Thanks for the season

Its that time of the season, staff is on a vacation, course should be wintering quite nicely and the the heat and humidity of 2011 are behind us.

It was a difficult season, started off with actually removing ice of of 4 greens after the great snow in January. I've been here 16 seasons, that was a first.

Course opened in March, employees came back at the end of the month, had the course looking great.

May was the first test, with our I-80 Amateur test, rained both days, had well over an 1.5" of rain in 2 days......then the first of 2 flood events in May and June.

June was going okay, until the direct lightning strike to the irrigation system, then lost some turf on the 14th fwy, 14th green was good. It finally came down to soil chemistry, water, and juvenile turf that succumb to the heat and flooding.

July was the most difficult month all season, started out hot and then humid and it stayed for over 2 weeks...Had a rather tired staff and super.( My central air was out at my house)

August started out ok, attempted the 1st of 3 seedings on 14th fairway...did a whole lot of aeration, seeding, topdressing, and watering to revive this hole. Come to figure out the irrigation water was causing some problems.

September and following months was like planned clockwork...aeration, seeding, high school kids....

No major irrigation problems this season. Maybe after 16 seasons the pump station finally aknowledged I'm the higher authority here.

Finally I would like to thank all the people who golf at the Sanctuary Golf Course, it's staff and the volunteers who make this happen.

I'd like to personally thank the guys on the grounds staff, who worked through the brutal season we come to know as 2011.

I've been in this business called golf since 1984...this season ranks up there with the worst, 1988, 1991, 1995, 2010, and now 2011.

Thanks.

2011....Is it done yet?

It's way too long since I've posted, so I'm gonna be having quite a list here. The course has so far come through the fall with flying colors. I'm going to list the things that have been accomplished since September.

• Aerated all playing surfaces
• Topdressed Greens, problem areas on fairways, and approaches
• Reseeded and topdressed 14 fairway
• Leaf cleanup
• Brought in all golf accessories for winter service
• Removed trees approved on holes 14 and 15
• Covered range tee for the winter
• Applied all snowmold controls to greens tees and approaches
• Organized shop for winter storage and work
• Staff left for the season on October 28th
• Irrigation system was winterized in early November
• The course is still open, and available for play
• Equipment servicing has begun
• Budgeting process has begun

With this list, we've come to the part of the season that staff likes, Vacation.

It's been a way too long

It's been way too long since I've been on here.

A lot has been happening around here.

14 fairway recovery...reseeded 3 times. Finally looking like a fairway. This includes some new drainage near the 150 marker.

Aerated 19 greens, 8.5 hours and topdressed with sand, and fertilizer.

Aerating fairways with solid tines, almost complete!!!! Tees and approaches are next.

Just completed our 3rd high school conference meet today. Kids are finally done.

We will be planning and execution of some tree trimming and removals on 14 and 15 fairways.

We will be doing greenside drainage on holes 2, 3, and 6. This is from water freezing on the these greens and had to be manually removed last February.

Sodding will be on greenside slopes on 2,3, 6, 10, 14, and 15. This is for various reasons, such as tired grass...drainage...lack of grass from bunker sand buildup.

Any questions feel free to email me at mowerdouge@hotmail.com, I'll be glad to get back to you.

Heat ...HEAT... and just for good cause...more HEAT

I sit here and write this in my office catching a chill with the A/C at 78...go figure. Today's heat index reached 112 before lunch today.

The staff has been doing what I call a fantastic job for only 6 seasonal and 3 full time staff members. I'm to the point of considering the irrigation system a full time staff member. As of today is has operated 24 of the last 25 evenings. These were full on whole course waterings. So when you see a staff member, remember they are the reason why the course is looking as good as it does.

What we are doing due to the heat and humidity:

• Course has received fungicides and growth regulators applied on all playing surfaces.
• Greens height of cut increased and frequency of mowing has been decreased.
• Routine maintenance activities have been modified due to the heat and humidity, they will return to normal when cooler seasonal weather arrives.
• Hand watering of putting surfaces in conjunction with the application of wetting agents to the playing surfaces have been good at retaining moisture.
• Needle tining of putting surfaces...this allows the greens to vent gases and allows water to perk through them. Remember we are throwing a lot of ground water from the pond.
  

I had received a visit from the CDGA agronomist, Dr. Derrick Settle, mostly discussing the plight of the 14th fairway. He has made several recommendations , which include several tree removals for root competition, different variety change to the fairway turf, and a minor change to the chemical treatment program. This is along with a minor drainage project in the fairway and we will be doing some tree root pruning.

FYI, .19" rain in July...record was .89, which .76 fell in one storm.

Any questions, feel free to contact me at the course... the guy on the Gator#4, and as always, please rake the bunkers, fix your divots, and repair your ball marks.

This time of the year, due to various reasons I'm usually asking for some snow....So who's with me?

Well, It's been awhile....

Folks, it's been a while...

We've gone from WET to dry....go figure.

Just as a follow up from the last post, the maintenance building was struck by lightning. The strike came in from the irrigation radio remote control system antenna, then went through the control system, into the PC, then out to the IP based phone system, which in turn took out the phone switch, 2 phones, a network card, the onsite weather station, and the computer printer.

So for your folks keeping score this season, it's Mother Nature 3, Doug 0.....2 floods and a lightning strike....

Course is in good shape considering the lack of rainfall is dictating the nightly use of overhead irrigation. Hand watering is being accomplished during play. Any necessary additional overhead watering is done before play begins at 6AM.

Needle tine aerification is being done in the mornings to open up greens due to the use of constant overhead watering and needed gas exchanges.

The 14th Fairway is roped off again this season....dry spots, floods, root dysfunction, and tree root competition have given the fairway it's annual spanking. So we will be reseeding the fairway with a different variety of bent grass and doing a very aggressive core cultivation with the seeding. The plan is to do this the 1st or 2nd week of August, weather and Mother Nature permitting.

Since the last time I posted....

Well since the last time I've posted, Mother Nature has reared her ugly head.....3.5" of rain at the course.

We've had a flood which closed the back nine for 3 days. We had water on holes 5, 6, 10, 12 through 18. The water on 17 and 18 was the last to go... again. Suffered some minor damage with debris and cart path restoration work on 14 and 15.

The bridge on 6 had water running across the bridge deck and flowing around it. Had water on the approach on 5 for a day. All the bunkers had to be pumped(72) and plowed back up. so far 144 hours of labor in just in storm management costs.

Friday morning, apparently I pissed off Mother Nature, she decided to strike the maintenance building with lightning. She hit the irrigation control radio remote antenna, which in turn took out the control panel, then the PC, then it went to the phones, and weather station, and then to the phone switch and mechanic's phone and PC..... I'd love to show you pictures, but I can't get them out of the camera, they will follow.

So the course is back to open, all 18 carts are 90 degrees today.

Any questions please feel free to ask.

Yeah , it rained just a wee bit...

Here is a couple of pics from today's little rain event.....

18 Fwy at 1PM


18 FWY at 8am

I would like to thank Mother Nature today for the lovely 3.5" of rainfall.