Collar addition to the putting green and more!

The last couple weeks have been extremely busy here at the parkway.  The weather has been absolutely great for growing grass, as you all know.   I certainly hear about the rough every day.  The good news is the grass has begun to slow down and the mowers are getting caught up with the grass and the complaints seem to be slowing down. 

We are very fortunate to have great staff working here at the parkway.  There are people here that are willing to go the extra mile so to speak.  Luckily the students in the maintenance department are some of these employees.  But, of course they have good examples to follow like Ruth, Don, Tyler, Richard, and Keith.  Without staff like this, we would not be able to pull of some of the crazy ideas that I come up with.  Not only do they get the tasks done, they also keep the course in great playing conditions as well.      

The past week we put a collar around the putting green.  This all came about my first year here when we extended the green towards the north.   When this happened it was my intention to put a collar around the green and at the same time it would allow me to install a sprinkler head at the north end of the green.  Well it took a couple of years but finally we stripped the sod, dug the trench, installed the sprinkler and sodded the collar.  At the end of the green the collar that was added is a lot wider, this will be cut down to green height in the fall.  The end result will be one pass with a mower at collar/fringe height all the way around the green.

We borrowed a trencher to install the sprinkler head on the putting green. 

 

The sod that was stripped to put back on 15 tee and those tees were squared up.  The sod from the tee then came up to the putting green. 

As always Lexi has her two cents to put in.

 

Garden irrigation was installed around our sign at the front entrance.

As well there two sprinklers installed on the main decks on 14.  Before there were only two heads to cover these two teeing areas and both sprinklers threw water to the east.  Now there are two sprinkler heads on the other side throwing water back to the west, helping the tee by providing double coverage.  The two alternate tees on 14 did not have proper irrigation so we moved up a sprinkler to cover these two decks.  Finally to complete the few days of chaos we added a sprinkler head on the back of 13 tee complex as well.    

All of these additions are going to help to keep healthier turf and a beautiful front enterance to boot.

 

As always if you have any questions please fell free to contact me.

kendalllindsay@hotmail.com

Cheers Kendall 

Spring Update

It has been awhile since my last blog and as always a lot has happened.  The last two weeks we have welcomed back four of our main staff and five students.  Now that staff is back we are slowly getting caught up with the grass. 

Rough: We will start with the rough because it is most likely the one the golfers are most concerned about.  With the record amount of rainfall that we had in April it certainly set us up for the grass to explode in the first two weeks of May.  I assure you the rough is being cut as much as possible.  The mower runs Monday to Friday eight hours a day.  Then as well it runs on the weekends till the grass starts to slow down.

Fairways:  With that first initial growth we had in the beginning of May, the fairways as well became quite long and there were a lot of clippings left on them.  Usually we will drag the fairways with a homemade unit consisting of a pipe, rope and some chain.  The chain collects the clippings and then disperses them in the rough when you turn around.  This unit is also used to knock of the dew in the mornings that we do not cut the fairways.  This decreases the time that the turf is wet, reducing the chance of fungus to develop in the turf.    Last week we took the opportunity in the afternoon to verti cut most of the fairways.  This has helped thin out the turf and reduce the clippings.  As well the dry cut in the afternoon has helped us get caught up to the speedy growth of the turf.

Tees: All four sets of tee blocks have been set out onto the course.  New decals have been ordered for them, they will be put on as soon as they arrive. Last year when the summer stress came the tees were the first to show signs of weak turf.    We ended up losing about 20% of the tees, mainly it was blue and red decks that suffered.  There are many reasons for this but mainly it is due to the way the irrigation system was put in. When the tee complexes were built they dead ended the pipe.  So the red and blue decks generally only have one irrigation head to water them.  Where the rest of the decks have double coverage, which means the sprinklers throw the water to the next head.  This week we will be verti cutting the tees and topdressing them to help control the thatch.  The end goal is to make the tees healthier so they have a better chance to survive the summer stress. 

Top Dressing Collars

 

Collars:  I have heard a lot of criticism over the collars since my arrival.  I have heard them described by one member as ‘weird’ and another says they are like ‘velcro.’  Since last fall we have made an effort to give extra care to the collars.  It is very easy to skip cultural practices (verti cut, top dress, vent, aerate) on the collars because the greens take up so much time.  For the most part I have got the membership to realize that I need some time in the mornings to get these practices done.  Now we are attempting to verti cut the collars and top dress them when the greens are getting done.  The overall goal here is healthier turf.

Greens:  Our first cut of the year was on Sunday April 7^th at a height of cut of .140 (9/64^th).  The greens were only cut 5 more times in April because of the poor weather.  We lowered the height of cut to .130 on May 3^rd.  This is still our height of cut till later in the week when we go to .125 (1/8^th).  The lowest the height of cut has ever been on the greens is .115 last year from late August on till bring your best. 

The last three seasons we have managed to verti cut the greens quite aggressively in the month of April.  In previous updates I touched on how much grass and thatch we were removing from the greens.  This year April was basically a wash, with only a hand full of days that were decent to get any work done.  The first week of May we finally got out and double verti cut the greens and a top dressed followed.  Now it is two weeks later and we are getting in another double verti cut and top dress in.  This will help the greens finish their healing from last year’s aeration.  This will also smooth them out, allowing for better ball roll and hopefully better golfer satisfaction! 

 

Other things that were done over the last couple of weeks:

Pump station had to be ajusted from some settling

Pump House intake had to be installed
 

 

    As well the irrigation lines have been charged.

 

As always if you have any questions or concerns please feel free to contact me

kendalllindsay@hotmail.com

 

Cheers Kendall

 

  

Cart Path Rules at the Parkway

With records rains all over the province last week and one inch in the rain gauge this morning.  I believe now is as good a time as any to talk about the cart path rules here at St. Clair Parkway Golf Course.  One of the first decisions made by the turf department every morning is the cart rules for the day.  When making this decision, a lot of things have to be considered.  How wet is it?  What is the forecast for the rest of the day?  How busy is the tee sheet?  Are there proper staffing in place to enforce the cart rules of the day?  Is there staffing to clean the carts at the end of the day?  Will the Golfers even obey the rules?  All these questions come into mind when making the decision.  You have to understand that the goal here is to make the right decision for the golf course, not the golfer.   Here are the carts rules that we have.

 

Normal Golf Cart Rules: 

Drive the cart responsibly

Avoid sharp turns, even with the smoother tires the turf can be torn

Use cart paths whenever possible

Obey cart exit signs.  When you come to the cart exit signs follow the arrows and exit to the cart path.  Stay on the cart path to the next hole.

Fairways Only Cart Rule:

Carts are allowed to go from the cart path to the fairway at a 90 degree angle.  Once in the fairway they are allowed to stay until they get to the cart exit signs. 

No Carts in the rough

No Carts in the tree lines

Cart Paths Only Rule:

Carts are to stay on the path at all times.

              Stay on paths when approaching a puddle, slow down and drive through the puddle slowly.

 No Cart Rule:

This one seems simple right!  Well it has come to my attention that some of you feel carts should be allowed to go all of the time because we have cart paths.  Here are the reasons we do not allow carts to go out some days. 

Cart paths are washed out

Cart paths are still flooded

Water over the bridge on #6

The puddles on the paths are too deep for the carts to pass

The potential damage to the carts and the course, make the labour involved in repairing the cart or the damage to the course not worth it.  

Handicap Cart Rules

Allowed to by-pass the cart exit signs, and access the green from the back.  Parking on the Inter-rough cut of grass no closer.

Cart path only rule, they are not allowed to leave the path

Fairways only rule, they are not allowed to by-pass the cart exit signs

Handicap rule only applies when the conditions are for Normal Cart traffic

#7 Golfer decided to cross the wettest fairway we have.

#16 Golfers decided to drive in the tree line to look for there ball.  The cart path is right there.

Golfers decided to drive into a saturated area in the rough on #18.  You would think after the first golfer went in there the second golfer would know better.

 

Well, no more winter updates!  Now we are into spring, I know you have probably heard this one already “what a difference a year makes.”  Last spring at this time the golf season was in full swing.  We opened on the 11^th of March and never really looked back weather wise.  This year we managed to get open in March but for the second last day and just for walkers.  One thing I will say is that there were quite a few dedicated golfers out there yesterday getting in their first round of the year.  I will promise you this, the weather will get better – let’s just hope your golf games do too! 

The last month has been filled with varying tasks to get the course ready to be open.  The first thing that needed to be crossed off the list of tasks was bridge repair.  All four bridges that cross Baby Creek needed some attention in one way or another.  Number 10 bridge needed the most work.  The plywood floor had to be torn up, as well a couple of the support boards underneath.  The exit ramp of the bridge was totally replaced as well. 

Support board that has seen better days

Replaced support board

Ruth replacing the exit ramp with new boards

Bridge nearing completion

 The bridge on the 7^th hole has always been of concern.  It just seems to be in an awkward position on the hill.  The railings were too low so they were removed and raised.  As well as the matting and a couple floor supports were torn up and replaced.   

  The other two bridges just needed minor repairs.  All the bridges will receive new coats of paint and stain when some reinforcements arrive in the summer months. (Students)

Another task to get off the list was to clean up the aeration cores off of the fairways.  We rented a tractor mounted blower and spent two very cold days getting the fairways ready for their first cut which will probably happen late next week.

Also all the benches were brought into the shop for repair and paint.  So if you find your favorite resting place is missing rest assured they will be all back out shortly.

We have been watching the weather very closely trying to decide when the first cut on the greens will happen.  It was very tempting to cut them on Thursday, but after the frost lifted we got out there and realized that the greens were actually still frozen.  So we retreated to try another day.  Now we are hoping to cut them Saturday afternoon, because Sunday is starting to look like a beauty day.  

In my younger days I was known to catch a fish or two with my Grandfather up on the Bruce Peninsula.  I’m usually not one to tell tall tales of catching fish but, I am very proud to say that there is a fish catcher in my family.  Not a fisherman, but a fish catcher.  You heard right… Lexi caught a fish!  Unfortunately I missed it all and there are no pictures, but the story goes like this:  Ruth and Don were repairing the bridge on 7.  Lexi was trolling the creek close by.  Ruth heard some splashing about, looked over and saw Lexi with her head completely under the water.  Couple of seconds later she came up with a fish!  (agoonie goo goo!) She dragged it up out of the creek quite proud of herself and at the same time a bit confused about what to do with it.  Ruth and Don placed the fish back into the creek and now we all have a tale to tell about Lexi the fish catcher!  Of course I will carry on the tradition that every time I tell the story my hands will get a little further apart about how big it was. 

Lexi trolling

 

As always, if you have any questions feel free to contact me at kendalllindsay@hotmail.com

 

          Cheers Kendall

 

Winter Update

The course is wintering well.  We had a relatively mild lead up to Christmas.  Boxing day we received well over a foot of snow that seemed to stick around for the better part of two weeks.  When it did melt it was a sloppy slushy mess.  All the turf looks good so far except for some snow mobile damage.  There is some disease on the low lying areas of the fairways.  These areas were not treated with chemical.  The greens and tees were treated and they look good so far.  With the cold temps that are on their way it would be nice to have a nice 6 inches of snow as a cover.  But, we have to take what mother nature gives us.  There is no ice on the greens which is a relief.  Plus everything looks good so far.  Here some snap shots of the course with a little snow on it.



 

 

 

Cheers Kendall

Oh Sandy!

Sandy brought two days of high winds and continuous rain to the area.  For the most part there is just scattered debris from the trees.  In a few areas there are some larger branches but for the most part it seems we came through the storm with minimal damage. The golf course is just really saturated. 

Currently two out of the four bridges on the course are not passable.  When the water does subside we will have to go out and inspect the bridges to see if they are still safe to pass.  We have water up over them before, but not for three days straight.  As you all know water has a way of finding its way through things you don’t want it to get threw.

With the amount of water that is on the golf course, it will take a long time to dry, especially with the projected weather forecast.    

For those die hard golfers out there I am afraid you are looking at the end of the golf season 2012. 

It is that time of year!

Well fall is upon us folks.  September has been a blur and here we are on the eve of the Bring your best tournament. 

All efforts have been focused on the golf course and getting it ready for the tournament.  As you all know most of the efforts have been put into the greens.  How do we go about speeding them up? This is the first year that I have lowered the height for bring your best.  This was in an attempt to get the greens faster than they have ever been.  The greens were cut thursday morning at their regular height and then we lowered the height and cut them again in the afternoon.  Friday morning they were double cut in the morning and then cut again in the afternoon.  Saturday morning as long as there is not a frost they will be double cut again.  Normally there would be a roller in the mix but unfortunately it broke down last week and could not be repaired in time. That is seven cuts in three days.   As for the magic number the goal is to get them as close to 12 feet on the stimp metre as possible.  Late in the afternoon on friday we got a light shower, and then another one during the night.  This unfortunately gave the greens a little dampness that slowed them down.  The good or bad news is by the look of the forecast the greens will be quicker for Men’s closing day.

Greens mower reel

 The picture above is a reel and you can see how they need to be absoutely perfect to produce good greens.  The staff has done an extremely fantastic job this past month.  My hat goes off to them for their efforts.  

Next Tuesday and Wednesday the greens will be aerated.    The next blog will certainly cover the topic of aeration.

Cheers Kendall Lindsay