Hacking...

Brian Boyer, Cinnabar Hills Country Club, San Jose, CA:

"I won't be getting any grief from our newest members at Cinnabar Hills... the five new barn owls that we will be introducing to the wild this coming weekend. With help from our bird expert Lee Pauser, our course was selected to release five rescued barn owls that came to us from Ms. Valerie Baldwin, who is a part of the Wildlife Center of Silicon Valley.

The young barn owls were discovered in bales of hay and were trained to capture live prey in a flight cage at Ms. Baldwin's home. Now that they are ready for the wild, four of the owls were placed in the barn owl boxes that we have. This process of introduction is called hacking. The owls will stay inside the boxes for a couple of days being fed mice and gophers. When deemed ready, we will open the doors and they will be free to come and go.

The owls have been banded so it is possible to track their future whereabouts."

Visit Brian's blog at cinnabarhills.blogspot.com

Range Tee conversion

Scott Bordner, RiverCrest Golf Club, Phoenixville, PA:

"I was not pleased with the quality of turf on the range tee during the 2010 season. We made adjustments over the winter to improve this season's playing surface, enlarging the tee with hopes of allowing members to use the grass portion from Thursday to Sunday. We also heavily seeded with the fastest germinating turf (ryegrass) and continued to add divot mix and additional seed every Tuesday. But we encountered another tough summer with a lack of rainfall and some steady stretches of above average heat and once again the grass did not fare very well on the tee.

Excuses don't go very far in our industry and you just play the hand you are dealt by the often relentless Mother Nature. We are making another adjustment to the tee and switching the turf over to bermudagrass, a southern turf which aggressively grows laterally and is better suited for drought conditions. The "Patriot" variety was established for athletic fields to handle the wear and tear of football and soccer in the Mid-Atlantic climates. The one challenge we will tackle with overseeding is dormancy. Bermudagrass goes dormant in October and does not green up until May. We will utilize ryegrass to maintain the surface in the shoulder seasons.

I didn't want to rip up the tee again this fall to make the transition so we came up with a clever way to switch it over without any disruption to play. We swapped out 600 cup-size plugs throughout the tee with the new Patriot bermudagrass. It will establish itself this fall, but we probably will not see much lateral movement with cooler temperatures late in the year. In May we will switch some of our practices to favor the lateral growth of the new turf. By season's end the tee will be almost completely transitioned. I will keep you updated with progress as we move through next season and hopefully we can utilize the turf portion of the tee on a consistent basis in the future."

Visit Scott's blog at rivercrestgolfclub.blogspot.com

Keeping our Equipment Clean

Doug Ayres, Corral de Tierra Country Club, Salinas, CA:

"Our staff prides themselves on keeping the mowing equipment and utility vehicles in top condition by cleaning them on a regular basis. By blowing the clippings off first, then hosing all debris off before it is parked, they make sure it will be ready to be sharpened by the mechanics or used the next time it is needed.

OK, OK... you got me! These are not our utility vehicles that we use to move sand around the course or transport mowers.

Corral has its' very own car wash manned by one of the best in the business, Efren!

Bring your car to Efren and he can make your 1972 VW bus look just like these vehicles pictured above. He works wonders. Call and make an appointment or fill out a form in the bar, office or golf shop."

Visit Doug's blog at corralmaintenance.blogspot.com/

A little (extra) help...

Sean McCue, Country Club of Castle Pines, Castle Rock, CO:

"We are scheduled for our fall aerification October 3rd thru October 5th on all of the play areas. That said, yesterday we went out and aerified the greens on holes 4 and 10 in an effort to help those two greens which have struggled since they were sodded last year.

These two greens never really rooted properly and I decided it would be in the best interest of the overall greens health to punch them an additional time before October. It will take a couple of days for the excess sand to become less visible as the green grows out through it.

This extra aerification will go a long way to help with rooting and a disruption of the sod interface layer that has had a negative impact on sod establishment. Couple this with cooler temperatures and additional nutrients applied, the greens will have a fighting chance to become a real green one day."

Visit Sean's blog at cccpgcm.blogspot.com

New design, compliments of TurfNet

Jim Alwine, Stockton Golf and Country Club, Stockton, CA:

"Did you notice the new header and the updated design? My friends at TurfNet, a website dedicated to golf course maintenance, provided this service free of charge. I've been a member of TurfNet for all six years I've been superintendent at Stockton Golf and Country Club and I use the resource often as an educational tool.

The work on the blog was a nice bonus and an improvement that was long overdue. Now if I can just get them to write up a post or two when I'm too busy, I'd really be impressed."

Visit Jim's newly spiffed-up blog at sgccturf.blogspot.com. And yes, we'll do your blog too... but TurfNet members only!