Getting into the Summer Swing

The summer is in full swing now and we are getting ready for the hot weather forcasted this weekend.  We are also prepping for the Member/Member tournament coming up this weekend as well.

To prepare for the tournament this weekend we have scheduled in a few days of walk mowing. This will help get the greens tournament ready. We are also spending a lot of time hand watering the greens and getting them ready for the extreme temperatures this weekend.
We sprayed the greens this week with some fertilizer and other chemistry to help with the high sun exposure and to avoid any high temperature diseases that are also prevalent during the hotter overnight temperatures.

Other projects that we have come up during this warm weather was an electrical problem on the 9th approach.  The sprinkler head was inoperable from a bad wire splice.  Using the wire finder and a ground fault locator Christian and I were able to find the issue and fix the problem.  The approach should be looking better soon now that the water will run at night.

Another issue we found on the course was a large paper wasp nest on #17.  It was about eye level in a tree bordering the course.  We were able to get some insect spray on the hive and take care of the issue.  We continue to monitor the area as the bees move out and we can remove the nest.

Small Putter Repair

The last aerification cycle we harvested some of the plugs to replace some of our small putting green.  If you have been around the practice area lately you probably have noticed this area.  We currently have it roped off and it will not be usable until spring.

Thanks for your patience.

If you have any questions please feel free to contact me.

Justin Ruiz, CGCS, MG
justinr@indiansummergolf.com

Organic Fertilizer

This year we've been trying a new organic fertilizer. The fertilizer comes from the water treatment plant at Chambers Creek. It seems like the fertilizer is doing a good job because the grass is greener this year than it was last year. The turf is holding up well to the heat of the summer.

If you have any questions about the organic fertilizer please contact me.

Justin Ruiz, CGCS, MG
Justinr@indiansummergolf.com

Divot party

I'd like to thank all the members that helped us out with the divot party this year. We had an amazing turnout of over 60 members. It took us a little over two hours to finish the hole golf course. The members not only fixed divots in the fairways, but they also fixed ball marks on the greens.

Thank you,

Justin Ruiz, CGCS, MG
Justinr@indiansummergolf.com

Clean Up

If  you have been out on the putting green lately you probably have noticed the blackberries growing tall enough to block the view of the wetland.

We have done some clean up to remove a lot of the blackberries and open up a better view of the beautiful wetland that the back nine surrounds.

Thank you for your comments out on the course this summer.  If you have any questions please feel free to contact me.

Justin Ruiz, CGCS, MG
justinr@indiansummergolf.com

Waterfalls

It has been a while, but the waterfalls on #3 and #8 are working again.  Last season for a short time we had the pump in working order.  A power failure took the pump offline and it became a warranty item.  Recently the work was completed and we installed the pump.

The waterfall pump on #2 is still in disrepair.  It is currently in the shop but on hold until we can figure out what the best mode of action might be to have the waterfall operating again.  The pump has been rebuilt several times and rebuilding it an additional time might not be the best way to go about the issue.  We have had an engineer look at the waterfall and he will draft up a plan to install a larger pipe to achieve better flow and less wear and tear on the pump.


If you have any questions about the water features please contact me.

Justin Ruiz, CGCS, MG
justinr@indiansummergolf.com

Grinders

It has been a long time coming, but we finally have purchased grinders for our course.  What does this mean you might ask?  Well, having our own grinders gives us the ability to grind our reels more consistently to provide the course with a better cut on a daily basis.  In the past we were stuck taking our reels to Hawks Prairie to sharpen the reels.

We already had a grinding room in the shop and now it is being used for grinding.  Sharp reels reduce plant injury.  The best analogy that i can think of is cutting a piece of paper with a pair of scissors gives you a clean cut while hitting a piece of paper with a hammer will cut the paper in half but does a lot of excess damage and takes a lot of effort.  It is the same with the mowers.  Dull reels cause problems for turf and the machinery.

If you have any questions about our new grinders please feel free to contact me.

Justin Ruiz, CGCS, MG
justinr@indiansummergolf.com

Greenhouse Installation

This winter has been busy for us on the turf team.  We have started and finished many projects and are still trying to tie up more projects before the grass begins to grow too fast.
Another project that we have been working on this winter was the installation of a greenhouse in our maintenance area.  The greenhouse will give us the ability to grow our own annual plants for color in the summer months.

We spend a few thousand dollars every year to purchase annual color for the clubhouse and around the course.  Our greenhouse project has cost a fraction of the price and I expect that we can cut our costs in half if not more by growing our annual plants from seed.

I will post more pictures as we begin to assemble the new greenhouse and start planting our new annuals.  I am hoping to grow some perennial plants as well to either replace, add to or create new landscaped areas that will help add some finishing touches to the golf course.  The greenhouse will give us the ability to have more control on when we want to install our annuals and how healthy they are coming into the season.

I have to thank our new mechanic Geoff Adams.  This has been his project and he originally tossed the idea onto the table as a way to become more self sufficient and be able to utilize our composted green waste.  He has been a great addition to the staff and he has done wonders to our shop as well.

If you would like to check out the behind the scenes action at Indian Summer. Please feel free to contact me and I would love to show you our progress.

Justin Ruiz, CGCS, MG
justinr@indiansummergolf.com  

Drainage #15

It has been a busy winter.  We have been trying to get a few projects done this winter to prepare the course for the spring and summer season.  One of the projects that I had been talking about was drainage.  We got one section of drainage done on #15.  It was right in the landing area where golfers were having a lot of trouble during the wet months of the year.

The project took us a little longer than expected because just as we were wrapping up the pipe installation we had a two week cold snap.  This kept the area frozen and hard to work with.  Once the freeze lifted we were able to put the project to bed and start working on other areas of the course.


The picture on the left is the final look after we laid the sod back.  The area has already begin to dry up and the drainage has been working well.

If you have and questions or comments please feel free to contact me.

Justin Ruiz, CGCS, MG
justinr@indiansummergolf.com

Chipping Green Renovation Update

The chipping green at the practice facility was not a good representation of the golf course this last year. We decided to make use of our aerification plugs from the greens to renovate the small chipping green.

We redesigned the chipping green to have three separate tiers and nearly double the square footage. The reason for the larger size was to give us the ability to use a portion for a nursery if we needed. We also wanted to make it possible to practice a variety of different shots around the green.

The green is coming along really well and we are planning our first cut very soon. If you have any comments or questions about the renovated chipping green, please contact me.

Justin Ruiz, CGCS, MG

justinr@indiansummergolf.com

 

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Practice Area Upgrade

If you have been to the practice area lately, you have probably noticed the chipping green has been renovated. For quite some time the chipping green has been lackluster to say the least. The green was not a good representation of the golf course.

A few weeks ago we stripped the old sod off of the chipping green and re-graded the sand underneath. We enlarged the green in hopes to make use of some of the area on the course if needed. We are also trying to create more of a variety of chip and pitch shots to practice.

This season we also tried to make the driving range a little more interesting with better targets. We mowed out several areas that were most likely previously used for target greens. We also added some flags at short intervals to hone in your wedges. I think this has worked since the amount of debris left on the range tee has increased quite a bit since we mowed out these areas.

Stay tuned for more improvements over the winter and next spring. We have a laundry list of things to do. Don't forget to talk up the club to your friends. It is a pretty exciting time to join the club.

Also, don't forget to fill out your survey. The survey is important to help get your opinion heard on what you like about the club and what we can do to make your membership more valuable.

If you have any question please contact me.

Justin Ruiz, CGCS, MG

justinr@indiansummergolf.com

 

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2012 Member Guest

Today was the first day of the Men's Member Guest. The maintenance team has had a tough week getting the course prepared for the tournament.

We started the week with many of the staff sick. Short staffed and a number of events lined up for the week we were scrambling to get the normal mowing completed before the big day. To put the cherry on top our sidewinder rough unit broke down before the tournament started today but we were able to get the course ready for our members and their guest for the first round afternoon shotgun.

This evening the skills challenge took place on the practice area. We help set up the different stations and added some flare to the challenge.

Here is a picture of this year's logo. Last year, I painted the logo as the target for the pitch shot. This year I painted the logo for the teeing ground of the pitch shot.

I enjoy all the great comments this summer and during the tournament. We have completed a lot of projects this year. We are moving in the right direction and I am glad that members have been noticing the new changes.

If you have any questions please feel free to contact me,

Justin Ruiz, CGCS, MG

justinr@indiansummergolf.com

 

 

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Club Entrance part 2

We have completed one side of the entrance to the club. Here are some pictures of the work we have been doing to the entrance over te past few weeks.

 

The project is nearly done with minor detail work to give it a more polished look. Thank you for your patients during this project. The entrance was quite a mess for a while.

If you have any questions please feel free to contact me.

Justin Ruiz, CGCS, MG

justinr@indiansummergolf.com

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Bunker Repair

Over the years the bunkers have been replenished with new sand as it has sloughed off of the sides. This has left quite a bit of sand at the bottom of the bunkers. We have been spending the last few weeks pushing the sand back up on to the sides of the bunkers.

As we push the sand back up to the sides of the bunkers it leaves a pretty fluffy surface for a little while. The fluffy sides can lead to a few more plugged balls if they fly into the side of the bunkers. It also leaves for a little more firm bottom since some of the sand is removed and that will go away as week get the bunker rake through these bunkers a few more times.

This process will get the bunkers back to the original look. Sand back onto the sides will make them a little more visible during an approach shot or tee shot. As we work through the summer we are trying to restore many parts of the golf course back to the way it was designed. Over the next few posts I will show some of the other projects that we are doing to help with our summer restoration project.

if you have any questions please feel free to contact me.

Justin Ruiz, CGCS, MG

justinr@indiansummergolf.com

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The Club Entrance

The club entrance has been an eye sore since I started in February of last year. Last year we tried to maintain the landscape to the best of our ability, but the landscape has been in disrepair for some time. The euonymus plants were thinned out from irrigation problems that needed to be fixed and weeds that had taken over the landscape.This year we tried our best to get the entrance of the club to pop. We want to be able to catch the attention of our members and their guests as they pull into the club. We did some changes to the islands going up to the club. Adding turf with a mix of flowers has gotten high praise from a lot of the members.

We have now started the main entrance to the club that has been such an eye sore. We have removed all the landscaping near the road and plan to replace this area with the same motif, turf and flowers. This will help increase the curb appeal of the club.

if you have any questions or concerns about the work happening at the entrance feel free to contact me,

Justin Ruiz, CGCS, MG

justinr@indiansummergolf.com

 

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Lake Management

Recently I took the exam for the aquatic pesticide license category to be able to control the aquatic weeds in our lakes. The weeds have gotten out of control over the years and the lakes have lost their luster.

The weeds begin to reduce visibility from a players standpoint. A good example is off the first tee. The lake in the right has become so overgrown that you can no longer see where the lake starts and where the lake ends. My hope is to control the weeds and also bring the lakes back to their original size.

Yes, original size. The size of the lakes have gotten smaller. The lake on 14 is a prime example of how the lake has slowly reduced in size. There is an overflow near the lake that keeps the lake at a certain level. As the banks have encroached into the water, the water level was adjusted to be a little lower. To date the lake is roughly 6" lower than when it was originally constructed. If we can succeed in restoring the banks back to the original height the lake will look completely different. A six inch lift will make the green look like it is that much closer to the water. Another benefit from the restoration will help save time and money. If the bank is not in the water anymore we will be able to get our rough unit around it so we will not have to spend weeks weed eating the longer grass down. It will be saving roughly 350 hours of labor if we can reduce that weedeating job.

If you have any questions or comments please contact me,

Justin Ruiz, CGCS, MG

justinr@indiansummergolf.com

 

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