October 11th, 2010

Course Conditions

"It's ridiculous how good of shape this course is in." Said Steve Dodds of the Men's Club Saturday morning. I must agree with his assessment, This place has really taken shape. I owe it all to my staff who treats this place as if it is their own backyard.
We had another great week. The weather has really cooperated this fall. We just hope that it can hold on a couple more weeks as we finish up a few more projects. Last week we were successful in completing the fairway topdressing and this week we will be aerating the tee boxes Tuesday and Wednesday. We will probably be reversing the 9's on Wednesday.

The greens are going to get a bite to eat on Monday and we are finally going to fertilize the fairways on Thursday. We are not sure how much nitrogen we are going to give the greens yet but as of today they have not received any in 34 days. That is pretty good given that they normally get a tenth of a pound every two weeks. I attribute this to our greens fertility program which is from Redox. This program focuses on building the soil so that it can function on its own with fewer inputs. It promotes microbial growth which will in turn start manufacturing it's own nitrogen.  Once the microbial action slows down with the cooler temperatures we will then reintroduce nitrogen to promote growth once again. This is our second year on the program and this is the same situation we were in last year. If we were to feed them any nitrogen then we would be over feeding them. The best part of this program is that it fits nicely within our philosophy of reduced inputs. We not only reduce our nitrogen and phosphorus inputs but we have saved half the cost of one of the more popular greens fertility programs out there.
This year we sprayed the Redox product called H-85 on our fairways in combination with our Primo application. H-85 is a chelating and complexing material for fertilizer which is made from 85% organic acids. Our first fertilizer application of the season was in June in which we applied a pound of nitrogen with methylene urea and this product was to prolong the nitrogen release. We never saw an instant green up but what we did see was a steady release of nitrogen through out the season to the point where we still don't think we need to use very much going into this fall. We are in a learning curve situation at this point but eventually I would like to only have to apply fertilizer on the fairways only once a year instead of twice. I really think we may soon be able to do that as we work out the timing.

Projects
Our next big project will be the cart path relocation on the fifteenth tee. Since we have had a rash of unexplained cart accidents where customers have driven off the path and into a deep hole, we have decided to abandon the sharp turn in the path and construct a bridge which will cut the corner. Specialized Construction will once again be assisting us on this project. Construction will begin this Tuesday and we should be close to completion by the end of the week. I have contacted Portland Road and they will be able to tie the asphalt in without a problem. The only glitch is we will need to order a larger amount so the load will retain heat. So with the extra we figure we will pave the cross over between the paths on 11 and 3.

I purchased a new rake the other day and put it in the small bunker next to the 18th green. I would like everyone to take it for a spin and let me know what you think. It is a 24" rake head and really does a nice job. I think it would be a nice addition to the course. Perhaps we could get more players to rake their tracks! Then again....

One of the best jobs on the course which I am sure many of my peers would agree is walk mowing greens in the morning. Last week I happened to have my camera with me and saw this shot. I absolutely love mowing when it's dark and a good dew is on the grass. This shot pretty much just sums it up.







Gordon Update
Gordy played well at the Senior PGA National Championship but unfortunately he missed the cut on Friday by just a few strokes. I have a funny feeling that he is going to be back again next year. Good job Gordy! BTW Happy Birthday today!

A Blast from the Past

Way back when I worked at the Oregon Golf Club, first for John Anderson then for Russell Vandehey, I got my first experience with Audubon International and environmental issues as they pertain to golf. John Anderson was very instrumental in my early career in helping me learn the many alternatives to traditional golf course maintenance. John certified The Oregon Golf Club as the second Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary in the State of Oregon. After John moved on, Russell continued the environmental programs and since then has won several Environmental Leaders in Golf Awards by GCSAA!
I found this old broadcast of  Oregon Public Radio's Oregon Field Guide when I was searching through Google the other day and thought it would be fun to share. Russell and I did this way back in 1999. It first aired in 2000. The rest is history!

Monday, October 4th, 2010

Course Conditions

The weeks seem to fly by and now here it is the first week of October. Perhaps it is the great weather we have been having which make it still feel like summer. That inch of rain we had a couple weeks ago sure made a difference in the course conditions. The grass seemed to gulp it up and put it to good use. Nothing seems to beat a good rain storm versus irrigation; you can't get any better coverage than that. With all the new green growth on the course comes a lot of mowing and the rough has been a test to keep up with. We could easily mow it twice a week but once is about all we can do right now. The fairways have really responded as well. We have not irrigated them in weeks and yet they were never soggy and we haven't seen any dry spots show up either. I think much of this is due to a product we have been using now for almost two years.

Throughout the summer we had been injecting a wetting agent called Dispatch once a week through our irrigation system. We used less than ten gallons over the entire course per application. Dispatch aids in making the water become wetter by breaking down the surface tension which allows the soil to become uniformly moist. This in turn helps us conserve water by not over watering the turf. I believe it has also enabled the recent rainfall to penetrate the soil  which aided the grass to recover quickly from the summer drought conditions. Normally by the end of the season we will have drained the irrigation pond down at least 12 to 18 inches below the outfall. This season we managed the water right to the top with out dropping below 6 inches. As I summed up our water use report for the water year of 2009-2010 I confirmed this. We used significantly less water from Beaver Creek and our deep well than from any other year. You have got to love technology when it helps you save resources AND money.

We had a small change in plans regarding fertilizing the fairways. We had originally planned on fertilizing the fairways first then topdress them. As I discussed earlier the grass is growing pretty well so we decided to take advantage of the nice weather and begin topdressing the fairways first. We figure with the nice growing conditions the turf should grow through the sand more rapidly plus the drier conditions are much safer to operate the large topdresser. We will finish the fertilizer after we wrap up the sanding.

Williams Gas Pipeline Repair  

I left last weeks post with a picture of a track hoe heading out to the fourth fairway. We had hoped for a quick repair and a very small hole in the ground but as they uncovered the 16" gas pipeline it was evident that its condition was deteriorating and much more pipe needed to be replaced. Almost 90 feet to be exact. What can we do, we are pretty much at their mercy and it is all in the name of safety. You have all heard of gas pipeline accidents, one as recently as the tragedy in California where seven people were killed. That pipe allegedly broke because there was a weak spot and it failed. This is exactly what Williams is avoiding so what ever they need to do I am 100% behind them. This is the fourth dig on our property since the course has been built and each time I have worked with Williams contractor Pat Beggs. He and his crew are the best at what they do and they are extremely sensitive of the nature and business of golf. They had the pipe excavated and cut out and replaced in three days. We were hoping to be sodding the hole on Friday but instead were able to get it done by Thursday. My staff was awesome and stayed an hour late to finish the job. As expected it is a little bumpy. We will be keeping it "Ground Under Repair" until it heals and roots it. I really don't foresee it taking long at all.

Local News
I would like to congratulate our own Gordon Tolbert for qualifying for the Senior PGA Professional National Championship which is to be held at Toscana Country Club at Indian Wells and Rancho La Quinta Country Club in La Quinta, both in California. Gordon will be leaving this week and will be back on the 11th. Best wishes to Gordon and good luck!

Sad new to report, Harold Plough The Duck Fan has migrated south for the winter.  We will miss you Harold until you come back in February! Keep wearing your green and yellow, I'm sure you will find more of your kind to hang out with in the desert.

Good Information to Learn
I know we have already finished aerating our greens but as I was reading some of the other superintendents blogs I ran across a short video posted by Sean McCue from the Country Club at Castle Pines in Denver Colorado. This video does a great job describing the benefits of aeration so I would just like to share it with those who wonder why we destroy such great putting conditions every spring and fall. Enjoy!