'Tis the Season for Frost Delays

Is there any part of the winter season that is less likable than frost delays?  From my viewpoint, there's nothing worse.  Frost delays reduce our number of rounds, drastically reduce the productivity of the maintenance crew, and there's the potential for turf damage.  So, I'm sure you understand that frost delays are a necessary evil that nobody cares for.


The good news, in San Diego, is the greens very rarely get frost.  The temperatures need to drop below 32 degrees for frost to occur on the greens.  The greens are always the last part to get frost and the last part to thaw out when temperatures climb.


Our frost is limited to the rough, fairways, tees and approaches.  The rough is the first section to turn white on a cold morning as cool air surrounds the leaf blades and freeze the morning dew.  The cells inside the turf are also frozen, so foot and cart traffic will break the leaf blades and cause weeks worth of damage.  If the plant cracks down at the growing point, it will not recover.



I'm a big fan of the email system to alert the membership of a frost delay.  I will include an estimated start time that is my best guess.  If conditions change and the frost delay is lengthened or shortened, than the update will be relayed to the Golf Shop and on to you.


Our range is in a great position to get early morning sunlight and hasn't been frosted yet.  The putting greens have also been frost free so you can practice while you wait for your delayed tee time.


In no time at all, the frost will be yesterday's news, the bermuda will be greening up, and warm spring temperatures will greet you each morning.  Ahhhhh, sounds good.

Well Update

I think we can start calling it a well now that we've confirmed the hole as a source of water.  All future updates are now "well updates" whether they involve a drill rig or not.  If you haven't heard the good news upon good news, here is a portion of the update that went out to the membership today:

We are thrilled to report that the well has successfully completed the pumping test.

The fracture that was reached at 975 feet on Monday was tested on Wednesday, the 19^th, for approximately 3 hours with no break in the flow or volume of water. The Stehly's are very confident with the production potential as the drill head was set at 712 feet to deliver the air to the fracture at 975 feet. Under these conditions, the volume of water tells them that there is a great amount of pressure and water in the well. We expect to receive a water quality assessment shortly regarding the salinity of this major strike. 

Stay tuned for more news and progress reports.  

BIG WATER!!!!!

That's right, you heard it here first.  Today, we hit a massive amount of water.  When I got the call that the well just hit 300 gallons of water per minute at 975 feet, I thought it was a joke or a mistake.  That is an incredible amount of water.  They decided to blow out the water for 30 minutes to confirm the fracture as a stable source of water.  For 30 minutes the flow did not slow down.

The debris pits filled up quickly and our swan took advantage of the new water feature. 

Of course there are a few more steps to this process before the water goes into use, but finding water was the first goal and we found a lot.  Initial quality reports will not allow us to sell the water in the grocery store, but we can grow turf with it.  More to come on that note in the future along with other frequent updates on these exciting possibilities.

I leave you with a video.........

Rain Total

This was the first significant rain event in the five months that I've been here.  Before yesterday, the rain total was near a 1/4 inch since the 1st of July.  Yesterday's storm brought in 1.43 inches according to our fancy weather station and just over 1.5 inches according to the simple rain catchers we have around the shop and the course.

As a precaution, we made the call of "cart path only" before golfers arrived.  After thoroughly checking the course from every tee to every green, we were able to pull the cart restrictions and let people drive where they please.  The course soaked up the rain with very little problems.  A wet spot here or there required a sign and a little rope, but that's it.  The greens received an always appreciated flush of salts and were left very firm and green.  Green-side bunkers drained very well with no puddles this morning.  The fairway bunkers did have some drainage issues which we recorded and will address in the future.

According to my favorite weather site, intellicast.com, we will be getting some more rain tonight.  Conditions will be assessed in the morning to determine if cart restrictions will be necessary.  We will do our best to have the carts out and about to encourage play and make it a bit more enjoyable.

The radar image to the left was taken at 1:50 pm on Friday and as I look out the window, drops are coming down.  We'll take it.

Drilling Update--Water in the Well

Today, the drill rig encountered some water at 575 feet. The flow from this fracture was approximately 35 gallons per minute. The final depth for the day was 710 feet. Drilling may resume tomorrow unless it rains all day, so I hope there is no drilling.

Stay tuned for more updates....

Drilling Update--Casing Installation and Air Hammer

On Monday, 320 feet of steel casing went straight down to the granite below the course.  I've been waiting to see how this was accomplished.  Each stick of steel is hoisted in place by the drill rig's winch system.  A tow strap is hooked to the pipe just below two metal ears that are welded in place.

One length of casing is set upon the previous one and they are welded together.  The pegs used to aid the winching are knocked off the pipe with a small sledge hammer and the casing is lowered into the well to await the next length of pipe.

It was obvious that the Stehly brothers have done this a time or two before.  Everyone helping was in sync and the pipe flew down the hole as fast as the welder could go.  The casing was pounded into place, into the granite rock below.  It will keep the clay from caving in and prevent contamination of the water that we hope to be pulling from over 1000 feet below the surface.  

Last I checked, about 11:30 am on Wednesday, the drill rig was at 510 feet and quickly making progress. We should reach our target depth within 3 days and watch water flow up from the ground.

Tomorrow, we will get to watch a rare occurrence; water falling down from the sky.  Forecasters are calling for up to one inch of rain over the next 48 hours.  

Let's hope we get both the water from above and the water from below as each one will be useful.

News and Notes

I have too many items to discuss to make each one it's own post, plus there is more drilling updates to be had.  So, here is set of pics and updates for a variety of course work.

First off, we have new divot sand.  You may have seen some darker sand on the range and perhaps in your divot bottles.  The new sand is an 80% sand 20% organic material mix.  The organics will help with seed germination and provide a bit of fertility for divots to heal.  I also believe that this sand will compact better than the previously used sands to improve footing and stability on the range tee.  Let me know what you think about the new sand.  So far, the crew and I are enjoying what we've seen.

Next topic.  We had to rent a backhoe as part of the drilling operation.  We decided to make the most of the "big" machinery while it's on site.  We've ripped a couple of dead trees out of the ground, leveled our debris pile behind #12, removed an old stump next to the lake on #9, and today we removed all dead oleanders from the parking lot.  Like the stump on #9, the oleanders were driving me crazy.  They are fine plants when healthy, but ours are diseased with Pierce's Disease, as are many in San Diego County.  We will be updating the irrigation and replacing these plants with something more attractive in the near future.  Like many of our projects, parking lot work is generally limited to Mondays.

Lastly, the new pine straw bed on #2 is open to play.  Hopefully, there will be very little play coming out of this area, but it is playable if your ball comes to lie there.  This project removed a seldom used bunker from the course which reduces labor and input costs.  It also took two sprinkler heads out of service and changed two others to half circle heads.  I've tossed many golf balls at every angle and speed into the pine straw and all of them were very easy to find, usually right on top.  In the future we may add some other plants or grasses to this new water free landscape to further improve aesthetics.

Drilling Update--Down to Rock

Here is a short update on the drilling progress from General Manager, Mike Spayd.

With the aid of a different shaped drill bit, the drilling crew has finally reached the bottom of the blue clay layer at 318 feet.  They reached granite and proceeded to drill to a depth of 330 feet where they have temporarily stopped to prepare for the next phase of the project.  They will now go back into the hole and ream it out from its current 8 inch width to 10 inches at first and then to 12 inches. After this is completed in the next few days, they will then inset the temporary casing into the hole and then begin to air drill from that point on.  They expect to be able to begin the drilling into the rock next Monday and should average between 300 to 500 feet a day in depth.

Keep you posted on more good news as we get it,

Mike

I am very interested to see how the casing is installed.  That should happen Monday, so check back for some photos and another Drilling Update.

Snow mold in San Diego

Snow mold is a turf disease that loves cool wet weather.  I'm very familiar with this pathogen from my time in Stockton when the fog would hang around for months at at time.  The recent light rains and morning fog is the perfect storm for snow mold to infect the cool season grass on the golf course.

Ryegrass collar on #11 green in the early morning hours.

We closely monitor conditions for disease pressure and scout the course for signs of problems.  We've had some dollar spot, another fungal disease, hanging around the greens for most the year and we've kept a close eye on its activity.  We noticed the collars just beginning to show a problem on Monday and readied the sprayer and the crew for a treatment on Tuesday morning.  The photo above was taken Tuesday morning, so it was a good time to put down some medicine.  Most of these spots should heal up quickly.

We will have the threat of this disease for the remainder of our "rainy" season.  The entire crew is trained to recognize disease, hydraulic leaks, frost, and weeds.  It really helps to have 15 sets of eyes on the turf instead of trying to see it all myself.  As you can tell, it doesn't take long for diseases to spread when conditions are favorable.

Drilling Update--Slow and Steady

Most of you know that our native soil is thick and gray, perhaps better for statues and pottery than for growing grass.  It also makes well drilling a slow and cumbersome task.  The text below is an update shared by General Manager, Mike Spayd who has kept a close eye on rig's progress.

Dear Board and Water Committee Members:

Progress has been very slow the last two days as the drill bit continues to get bound up in the sticky blue clay that it has been moving through for the last three days.  We are currently at 285 feet; a gain of only 35 feet from yesterday, after only 50 feet for the day before.  The clay has forced the drilling crew to pull out of the hole repeatedly to clean off the clay and free up the mechanism to begin drilling again.  Each extraction takes about an hour and a half, then the cleaning and then another hour and a half to get back down to where the drill bit was before.    

Drilling will resume on Monday with a different shaped bit which will hopefully allow them to speed up the process.

Hoping to pass on better news next time,

Mike

A clean bit.

Jim Stehly cleaning the bit for over twenty minutes.

If drilling through clay is this difficult than it should be even slower when we hit rock, right?  Actually, I'm told that 300-500 feet per day is the norm during air hammer drilling through granite.  We are not quite sure when we'll find rock, but everyone, especially the men operating the drill rig, will be very happy about the change of pace.  Keep watching the blog for updates and you will be one of the first people to know.