Blue dots around the greens..

       You may have seen the blue dots along the edge of the greens since we converted the surfaces. This isn't a new process here at St. James. We have always marked the edges, even when we had clearer

definition with the bentgrass. The only difference now is the increased importance of keeping the original green-collar interface.

        

        When we resurfaced the greens last season we needed to located the original edges of the greens. Here is a  link to our summary video from two years ago. The 419 bermudagrass can be very invasive under the right conditions, especially when competing with bentgrass. Although the new MiniVerde surfaces growth habit is relatively the same, the management practices at the collar interface demand that we keep our edges marked. 

        Another factor in marking the edges is to maintain the original shape of the green. Below you can see a picture from the sixth green. This is the original green shape.  

        

        Often times our mowers tend to mow into the collars on sharp curves. This causes the putting surface and collar to lose their shape. Here is a edited photo of what can gradually happen if we do not mark the edges.

       Once we begin to mow into the collars we lose perspective of the original green size and shape. Now that we have located the original edges it is our job to insure that we don't lose them again. Painting the edges with blue dots, on a regular basis, helps everyone stay on the same page to keep the greens consistent with the original architecture.

PC - Raising the Bar

       A recent project at the Players Club has been to raise the bar, so to speak. Well, not exactly the bar, but we did raise our front nine irrigation controller antennas.
       The FCC mandated that all of our irrigation radio signals be narrowbanded on or before January 13, 2013. We made the conversion in 2012 to ensure that we met this deadline. Narrowbanding was implemented to improve efficient use of radio frequencies across the country. Here is a link to the FCC question and answer page on narrowbanding.
        What did narrowbanding mean for us? The narrowbanding reduces the bandwidth in which our communication signals travel. I have seen comparisons to a stream of water and the amount of boats you can fit side by side. The wide band can handle more signals over the same frequency. Where as the narrow band, or narrow stream, can not handle the multiple signals. The estimated loss from switching to narrow band radio is approximately 3 decibels.
       In an effort to offset the reduced communications, we implemented a project to raise and/or install antennas at all of our front nine controller boxes. Here are some pictures detailing the project.

Old antenna location and height, approximately 5 feet high.

The antenna attaches to a cable and we run it up through the controller box.

Raised antenna to new height of 12 feet.

Our toughest project. Replacing the antenna  on #6  with a more powerful one. This antenna was 30 feet high.

Old antenna from #6.

New antenna recently installed. You can clearly see the increased  size.