Obama visit

Matt Crowther, CGCS, Mink Meadows Golf Club, Martha's Vineyard, MA:

"On Wednesday we found out President Obama "might" play later in the day. A few last minute preparations like cup changing and mowing off the shufflers' scuff marks and we were ready to go. He seemed pleased to be here and said "the greens were great". What more could you ask for?

Visit Matt's blog at minkmeadows.blogspot.com

Conditioning the soil

Scott Bordner, RiverCrest Golf Club, Phoenixville, PA:

"The goals for fall aerification were to remove as much of the top organic matter as possible, give the roots oxygen to breath/create a gas exchange, relieve compaction, and create sand channels to increase water infiltration to the rootzone. The turf is very worn down at the end of the season and precaution must be taken with the turf to ensure proper recovery, therefore we perform a portion in-house and have a contractor bring in their less aggressive machines to finish it off.

We began by pulling smaller cores from the top 4" on a very tight spacing, allowing the top layer to breathe and dry out from all of the rain. The plugs were pulled to the side, hauled away, and any remaining debris blown off. We topdressed heavily with sand and brushed over the green twice to fill most of the holes.

On Tuesday we rolled the greens after they were dry to eliminate sand sticking to the drums and creating a mess. This set us up for Dryject to bring in their machines on Wednesday. These sand injection machines are the best at punching a straight sand channel through the profile. We adjusted the pressure way down for our greens to aggressively attack the top layer with a fat channel. This procedure is very labor intensive as the machine needs to be filled with buckets (we used nearly 40 tons of sand for three machines).

We followed that process with a brush and another roll before we added the organic fertilizer as the finishing touch. All goals were accomplished and the healing process has already begun.

Below are a few pictures of our three day adventure:

Visit Scott's blog at rivercrestgolfclub.blogspot.com

Ondina Sand and Bunker Cleaner

Justin Parker, equipment tech, Stow Acres Country Club, Harvard, MA:

"Here at Stow Acres Country Club, our bunkers are perpetually invaded by stones. The primary cause for this issue is the age of the bunkers, as they were installed before bunker liners became common practice. The liner keeps the rocks from permeating through the base layer into the playable sand.

With adding sand being a losing battle, this year we looked into alternatives to remove the rocks that our golfers were coming across with their sand wedges. Enter the Ondina Sand Cleaner. It was imported from Italy by H. Barber and Sons in CT to deal with the tar balls from the Gulf Oil Spill. This machine digs up to 4″ into the sand trap and vibrates the sand through a screen, filtering out any rocks, acorns, pinecones, or debris it comes across.

This machine will allow us to address the bunkers that need the most attention first, and remedy the current situation faster than we could by renovating and installing liners. The down side to this approach is, it's certainly less of a permanent solution. Each bunker that is cleaned will have to be routinely inspected and re-cleaned when necessary. Having this piece of equipment on the property will certainly make it easy to keep up with the demand though.

We are very pleased with the efficiency of the Ondina. Here you can see just how many rocks were removed from the bunker behind 1 North Green. This gives a slight idea of what we're up against in trying to properly address the sand quality in our bunkers on both courses.

Visit Justin's blog at golfcoursetech.wordpress.com

Bunker Basics

Josh Clevenger, Claremont Country Club, Oakland, CA:

"Over the last few weeks I've noticed some poor bunker etiquette. The general idea when raking your bunker is to leave the sand close to, or in better condition than you found it. The following pictures are all from the last week or so.

This bunker to the left was beautifully prepared by the staff in the turf department and it appears someone simply failed to rake their footprints, leaving this for all the golfers that follow.

This picture on the right tells quite a story. The golfer here apparently entered the bunker on the low side, played his or her shot and attempted to rake over their footprints while walking up the steepest point on the bunker face. While this is an improvement from the last photo as an attempt was at least made to rake the bunker, there are still footprints across the entire bunker and piles of sand where the golfer attempted to exit the bunker. Please remember to enter and exit the bunker on the low side. This creates much less work for you the golfer and helps to keep the integrity of the bunker faces and bunkers noses.

Here is one that is way too common... The sandy footprints tracked all over a green early in the morning. These footprints were on the green all day affecting the experience for each following member and guest. Please remember to tap your shoes off before walking across the green. The staff in the turf department cleans and mows or rolls each green daily by 9am and after that, it's up to the golfer to make sure the golf course is left as he/she found it.

Following these simple tips on etiquette can have a major impact on the golfing experience here at Claremont. While mainly up to the golfer to make sure the course is left as he found it, at times caddies may be made responsible for the bunker raking and fixing of ballmarks. Currently we are scheduling a training day for the caddies to review many of the practices that have an affect on the golf course and the golfer.