Topdressing & Projects

Today, we are lightly topdressing the greens today with just a touch of Poa Triv seed to help the greens become fuller.  Topdressing not only gives the seed a better germination bed, but it also smooths and speeds up the greens.  We will continue the topdressing until we are either out of seed or budget to aid in this improvement.

The irrigation heads finally got in to complete the project on 4 and 5's tee.  These heads are the latest in pressure regulation technology and will improve the area vastly while reducing wash outs.

Upcoming Timelines

Timelines:

Upcoming Week:

a)            Nov 28^th foliar spraying greens.

b)            Nov 29^th foliar spray fairways.

c)       Nov 30^th Lightly topdressing the greens.

d)            Dec 1^st fertilize fairways & tees with 18-5-0

In Next Week After:

a)            Dec 5^th foliar spray greens.

b)            Dec 6^th foliar spray fairways.

c)            Dec 8^th lightly topdress all greens.

In Near Future:

a)            Dec 12^th foliar spray greens.

b)            Dec 12^th start the trimming of the eucalyptus and select pine trees.

c)            Dec 14^th fertilize fairways & tees (extended).

d)            Dec 16^th spray greens with X-Solis & Cascade.

e)            Week of Dec 19^th short staff due to holiday.

f)             Dec 19^th foliar spray greens.

g)            Dec 25^thNO CREW.        

h)            Dec 26^th foliar spray greens.

Frost Is Coming

According to the Weather Channel frost should be coming in the upcoming weekend.  So please to protect the golf course check with the Pro Shop on the course status before driving on the grass.

The Green Committee approved the removal of a couple of dead trees.  One is on 13 close to the start of the 14's fairway, and the other is at the end of the range.  We are also removing a dangerous date palm tree in the big bed at the clubhouse.  Sadly, last year two of these date palms snapped the heads off but luckily no one and no property was damaged.  This palm was slated to be removed last year but was put on hold to maintain the budget.

Today before the ladies event we are going to be spraying the fairways.  The should not interfere with anyone.

12's Drain & Dr. Elli's Property Line

It was brought to my attention that there was a broken drain cover in the cart path next to 12's green.  We cleaned it out, filled with gravel and changed the direction of the lid which will prevent any injury; however, we will fill we concrete when we get a chance since it is a non-functioning drain that was installed before my time.

I have had a couple of people ask why we are working on the property line next to Dr. Elli's home on 8.  Well the fact is after the survey it was discovered our property is closer to his home than first thought (his fence is on the line) and after discussion with the Green Committee chair it was decided that we would fix our area and marry it to his property.  Out of the kindness of Dr. Elli's heart for this he supplied us the water for future plants and cut a cut though near his drive way for our members to get to 7's green or 8's tee.  Thus we are only working on our property.  This project is almost 100% completed for now ... vegetation will come later.

Day After Thanksgiving

All stuffed from another wonderful turkey day?  Well get out and play some golf to get some exercise to be able to enjoy those turkey sandwiches later.

My team finished the fertilization of the the tees and fairways yesterday and we are continuing to work on the greens.  The last of the minor repairs should be done by day's end along with the spraying of wetting agent on the greens.

Fairly, simple day today thus no new projects until discussions can be made with the Green Committee and Board.

Happy Thanksgiving

To one and all Happy Thanksgiving from the maintenance team.

Today is a short day for my team to get the course done in time for the members to enjoy and my team to spend time with their families.  We will be continuing to fertilize the the tees and fairways today and should be finished by tomorrow morning.

Thanksgiving

Tomorrow is the time for family and friends to gather to enjoy each other's company and good food.  It is also a time to give thanks for all of the good things that have occurred over the year.  I hope you join me and my family in giving thanks to another wonderful year here at Avondale.  Be safe and be happy.

Last of the Plugging & Topdressing

This morning we will be topdressing the greens with a touch more seed.  The topdressing has two major affects ... first it aids to smoothing out the greens and second, it will speed up the greens.  Since the back nine greens are still our major concern we will be doing them first thus today is a back nine start.

Later today we will be adding some plugs as a repair to the edges of 10 & 13.  This should be the last time this season.

5's Tee Bathroom Project Finished

The flowers are in, the old plants are removed and the DG has been touched up around the landscape area next to 5's tee bathroom.

Thus, this area is completed and the "wash out" issues have been dealt with and should not occur anymore.  Additionally, we have finished all that we can right now as it concerns Dr. Elli home.

More to come later once his yard's landscape progresses.

Short Week Due to Holidays

With the reduced staff this week and the shortened hours we are still planning to get quite a bit done.  The flowers around the bathroom at 5's tee are finished and today between removing more vegetation from that landscape bed and the big bed we will working on leveling & adding DG next to Dr. Elli's home on 8.

We have some final plug repairs on a couple of green edges and we will be done.  Tomorrow, we are lightly topdressing at least the back nine greens and if we have enough sand remaining -- all of the greens.  Thus I will be contacting the Pro Shop today about having a back nine start tomorrow.

I have also notice lots of damage from the golf carts ... please help us give you a great golf course bu SCATTERING.

5's Tee Project, 8's Project and Bird Damage

Sod Addition and Flowers in Phase One of the Bathroom Project

The first part of the re-design of the bathroom next to 5's tee has been almost completed.  The sod has been laid some of the flowers put in and now just waiting for the new irrigation to arrive so we can install.

Before Most of the Work on 5's Tee Bathroom

The next section will start today as we work towards the street which will include more vegetation removal and the last of the flowers addition.  Starting tomorrow work will start on Dr. Elli's slope (which is on our property) to improve the look from the tee of 8.

Along the Property Line Next to 8's Tee

Sadly, this project on 8 will be in work for a while until the the landscape is completed on the home.  But we will continue to improve where we can along 8.  We are also starting to experience crow damage on the greens in the back nine.  We may have to go to straight sand in the repairs to stop them from continuing the damage.

Crow Ripping Out Plugs on 15's Green

Thanksgiving Week

This is the week to gather the family and feast until you can feast no more.  This is no exception for my team as well.  Thus during this upcoming week we will have a person on vacation and the remainder will be on shortened hours to be able to spend time with their families ... and maintain budget too.

To those who are traveling we wish you a safe and successful trip.  To those who are staying we wish you happy times with friends and family.  Happy Thanksgiving to all.

5's Bathroom Project

Re-Construction of Area Around 5's Bathroom

The sodding of the the area next to the bathroom started yesterday and we are planning to have the sod and the flowers in by this weekend.  We have ordered a special newly released kind of irrigation head that will be installed in this area that will aid in the reduction of overspray onto the newly slurred streets.

Speaking of the streets and the irrigation overspray we have been addressing this issue around the golf course and before January we will have hopefully completed this project.  Yesterday, we did finish the addition of the bougainvillea around the water fountain structure at 15's tee.

Projects & CC Drive

Projects are normally saved for the summer time but this year a couple of unique occurrences transpired.  With the slurry of the streets there has been a concern about the golf course's irrigation hitting the street and leaving salt deposits.  We have long ago repaired and changed the sprinkler heads along the roads to newer and adjustable trajectory nozzles; however, most of the issues are within the golf course.  Due to the golf course not being a perfect "square" some of the heads in order to get correct coverage and distribution uniformity in places such as green surrounds, tees and fairways sadly extend into the roads as well.  Those are the heads we are currently working on to reduce (not eliminate) our irrigation's contact on the streets of Avondale.  This will take some time to do correctly.

Other projects slated for work right now include the changing of the landscape around the 5's tee bathroom ... this is in work today (also working with the Board and the HOA); marrying of Dr. Elli's landscape on 8 with ours (starting next week somewhat); the redesigning and repair to the big bed at the club house (drawings and cost being submitted to Green Committee for review and approval); the hiding of the A/C unit behind the pro shop (Brandon and Dennis are handling -- using a wall as a barrier instead of plants); installation of plants back where they were removed during the 15's water fountain changes over this summer (should be finished this week); the repair of the fountains and their lights in the lake near the clubhouse (in work); and maybe the addition of a second tier of bougainvilleas above where the "animals" use to be (requires irrigation upgrades).

Lastly, we are continuing and finishing the work to the plants and irrigation along Country Club Drive.  This has required so far this week 20+ man hours but will be completed today.

Work Continues on Greens -- One Step Closer

Today we are one step closer to lowering the HOC of the greens and thus speeding them up.  On the back nine greens yesterday and today we have been working on the plug repair, and this morning we spot seeded them again followed by a light topdressing.  We are almost completed with these tasks.

We have started work on two areas -- Country Club Drive and the landscape area next to 5's tee bathroom.  Every two weeks (sometimes more) we clean Country Club but the last couple of days we are removing any dead plants and trimming back several species of plants in preparation for the winter.  The project on 5's tee started yesterday by the removal of the unsightly plants and will continue with re-routing the irrigation and addition of some sod.  The HOA will be supplying some rock at a later date to match the rock that is around the community.