PC Conversion Update - 8/12

      Less than 24 hours and the Players Club is open again. It's been a grueling, but rewarding summer. We are very excited to finally unveil the new greens to the membership. The greens rolled (9'4") on the stimpmeter on Saturday morning. We anticipate a (9.5') roll on Monday. Here are some pictures of the surface on Saturday.

      Here are two pictures from five weeks ago, only one week removed from planting.

     The photos illustrate just how far we have progressed in a short period of time. On Monday you will be able to experience for yourself the quality of the new putting surfaces.
    
     In our final week of preparation mother nature decided not to cooperate. The inconvenient rain events pushed our work schedules into the evenings on Friday and Saturday to accomplish everything we wanted by Monday. Here is a rundown of the final tasks leading up to opening day.

Last Week 8/5 - 8/11

• Monday - We mowed the greens at (.140") today. The staff continued their bunker work (mow, edge, redistribute sand). We also started our edging work today (cart paths, yard markers, etc..).

      Another project that began today was the edging of the green surfaces. This task is new to the Players Club this year. The goal with edging the greens is to prevent encroachment from the collar turf. The collars consist of 419 bermudagrass. In years past there has been a major encroachment problem at the Players Club. We feel strongly that regular edging will prevent any future issues associated with edge contamination.

Associate Ricardo Hehua edging the green.

After the green edging.

• Tuesday - Mother Nature washed us out on Tuesday. She dropped nearly three inches of rain over the course.
• Wednesday - Today brought some more rain onto the Players Club. The course was completely saturated thus limiting the amount of work done for the second straight day.
• Thursday - The greens were cut at (.130") today. The average golf course green is mowed at (.125). Our target height is (.120) for opening day. Thursday also allowed us to resume our bunker and edging work.  

       We were able to make our first growth regulator application to the greens. The growth regulator helps to maintain green speeds throughout the day. Without regulation the surfaces would grow, unrestricted. The result is fast surface in the morning and a slower ball roll in the afternoon. There are many agronomic benefits to growth regulation as well. However none more important than ball roll consistency.
       We topdressed the greens as well Thursday. Instead of using our sand/peat mix we switched over to straight sand. This sand was designed specifically for MiniVerde greens. The sand is of fine texture. This texture allows it to work into the tight MiniVerde canopy. This sand will help the greens to maintain smoothness and correct imperfections on the surface.

• Friday - We dropped our height of cut to our target of (.120") today. We saw some increased scalping and discoloration. These signs our normal when mowing this low for the first time. Increased frequency, growth regulation, topdressing and rolling will correct this issue over the next few days.

      We applied insecticide to the course perimeters today. Our target pest is armyworms. Armyworms our very small pets that feed on the leaves of bermudagrass. They overwinter in forested areas. Upon hatching they move into grassed areas to feed. Armyworms get their name from their feeding characteristics. Literally thousands of worm can be seen feeding on leaves at any one time. From a distance the turf may appear to be moving as you approach the affected area. These pests can be devastating to turf if left untreated. Typically, one to two applications are necessary per year to reduce the damage done by armyworms. Here is a fact sheet with more information on armyworms.

• Saturday - Today we made a wetting agent application to the greens. This particular wetting agent is designed to help move water through  the soil. The increased movement will help to dry the green and provide a firmer putting surface.

      Saturday could be categorized as cramming for the big exam. We set up all the golf course hardware, cleaned debris and wrapped up all ongoing projects. This was our final full working day before opening. We will be hosting a small group of players on Sunday and we wanted to present the entire course in the best condition possible. Tomorrow we will set up the course as usual and watch as our hard work this summer can finally be enjoyed.

      This post will wrap up the Players Club conversion series. Stay tuned throughout the remainder of the summer and fall for more news from the St. James agronomy team. We will continue to use this blog as a tool to communicate our operations and projects to the membership.