Solid time aerification

Today we started spot aerifying low areas and weak areas on the greens.  This time of year the low spots do not dry out and can easily get water logged which decreases the amount of available oxygen for the roots.  By aerifying with solid tines the profile gets opened up allowing air to enter supplying the roots with much needed oxygen.  After the holes get punched and the green gets rolled it is hard to tell we were even there but the benefit exists.

not aerified/aerified

after roll

aerication after roll / aerification before roll

Happy Thanksgiving and First Frost

We have our first frost of the season and it is fairly widespread. 

The biggest rain event in a while

Our total precipitation over the 24 hour period starting Wednesday afternoon through Thursday afternoon was 6.5 inches bringing our year-to-date total to 47 inches.  While it was raining heavy yesterday the cartpaths were not passable in some areas because of all the standing water.  As expected the bunkers filled up with water and there are a lot of limbs down.

Rain total now at 6 inches

Halloween Rain

It has been raining since yesterday afternoon. So far we have received 5 inches of rain. 

3 inches starting yesterday

A lot of rain fast

Another weekend, another rain event

On Sunday morning starting about 7:15 the rain started coming down and did not stop until mid afteroon.  We ended up with 1 inch bringing our total for the year to 40.5 inches.

Another rainy Saturday afternoon

.6 inches of rain today

Cold Front

Since last weekend we have totaled 8/10ths inches of rain bringing our YTD to 37.7 inches.  When I got in my car this morning to go to work it felt like fall.  The cold front that blew in over night dropped our temperatures into the low 60s.  Break out the jackets!!!

Good Morning!

Georgeous morning at Bay Oaks CC.

Update

We received .5inches of rain on Saturday morning bringing our year-to-date total to 33.5inches, which is behind last year but our rains this year have come when we needed it though Saturdays are definately not ideal.  We have had our share of Saturday rain events over the past few months.  The golf course is doing well.  The rough is a hot button topic this time of year.  We are mowing as fast as we can, as much as we can everyday.  July, August and September are when our course really bares its teeth when the rough gets as thick as it is now.  We had 3 successful greens aerifications this year.  It is an important process for the health of the short term and long term health of the greens.  Thank you for understanding that this is a necassary process.

A litttle more rain and a big tree.

This 75 foot tree fell down Wednesday night during the thunderstorms that blew through.  Another 9/10ths inches of rain.

Rainy Saturday

So far today we are at 2.95 inches of rain, bringing our year-to-date to 31 inches.

Greens aerification

We aerified all the greens today and started the cleanup process.  We will finish cleaning, rolling and topdressing tomorrow.

Verticutting fairways

These pictures are of the fairway vericutting we performed in June.  It is a 3 step process.
Step1: verticut the fairway 2 directions to affect the grain growing in different directions.  The grain of the grass generally goes downhill which on one fairway may actually be multiple different directions depending on where the slope faces.
Step 2: mow the fairways to cut off the grass that was stood up by the verticutter
Step 3: blow the debri off the fairway and they are ready for play

Fairway verticutter (look at all that material)
The material you see flying out of the reels is thatch.  This needs to be thinned out to maintain firm fairways and healthy plant growth.

This view is of the verticut fairway next to the unverticut fairway.  

Aerification August 5th and 6th

Golf Course Maintenance

We are aerifying the greens on Monday and Tuesday.  This aerification will mimic the one we did in June.  Greens aerification is extrememly important for the overall health of the greens.  The turf on greens is under and extreme amount of stress.  Aerification allows for improved air and water movement withing the soil profile which makes for healthier roots which in turn makes for a healthier plant allowing it to better handle the daily stress we put on them.  Mowing grass at less than 1/8 inch as we do daily inherently causes stress, but once you add foot traffic, disease pressure, shade(which bermuda hates) insect pressure and our hot humid Texas summers into the mix, it makes for a stressed out plant that is using all the energy is has just to survive.  We are also going to verticut the fairways as we did in June.  Verticutting the fairways will help make a tighter lie and make the fairways less prone to scalping this time of year.

Afternoon Thunderstorms

Friday afternoon about 12:30 we received a couple inches of heavy rain in a short amount of time resulting in washed out bunkers that are full or water.  On top of the 3 inches we had earlier in the week our total for the week is now in the 4-5 inch range.  We are thankful for the rain though we are behind on mowing so when we are able to get the mowers out next week there is going to be a lot of grass.  Fairways 5 and 10 look odd because we were halfway through mowing them when it started raining and could not finish.  As always we will get everything back into shape as quickly as we can.

Much needed rain

The thunderstorms last night gave us a nice 8/10ths of an inch of rain.  Fortunately it came slow enough that course damage and cleanup is minimal.  We are able to maintain regular 90degree cart rules today.

Rain

I was on #5 green when the rain line hit this morning at 7:45AM.  The wind picked up and it cooled off by 10 degrees instantly.  We recieved .85inches of rain in about 45 minutes.  CART PATH ONLY all day.

Saturday night rain

2.6 inches of rain fell on the golf course Saturday night bringing our year-to-date total to 14.95 inches.

Root pruning

We root pruned behind #5 & #18 greens.  This picture is from behind 18 green.  The roots are from the cypress.  5 was just as bad.

April Aerification

We completed our first aerification of 2013 on Tuesday.  Fortunately we were able to aerify tees and fairways along with the greens.  On the greens we pulled a 5/8 inch core 8 inches deep on 4 inch centers, cleaned off the material, topdressed and rolled.  The process went smoothly.  On the tees we pulled a 5/8 inch core 4 inches deep.  We verticut the material back into the tee then mowed and blowed the tees.  On the fairways we used a machine called an Aerovator which punches a solid hole while vibrating, effectively widening the hole and shattering the soil immediately around the hole.  All our processes went smoothly and I expect a full recovery.  Our next aerification is scheduled for June 17 and 18.  Overnight into this morning we received 1.5 inches of rain bringing our total year-to-date to 12 inches.  The timing of the rain was great coming after our aerification.

Rain!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We received 1.55" of rain overnight.  Our team is working hard today to get the course and bunkers back in shape.

Aerification

We have our first aerification of the year coming up on Monday and Tuesday, April 8 & 9.  This will be a deep-tine operation which means a 3/4 inch diameter x 10 inch deep core will be removed every 3 inches.  This deep aerification on the greens will encourage root growth by allowing for more gas and water exchange  to take place deeper in the soil profile.  The benefits of aerification are many, including improved air and water exchange which helps rooting, thatch removal which allows for more efficient water infiltration into the soil profile which helps decrease surface wettness and sponginess and minor compaction relief.  Once the cores are pulled, the greens will get cleaned off, heavily topdressed with sand to fill the holes and smooth the surface and rolled.  The following pictures are from a similar aerification we did last April.

deep tine aerifier

material cleanup

dragging sand into the holes

green cleaned and ready for play

New driving range tee line.

Update

The new surface is down on the left side of the tee.

The new tee line is taking shape.  The rock border on the left side is complete.

Herb Garden

Thanks to the Bay Oaks Garden Club the herb garden is planted and growing.

New sod on short game area

We are busy sodding the short game area today.

New tee line

The old concrete tee line on the left is removed.  The next step is to prep for the new base for the new line.

Wet

Yesterday we received .6 inches of rain bringing our total for the year to 5.75 inches.  The golf course is wet and we are CART PATH ONLY.  Thank you.

Birds of Bay Oaks

On Monday January 14th we performed our second bird survey on the golf course and grounds.  In addition to the wonderful member help we have received  I got hooked up with two gentlemen from the Attwater Praire Chicken Refuge (attwater.org) who are very knowledgeable about birds and who have been extremely helpful in getting the survey's done.  Taken from attwater.org: Attwater Prairie Chicken National Wildlife Refuge (APCNWR), located approximately 60 miles west of Houston, Texas, is one of the largest remnants of coastal prairie habitat remaining in southeast Texas and home to one of the last populations of the critically endangered Attwater’s prairie chicken, a ground-dwelling grouse of the coastal prairie ecosystem. The refuge is one of a handful of national wildlife refuges managed specifically for an endangered species (attwater.org).  

Our area of Texas has one of the most diverse bird populations in the world.  Our coastal location along the central migratory flyway makes this a prime location to see birds of many species.  Counting the two surveys we have performed roughly 90 species of birds have been identified on the Bay Oaks Country Club property.  One of the birds in particular was a Golden-crowned Kinglet.  The gentlemen who spotted the bird in the front entrance of the club is a Past President of the Houston Audubon Society and an avid birder with years of experience.  The Golden-crowned Kinglet he  spotted in the club entrance is the first one he has spotted in Harris County.  That is special.  Here are some highlights of the Golden-crowned Kinglet.

© Kelly Azar
The Golden-crowned Kinglet is an extremely active tiny bird, barely larger than a hummingbird, which gets its name from the yellow stripe surrounded by black on its head.  It's migrates from Alaska and Canada where it breeds in the summer to Texas and Northern Mexico during the winter.  They breed in spruce and fir forests and feed on insects.  An interesting fact about the bird is that the female only feeds its young through their first day leaving the nest then she starts laying her second set of eggs.  The male Kinglet takes over feeding duties of the first brood, which may contain 8 or 9 young.

Stump Grinding

We have been busy over the last few weeks grinding up all our stumps.  We are getting around the course with the grinder faster than our post-grind cleanup crew.  After a stump is ground we pick of the wood shavings and back fill the hole with dirt so the grass will grow back over level.

Frost Delay Today

We have a frost delay today.  It is more widespread today than it has been all year.

Happy wet New Year 2013

We are starting off 2013 with 1.5inches of rain and a soaked golf course.  Bloody Mary Open delayed until Jan 1, 2014.