Update on #3 tee on Hole #2

Here is a quick update on the newly sodded tee on Hole #2. The sod is coming in nicely, we have mowed it down to tee height already. The sod was completely dormant when we laid it a little over 2 weeks ago. If the sod had been greened up when we got it in from the grower I believe we would already be playing on it. As it stands now we are getting very close but I believe we are still about a week or two away from getting on it and feeling comfortable about it. You can see it slowly greening up in the pictures we have taken over the past few weeks.

Storm damage

The weather forecast for Tuesday and Wednesday of this week called for severe storms and up to 4 inches of rain. Well we dodged the heavy rain and only got about 1/2" for the two days. However, we had some VERY strong winds come thru on Wednesday morning. We lost about 10 trees on the golf course with most of them going down in the area between 17 green and 18 tee. We also have a ton of debris down all of the golf course. The wind was coming in so hard that it was blowing waves over the sea wall on 18.  These pictures were taken after the strongest winds had already come thru. The waves on the sea wall on 18 are going over the short portion in the pictures but during the strongest winds it was blowing water up onto the green.We are out there cleaning up right now but it will take us more than a day or two to get everything cleaned up.

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.