PC Conversion Update - Monday June 18th

     We have officially started the conversion process at the Players Club today. Updates will be provided as often as possible through the next two weeks. We will also continue to run the weekly wrap-up to summarize each week of the conversion. As mentioned in last week's update, we began the cultivation of the green surfaces today. We made significant progress today and hope to continue that trend until the sprig arrival date of June 26th.
      Below is a rundown of the tasks we completed today.

Scalp the greens to .070"

     Here is a picture of #15 at the Players Club after the mowing today. We cut the greens with 100% overlap in two directions. Basically, we quadruple cut the greens at a height of .070". Mowing at this height of cut and intensity eliminates the chance of existing turf survival. The scalping of turf starts the process of removing the foliage. The leaf removal aides in allowing better soil to sprig contact.





Aggressively verticut

    At left, you see a picture of us verticutting. Verticutting is exactly as it sounds, vertical mowing. The blades on this mower slice into the turf canopy. This slicing removes organic matter, foliage and reduces the barrier between the soil and surface. We verticut over the surface four times in varying directions.

     


      Here you can see a close up of the surface after verticutting. You can see the remnants of the organic matter that was removed. You can also see the slits that the verticutter made. These voids will eventually be filled by our sand/peat mix. This will allow the roots of the Mini Verde to penetrate into the soil beneath.

Clean Up

      The above pictures detail the first step in the clean-up process. We used our Rake-o-Vac to remove a majority of the loose debris. Above right, you can see the green before and after the Vac.

      Here you can see the final steps of the clean-up process. We blow the remaining debris into the center of the green. Then we shovel the remains into a cart and haul off to our dump site.

      The scalping and verticutting were the first two steps in the site preparation process. Tomorrow we will aerify the greens and begin the collar leveling project. Check back with the blog tomorrow evening for updates. You can also keep up to date with us on Twitter. Follow @stjamesturf.