Divot Project & Frost

Week 3 -- Closing In But Not Recovered

This is the third week after starting this divot project to see if the color of the sand or if seed was added would aid in the quicker recovery of the divots around the course.  As you can see by the picture green sand with seed (top picture) or without did not speed the recovery of the divot.  Same is true about the 50/50 mix tests. 

The bermudagrass itself is starting to finally come through the divot but to date no seed has germinated ... which is kind of what I expected.  To get seed to quickly germinate additional irrigation inputs must be done to keep the seed moist ... our regular irrigation cycle isn't enough to help in this process.  We will continue to monitor the progress and report our findings.

Frost again? ... yes indeed.  This morning the front nine holes were heavily frosted again ... and in March with the temperatures at 45 degrees.  The good news is that a warming trend is in our forecast.

Got back for the GCSAA seminars and trade show last night.  I have some valuable information to pass on to the Green Committee and learned some ways to better address our bunker issues.  Additionally, I have some new rakes coming that may address the difficulties they we face in the morning with our wet blow sand bunkers.  More to come.

Greens Are Getting Too Fast

Will we in GCM or the pro shop ever hear from the members that the greens are becoming too fast? ... Nope.  Too slow, of course, too fast never.  Why is that, and how do we know when the greens are too fast?  First, it is not in the nature of your average golfer to ever think that the reason a golf ball doesn't stop where you putted it to or even roll back at you is because the green speed has hit a level of just being too quick for its design.  Second, we know they are getting too fast for most of the golfer is that we start hearing that the pin positions are unfair, on a slope, etc.

What was a good pin position when the greens are rolling 9.5 to 10.5 is almost impossible when the greens are reaching or passing 12 on the stimpmeter as our greens are doing right now.  Presently, we are developing green placement maps but they are not fully ready yet.  And with our smaller, postage stamp greens with limited pin positions it is difficult for my team to understand what was good before is not good now.  We are working on that one.

To even out wear on our greens or not to continue pinning in the same area (as with the back position of 6's green) we sometimes have to shift the position into a less desirable position.  When the greens are too fast, it makes this position almost impossible. 

Today, I will increase the watering and decrease the frequency of the rolling to slow our greens back down.  Additionally, the mapping that I have finished will be put into a usable format for my team and continue their training.  With Ernie and working more and more in the field and doing less follow up this training has become critical to the success of the pace of play.

Divot Recovery Testing

2nd Week of Divot Recovery

This is the end of the second week and the recovery is still statistically uniform throughout the testing.  The divot itself is closing in on the edges as the turf slowly covers it, but the seed still (in the ones with seed) hasn't germinated.

Out of Town for Work

Almost all of next week I will be out of town attending GCSAA (Golf Course Superintendent's Association of America) national conference and seminars.  These seminars aid me in becoming a better superintendent for Avondale by teaching newer and more productive ways to get thing accomplished here at at the golf course while keeping my certification hours (CEU) up-to-date for things such as pesticide hours and irrigation auditor hours. 

Additionally, I attend the trade show which exhibits new tools to better serve the course such as bunker tools and others.  These seminars and trade show have been gleaned into savings for Avondale by finding better ways to do things with getting the same results, and networking with others in my industry that I can call on in times of need.

During that time I will have limited access to my phone and Internet but I still will return calls and answer e-mails on a timely basis.  I will be in contact with Ernie and Shaun daily and will post on the blog any updates that need to get out to the membership.

Do not feel to badly for me since this year the National GCSAA conference is in Las Vegas ... I will make the best of it while I am there.

Now & Then

About a couple of years ago a friend of mine who played here at Avondale (then Del Safari) back in the late 70's gave me a couple of pictures that he took on that day.

Behind 18's Green -- Today

Behind 18's Green -- Del Safari (Notice the Spears)

6's Tee -- Today

6's Tee -- Then at Del Safari

It is amazing just how few and small the trees are, and other changes such as the bunker behind 18's green is now gone.

Short Day Today and Tomorrow

With this being a holiday week we reduce the team's working hours to 32 hours to keep us under budget and at 40 hours total.  This means that the team will only be working four hours today and four hours tomorrow ... which for those who don't like to see the maintenance team in the field will be great for the next four days (including weekend).

All of This Piping is Now Gone

We have brought back the roller in the field and will be lightly rolling the greens today, plus we will be finishing the cart paths (hopefully).  You may have seen us working on the area behind the pro shop yesterday by removing and transplanting those few remaining flowers as well as removing the existing "ugly" piping that surrounded the back of the building.  This is the first step in improving this area for the remainder of the season.

Topdress Greens

This morning we are back to our weekly topdressing the green after suspending it for a week due to the weather becoming cool again.  These weekly topdressing aid in keeping the greens smooth, makes them faster and repairs any un-repaired ballmarks.

Use to be Full of Flowers -- Now Gone

Additionally, we are going to fix up the area behind the pro shop.  After several years of trying different flowers in this area that can withstand the shade we are giving up on the flowers and converting this area into a shade tolerant desert scape.  This will match the other side of the pro shop and should improve our overall look as you are exiting 18 & 9's green.  The a/c unit that has now become visible after the hibiscus died in September will also be addressed as well.

This Corner is Quite Ugly

Fire Extinguisher Training

Yesterday, as the the annual testing to ensure our fire extinguishers were ready we decided it was a great time to train the staff on the proper use of them.

Safely Starting a Fire for Each Team Member

Training them on the proper use allows them to handle safely any small fires that may arise.  Of course the big ones are handled by the professionals.

The Team Member Sweeps the Fire

Last Day of Barricade Application

Sent the teams out to start spraying this morning so hopefully we can knock out the Barricade application before or shortly after the ladies meet up with them.  This application is a big process and requires a lot of time and that is the reason we outsource the project.  If we were to try doing this project in-house it would take us about two weeks to complete compared to the day and half it takes the spray service to complete the task.

In addition, we will be starting the clean up process from this weekend's wind storm.  Luckily, it wasn't too bad of a storm and we should be completely cleaned by tomorrow.

Just a heads up ... next week we will be tilling the bunker bottoms of the greenside bunkers.  The good news is that we have gotten new blades of our smaller rototiller which will not "fluff" them nearly as much as the larger tiller.

Spraying Barricade

Spraying 11's Tee

In an effort to control the spring weeds (i.e. crabgrass) and regulate the growth of the turf we have contracted an outside service to spray the entire golf course with fertilizer, Barricade (pre-emergent) and Primo (a growth regulator).  They will have three spray rigs in the field all day, but will spray the tees and fairways first.  This means that the tee markers may spend a majority of the day on the cart path instead of the tee blocks to prevent their potential of getting stained.

Spraying 11's Fairway

This process usually only takes a day and half to complete but can vary depending on the amount of play in the field.  This particular team has been spraying Avondale going on their seventh year and are vary much aware on how to not interfere or at least minimal impact to our members.

The Foam "Balls" are Just Soap Markers