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.