Golf Course Report

May 2016

Before the Month of May gets away from us, I would like to give a brief update on the progress that we have made and the plans for the remainder of the summer.  As you know, the golf course is closed every Tuesday from May through October.  This allows our team to accomplish our weekly cultural practices without disrupting member/guest play during the week.  In addition to these weekly practices the course is closed 3 times throughout the summer for our more aggressive programs.  Our first closure is schedule for May 31^st through June 10^th.  Our goal is to be sufficiently healed to provide excellent playing conditions once we open the course for play on June 11^th.

Last month we had the opportunity to have two of our greens (15, 17) probed with a camera.  This process allowed us to see what was happening beneath the surface as the camera is run through the sub-surface drain lines.   The results for #17 were eye opening.  The drain line was intact however, it was filled with dirt.  This clogged line was preventing proper drainage and increasing the gas build up beneath the green leading to wet conditions and poor turf quality.  During our first Tuesday in May we tackled this project by unearthing the clogged drain line, cleaning the pipe and reattaching it to the outfall.  Without proper drainage and venting, the greens complex can become saturated and gases can accumulate to the point where the gravel layer can get sealed from the bottom up.  With this in mind, all of the greens on property are equipped with vents (small green grates at the top and bottom end of the drainage system).  These vents allow the gases to be released on a regular basis and provide air movement below the green surface.  This leads us to the issue found on #15.  The drain lines were clear on the camera but the vent on the top end of the system was capped and buried.  Once aware of this we immediately uncovered and replaced the cap with a vent.  We then proceeded to locate and vent all the remaining greens.  Close to 75% of our vents were either capped and/or buried.  We are looking forward to have the remaining greens scoped in the next few weeks.

The following Tuesday, the drainage on the right of #13 was cleared of built up sediment.  Over the summer we will aerify and topdress this area to improve playing conditions.  Our project this week involved removing a saturated area near the cart path end near #3 green and improving the drainage.

We will continue to target areas of concern throughout the summer.  This approached, coupled with our aggressive cultural practices will lead to enhanced growing conditions that will give us the flexibility to provide the desired conditions.