Mechanical Damage

Most damage to a golf course is caused from things you would not expect.  Mechanical damage is one of the biggest problems and we strive to keep the damage minimal.  It is impossible to prevent completely and accidents do happen.

You might notice some brown lines on our #2 Fairway up near the Green.  This was caused by a hydraulic leak on one of our Fairway mowers.  Luckily our operator noticed the leak right away which prevented much more damage. Our mechanic was able to fix the problem the same day, but  unfortunately some damage was done.  The fluid burns and kills the grass so we will have a little blemish until the grass grows in over it.







The biggest problem lately has been the mis-application of fertilizer a few weeks ago.  We are glad to see most of the overlaps did not result in any turf loss, but a few greens did get damaged.  We experienced a rare problem called "Etiolated Tiller Syndrome" (ETS) in those overlaps which can cause turf loss in high traffic areas.  Our #8, 10, 12, 14, and Practice Greens have a few trouble areas.  It seems the effects of the fertilizer are finally starting to stop, the ETS is going away, and we can start addressing those problem areas on those Greens.

Unfortunately a continued problem which hurts us most is golfers taking divots on our Greens.  At least once a week we have to repair a divot on our Greens.  If you know of anyone, or see anyone taking a divot on a Green please notify the Pro Shop.  This is an act of vandalism and it would be nice to see this damage go away.







Damage to turf can come in a number of ways, but damage from machines and people always seems to be the biggest problem.

Staffing

With colleges entering summer break, we are finally fully staffed. We take great pride in looking professional while enjoying our job here at Patriots Glen National Golf Club. We also keep our equipment nice and clean while Eddie keeps it all running.

Bring out the brushes

Our verticutter breaking after 4 holes earlier this year has really left us in a bind.  We finally got word that there is no fixing it, the machine is wore out from old age.  This presented a big problem for our Greens.  The variety of Bentgrass on our Greens is very thatchy and with all of the laid down grass it has been hard to get Green speeds up.

With any problem, there is a solution.  Today we started standing the laid down grass blades upright using brushes.  We first mowed the Green with an old walk mower fitted with a brush out front.  It isn't fancy but it gets the job done.  We were able to remove three times the amount of grass from the Green than from normal mowing.

Next we put sand down on top of the Green and used our roller with brushes to push the sand down in between the blades of grass now standing upright.  In the photo you can see what the Green looks like with the topdressing on the left and what it looks like after brushing on the right.

Then we use a light irrigation cycle to push the sand even deeper into the canopy of the Grass.  The result you can see is a very good looking, much faster Green.

Fertilizer Burn

We had a little fertilizer spreader malfunction on our #12 Green.  Its a little ugly looking now but it will be fine in the long run.  Its just a little too much fertilizer put into a small area.

 

Fairway Aerification

We started an aerification program on Fairways last year.  To continue it this Spring we are using a deep-tine aerifier.  This machine helps "frac" the soil around the holes to really alleviate compaction.  This process is very slow and is the major drawback to the procedure.  However, we have almost all Fairways and Approaches completed after two weeks.  Heres a picture of the tines we are using and the machine operating it.  You might have seen or will see it running out there so thank you for your patience.

Aerification

Aerification is crucial to our success at Patriots Glen National Golf Club.  With years of neglect, we need to help alleviate compaction, which helps get oxygen into the soil pore space, allows water to drain from the surface easier, and gives the roots room to grow deeper.

We started with the Greens this week.  We used small tines so the holes would close faster, however we used a greater number of tines to make up for the smaller size.  We pulled a core from the Green to remove Organic Matter which makes the Greens "spongier." Heres a photo of the aerifier pulling a core from the Green.







Some golfers get upset about aerification because it makes the putt "bouncy."  They don't realize the amount of work that goes into aerification.  If it were not so vital to the health of our golf course we would gladly not do it.

Here are some pictures of the work we did over two days to get all 19 Greens aerified.  After the Green is aerified we push the cores into piles and collect them into our Utility vehicles.  We pushed and collect over 30 tons of cores from the Greens!

After the cores are collected, we are left with just tiny holes.  We then put sand on the Greens and brush it into the holes using our Roller.  This helps smooth out of the surface of the Green while also filling each hole with fresh sand.  Its similar to how we topdress the Greens.

Heres photos of the holes open, holes filled with sand, and then the holes after two days.  I use my multi-tool as a reference which is 4" long.

Greens Drains

The rain we have had last week is a good time to finish our Greens drain exit project.  A benefit of the type of construction of our Greens is they drain water well.  We are able to apply the water we want to keep the plant alive.  This translates to firm Greens for the golfer and healthy grass for us.  For our Greens to function properly the drains need to be functional and the exits clear. 

Almost all the exits of our drains for our Greens had been either buried or clogged from years of neglect.  Last season we were able to find and open them up.  We were pulling roots and plant material that had grown up into the drains like the one picture to the right.  Some of these were more than 8 feet long!

This is a picture of our practice Green drain exit that was not only buried but also clogged with plant material.  We were able to dig around the pipe to expose the exit.  We then had to remove the roots that had grown up into it.  This released a huge amount of water that was trapped in the drain.

This season we are placing stone around the drains and marking them so we can keep them clear of any clogs.  This will ensure the drains function properly from now on.