Get-It-Out Lift

If you have played golf in the last week you probably have noticed the black rings around the bottom of the flag stick.  These rings are called Get-Out-Lift, and are designed to help remove the ball from the cup without sticking your hands in the hole.  With the rules of golf changing this year allowing the flag stick to remain in while putting, many people have adapted to the new rule.  However, when putting with the flag sticks in, sometimes golfers will reach their hand in to get the ball without removing the flag stick.  This can cause the edges of the cup to get damaged if not careful, and we have noticed more wear than usual this summer.  To see if we can reduce any damage to the cups, we have decided to try the Get-Out-Lift.  Please let us know your feedback as you use these new devices and let us know your thoughts!   

Verticutting Fairways

Fairway maintenance took our full attention over the last week!  Trust me, the last thing any Golf Course Superintendent wants to do is tear up beautiful grass!  Sometimes, it takes a little roughing up the stone to make it shine, and that is the outlook we used on the fairways this week.  So, why do we verticut the fairways?  What is a verticutter?  Will it ever grow back?  Those are all great questions I have been asked over the last week, and I wanted to shed some light on this dirty, dusty process.

So what is verticutting?  Verticutting is defined as vertical mowing, which uses blades orientated straight up and down to cut slits into the turf profile and remove thatch which builds up over time.  The thatch can lead to a "puffy" or "spongy" turf surface which does not create a very consistent fairway lie.  Bermuda grass grows very aggressively and naturally creates a lot of thatch.  By removing accumulating thatch each year, we can help to keep our fairways growing tight and consistent like carpet.  This is the goal anyway!

We choose to do this process in the middle of the summer time when the weather is hot, and the bermuda grass is most actively growing.  Some of the the first fairways we verticut on Monday, July 15th, have already shown very rapid recovery.  Within a few weeks the grass grow back it will hardly be noticeable anything was done.  Below the turf surface we have created many new growing points  during the process, growing new leaf blades to fill in the voids.  The result with be a much firmer, tighter grass canopy that should improve the play of the golf course.  

Buddy looks about as excited as I am about tearing up good looking fairways!  Here is a look at the verticutter in action working on #8 fairway.

     

Here is a look at the fairways immediately after the machine goes over the turf.  The lines are cut in the turf canopy to help remove the thatch.  You can see all the excess thatch laying all over the turf surface.  I cleaned a little bit away to show the lines that are left, compared to the fairway surface before we started the process.

Big handful of the thatch and sprigs that were removed from the fairways!  A lot of material we can do without!

So how do we pick all the unwanted thatch up and remove it completely?  Well a vacuum of course!  This year we were fortunate for the Club to purchase a Multi-Vac 772, which has already proved to be very handy!  The vacuum runs behind the verticutter and sucks up almost all the debris left over.  You can see in the pictures the before and after of where the tractor drives, almost all the debris is removed and stored in the hopper to be dumped off site.  

View from the tractor pulling the vacuum.  Green grass showing is the first pass made with the vacuum!  Works Great!

After the vacuum does its job, it is time to mow the grass to start to even it back up.  It takes a few cuttings to get everything smoothed out.  After we mow, the blowers will come behind and clean up all the loose material remaining.

This is a photo of #8 fairway, the day after we finished the entire verticutting process.  While the fairway is brown and not nearly as green and pretty as when we started, it is still an acceptable surface to play golf on.  Within 2-3 weeks it will be hard to tell we did anything at all, and everything should look much better!

New Walk Path on #14

Monday we took advantage of a hot, dry day to install a new walk path on hole #14, leading to the white and green tee box.  The idea for a walk path in this location has been discussed by the Grounds Committee for quite some time, but because of our busy schedule it has been hard to find time to complete the project.  I would like to show you in pictures how we built this new path.

This is the area we we chose to install the walk path.  It has been the chosen trail for some time now, and along with some rocks and tree roots it made for a rather rugged walk.  In the foreground of the picture you can see a small portion of the pathway material we used to make a ramp down from the cart path about a year ago with some excess we had left from a previous project.  In the grass you can slightly see the walk path we mow into what is currently mulch and fescue grass walk path.

  

The first step is to grade out the area for the path.  The thickness of the entire path is about 5 inches in depth, so we went down 4-5 inches from the original grade to prepare the base for the path.  We use boards to form up the sides to help us keep a consistent line and helps the material where we want it and allow it to set-up properly.

The base material we use for the walk path is crush-r-run, or a DOT approved material that packs well and is a mixture of standard gravel and fine stones.  We install this material at a depth of 2 inches throughout the bottom of the path.

So what exactly are we using to build this path?  The product is called Kafka Granite, and it is a combination of a polymer and a lot of very tiny granite rocks.  The polymer acts as a glue that hardens and sticks everything together to make a firm surface.  The polymer actually continues to get harder and more consistent over time, allowing the walk path to become durable and withstand years of use.  The Kafka Granite is made in Wisconsin, and shipped in large sacks containing 3,000 lbs each.  This surface is similar to concrete when it is completed, but much more cost effective.

The Kafka Granite is spread evenly throughout the path area, on top of the crush-r-run sub-base we had previously installed.  We try to put 3-4 inches of the material at first, and then run a vibratory tamp across the top to compact the material.  This picture above shows the material being spread evenly.

This is another picture showing the crew installing the Kafka Granite.  Look at the boards to see exactly how much material we are installing on the path.  The grey colored material is the base layer, and the light brown material is what will ultimately be the path surface.  The white bag is the 3000 pound sack the product was delivered in.

A vibratory tamp is used to compact the new material and firm it into a usable walk path.  Adding a light mist of water during this process helps to allow the polymer to start solidifying everything together.

The vibratory tamp works very well to firm up the surface.

Notice where the smooth area is that has been tamped is about 2 inches lower than the loose material used to fill the forms.  This is why we install so much of the Kafka material at the beginning, because it really packs well.  Ideally we would like to see a finished surface of 3 inches thick of Kafka granite, after the tamping process.

All that is left will be to finish the surrounding landscape to make the walk path look like it has been there forever.  This path material blends very well and looks very natural.  Hopefully once completed it will improve this stretch for the golfers walking to #14 tee box!

Tee Aerification

       Over the past two weeks we have taken the opportunity given the dry weather to aerify the tee boxes.  Aerification is an important process in all turf management because it helps to add pore space to the soil profile, reduce the thatch build up which accumulates all year long, and even out the surface of the grass to make it smooth.  When we do this tee box aerification we punch half inch diameter holes in the turf and remove a plug.  Once the plugs are cleaned off the tee we topdress heavily with sand to fill the holes and improve uneven areas on the tee box surface.  The sand will be brushed into the holes to ensure the even distribution.  The last step in the aerification process is to add amendments and fertilizer to the tee boxes to enhance the nutrient levels of the soil profile.  This fertilizer also helps to speed up the recovery process by encouraging rapid growth.  Here are a few pictures to help illustrate exactly how we do the aerification:

Here is a picture showing the before and after of the aerification.  On the right side of the picture is the tee surface before being punched with holes.  The left side of the picture shows all the plugs removed sitting on top of the surface.

This close up picture shows the plugs a little better as they come out of the machine.  We will blow the plugs off the tees and pick them up behind the aerifier before topdressing with sand.  This helps to ensure the holes are open and ready for the sand to fill them up!

Here is an up close look at the"aerification tines" as they are called.  These tines are hollow at the bottom and have one side missing because the are "side-eject" tines, or shoot the little plugs of grass out the sides.  Each time the machine punches them into the grounds, the new plug pushes the rest of the material left in the tine out and onto the ground. 

Here is the view of the tee surface looking straight down after a week of recovery.  The bermuda grass is growing very rapidly right now and makes for a very short recovery.  Within 3 weeks it will be hard to see we did anything to the tees, but the benefit to the soil profile will be felt for a long time by the turf!

Looking at the tees overall it is easy to see some sand that still remains, but for only 1 week after punching holes we have seen a very quick recovery!

Removing Dead Trees

As the trees are now fully leafed out and green for the summer one thing has been easy to spot around the golf course and that is dead trees!  We have had a few large trees not green up or grow any leaves this year for some reason, so we cut them down to ensure they do not fall down unwanted and injure anyone.  This past Monday we took advantage of the golf course being closed to take down these dead trees.  I will show you in pictures some of the trees and what happened when we cut them down:

Large Red Oak on #1 was dead

Here is a look at the tree on #1 once we got it on the ground, there is not a leaf on the entire tree.  It was alive last year, but did not survive the wet winter.

Maple on hole #16 with leaves had just turned brown

Large Black Tupelo tree on #8 left side of fairway.  This was a beautiful tree in the fall, but unfortunately it is no longer with us.

This tree on #5 was a large hickory tree that died behind the green.  It looks like the bottom of the tree is still alive, but that is just a smaller tree growing directly behind it.

Here is a closer look at the bottom of the dead tree.  The large trunk is the dead tree, and the little one growing out of the bottom is still alive.  The tree company also had to be careful to not damage the storm shelter directly beneath the dead tree!

Here is what the tree looked like behind #5 green after we dropped it on the ground.  The top of the tree was so rotten that it just exploded into a million pieces once it fell.  It made it a little easier to clean up that way, but also shows the danger of how unstable those branches are when suspended in the air on a dead tree.  

Venting the Greens!

This Tuesday our staff did a process to the bentgrass putting greens which helps greatly to survive the summer stress.  We use a 1/4 inch solid tine to punch holes in the greens surface about 4 inches deep.  This process is called venting, and it greatly improves the availability of oxygen and water to infiltrate the root zone.  We typically try to vent the greens every 3-4 weeks in the summer depending on the weather.  After the holes are punched, we use our roller to smooth the green and restore a smooth putting surface.  The putting quality is minimally affected and after a few days the holes are hardly noticeable.  Venting, water management, and disease control are all critical during the hot summer months.     

Concrete Cart Path Improvements

Over the past few weeks we took time to replace some broken and uneven cart paths on the golf course.  If you have ridden in a golf cart around the course lately you can tell there are some rough areas to navigate.  Many of the rough spots we see in the cart path come from tree roots growing under the concrete panels.  As the tree roots get larger, they push the panels up and create uneven seams in the concrete.  Some areas are also the original concrete cart path from when the course was built in 1989-1990.  The old concrete is starting to chip away at the surface and has cracked over time.

Here is some of the old cart path at #7.  The sections in the foreground are ok and not removed, but the sections to the right and far away in the picture will be removed.  The area on the right is a connection to the old cart path which is not used any more, and will be turned to grass.

It is hard to see in the shade, but this old turn around in the cart path will be removed and turned to grass.  This area is right behind #6 green and comes into play to golfers quite often.  There is also old broken curbing and cracked concrete which is unsightly.

This turn around will be removed and turned to grass.

The concrete company removes the old panels of concrete and prepares the area with a light coating of sand to prepare a base.

Using a modified Chevy S-10 pickup truck, they haul in concrete 1 yard at a time.  The truck will dump the concrete for the team to start spreading out and smoothing.

This machine is also used to haul the wet concrete and pour to speed up the process.

Once all the concrete is poured and finished, it is time for the dirty work.  Our staff will go in with fresh soil and pack the edges to fill in the gaps.  It is a slow process and takes time to get it right, with tamping and raking a large part of the process.  

The machine is sitting on top of what was the concrete turn around, which will be sodded to grass.  This should help give a few golfers a more forgiving lie than on the cart path!

Here is the finished product!  Looks much cleaner, and drives very smooth!  It is almost hard to tell anything even happened.

We also took the chance to fix this area behind #3 green.  This area was very broken up and uneven, and also did not drain properly at all.  The new concrete sends all the water to the drain and it works great!

This area next to #9 tee was very bumpy and was badly damaged from tree roots.  With the new concrete it is now very smooth for years to come!