Golf Course Maintenance Weekly 5/25/16 - Day 3 Range Improvements

Day 3 of our 2016 Range Improvements brought completion to some of the items listed on our original scope of work.

Drainage Inlets that were installed day 2 were set in concrete today

Core aerification was completed on the entire range but while doing so we encountered a unexpected issue that required attention before going to the next step.

The issue was that the aerifying process dislodged and brought to the surface years of imbedded range balls that needed to be removed prior to breaking up the cores with the verticle mower.

We estimated over 1000 lost balls.

This is what an aerifyer can do to a golf ball.

With the balls removed we can now progress to chopping up the aerification cores with the verticle mower.

After that we can sweep up the debris.

We finished up all the tree pruning we could on Day 3 yet had to reallocate man power to other priorities so we could complete the entire job on time. We could probably do a week or more's worth of tree pruning on the range.

Reconfiguration of all of the irrigation around the synthetic mat concrete pad is proving to be a time consuming process. Here we are filling irrigation line ditches. There is allot of meticulous hand work involved when cutting irrigation lines in existing turf.

Below is the contractor putting the finishing touches on the net install.

We chose an option of using treated 2"X 12"base boards along the bottom of the net like the right hand side netting protect the netting of getting hung up and ripped with the ball picker.

Finished netting up the right hand side. This should gather the vast majority of balls that escape the range and get out into #18.

Day 4 will be our final push. We will finish the irrigation reconfiguration, install drainage panels on the concrete pad and reinstall the flushed  driving range mat. Additionally we will place some more yardage rocks so you can zero in more yardage targets on the range. One more day.

Golf Course Maintenance Weekly 5/24/16 - Day 2 Range Improvements

Progress continued on all items listed in our scope of work on Day 2 of our range improvements evidenced by the pictures below.

In the GCM yard Kevin and Larry continued to wash the driving range mats with high pressure and more importantly high volume water from the golf course irrigation system. It takes a harness attached to the mat to be SLOWLY pulled by a tractor to move the fibers in position for flushing.

We switched to  a larger pipe today making the process easier and slightly more efficient. It will take 2 guys 4 days to get these things clean.

Back at the range, Miguel jackhammers the concrete pad which he saw cut yesterday in preparation for drainage inlets to carry off  any irrigation or rain that might get under the driving range mat.

Drainage pipe exposed and ready for drain install.

Installed drainage inlet and pipe into existing drainage line.

Another task listed on the scope of work was getting golf course irrigation directed away from the artificial mat and pad which we have identified as a cause of premature mat deterioration. Our irrigation water comes out of the pond between holes #1 & #9 and not the cleanest as far as particulates. Moving  irrigation and maintaining coverage is something we are proficient at.

However it looks like a bomb went off when we are in the process of doing it.

On the left hand side of the range the contractor installs the posts for the net.

Out on the range we are aggressively core aerifying during the 4 day closure.

Aerification pattern.

We continued tree pruning as well on day 2. Below are the guys spreading the chipped material in the rock formation at the top of the range.

More progress will be made on day 3 as we wrap up drainage, irrigation, net installation, aerification and tree pruning. Thanks again for your patience.

Golf Course Maintenance Weekly 5/23/16 - Day 1 Range Improvements

We made good progress on day one of our planned driving range improvements. The improvements we are focusing on during the four days driving range closure are:

• 300' of netting up the LH side or range to catch balls from entering #18 FW.
• Improving the drainage of the synthetic "Tee Line" driving range mat.
• Redirecting irrigation patterns away from the synthetic "Tee Line" driving range mat.
• Clean the synthetic "Tee Line" driving range mat.
• Tree pruning.
• Core aerification and fertilizing
• Installing "Yardage Rocks"

Mondays Progress

First step was to remove the sections of dirty driving range mats and bring them to the maintenance yard.

 Once the mats were delivered to a sloped section of the maintenance yard, Kevin and Larry started a process of using golf course high pressure and volume water to flush all of the dirt and debris from the fibers of the mats. 

The process has proven to be painstakingly slow, however effective. 

The finished product felt better under foot as allot of dirt and grime have been washed out of the fibers. 

Looks allot better as well as compared to these rolls of dirty mats.

Now that the mats were removed and concrete pad exposed we can start installing some drainage in the pad to help remove inevitable moisture that will accumulate. 

Here is Miguel saw cutting the pad for drainage inlets that we plan to install that will remove water that accumulates under the mat.

On another front here is the contractor drilling holes for the installation of the poles to support the left side net. Poles will be 8' high and are installed 3-1/2' in the ground. 

All holes drilled without hitting any irrigation. Positive sign.

Enrique working on some tree trimming on the range. I suppose it is fairly obvious by our scope of work listed above that when there is an opportunity to close the  driving range you want to get as much done as you possibly can. Tree pruning is one of them.

My intention is to update every day during our progress this week so interested members can keep up with what is going on out there.  Thanks for your patience during the closure.

GB Rainbow

William Graber caught this image after the storm that blew through on Friday. 

Golf Course Maintenance Weekly 4/11/16

Aerification Healing

This week marks the third week since we aerified Greens, Fairways & Green Surrounds. Weather during the subsequent three weeks was about as perfect as it could have been for the healing process. We experienced some warm weather which helps get the turf growing along with some soaking rain last weekend which is always beneficial. Aerification holes in the greens have healed and we have lowered the height of cut (HOC) on them which we typically raise a bit directly after the aerification process. Surfaces are typically slow as the culmination of higher rates of fertilizer to promote rapid recovery take effect. Look for the greens to get quicker by week four as soil fertility wanes, and the the application of growth regulators take effect.

6 days after aerification directly after verticle mowing, seeding & light topdressing.

13 days after aerification

23 days after aerification

Fairway holes are still evident but will likely disappear next week as we applied fertility along with pre-emergent for crabgrass this week. We still have a little bit of topdressing sand to apply to the fairways which we will concentrate on landing areas next week. After this sand is brushed in it will hardly be noticeable.

Topdressing fairways. We have a little bit left to do next week.

Tee Re-Surfacing

We expanded and flattened the club tees on #13 and #14 this week. Additionally we removed some tree limbs that shaded these levels so the new sod and subsequent established turf will have a much better chance or thriving. We will try to open these tees in a couple of weeks, especially on #14 so we don't wear the cobble level out.

Prepping #13 Club Tee for new sod.

#13 Club Tee with new sod.

#14 Club Tee with new sod.

Golf Course Maintenance Weekly 3/28/16

Aerification Progress

We started the 2016 spring aerification process on Monday 3/21/16 by aerifying Tilleys practice green and the chipping green. After 10 days we have completed core aerification of all of the putting surfaces except the main PG which we left untouched so members can practice putting. We will get this one in a couple of weeks. Additionally we have completed all of the fairways and the putting green surrounds on hole #'s 1-9 & 10-13 & 15 as well as applying 20 tons per acre of topdressing sand to the fairways. On Monday 4/4/16 we will finish putting green surrounds on hole #'s 14 & 16-18. We could not have completed all of these areas in just 14 days without the alternating F9 & B9 closures that were instituted a few years ago. We appreciate your patience with this as we complete these crucial cultural practices to the turfgrass playing surfaces here at GBGC.

The aerification process went extremely well with hardly any damage to the turfgrass surfaces. Cleanup of the cores, which sometimes can be a little messy was almost flawless as well. We will be core aerifying rough areas over the next couple of weeks which doesn't require any closures. You will just get a lift in those areas when the process is underway and after we are done the areas should be very playable. Below are some more pictures of the fairway and putting surface surround aerification process for all who are interested.

The actual core aerification process is the same for putting surface surrounds or fairways.
Above is a tractor mounted aerifyer extracting cores on #4

Here is another walk behind core aerifyer working in the tighter areas around greens.

Here we are dragging the cores to break them up. This is done after a period of drying.
If we started dragging the cores immediately after extraction we would make a horrible
mess as the cores would be too wet. Allowing the cores time to dry so we can properly
clean them up is the primary reason we need the alternating closures.

Here we are chopping up the cores  with a vertical mower further aiding in removal.

Next step is to vacuum up the remnants.

Following vacuuming we blow, then mow, and then the FW surface is ready for sand.
After the sand drys we can then drag it into the aerification holes.

That's basically it. Thanks again for your support