The Nozzle Dance

Nozzles being setup in the shop

I've seen this at most the courses I've worked at.  The staff does its best to improve the uniformity of the irrigation system by switching out nozzles in the sprinkler heads.  The original combination is not as effective as desired, so another set of nozzles is used, and another, and another.  Pretty soon, nozzles that don't match up or from different manufacturers are paired together.  It becomes a free for all because no set of nozzles really works all that well.

An irrigation system should put out water as efficiently as rain, right?  Each sprinkler head costs around $150 and a modern irrigation system could push towards $2 million.  So that kind of investment must translate to perfect applications of water, so you'd think.  The reality is, even the best irrigation system is only batting 85% efficiency and that is very rare.

There are many ways we can improve the distribution efficiency of our irrigation system and we'll start with the most simple and rapid improvement.  We've already determined the most effective nozzles for our sprinkler heads, our pressure, and our spacing.  We've also determined the second most effective nozzles so we can use what we have on hand.

Here is a good before/after example of a nozzle change.  This is taken about 50 yards into the fairway on #15.  The photo on the right is not perfect, but a huge improvement and perhaps the variation in color and density will disappear over time.  This was taken only 2 weeks apart in late September.

So this is the start, but there is much more to do.  This winter we will begin the task of raising many, many sprinkler heads which have sunk below the surface of the fairway.  We need all the heads to have the proper nozzles, the proper angel (flat), and the correct height.  We are also trimming, not removing, trees that block irrigation and aerifying many locations to improve water infiltration.  Plenty to do, and hopefully, plenty of success to show from our efforts.

Plowing fairways

Aerification is often explained in terms of agricultural crops which are plowed between seasons. This brings essential nutrients up to the surface, tills in organic material, and loosens the soil to improve seeding, rooting, and drainage.  Obviously, greens cannot be plowed at any time, so aerification is the substitute.

Last week, we used our rototiller in some bare spots in the fairways, essentially plowing the surface.  This looks like an aggressive approach, but it is the fastest way to improve a perennial bare spot to good, playable turf.  The rototiller breaks up the dead thatch mat thats covers the surface and mixes the organic matter throughout a six inch deep seeding bed.  We mix in some ryegrass seed and six days later we have some seedlings popping up.

The locations we targeted for this work are mainly at the edge of fairways below the canopy of adjacent trees.  The bermuda population is low and always will be, so ryegrass is a decent substitute.  To give the new turf the best chance to survive, we rototill the soil, trim tree branches that block irrigation, and amend the soil with proper fertility.

You may notice some white flags lining these areas to encourage cart traffic to avoid the new seeds.  The flags are highly visible and save us time and money compared to using rope and stakes.  All the rototilled areas are marked ground under repair, so please take a free drop while the new surface matures.

Office Hours

As part of our continued effort to improve communication with members, we are setting aside a couple time blocks called "Office Hours."  The first segment occurs tomorrow, Thursday starting at 4:00 pm.  General Manger, Mike Spayd, and I will be stationed in the Annex and available to answer your questions or address concerns about the golf course.  The second day of Office Hours is this Saturday starting at 2:00 pm.  Please be advised that I am an avid Notre Dame fan and Office Hours on Saturday will not extend beyond 4:00 pm so I can prepare for the game against Oklahoma.  After all, I need to stick to my priorities.

If you have some questions, comments, or concerns and are not able to visit during the Office Hours time periods, I can be reached any time at your convenience.  I am quick to reply to phone calls and emails and can also make time for a face-to-face visit or even a course tour.

Thank you for your interest and Go Irish!!!

Brown spots on the tees

Have you wondered what these spots are all about?  Many of the tees had dense stands of green kyllinga, a weedy sedge, that grows to form a dense mat.  Our control methods worked well and were timed just before overseeding so the brown spots are green as soon as possible.

Another recent rash of discolored turf can be found along the border of the driving range tee and near some greens.  In these locations we've sprayed a herbicide on some kikuyugrass.  We are not trying to rid the course of this turf type, but we are limiting the spread into the fairways, tees, and green surrounds.  Kikuyugrass can be an excellent playing surface, but it is very maintenance intensive.  The photo below has some of the treated kikuyu in the foreground with the final grading of the lower driving range tee in the background.  More on that later.

Collars get their first cut

Two weeks ago, we began renovating our paspalum collars.  Yesterday, the new stand of rye grass was cut for the first time.  We used a walking mower set at a half inch to do the job and the results were decent.  As expected, some of the grass was missed as the front roller pressed it down, but for the most part, the cut was good for the first time.

A little thin on closer inspection

Looks good from a distance

Jose Luis mowing #3 

Immediately after we mowed the collars, we sprayed the surface with a growth regulator.  This product will stop the seedlings from reaching for the sky and redirect that energy to the roots and tillers to thicken and strengthen the stand of grass.  The same product was sprayed on the greens this morning to improve density and reduce growth, which both will help to improve speed.

The greens have been mowed multiple times in the last two weeks, with the first cut coming just four days after aerification.  The mowers were sharpened after this morning's tour, the second sharpening since we aerified.  The next step is dropping the height for the last time and drying out the greens now that they have healed and all bentgrass seed has germinated.

Bunker Construction

I feel like I'm falling behind on the blog even though the last post was just a few days ago.  There is so much happening on the course that I can't keep up with the pics and descriptions, but it's nice to have plenty of work to talk about.

One of the major projects of last week was the addition of a greenside bunker on #2.  This bunker is part of the Master Plan designed by architect, Cary Bickler.  We only played a small part in the bunker's  construction handling sod removal, irrigation re-routing, and the final tie in with sod, seed and the green surrounds.  The bunker is closed for grow-in right now, but will open as soon as the sod is rooted into the soil, less than a week away.

Here are a few photos of the project.  I think you'll how this bunker plays.  The sand we used sets up really well and doesn't require much time to settle and mature.  Remember, this is the first installment of the "new" Master Plan.  Can you imagine improvements of this kind throughout an already excellent layout?  This is definitely something to be excited about.

Maintenance week updates

In five days with the course all to ourselves, the maintenance staff worked long hours, took short breaks, and seamlessly moved from one job to the next.  I was proud of the crew for handling the hot weather and the intense work load.  The physical nature of our tasks last week left us all sore and tired but nobody called in sick or showed up late.  Monday we punched all the greens, Tuesday we focused on the collars until the sod cutter broke down.  New jobs went up on the board and within fifteen minutes, every staff member was out to their next assignment.  Really impressive in terms of efficiency.  When players returned to the course Saturday, I would have loved to have everything neat and trimmed, but we did not have time for that.  Next week we will do some fall cleaning.  Here is a list of our accomplishments during five closed days:

• All greens were aerified, fertilized, and sanded
• All collares were stripped, leveled, aerified, seeded, and topdressed
• All fairways were aerified.
• All tees were verticut and seeded, paspalum tees were also aerified
• A new bunker was installed on #2 and we handled the sod work
• Driving range tee, driving range floor, and chipping area were aerified
• Sand removed from #2 fairway bunker was added to the practice bunkers
• All fairways and primary rough were fertilized 

The greens were aerified using a quad tine setup on our Ryan aerifiers.  This means more holes and closer spacing.  This is a win-win for you and me.  I get more surface disruption and more thatch removed and you get faster recovery.  Below is a photo from Friday, four days after aerification and just a few hours after our first mowing.

This close up of the collars shows the seedlings beginning to emerge.  I took this picture of #9 on Saturday, four days after we finished the process.  The next shot was taken Sunday afternoon.  Ryegrass germinates and grows very quickly and you can see a difference in just a couple of hours.

The greens will get their second cut tomorrow afternoon.  The collars will fill in quickly and will be opened for play as soon as they can handle the traffic.  Thank you for your patience and for the soft foot steps the last couple of days.  Everything is coming along very nicely.  

Collares

The job board today had everyone on the same job, "collares."  We all went out to continue the stripping, aerification, seeding, and top dressing of the collars.  We finished 6 holes on Monday before our sod cutter sheared a pin.  We picked up a rental in the evening and put it to work at 7:00 am.  That one broke around 12:30 today and we went out and got another.  Just a couple of hiccups along the way, but the project has gone well.  Here are a few pictures from this detailed process:

We started the day on #6 green.  These guys are not just standing around, they must wait until all the sod is cut before
they pull it up or the sod cutter will not stay level.  We learned that yesterday.

There is a ton of hand work with this job.  We are not trying to rid the collars of paspalum, not yet.  We are working to level the surface to improve playability, improve surface drainage, and get direct seed-to-soil contact for our ryegrass.  After the sod was stripped, three staff members fined tuned the surface with flat-edged shovels.

After the sod removal and the initial grading, Rafael used the aerifier to punch some holes and open up the surface.  Our Assistant Superintendent, Ramiro, directed this work and sometimes had an area aerified twice or three times if it was too high.  Then it was back to hand grading the surface.  The photo upper right shows the seeding process which used a lot of seed.  The light brown portion has just been seeded with ryegrass.

This photo shows Abel topdressing following the seeding.  A light sanding buried the seed and made
nice home to start germination.  Frequent light waterings will have the seed popping in just a few days.

Aerification Photos (and a few more)

I find it easiest to share our fall maintenance work in a slew of photos, instead of a bunch of text.  In two closed days, we've achieved weeks worth of work.  It's Tuesday evening and I guarantee that the entire staff will be sleeping well tonight unless they are too sore to do so.  You have a very hard working staff to be proud of and this is just a small example of their work during the most important week of the year.

We started with green aerification bright and early on #9.

After the greens are clean, here comes some fertilizer.

Next we put down some sand.  Abel and Santiago did a great job, perfect application with just the right amount.

In other news, Elidio was busy punching the fairways,
completing 5 holes in one day.

A tree company was out to trim the palms and it is
a huge improvement.

This mess is our new bunker on #2, which now looks great just 48 hours after they broke ground.

Finally the big one, next to our aerified, fertilized, top dressed, and seeded green, we are stripping
the collars.  6 holes were finished today and more tomorrow.

The last two pics deserve detailed posts of their own, and you will get them.  I will update you tomorrow on the results of the collar work which required the help of every single staff member.  Their efforts will produce long-term improvements in the playability and health of the golf course.  Hopefully,  I will supply enough donuts in the morning and Gatorade in the afternoon to keep them motivated.  So far, I am absolutely thrilled.