored to what is showing on the tv. It has a wireless keyboard and mouse so that it is easy to stand in the break room and scroll through pictures with the crew.

Wintertime Blues

It has been a rough winter to be working on a golf course. Tuesday is our normal closed day so we have been closed every Tuesday of this year. However, since January 6th we have also been closed an additional 10 days due to snow, ice, or freezing temps. Considering we only had about 5 frost delays last winter this year has not been near as much fun. We were closed a few days the first full week of January when the temps dipped down to a bone chilling 10 degrees. Then we were closed 4 more days during the third week of January when the temps were getting into the low 20's every night and the highs were only getting into the upper 30's. The course just would not thaw out every day. The last week of January brought a round of snow for the area and we were closed for 2 days. Then just this past week we were closed for 2 days due to another round of snow with alot of sleet and freezing rain/ice mixed in. Needless to say we are ready for spring. Hopefully it is right around the corner. Below are a few pictures from the snow and ice. The first few are from the snow in late January and the last one is from the ice in February.

Cold Temperatures

We knew the cold weather was coming. The temperature fell into the low 20's at the end of last week and we actually went out and covered 7 of our weak and shaded greens on Friday night of last week.  The process went very smooth on Friday when we put them out and on Saturday when we removed them and folded them up. With the weather forecast this week we had planned on putting them out sometime on Monday and not removing them until Wednesday at the earliest.  The forecast for Monday kept getting worse and worse over the weekend so the decision was made that we would close the course on Monday as well as our normal closed day on Tuesday. This meant that we could start putting out covers first thing Monday morning.  The process did not go quite as smoothly as it had on Friday. When we started Monday morning the temperature was about 35 degrees with 20 MPH winds. The temperature was not a problem but the winds make putting covers on and getting them to stay on pretty tough. These covers can become giant kites very quickly if you aren't careful. The temperature this morning (Tuesday) was 10 Degrees, so I think it was a pretty good decision to put the covers on the Greens. Below are some pictures that we snapped while putting the covers out.