Oil Leak

Unfortunately last Wednesday morning we had an oil leak in front of 8 green. 

Occasionally this happens on the golf course.  This is the start of my third season here at the Parkway.  In that time we have had 7 oil leaks.  The previous ones were not as bad so we aerated, top-dressed and seeded the area and basically grew them out.  The leak on 8 was in a bad spot, which was right up by the green.  If it was at the start of the fairway, we might have attempted to grow it out. 

We decided the best option was to sod cut out the damaged area and replace it with fairway sod from the start of 15.   We cut the sod cross ways from the fairway so it would not be visibly noticeable from the tee.  This sod would have a better chance to blend in than taking it from the range tee.  Then we stripped from the range tee to replace the sod on 15.    

Finally seeding the area we stripped off the range tee.  This seems like extra work but the whole goal is to get the two fairways back playable as soon as possible.  We stripped the sod on the range tee from beside where the matts were, and then we seeded the whole area.

If you have any questions or concerns feel free tro email me at

kendalllindsay@hotmail.com

Cheers Kendall

Mid May Ehh!

Here we are halfway through May already.   Once again there has been a lot going on at the golf course.   Opening days, couple of tournaments and some leagues have also started.   On the turf maintenance side of things we have been very busy trying to keep up with the grass. 

Once again we are fighting to keep the fleet up and running.  Last year our rough cutter went down and we had to rent a machine for a month to keep up with the grass.  This year our tractor broke down the first week of May and once again we have to rent a machine to keep up with the rough.  The bonus here is that the machine that we are renting does a much nicer job on the rough.  We are able to cut the grass a little shorter with this machine which is great for this time of year when the grass is growing so quickly.  We here in the maintenance department have nicknamed the machine the “Golf Ball Destroyer”, if you have played lately you might have noticed a lot of cut up golf balls.

Sunday afternoon we closed the course, giving us a chance to verticut and topdress the greens.  This means we are doing many different things to the greens that we need the extra time to do.  This is achievable in the early morning, but everything seems to go smoother when it is done when the greens are dry.  Last year in late fall we pulled a larger tine when we aerated and the holes have just recently healed up 100 percent.   We felt that pulling cores again wasn’t as benifical than a heavy verticut and topdress.    The plan was to verticut the greens and collars and then blow of the excess grass and thatch that was pulled up out of them. 

Then the greens were cut followed by topdressing sand. 

They are allowed to dry and then they are brushed. 

After that a fertilizer was applied and watered in.  That makes seven different tasks that have to be accomplished.  So we need all the time we can get to pull this off.  The most disappointing thing was the last hour and half of the day when I was about to pull it all off.  I spent the rest of those precious hours of daylight asking members to get off the golf course because it was closed.  Unfortunately with the interuptions we had to finish Monday morning.

The annual bluegrass (POA) is currently going to seed.  This slows the greens down, because the seed head makes the ball bounce around more.  Now that the verticut is complete we will begin to lower the height of cut.     

If you have any questions feel free to email me kendalllindsay@hotmail.com

Cheers Kendall