Bunker Rakes

Bunker rakes ... in the bunker ... out of the bunker ... sticking up out of the bunker ... the list goes on and on. It was decided the to expedite the maintenance staff during the summer months and lower damage to the rakes themselves that we would place them inside the bunkers until next season. This only a temporary change just for the summer thus the debate can rage on about their placement during the upcoming season.

Why Are the Fairways Browning?

I have been asked a few times lately "Why are the fairways not as green and lush as the approaches?" This is a good question and the reason is because we sprayed them on May 3rd with a chemical designed to remove the ryegrass without harming the bermudagrass.

You may ask did we do that? Well due to our large trees we have difficultly completely removing the ryegrass which competes with the bermuda for inputs such as sun, fertilizer and space itself. For bermudagrass to become healthy during the transition it requires at least 100 days of growth in the growing season. By removing the ryegrass (it completion) we allow the bermuda to fill in and completly recover thus providing a better base for the overseed.

To the right you will also see a overfilled divot ... which we see many of on the fairways everyday. Years ago someone told the members around here to overfill the divots for complete recovery and that the irrigation would level it over the evening ... well that is not true. The picture you see is in the morning after irrigation and level it is not! When we mow the fairways in the morning these divot piles act like sand paper to our reels and bedknives thus dulling them quickly and costing the Club monies in replacement and labor to sharpen. Please level with your foot these divot sand piles and save the Club thousands in the process.

Excuse Our Mess

We have started several smaller projects such as re-shaping of 2 and 6's greenside bunkers and adding much needed drains around the course. These projects are mostly finished and should be healed in a couple of weeks. In addition, all roped off areas are out of play due to potential damage to the turf. We have also opened up the area which is always wet along the right side of 2 from the drainage of the streets. This area will be repaired soon.

You may have noticed that there is a crane out on 18 next to the well. This crane has just removed our pump and shaft which required repair to the lowering of the water table in the Valley. Over the past 5 years the water table has dropped 30 ft and since 1995 almost 100 ft. The repairs on the shaft will be completed on Thursday, however, on Friday the crane will be removing the shaft and pump on 6's well since it too has been having issues and is currently blowing out water from the top of the shaft into the motor. This entire project will be completed in a couple of weeks.

Wells & Spraying the Ryegrass

Starting on Monday the 3rd of May you will be seeing a crane out working on the well on 18. We are having issues with that well along with the other well on 6 and have a company coming out to repair the problems we are having. Over the next couple of weeks the crane and their crews will be for time to time on the property until the problems are fixed.

Starting tomorrow we will be starting the process of chemically removing the ryegrass. At first this will lead to weak and bare areas, however, the bermudagrass will fill in over the upcoming weeks leaving us a wonderful base for the next overseeding season.

Flush of Turfgrass Growth

With the increasing of the temperatures and retention of the cooler night time temps we are experiencing a flush in the growth of the turf. The warmer temperatures are perfect for the warm-season turf (bermudagrass) while the cooler night time temperatures are perfect for the cool-season turf (Poa Triv) thus allowing both turfs to grow aggressively at the same time.

We first noticed this flush of growth on this last Friday when the clipping yields increased from half a basket to three baskets per green. So what does this mean? Well it means that for a period of time until we can control the growth that the greed speeds will greatly decrease, maintenance practices will slow down due to increased clipping removal and overall playability will slightly decrease.

On Saturday we smooth rolled the greens and lowered the height of cut of the turf to 0.090 of a inch. The next day on Sunday we applied Primo (a growth regulator) to our greens, however, this will take about a week to take effect. On Monday we brought out the heavy roller onto the greens along with replacing all the bedknives of our mowers to improve the quality of the cut.

All of the things will help but we will not be able to address the problem until after the Tapestry when we can finally verticut and thin the turf. This flush of growth normally occurs in March, however, this year with the temperatures remaining cool in March this flush did not occur until now. This is normal and will be back to normal soon.

End of Season

With the final major event coming up this week the 09 - 10 season will come to a close ... or at least for the ryegrass season part.

Starting on the 23rd of April we will be verticutting the greens to removed the Poa Triv and promote the bermudagrass growth. And with May just around the corner we will start the chemical removal of the ryegrass around the golf course which will lead to a uglier golf course for a couple of weeks until the bermudagrass can fill back in these transitional areas. The good news is that we had a great bermudagrass base prior to overseeding thus this will speed the process.

May in general is "the button up" month. We will finish any projects we have started (such as the expansion of the irrigation system behind 14's green) and do some final tweaks to the bunkers that we re-designed last year. Our goal is to have everything completed by the first week of June so we can focus our limited staff into just maintaining a high quality golf course for our summer members and their guest.

I will keep you up to date on upcoming projects.

Bad Nozzles

As our irrigation system ages we start seeing the effects of nozzle wear on several heads. Historically, these problems will start in the lower pressure areas such at the ends of the irrigation loops (i.e. 12, 13, 14) and as the temperature rises become more and more visible. As we find the problems we replace the nozzles and check pressure at the irrigation head, but that being said it usually takes a couple of weeks for the visual problem to go away.

On Apr 7th CV Vector control will be on the golf course treating fire ants. So far I haven't noticed any mounds, however, if you see any please notify me so I can get the area treated.

Temperature Is Rising

As the temperature starts to rise again the ryegrass is going to start transition back to the bermudagrass base. Areas such as under the trees will exhibit the ryegrass stress first followed soon in the rough areas. With two big events left in the season we will hold onto the overseed for a bit longer but after that we will be helping nature take its course.

Along with the ryegrass slowly fading away the bermudagrass will start growing quicker and quicker with each pasting day. This means that our smaller staff size due to budget cuts is going to be more visible than years past in a attempt to keep those excellent conditions that the members of Avondale expect. The crew will continue to work even though play is near by, however, they will be as courteous as possible without stopping work. Your enjoyment is still our highest priority.

The Country Road Effect

All the time you hear me saying the importance of carts scattering and evening out the wear from the tires. Look at the pictures on the right and you will see one of damaged turf due to carts being forced to drive the same area when the streets were being done. The picture was taken three weeks after the cart traffic and the damage was caused from just one day's worth of driving.

Thus, SCATTER, SCATTER, SCATTER when driving around the golf course.

Leveling Heads Around Greens

Ever since I started here I wanted to find time to improve the playability around the greens by leveling the irrigation head to the surrounding area. In the past couple weeks we finally started this project and we plan to be finished within a couple more weeks. This leveling not only improves the playability but it also improves the sprinker's performance.

Due to a couple of trips on the ropes around the greens we were requested by the Board to take down all greenside ropes -- which we have done. Please since to the ropes are down do not drive in these areas. The reason we have had the ropes there was because historically these areas became bare due to cart traffic and if driving occurs in those areas the grass will surely disappear.

Barricade & Primo Application

Starting on the 18th of February we will be contracting a outside service to apply Barricade (spring weed reducer) and Primo (growth regulator) to the tees and fairways. For the most part they will be finished before play reaches them; however, they may have a few holes remaining before that time. The "white balls" on the fairways are fact a foam marking system they allow them to know where they have spray and are completely harmless. These balls will disappear quickly throughout the day.

Once they have completed the tees and fairways they will be spraying the rough which take until the 19th to complete.

Maintenance of the Course

As the weather warms the turf starts growing faster than during the winter months. What does this mean to the Avondale members? Well this means the crew will be out working hard to keep the detail and the course conditions at the best that they can ... meaning that since we have reduced our staff by 25% the things they we could do before such as not mowing on tournament days, being less obtrusive during the working hours will have to be understood they if you want the job done we are going to have to work during play.

This by no means means that the staff will not be trying their very best to stay out of your way; however, it does mean that they are going to be more visible than before. Good news is that on Sat and Sun we only work four hours thus you rarely will see them then.

Thank you for your understanding during these economic times.

Greens Mowers & Fountains

We finally figured out exactly where the drops of oil on the greens was coming from ... it was our newer walking greens mowers. Toro took each of the units in a upgraded the shafts and replaced the seals and now the problem is fixed. Good news is that it cost us nothing.

You may have noticed that the fountains on 6 & 8's lakes have been off for a couple of days. The reason for this is that the 480V transformer in the pump station which also controls all of the front nine and practice irrigation clocks burnt out leaving us without irrigation or power on the front nine. We just got it repaired on Sat. thus by Sunday the fountains and irrigation will be back on. The really good news is that during this time Mother Nature blessed us with rain so all is well with the turf.

Rain Over the Past Few Days

We have gotten over 2 inches of rain over the past couple of days which has led to saturated conditions around the golf course. Due to these conditions we had to close the course on Thursday and Friday, and with the cooler conditions and more rain we are predicting a morning closure on Saturday morning. Please check with the pro shop for course updates.

Frost Damage & Oil Drops

As many of you are aware on 4, 5 & 3's tees and behind the greens of 3 & 4 there are cart tracks. There is even one that crosses 3's approach. These tracks are not from the maintenance crew tracking chemicals on their tires, moreover they are from people driving across frost. Frost damage requires the temperature to rise to heal and soon start to disappear in the next few weeks.

We also had one of our walking mowers drop oil on a few greens. Luckily, it is not too bad and will heal soon. The machine has been fixed.