Drainage Drilling

We are trying to do some drainage work over the summer months to help out during the winter months. I was able to borrow a tractor mounted auger that we are using to dig drainage holes in the low lying areas on the golf course. We are going to fill some of the holes with straight sand while the other more noticeabley wet areas we will install a drainage box and fill these holes with pea gravel. We are hoping to at least help the water get beneath the compacted upper portion of the soil profile and into the well drained soil underneath.

This process is a preliminary less invasive procedure. If these areas are not satisfactory in the wetter months of the year we will proceed with full scale drainage tile installation that will connect to existing internal drainage areas.

If you have any questions or comments about our process for drainage please feel free to contact me.

Justin Ruiz, CGCS, MG

Justinr@indiansummergolf.com

Spring Aerification

Spring is the time for us as Turfgrass Managers, to start thinking of the new season that will be upon us in just a few short months. It is an important time to prepare the turf for the stresses of the summer heat, and relentless pest pressure. To prepare the turf, we use a combination of cultural practices including the most important one, core aerification.

The turf grows in a unique environment, getting nutrients and life support from the soil. An ideal soil system is 50% insoluble material, while the other 50% is made up of 25% water, and 25% oxygen. If you noticed, I mentioned “ideal.” Over the winter months the soil has become saturated with water, and since the insoluble material cannot be displaced, oxygen is pushed from the soil system, leaving the turf in a less than desirable situation.

With that being said, as turf managers, we make the decision to core aerify the turf. The goal is to balance the soil’s three part system, while also removing unwanted thatch created by the natural attrition of the shoots, roots, and stems. The process also enhances nutrient uptake while the plant begins the root driving process. We remove about 10% of the turf’s surface. To offset thatch buildup, removal of 20% of the surface per year is recommended by the USGA. That gives us the reasoning behind the need of twice per year. Click here for the recommendations of the USGA.

Core aerification is a disruptive process. Playing conditions will be affected for up to four weeks, depending upon weather. An application of fertilizer, one week before aerification day, will get the plant growing rapidly. Expect reduced green speeds coming into aerification. The day of aerification, after we have filled the holes completely with sand, we will apply another application of fertilizer. The purpose of increased fertility during this process is to speed up the healing process and give the plant the nutrition it needs to grow roots.

2012 Spring Aerification Dates

• April 25th and 26th.
• As we are able Tees, Fairways and Approaches will be aerified during April.

Justin C. Ruiz, CGCS, MG
justinr@indiansummergolf.com

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

Timberline High School Golf Team

We have hosted Timberline High School's Golf team for two seasons now. Each season they make it a point to help us out with jobs on the golf course as a thank you for letting them make use of our golf facility. If you haven't seen the two teams out doing the extra work here are some pictures.

 

We had a ton of debris staged at the back of the range from the recent storm. The kids picked through the debris to get golf balls and walked the range to pull hundreds of plugged balls out of the ground.

This weekend a lot of kids have volunteered to caddie for the Indian Summer Master's tournament. Last year it was a great success. Next week they will have another work party on the course. They plan to sand and seed as much as possible throughout the golf course and practic area.

 

A big thanks goes out to Timberline from all of us on the maintenance staff. They have helped us out tremendously with clean up and course repair. We appreciate everything they have done.

 

We wish you the best of luck for your 2012 season.

 

Thank you,

 

Justin Ruiz, CGCS, MG and all of us at maintenance.

 

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

Cart Path Extensions

The storm damage clean up has taken its toll on areas of the golf course. We have worked on trying to clean up most of the damage. In the case of hole 2, we have made the decision to extend the cart path out to avoid the extremely wet area next to the lake.

We decided to do this work because the areas was already torn up from the tractor needing access to the trees along this hole. The turf was completely torn up. We just had to remove a few inches of the torn up turf to allow for concrete installation.

 
If you notice in the picture of the new concrete installation we began to turn the cart path to run along the fence. The overall goal is to get most of the cart paths extended or completed to have the ability to run carts throughout the winter on cart paths only when the weather makes the course wet enough to not allow cart traffic.

If you have any questions or comments about the cart path work please contact me.
Justin Ruiz, CGCS, MG
justinr@indiansummergolf.com