Greens Aerification Finished

We completed our first greens aerification of the season last Monday and Tuesday.  The process was successful and our goal of pulling out large cores deep followed by a topdressing to fill the holes was realized.  Following the aerification and topdressing, the greens were rolled with a 2500 pound roller 3 times and our speed roller 2 times by Thursday.  The collers were also aerified and rolled.  The greens are recovering nicely and we are getting back on a regular mowing and rolling routine.  Today we aerified the large driving range tee.


deep-tine aerifier



behind the aerifier - fresh holes, the green takes a breath of fresh air






new holes .75"x11" on a 3"x5" pattern



coller aerification






material cleanup




material cleanup




dragging the green to help clean after all material cleaned up



15 green 1 week post aerification




holes are closing up 1 week after aerification



Update Tuesday April 17

We recieved 1.5 inches of rain yesterday bringing our total for the year to almost 20 inches.
The aerification of #11 fairway has been rescheduled for the week of May 1 because the contractor has had some vital equipment break down.
We have prepared large areas for sod in the front left lawn of the clubhouse.  Our sod delivery was scheduled for today but because of the rains yesterday we rescheduled for next Wednesday.
A reminder, we are aerifiying the greens next Monday and Tuesday and the golf course will be closed both days. 

American alligator

The alligators are making there presence known again.  I have not personally seen an alligator in all the golf course ponds but I would make the assumption that there is one in each pond.  The one in the pond on #18 likes to sun itself on the bank closest to the practice putting green and 18 green.  Please use common sense and stay away and please keep your children and pets away. 

Below are excerpts from the Texas Parks and Wildlife website about the American alligator in Texas.  Both links are extremely informative and provide a lot of information.

"American alligators normally avoid humans, but American alligators can become perceived as a nuisance when they establish territories around people. As human populations in Texas continue to expand, there have been an increased number of encounters between people and alligators. Alligators have been known to prey on pets and must be treated with caution. Alligators can be surprisingly quick on land and are capable of running quickly over short distances." (http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/huntwild/wild/species/alligator/index.phtml)

Another excerpt and link:
"Most Texans in "gator country" will live in close proximity to these native reptiles with no confrontations. However, there are occasions when certain alligators become "a nuisance" and must be handled by the proper authorities. TPWD received more than 400 nuisance alligator calls in Southeast Texas during 2003. (A substantial number of these were not true problem gators, and the sheer volume of these reports is taxing available manpower and resources needed to handle the real problems.) More than 100 alligators were relocated, mostly from subdivisions adjacent to natural habitat. A similar number had to be killed in similar situations. In these incidents alligators had lost their fear of humans and exhibited aggressive behavior. Relocation is not always a viable option, as by nature these animals are territorial. Relocating problem animals to other areas often creates greater problems. What is needed is a better-educated populace more able to recognize the few nuisance alligators and to coexist safely with the majority of alligators that are not nuisances." (http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/huntwild/wild/species/alligator/safety/index.phtml)

Drought??????????????

We recieved another .90 inches of rain yesterday returning the course to CART PATH ONLY for at least a day.  Yesterday's rain brings our "year to date" total to 19.10 inches.  There is certainly good news with all the rain we have recieved over the past 6 months.  According to the National Drought Monitor our current drought status is "None" which is quite a change from the "Exceptional" status we held on to for the final 7 months of 2011.  "Exceptional" is the worst drought status there is.  Compare the current Drought Monitor Map of Texas with the map from early October. 

 

 

Hole #5

As of today carts are allowed back on hole #5.  The grass on the mounds has made a great comeback through the winter and early spring.  The combination of little to no cart traffic, rain and a little extra fertilizer really helped the mounds to recover.  Traffic controls are in place along the cartpath to direct cart traffic around the mounds to continue allowing the best conditions for recovery.  Thank you for your understanding over the last few months.

Verticutting greens

I have mentioned verticutting in a couple of posts and thought I would explain more in depth.  Traditionaly grass is cut horizontally by cutting the top of the leaf off with either a rotary mower, the style used on most home lawns, or a reel mower.  On the golf course we use reel mowers on the greens, tees and fairways and rotary mowers in the rough and clubhouse grounds.  A picture of a reel mower unit is below. 


reel mower

 When we veritcut greens we use a unit which has multiple blades that look like circular saw blades.  They cut the grass vertically, cutting the stolons and rhizomes, also known as runners.  This helps to thin the grass canopy and encourages new stolon and root growth.  It is helpful to verticut greens before a topdressing to open up the grass canopy to give the sand a place to settle.  An example of a vertical mowing unit is below.


vertical mowing unit

 

Rain

Rain has been the theme of the year so far.  Today we recieved 1.75 inches bringing our total for the year up to 16.35 inches, which puts us 6 inches more than the year to date average of 10 inches.  Fortunately we did get the greens verticut yesterday.