Greens Recovering Nicely

Whew, we can finally exhale!  What an aeration week that was!

watering in topdressing sand on #17 green following aeration

I am very pleased (and relieved) to report that despite the mediocre weather, the spring aeration was a success and the course reopened yesterday without any temporary greens.  We were able to accomplish all of our routine greens aeration tasks and they are well onto their way to full recovery.  Here is a photo taken on #10 green this morning, just 2 days after aeration:

aeration holes filled with sand and recovering nicely

We will be completing topdressing and matting tees over the next few days; the wet weather made it quite difficult to pull cores on them so we have been punching them as conditions are improving.  We appreciate your patience as finish them up.

The weather forecast for this week is promising, so we anticipate greens will be about 90% healed within the next 7-10 days.  As always, I'm not putting my trust into the weatherman though!

Aeration Update - Day #4

Wow, what a week it has been!  The weather certainly HAS NOT cooperated and has forced us to alter our plans throughout the entire week.  Today's forecast has us handling assignments on a minute-by-minute basis and I'm sure we'll be changing things up on the fly as the unpredictable weather torments us!

I am still pleased to report that we will be reopening on schedule, but won't know for sure until tomorrow morning if we will have any temporary greens in play.  At this time, I suspect we will have a few on the back 9 as we wait for drier conditions to work the topdressing sand into the remaining open holes.  Obviously we cannot expect ideal greens immediately following aeration, but we anticipate them healing rather quickly again with the smaller holes.

Assistant General Manager, Mike Hodge, and I made a friendly wager back in early January on a Red Wings/Canucks game that we attended.  Many of you already know that I am a die-hard Detroit Red Wings fan so I picked the Wings to win and he obviously went with the inferior Canucks.  Here was the wager: if the Canucks won, I would have to be Mike's personal assistant during Sponsored Men's Night in the Men's Lounge and if the Red Wings won, Mike would have to be my personal assistant during a morning of this spring's aeration week.  Needless to say, the better team prevailed so being the good sport that Hodgey is, he reported to work for his aeration shift at 6am this morning - he's lucky it wasn't a 4am start!  The wet weather has forced us to complete some non-aeration tasks first thing this morning, so here is a photo of him helping to edge bunkers - he sure looks different without his dress shirt and tie:

note the backwards rain pants

Aeration Update - Day #3

Well, yesterday was an extremely productive day as we completed topdressing the greens with over 50 tonnes of sand and were able begin matting the material into the aeration holes.  Farm-Tek worked very late as well and were able to complete their portion of the aeration process by solid tine aerating our fairways and applying over 1200 tonnes of sand to our fairways and rough.  They will be moving their equipment out later today.

Today's weather is looking like it is about to take a turn for the worst so we are accomplishing as much as we can ahead of the forecasted rain.  The forecast for tomorrow looks much better so we still anticipate reopening on Friday morning.  Upon reopening, we may be forced to have a few temporary greens in play, particularly on the back 9, while we wrap up some finishing touches due to lost time from inclement weather.

I am very pleased with this spring's aeration process so far.  We've had a few hiccups along the way with some curveballs thrown at us from Mother Nature, but we've avoided any major setbacks.  Now let's just hope for some warmer weather to spur on some growth for a speedy recovery!  As of right now, it looks somewhat promising:

Aeration Update - Day #2

Well, today started ugly.....really darn ugly.  The skies opened up at 6am as we began day #2 of aeration and the forecast for the day was mediocre at best.  Luckily by 7am the rain subsided and we were able to resume our work.  Yesterday we were able to aerate and harvest the cores from 12 greens and we finished the remaining 9 greens by 9:30am this morning.  Keep in mind that we have 21 total greens when you include our 2 putting greens and 1 chipping green.

We have applied topdressing, the most time consuming portion of the entire aeration procedure, to the greens and are working feverishly to get the material worked into the aeration holes.  Once the topdressing is applied, we must wait for it to dry before we can even attempt to move the material into the holes.  This drying time can be anywhere from 45 minutes to 4+ hours, depending on weather conditions.  With the overcast conditions we were experiencing this morning, it took about 4 hours.

Once dry, the material is dragmatted with a steel dragmat to work the bulk of the material into the open holes.  The steel mat must be used with caution as excessive use of it will cause turf injury.  Immediately after dragmatting with the steel mat, we then dragmat the material with a coco fibre mat that is less stressful on the turf to continue to work remaining material into the holes.  Last, but certainly not least, we use high-powered tow behind blowers to move any remaining material over the putting surface to fill any holes that have yet to be filled.

Here are some photos of this process:

topdressing #1 green

dragmatting #1 green with steel mat

dragmatting #1 green with coco fibre mat

blowing #1 green

Unfortunately, the weather forecast for tomorrow is not looking good at this time.  We all know how quickly that can change though so we've got our fingers crossed.  We are currently on schedule for finishing up the aeration process on Thursday, but if tomorrow's maintenance is rained out, we may or may have not change our anticipated reopening date.  Depending on what is accomplished tomorrow and Thursday, we could be forced to have some temp greens in play on Friday as we wrap things up.

Please check back tomorrow for further updates!

The weather is gloomy, but aeration will proceed!

To quote Mark Twain, "A great, great deal has been said about the weather, but very little has ever been done."

Mother Nature's efforts have caused us to change up our aeration plans a bit, but we are moving along smoothly at this point.  Too bad we weren't scheduled for this crucial cultural practice last week when the weather was ideal!

Anyway, as I said, we are pressing forward with the procedure and are still on track to be completed on Thursday evening and reopening on Friday morning.  The wet weather will make the topdressing and matting portion of the process a bit trying, but I'm confident we will be successful.

Here are a few photos of the tasks currently underway:

topdressing being applied to fairways and rough

solid tine aerating fairways

topdressed and solid tine aerated fairway

#1 fairway and rough being topdressed

#6 green being core aerated

#6 green being core aerated

cores being pushed into rows for harvesting

cores being harvested

#16 green core aerated and harvested (ready for topdressing)

As I am about to post this blog entry, the weather has taken a turn for the worst so we may have take a break and let things soak in a bit before we proceed further.

The "A" Word...Aerification

Hard to believe with the record low temperatures we've been experiencing for April, but yes, it's that time of year again...the dreaded spring aerification is upon us!  I know, I know, but it IS a necessary evil to provide healthy turf, which in turn provides optimal playing conditions.  You have to be patient and put up with a few bumpy putts over the next couple weeks, but believe me, it is well worth it.  The good news to pass along is that we will once again be using the smaller 3/8" coring tines on the greens, which will allow them to holes to heal and grow in quicker so we can get the greens back to normal sooner.

Here is a photo to show how quickly the greens can recover with the smaller tines taken just 2 days after last August's aerifying:

significant recovery just 2 days after August aerifying

Farm-Tek will be here to complete the punching and topdressing of our fairways and rough.  They will be applying over 1200 tonnes of sand to the property!  As with our greens, we will be completing the punching and topdressing of the approaches, tees and high-traffic areas.

INSTALLING SPRING... ███████████████░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░ 44% DONE. Installation failed. 404 error: Season not found. Spring cannot be located.

The weather forecast is not ideal with the forecasted cooler temperatures and chance of rain throughout the week, but we will push on and are still aiming for wrapping things up on Thursday evening.  We will the reopen on Friday morning for business as usual.  Please keep in mind, the turf throughout the course will be a bit sandy until the topdressing is washed in either from rainfall or irrigation.

Our fingers are crossed for dry weather and warmer temperatures!

Best of Luck Brettsky!

Brett & Sam

It is with mixed emotions that we announce that Brett has accepted a Superintendent's job at Arbutus Ridge Golf Club on Vancouver Island.  Brett has been an integral part of the Turf Care Management Team here at QGolf Club as Assistant Superintendent since January 2008 and brings a wealth of experience and knowledge to his new club.  Brett has undeniably left his mark here at QGolf Club by assisting in  establishing our improved cultural practices to ensure exceptional year-round playing conditions for our members and guests.  His keen eye for detail will make an immediate impact at Arbutus Ridge and his strong work ethic and passion for excellence will greatly benefit their club for years to come.  Although we will miss him (and Sam) here at QGolf Club, we certainly wish him well with this new career opportunity.

CONGRATS AND GOOD LUCK BRETTSKY; DON'T BE A STRANGER!!!

Maintenance Mornings

Today is one of our Monday MM's (maintenance mornings) that provides us a few hours head start on the golfers to complete some crucial maintenance tasks.  Like frost delays, we are well aware that MM's are not popular with some members, but they allow us to provide the best possible playing conditions to our members and guests.  Some of these MM tasks include: verti-cutting, control product applications, fertilizer applications, overseeding, aerating, topdressing or even just catching up on some routine mowing.

Today we are verticutting the greens.  Verti-cutting thins out the turf canopy by using a series of vertically mounted rotating knives to cut grass plants that are laying on their side (horizontally) making them difficult to cut with our reel mowers.  Verti-cutting is a method of removing thatch and when followed by topdressing applications, it produces a smoother putting surface and improved ball roll.  This is a labour intensive process that is not possible to complete during play without closing greens.  Noise bylaws prevent us from completing these tasks during the early morning hours.  Delaying golfers until 11am this morning will afford us enough of a head start to stay ahead of play and finish the task in an efficient manner.

Here is a photo of turf immediately after verti-cutting, before the cleanup process:

thatch and clippings remain on the surface to be picked up by mowers

Sunday Morning Chuckle

Good for a laugh...

Tree Removal & Planting Update

The tree removals along the roadway on #10 and #18 are completed and the remaining wood will be available to members until Monday, April 18th.  There have been some concerns voiced about these removals with regards to protection from balls on both #10 and #18.  All of these trees were either greatly affecting drainage or declining rapidly over the last couple of years.  Once again, here are some photos that illustrate how aggressive the root systems of willows, poplars and silver maples are:

willow and silver maple roots clogging a drain tile at #3 tees

willow and silver maple roots compromising drainage at #3 tees

shallow poplar roots in #15 green

It appears as though most of our silver maples are of approximately the same age and are nearing the end of their lives.  Silver maples are a very undesirable and weak species of maple and as they age they become very hazardous.  It doesn't take heavy winds for them to lose major limbs which always have the potential of injuring golfers and/or workers.  More desirable and appropriate evergreen varieties will be planted in the coming weeks where there are voids created from the removals.

We hope to resume planting more trees in the next few days if conditions allow.  We will be planting 4-5 more along the left side of #1 and 3-4 more between #1 and #9, closer to #9 green.  As the ground firms up we will also be planting 5-6 evergreens between #10 and #18, close to where the majority of the removals were.  Please keep in mind that if your ball comes to rest in one of the mulched tree wells around any of the newly planted trees, it is to be treated as Ground Under Repair to avoid damaging the young tree.

Lastly, the large pile of tree debris behind #8 green (near our weather station) from the removals at #4 and #15 greens will very likely be chipped within the next couple of weeks.  Our intent was to burn this debris over the winter months, but unfortunately we have not been able to.  Obtaining the permit to burn was not a problem, it's just that we must follow Environment Canada's guidelines on whether or not we can burn.  The days we've been allowed to burn are far and few between.

What a memorable Masters!

Well, that was the best Masters weekend in recent memory; in my humble opinion anyway. 

You've got to feel for a kid like Rory, but he certainly has the game and confidence to rebound.  Still hard to watch though. 

Tiger looked poised to secure his 5th green jacket, that is until he couldn't keep the momentum going on the back nine. 

Cabrera moved through the course as cool as a cucumber and I often thought to myself, "This guy is flying under the radar and could just snatch the green jacket away from everybody."  He's obviously very comfortable playing at Augusta National.

Speaking of feeling comfortable playing at Augusta, how about another stellar Masters performance by K.J. Choi.  Year after year, he finds himself right in the thick of things on Masters Sunday.  Impressive to say the least.

Where was Phil all weekend?  I was sure he'd be in contention on Sunday.  I guess he shot his best scores the week prior in Houston.

The Aussie twosome of Jason Day and Adam Scott were both very much in contention and after Scott stuck it tight on #16, it looked like the tourney was his.

Leave it to Charl (minus the "es") Schwartzel, the 140-pounder from South Africa to birdie the final four holes to shoot a remarkable 66 on Sunday and win his first green jacket at the young age of 26.  His ball striking was darn near perfect and he was in "the zone" that you have to be to block out all the distracting crowd roars that The Masters tourney is famous for.  He may not have been the crowd favourite, but he proved to be a worthy champion.  WHAT A TOURNEY!!!

Charl Schwartzel, 2011 Masters Champion

Sunday Morning Chuckle

Well, this one is a classic...

The History of Golf by Robin Williams:

viewer discretion advised

Augusta National Then and Now...

Hard to believe it's already that time of year, but yes, it's Masters week baby!  My Masters champion prediction this year is Dustin Johnson.  I think it's time for him to break the curse and clinch his first major.  Hopefully he won't find a "bunker" in the gallery on #18 - should be okay since they don't play The Masters at Whistling Straits.

I wanted to share a photo comparison of Augusta National back in 1952 and modern day Augusta.  It's amazing how the conditioning has evolved:

1952 Masters at Augusta National

modern day Augusta National

Do You Know The Proper Use Of The Word "Green" In Golf?

Believe it or not, this is how greens used to be mowed. 
Are these men "Greenskeepers" or "Greenkeepers"?

A great deal of confusion surrounds the use of the word "green" in proper golf terminology.  Should one use "green fee" or "greens fee"?  Is it "greenkeeper" or a "greenskeeper"?  Exactly what area does the word "green" pertain to on a golf course?  And is it the "USGA Green Section" or the "USGA Greens Section"?

Green is a noun and has two proper golf meanings.  The first meaning is chiefly of Scottish origin.  It simply defines all territory of a golf course, or all areas outside the confines of the clubhouse.  Thus, it can be used in relation to all outdoor areas of a golf course.  The second meaning, most readily known to modern audiences, means the area of short grass surrounding a hole.  This area is generally mown and rolled to the smoothest possible texture.  In keeping with the first meaning, a greenkeeper is someone whose responsibilities entail maintaining all areas of the golf course outside the clubhouse.  The term was changed to Golf Course Superintendent in North America several decades ago.

In most cases of using the word green in golf terminology, the use should be singular.  Green fee, greenkeeper, green committee, and USGA Green Section are all correct uses.  

One final word on this subject: green, in proper golf terminology, does NOT refer to any particular color found on a golf course; it only applies to areas or regions of a golf course.

USGA Green Section Record: April 1, 2011 -- Volume 49, Number 13

Sunday Morning Chuckle

I know it's no longer Sunday morning, but better late than never...

click to enlarge

This is sometimes how it feels being a golfer and/or Golf Course Superintendent in Richmond!