Glen Eagle Maintenance (5/10/24)

 Golf Maintenance

With the 0.35” of rain earlier this week, the golf course is growing like wildfire. This is making a mess for us to clean up after mowing but is also making the course look much better. We are starting to get our definition back (as seen in the picture below of #8).

Clippings in the roughs have to be blown after each mowing. We will be spraying a plant growth regulator (PGR) next Tuesday to help control the vertical growth and reduce clippings for easier cleanup and tighter turf.

Our lake levels are still higher than normal for this time of year but continue to recede. The resulting shallow water has allowed excessive amounts of Cara to “top out”, be visible on top of the water. The result is large mats of Chara floating on certain lakes. Generally when the Chara is along the banks, our lake maintenance company treats it chemically. However, when it starts to consume the open parts of lakes they can bring in a boat with a rake on it to keep it from covering the entire lake.

Chara looks like a plant but doesn’t have true leaves. It is actually a filamentous algae that grows along the bottom of lakes. Most of the time, we don’t really know it is there because it stays below the waterline. It is only when the waterline gets low enough that the long stands of algae surface and become an eyesore. Once it starts raining Chara will become less of an issue. The reason Chara tends to be an issue in some lakes and not in others is generally the depth of the lake. The deeper the water, the less light penetrates to the soil on the bottom of the lake. Algae and other plants need sunlight to make their food so deeper lakes have less growth. They also don’t get as shallow when the water levels go down so if there is growth it stays submerged.

Here are some pictures and videos of the work that was done to remove “floating” Chara in a couple of our lakes this past week.

Before pictures

After pictures

The “tool” used to clean the Chara off the top of the lake is called a Truxor. It is basically a paddle boat with a big rake on the front.

A video of the Truxor entering the lake. I thought it was interesting that the operator station moves back and forth to keep the weight balanced depending on the weight of the material that is harvested.

Another video showing how the Chara is removed. I thought it was interesting how operator spins in circles, concentrating the Chara and floating debris to the perimeter of the pond so it is easier to remove.

Changing gears. You may see that the Copperleaf on #17 is not completely trimmed which seems odd. While trimming it Paulino noticed a birds nest with eggs in it so he left it in place until the eggs hatch. Once the fledglings have left the nest, we will complete the job.

Common Grounds

Ficus replacement is still ongoing, waiting on plant delivery. BTW, last week I said we were waiting on the delivery of Ficus, I meant Calusia. More pictures once we start planting.

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!