Bunker Raking and Footprints

Care of the Course: Bunkers
"Before leaving a bunker, players should carefully fill up and smooth over all holes and footprints made by them and any nearby made by others. If a rake is within reasonable proximity of the bunker, the rake should be used for this purpose."
USGA Rules of Golf, Section I

Raking bunkers after your shot often seems pointless, after all you are out of the bunker and onto the green now. However its is important that the group behind yours finds the course in the same shape or better condition than you found it. The best part of fixing the bunkers is the example you set for the players to follow, and hopefully they will follow your lead.

The video below explains the proper way to enter and exit bunkers as well as how to rake your footprints behind you without moving too much sand. The most important aspect of this video is where to enter and exit the bunker.

Treat the course as if you are playing behind your group. Repair ball marks, rake bunkers and fix your divots.

Ball Mark Repair

With the beginning of the season here, it is important to remind people proper golf course etiquette. In section I of the USGA Rules of Golf handbook, repairing ball marks is clearly stated as follows:

"Repair of Divots, Ball Marks and Damage by Shoes: Players should carefully repair any divot holes made by them and any damage to the putting green made by the impact of a ball (whether or not made by the player himself). On completion of the hole by all players in the group, damage to the putting green caused by golf shoes should be repaired."

-USGA Rules of Golf Section I

The grounds crew searches for and repairs ball marks every morning left behind from the previous days play. If not repaired, the ball marks can take weeks to fully recover leaving unsightly damage. Repairing ball marks properly directly affects the aesthetics and more importantly the play ability of the green. Any sharp object can be used as a ball mark repair tool.

Below is an informative video that shows the right and wrong ways to repair ball marks. Please take a few minutes and use this video as a refresher for the upcoming season.

Aeration, Verticutting and Topdressing

The wet start to spring the past two weeks has posed many challenges for us, especially in regards to aerating the greens and fairways. The poor weather forced us to get creative. We needed to remove organic matter from the greens, but also had to take into consideration whether the greens will heal quickly while minimizing disruption to play. Our solution was twofold, aerate the greens with solid tines and follow up by verticutting the greens. The solid tines do not remove any material from the greens making the operation much less disruptive. The verticutting does remove organic matter from the greens while minimizing disturbance to the putting surface.

The process involved multiple teams of Willow Ridge employees to synchronize their work in order to efficiently cultivate the greens. It begins with mowing the greens so that we start with a clean and even surface. As soon as the mowers were finished the aerator starts to punch holes into the greens. The solid tines help to alleviate compaction in the soil and improve soil qualities.

After the aerator is finished on the greens it is time for the verticutter. This machine uses many vertical blades that act as a saw blade to pull organic matter out of the surface. The organic matter is left on the greens and needs to be blown off and removed. The open grooves allow sand to be incorporated into the surface of the green eliminating grain and providing firmer conditions.

Verticutting

Blowing off debris from verticutting

Grooves from verticutting before topdressing

Once the verticutting is finished, we topdress the greens with sand in order to fill in the grooves. The sand is brushed in with a tow-behind brush to ensure its spread equally across the greens. Sand is spread on the greens to help dilute organic matter and to ensure the greens are true and uniform.

Topdressing

Brushing the topdressing into the grooves

We understand that aerating the greens can be disruptive to the golfers. However it is imperative that we continue this process to ensure the long term health of the greens. We thank you for your patience while we strive to provide the best playing conditions possible. Within 7-10 days the greens will be healed and ready for another great season.

Final result with small aeration holes and verticutting grooves filled with sand

New Sod Updates

With the warmer weather looming we have begun to install sod on our winter projects. The fourth tee is completed and currently growing in. The temporary tees are located in front of the forward tee for the red, gold and white tees and behind the back tee for the blue tee. Due to the amount of play seen in the late fall and early spring, the forward tee was being over played with minimum recovery. Because of this we temporarily closed the forward tee so that both tees can be opened under optimum conditions. The good news is that both tees will be open for play in just a matter of weeks.

4th tee

The seventeenth middle tee has its playing surface completely sodded with a majority of the rough sod around the edges in place. By having the playing surface sodded already we will be able to open the tee up sooner. Currently the white tee markers have been moved up to the forward tee.

17th tee

The fairway expansion and rough to the right of 8 green has also been fully sodded. This project began with the removal of a rotting oak tree. With the tree gone the area was not pleasing to look at and offered little in terms of play. A small mound was constructed to challenge golfers and provide better aesthetics. The right side of 8 also had new irrigation installed which will keep the rough dense and lush throughout the season. The fairway has also been expanded to the right of the approach. It is important to remember to keep off of new sod while it is rooting to the ground, please follow all signs and markers to direct traffic. The current path to the green from the cart path is to go around the back right bunker.

Right side of 8th green from cart path

Right side of 8th green from fairway

Winter Overview

Spring came quickly this year with the earliest opening day Willow Ridge has seen. We hope you all enjoyed the course last weekend as we put extra effort into getting the course playable. The past few months have been mostly favorable towards working outside and getting plenty of work done on the course.

The area between 11 fairway and the beginning of 12 fairway was consistently wet this past season. We identified a major trunk drain that was clogged with tree roots and sediment. This drain clears water from a large area of the course all the way up to the driving range. After finding the problem we cleared it and restored the drain. Now the water flows efficiently without backing up to the surface.

Working to clear a path for the water

Detail of the new connection

The bushes and brush in front of the white/blue tee on number 4 have been cut back in order to give a better sight line to the green. The area in front of the 5th blue tee was also cleared out to enhance the aesthetics and play ability off the tee.

Improved sight line from the 4th white/blue tee

Improved sight line from the 5th blue tee

A lot of work was done on the white tee on 17 as well as the white/blue tee on 4. We stripped the sod and began leveling off the tee. Both tees will be slightly larger than before and are better aligned towards the direction of play. The tees have yet to be sodded as we wait for more warmer weather.

17 white tee waiting for final prep and sod

4 blue tee during the leveling phase

By the 8th green the large oak tree to the right has been removed because it was rotting and in poor health. New irrigation will be installed along the right side of the hole both in front and behind the bunker. The removal of the tree will offer more sunlight to the turf, in conjunction with the irrigation conditions will be vastly improved.

Rot in the center of the oak tree by 8 green

Area around the 8th green that will see new irrigation and sod

Winter Weather and Frost Delays

With the changing weather comes changes in management practices here at Willow Ridge. Particularly in regards to frost delays caused by freezing temperatures and cold fall nights. The frost alone is not damaging to the turfgrass, but walking and running equipment over the grass can be extremely damaging.

The putting greens, maintained at such low heights of cut are very susceptible to damage when they are covered with frost. This is because the leaf blades which are 90% water become covered in ice crystals. When walked on, the the ice crystals are likely to puncture and rupture the cell walls of the plant. Often times symptoms do not manifest for 24-48 hours where a dead footprint will appear. Not only are the greens susceptible to frost damage, all of the turf can be killed when walked on with frost. This includes not only tees, fairways and approaches but the rough as well.

Damage resulting from walking on frost covered turfgrass

While frost delays can be an annoyance, it is important for everyone to understand the reasoning behind them. Walking on the greens before the frost has melted can cause irreversible damage resulting in unneeded repairs. When there is a frost delay, information can be found by calling the golf hotline. The management staff is in close contact with the first tee during frost delays ensuring golf can begin as soon as favorable conditions return.

Lightning Detection System and Saftey

Here at Willow Ridge we have an Electric Storm Identification Device coupled with four sirens on the course. This device can detect when lightning is in the area and alert golfers and employees of the eminent danger. The alarm sounds when lightning is between 0-5 miles from Willow Ridge, meaning the storm is close. The alarm is a solid tone indicating everyone to take shelter immediately, there is no telling if the lightning is on top of us or 5 miles away.

When the alarm goes off drop what you are doing and head to the nearest shelter, if you cannot get back to the clubhouse, maintenance facility or the bathroom on the course it is advisable to find a thick growth of small trees in the woods. Stay away from wire fences, metal pipes, rails, isolated trees, and other equipment.

There is also a two-toned alarm indicating that there has been no lightning strikes in past 15 minutes. It is important to stay alert and cautious during this time because it does not indicate the storm is gone or that everything is clear, it is only an indicator that there has not been a lightning strike within 5 miles for 15 minutes.

This past year the United States had 26 lightning strike fatalities according the National Weather Service. It is extremely important to stay aware of the weather and know what the lightning detection alarm sounds like and how to react. There are four loud speakers that sound when the alarm goes off, located by the first green, the seventh tee, the sixteenth tee and by the maintenance facility.