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.

Pump Station Facelift

If you haven't noticed yet we recently cleaned up the pump station.  Next time your in the are left of nine green you will notice the roof was replaced and the side of the building was re-painted.

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

Justin Ruiz, CGCS, MG
justinr@indiansummergolf.com

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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Irrigation Break

Last week we had a unique break in an irrigation line.  Above the tunnel to the first hole we had a leak in our landscaped area.  When we turned on the pop up heads with the control valve water came gushing out from under the concrete path.



Christian dug down around the path to hopefully find the break near the path, but had no luck.  The break was obviously underneath the concrete path.  After some words of frustration, we had no choice but to break up the concrete to access the broken line.  In the process we broke an abandon sewer line that was not located on the city maps.  The fix became much more difficult than what was expected.

Once Christian exposed the irrigation line he turned the valve back on to check the location of the crack.  He was suprised to find that the break was not in the pipe that he exposed, but a pipe buried even deeper into the ground.  The pipe was broken from the roots of the surrounding vegetation.



Christian was able to find the pipe and fix the leak.  Shortly, the concrete company that repaired our cartpaths will be out to repair the panel that we had removed to make the repair.  If you have any questions about the irrigation break or the irrigation system in general please contact me.

Justin Ruiz, CGCS
justinr@indiansummergolf.com

Hydraulic Tree

In preparation for the warmer weather of the summer... do we have summer here? We have re-written the hydraulic tree on our central control computer.  This computer operates the irrigation system in the most efficient way possible, as long as it is programmed properly.

If you would like to read more about the irrigation system you can visit www.turfhugger.com for a four part series called system check.  I wrote this series a while back to help explain the importance of the irrigation system and the procedures that can be taken in the spring to ensure there will be no suprises come summer.

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

Justin Ruiz, CGCS
justinr@indiansummergolf.com

Head Edging

Over the last week we have been working on getting the heads edged in preparation of the Member/Member event this weekend.

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

Justin Ruiz, CGCS
justinr@indiansummergolf.com

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

Water in Washington??

Photo courtesy of http://www.turfhugger.com/

There is nothing like having kids.  It is by far the most rewarding thing that you could possibly do in life.  As they get older and start to become more aware of their surroundings, they can think of some pretty unique things.  My wife was driving in the car and my daughter asked her why Washington was named Washington.  You know kids, always question everything.  Before my wife could explain to her a reason for the name, my daughter had already came up with her reasoning.  She said, "is it because everything is always getting washed by the rain?" 

I am enamored at the fact that even though Olympia may get quite a bit of rain, irrigation is still an important task for us as turf managers.  Spending the last ten years in Arizona water was a fighting word.  Conservation was required, not just an option.  The experience that I have gained from this style of water management has played well into my forte of asking why things are setup in a certain fashion.

Computer controlled irrigation is an important tool for us.  When the computer is programmed  properly is takes, pipe size, equipment specs, pump station flow, weather calculations, etc. and uses all this information to manage the irrigation system to operate over 1000 sprinkler heads on the course efficiently.  Without programmed computer management you run the risk of too many heads running at the same time resulting in less than desirable distribution.  Without good distribution, playability suffers and water is wasted. 

With that being said, our central control computer did not have a hydraulic tree programmed into the computer.  The absence of a hydraulic tree removes the computer’s ability to properly manage nightly watering.  The computer is only as good as the information that we give it.

Photo courtesy of http://www.toro.com/

To make a long story short Christian, our irrigation technician, is starting the tedious task of creating a hydraulic tree that will give the computer the correct information to manage all the sprinklers properly.  If you would like to read a little more in depth article on the central control computer, click here.  If you have any question about the irrigation system or would like to see what we are working with please feel free to contact me.

Justin Ruiz, CGCS

justinr@indiansummergolf.com

360.878.0479