The Hard Work Continues

Since the last post we have not stopped to take a breath, keeping the pace up to continue setting the course up for another successful season.The project on number 7 is moving along quickly and laying the sod is scheduled for Tuesday April 21st. Both the fairways and the tees have been successfully aerated, and we have even put our first cut on the rough grass. As some have noticed we have put covers on portions of the 2nd, 8th, and 15th greens to promote growth and give the turf more favorable conditions through the slow spring.

Because of the extended winter some of our greens are taking longer than usual to recover and green up for the spring. In order to help move the grass along we are laying covers over the affected areas. The covers help to keep warm moist air closer to the soil surface during cold nights, similar to a blanket. These covers are put out in the early evening before temperatures drop and removed in the morning as the temperatures begin to rise.

 Laying one of the covers on the eighth green.

Laying one of the covers on the eighth green. 

Fairway and tee aeration are as important and integral to our management strategy as aerating the greens. Aeration promotes a firmer playing surface by removing organic matter from the soil profile. It also encourages a stronger root system for healthy plant growth and development.

Aerating the sixth fairway.

Using our Sisis to break up the cores pulled from aerating.

After the cores are pulled from the fairway, we break them up to reincorporate some of the soil back into the ground. What remains on the surface is dry organic matter which is blown off into piles and subsequently cleaned up. 

The rough has began to grow, more so in some of the higher elevation areas on the course than others. This past week was our first time cutting the rough fully including greens/tees surrounds.

Mowing the rough for the first time of the season.

The Season Has Officially Begun

April 10th and the golf course is beginning to shape up. Our crew has been working hard to clean all the debris left over from the fall and winter, as well as get our playing surfaces up to snuff. The past couple weeks have been extremely busy for us, however we have made tremendous strides in the past 5 days alone.

The course was officially open for its first weekend and while the weather was not stellar, there were plenty of golfers.  We moved the tee markers out on to the course as well as moved the flags from the temporary greens to the regulation greens. Ball washers, benches, garbage cans and other course accessories have been placed out on the course.

Cutting the first hole of the season on number 9

We kicked off this week with greens aeration. While this generally receives moans from the golfing community, aeration is one of the most important practices we use on the course. By removing organic matter and less desirable soil from the putting greens we help to alleviate compaction and improve the root zone mix. This does slightly disrupt the putting surface, but it is only temporary and if we were to skip aerification we could run into more severe problems with our greens.

Aerating on the 17th green

There has also been a lot of progress made on number 7. The right bunker has been shaped out completely with just minor adjustments before its ready for sand. The left hand bunker has had a drain added to the furthest section and the faces are shaped nicely. Grading the floor of the bunker remains to be done. In the new section of fairway we have begun to lay down topsoil and grade the area for proper surface drainage.

Installing filter fabric for the drain in the left hand bunker

Left hand bunker with drain visible in the back

Left hand bunker with projected sand line painted on bunker face

Winter Weather Coming To An End...Maybe

Firstly I would like to introduce myself, Ryan Carey, as Assistant Superintendent here at Willow Ridge and the new author of this blog. Some of you may have seen me through the past season and I hope my hard work has not gone unnoticed. Coming from the University of Connecticut Storrs with a bachelors degree in Turfgrass and Soil Science I spent my first two years at Burning Tree Country Club in Greenwich, CT on the grounds crew. I came to Willow Ridge Country Club in the Spring of 2014 in an effort to expand my knowledge base and advance my career towards my ultimate goal of becoming a superintendent. I have thoroughly enjoyed what Willow Ridge to offer including my fellow employees and the members. I look forward to providing the club with the best possible conditions and another great season.

With the past week of temperatures reaching the mid 50's it looked like spring was finally upon us. It is nice to get back out onto the course and begin to prep everything for this upcoming season. Always looking for ways to improve the course we have worked hard to get the course accessories in tip-top shape. Through the winter we have been busy refurbishing the tee markers, ball washers, benches, as well as creating new bird boxes.

The tee markers were hand sanded down and repainted with two fresh coats of paint to ensure that they are as vibrant and clean as they ever were. With over 100 tee markers out on the course, it was a lengthy process to ensure the quality we strive for.While the ball washers underwent a similar treatment, the benches were broken down into the frames and slats. From there the pieces were prepped for either painting or staining before being reassembled.

We also are replacing some of our older bird boxes with brand new, hand crafted bluebird boxes. Made out of cedar to ensure that they stay beautiful for years to come.

Assembling bluebird boxes

Throughout the last week we began to clear the snow and ice off of the greens. Prolonged periods under ice and snow become favorable for turfgrass pathogens and create a poor environment for the health of our greens. Our two main goals are to prevent crown hydration where the turf uptakes surface water which then freezes and ruptures the plant cells. And to prevent ice encasement where the air underneath the ice becomes toxic and depleted of oxygen. Both of these can result in plant death, so we do our best to thwart any upcoming problems.

Using shovels and the snow blower to carefully remove snow from the 6th green

Unfortunately, the forecast is calling for 2-5 inches of snow tonight into tomorrow. However the sunny skies Saturday should melt the snow quickly making it seem like the storm never happened by the end of the weekend.

Revamping the Seventh Hole

Substantial progress has been made since our last update on the seventh hole.  After the removal of sod, we directed our focus to filling in the front left bunker, and reshaping/expanding the front right and far left bunkers.  The bunkers on the left hand side of the green, have undergone quite a transformation.  Rather than having individual bunkers along the left hand side, the bunkers are being combined into one large bunker.  The bunker has been shaped with new capes and bays to create depth, as well as give the bunkers some much needed character.  The bunker has also been expanded to encroach on what will be the new approach.

The right hand bunker is also going through some transformations of its own.  Much like the bunker on the left, it is expanding, again encroaching on the new approach.  The bunker is being reshaped to create more depth, while also injecting more aesthetic value.  Much of the work performed thus far has been roughly shaped, leaving the fine details to be finalized when the weather breaks to accommodate such steps.  

Drainage was also installed in what will be the new approach on seven.  The drainage runs through the right hand bunker which will help in reducing standing water in the bunker itself.  We're looking to remove as much water, both surface and subsurface, from the area to create a firm, and dry approach to encourage more shots to bounce up onto the putting surface.  

Given the variable weather and the reduced crew size, significant strides have been made on the renovation of the seventh hole.  When weather permits we will have to finalize both bunkers, as well as cap the entire approach with 3-6 inches of a top mix (sandy mix) to promote a more uniform root zone that allows for better water infiltration and thus firmer conditions.  Although the snow has shut the project down, the silver lining here is that we're likely only a week or so removed from laying sod, and getting the hole ready for the 2015 season.  

Expanded bunker on the left side of the seventh green.

Seasons Greetings

From all of us on the grounds crew, we'd like to wish you and yours a spectacular Holiday Season, and look forward to seeing you in 2015.

All the Best...

-Grounds Crew

Time is Fleeting

The 2014 Golf season has come and gone as quickly as the latest social fads pop up and fade into trend purgatory.  It was again a very successful season, where we felt we had built upon the foundation from years past and streamlined our operation to continually improve.  We continue to progress and grow, and will continue to offer conditions that suit our golfing membership.  That being said I hope you enjoyed golf this year as much as we enjoyed providing you with great daily conditions.  So we leave 2014 and welcome a new season, with new challenges and new goals of which we intend on exceeding, we will see you in 2015.

Throughout the week we will be going through our standard procedures to close the golf course.  These steps include closing the holes in the greens, removing all tee markers, bunker rakes, benches, as well as the remainder of garbage cans.  We will be placing the flags in the temporary greens in those holes that have them, keeping in mind that most par threes are lacking a temporary cup.  We understand that sometimes the turf may resemble a healthy actively growing stand, but this time of year does not offer much latitude for recuperation.  By that we mean that although green and healthy, the turf is not growing at this time (and if it is, it's growing at a negligible rate).  Also with a great reduction in solar radiation and it's strength, normal rain events that would typically dry in a 12 hour period during the summer take a couple days this time of year, leaving a saturated profile not capable of withstanding golf cart traffic.  Not to mention excessive water, with freezing temperatures pose a problem as well.  As you're all aware ice is simply water with a crystal lattice structure, that lattice structure is created when the water expands as it freezes.  Now if it expands in the plant and fails to rupture the cells in the plant, chances are your golf cart will rupture the cells rendering the plant dead.  We tend to err on the side of caution, because everything takes place much slower this time of year, and that includes recovery if it is even possible.

COURSE UPDATES

At this point we have completed the renovation of the 2nd blue tee, 7th water tee, 10th ladies tee, and 18th blue tee.  Each tee involved the stripping of sod, regrading of base material (Which was added), followed by the eventual resodding.  We have also begun the renovation of the seventh hole configuration.  If you are not aware the new design will bring fairway height turf right to the green itself, the front left bunker will be removed to accommodate the new fairway, and the bunkers on the far right and left will be renovated to breath some new life into the hole.  We are very excited about the project, and after getting started last week we have made good progress until getting stymied this week with wet conditions.  To this point we've stripped all the sod from the area being transitioned to fairway, the front left bunker has had all the sand removed, and the original fairway on seven has been halved from its original size.  We will continue to update you on the status of the project as things progress.  Apart from projects, the leaf cleanup has kept us quite busy as I'm sure many of you can attest to, while over the past couple weeks we wrapped up our final chemical applications as well as our final cuts to all areas.  That being said we are excited about the prospect of our ongoing projects and hope everyone has been enjoying the holiday season.    

Stripping nearly half of existing fairway on seven, and  salvaging quality sod to be reused

Resodding what use to be fairway with quality rough sod harvested from what will serve as
the new fairway expansion 

A look at the transition from fairway to rough, and the beginning of the transformation from
rough to fairway nearest the green.

Resodding the seventh water tee following the final grading of the surface.

The seventh tee following sodding

Adding an additional irrigation line to accommodate slightly larger teeing surface on ten
ladies tee.

Fall Ball and More

It's that time of year when trees begin to steadily shed their leaves, the full spectrum of hues can be seen among the trees, and incidentally (this is a person preference) this is prime time golf weather.  Autumn brings in cooler temperatures and tends to push out the humidity that does it's best to cling on to this metropolitan area.  It also signals a change in our maintenance practices or I should say at least the frequency of practices when compared to the peak summer months.  With cooler temperatures and a great reduction in solar intensity, the growth habit slows, water requirements are reduced, disease pressure is greatly reduced due to lower humidity, and inputs as a whole are greatly reduced.  This allows us to alter our mowing schedules, spray schedules etc., which happens to be great timing, allowing us to focus on other practices that correlate to the autumn months.

The transition in weather correlates directly to our transition in maintenance focus.  As cumbersome as it is to stay on top of leaf cleanup, it's something that must occur.  It does in fact suck up a good portion of our maintenance crew, however as mentioned earlier the weather acts as a universal growth regulator slowing down the otherwise voracious pace of mother nature.

You'll notice that the greens have been aerified just this past week.  The crew worked exceptionally hard, and with cooperative weather we couldn't be more pleased with the results.  This may in fact be a bone of contention for many, but it is imperative that it be done, and frankly they're still relatively smooth.  Aerification signaled our last significant cultural practices, and now with autumn weather in full swing our focus can begin to shift to other projects that need our attention.  We have completed the resurfacing of the men's blue tee on the second hole, and we are poised to begin other tee projects the scope of which are more substantial than the second tee.  Ironically enough the weather while slowing the growth habit of the course in preparation for the looming winter months, has accelerated our work habit toward other ancillary projects, which will all have a positive effect on the not too distant 2015 season.  Enjoy the fall ball, and we hope to see you out there.

Touching up rough grade of the blue tee on number two, before putting finishing grade on tee.

The blue tee following sodding.