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.

White Dots

Some may have noticed the white dots painted around the Greens. These white dots are used by our mowers to outline the edge of our Green surface.  Throughout the season last year our mowers slowly push the edge of the Green farther and farther out from the original area.  In the Spring we mark the original Green edge with white dots so the area can grow back in.

You can see here where the edge of the Green is already growing back in from last year to the original area.  With soil conditions different between the Greens area and the collar it is important to keep the Green within its original space.

Golf Course Vandalism

Unfortunately a problem I have faced more than I would expect has been golf course vandalism.  Its to be expected that a small number of people would not be patient and understanding as you work to restore a golf course back to acceptable conditions.  We have made huge steps each season and now have a nice playable golf course.  With the Greens completely grown in and rolling nice I was shocked to see someone take a divot on #14 Green like last season.  It just goes to show that no matter what you do some people just dont care.

Having the support of the community around the golf course has been very crucial to our success.  It has been nice to build a strong relationship with those who live around the golf course.  I really feel like everyone wants to see the golf course succeed.

Recently we have had some kids playing soccer on our #6 and #7 Green. Although its easy to think the cleats are helping us aerify Greens, the holes put into the Green make putting very difficult.  You can also see the sliding of the cleat has scarred the Green pretty badly.  Lets keep the soccer matches on the pitch which has the correct grass type and height of cut. Thanks.