Golf Course Maintenance Weekly 2/7/17

Leaning Digger Pine

In the southwest corner Granite Bay Golf Club there are, or at least there used to be, a couple of 60 foot high Digger Pines (pinus sabiniana). One of these pines in particular is leaning towards Roseville Parkway and if it did fall with all of the wet weather we have been having it, would fall across Roseville Parkway and I don't need to tell you what kind of problems that could cause.

The two questionable Digger Pines in relation to the
 saturated slope & Roseville Parkway

The west side slope

Another angle depicting the lean towards Roseville Parkway

Digger Pines do put down a tap root to draw water from deep in the soil which is why they survive in our dry climate. This tap root, along with conducting water for the trees survival, stabilizes the pine tree and is likely what has kept these trees from falling over years ago. However the soil on the west side of these trees was cut years ago during the construction of Roseville Parkway I suspect and with the recent rains softening the soil around the trees base a consulting arborist recommended their removal.

Tree crew on the job this morning Monday 1/6/17

A little fun fact in closing.  Some strict egalitarian's take offense at the common name for Pinus Sabiniana, Digger Pine.  That was because the name Digger came from the "Digger Indians," which was a contemptuous name given by white settlers to the Maidu and other Native Americans who occupied this land first, and who spent a lot of time digging for roots. So there you go.

Golf Course Maintenance Weekly 1/25/17

Historic Winter

Although it's been awhile since we have published a course update, allot has been going on, most of it weather related. Below are rainfall totals measured right here at the golf club by our on course weather station. As you can see  during our current rainfall year in which the data is measured from October through September, total accumulation YTD is just under 23". Average historic rainfall for our area is 24" so we are only 1" below average with February and the spring ahead of us. Additionally two of the four rainfall months in 2016 - 2017 have #1 rankings. October 2016 was a historic month State wide for rainfall and we measured just under 5-1/2" by far the most measured ever at GBGC for the month of October. I don't know if January rainfall accumulation will be a record for the State but the 10-1/2" accumulation measured here at GBGC is another record for us.

An article in the Sacramento Bee this morning (1/25/17) conveyed the reasons why with all of this rain the reservoir is half full. Bottom line it is a comparatively small reservoir that is fed by a substantial watershed and the reservoirs primary purpose is flood control for Sacramento. The up and down graph has us currently below historic average however the best news for the reservoir that supplies all of our summer irrigation  is the snow accumulation in the North and Central Sierras.

The month of January changed the below snow map almost overnight. This will be the water that will fill Folsom reservoir hopefully to the top by June. 

State wide the reservoirs are looking very good as one would expect with the rain we have been receiving. It will be interesting to see how the State proceeds with drought regulations and such this year although water conservation is the new normal in CA despite all of this wet weather.  

Wondering How The Golf Course Handles All The Rain?

Recent storm just getting started on #3 green.

For the most part all of the rain we have received has been fallen fairly steady with very few heavy downpours. Areas that are covered with turf handle even large amounts of rain very well, even downpours. Sand traps are another story. Our traps can handle steady rain pretty well but downpours wash sand off the faces of the traps and have now started to undermine the liner and sub surface base of these faces in a few areas. When we do get sustained rainfall there is allot of recovery that takes place in the sand traps afterwards which is just part of the job. Depending on the severity of the washouts it could take over a hundred man-hours to recover all of our sandtraps after a good rainfall, and close to 200 man hours after a severe downpour. So far this year we have had to do plenty of recovery but have avoided those serious downpours that makes our life difficult afterwards.

Fairway bunker on #9 after a recent storm.

Recovery in process

On rare occasions usually after a good rain event we have some visitors that come to play and dry out. These are two North American River Otters . River Otters are spotted occasionally here at Granite Bay but they don't stay long.

Golf Course Weekly 11/4/16

Perfect Fall Weather

I have shared many many times about the Fall Equinox being a key time for our golf course and this year above all others have illustrated why we in golf course maintenance look forward to it.  The turf conditions at Granite Bay are currently as healthy as they have been after the summer season and midway into the fall. Part of these conditions are due to added resources in our golf course maintenance program in 2016 that helped to prevent summer cool season turf thinning and losses. Another contributor is the absence of severe drought restrictions this year. However the weather during the month of October has been PERFECT for the recovery and further establishment of cool season turf and again is evidenced by the thick and dense turfgrass conditions we are experiencing. 

Thick conditions on #12 resulting from a perfect storm of seed, rain and mild temperatures.

Rainfall is a large part of the October weather we've experienced this year and the local accumulation is by some accounts historic. The last12 years of  rainfall data accumulated by our own weather station here at GBGC shows we received 5.48" of rain in October, the most we have received in October, ever. This rainfall, combined with earlier in the month aerification, the application of over 8 tons of ryegrass seed and  high temperatures in the mid 70's and lows  in the mid 50's, created the perfect storm for some thick and lush turf. No one is complaining, however it was a bit of a challenge to get the course mowed down and playable prior to the Jones Cup on November 3rd and 4th. Forecast for the first part of November is dry with temperatures remaining in the high 60's and low 70's as well as night time temps in the 50's. This means we have more thick turf in our future but drier and better playing conditions.

Golf Course Maintenance Weekly 10/7/16

Fall 2016 Fairway Aeration

 Linked here is another article from the USGA that addresses Aeration Timing and the perfectly legitimate question of why do "they always aerify the golf course when everything is perfect". Also in the spirit of managing expectations and communicating the hows and whys of what we are doing on the golf course, below is another pictorial covering recent fairway aeration for those interested members. 

Step #1 - Flag sprinkler heads. A HUGE necessity of  the aerification process is avoiding hitting sprinkler heads with the aerifier. We also have to flag yardage markers and drainage inlets so the equipment operator can see them and maneuver around or in most instances lift and lower aerifier over sprinkler head

Step #2 - Aerify the fairway. Above picture is a brand new aerifier that we are using for the first time here at Granite Bay. Very smooth piece of equipment that is designed so tractor tires don't run over wet cores which smash cores into turf which is hard to mechanically pick up.

First pass on #15 fairway. The voids are where the aerifier was lifted over a sprinkler head, yardage marker and / or drainage inlets.

 Step #3 - Dragging aerification cores to break them up. All of the pictures we have been presenting have been taken in daylight. Much of the actual aerification is done in the dark early morning hours so when these cores are removed they are wet. It is imperative that the cores are allowed to dry to a certain extent before we attempt to process and remove. Believe me, we have tried removing the cores directly after they were extracted resulting in a muddy mess that requires more cleanup and an inferior result of mud smashed into the fairway surface. We do turn the water off to a certain degree to mitigate wet conditions, but if the the turf  is overly dry during aerification substantial damage will occur as well.          The need for this necessary drying is what drove the decision years ago to have alternating F9 / B9 closures during the aerification season. 

Step #4 - Vacuuming / Sweeping debris. All of this debris is stockpiled and composted in the nursery green area off of #4 fairway.

Another reason for the alternating closures is this is a noisy, dusty dirty process that is best done without the presence of golfers.

Step #5 - Blowing behind the sweeper to get the surface even cleaner.

Step #6 - Mowing to clean up little tufts that are drug up during the cleanup process.

Step #7 - Broadcasting seed. There are many ways to introduce seed to the turf canopy. Here we are broadcasting seed over the aerified, cleaned & mowed fairway surface ahead of applying sand topdressing. 

Ryegrass in the spreader hopper.

Step #8 - Apply sand topdressing. 

Old Tom Morris. His battle cry was rumored to be " more sand!"

Step #9 - Dragging in the sand topdressing.

After this dragging of the topdressing we normally mow again to even out the playing surface and mow down the tufts created by the drag mat. With all of that seed and sand down we do need to keep things moist to ensure good seed germination. Weather forecast for the next 10 days are for highs in the mid 70's to mid 80's and nighttime lows in the low to mid 50's which is perfect for cool season turf recovery and ryegrass germination. We should be in very good shape by the time Jones Cup rolls around. 

Next week we will finish fairways on Monday and start surrounds  Tuesday on the back 9.  Below I have included the 2016 Fall aerification schedule again for a reference.   Thanks

Golf Course Maintenance Weekly 10/5/16

Fall 2016 Putting Surface Aerification

A great article on Why Do Golf Courses Aerate is linked here and does a concise job on explaining the whens and whys of aeration of putting surfaces. Below is a pictorial of the process we did yesterday (Tuesday, October 4, 2016) We did have a hydraulic malfunction on the piece of equipment the we use to remove the aeration cores first thing in the morning on #12 green. This will require some re-sodding from our nursery green next week. Other then that, the process went well as interested members can see from the below pictures.

Step #1 - Core aerify. This is the process that removes an actual core of  grass with attached roots and sand. Benefits are removal of excessive organic matter and relief of surface compaction & drainage.

This is what a green looks like when almost completly core aerified ahead of cleanup.

Step #2 -  Core Removal. The above machine is called a core harvester and is a big part of getting all of the greens done in a day here at Granite Bay. This front section corrals the aeration cores into an elevator belt with paddles that......

....... dump the cores onto a cross conveyor that ejects the cores into the back of a workman utility vehicle. We utilize an extra guy to keep the cores from piling up and obstructing the cross conveyer.

Another crucial part of cleanup is to keep the path clear so the core harvester doesn't run over wet plugs smashing them into the turf canopy. 

Step #3 - Apply sand topdressing.

Step #4 - Deep Tine Aerify. We run a separate aerifier over the topdressd surface that does not remove a core but pokes a hole 6" to 8" deep. This helps break up layering that can impede rooting and created a deep channel for air and water. 

Close up of the "VertiDrain" deep tine aerifier.

Step #5 - Apply soil amendments.  When the green is opened up during the above mentioned practices it is a logical time to add soil nutritional products. We usually add organic carbon based fertility, calcium in the way of gypsum and a coated slow release  potassium product.

Step #6 - Brushing in the sand and amendments.  This is a time consuming process that must be done when everything is dry. Time consuming because it does take some doing to get the 6" deep holes from the deep tine aerifier filled. Additionally if this step is done improperly or  in a situation where it is hot you can really experience some bruising and burning to the turf surface. Fortunately yesterday the weather conditions were perfect.

Step #7 - Rolling. This step is repeated for several days and a key to getting the surfaces smoothed out. 

The aerification holes will typically recover in 10 to 14 days and full putting quality can return in 21 to 28 days give or take. We typically like to let sand in the holes settle and then verticle mow and seed along with another light topdressing 6 days after the initial aeration process. Something  that was slightly different this fall is the coring tines we used were longer and we set the machine deeper in an effort to get deeper rooting which has been elusive amongst all of our successes with these putting surfaces. Time will tell. 

Thanks for your support!

Golf Course Maintenance Weekly 9/26/16

The 2016  Fall Equinox occurred last Thursday on the 22nd of September. This day marks the end of summer and ushers in the 90 day fall period which is the ideal a time of the year for growing and recovery of the cool season turf here at Granite Bay.  Fall is the time of the year that the irrigation requirements of the course start to substantially go down and hence the playing surfaces firm up. Additionally it is the time of the year that we can safely start the aggressive cultural practices of turf aerification, topdressing and slit seeding without risking damage.

Mid morning long shadows from the trees on the right hand side of  #1 fairway on 9/22/16, the day of the 2016 Fall Equinox.

We overseeded the tees on the course a few weeks ago. Overseeding our tees is necessary as the base turf in all teeing areas is hybrid bermuda which will turn brown in the winter during dormancy. Overseeding is the process of  slicing and seeding ryegrass into this bermuda before it goes dormant with ryegrass. The ryegrass germinates rapidly during the late summer / early fall and will give us a nice green surface to tee off of this winter. When next summer comes along, the bermuda which loves the heat will dominate the ryegrass then we will start the cycle over again next fall.

Jogi & Miguel spreading seed on a prepared
hybrid bermuda target green in the driving range.

Balander applying sand topdressing to forward target
after seeding prepared surface.

Enrique using the FW topdressor to apply
sand topdressing to overseeded driving range tee.

You probably noticed the tees got a little "hairy" or long a couple of weeks back. That was because after overseeding we allow 14 days for the new ryegrass to germinate and root down before mowing for the first time. When we did mow them for the first time last week, we mowed boxes for a entirely different look for Granite Bay. We still have a little tweaking to do to the new tee box configuration but the look has been well received by the Membership.

New "tee box" on #9

The driving range tee was overseeded this week on Monday 9/26/16 as we needed to have it available for Club Championship the weekend of September 23rd and 24th. We will give the driving range grass tee at least 4 weeks for ryegrass establishment before re-opening  which will bring us to the end of October. In the meantime we will have to use the synthetic tee line mat for practicing at the driving range.

The above course aerification schedule was first published a few weeks ago in these course updates and is worth putting out there arain as the aerification season is upon us. We are going into aerification in pretty good shape so surfaces should bounce back from these cultural practices fairly rapidly. We will be incorporating a lot of seed (10 Tons) during the process into the fairways, green surrounds and rough which will need to remain moist to germinate and establish. The inevitable wet and softness that occurs after aeration as holes are opened, soil exposed and seed incorporated will be short lived. This is because fall weather with its short days and cooler temps creates the best possible growing, recovery and rapid germination weather we could ask for. After the aerification recovery and seed germination occurs we will be able to drastically reduce irrigation and eventually get to the point where we can turn it off. 

Golf Course Maintenance Weekly 9/5/16

Resurfacing #9 Tee

We have been resurfacing various tee level's  throughout the course  this season such as Club level's on #7 & #13, Granite level's on #7 & #12, Pebble level's #10 & #17 and Tournament levels on #13. Tees start out flat but become crowned or unlevel over time because of wear and sand topdressing.  Another tee level we wanted to complete this year because of some substantial crowning is the Granite and Tournament level on  #9. Below is a pictorial of fixing this level.

In addition to being crowned this entire tee level points away from the center line of the fairway so we decided to do a little more excavation then a normal re-surfacing. 

After re-locating the sod from the tee on some bad spots on the walk up to #2 tee and below the first tree on the left hand side of #2 fairway we excavating and moving some of the soil on the tee to get the entire level pointing toward the center of the #9 fairway. Additionally we decided to slightly raise the rear tournament creating the customary separation of most of our tee levels se here we are re-locating some dirt to create the raised level. 

Leveling and shaping

Finished grade. We also have been entertaining the idea of making our tee levels into tee boxes. I'll address the process and challenges of this in a separate course update but I personally feel it would be a good look for the club.  It also makes allot of sense to square this one up because of the minor changes we made. 

New hybrid bermuda turf.

Not quite a finished product but a re-surfaced and re-sodded product. The levels have been overseeded, topdressed and fertilized and should adequate for use by the Club Championship on September 23rd.