Spraying of Monument

Today, we have started spraying the Monument on the fairways, tees and surround of the greens.  The chemical Monument is use not only as a purple nutsedge removal and control but also is used as a transitional tool by killing the ryegrass thus allowing the bermudagrass to fill in and making it healthier for the summer months.  In addition, bermudagrass requires 100 days of growth to aid in the establishment of a healthy base for overseeding.

Speaking of transition this is the second year that the month of May has been quite cooler than normal.  Sadly, these lower temperatures impede the success of a smooth transition by not encouraging the growth of the bermudagrass.  The good news is that warmer temperatures are on the horizon.

Nozzle Issues

Over time the nozzles (the part where the water comes out of the irrigation head) starts to wear out.  Over the past couple of years we have replaced hundreds of head's nozzles but every year during the stressing of the golf course time we find even more.  Considering there are a couple thousand heads around the golf course this will be an ongoing process for years to come.

Bees & Trees

It is that time of year again when the bees are on the move.  The hives that you may see in the bushes and trees usually are migrating bees and in most cases are gone within a day or two.  The bees that you find in the ground in our irrigation boxes are a different story all together and have to be removed.  So if you see bees coming out of the valve boxes please contact me directly and be very careful.  If they are the Africanized bee they can cause great harm to you.

The date palms that were unsafe at the clubhouse have been removed.  At this time there are no plans for replacement; however, at a later date replacement will be considered.

Date Palm Tree Safety

Over the past couple of years we have been having issues with the date palm trees snapping in the wind and dropping 700+ lbs of tree top to the ground.  Especially around the clubhouse this has become more and more an issue which so far no one has been hurt or property has been damaged.  To this end with the Board's blessing we are removing the three last potential date palm tree hazards to ensure the safety of our members, staff and their property.

Trees and Their Roots

Over the past couple of days with the winds we have lost two trees ... a carob on 14 near the gold tee and homes; and another palm at the clubhouse.  The date palms around the clubhouse need to be evaluated since this is the fourth one we have lost in two years due to structural defects.

You may have noticed some lines near the edges of several greens around the golf course such as 1.  These lines are from a root pruner that slices the roots that are going into the greens.  This is the first time that this process has been done and hopefully it will help the overall health of the green's turf.

Upcoming Timelines

Timelines:

Upcoming Week:

a) May 23^rd foliar spraying greens.

b) May 23 – 24^th rototilling greenside bunkers.

c) May 24^th verticutting greens.

d) May 24^th 21-0-0 greens.

e) May 24^th 21-0-0 tees & fairways.

f) May 26^th spraying Monument on fwys & tees.

In Next Week After:

a) May 31^st continuing Monument spraying.

b) May 31^st aerify CGs, Small PG, and nurseries.

c) May 31^st verticutting greens.

d) Jun 1^st fertilizing greens with 21-0-0.

e) Jun 2^nd fertilizing fwys & tees with 21-0-0.

f) Jun 2^nd verticutting greens.

In Near Future:

a) Jun 6^th foliar spraying greens.

b) Jun 6^th start rough aerification (no plug removal).

c) Jun 7^th verticutting greens.

d) Jun 8^th fertilizing greens with 21-0-0.

e) Jun 9^th verticutting greens.

f) Jun 9^th fertilizing fairways & tees with 21-0-0.

g) Jun 13^th trimming ALL palm trees.

h) Jun 13 – 15 course closed for aerification.

i) Jun 15^th spraying greens ProStar & Scimitar.

j) Jun 16^th F9 closed B9 open ONLY. 

k) Jun 16^th Gypsum, K-Mag & 21-0-0 ALL greens.

l) Jun 17^th B9 closed F9 open ONLY.

m) Jun 18^th entire course open for play.

n) Jun 18 – 19^th – limited crew due to aerification.

o) Jun 20 – 21^st trimming oleanders along El Dorado.

p) Jun 20^th foliar fertilizing greens.

q) Jun 22^nd fertilizing greens with 21-0-0.

r) Jun 23^rd verticutting greens.

s) Jun 24^th heavy rolling greens

t)  Jun 27^th foliar spraying greens including Primo.

u) Jun 28^th verticutting greens.

Revenge Day

Yesterday was the Superintendent's Revenge Day and from all those I spoke to ... really those still speaking to me ... everyone seemed to have a great time. The pin positions were as tough as I could get them and still Mr. Bentzen shot a 36 on the front nine ... WOW. The maintenance team also enjoyed the fact that they could be noisy without getting into trouble which led to one of the most productive days ever.

As part of the prep for the event we dried the entire golf course for three days. This not only increased ball roll and green speed but had other added benefits. This drying of the golf course aids in the transition; helps stress the turf to exhibit localized dry spots and areas of grub activity; and also saves the Club monies in pumping and water costs. We test (or scout) these dry area to determine their cause and then deal with them as needed.

I am tickled pink that everyone seemed to enjoy the the event (even the horse race). The best scores (gross) yesterday were for the men Mr. Bentzen who killed it with a 81, Mrs. Woodson from the ladies who shot a 93. Great job by both.

Six Years & Revenge

This week is my six year with Avondale Golf Club and it is only fitting the that this Friday is the first superintendent's revenge day. We are planning to toughen up the golf course, let staff work without stopping, etc. to complete the revenge. We hope everyone enjoys the revenge day.

May & Transition

With May already here this means that we are at the start of the transition season and the end of maintaining the ryegrass. In a couple of weeks we will be starting the aerification of the nurseries, small putting green (the one near three's tee) and both of the chipping greens. This process not only allows us to daily the machines in for the main aerification but also allows us time to heal these greens in case any sod is needed for green's repair after transition.

Transition is our least favorite time a year as it is with many of the members. This is the time when unlike your favorite northern courses we are going out of our way to kill the beautiful ryegrass that we spent so much time cultivating and start growing in the bermudagrass. The process between the two types of grasses is called transition. The good news is that with the chemicals we have today we can speed up the process and as well even it out. Using chemicals last year Bighorn reduced their sod laying from hundreds of pallets to just a few ... of course they close for 10 weeks on each course during the process.

Roses & Chafers

Recently, I have been asked by the members is the beetle that they are finding on their roses and other plants from the golf course. First, I had to capture the beetle in question and id it ... which I did by going up to several homeowners roses and collecting beetle samples. The samples I collected were chafers beetles and in most cases in a higher population than I have seen in years. This doesn't surprise me since this past winter was one of the wettest I have seen since moving to the Valley eleven years ago.

Are the chafers from the golf course? Not exactly. As with all types of insects the adult stage of the beetle fly for miles and miles to find a suitable location both the feed and lay their eggs ... well your succulent roses provide both as do ours roses on 7's tee. So is the golf course where the chafers are coming from -- no.

Good news is that same with the June Bugs that use to make my Grandmother so mad and excellent bluegill bait for me, there numerous insecticide that can control these chafers. Your local Home Depot or Lowes will have these insecticide that you as a unlicensed homeowner can use.

Tree Removals

After the windstorm a week ago a top of one of our date palm trees broke off thus killing the tree. On Monday this tree's stump will be removed along with three pine trees behind 6's blue tee which belong to the new home owner that move into that home. We are allowing access through the golf course due to the location of those trees.

Drains & Fertilization

A week or so ago we were informed that a couple of the drain lids "popped" off when a cart drove directly over them. We have started sercuring the lids to the drain pipe but this is a big process and will take a couple of weeks to finish since there are so many around the golf course. Speaking of projects, we after many years finally extended the wind "vane" for the weather station above the Arborviteas so now we will be able to get accuracte wind readings which in turn will allow us to better irrigate at night.

On Friday the 15th (tax day) we finished the wall-to-wall fertilization. Over next week we will be fertilizing around the greens and out of the way areas to promote the final push of the ryegrass for the season and jump start the bermudagrass. This will be the last fertilization for the ryegrass since in May (towards the end of the month) we will start the chemical transition of the fairways, tees & approaches. YES -- this will be ugly at first but it will provide a better summer turf conditions and overseed next season.

Upcoming Timelines

Upcoming Week:

a) Apr 16th heavy rolling the greens.
b) Apr 17th spray greens including Primo
c) Apr 18th lightly topdressing greens.
d) Apr 18th PM of the Pump Station
e) Apr 19th heavy rolling the greens.
f) Apr 21st heavy rolling the greens.
g) Apr 22nd spiking the greens.

In Next Week After:

a) Apr 25th foliar spraying the greens 12-0-0, Primo & Get Green.
b) Apr 26th verticutting the greens.
c) Apr 28th topdressing the greens.

In Near Future:

a) May 2nd CV Vector Control treating for fire ants.
b) May 2nd foliar spraying greens.
c) May 3rd verticutting greens.
d) May 4th topdressing greens.
e) May 5th verticutting greens.
f) May 9th granular fertilizing greens.
g) May 10th verticutting greens.
h) May 12th verticutting greens.
i) May 16th root pruning several greens such as 1, 5, etc.
j) May 16th foliar spraying greens.
k) May 17th verticutting greens.
l) May 18th topdressing greens.
m) May 19th 21-0-0 greens that are going to be aerified.
n) May 19th verticutting greens.
o) May 20th spraying greens with Cascade & X-Solis.
p) May 23rd foliar spraying greens.
q) May 24th verticutting greens.
r) May 26th starting Monument on fairways tees and approaches.
s) May 27th aerifying CGs, Small PG, and nurseries.
t) May 31st continuing Monument spraying.

Wind Storms

It seems like every year we get a week or two of very bad winds ... well this year was no exception. With gusts up to 70 mph we not only had several big branches break but also lost two tree -- a palm behind 15's green and half of another tree behind 9's blue tee (this may survive). The good news is that thanks to heavier trimming this year the damage was quite a bit less than it could have been. According the weather reports the winds are stopping after last night for a while.

Fairy Ring, BTa & Drains

I have been noticing that the fairy ring on the greens has been starting to rear its ugly head over the past couple of weeks. We have a chemical to address the issue; however, to get the full effect of this very costly product we have to wait until the first aerification to apply. In addition, the BTa (the little black beetle) has returned ... good news is that we are on a grub treatment program that addresses the insects that we started last year and the population is 5% of what it has been in the past.

Drains -- I have just for the first time heard we are having a issue with a couple of drain tops "popping" off when the golf carts drive over them. Brandon is getting with Mr. Kelly to discover which ones were the issue so we can find out why after 6 years for many of them we are now seeing a problem. Once we can discover what the problem exactly is and what can be done to solve it we will fix the issue around the golf course.

Broken tees -- A member asked me the other day if my team was just dumping the broken tees out of the boxes on the tees. The answer is of course "no." Every morning the set up person picks up and empties the broke tee caddies (into a trash can) and places the empty caddie back. Sadly, there are many when they are throwing their broken tees at the tee caddie -- miss.