Aerification Day

We finished the front nine today.  The greens became a little soft from the amount of material we were removing and being a little soft from the recent rain.

Overall the process went well with one minor set back.  The aerifier blew the clutch causing a two hour delay while we got the aerifier from Hawk's Prairie.  Rick was nice enough to let us borrow his machine to finish today and complete the back nine tomorrow.
The greens will be a little bumpy over the next few weeks.  Please bear with us while we are building the foundation for the future health of our playing surfaces.
If you have any questions or comments please feel free to contact me.
Justin Ruiz, CGCS
Justinr@indiansummergolf.com

Aerification Test Run

Today we started with the small practice greens and the big putter.  The greens were very soft from the rain over the weekend.  Sand and rolling has done good on firming the greens back and smoothing out any heaving.

Tomorrow we will be starting the front nine greens since they seem to be the most dry.  The back nine has more greens located in pockets of trees and shade.

If you have any question feel free to send me an email.

Justinr@indiansummergolf.com

Fall Aerification 2011

This week is aerification week.  Yes, it is that time of year again.  The course will have the nine holes that we are not punching open for play.  On Tuesday the 20^th, we will aerify the front nine.  On Wednesday the 21^st the back nine will be our focus.  Weather depending we should have all the greens aerified and sanded.

The spring aerification consisted of a slightly different process then what was completed in the past.  We used seven inch long tines, three inches longer than the standard aerification tines.  We were able to get below the thatch layer and increase the ability for deeper roots and healthier turf.  This also resulted in softer conditions during aerification.

The USGA recommends a 20% removal of organic matter each year.  This is a good number for maintenance purposes.  This does not take in account if you already have a little extra thatch.  It is important for us to reduce thatch to increase drainage and avoid turf problems in the future.  If you would like to read in more detail about aerification, click here.



This fall we will be using another process that is unique to this property.  We will use ½” quad tines to remove a little extra organic matter.  These tines will be the usual four inch depth.  The change in depth is to also avoid any plow pan that may occur from continuous aerification at the same depth.  Plow pan is when the roots reach the depth of the aerification tines, but cannot penetrate any deeper.  If we can keep changing it up hopefully we will eventually get roots down deeper.

If there are any questions about aerification or the science behind the process feel free to contact me.

Justin Ruiz, CGCS
justinr@indiansummergolf.com

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

Did you Know Vol. 1

Did you know that the mowing equipment we use to cut greens is adjusted to thousandths of an inch?

Yes, the mowing equipment used on the greens is adjusted with a tool called an accugauge.  This tool measures the distance from the bedknife to the bottom of the rollers in thousandths of an inch.  For example the greens are currently cut at 115/1000".  In the past, to get the greens speeds fast for tournament play, the greens have been cut as low as 90/1000".

When the mechanics set the greens mowers up, they have many variables that apply to their adjustments.  They must maintain a 5 degree angle on the face of the bed knife for the mower to properly stand the leaf blade upright for cutting.  The must obtain the proper clearance between bedknife and reel at .002" to allow for heat expansion under operation.  And finally they must maintain a parallel relationship between the reel and the rollers to ensure an even cut across the width of the mower and to avoid uneven wear of the reel causing a cone shape.

With that being said it is imparitive that the mowers are checked daily for adjustment.  Quality of cut and proper height of cut can be compromised by loading and unloading the mower or even a small particle of sand can cause havoc on the cutting integrity.
Now, with the importance of proper adjustments made daily to the mowing equipment also affects the turf as well.  Turf when mowed with a sharp mower is much more healthy.  The plant has a better opportunity to heal and a better ability to sustain the damage caused by mowing.  As for a dull mower, it will leave the leaf blade shreaded.  The plant uses energy made from essential nutrients to repair the damage.  All grasses prefers the production of leaves over roots.  So in the case of dull mower damage the plant will expend it's energy trying to produce more top growth to ensure the efficient production of energy made from photosynthesis. "Shoots before Roots"

What does that mean?
The plant will then use more resources to make this process happen.  The plant will require more water, more fertilizer and more plant protectants to outgrow any stress that the plant is under.



So, back to the important role of our equipment manager.  The equipment manager is critical in the overall health of the golf course.  In turn the health of the golf course will dictate nutrient and water needs.  We rely on their precise and persistent adjustments made everyday to the mowing equipment.

Probably a little more than you needed to know about mowing equipment, but none the less, it is an integral part of our golf course maintenance.

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

Justin C. Ruiz, CGCS
justinr@indiansummergolf.com

US Open Pictures Courtesy of John Kaminski

Big thanks goes to John Kaminski, PhD. for the inside look at the maintenance practices at the 2011 US Open.  Pretty great photos. you can follow him on twitter, @johnkaminski and read his turf diseases blog at www.turfdiseases.blogspot.com.