Greens aerification complete

Greens aerification went very good the last 2 days.  Here is a look at our process.

#1 - Deep tine aerification with 1 inch solid tines on 4 inch centers 8 inches deep
                to improve drainage, create channels for roots, water, and oxygen

1" deep tine holes

Deep tining

#2 Hallow tines pulling a core - 1/2" tines, on 1.25" centers, 4" deep

Pulling a core

#3 - Sweep up plugs, blow off the green

That is a lot of holes...

#4 Roll to smooth the green out and do a final cleaning

#5 Topdress with pure sand

#6 Brush

#7 Finished product - continue to work in sand all week with brushing and irrigation

Greens Aerification - this week

Greens aerification will start Monday morning.  All of the equipment has been gone through and we did a small test on the practice green to assure all the equipment was functioning properly.

Right side - test area of greens aerification

Yes I will be running this over the greens as step #1.

Deep tine machine to go over greens first

1" X  12" solid tines

The equipment used, technique, and tine selection and size all depends on what your purpose is and what is your end goal.  In our situation I am trying to create deep channels to increase drainage on the greens, increase the quantity of pure sand I can get down in the greens, and increase the root depth of our turf.  For that reason I will first go over the greens with a solid 1" tine 8-9 inches deep.

Result of the solid 1" tines

Then followed by a 1/2" tine 3 inches deep that is pulling a core because I also want to remove the organic matter on the putting green surface that has built up over this growing season.  These two operations together will give us the benefit of both organic matter removal by pulling a core but also infiltration and oxygen improvement with a solid deep tine.

1" holes followed by 1/2" cores being pulled on the right side

Stay tuned for a step by step view of the 11 step process that goes into the cultural practice of aeifying a green.

Fairway Aerification

We started aerifying fairways yesterday on #18. 

Our fairways were very firm and strong this year with a short, tight, dense growth pattern and substantially less dry areas.  This is a result of the diligent fairway aerification we have been conducting the last 4 falls. 

Our thatch layer is now in an acceptable range and not a thick matt (sponge) causing any problems.  We need to maintain this optimal layer we have by aerifying once a year.

Thatch layer at red line, less than 1inch, very good for a bluegrass fairway

We are beginning on some of fairways that have more worm activity in the cooler fall weather with hopes of getting them healed back up faster to create a dense turf canopy that will decrease the amount of worm castings we have in October and November.

Stay tuned and I will blog to you our process of fairway aerification soon.  One trick is to use shaving cream to mark irrigation heads and yardage stones.  Flags are more labor to go back and pick them up, shaving cream stays for about 6-8 hours, does not damage the turf, and and easily disappears when we drag over it.

Shaving cream to mark our irrigation heads and yardage markers

Our schedule for the fall aerification is as follows:
Week of Sept 9 - Fairways
               Sept 16 - Greens - course closed Monday and Tuesday
               Sept 23 - Tees and Approaches
               Sept 30 - Fairways
               Oct 7 - Fairways

I appreciate all the support and understanding with all of this aerification and the importance of what it does for your golf course in the seasons ahead.  If everything goes well in we should have everything completed in the next 4 weeks.

New Firmness meter

The USGA has collaborated with with Spectrum Technologies to develop a firmness meter called TruFirm.

TruFirm being used at a US Open

The TruFirm measures the firmness of greens, bunker sand, fairways, and other playing surfaces. 
The purpose of this tool is similar to a stimpemter, to give golf course superintendents another tool to help them maintain a certain range of consistency day to day and green to green. Will it catch on and be used like a stimpmeter, are you going to hear golfers say "Our greens are 10 pounds", I guess time will tell???

Driving Range Divots - Linear Pattern

So far this year the use of the driving range tee has worked out well.  We knew it was going to be smaller and allow us a few days a week on the grass, but it was the area we had available and is a nice practice area for the 4 days per week that we can get off the matts.  Our rotation pattern, amount of use and heal time has worked well.  I appreciate everybody that is trying to follow the "linear divot pattern" compared to the "spot" pattern because it is helping in the speed of our recovery.

Working backwards with each shot in a strip pattern allows for the fastest recovery

 "Spot pattern" on left, "strip" on right and strip is felling faster

Strip method growing in from two sides

Large patch pattern healing very slowly

Whing Ding Tourney

Over Labor Day Weekend we hosted our annual Whing Ding Tournament and over the last two weeks staff has been very busy prepping the golf course for the event.  This is our most competitive tournament each year, the highest demand is placed on turf conditioning, and we push the turf as far as we can and keep it right on the edge for 4 days.  Friday is practice rounds, Saturday and Sunday is individual play where the top ten individuals qualify for a sole survivor competition on Monday.  All 10 players start on #1, they play a variation of 9 holes, and each hole the highest score is dropped and in the event of a tie then a chip off determines who is eliminated. This years field saw one of the best handicaps in history.  The championship flight was cut off with a +1 handicap, the best was a +5 handicap by Tyler Carlson an Oregon State Sophomore, and 18 players had a + handicap.  The cut for the two day score to make the sole survivor was 143, and the leader after two days was Aaron Cockerill a senior at the University of Idaho at 12 under, shooting a 65 and 67.  

Hole #17 of the Sole Survivor

The sole survivor is a very fun event to watch supported by about 300 spectators watching the 10 best  trying to navigate the greens that are stimping 14 1/2.  It involved a couple grip clenching chip offs with te most notable being a chip off between 4 players on #15 as they all pared the par 4 except 1 golfer birdied it. The winner was Jared du Toit, a freshman at the University of Idaho from BC Canada, by sinking his 8 ft eagle putt on the par 5 512 yard 18th hole.

Over the 4 days, greens were mowed 6 times, rolled 7 times, and approximately 140 labor hours were put into the greens alone.  Fertilizer was backed off weeks prior to the event, water was turned down days before the event and then turned off other than hoses for 3 days, and the turf was pushed as far as we could push it.  Water management involved allowing all areas of the golf to dry out and only hand watering the turf under the most stress and giving only enough moisture to make it through the day.  Staff worked in the morning to prep and set-up the golf course each day and then came back in the evening to mow all areas that were not mowed in the morning and perform all the handwaterng that was needed.  As much as the staff and myself enjoy to produce pristine conditions like this it is not something that the turf could hold up to on a regular basis.  

Rolling greens

Handwatering only with selected irrigation heads for 3 days

A dry green after a syringe of water - difference in color on the back and right side

It was a pleasure to have last years Sole survivor champion, a native to Moscow ID, a recent University of Washington graduate, the #1 amateur golfer in the world last year, and turned professional this year.  He had a free weekend and came down to caddy for his good friend Jason Huff who made it to the Sole Survior.

My wife Misty (left) and myself (right) with last years winner, now professional - Chris Williams (middle)

The long weekend would of not been complete without an irrigation break leading up to the tournament, so we did take time out of our busy week to repair a hair line crack in a 6" mainline on #18.

Water spraying out of a crack

Hunting Season

We have a few very large resident mule deer bucks that hang around the golf course.  Staff sees them most mornings and evenings coming to find food on the golf course.

Mule deer buck out for a morning walk along the golf course

As a regular hunting in my spare time and a passion of mine, this is always an exciting time of the year as the bucks and bull elk start to come out from a summer of rest, captivity, and feeding to search for does and cows during the rut season.

Keep your eyes open on the road as males are much more foolish during the rut season and animals will be moving over the next two months.