Course update April 30th 2014

Pouring rain and a balmy 41 degrees.   Not really the weather we need to get our course tuned in for the season, but it has allowed us to nearly finish up the 15/16 project without falling too far behind on the rest of the course.  As usual, pictures are worth 1000 words, so have a look and follow along.

Concern had been voiced regarding standing water in the new bunker floors on 15 & 16.  The drainage systems that were installed had been compromised by silt contamination over the winter.  We had to install new lines and hundreds of feet of pipe to get the water to leave the bunkers.  Heavy rain following our procedure proved our work to be successful as no water remained in the bunkers. 


Assistant Supt. Phil Rosati trenching new drain lines for bunkers on 16 

Edis making the first cut on the bluegrass approach to 15 green 

staff repairing drain work on 16

our method of lining bunkers with less expensive landscape fabric keeps the sand clean from upheaving, here it is being installed on the new large fwy bunker on 15. 

liner installation on 15

drainage install on 16. we also lowered the floors in the bunkers by 4-6 inches. 

connecting drain lines in some really sloppy clay soil.  solid pipe was used to avoid contamination in some areas not surrounded by gravel.

edging and finish grading the floor on 16 bunker

Our tree experts from NORSE TREE assisted with the installation of a 20x100 net along the 1st fwy which will hopefully keep some errant shots on our property

Long time employee Miguel Flores repairs irrigation wires that were accidently cut through while installing drain line.



top of the hill on 15 being hydro seeded.  the mix used here will take a while to mature but will be long growing fescues and blue stem that eventually will be blowing in the winds.

we also had the left side of the cartpath on 15 hydroseeded with drought tolerant turf due to lack of irrigation here.

aeration on 15 & 16 green was done to remove cores of clay that the sod was grown on and to allow seed pockets to grow in.

all drain line elevations  were checked with a transit to make certain the water would continually flow down hill and leave the bunkers.    

16 drain installation

even brand new irrigation heads need to be adjusted and tuned

our resident dinosaur...... a monster snapping turtle took a stroll between ponds.

on her way to the pond on #8



regardless of the far below normal temperatures, the course is slowly coming along.....hope to see some 60's soon and have the course enjoyable for all of you.


Thanks for checking in.....see you here soon!
- JohnnyP.

 

 

Project Update....April 15th

 

We have had a few days dry enough to rework the surfaces and lay some sod.   On the weekend of the 12th, the fairway on 15 was sodded to low mow bluegrass, fine fescue was laid on the mounds on 16 and a truckload (13,000sqft) of tall fescue/bluegrass blend was placed in the roughs on 15.

 

Yesterday, 4/14, another truckload was put down on the surrounding rough  on 15.  We also were working on some drainage on the fairway bunker on 15.   We were fortunate to get the work done while the weather was nice as today the rains have returned.  The rain is great for the sod, just hope that tonight's predicted rain is not as heavy as they are forecasting.  The remaining sod is scheduled for this Thursday.  Stay tuned for more project updates....

 

 

 

 

sodding between 15 & 16

sod work 15 & 16 hill

fairway / approach on 15

drainage work on fairway bunker on 15

Miguel working on drain line splices.



sod behind 15 green and around rear bunker

15 - getting close to the end...



 

Spring? has sprung...... well, at least on the calendar.

Sunrise at the maintenance facility - 1st day of spring is here



but.... 13 tee still has snow.



13 fairway....still has snow.

turf on our greens looks GREAT coming out of winter!



Verti-Draining (deep tine aerating) all our greens

3/4" wide x 11" deep

Verti-Drain depth 11"

spacing pattern

cleaning up our fairways,  dragging goose droppings to break them up, then blown to the rough

March 10th Update....still Very Wintery.

Our North Shore location has been pounded this winter by heavy snow storms.  Last weekend I was on the South Shore and golf was being played, some courses even had their greens open, but here, we are not even close.  Our shaded areas, such as # 1 and # 13, are still 100% snow covered.  South facing slopes are free of snow.  Hopefully, the temperatures will stay over freezing this week and we can get some serious melting underway.

Here are a few photos from Last Month.....

Plowing....again, and again.

14 fairway

12, always a nice view, even when white

12 green to tee

Ugh...not again.

 

looking across 5 fwy from maintenance area

 

 

The Canadian geese, who annually use Fresh Pond as their winter palace, have ravaged all exposed turf areas.   As their food supply was close to nil due to snowcover, once any grass became exposed they literally ate it to the ground.  We spent many hours chasing thousands, no joke - thousands, of geese off the property only to return in the morning and see them right back at it.   Unfortunately, the end process of their ingesting our turf leads to a heck of a mess.  Truthfully, every square foot of turf without snow on it is covered with goose droppings.   This mess can not be cleaned
up until it dries and with all the melting that is coming - that may be a while.



Grass goes in.......and well, you know the rest.



 

#7 fairway on Saturday March 8th

#7 fairway again -  this taken on March 10th.    Significant meltdown.  

lots of tree damage from the heavy weight of the snow. 

Our winter work, done with minimal staff - ranged from repairing our maintenance building where we were able, to overhauling all of our old equipment and grinding (sharpening) many, many reels and bedknives

. 

    

  We Are VERY Ready to get back at it on the course......hope to see you all soon!