#17 Green repair

New Sod

Trick or Treat

 

 

October 31st marks the last day of reciprocal season and the beginning of the Stonebridge experience. The new season starts with, new flowers, new flags, new flagsticks, new cups and soon to be delivered, new Tee Markers.  We are excited about the future of Stonebridge, the new clubhouse will provide a centerpiece for a magnificent Country Club environment.  Our goal is to use the golf course and grounds to paint a complete picture. 

 

 This summer provided quite a few challenges.  A tremendous amount of effort was put into the recovery of a few weak areas on the greens.  Although substantial improvement was evident, I made the decision to sod the most affected of the areas.  With a firm grasp on the root of the issue and a hearty debate between playability, presentation and aesthetics, I made the decision to jump-start the healing process.   The act of sodding a portion of a green is an arduous one, careful attention is paid to maintaining the integrity of the green.  A great deal of effort was exerted to preserve the playability and aesthetics. 

 

The benefits of an "ABNORMAL" summer is the revelation of deficient characteristics around the property.  These are the challenges we are charged with correcting, on a daily basis.  We have a great team in place to maintain and exceed member expectations.  

#15 Tee

#15 Berm

 Burning the Midnight Oil

 

 

 









 The last week of October always has us scrambling to tie up all the loose ends.  This year is no different, except there seems to be an infinite amount of loose ends.  The winter annuals are in the ground and a fresh coat of pinestraw is being applied around the golf course.  Our wall to wall fertilizer with pre-emergent herbicide hit the ground on Tuesday.  This application will provide nutrients for the turf and aid in weed control throughout the winter months.  We are making progress with our stressed areas on the course and will continue to supplement these micro-environments until they are completely recovered.

A couple of projects that were delayed by the summer rains include; course wide Root Pruning and the new bulkhead on #15 White Tee.  The Root Pruning is done to sever the over-extended feeder roots that are competing with the turf for nutrients and water.  Root Pruning is acclomplished with a tractor mounted attachment that has two rotating blades that penetrate the soil to a depth of 10 inches.  This process does not harm the host plant, as it is only cutting the secondary root system.   The other major project that we squeezed into October is the construction of a bulkhead around the White Tee on #15.  This tee was moved to the right side of the cart path during the concrete improvement project.  The size and stability of the new tee led us to the decision to install a bulkhead with the goal of matching the rest of the tees on this hole.  The bulkhead is complete and the remainder of the fill dirt and sod will be installed early next week. 

Last minute projects, last minute fertilizing, last minute weed control and last minute detail work, that is what I love about this profession.  The chance to go "toe to toe" with Mother Nature and not back down.  The real challenge comes in having the patience to respect the process of recovery.  I look forward to an eventful season with an ever-improving golf course.






Root Pruner Attachment

Lines from Root Pruning





#15 New Bulkhead

#15 White Tee

#9 Approach

#9 Repaired

 New Beginnings

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



 October is typically the month we are putting the final touches on the golf course in anticipation of "Opening Day" the first week of November.  This year is a different story.  We will be focusing on repairing damage to the course due to the abnormal weather pattern that persisted through the summer.  Our task at hand is to refurbish the bunkers that were contaminated by the heavy rains, repair and replace the turf around the drains that were under water for much of the summer and re-establish a quality root system that will support the playing surface throughout the golf season.

We are looking forward to more predictable weather for the next few weeks, this will afford us the opportunity to enhance our agronomic plan in an effort to accelerate the recovery process. We have already seen improvement in turf conditions as the course continues to dry out.  The goal going forward is to acclimate the turf to receiving less water, this will improve the root system and turf vigor.  A supplemental program is being employed on a few of our weaker areas(i.e. #15,#17 greens) this includes spot treatments of fertility, pinpoint moisture control and a specialized program to improve soil conditions.  This will all be accomplished with the mindset of maintaining optimum playability.

The pictures included in this post reflect a portion of the work being done including the repair on #9, the installation of "ground level" 150 yard markers and the new potting soil for our "winter annuals".  The new annuals will be planted this week, this will allow them sufficient time to mature before the "unofficial" official start of Season.  I am looking forward to a productive month, with the goal of presenting a golf course that our members can be proud of. 

New "150" Yard Markers

New Soil for Annuals