April 2010 Monthly Report

April 2010 Monthly Report

Course Condition

With the weather being cooler than expected this month we are about a week behind on green up and healing from aerification. We even had some snow!

Projects Completed

We have completed the aerification of the Greens. We used ½” quad tines. The USGA recommends that we remove 20% of the surface annually. These tines got us a little over 9%. We are right on track with the Fall aerification planned with larger tines.

The Fairways have also been completed. The tines used were 7/8”. The spacing on the holes is a little farther apart then the greens so we are right around the 9% with our removal.

Recently we installed Barley straw bails in the lakes throughout the golf course. The theory behind the straw is that as they sit in the water they exude a chemical that eliminates algae from growing. Soon, we will spray the existing algae since the bails will not kill algae already surfacing.

Projects in Process

After our fairway aerification was completed, we had many areas that had excess sand. We are working on spraying the sand out of these heavy areas with water. Once the excess sand is removed the affected area recovers quickly. To alleviate this problem for the late summer aerification, we will apply less sand to avoid the build up. We will have some open holes, but we can then come back later and apply another light application to fill the holes and avoid the majority of the sand build up.

We are still working on #13 storm damage on the left side of the hole. We repaired the clogged line and with the heavy winter moisture the area stayed saturated enough to restrict access for our backhoe. Now that the area has dried we are finally putting the project to bed. There was some supplemental drainage that had been installed a few years back that was also clogged and we abandoned the latter section and are going to tie that into our new drainage pipe. This project will be finished shortly.

We have been slowly making our way around the course edging and cleaning out the sprinkler heads and valve boxes, checking pressure at the heads and making any necessary adjustments on the part circle heads.

The weeds in the landscaped areas are also getting sprayed on a daily basis. We are carrying pump sprayers to get weeds as we see them.

Projects Planned

The warmer soil temperatures will be ideal for new seed to germinate and grow. We will target any thin areas in fairways, rough or green surrounds to slice seed a ryegrass/Kentucky bluegrass mix to help these areas move along.

Of course the irrigation system will be a huge part of our jobs this summer as is every summer. We are continually scouting for improperly working heads and heads operating out of specification. The irrigation system is the lifeline for the course. It is important we have everything working properly as quickly as possible.  Read More

Integrated Pest Management

We have controlled for the Billbug adults at around 300 growing degree days. This should reduce the population of reproducing adults and in turn reduce the pressure of larval damage.

This month we are also on the verge of spraying our first preventative application for summer patch. We are monitoring soil temperatures to accurately anticipate pathogen activity.





Read More

Poa!

There is definitely some Poa out there on the golf course. This year it has become much more noticeable with the wet winter. The Poa has been around since the course has opened. We will continue to have Poa in the Tees, Fairways, Approaches and Rough. The greens, we will take every measure to make sure we do not start to get contamination. Poa may stand out like a sore thumb in the spring but once the seed heads die down in the early summer it will yield a decent playing surface. I think we all know some of the best courses in America are 100% Poa.

Side Notes

I again was invited on the cover of another magazine for the month of May. The magazine is Golf Course Trades Magazine. This article is dear to my heart and it meant a lot to be able to write.  Read article.





Our National Association, GCSAA is sending out the GCSAA TV crew to film The Rim Golf Club and feature the Case Study written last year on our efforts for water conservation. We may also be highlighted on Turfnet TV. This is a national Website with many members throughout the United States. GCSAAtv





If you have any questions, please contact me or Dan.





Justin Ruiz, CGCS                                                                 Dan Devere, CGCS

jruiz@therimgolfclub.org                                                      ddevere@chaparralpines.org