Tuesday, July 29, 2014

July 2014 Course Conditions



Cowan Creek

Cowan Creek continues to do well and the recent aerifications have been very beneficial in helping us relieve compaction and assist with flushing. The fairways are still compacted in areas and we will continue to aerify them through the growing season. We will aerify the fairways with the solid tine aerway which slices to a depth of 7” and is roughly one inch in width. This will take place before 8/18/14. Greens aerification is scheduled for 8/18/14 and we will use a 5/8” tine and pull cores at a depth of 4”.  In conjunction with this we will also be deep tining the greens at a depth of 7” with a half inch diameter solid tine. We continue to fertilize greens at Cowan with liquid fertilizers on a weekly basis and flush them with granular gypsum once a month.
White Wing  

The White Wing’s greens have come back in nicely and are doing very well right now. We continue to plug any of the small blemishes around the edges so that we can be back to 100% turf coverage. The green speed has been a little slower, averaging a 9 on the stemp meter but this will pick up as the greens become tighter with cultural practices. The fairways and roughs are doing great right now and the timely rains have really helped out. Greens aerification is scheduled for 8/11/14 and we will use a 5/8” tine and pull cores at a depth of 4”.  In conjunction with this we will also be deep tining the greens at a depth of 7” with a half inch diameter solid tine. We continue to fertilize greens at White Wing with liquid fertilizers on a weekly basis. This year we have started to flush them with granular gypsum once a month just as we do Cowan Creek. Fairway aerification will be done in August using the same machine and settings that Cowan Creek uses.

The short game greens are now back to chipping and bunker practice only and we have reopened the large putting green as of 7/28/14.
Legacy Hills

The greens at Legacy Hills have been doing much better and we continue to plug any weak areas on them daily. The main ones being #1, 3, 5 and 13. Once those four greens are back to 100% coverage we will be in great shape there. Greens aerification is scheduled for 7/28/14 and we will use a 5/8” tine and pull cores at a depth of 4”.  In conjunction with this we will also be deep tining the greens at a depth of 7” with a half inch diameter solid tine. We continue to fertilize greens at Legacy Hills with liquid fertilizers on a weekly basis. Once a month we flush the greens with gypsum. Fairway aerification will be done in August using the same machine and settings that Cowan Creek and White Wing will use.
Combined Course Information

We have all three courses using liquid fertigation for the fairways, roughs and tees at this time, this allows us to fertilize as we irrigate the golf courses. The current product that we are using is a slow release nitrogen source that also contains an acid product which helps us fight the salt levels in our water and soils.
Collar Aerification for “Sand Dams” 

During our visit from the USGA in May we discussed the detrimental effects of “sand dams” around the greens. These damns are caused by years of topdressing which eventually build up at the transition between green surface and collars. The result is a raised area surrounding the green which prevents any surface drainage from getting off of the green. That can cause anaerobic conditions which result in weak turf and eventually turf loss. To remedy this we are aerifying the collars, watering them with a hose and then flattening them out with a heavy roller. This process will have to be done multiple times to physically alter the collar. We will be doing this during the growing season and it has little impact on interfering with play. The end result will be better surface drainage off of the greens and overall a better transition from collar to green.   
Audubon Certification

Fertilizer usage forms are 90% complete and we have started working on our site maps for the courses. We will more than likely reach out to the Wildlife Committee and various clubs to help us document the wildlife that we have on our courses.
GCSAA Certification

Jonathan and I are currently working on case studies, these studies include work place scenarios and require us to draw up Action Plans and Justifications for each. This along with the Skill Statement and Work Sample portion of our portfolio takes six months to a year to complete.