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November 29, 2011

Bunker wrap up... Matt Crowther, CGCS, Mink Meadows Golf Club, Martha's Vineyard, MA: "Kevin and I spent the day Monday wrapping up the prep for sod on the 5th bunker. Thought we would be sodding it but the day just flew by. We raked the bottom a couple times to remove any stones before adding about three inches of mason sand to add a clean layer between the bottom and the white bunker sand. This was then compacted and we also compacted the faces of the bunker after another two dump trucks of topsoil were added and raked out. This was no small feat given the severity of the slopes. We also added a couple of dump trucks of white bunker sand and decided to shovel this out and compact this before sodding. I placed the sod so we could work if there was a frost in the morning. 5 right green side bunker ready for sod. As predicted, frost on top of sod. Will and Kevin laying sod. Completed bunker 5 green. Visit Matt's blog at minkmeadows.blogspot.com.

Holiday season but much to do... David Phipps, Stone Creek Golf Club, Oregon City, OR: "The holiday season is officially under way now that Thanksgiving and Black Friday are under our belt... Steve Mathre is never short of anything to do. Last week he spent some extra time on our equipment trailers installing extruded matting on them to protect the drums of the green and collar mowers. Last week Steve also took the initiative to clean out his shop. During the season he is so busy that there is hardly time to keep up with the details. When I walked in the door following my vacation the entire shop looked amazing. Our deciduous trees have dropped and there are just a few remaining pockets of leaves to clean up. If the week stays dry and the conditions allow, I would really like to see some sand applied to the greens. The greens will be due for a shot of fertilizer as well. We are seeing some holes appear on a few greens which are the result of cutworms. Cutworms will inhabit the aerification holes where the sand is soft and will come to the surface to feed around the edges. So far the holes are worse on 11 and 12. We will be monitoring the greens and will probably need to make some spot applications to prevent further damage. Visit David's blog at stonecreeksuper.blogspot.com.

Nasty weather work... Joel Kachmarek, Tacoma Country and Golf Club, Lakewood, WA: "There are countless jobs for us to do on those days where it is simply too wet or frozen to be on the grounds. Today is one of those "nasty weather days" and here is what Doug and Tim are working on today. Below you see Tim removing all the hoses on the spray rig so that we can replace them. Why do we do that? As you can see by the picture at right, chemical residue builds up on the inside of these hoses and causes problems with nozzle clogging. This is just one of the many things we do in the winter to make sure everything runs smoothly during the busy growing season. An ounce of prevention..." Visit Joel's blog at www.tacomaturf.com/.

Winter greens drainage Gale Hultquist, Wanakah Country Club, Hamburg, NY: "Low areas on several putting greens collect water because of poor surface slope and inadequate internal drainage. To help water move off and avoid heavy ice build up, sod is removed prior to our first snow fall. The dark channel also absorbs the sunlight helping to melt snow and ice when temperatures rise." Visit Gale's blog at wanakahcccom.blogspot.com

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