Glen Eagle Maintenance (3/29/24)

 Golf Course

We recorded 3.97” of rain on Friday which brought the lakes up 14 inches. The lakes are higher now than they were most of last summer and the highest I have ever seen this time of year. Looking at the weather for next week there is another chance for more rain mid week. This is highly unusual weather for this time of year and is still attributed to the El Niño that has been dominating our weather for the last year or so.

It also has the golf course nice and green…

Several weeks ago we changed the way we place rakes in the bunkers. While most comments have been positive, it was pointed out that if they are not placed back properly, the rakes can pin the ball near the face of the bunker which could make getting out of the bunker more difficult.

The picture below shows improper (left) and proper placement (right). You can see that if a ball was trapped by the properly placed rake it would be nearer the bottom/flat part of the bunker.

This picture shows rakes that are both properly placed.

Something I saw another Superintendent do online was use a planer to shave the sides of the OB and hazard posts to refresh their look. The poles are constructed of solid recycled plastic so taking off the outer skin reveals new material making the posts look practically new.

Here is a video of Jimbo feeding the posts thru the planer.

We rigged up a dryer vent to direct the shavings into a trash can for easier cleanup. This almost full trash can took about 20 takes to fill.

The before and after…

These stakes cost somewhere around $13.50/stake. I don’t know how many hazard and OB stakes we have but it has to be several hundred. So by investing a couple hundred bucks on a planer and a few bucks on labor, we are able to save $2,700+ and freshen up the look of the course.

Common Grounds

New flowers have been installed at the front entrance. These flowers will give us a fresh look that will take us into summer.

Glen Eagle Maintenance (3/22/24)

 Golf Course

Just when it looked like El Niño was gone, here comes another “disturbance” that will bring us 24 to 36 hours of wet weather. Our lakes are near 2 feet higher than they were this time last year and will likely go up another 8+ inches if the predicted 4” of rain happens over the next couple days.

All-in-all, these periodic rains and warm weather has the grass growing.

This past Tuesday Dr. Steve Kammerer was at Glen Eagle for the 1st of 2 visits in 2024. Dr. Kammerer has an extensive experience in the turf industry including several years as a Regional Agronomist with the USGA. We discuss areas I am concerned with and he takes samples from our greens to examine and provides a report on the quality of the roots. That data can be compared to our course during past visits and against the average of what he is seeing at other clubs. That type of information is particularly beneficial during years where the weather has been challenging like this year. These are great visits where Dr. Kammerer and I can get deep into talking turf and swapping ideas. I expect the report will be very positive.

In attendance for the meeting were Dr. Kammerer, Mr. Healey (Greens Committee Chairman), Gustavo (Asst. Superintendent), Lucas, and myself.

Hard to tell in the picture but even Lucas at 6’4” looks up to Dr. Kammerer who is 6’6”.

Not sure how well this will come out in this picture but here is an example of what we look at during our visit.

We were comparing root quantity and length on #8 green between the middle which receives full sunlight and the left side that is shaded most of the day. The soil profile on the right where we had 3.5” roots is from the sunny area and the profile on the left from the shaded side only has 2.5” roots. The profiles also show the normal accumulation of organic matter (dark soil) in the sun and less in the shade. The uniformity of the organic matter indicates that our aerifications practices have been doing a good job of diluting the organic matter thru the entire soil profile.

As you can see these profiles can tell us a story once you know how to read it.

  I look forward to seeing everyone on the course, and as always, if you have any questions, flag me down or shoot me an email. I always enjoy talking turf!

Glen Eagle Maintenance (3/15/24)

 Golf Course

The weather has been absolutely perfect for turf growth over the last week. With the warm temperatures and sunshine we are even starting to see some definition between the fairways and roughs.

As the weather warms up, the soil temperatures rises, and weed seed germinates. To prevent the seeds from germinating, we put out our spring Fertilizer and Ronstar application on Wednesday evening. You may recall from earlier posts that Ronstar is a pre-emergent herbicide that reduces weed populations by stoping weed growth in the early stages of plant development.

We use a custom applicator to apply the Ronstar. They utilize GPS to insure no areas are missed and ground tracking radar to measure the speed of the truck. The truck then automatically applies the correct amount of product based on those systems to assure the correct amount of herbicide is applied. Applying the correct amount of product ensures the best weed prevention.

As you can tell from the video below, an added benefit is the speed in which they can make the application. The truck holds approximately 6000 pounds of product which will cover half the golf course before having to refill. Also, since they use GPS, they can apply products after dark which eliminates the need to close the golf course to make Ronstar applications. Generally we get started around 6pm and finish around 9pm. What takes them 3 hours would take us 8 and losing a day of play this time of year would be hard to do. The application is affordable too at $15/acre.

We do supplement the work that the truck does by getting into the hard to reach areas and around greens. Below is a video of Sylvestre, our Spray Technician applying the Fertilizer/Ronstar product around the green on hole 13.

Common Grounds

No project in the common grounds the week, check back next week for additional updates.

I look forward to seeing everyone on the course, and as always, if you have any questions, flag me down or shoot me an email. I always enjoy talking turf!

Glen Eagle Maintenance (3/8/24)

Golf Course

I am very pleased with the condition of the course. The recent warm and sunny weather, coupled with almost 1” of rain on Wednesday has the grass green and growing.

Hard to believe it is only the first week on March with the temperatures and growth we are getting.

Aerificaiton Plus was out on Thursday to pencil tine the greens. I call it spa day for the turf!

Due to our double tee start, two aerifiers are sent off the front and one off the back. After we finish #7 a tractor is moved to the back 9 to help stay ahead of play. The aerification process generally takes us 3 to 3.5 hours.

In this video you can see how many holes are made. These holes relieve compaction, and allow channels for water and oxygen to penetrate the soil and other gasses to escape the soil.

Slow Motion…

After the greens are aerified, we roll them to smooth out the holes.

Slow motion…

We also walk mow the perimeters to trim any of the tufts of grass where the aerifier tines enter and exit when starting or stopping a pass.

The results are tiny holes that you almost don’t see.

This is a bad picture but on the right side you can see where we rolled and the holes are much less visible.

Common Grounds

We swapped out some of the flower beds this week. On top of just a fresh look, the Begonias had grown too large and were starting to fall over on themselves.

I look forward to seeing everyone on the course, and as always, if you have any questions, flag me down or shoot me an email. I always enjoy talking turf!