Bunker Surround Sodding

Having a golf course in the climate we do is extremely challenging in many different ways, one of which, is growing a cool season grass on southern facing bunker surrounds.  These areas are always problematic due to the excessive sun exposure throughout the summer months coupled with a sand layer that builds up overtime.  The picture below shows the overall decline of the turf on the southern facing slope.  This is an ongoing issue, but switching to turf-type tall fescue instead of Kentucky bluegrass and removing all the sand built up will help reduce the overall stress level of the turf. 

Southern facing slope decline




Finished Product

Tee Realignment

Over many years tees often become misaligned due to human error while mowing.  In this case the bentgrass on the tee had encroached into the rough considerably making it appear that the players line of sight was out of position.  To correct this we marked out the target line we wanted and resodded both sides of the tee to bring it back to its original shape. 

Before: Notice the landing area is targeting toward the right fairway bunker

After:  Notice how the new landing zone is targeted toward the middle of the fairway

More Verticutting and Brushing on Fairways

Due to the Fall season in full swing it allows us to do many cultural practices that can not be accomplished during the extreme heats of Summer, such as, brushing and verticutting.  Both practices have the same goal, which is to remove grain, allowing the ball to sit more upright.  Below is a short video of our verticutting unit in action.  Notice how much plant material gets removed.  These practices give minimal disruption, but have a huge effect on how our fairways look and play. 

Verticutter in action!

 

Piles of plant material removed on one fairway

Early Seeding

 Due to a rainy season followed by a spike in temperatures areas in the rough that were not treated with fungicides suffered from pythium blight.  Typically Fall and Spring are the best times to seed cool season grasses, but since we've had optimal seeding temperatures the past two weeks we jumped the gun. We seeded a mixed blend of Turf Type Tall Fescue varieties that will create a stronger turf stand and have better disease resistance. 

Pythium Blight:

Notice the white mycelium, a common symptom observed in the morning

 

 

Seeding Process:

The most important aspect of seeding is to make sure there is good seed to soil contact.  In order to do this the dead plant material must be removed, which can be done in many ways, such as, raking, aerifying, and verticutting.  We decided to hand rake the dead material by hand first then aerified the soil to create an optimal seedbed.  Seed was then put down as well as starter fertilizer and watered in. 

 

All dead plant material removed

 

Day1:

Notice the left side of the fairway before

 

Day 14:

and after



 

Dryject

During the summer months when the plant is under its highest stress point, certain cultivation practices are vital in order to withstand summer decline.   Typically courses in our area core aerify the greens once in the spring and fall and needle tine greens a few times during the summer to re-oxygenate the soil.  Unfortunately when you core aerify there is a disruption to the putting surface for several weeks, due to the large amount of topdressing sand and unhealed aerification holes.  While needle tining does re-oxygenate the soil there is no new soil being added into the profile, which can help in firming the playing surface, creating drainage channels, and help reduce organic matter build up.  So that is where the process known as DryJect comes into play.  The DryJect process uses pressurized water to create a channel into the soil profile and fills that channel with new sand, leaving minimal surface disruption and an overall firmer playing surface. A few weeks ago we completed this process on our greens and approaches knowing that it would improve the overall health of the playing surfaces going into the stresses of summer. 

As you can see the DryJect process is not as disruptive as core aerification. 

 

 This a short video of how the DryJect process works

Creek Bank Restoration

Over time heavy rainfall and flooding eroded the creek bank on number twelve, making it unsightly.  To fix this we brought in a contractor to restore the original shape of the creek.  After the shaping was complete sod was placed along the creek bank and sod stapled down to protect it from washing away.

 

Reshaping the creek bank

Laying sod along the creek bank

Finished Sodding

 



Verticutting Fairways

Over the past few weeks we've been verticutting fairways.  This procedure is done to help improve the ball lie on the fairways.  If you have an upright growth habit the ball will sit up better allowing golfers to hit a cleaner shot.  The verticutting procedure cuts stolons and horizontally growing leaf blades, which will promote more vertical growth.  We've completed three different directional cuts with the verticutter, which has made drastic changes to the overall ball lie on fairways.  We'll be stopping this process until the fall, due to it being extremely stressful on the turfgrass.   

Close up of a verticutter reel

Leftover plant material after verticutter is done 

Fairway mower cleaning up leftover plant material