Lake Update

Shoreline ready for concrete.

Today, our lake contractors, Cook and Solis Construction Inc. will begin to install a liner in the lake.  Over the last week, they have been scraping back a foot of soil to be used as cover on the liner and hand digging the keyway for the wall.  Concrete will get poured next week, starting Tuesday when trucks will drive right into the lake basin and pump concrete to the shorelines.  During this process, it is very important that golfers stay clear of the haul road.  That means that no carts will be able to park on the right side of the 11th green because the concrete trucks will need to keep moving, not waiting for play.  A staff member will be on site to help guide traffic and prevent delays.  Click on the link above to see some of the handy work by Cook and Solis.

This is the path for concrete trucks, near site of future pump station.

 The liner is a thick, waterproof membrane that will be welded at the joints and even to drain lines entering the lake to ensure it remains watertight.  When the 17th green is open to play this weekend, players will not be allowed into the lake for any reason to protect the liner.  That means no retrieving balls or playing from the hazard.  The lake edge will be lined with caution tape and signs to help relay this message.

Installation of new overflow pipe.

Also, the pump house is "on the rack" finishing up assembly.  It will come ready to go and completely assembled.  I'm sure everyone is eager to get the course back to a normal 18 and start realizing the water savings this project will allow.  The wait is definitely worth the reward, so thank you for your patience.  Don't hesitate to contact Mike Spayd or myself if you have any questions about the status of this project or any course conditions.

Water News

Water is always a major topic around the club.  The frequency of a water-related discussion has only increased since the discovery of our new water source and the construction of the reservoir.  Visions of lush green turf from one corner of the property to the other can't help but creep into the minds of everyone who believes that more water is surely the answer.

I believe that more water is rarely the answer when it comes to growing turf.  We already use plenty of water, but we need to use it more effectively.  Quantity is not the limiting factor and adding more water will not solve all the brown spots.

I apologize if this is too technical in nature, but I've had this conversation dozens of times with individual members and it's time to put it on the blog.  So here goes the explanation of hydrophobic soils:

Soil particles sometimes repel water and refuse to get wet.  Water passes around the soil, through the soil, over and under, but does not stick.  The roots certainly cannot take advantage of water that is not there.  Adding more water does nothing to solve this problem.  That's just more water finding a drain line or recharging San Diego's ground water supply, and maybe our well.

You've all seen hydrophobic soils before.  When you let a house plant become extremely dried down and attempt to water it, the water hits the counter or floor as soon as it leaves the watering can.  The soil is still bone dry and the plant is no better off than before your attempted irrigation.  This is hydrophobic soil.  It is cause by organic acids that build up on the soil particles.  The soil needs to be treated with a wetting agent to get it to accept and hold water.

Here are a couple of pictures of the 4th fairway:

The brown spots and the green spots get the same amount of water, but they obviously are not performing the same.  This area is all hybrid bermuda and needs very little water to succeed.  The brown locations are suffering from what we call localized dry spot.  This is hydrophobic soil that repels water.  We could stick a hose or sprinkler here all day and the green spots will get wetter, the brown spots will not change.  This was all green a week ago, but our wetting agent has worn off and needs to be reapplied, a scheduled event, starting soon.  Today we dealt with a power outage (which also knocked out irrigation) so we'll have to wait another day.

You've all seen hydrophobic soils and you've all used wetting agents.  The soap that helps you do dishes or wash your laundry are both wetting agents.  The primary purpose of these products is to break surface tension.  The wetting agents we use break surface tension, facilitate water movement into the soil, and may also hold or move water in different degrees.

So, more water is not going to work on #4 and we don't want to waste water regardless of the source.

There are many other issues we need to address when trying to improve irrigation efficiency.  I'll explain some of our other efforts in another post because this one is much too long and probably put you to sleep.

Tournament Time

Today is the final day of the Heights Classic, the annual Men's Invitational.  Since we try to provide the best conditions possible, day in and day out, the tournament is not greatly different from any other day. However, there is a little more detail work, a few extra rolls of the greens, and of course, early start times to get the course prepared.

The staff did an excellent job in all respects of tournament preparation.  We handled an irrigation power outage to half the course without anybody noticing and no turf loss.  Greens were rolling a consistent 11 on the stimp meter from start to finish.  We also experienced zero mechanical breakdowns besides one flat tire.  All in all, it was a great tournament week.

To reward the crew, we joined in on the fun and conducted a putting contest of our own on the creative design prepared by Jacob and Mike from the Golf Shop.  The theme was "great moments in golf," but was more like ridiculous moments in golf such as Sergio in the tree on #10 at Bay Hill and Phil slipping on the rocks at Pebble.  There were trees, bunkers and water hazards and many tight fairways with OB on both sides.

The crew had so much fun on this track in a competitive outing.  At the end, it came down to a playoff with a two-way tie at +1.  Jose Luis completed an impressive round, carding two aces after an opening double bogey.  Juan was the early favorite and followed through to tie for the lead.

The five hole playoff, watched by the whole crew, wasn't decided until the final putt lipped out on the fifth hole, a replica of #18 at Augusta.  Congratulations to Juan Mendoza, this year's champ in what is sure to be an annual event.

Leveling #17 approach

We took advantage of the hole closure on #17 to tackle a project I've been eager to complete.  The approach on 17 had a large mound just before the green around two sprinkler heads.  (Photo below) I'm not sure how it got there, but I bet that many golfers have played victim to a vicious bounce toward the lake.


With the hole closed for the lake project, we had plenty of time to do this project and to do it right.  The sod was cut and arranged in the same order it came out.  If the sod gets put back in a different order or orientation you'd be able to see the difference between each piece.


We used the sod cutter to remove layers of soil until the grade was about right.  Unfortunately, the soil beneath was nothing short of awful.  It reminded me of the blue clay we found at 300 feet during the drilling of our well.  We could have cored out a section and replaced with sand, but then that portion of the approach would behave differently than the rest.  Instead, we aerified, mixed in some native soil and sandy material, and added some good fertilizer.

The sprinkler heads needed to be lowered by nearly 6 inches along with the surrounding soil.  When everything was tight and level, we put the puzzle back together in a very picky fashion.  We put it down, pulled it back up, added more sand or took some out until it was just right.

Six people helped out with this project, which was simple, but a great learning tool.  I really enjoyed how picky the crew was with how the sod went in.  I also liked the way they debated and hassled each other to get the job done right.  Good job.

The last pic shows the finished product.  It might not make a difference in most rounds of golf, but if you want to chip and run or if you come up a bit short, your ball will stay on the same line as it should.