Sandstone Area Golf Course - Maintenance

New Product Trial, Part II - This Time With Free Hats

2011-11-29T10:08:00.001-06:00

This post will recap our year trying out the Complete A & B product from GenNext. Read this post for the beginning of the story.

We started at the 16oz/m rate every two weeks. We noticed improvement right away. The grass was recovering quickly and filling in nicely.

By July, our #3 green was completely healed:

Then disaster hit. We had an outbreak of brown patch on 5 of our greens with Number 1 green having pythium as well.

With some guidance from a couple of my local reps and also Dr John Kaminski from Penn State we managed to get the disease(s) under control. The greens recovered very quickly which I believe is in part due to the GenNext program, which promotes bentgrass growth over the weaker poa.

This year we've seen tremendous amounts of bentgrass crowding out the poa in all of our greens. They've been able to withstand the heat better and we've been able to reduce our watering as well.

I owe a lot to Tim Brink and GenNext for the success we've had this year. He offered us a product on a trial basis when our budget for fertilizer was cut to $1000 for the year. That alone would've been enough for me to give the product a shot, but I've been very happily surprised by the results. Tim also provided great customer service and was always there with answers or help when I needed it.

#3 green this October:

#1 green, which saw a massive reduction in the amount of poa:

And the free hat? Yep, not one but TWO free hats:

It's Been A While...

2011-11-06T08:26:00.001-06:00

Wow, it sure has been a while since I last posted on here. A lot has happened since the last post, and over the next couple weeks I'll be posting about what went on this year.

Quick recap:

Computer died (hence the long delay between posts)

Our GenNext Complete fertilizer program has performed beyond expectations

Hot/humid July led to brown patch and pythium outbreaks on a couple greens

Ongoing irrigation system problems

Ongoing sprayer problems

Budget issues

Lack of manpower

Golf course in transition of being sold

In other words, except for a couple items, it was just another typical year on a golf course.

Stay tuned...

New Product Trial - But No Free Hat

2011-05-30T07:20:00.010-05:00

Around the end of April I received a call from Tim Brink, Managing Member of a company called GenNext Complete. He told me about his product, a two-part plant nutrition product which he claimed would speed up the recovery of our snow mold-damaged greens. It is also supposed to promote bentgrass over poa.

After a couple of conversations with Tim, we decided to try it out. He generously provided us with some sample product so we could see for ourselves what effect, if any, it would have on recovery. Plus we needed all the help we could get, especially since Mother Nature wasn't helping any.

We did the initial application on May 4 (This is 3 green):

May 9:

Second app went down on May 16:

May 20:

May 24:

Overall, I'm pretty impressed so far with the results, at least as far as recovery goes. The putting green only received one app of the Gen Next product and its recovery has been a lot slower:

As far as promoting the bentgrass over poa, time will tell. It's only been applied twice, so we'll see as the summer goes on what effect it will have. Our number 1 green will be the ultimate test of this:

This green is almost pure poa. If Gen Next Complete can make a dent in this one, I'll be the first in line to buy it.

I would also be remiss if I didn't acknowledge the fantastic customer service we've received from the Gen Next people. Both Tim and AJ have been nothing but supportive and very generous. Except when it comes to hats. :-)

The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly, Part 2

2011-05-08T09:46:00.003-05:00

This post is overdue I know, so I'll keep it short. Below are some pictures that show the process we used to get these damaged greens back into shape.

First is Carl verticutting in two different directions:

What the greens looked like after verticutting:

We then spread a layer of sand/organic matter on the greens:

The we seeded with bentgrass and chewings fescue. We also added Milorganite fertilizer at the same time. The fescue was used for quick germination and growth. Then we spiked the seed in:

Water the greens to keep the seed moist, pray for warm weather, add some more seed, do some more praying. That's pretty much the process this spring. Next post will be about a new product we're trying out with some success.

The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly, Part 1

2011-04-16T10:32:00.006-05:00

The Good is that the fairways came through winter rather unscathed. Here's number 1 fairway:

There's still some drainage issues to be worked out but otherwise this fairway is in pretty good shape. Most of the other fairways look like this so that's encouraging.

Now to the Bad. And Ugly. We had a severe outbreak of snow mold on the greens this year. The combination of snow mold prevention chemicals we used failed. In fact, they failed so miserably I'm now calling this the "Childress combo".

Six of our 10 greens have severe damage. Here's the tour. If you have children in the room, please send them out, these are pretty graphic pictures.

Putting green:

Number 1:

Number 2:

Number 3, which is the worst:

Number 6:

And number 9, which historically has been our best-performing green:

From what I've been hearing this has been a bad year for snow mold, especially for courses that used PCNB and chloroneb as their control chemicals. So we're not alone. And we will get these greens back in shape.

Part 2 will show what we're doing to get these greens back in shape.

Recent Pics

2011-03-30T18:21:00.003-05:00

Last week on Thursday I took a little walk on the course to see how things are looking. This was after we received another 7-8 inches of snow at the course after most of the previous snow had melted. Things are looking good, but there are signs of snow mold in the usual places.

I will be out on the course again this week and next to check the progress of the melting and to clear the greens that are most vulnerable to snow mold, numbers 1, 3, 2, and 6.

Here's a few of the pictures I took:

This one is number 4 green:

Here's number 7:

Looking towards 5 teebox:

And looking back towards the clubhouse:

RIP Cpl Andrew Wilfahrt

2011-03-06T00:37:00.003-06:00

Link to his Facebook tribute page

Link to his Facebook MP Company page

This man was a great friend to my family. He was friends with all of Jen's children, and was an exceptional young man. He will be missed by many, especially me. I will never be able to express my gratitude for the love he showed us. We are all better people for having known him.

RIP Andrew.

New Baroness LM56 Walk Behind Greens Mower

2011-01-21T21:58:00.003-06:00

Late last year I won a walk behind greensmower in a contest. Since the future of the course is uncertain and we just don't have the manpower to use this mower, I decided to sell it. It's still at the dealer. It comes with the grass catcher, transport wheels and groomer attachment. It retails for $7,500. $4,000 OBO. Feel free to email me.

10,000 Hits

2011-01-18T09:50:00.000-06:00

Wow, I can't believe this blog just reached the 10,000 hit milestone!

I started this blog a little over two years ago to keep the membership informed about what we do and more importantly, why we do what we do. I never thought I would receive this many hits in that time. I certainly hope some of you have found the information that I've posted to be informative and maybe a little fun too.

Thank you to everyone that's checked out this blog over the last two years and here's looking forward to many more posts to come!

Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year!

2010-12-24T10:33:00.000-06:00

Just wanted to wish everyone out there a safe and happy Holiday season! See you next year! It sure will be an interesting year.

Golf Course Being Sold

2010-12-03T19:44:00.000-06:00

Well, the City decided to put the golf course up for sale this coming year. And if nobody buys it, they will lease it to an association made up of some current members of the course. The City will not manage the course in 2012.
It's really a shame, I personally don't think the city put enough effort into this course, and I don't think the association's plan for running it is well thought out. I hate to see the golf course suffer, even if I'm not employed there anymore. (Which I won't be, after next year.)
I'll post more on this later...

Irrigation Blowout Complete

2010-11-11T12:44:00.000-06:00

On Tuesday we blew out the irrigation system. It was pretty uneventful this year, much like last year. I did find the pressure gauge in the pumphouse to be broken. The needle was on the wrong side of the stop. I have no idea how it happened, but I suspect it has something to do with the three words under PSI:

I changed this gauge out with the one off of our sprayer and we were good to go.

Everything got blown out three times, which took a little over 3 hours. It went a lot faster this year since I decided to drain the system beforehand. Steve D came out to help for a bit, but then he got bored and left.

Our high-tech controller covers:

One other problem I found was when I took the intake pipe out. It seems like we might need a new screen:

Yesterday I put the last snow mold fungicide application on. Next up is to cover the greens with sand. Hopefully the weather holds out until I can get that completed.

Finishing Touches, Damage, and Stupidity

2010-10-28T13:41:00.000-05:00

I went in to the course this morning to check out the damage from the storm we recently had - 5" of rain and high winds - and to pick up the remaining ballwashers, flags and wastebaskets.

There was some flooding along with some trees and branches down. Luckily the trees that were down are mainly in the wooded areas so I can take my time to clean them up once the course dries out a bit.

We did lose the top of a spruce tree along 4 fairway though:

Limbs and branches down on and around 6 green:

And of course there was some flooding. The usual spots in 2 and 9 fairways were under water along with a lot of other areas. The ponds are all very full and overflowing.

Bridge UNDER Troubled Water?:

By the shop:

And now for the stupid part. After checking out the beheaded spruce tree on 4 I decided to cut across the fairway, through the recently tilled area. Why? Who knows. I didn't get far though:

A brisk walk back to the shop to get the tractor and I was back in business:

And since I had the tractor, I figured I would grab the spruce top and take it back to our compost pile:

So it all worked out in the end.

I guess the lesson here is that if you get 5" of rain, don't drive over freshly tilled ground with a Workman. Don't say I didn't warn you.

USGA Report And How It Relates To Us

2010-10-23T08:46:00.000-05:00

The latest USGA North Central regional report located here is especially relevant to our situation this year. We skipped core aerating this fall for various reasons: manpower issues, weather, tournaments, etc. It's the first time we haven't aerated in the 4 years I've been here, (in fact, it's the first time I've never aerated in the 11 years I've been working on golf courses).
Instead, next week we will be solid-tining the greens (an idea I ~~stole~~ borrowed from Superintendent Chris Tritabaugh from Northland Country Club in Duluth), putting the last snow mold fungicide on, then covering the greens with a layer of sand. While this many not be the best option, it is better than doing nothing at all.

We will also be blowing out the irrigation system next week along with some tree removal. The Pine County Sheriff's Sentence to Serve program will be out helping to rake out the areas that Frank Skaff tilled up. (Better remember to bring my shotgun. j/k) It's going to be a busy week!

Closing Date

2010-10-18T20:30:00.000-05:00

We will be officially closing next Tuesday, October 26. We picked up all the bunker rakes, tee markers, cart signs, water jug, and hole sponsorship signs today. Tomorrow we will take in most of the ballwashers, mow some more leaves and that will be it for Aimee. From then on, it's just me here.

But here's plenty of work left to do to keep me busy this fall and into winter. Painting the course accessories, machinery maintenance, snow mold applications for the greens, etc.

Another Fall Project

2010-10-12T17:31:00.001-05:00

One of our members, Frank Skaff, brought his tractor and tiller out Monday to do some work on the course.

He tilled up some of the worst areas out here, such as the right side of Number 8 fairway:

He also took out the moguls on 4 fairway:

He took care of the bad areas next to the irrigation pond on 5:

He'll come back over the next week or so to hit these spots again and we'll get them smoothed out and ready for seed.

Thanks Frank!

1st Annual "Class of the Grass" Tournament

2010-10-01T12:56:00.003-05:00

This past Wednesday we had the 1st annual "Class of the Grass" golf tournament, pitting clubhouse personnel vs groundskeepers. Unfortunately, this time of year we're short of workers so it ended up being 2 against 2. Steve D and Hank from the clubhouse vs myself and Steve A from the grounds crew. It was a best-ball tournament and the day turned out to be one of those glorious fall days.

Hank teeing off:

Steve D:

Steve A:

We had a two-shot lead going into the last hole but we choked, and ended up in a tie. We had to play four playoff holes before we finally won, thanks in part to Steve A's monstrous drive.

And here's the trophy:

Can't wait until next year!

Club Champions

2010-09-21T04:19:00.002-05:00

Congratulations to the 2010 Club Champions:

Marty Thomas - Men's Champion
Rochelle Olson - Women's Champion
Mary Pogo - Senior Women's Champion
Luke Murphy - Junior Champion
Orv Redding - Seniors Champion

Check out pictures of the Championship on Sandstone Golf's Facebook page: 2010 Club Championship Pictures

Finally!

2010-09-11T08:35:00.000-05:00

The stress of this summer seems to be over. With the excessive rainfall and humidity, this summer will go down as one of the toughest on record, both for turfgrass and greenkeepers. The golf course is recovering nicely and is returning to that emerald green color that we all love.

One nice thing about the rain we've had this year is that we've saved a lot of water by not having to run the irrigation system very often. Any chemical inputs we use that need to be watered in we've been able to apply either before or during a rain event.

Overall, I'm happy how the course has made it through this year and it certainly couldn't have been done without another great crew this year!

A Good Year For Ducks, But Bad For Turfgrass

2010-08-14T14:22:00.000-05:00

With the amount of rain we've had lately and the humid conditions, this golf course is officially saturated.

Here's the bridge in front of 8 green:

Here's the cart path in front of 6 tee:

The pond and fairway on 2:

And the shop, looking from 9 fairway:

All of our ponds are overflowing, but there's nowhere for the water to go. They're all interconnected and eventually drain into the wetlands area, but that's just as full as everything else. It will take a while for this water to drain away, all we can do is wait.

August Update

2010-08-12T15:20:00.001-05:00

The last couple of weeks have been brutal for the golf course. The heat, humidity, and excess rainfall have taken their toll on a few of our greens. Numbers 1, 3, 6, and the west side of 2 greens have had disease pressure from brown patch and pythium. These diseases thrive in wet, humid conditions. And since these greens have little airflow and little sunlight, (conditions which we will fix this fall), they are perfect little petri dishes for these two fungus diseases. We've been treating these greens with chemicals which has helped stop the diseases from spreading. We spike them every other day and use 1/4" solid tines on them once a week to try and get the moisture to move and the roots to breathe. We have also been not mowing them every day in order to give what little grass is left a chance to grow. We'll start seeding them in a couple weeks when the weather is more conducive to germination and growth.

Here's a USGA Regional Update for our area. It details the challenges we've been facing this summer.

The Wall Street Journal recently ran an article on this summer's toll on golf courses. After reading the article and hearing from other superintendents around the country I feel very lucky!

Even the ducks need to cool off! (see arrow):

Steve A. also started working on either "D'allesio Ditch" or "Rollie Creek", depending on who you talk to. This is the overflow drainage ditch from our irrigation pond that runs in front of 6 teebox and 8 green. The bridge will be replaced with a slab of sandstone that the City has in their brush pile area.

The Mystery of Number 9 Green

2010-08-01T19:21:00.000-05:00

I got to thinking the other day about our number 9 green. In the four years I've been here, it's had no disease, no dry spots, very little poa annua, really it's had almost no problems at all. Now I'm in the process of finding out why. I just had a soil test done and it came back showing nothing out of the ordinary. In fact, it's very similar to the other greens. It's treated the same as the other greens, same amount of thatch, etc.

The green's microclimate is such that it should have at least a couple of problems. It sits on top of a hill and has a ridge in it towards the back of the green. That's a spot that should get burned out by the sun and wind much like our number 7 green, but it doesn't.

It also doesn't get full morning sun, the most beneficial sunlight for turfgrass so it shouldn't be producing such dense, perfect grass.

Nematode test is next, then I'd like to find out if this green was built differently than the other 9 greens. There has to some reason why this green performs so well, and I'm going to find out why.

Update

2010-07-16T18:29:00.000-05:00

Well, Carl decided to leave us. He took a job at the Pine City golf course, which is a lot closer to his home. We'll sure miss him, he was a fantastic worker. Good luck, Carl!

We had a few inches of rain on Wednesday, which flooded some areas of the course. Here's a duck enjoying the new water feature in 9 fairway(photo by Steve A.):

The poa annua regulation program we started a couple of weeks ago is working great. We use two different regulator sprays, one to knock the poa down and the other to get the bentgrass to fill in where the poa is weakened. Although the greens look a little tough right now, they're healthy as can be and will fill in nicely in a month or two.

And here's a picture of Public Enemy Number One:

This muskrat has been hanging out by the wetlands area and building tunnels all over. Which leads to stuff like this:

We've been planting mint around the ponds to try and discourage the muskrats from tunneling, but it will be a year or so before the mint can really spread and be effective.

For The Birds

2010-06-30T19:12:00.000-05:00

Yesterday we came in to work to find one of the barn swallows' nests had fallen down and there were 4 baby swallows laying on the concrete walk. (Every year we have swallows build nests under the eaves of the maintenance shed.)

Aimee rounded the babies up and put them in a container until we could figure out what to do. Here's 3 of the 4 huddled up together:

I called the Audubon Center of the Northwoods, the local environmental education center, to see what they suggested. I spoke to Jeff, who said to take an empty coffee can and "build" a new nest to put the babies in. Here's Aimee putting up the nest that she built:

And here she is putting the babies into their new home:

The new abode (the neighboring nest fell while Aimee was putting the new one up, but there were no babies in that one):

Today I saw this:

The babies made it through the night! And later in the day I saw mama bird feeding them. I think they will be OK now.

This is my favorite thing about working at a golf course. It's always interesting and no two days are the same.

Our Newest Member

2010-06-12T12:19:00.000-05:00

This morning Aimee came across this fawn behind the shelter/water cooler area by #6 teebox. It's just tiny, probably less than a week old.

Its momma is around somewhere, keeping a close eye on her baby and any visitors.

We do ask that if you see the fawn catching a nap here and there that you try to leave it be.

What Happens When You Don't Pay Attention

2010-06-02T18:44:00.000-05:00

You may have noticed the big brown spot in the middle of #2 green.

This appeared over the weekend, but I'm sure the signs were there earlier. It's a result of the sprinklers not quite reaching the center of the green and with our sandy soil it doesn't take long for the greens to dry out. The area was spiked and I also replaced the sprinklers with ones that will reach and it's already a lot better.

This is a picture comparing two core samples from that area. The one on the left was taken yesterday and is very dry. The sample on the right was taken today and is moist all the way down.

There's really no excuse for me not catching this earlier. But I am on antibiotics for Lyme disease and they are affecting my concentration and thinking. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

You'll also notice on a few greens that there are some dry spots. These are primarily around the sprinkler heads. This is #5 green and you can see (maybe, the pic didn't turn out too good) the 4 dry areas that correspond to the 4 sprinkler locations:

I'm trying to "wean" the greens from being over-watered for many years by slowly transitioning to a deep and infrequent schedule instead of light and frequent. This will promote root growth, lessen the thatch which will reduce the puffiness of the greens, firm the greens' surfaces up, and also reduce disease pressure since the greens won't remain wet all the time.

But by doing this we've discovered that our irrigation system is not up to snuff. The sprinkler heads' nozzles are worn out along with the heads themselves. What's happening is that the spreader nozzles, or "rooster tails", aren't covering the area around the sprinkler well enough with the reduced irrigation time.

We're working on a couple of solutions, one being replacing the old brass impact heads with newer gear-driven rotors. These will provide much more uniformity which in turn will reduce the time needed to irrigate, conserving a lot of water. The other solution is to replace the nozzles in the impact heads with newer metal ones. These nozzles are designed to provide uniform water distribution, exactly what we need.

Between these two options we'll get the greens back in no time. And I'm never taking these antibiotics again.

Weekly Course Update

2010-05-24T04:45:00.000-05:00

Carl, Aimee, and Steve put the fountain in the irrigation pond.

Steve A. is working on sifting the bunker sand. He fixed our sifting stand so that it catches more and smaller rocks and pebbles. This should make for quite an improvement in the bunkers.

Lowered the greensmower height to 0.125". The new smooth front rollers are doing a much better job than the grooved ones in not damaging the turf on the clean-up pass. Also there are a lot less "stragglers" - blades of grass that don't get cut.

Had to order new reel and bedknives for the greensmower, the center reel was cone-shaped and since there's not much reelstock left, we can't grind too many more times. It's a lot more cost-effective to just replace the reel.

Poa, poa, poa. It's that time of year again when the poa annua seedheads make themselves known. I'll post a follow-up explaining more sometime this week.

We will be spreading lime on the fairways sometime soon. Our soil pH is 5.3 which is very low and we need to raise it. We will core aerate the fairways, have Askov-Finlayson spread the lime (2 ton/acre), then drag it in. We will do this in the morning since the course will need to be closed when they're spreading the lime.

We are also checking out other equipment and chemical distributors. Some of it is due to the fact that we haven't been too pleased with the service from our current one, and some of it is looking for better prices.

New Bumper For Workman

2010-05-12T16:54:00.000-05:00

After the unfortunate accident involving the Workman and a tree we needed to replace the bumper. After getting a price of nearly $250 from Toro, we decided to have one made. Carl took the old bumper to a metalworking shop and had the brackets cut off the old bumper tube, had some new tubing bent, and the brackets welded on.

A little paint and it's good as new. Thanks, Carl!

Here's how much the front end of the Workman was pushed in. Carl had to use a 3/4" spacer to get the new bumper to line up. (The employee responsible all of this has been let go, btw.)

Snow In May?

2010-05-08T08:20:00.000-05:00

Yes, unfortunately. But at least it won't last and we can use whatever moisture we can get.

You've Got To Be Kidding Me...

2010-05-07T20:01:00.000-05:00

Here I was thinking it was May and now I have to dig out the snow shovel. It keeps life interesting, I guess.

Not A Good Way To Start The Morning

2010-04-28T05:40:00.000-05:00

Not much I want to say right now, other than the driver is OK and I really hate paperwork.

Update

2010-04-21T06:49:00.000-05:00

Well, Ol' Red is back. That's our old greensmower that we had MTI, our Toro distributor, rebuild. I took it out yesterday to mow teeboxes and collars and it's quite an improvement over what it was. Maybe it will last another 24 years.

We also cut down the native grass area between holes 8 and 9.

We won't mow this area again all year. We mow it once a year to knock it down and let new growth come in.

We're also cleaning up some of the spruce trees out on the course. We're going to trim the lower branches off up to about 4 feet. This will allow us to get our mowers under the trees easier and will let golfers find their golf balls.

More Irrigation Issues, etc

2010-04-16T21:14:00.000-05:00

I had to replace the diaphragm in the control valve for number 2 green. The valve would no longer automatically shut the sprinklers down, resulting in us having to run that green's sprinklers manually. Here's a pic of the old diaphragm on the left, compared with the new one on the right:

We also decided to take down the old birch tree on hole number 7.

It was getting too damaged from decay and woodpeckers and was quickly becoming a safety hazard.

It was sad to see it go, it sure had some great character. There's still some more cleanup to do around the stump area and we'll get another tree planted in the spot soon.

The new GM, Steve D'Allessio made up some 150 yard markers and put them out. They will be in addition to the original 150 markers, the potentilla bushes.

Broken Elbow And Other Irrigation Matters

2010-04-15T06:25:00.000-05:00

So far this year we've been very lucky with the irrigation system. We've had only one break in the line, a broken elbow on the forward tees on Hole 1.

We'll also be leveling the sprinkler heads, getting them even with the ground. And we will be switching out about a quarter of the full-circle heads for part-circle ones. This will help keep the water where it's needed, on the turf instead of the parking lot, Grouse Street, the woods, etc. These will be ongoing projects, hopefully completed before mid-summer.

Pump House Problems

2010-04-08T06:45:00.000-05:00

We decided to get the irrigation system up and running since the course is drying out quite a bit and we also have some additional seeding to do on the teeboxes. When I went to the pump house to reconnect everything I found this:

It's a strange place for a break in the line, but that's one thing I've learned about irrigation systems, is that there is no "normal". Anyway, a trip to Ace Hardware and it's all fixed:

Another problem is that the pressure gauge was stuck at 60 psi even with no pressure on the system. So I decided to take it off and see what the problem was. (Note to self - always make sure the system is drained before taking the gauge off:

Another trip into town to NAPA to order a new pressure gauge. And maybe some rain gear.

While the course is drying out fast, especially with this wind, it's also greening up nicely:

We're Open!

2010-04-06T07:00:00.000-05:00

Actually we've been open since last Friday. The weather this year has been great for us, allowing one of the earliest course openings in a very long time. Everything has been greening up nicely, and the grass is already growing. We've mowed the fairways and greens (twice) already, but most of the guys' time has been spent picking up debris from around the course, such as tree branches, pine cones, beer cans (c'mon, already?!).

Numbers 1, 3, and 6 greens have some snow mold damage with number 3 being hit the hardest again this year. It's made a lot of improvement though in a very short time and it won't be long before the green fills in again.

This picture was taken last week:

And this was taken yesterday:

Odds And Ends

2010-03-11T10:56:00.000-06:00

There's a few things I want to mention in this post. First is that a new General Manager has been hired. I'm meeting with him Monday morning so we can get to know each other and also go over plans for the course this year.

Second is that MTI came and picked up Ol' Red, our old greensmower.

Here's the MTI truck:

Here's Ol' Red loaded on the trailer (please excuse the quality of the pic, I fell in the ditch while taking it):

When it comes back it will be as good as new. Sure, we could have bought a newer used one for the price of rebuilding this one, but as I say, "The Devil you know is better than the one you don't."

Lastly I want to point you to this article from Golfdom magazine: Joe Golfer Doesn't Feel Your Pain
It's about how golfer's expectations don't change even though our budgets do.

Snow and Mow(er)

2010-03-09T13:29:00.000-06:00

I checked out some of the greens yesterday afternoon to see how they're coming along. This is on number 8 green:

The snow cover is approximately 6" deep and it's a very grainy, slushy snow, not ice. That means the greens are getting plenty of oxygen. If it was a hard ice it could potentially smother the grass. With temps in the 40's this week and a chance of rain the next few days I think the snow will be gone soon which will open up the greens. I'll check some of the greens in shady, low-lying areas later this week and early next week to keep an eye on things and remove the snow cover if needed.

Hopefully this scenery will change soon enough:

On another front, we decided to go ahead and have our Toro distributor, MTI, refurbish our old greensmower, a GR300 from 1986.

Now normally this wouldn't be the best idea but a combination of factors led us to this decision. One is that in today's economy it's hard to get a City Council to spring for a new mower, which costs around $23,000. The other factor is that MTI is going to completely refurbish this mower for less than a fifth of that, which I think is a great deal and one that we just couldn't pass up. This old 300 will be put to use mowing teeboxes, verticutting, running the brush attachment for the greens and will be a backup for our regular greensmower. We might even spring for a new seat. :-)

Turfgrass Blog List

2010-02-03T19:24:00.000-06:00

On the left side of this blog you'll see a list of the turfgrass blogs I follow. The list has the 10 most recently updated blogs, but if you click on the "Show All" button it will show all 40 or so blogs I'm following.

The first turfgrass blog I stumbled across was the one for The Country Club at Castle Pines, written by Superintendent Sean McCue. The second one I ran across is written by fellow Minnesotan Chris Tritabaugh, Northland Country Club Turfgrass Management. These two blogs inspired me to start my own blog.

I follow every golf course blog I can find and I like to add them to the list so other people out there can easily find a list of turfgrass blogs.

Final New Look...

2010-01-31T13:03:00.000-06:00

for now. I'm still not quite sure about this look, but it's my favorite so far. We'll see what tomorrow brings. :-)

Another New Look

2010-01-29T22:11:00.000-06:00

We'll give this new look a try. The last one was too busy, I like this two-column format much better.

New Look

2010-01-28T13:15:00.000-06:00

I'm trying out a new look for the blog. So far I like it but I think it might be just a bit busy, with too many page elements along both sides. I'll give it a couple of days and play around with it a bit more.

5000 Hits!

2010-01-11T18:26:00.000-06:00

I just noticed that this blog has had 5000 hits. It's quite a milestone for me, as I wondered how much interest there would be in me babbling on about this little 9-hole golf course. Thank you everyone who has stopped by and here's to the next 5000 hits!

Now Hiring: Golf Course General Manager

2010-01-10T10:22:00.000-06:00

Well, after spending the last 15 years or so managing our golf course, Gary Bowen has decided to retire. (For good this time, he says). He's done a fantastic job over the years and will be missed.

You can grab an application for the job from here: General Manager Job

Winter Visit

2010-01-05T18:21:00.000-06:00

Yesterday we had a visit by Terry O. from MTI, our Toro distributor. He came up to check on one of our greensmowers, a 1986 GR300 triplex. We wanted to see if it was cost-effective to repair/refurbish this particular mower. I never thought it would be, but we wanted to explore all of our options. It's Terry's opinion too, that this mower is beyond repair. So now we'll be getting quotes on either new or used greensmowers. We'll then use the new(er) one for the greens and switch our current greensmower over to mowing the teeboxes.

Shop plowed out:

This is what happens when it's 4 degrees F and you forgot to hook up the battery maintainer so you can start and move the equipment if need be:

Yes, we have an uninsulated shop in Minnesota - one of my pet peeves because that means we can only work inside on relatively warm winter days:

Happy Holidays!

2009-12-24T08:06:00.000-06:00

Just wanted to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! It will certainly be a white Christmas this year. Be safe if you have to travel.

Closed For The Season

2009-11-18T20:17:00.000-06:00

Well, we are officially closed for the 2009 golf season. We picked up the flags and cups today and then put the last snow mold treatment on the greens.

We also filled in the holes with sand. One, to prevent the holes from collapsing over the winter and also to discourage people putting sticks in the holes when they sneak out and play. (You know who you are.)

It was a pretty good year, revenue and rounds were up and that's a real feat in this economy. We're always looking at ways to further reduce our costs though, while still providing a great golf course. This winter will be time to go back and identify what worked and what didn't and make plans accordingly.

Thank you to all the golfers and staff for making this another wonderful season. See you next year!

(I know, I won't make it as a sign painter)

Book Review

2009-11-10T10:36:00.000-06:00

Recently I ran across a blog written by Anthony Pioppi, a golf writer for Golfdom, Links, and GolfPunk. He also authored a couple of books, one of which is titled "To The Nines", a celebration of nine-hole golf courses, a subject near and dear to my heart. Needless to say, I ordered a copy.

What a fantastic read! It covers the best nine-hole courses in the country, including Fenwick, Katherine Hepburn's favorite course, and Rolling Rock, a Donald Ross layout.

I recommend this book to every golf fan, especially those that have a soft-spot for nine-hole courses. It can be ordered direct from Anthony.

This Blog Gets A Mention...

2009-11-10T09:34:00.000-06:00

In a recent post on the blog from Golf Course Industry, a national golf magazine, they make mention of my blog. It's a list of some of their favorite golf course superintendent's blogs. Here is the link: http://www.golfcourseindustry.com/news/news.asp?ID=5547

Thanks, GCI!

Getting Towards The End

2009-11-08T17:10:00.000-06:00

Tee signs were taken down on Friday, and the pumphouse has been winterized. It won't be long now before we officially close the golf course. But with this nice weather we've been having, we might be open all winter!

Congratulations Are In Order...

2009-11-04T16:17:00.000-06:00

to course worker Steve Ausmus. He just got accepted into the 2-year online certificate program in turfgrass management at Penn State University. This was his first year working at a golf course and the bug bit him hard. He's now got turfgrass in his blood!

Way to go, Steve!

Irrigation System Blowout

2009-11-03T21:48:00.000-06:00

Today we blew out the irrigation system. This is the last big project we have to accomplish before we close the course.

We start with an air compressor that we hook up to the irrigation lines in the pumphouse:

This is number 2 green, the first one to get blown out:

We had a small problem when the green wouldn't shut off, so I had to close the control valve manually. And of course the valve box was full of water so I got nice and cold:

This is 6 teebox, during the first go-round:

We go through half the course since it's set up with two satellite controllers, each of which controls half of the irrigation system. Then we go through it again to get the remainder of the water blown out. It takes about 8 hours or so with Gary helping.

Dane's New Baby!

2009-10-21T19:00:00.001-05:00

Here she is, Malia Joy Quigley:

She was born on Oct 19 at 5:44 pm. She is 5 lbs. 13 ¾ oz. and is 19 inches long.

Congrats Dane and Amber, she's beautiful!

Cost-Saving Measures This Fall

2009-10-20T18:41:00.002-05:00

In an effort to cut costs this fall I've decided to spend less time mowing and chopping up fallen leaves. The greens will be cleared off for play, but the roughs, fairways, and teeboxes will not be cleaned off as they have been in years past. This will save approximately $100 a week just in fuel. I'll clean off some of the areas that are in play, but it doesn't make good economic sense to spend that much money in fuel for the handful of golfers that play this time of year. (No offense to those that DO come out and play.)

The bunkers will also not be raked again until the Spring.

Sorry for any inconvenience this may cause.

The Reason For Frost Delays

2009-10-16T17:36:00.003-05:00

Recently we had someone walk out on the course when there was a heavy frost, causing some damage to the collars of the putting green and #4 green.

This is why we don't let people on the course when there's frost. Luckily this person didn't walk on the green itself, because the grass would be dead instead of just badly injured. This happens when the leaf of the plant (which is mostly water) freezes and then breaks when walked on.

Please, if there's a frost delay stay off the grass. We'll let you know when it's safe to go out and play.

Winding Down

2009-10-07T04:24:00.004-05:00

Well, the season here is almost over. The seasonal employees have all finished for the year so it's just me here now. (Gary is still in the clubhouse and will help out on the course if needed.) These days it's all about preparing the golf course for the winter. A LOT of mowing and blowing leaves, repairs of the equipment, blowing out the irrigation system, doing inventory, etc.

I want to thank my crew for the fantastic job they did this year. Steve Ausmus, Dane Quigley, and Carl Morawski. We had a lot of compliments this year on how nice the course looked and I owe it all to these guys. Thanks guys!

Reminder - City Council Meeting Tonight

2009-10-06T14:11:00.003-05:00

Just a reminder, there is a City Council workshop meeting tonight at 6 PM at City Hall. This is a meeting to discuss issues about the golf course, such as revenue enhancements, cost reductions, the expansion plan, fees for next year, the hiring of a new General Manager, and any other issues or items relating to the golf course.

We're asking that all golfers try and make it tonight and show the City Council your support for the golf course. See you there!

Employee Of The Year

2009-10-06T07:52:00.003-05:00

The Employee of the Year Award this year goes to Dane Quigley. He earned this by being reliable, often times coming in early and/or staying late, doing exceptional work, and never complaining. (At least to my face)

Congrats Dane!

(The award he's holding is a cribbage board that my father-in-law made from diamond willow)

Fairway Aerating Is Done

2009-10-01T04:25:00.003-05:00

After a late start because of the frost, we managed to complete the aerating of the fairways. They are predicting rain for the next couple of days and that will help dissolve any remaining cores.

Aerating Begins Again This Week

2009-09-27T19:54:00.002-05:00

We will be aerating the fairways on Tuesday, 9/29. Then on Wednesday, 9/30 we will start on the teeboxes. We hope to finish up with everything before Friday, 10/2.

Aeration Update

2009-09-22T17:44:00.001-05:00

Well, it's now been a week since we aerated the greens. Here's a close-up of Number 6 green before I mowed this morning:

It's come a long way in a week:

What's Going On Next To Hole #2?

2009-08-31T19:11:00.002-05:00

Some of you may be wondering what's going on with #2. There are some houses that are being built next to the golf course and the developer cleared out a section of woods adjacent to #2 fairway. I'm not exactly sure why they took that much of the woods though. But it is easier to find your golf balls.

This isn't part of the expansion of the course. That's been put on indefinite hold, since the City Council doesn't see the need or value of the expansion. But that's a whole other story.

After The Storm - Part II

2009-08-21T15:38:00.004-05:00

Cart path down by the wetlands area:

#9 fairway:

#9 bunker:

Overflow ditch on #6 & #8:

After The Storm

2009-08-21T15:23:00.002-05:00

After 5.5" of rain on Wednesday, we got another 0.75" of rain yesterday. The golf course is pretty saturated and there is some flooding in some spots but it's not as bad as I feared. We mowed the greens this morning and that was about all the machinery the course could handle at that time. We'll let it dry out today and tomorrow and get out as soon as we can to finish mowing the fairways and teeboxes and all the rest.

#4 fairway:

#3 bunker:

#3 green standing water:

#2 fairway:

The Dreaded Triplex Ring - Update

2009-08-06T04:00:00.000-05:00

After less than a month of skipping the clean-up pass every other day the perimeters have really bounced back. Here's a shot of #6 green I took today:

And here's what it looked like on July 10:

Mind If We Play Through?

2009-08-05T03:20:00.000-05:00

While working on the sprinkler in #7 fairway I looked back to see the doe with her two fawns waiting on the teebox. In the nature of good golf manners, I let them play through.

Irrigation Projects

2009-08-04T18:41:00.003-05:00

There was a leak on the first fairway sprinkler on hole #7. After digging it up we found that it had the fitting coming out of the mainline had cracked. It's not uncommon for these to crack right in the threads of the fitting. Simple enough fix, but time consuming and a little messy.

We also replaced a fairway sprinkler in #1 fairway. We're replacing our old Rainbird 51 models with the newer Rainbird 700 models as the old ones wear out or are damaged. With these newer sprinklers we gain efficiency and better coverage which = less time = less water usage = less electricty used. A win-win situation all the way around.

Bunker Work

2009-07-16T17:19:00.004-05:00

We recently switched out the sand on the front bunker on Hole #6. It's a finer sand than what was in there before. We still have some work to do on it, most notably improve the drainage and re-edge it. It should be completely done by the end of this next week.

Before:

Steve in the Cat skidsteer, which we borrowed from the city:

Dane on the bunker rake:

Spiking The Greens

2009-07-16T17:06:00.003-05:00

We spiked the greens this morning. We want to open up the turf canopy and create channels for the water to penetrate further into the soil. This helps to alleviate the Localized Dry Spot problem our greens tend to get.

Here's a shot after they were spiked but before being mowed:

Here's after mowing:

The Dreaded Triplex Ring

2009-07-10T14:31:00.000-05:00

You may have noticed that we haven't been mowing the perimeter cut or clean-up pass on our greens every day. We've been skipping mowing the perimeter every other day to relieve the stress and compaction that the edges of the greens receive by mowing every day.

Dry, Dry, Dry

2009-07-09T19:46:00.003-05:00

It's been very dry here for the last few weeks. These are a couple of pictures from the maintenance shed looking up #9 fairway towards #8 teebox and #9 green.

It's taking a toll on our greens too. Some of the greens are showing evidence of Localized Dry Spot (LDS).

This happens when the soil becomes hydrophobic and actually begins to repel water. To combat this we spike the greens weekly to open some channels to help water get to the root zone and we also spray with a wetting agent bi-weekly.

Another reason we get it year after year is inadequate irrigation coverage. The sprinkler heads on the greens don't cover like they should. We're working on that problem now, by replacing nozzles on the greens that tend to get LDS regularly. Replacing the nozzles will also help us conserve water, since with better coverage we'll need less time to irrigate more efficiently.

More Wildlife

2009-06-26T17:20:00.004-05:00

Here's a picture Steve took with his cellphone the other day:

Every year we have at least one doe and fawn at the course and this year is no different. But this is a new doe with her two fawns.

The geese and goslings are doing fine; the goslings are about ready to fly, they run around flapping their new wings.

The two mama ducks and their ducklings are still hanging around too. The ducklings are getting as big as their mothers so it shouldn't be too much longer now before they go.

And there's still plenty of turtles. Every now and then you have to stop and let them cross the fairway. We should make little Turtle Crossing signs.

Number 2 Men's Teebox Expansion Is Off

2009-06-26T16:41:00.004-05:00

Well, I discovered something the other day about expanding the men's teebox on hole #2.

It won't work.

As I was looking to see how much more brush needed to be cut away I noticed that the women's teebox is at least a foot higher than the men's teebox and while not directly in the line of fire, it's close enough that some drives would end up ricocheting off of the women's teebox. You can kind of see the problem in the picture below, where the yellow line is the new left edge of the men's teebox and the arrow is pointing to the raised edge of the women's teebox:

It's just not feasible to either raise the height of the men's teebox or to lower the women's teebox.

I could write something about women always causing problems for us, but I won't.

Oops.

Smoke Out

2009-06-23T09:21:00.003-05:00

Recently we had a problem with our bunker rake, and this was the result:

View from inside the shop:

It's fixed now, btw. And we have a lot fewer mosquitoes around the shop. (Thanks to Steve for the pictures).

#2 Tee Box Expansion

2009-06-19T04:05:00.003-05:00

We're working on widening the men's teebox on Hole #2.

Right now it's about 6 yards wide with trees on the right side off the front of the box which makes it hard to use that side of the tee , since they tend to block your drives.

First order of business is to clear some trees and brush from the area to the left of the teebox to open it up a bit.

You can see the lines where the new section of teebox will be added and the cartpath moved. (I won't be getting a job on a survey crew anytime soon.)

Here you can tell how much area we will be gaining by doing this. We will also shorten the front of the teebox to get the sprinkler head out of the mowed area.

Verticutting

2009-06-16T20:15:00.004-05:00

Sunday night Steve came in and verticut the greens. First thing Monday morning we cleaned the thatch off the greens and then double-cut them.

Here's what the greens looked like in the morning:

Here's a close-up of the thatch we got out of this green:

Here's what it looked like after we were done:

And here's the final product after cleanup and mowing:

The reason we verticut is to control the thatch buildup in the greens. Too much thatch will lead to increased disease and pest activity, reduce the oxygen supply, and also create shallow roots and localized dry spots.

Stuck!

2009-06-12T04:08:00.004-05:00

Seems like Thursday was the day to get stuck out on the course while mowing.

Here's Steve getting the Toro 4100-D rough mower stuck by the irrigation pond:

There's some muskrat holes down there that like to swallow up these 4000 pound machines. It didn't take much for the John Deere to pull it out though.

And here's Dane getting the Toro 225 mower hung up on a stump:

A little work with the hand saw and he was back mowing again.

At least we managed to get the fountain installed without incident:

Brush Clearing

2009-06-07T12:25:00.003-05:00

One thing we want to do this year is to clear out some of the brush from the wooded areas bordering the fairways. This not only looks better but it will speed up play because golfers will be able to find their golf balls easier.

We're starting on the areas that affect play the most, the first being the area between 5 and 7 fairways. Here's a shot of that area before:

Here's after:

Here's one of about 10 trailer/Workman loads of brush hauled out:

And here's the man responsible for most (he'll say ALL) the work, Carl (he's hiding behind the tree):

There's still some work to be done in this area, and then we'll start clearing out the brush between fairways 8 and 6, then the left side of 8 fairway.

Plugging Greens

2009-05-27T18:08:00.003-05:00

You may have noticed in the last few days some plugs on the greens. We're fixing some burn spots that happened when I misapplied fungicide on some areas with chickweed.

We'll take plugs with our plugging tool from the perimeter of our putting green to fill in the worst spots. The tool takes 6-inch wide and 2-inch deep plugs, or circles, of turf.

You'll notice that on some burn spots we'll plug the whole spot and others we'll just put one or two plugs in. That all depends on how bad the damage is, how good the grass is around the damage, and how tired we are. (Well, maybe not so much that last one.)

Locate spot needing to be plugged:

Plugs from the nursery/putting green ready to go:

Remove plugs from damaged spot:

Put new plugs in place:

Spread some sand/seed on top and water it in:

In about a week these spots will fill in nicely. And I'll never misapply this fungicide again.

Future Employee?

2009-05-24T14:39:00.003-05:00

This is my grandson, Max. I think he will make a fine greenkeeper one day.

"Hey you punks, get off my lawn!"

Wildlife Update

2009-05-24T09:41:00.004-05:00

We're down to 3 goslings now from the original 6. Between foxes and bald eagles it's often a short life for the little birds.

We also have some ducklings roaming the course. Started with 10, now they're down to 5.

Mother Goose

2009-05-15T17:13:00.004-05:00

Now I know why that lone goose was chasing all the other geese (and everything else) away from the golf course. Its mate had a nest on the island in the pond between #1 and #4 fairways. Here are the proud (and watchful) parents taking the goslings out for a stroll and a swim:

Why Are The Greens Purple?

2009-05-10T14:52:00.003-05:00

You may have noticed some of the greens have areas with a purplish tint to them. Don't worry, it's not disease, it's because of our cold mornings. As soon as we get some warm weather again, these spots will disappear. Without getting too technical, it's the same process as when leaves turn color in the fall.

If you want to know the technical aspects of it, it has to do with glucose, anthocyanins, chlorophyll, Penncross bentgrass, and cold temperatures. In the Spring, if there are periods of warm, sunny days followed by a period of cold weather this will trigger the color change. During the warmth, the plants produce sugars, (glucose being one of them), in the leaves, which the plant moves during the night to the crowns for storage and/or use. Glucose is often bound with anthocyanins, which are pigments which provide the red, purple, and blue colors in flowers. These pigments are usually masked by chlorophyll which produces the green color. When the chlorophyll gets injured from frost then it will let the pigments show through. Hence the purple tinge on the greens. This discoloration is especially prevalent in older varieties of bentgrass, such as the Penncross which is what our greens are.

Of Early Mornings And Geese

2009-05-03T15:39:00.002-05:00

I just love watching the irrigation system run in the early morning light. Call me weird, but I find it beautiful.

Who needs a goose dog when you have a goose goose? Here's a lone goose that we have at the course. She/he just hangs around in the irrigation pond along with a couple of mallards. And she/he will chase away any goose that comes close to either the pond or the ducks. At least it keeps the goose population down!

Irrigation Woes Pt. 2

2009-04-28T17:10:00.003-05:00

This is the sprinkler just below the women's tee box on Hole #6. I dug it up to find out what the problem is.

Here's where the break occurred:

It's the reducer fitting that screws into the barrel of the sprinkler and then onto an elbow off of the main line. These seem to always break in the threads.

Irrigation Woes

2009-04-24T18:48:00.002-05:00

We turned on our irrigation system Wednesday for the first time this year. We only had a couple minor problems, and nothing that wasn't fixed easily.

This first picture is of the sprinkler in front of Number 6 women's tee box. We're still having problems with it working correctly, but it seems every year this one gives us problems.

Water coming out of the sprinkler housing:

The other big problem was the sprinkler on the men's tee box on hole number 2. This is a picture of where it broke, right at the elbow from the main line. Another simple fix.

All in all, not too bad, especially with the hard winter we had. And of course as soon as we got the system up and running it starts to rain. Oh well.

Life In Minnesota

2009-04-20T10:23:00.002-05:00

Here's a couple of pictures I took this morning at the golf course. 34 degrees(F) and snow. You just have to love April in Minnesota!

First Mowing Of The Season

2009-04-15T20:18:00.002-05:00

This is a picture I took today of the 8th green after it was mowed for the first time. We spiked the greens, then verticut them, and then mowed them. (My camera takes lousy pictures, the greens really look a lot nicer.) We also put out the freshly-painted ballwashers and wastebaskets, set out the tee markers, and put the flagsticks out. We officially open for the season tomorrow and I think the course is in pretty good shape so far.

Again With The Snow Mold

2009-04-11T12:42:00.002-05:00

Yes, this year we have snow mold damage again, this time to 4 of the greens. The two worst again are numbers 3 and 6. Greens 1 and 2 also have slight damage. The first picture is of #6 green and the second is of #3 green:

Not as bad as last year but we really need to do a better job of keeping the snow off of these greens in the winter. These two greens are shaded the most by trees which has been a concern of mine for the last couple of years. More shade=less sun which equals less melting and drying power. The trees also prevent decent airflow to the greens. We need to thin out the trees, especially around #3.

As far as the damage goes, between applying chemicals, raking, and seeding, the damaged areas should be gone soon, especially since we've been getting warmer weather and the grass is starting to grow.

Winter Damage

2009-04-08T23:10:00.003-05:00

Winter wasn't too kind to the course this year, but it could have been a lot worse. One of the biggest problem is lack of decent drainage. With all the snow we had this past winter and the wet fall, there's not really anywhere for the water to go. This first pic is of our wetlands area, which is the overflow for our irrigation pond. The other ponds and drain tiles flow into the irrigation pond so when the wetlands area gets full the whole course backs up.

The next two pictures are drain tiles that run under a couple of cart paths. Frost forced the tile right up through the cart path on one, and the other cart path has a couple of sink holes:

This next picture is of a poplar that decided to fall into one of our bunkers. Oh well, easy enough to clean up and someone ends up with free firewood.

Unplayable Lie?

2009-04-08T21:00:00.002-05:00

This is a pic I took today of our irrigation pond. The arrow is pointing to a golf ball on the ice. I'd love to see someone try to play that shot!

April Fools?

2009-03-31T12:38:00.004-05:00

I know it's not April first yet, but maybe that's part of the joke. This is a picture I took today at my house:

There's about 2" of snow right now, but they're forecasting possibly up to 11". I'm getting really tired of this snow, I need to see some green grass soon!

What Is The "Right" Way?

2009-03-11T22:07:00.002-05:00

A recent post on SuperintendentSite.com had me seeing a little red. It was in response to someone who wanted to get into the golf course industry. Someone wrote, in part: "You probably can't go wrong on experience even if you start at a course that is low budget. Because you can see what happens when a place can't afford to do everything the right (emphasis mine - Dean) way. As long as it's not dangerous. But you probably would not want to do that more than a year or season."

Maybe I'm being too sensitive but I want to know what we, as a low-budget course, are doing "wrong". Just because we don't have the big money a lot of courses do, doesn't mean that we are out there just winging it. We're doing everything the "right" way, as far as I'm concerned.

I do get a little defensive when people don't seem to give a 9-hole golf course much respect. We work just as hard and have just as much pride in our work as the bigger courses.

Maybe I'm wrong to get offended by the person's comment, but I don't think so. I know I'm right. :-)

Do It Yourself? Why Not?

2009-02-19T21:09:00.005-06:00

I wanted to share a few resources that I use in order to make my job maintaining our equipment and coming up with new ideas much easier.

First is Golftechs.net . The forums over there are full of great guys who earn their living as actual Equipment Technicians. They've seen and done it all and I've learned a lot by hanging out in the Forums there.

Also, there is the IGCEMA site. It's the home of the International Golf Course Equipment Managers Association, the official association for Equipment Managers. (If you couldn't figure that out from the title.) The also have Forums that are great places to learn about golf course equipment maintenance.

And one of my favorite sites, Machine Builders Network. A great place to find all kinds of home-grown machine-building ideas. The quality of stuff there is fantastic.

And Farm Show Magazine . Great ideas in there. And yes, one of my inventions was featured in the magazine a while ago.

One thing about all of these sites is the amount of tips and tricks available that I can use in my job. Even if some of these don't neccessarily pertain to the turf industry, you'd be surprised how much can be adapted to your needs.

Don't have the money for a fancy new piece of equipment? No problem, build one for much less. It's fun, challenging, and can save your course a lot of money.

How Past Lessons Prepare Us For The Future

2009-02-18T16:06:00.004-06:00

I wanted to expand on my last post and also dig up some photos of my past. When I first started working on a golf course it was at a course in the Twin Cities area, Bluff Creek Golf Course in Chanhassen. It was the late 80's when I started and I worked there for 7 years. I had the pleasure of working under a great superintendent named Roger Ortloff. He was a great teacher and I got to learn how much you can accomplish with very limited funds. (The owners were a little on the stingy side). We had old equipment even back then and Roger held it together literally with spit and bailing wire. I think about that experience every day I'm at the Sandstone course and I'm glad I got to work for Mr. Ortloff. The lessons I learned from him have come in very handy these last couple of years and will really pay off in the future, especially with the economy in its present state.

And here's a couple of photos from when I worked at Bluff Creek:

The first one is me on one of the Toro Parkmasters we had. This one was for the roughs, and we also had one for the fairways.

The second photo is me on one of the Cushmans. This one was set up for our night-waterman. We had manual turn-on valves for each green and teebox and every fairway was set up with plug-in heads. It was quite a job to water the course every night! Thank goodness for modern irrigation systems.

Good Things Come In Small Packages

2009-02-17T09:22:00.003-06:00

Working at a 9-hole municipal course has both advantages and disadvantages. Probably the biggest advantage is there is less pressure from members and/or higher-ups with their own personal agendas. This doesn't mean that we don't care what the course looks like, in fact a lot of times it's the opposite. The maintenance staff and I take great pride in how the course looks, especially when we can do it with limited funds and equipment.

Which leads me to the biggest disadvantage: the lack of a sizable maintenance budget. I hear about golf courses with budgets in the 6 or 7 figures and can only dream about what I could do with that much money. Meanwhile I feel bad when I have to buy new bedknives twice a year or various other items that we need but sometimes can't afford. Don't get me wrong, there are a lot of smaller golf courses that don't have the equipment that we do. I feel blessed to have the machines we have (except that old Greensmaster 300) but they are getting older and need more maintenance. Which takes me off of the course and into the shop, and I'd much rather be outside!

This year I really want to find ways to streamline the process of maintenance, from mowing to fert apps. I want to trim the fat, so to speak, and even though we're running pretty lean now there's always ways to save even more money. Over the next few months I'll be documenting how we can accomplish this goal.

So, more money would be nice, but I think we do a great job now with what we have. I'm very proud of this course!

Why Aerate?

2009-01-11T20:54:00.005-06:00

Probably the most hated of all cultural practices in the golf world-aeration (or aerifying). Most golfers don't understand why we would ruin a perfectly good green by punching thousands of holes in it. Trust me, if we didn't have to do it we wouldn't. It's very time-consuming, lots of hard work, and pretty darn expensive. Unfortunately, the greens need this done at least once or twice a year. It improves water penetration into the soil, reduces soil compaction, stimulates turfgrass root growth for a healthier plant, helps control thatch build-up, and improves overall growing conditions. If we didn't do it, there would be a lot more complaints about the condition of the greens. Here's a link to a video at the USGA website to help explain the process: Aerating

Happy New Year!

2009-01-01T00:01:00.001-06:00

Just wanted to wish everyone a very Happy New Year! Have a healthy and prosperous year, and make sure you get out and golf more. :-)

Typical Maintenance Schedule

2008-12-31T10:26:00.003-06:00

Here is the typical maintenance schedule that we follow:

Set-Up is moving the teebox markers, emptying the garbage cans, filling ballwashers, filling divots on the teeboxes, and picking up any broken tees.

Greens get mowed daily. Fairways, fringes, and teeboxes every other day, and roughs every weekday.

This schedule is of course dependent on the weather and any tournaments. Plus it doesn't include all the miscellaneous things we do.

Equipment - Part 4

2008-12-30T10:43:00.001-06:00

Now I'll feature some of the miscellaneous equipment that we use. First up is our Smithco SuperStar bunker rake. This gets used to rake the bunkers. We also use it for maintaining some of our cartpaths and to push plugs off the greens when we aerate.

Next is our John Deere 4200 tractor with loader. We use this for any material that needs moving and also for loading the Workman. We also use this to pull the fairway aerator. And for getting some of the other equipment unstuck.

Now the Toro Workman 3300D. This is probably our most often used piece of equipment. It's used for everything from hauling loads of sand, gravel, branches, course equipment, etc, to just getting from Point A to Point B.

We just got a Club Car Carryall this year, which really comes in handy for those times you don't need the capacity of the Workman. I'll get a picture of it later.