Another Cold Day

Today is the coldest day all season. On 18 at the weather station we hit 28 degrees, which means that in the low lying areas such as 2 & 3 the temperature most likely dipped to the 25 degree mark. As soon as we are able we will lift the frost delay and start play.

Frost Damage

Today we had a hard frost and for the first time this year someone decided to drive on what I am sure they thought was a non-frosted hole ... well they were wrong. The pictures to the right of this post show the damaged areas and sadly these areas will get worst over the upcoming week, and additionally will take weeks to recover. So please, no matter the conditions, never drive on the golf course without checking with the Pro Shop first.

Additionally, those Round Up areas on the greens had to be repaired since they continued to get worst. All the repairs should be completed by Friday of this week.

A Weird Thing

Over the past weekend I noticed a pattern shape on several greens of over regulation. After looking at it I noticed that the pattern was the same on every green that had it but I could not determine what was the cause. Yesterday, Bob Dobek from JC Resorts looked at the areas with me and noticed that each of the patterns were near old cup setting but at the time niether of us could figure the root cause of the pattern. After thinking about it all day I recalled that the same team member who setups the golf course also is the same team member who has been spraying Round Up on the weeds ... then it dawned on me that the pattern was from the setup bag itself and this morning I confirmed that fact.

The bag was set in the cart after he finished spraying for the day and soaked up some of the Round Up in the bed of the cart. Everytime he later set this bag on a green that had dew, the dew activated the Round Up thus in such low quanities led to growth regulation of the spot. The good news is that it is a very small quanity and we are treating all the affected areas today with charcoal. Full recovery should be soon.

Greens

After the topdressing and the heavy rolling the green speed jump right back up. We would have topdressed them again today; however, this morning the frost raised its ugly head once again and we were forced to wait until another day. We did spray them this morning with a growth regulator which will help them maintain speed as the temperature rises next week.

Green Speed

As I stated nine days ago in my blog we were trying to slow down the green speed and improve the wear areas caused by the lower soil temperatures from the past three weeks ... well we have been successful ... the green speeds are back to a 9 on the stimpmeter (taken this morning). You may asked "why did they slow over night?" ... well they didn't, between increased irrigation due to record setting high temperatures and applications to improve the overall health of the turf the greens are currently not as firm as they were a week ago. As I cut back on the water this weekend they will speed right back up.

As the greens recover thanks to the increased temperatures we will start the rolling and topdressing of the greens. Yesterday, we lightly topdressed them and we have plans (depending if the weather trend continues) to lightly topdress them again on Friday. Rolling of the greens along with regular topdressings are slated to start next week. And by the Founder's next week they will be rolling quite nicely.

Green Speed & Wear

Lately with the cooler weather the green speed has been creeping up past 11 and sometimes higher. For the small postage stamp greens such as at Avondale these speeds are too quick and we have been working hard to slow them down. Today, we will be fertilizing them again even after just fertilizing them on Sunday to promote some much needed growth.

Speaking of growth ... with higher green speeds we are forced to use mainly center positions to make them fun for the members of Avondale. But this has an extreme cost ... we are experiencing heavy wear in the center region of several greens (i.e. 12, 5, etc.). The only way to combat this wear until the soil temperatures increase is to use outlying positions ... which are much hated by the membership as a whole. Last Saturday (zone C) we had to do exactly that so we could preserve the center regions somewhat for the upcoming two day ladies event the Eclectic which always requests that we use the same zone for both days.

So what does this mean ... well this means that the zones in general will be switched about to allow this (see the Pro Shop for what the daily position will be over the upcoming week) wear to be evened out. In addition, this means that on the 16th of January (the next time zone C will be used) the most difficult pin positions will be selected. I should note the general there will be some difficult positions here and there selected to preserve the turf until the soil temperatures rise again.

Excuse Our Mess

Over this week we are trying to soften the bunkers that have become compacted due to the recent rains and play over the past couple of months. In addition, we are weed eating the bunker faces, edging, removing runners and smoothing all of the bunkers. These processes require a lot of time and our goal is to finish this week before the season goes into full swing. With vacations and holidays the manpower is limited thus we ask that you please be patient until we finish.

The tree trimming was finished today and the final clean up of the pesky smaller branches that fall out days after will continue until this weekend. With the weather once again cooling down the remaining leaves of the deciduous trees are falling and we are cleaning them up as fast as we can. The good news is that all of these processes should be finished by this weekend.

Speaking of the upcoming weekend ... please be prepared for potential frost delays. It is projected that the temperature will drop to the mid to upper thirties.

Divot Boxes

We have been having issues with seed germinating in the divot bottles. This in part is due to the divot bottle containers on 5, 7 & 14 are not being closed completely by the members exchanging their divot bottles and thus during the nighttime irrigation the containers holding sand & seed are getting wet. Please close the lids tightly on the containers.

In addition, if you get a container from the cart staff that has germinated seed please notify Shaun or Brian immediately so we can bring good sand to the cart barn.

Fertilizer is Paying Off

We have been fertilizing the fairways heavy lately including one foliar and one granular application per week. These fertilization's have aided in the thickening of the ryegrass and has reduced the "yellowing" effect of the frosts that have happened in the last week.

We will continue to add seed in the wear areas and fertilizing heavy during the month of December to reduce the effects of the traffic wear and get us ready for January and the events upcoming.

Traffic Wear

Attached to the blog is a picture on 9's fairway which illustrates the problem of traffic wear and the carts driving the same path. This damage was caused within less than a week of traffic and will take two to three weeks to recover. Please scatter and do not drive where others have.

Thanksgiving 2010

First and foremost Happy Thanksgiving. We down in maintenance hope that everyone has a wonderful and safe holiday.

With Thanksgiving here so is the cooler weather and the frost delays. It is critical that before you drive on the golf course that you check in with the pro shop to find out the current conditions for the day. Remember that it takes weeks to months to recover from frost related damage.

Always remember to SCATTER.

Tree trimming is starting on December 13th and only the worse of the trees will be trimmed to keep us within budget. We have a three to four year rotation and thus a tree you might want trimmed may not be slated this year ... but that being said if it is no harm to the tree you may pay for the desired trimming.

Speaking of trees, this year we planted 17 trees and only lost 5 to death or disease. Additional trees will be planted started in Jan thanks to the contributions from members for the five year tree replacement program. The Green Committee has made adjustments to the tree program and if you would like the details I believe it will be posted soon.

Scatter & Traffic Wear

The golf course is open and there is still seed germinating thus it critical that you scatter when traveling hole to hole; and leaving the tee complex or entering the green area. Lately, we have been seeing heavy wear from cart traffic in the areas listed above ... we are moving the ropes daily; however, this is just a temp solution of a deep rooted problem. One look at the par 3's that get very little traffic you will see a much healthier turf.

In courses such as Avondale which doesn't have wall-to-wall cart path survival of the newly germinated ryegrass depends solely on our members to ability to scatter. Thus we are asking for the health of the turf that if you see an area with traffic wear please choose another path to enter or exit.

December in November

The cooler weather has come upon us earlier this year than in past years, and even today we had a slight frost in the low lying areas. So what does this mean ... well currently the ryegrass is still germinating and what has germinated is only at the first and second tiller so far. Early cold weather along with the the flush of bermudagrass that we experienced in October after the rains will lead to off-coloring and thinning of the turf especially in the fairways and tees.

The good news is that we have so far put down 1,200 lbs per acre in the fairways and are fertilizing heavy to combat this thinning effect. In addition, we will be performing foliar fertilizer applications starting next week. The best news is that here in the Valley these effects historically go away during the first part of January as the ryegrass begins to tiller.

Course Opening

Finally the golf course is open and everyone seems to be enjoying being able to get out and play. Conditions overall are pretty good and the greens are rolling smoothly. Speaking of greens; over the next couple of weeks we will be lightly topdressing and rolling to increase the speed and the playability.

Overseeding this year was the toughest I have seen since arriving to the Valley over 10 years ago. Although the weather was cooler than most years and air movement was nonexistent while the humidity and dew point were quite high thus leading to numerous outbreaks of Pythium. Additionally, we had later increased temperatures and heavy rains which brought the bermudagrass back stronger than ever ... thus a great opening; however, if we have a cold November or December will lead to browning of the turf base.

We are fertilizing heavy (now that the temperatures have dropped) and adding addition seed to the fairways to lessen the potential of the "browning" effect. This will help but will not stop it entirely. The good news is that historically in the Valley this is short lived.

Overseeding 2010

This year we got the seed down and the irrigation started in record time -- 6 days & 1 hour, without any overtime. The weather was great and the winds were low thus we did not have anything to slow us down. This is good news since this year we have seven days less to get the golf course ready than we did last year due to the later start date and one day sooner opening.

The team is getting ready for the transfer of power to JC Resorts coming on Nov 1st and starting tomorrow they are doing their applications and interviews. In addition, the new uniform company is coming out and by opening day you should see our staff back in uniform.

Flowers are coming in next week and will be planted upon their arrival. There will a couple new additions of color bowls at the entrance and JC Resorts is looking into long-term additions to our color pallet. The oleanders along El Dorado are slated for trim Nov 2nd and should be finished within a day. Numerous applications are slated for the upcoming weeks thus please DO NOT drive on the golf course early.

We have block off every entrance into the golf course and ask that you please do not go on to it until we open. Every year we have one or two people who ignore this and cause damage to the golf course which takes us additional weeks to repair. In addition, the dog park will be closed for the next three weeks.