150 Marker Test

The 150 markers on the course used to be green posts. The posts became maintenance nightmares. The poles needed to be removable for playability purposes but, they became crooked and started to lean due to the repeated rrwmovaland replacement. They also were cumbersome for the rough mowers to hop of and remove while they were mowing. We have removed the posts and are looking at some replacement ornamental grasses.

The ornamental grasses will be inside a circle that we can easily maintain and the circle will be large enough for the rough units to maneuver around. The ornamental grasses will look better overall and be less labor intensive.
We are going to place the grasses near the putting green for the members to review. If you have a certain grass that you like please bring it to the golf committee, Trish or myself. We will bring the comments to the golf committee meeting for review.
If you have any questions please feel free to contact me.
Justin Ruiz, CGCS, MG
justinr@indiansummergolf.com

Bunker Work

We still have our winter crew which makes us carefully pick and choose which projects we start this spring. Working I between storms and clean up has been a chore. We are behind schedule on many projects that I would have liked to see get done this winter. A smaller staff, no mechanic and the clean up of the recent ice storm has made us push projects back repeatedly.

With the season beginning and aerification only weeks away, we have been just trying to get the course ready for our membership. Spring cleaning is the main focus as we come into season. The bunkers are one of those maintenance items that must be taken care of every year.
In previous years we have added sand to the bunkers as the sand has sloughed off of the sides. Between the rain and the trap rake the sand has all collected at the bottom of the bunkers. Over the season this has created a large lip that is rather unsightly.

This year we did not order any more sand to add to the sides because there is plenty of sand in the bottom of the bunkers. Although time consuming, we have started pushing the sand back up onto the sides after we edge the bunkers. Our goal is to keep a two inch lip around the bunker.

What does that mean to our members you ask?
The sand along these edges are going to be relatively soft until the rains can help pack the sand. We do some packing with the rakes and sand pro but, the sand will remain soft enough to plug your ball into. After a few weeks the bunkers will begin to firm up and return to releasing the ball to the bottom of the bunker. Hopefully you will bear with us as we make efforts to increase playability and presentation of the golf course this season.

If you have any questions please feel free to contact me.
Justin Ruiz, CGCS, MG
justinr@indiansummergolf.com

Spring Sting

Believe it or not the first day of spring was today. I know it was hard to tell with the snow mixed with rain. Although yesterday it was sunny while the snow fell. So that has to be the sign that spring is here. Well another good barometer for judging the arrival of spring is the germination of annual plants. Stinging Nettle is one that we have a lot of during the season along the border of the golf course.

Stinging Nettle seems to be everywhere. The plant is apparent in fertile soils that have been recently disturbed. Makes pretty good sense. When the golf course was built there was some good amount of disturbance along the border of the golf course along along the wooded areas. It seems to be like a wall of Nettles in some places. Since we have done a lot of storm clean up along the border of the course, the additional disturbance I felt would produce a generous crop of the nettles.

This spring we are trying to act while the plant is young and control the weed with a selective herbicide to give us some relief. If the plant rubs against your skin most people feel a stinging sensation that becomes very itchy later. This is not an ideal situation for a golfer that would like to look for a shot that rolls just off the border of the turf. We are trying to act early to catch the plant young and also avoid the time at which new leaves begin to start on the shadowing trees.

If you have any questions about our weed control strategy or if you have any comments about the course please feel free to contact me.

Justin Ruiz, CGCS, MG

Justinr@indiansummergolf.com

 

Winter Storm Vol. 1

The winter storm we just experience left many people out of power for several days. The aftermath has left the state in need of clean up and repair. The club was no exception. The snow storm hit and then an ice storm followed.  The added weight to the already snow covered branches was the culprit. The added weight broke the branches near the top.  The weight the branch could no longer hold was transferred to the next branch down the tree and so on.  There are some trees with just the trunk that remained and all the branches were sheared off.

We are left with a lot of clean up and some repair. There will definitely be some different looks to the course once we can open for play.  Please bear with us while we try to remove the debris and cleanup the course.

Although the course is covered with snow and closed, the restaurant and grill are open.  You are always welcome to visit us.


 Here are some pictures of some of the damage that we sustained during the storm:




The Cherry Trees around the clubhouse were all heavily damaged.











The range net was pulled down by the weight of the ice.














A 100 year old White Oak fell onto the back side of the clubhouse.  This tree will hopefully be removed with a crane this week.

The Maple tree on #12 had a large branch split off of the side.  This will make the hole look a little different next time you are able to play.






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

Justin Ruiz, CGCS, MG
justinr@indiansummergolf.com

Mowing the Greens

Mowing the greens is an important practice that takes place on a daily basis.  We mow greens regularly to ensure consistent ball roll and to improve density of the turf stand.  We combine this practice with rolling to increase ball roll and in most cases protect plant health.  Rolling and mowing at a higher height can make our jobs easier without compromising plant health.

Broken Sprinkler Head

Today we had a broken sprinkler on #17.  The head was struck by the rough unit mowing around the tees.  It was quite a fountain.

The irrigation system on the golf course is a little different than the irrigation in a homeowners lawn.  We have pressurized lines to each individual head.  So when a head breaks, it shoots water out like a fountain.  At your house you have a valve manifold that holds the water back until it is opened.  Then once opened it runs multiple heads.  Unfortunately you may not catch a break until it washes something out or create standing water over night.

A prudent practice would be to head out in your yard over the next month and turn on you irrigation system.  It has been quite a while since we have needed to water and as the weather improves and watering becomes necessary, you might catch something before the turf struggles and your flower bed washes into your lawn.

If you have any questions please contact me.

Justin Ruiz, CGCS
360.459.3772
E: justinr@indiansummergolf.com

My 1st Week

My first week here at Indian Summer was kind of frustrating due to the snow covering the turf on Wednesday through the weekend and still hanging around on the next Monday.

Dan has done a great job showing me around the property and explaining how things are layed out on the golf course. It has been a lot of information to digest in such a short time. With Dan's help and cooperation from the weather, I can get my bearings and start to figure out the course layout.

This last week was also frustrating for the crew. With the snow coming down and not much to offer for projects on the course, the crew was able to clean up our maintenance shop quite a bit. The organization helped give us an idea of what we have that is usable and what is no longer needed. Unfortunately the crew had a short week making my introductory period a little longer. I am very happy with the friendly welcome that everyone has given me at Indian Summer. The knowledgable and friendly crew has helped during my transition and I am grateful to be able to join such a great group of people.

I understand now why Dan has received the manager of the month award from Oki Golf because of his professionalism and outstanding work ethic. His hard work these past months have made my transition that much easier.  When I started last monday he explained the history of disease to me and the results that were given recently from Washington State University Extension Office which came back positive for pythium infection on a couple of the greens. This "cool weather" pythium is a relatively new problem in the Northwest and can be devastating as you have seen. Dan reacted appropriately and applied a plant protection product to avoid severe damage. Although 10 and 11 greens are a little thin, without Dan's quick reaction it could have been much worse.  I am excited for this upcoming season and to be able to work with a talented Assistant Superintendent like Dan.

I hope to meet each and everyone of our members over the next few months and as the weather gets better. Please feel free to stop me on the course, email or call me with any comments, questions or concerns.

Justin Ruiz, CGCS
justinr@indiansummergolf.com
Direct Office: 360.459.3772

Welcome!!

Welcome to the new Indian Summer Golf Course Maintenance Blog.  This blog will be a log of what we are doing on the golf course.  It will also serve as information and communication about the practices that we are completing.  We hope this blog can be a place for our members to go to help answer some questions about our practices or help bring some awareness to why we are doing what we are doing on the golf course.

I am excited to get this blog started!

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

Justin Ruiz, CGCS

turfsuper@gmail.com