Last Day of the Classic

After two spectacular days of the Classic today is the final day.

Birds are Ready for Some Coots

Several Species Being Used

My team has picked up the pace over these last few days to ensure that one of our biggest men's event has the best conditions possible ... and that is exactly what the players in the Classic got.  It is difficult for the team to work at this pace all the time but for events like this and the Tapestry they push themselves to their limits trying to make up for the lack of staff due to the economic times.  Even with this reduced staffing numbers from year's past our members would find it impossible to see the lack of details.

Working with the Hawk

Scott Getting the Hawk Ready

Later today we are testing a falcon for moving the coot population ... more to come on this front.  Additionally, I am leaving for Egypt later this afternoon, thus for a week this will be the last posting.

Behind the Pro Shop Project Finished

Also, yesterday we completed the project of re-landscaping behind the pro shop.

Day Two - First Day was a Hit

Jose Huerta & Virginio Aguilar Tag Team 11's Green in Prep for the Classic

I could not be much prouder of my team as I was yesterday.  Working together they were able to accomplish more than I could have hoped for and prepped the course to the finest of conditions for the first day of the Classic.

Oscar Huerta Mows 16's Fairway in Prep for the Classic

Today, I would expect the same results and will update this post later in the day.  Well it is later now and team worked together flawlessly in getting everything ready on time.  Even with having the mechanic call in sick and several equipment issues, we were able to finish everything on time and in premier conditions.  The Classic with having a later shotgun time allows my team to get everything needed well before the start of the event.

First Day of the Classic

The New "Classic" Flag

It is the first last of our Classic.  It is hard to believe that it is already that time but we are ready for the tournament.

Sunrise Over 6's Green

Sunrise Over 6's Fairway

This morning we will be touching up on the details and putting the last of the pieces together.  I will post more later today.

Heavy Rolling 8's Green

Practice Day Starts Today

The "first" day of the Classic starts today with the practice round at 12:30 pm.  This means today we will be finishing all of the little projects left to get the golf course ready this morning as well.  It is always amazing just how much "little" things have to be done to bring the course up to premier condition and it always seems the list gets longer and longer each day.

Today, we are focusing on getting the greens ready for tournament play.  We will be topdressing them lightly and rolling them as well.  Tomorrow, we will continue making the greens ready by bringing out our heavy roller on them.  Additionally today we will address the few green paint spots from when our team repaired the drinking fountain structure on 15.  We cleaned this area the other day but from a e-mail I received this morning sound like we missed a couple of spots ... do not worry, it will be addressed.  The good news is that we have lightly softened all of the greenside bunkers including the practice bunker. On the practice bunker, it was asked if we could make it consistent with the golf course bunkers, thus we removed all of the different sand location in that bunker until we reached blow sand, softened, tested with the penetrometer and the the head pro (Shaun), and we believe we have a match now.

Speaking of projects, we should hopefully be done with the planting of the area behind the pro shop today as well.  This will, along with the paint removal, button up our projects that we have started.

Enjoy the Classic!!

Almost Cleaned Up

After this weekend's storm we have been cleaning the golf course the past few days.  Today, we are almost finished of picking up the numerous small branches and sweeping the leaves.  We will have the course ready for Thursday's event.

During the Green Committee it was decided to remove a tree on 5 at no cost to the membership for safety reasons.  The homeowner is following the established plan and paying not only for the removal and clean up, but the labor as well.

Getting Ready for the Classic

It is hard to believe that the season is already coming to a close this year since it time for the Classic this week.  With the temperatures dropping this past weekend, and the winds picking up, the next couple of days we will be trying our best to get everything cleaned and ready for the big event.

Also this week we will be buttoning up projects we have started such as the area behind the Pro Shop.  There is lots to do and all hands are on deck to get things done.

Projects & Bunkers

A big thanks goes out to my team for quickly repairing the structure around 15's drinking fountain.  Sadly, we discovered the we will have to do more work later since press board was used to hold the lattice ... but we will address that later and repair it completely.  The good news is the parts we did are correct and will last.

Before Repair -- Falling apart

My Team Fixing the Problem

Looks Better and is Stronger

Additionally, we just got in our tool for testing the firmness of our bunkers called a penetrometer.  We tested today and will be working on setting up a desirable range so we can better keep the bunkers where our membership likes.

Bunker Firmness Before Loosening the Sand

Loosening the Sand

Less Firm than Before by About Half as Much

Gearing Up for the Winds This Weekend

March usually means two things in the Coachella Valley -- flush of growth and high winds.  The flush of growth hasn't really started yet since the temperature have been fluctuating up and down all month ... one day it is almost 90 and the the next we have a frost delay.  Hopefully, this flush of growth will wait until the Classic has finished.  The other things that normally occurs in March is high winds and severe damage to of trees ... this to has been quite less than in year's past.

But as the month starts to come to a end we are expecting high winds coming this weekend along with the chance of rain.  It seems like this year and last we have seen a shift in the weather meaning that it has been staying warmer in the fall and colder in the spring.  This occurred last year too and made it difficult to transition during the first aerification in June ... once it warmed up in late June transition went off without a hitch.

Upcoming Timelines

Timelines:

a.      Upcoming Week:

a)            Mar 19^th foliar fertilizing the greens including Primo.

b)            Mar 20^th foliar fertilizing fwys CaNO₃ & FeSO₄.

c)            Mar 21^st topdressing the greens.

d)            Mar 22^nd heavy rolling greens.

e)            Mar 23^rd heavy rolling greens.

b.      In Next Week After:

a)            Mar 24^th light rolling greens

b)            Mar 26^th foliar spraying greens including Primo.

c)            Mar 27^th foliar fertilizing fwys KNO₃ & FeSO₄.

d)            Mar 28^th granular fertilizing greens – transition prep.

c.       In Near Future:

a)            Apr 2^nd foliar application on greens including Primo.

b)            Apr 3^rd foliar fertilizing fwys CaNO₃ & FeSO₄.

c)            Apr 4^th lightly topdressing greens.

d)            Apr 5^th CV Vector Control treating course for ants.

e)            Apr 9^th foliar application on greens including Primo.

f)             Apr 11^th foliar fertilizing tees and fwys CaNO₃.

g)            Apr 12^th lightly topdressing greens.

h)            Apr 13^th spray grns for grubs and cutworms.

i)              Apr 16^th foliar application on greens including Primo.

j)              Apr 17^th granular fertilizing golf course.

k)            Apr 18^th lightly topdressing greens.

l)              Apr 19^th foliar spraying fairways & tees.

m)          Apr 23^rd foliar application on greens including Primo.

n)            Apr 27^th spray grns with Heritage.

o)            Apr 30^th foliar application on greens including Primo.

Projects Today

Today is a day to get projects finished ... and we have a lot of them to finish.  On hole number 3 we are working on finishing two new drain to prevent the stand water that we have been experiencing as the irrigation has been increasing with the rise in temperature.  Other projects include finishing the landscape behind the pro shop, repairing the water fountain structure at the tee of 15, and curb cutting some egress entry and exit points on 7 and 8.

It would be nice if we can finish all of these today, but with the Classic around the corner these projects may have to wait until tomorrow to get completed ... provided that today's winds that are predicted are not too damaging.

Additionally today we will be foliar spraying the fairways to improve the color mainly but also aid in the recovery of divots.

Flowers, Poa Annua & Projects

The flowers and their design are finally filling in quite nicely ... the design is called "blood and bandages."

Flowers Coming From 10's Tee

 It seemed that the red color flowers were never going to fully bloom, but with the warmer weather they not only started blooming but have been filling in the areas too.

Flowers at the Clubhouse Entrance

The Design is Showing Through

Overall, this year's design has been a big hit, but I hope that next year's design will blown this one away ... you will have to wait and see.

Poa annua in the greens -- well we knew this day would come since when we converted the greens from bentgrass to bermudagrass we never treated the soil underneath.

Poa annua on 4's Green

Using a Knife to Remove Roots and Growth

Poa annua is Gone

Over the next few days we will be hand removing as much of this Poa annua as we can, cup cutting bigger areas, and the "squares" that were brought in by our nursery on 4 we will sod cut out just before aerification in June.

The water fountain on 15 -- yuck!  Don't worry my team is going to fix this eyesore tomorrow.

Hump Day

It is Wednesday and we are still prepping the golf course for the Classic next week.  Hopefully, by day's end today we will be done with the edging of the bunkers and on Monday I am planning to lightly loosen the sand in the bunker bottom.  After the event we will till the bunker bottoms (greenside only) to get them ready for the Tapestry.

Tomorrow we will be fertilizing tees and fairways with a foliar application.  Since there will be iron in the mix the tee blocks will be removed to prevent staining ... do not worry they should be back on before play starts.

Testing New Rough Unit

With our rough unit that we bought in 2007 having its lease expiring and being returned, we are looking into a replacement if the funds are there for one.  Today, you will see a Toro 7000, a new breed of rough unit, in the field being tested.  And no, we haven't purchased this unit but when they are units that are new to the field we always test first before entertaining the potential purchase.  Of course, any purchase must go through the approval process.

We have also purchased three new items to better improve the golf course:  a penetrometer, slope level and bunker sieve. 

Penetrometer

The penetrometer will be used to test the firmness of the greenside bunkers at ideal conditions for the majority of our membership ... this information will allow us to get the bunkers consistently at the level. 

Slope Level

The slope level along with the new "no pin" maps will allow the set up person to select a pin position that is rated in comparison of speed and slope (i.e. if the green is rolling 11 on the stimp, the max allowable slope by the USGA is 2.7 - 2.9%).  Having a tool that aids the set up person will allow him to set "fair" positions. 

Sand Sieve for Removing Rocks

And lastly the bunker sieve.  This tools will be used to finish removing the rock out of our test bunker (12's front, right) that were accidentally brought in when using blow sand to fill.

Gearing Up for Upcoming Events

It is so hard to believe that we are closing in on the upcoming major events of the season.  Starting next week we have the Classic which is one of our major events for the men and we are getting everything ready this week so next week will be as flawless as possible.  But if Mother Nature has her way we should be seeing wind storms just before the event like we have in the past.  We will be keeping our fingers crossed.

Friday, we finished out the wiring to the damaged clock and everything is put back together to start the healing process.  We put a couple of additional wires in so we can hopefully over the summer address some other issues that we been having in that area for years now.

Rocks in the Bunker

It seems when we brought the sand in on the test bunker of 12's front right side, rocks came along with the sand.  We knew about some of them and they were removed, but as time passes more and more have surfaced.  We are addressing the issues immediately.

Keeping Compliant

Part of the job of a superintendent is keeping up (somewhat) with the continuing changing laws and regs of the Feds and the State of California.  Believe me when I say they are always ever changing.  Over the past few years CA has changed numerous things we need to do to keep the golf course maintenance department running and open.  These included:

       1)  DOORS - Diesel Equipment Compliance
       2)  Underground Extraction Survey & Compliance
       3)  Emergency Business Plan
       4)  Cal OSHA & OSHA Updates & Compliance
       5)  HAZ MAT Training of Team & Compliance
       6)  Pesticide Training of Team & Supervisors
       7)  Fuel Dispensing Compliance
       8)  Waste Tire Disposal Compliance (new this year)
       9)  Universal Waste Compliance
     10)  Pesticide Handling, Reporting & Storage Compliance
     11)  Pressure Air Tank Compliance, and the list goes on and on.

By doing almost all of the compliance issues in house I have saved the Club tens of thousands of dollars compared to outsourcing the work being done.  Just one example is the Business Plan I just finished and submitting today which use to cost the Club $2,500 to complete ... now it is done in house.

Emergency Business Plan Ready to be Submitted

So if you ever wonder why sometime here at Avondale or at other golf courses why it seems you never see the superintendent, sometimes it is because they are working behind the scenes keeping the golf course operational by keeping in compliance with the ever changing laws.  Or if you ever wonder why they seem to always be in training somewhere ... it is because the only way to understanding the changing dynamics (without finding out the hard way meaning fines) is to keep current.  Remember, agencies such as OSHA keep in operation by fines not funding.

Divot Testing & Birds

Divots From Top to Bottom (3 & 4) Contain Seed

The divots are finally starting to heal after four weeks.  The two divots that had seed are healing the quickest (about a week ahead of the the ones without) no matter what kind of sand was used.  Thus the quickest way to heal a divot is to replaced the turf that was removed during the swing.

Couple of the Hundreds of Turkey Vultures That Roost Here

Every morning the Turkey Vultures roost in the trees here at Avondale ... unsure if this is a sign of things to come (that is why I check my pulse everytime I see them) ... just kidding.  This is maybe a little known fact but the vultures have come here by the hundreds ever since I have been here, using Avondale as a safe haven ... what a neat fact.

The Winds Are Calming Down

After the last couple of days being quite breezy it is nice to see the wind speed dropping again.  Most of the day yesterday was spent cleaning up, and the same will be true today.  Our goal is to have everything ready for this weekend's play.

Speaking of this weekend, the town hall meeting is this Saturday.  If you have anything you need answers to from my department please contact me so I can be better prepared to answer.  Overall, I think we are heading in the right direction.

Irrigation issues are hitting us hard the past couple of months.  The gremlins from the past keep showing there head and this time in the form of losing power to one of the small clocks that controls the clubhouse flower irrigation among other things.  Over the upcoming week you will see us trenching a path from 10's tee clock to the old clock's location since the breakage in power is under the concrete slab in the staging area and cannot be fixed.

High Winds Yesterday Afternoon

Branches All Over the Golf Course

About 2:00 pm yesterday the winds throughout the Valley started their increase in speed as the front pushed it's way into the Valley.  Wind gusts in the Valley reached 70 mph and even up in Big Bear Lake their wind speeds hit 105 mph according to the news this morning.

Lots and Lots of Little Branches Too

So what does this mean to Avondale?  Well most likely the golf course is wrecked and filled with debris.  We  will know more as the sun rises today.

An Even Bigger Branches

The Start of a New Day

The winds that were projected yesterday never quite materialized, however, they are expected again today.  We will just have to wait and see what happens and be ready for whatever occurs.

Today, is a normal work day with nothing special planned.  I will be honest, I like days like this because it gives you a opportunity to focus on the golf course solely.  Later this morning I will be heading for a mandatory meeting in San Diego so Ernie will be taking charge of the golf course.  It will be in good hands.

High Winds Coming, Same with Flush of Growth

Watching the Weather Channel as I do every morning I saw the advisories that high winds are coming to the Valley.  This means lots and lots of cleanup will be planned to address these upcoming winds.  The only good news about the winds are that they are the leading edge of the front which may also bring rain to the Valley thus replacing the water losses from the winds drying out the golf course.

Newly Bulit Wall Behind the Pro Shop

The a/c covering project behind the pro shop has been completed and looks great.  We painted the outside of the wood to match the pro shop but ran out before the inside could be completed.  This was the last of our in season projects and now with the warming trend we will be focusing back on the golf course.

Now It Is the Landscapes Turn

Along with the this warming the grass will start growing with abundance.  What does this mean?  Well this means the the flush of growth will greatly slow down the green speed as we try to catch back up.  Every March this flush of growth occurs leading to greater clipping production due to the utilization of nutrients stored from the winter's fertilization applications.  Do not worry, we are use this flush of growth and will address it quickly as we always do.

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.