Last Week 6/30/14 through 7/4/14

• The Irwin front greens were mowed several times at a height lower than the previous week. We will continue to lower the mowers as we go forward.
• We experimented by aerifying one of the greens. Sometimes it is hard to predict how the new sprigs will react. Fortunately, the experiment went very well. We may aerify the rest of the greens on the front next week.
• After mowing, we topdressed all the greens with a light layer of sand and then fertilized them with 21-0-0 (Ammonium Sulfate)
• Edged cart paths on the Irwin front

Next Week

• Continue to lower the height on the new greens.
• Reposition and/or install several heads in select areas around the Irwin front greens for better irrigation coverage.
• Fertilize weak areas of turf on the Cate and Back.

Antonio mowing Irwin #6 Green
Day 28



Closeup of Sprigs
Day 28


Hurricane Authur gave us her best shot! We're still standing ... with the exception of a few trees!

Tree down from Hurricane Authur
7.3.14



Is there a cart path under there?
Aftermath from Hurricane Authur

PC Closed Day

       The Players Club was closed Tuesday afternoon and all day on Wednesday. The main reason for closing was to apply a soil fumigant to the greens. This application targeted the parasitic nematodes that are abundantly present in our greens soil. The fumigant application was applied Tuesday afternoon and required a 24 entry restriction. We used this closed time to complete other time consuming tasks as well.
        Tuesday afternoon, following LGA, we began the Curfew application. This product was applied by Southern Soils via Harrell's LLC. We will post a detailed description of Curfew and its effects next week. Here are some pictures of the application in progress.

The applicator is attached to the rear of the tractor. It is injected into the soil as a liquid. It then volatilizes as a gas and moves throughout the soil and kills the nematodes on contact.

You can see the slits being cut into the soil. This is the site where the liquid is injected. We roll and water immediately after to ensure the slits are sealed.

       The pictures illustrate the application process. Our actions immediately following the application are what guarantee the success of the fumigant.

Associate Juan Diaz Garcia rolling the surfaces.

      Immediately following the application we rolled the greens. The rolling helps to reseal the slits made by the applicator. We then irrigate the greens with a moderate amount of water, roughly one-tenth of an inch. These processes aid in sealing the slits and keeping the gases at the target site. We then continue to water frequently for the next 24 hours. Once play resumes on the course, the active ingredient has mostly dissipated and it has already moved throughout the soil profile. 

      On top of fumigating the greens we were also able to tackle some other management practices during our closed period. 

      The most labor intensive area on our golf courses are the bunkers. Daily raking, mowing the faces, edging and redistributing sand are extremely arduous tasks. Coupled with active golfers, the amount of time to complete these jobs can be tripled. We took advantage of our "golfer free" course to mow the faces, edge and clean all the traps on the property. This took our staff half of the day Tuesday and all day Wednesday. This process is typically done once a month. 

       We fertilized the rough with ammonium sulfate fertilizer Wednesday morning. This will help to jump start the turf to aid in filling in some weak areas. We use 21-0-0 because of the rapid response and cost effectiveness. You should begin to notice the results within three to five days. 

      Wednesday afternoon we sprayed all the broad leaf weeds on the golf course. Broad leaf weeds can be an eyesore to any golf course, especially in the spring while the bermudagrass is returning from dormancy. We completed the spraying of 40+ acres in three hours. A task that can take four to five afternoons was finished with ease while we were closed.

       And last but not least we topdressed the greens with a medium coating of 100% sand. Because of our weak greens in April we have been fertilizing regularly. This causes flushes of growth. The growth leads to more leaf surface, which in turn will lead to a "thatchy surface". The topdressing sand helps to dilute the thatch and provide a smoother ball roll. Topdressing is an integral part of managing a good putting surface.

      As you can see, we accomplished a lot during our closed period. We understand the closing takes away from the golf schedule. We also understand that our membership loves to golf. We cannot state enough how appreciative we are to have closed periods during the growing season. This helps us complete work more effectively and efficiently. The result is a quieter and better looking golf course. Again, we appreciate your patience and understanding when we close our golf courses.

       

       

Winter fertilization

      Yesterday at the Players Club we made our second fertilizer application to the ryegrass. We fertilize the fairways with an ammonium sulfate, iron and magnesium solution. This application is sprayed directly through our sprayers onto the leaf tissue. Our tees and green surrounds are fertilized with a granular product. We use an organic 16-4-8 product from Lebanon Turf.
       These applications are typically made once a month through the winter. We will fertilize the ryegrass four or five times from October to February. Here is a photo of the granular application yesterday at the Players Club.

Looking ahead - GCM maintenance schedule 2013

      This week we are going to tackle the arduous task of plotting the maintenance schedule for 2013. This schedule includes the dates the clubs are closed and what tasks we will be performing. The tasks for each club will be similar, however the dates will be different. This calendar is an overview of the entire year. You can expect detailed posts throughout the year highlighting how we perform each job.

January

9th - Founders - Closed all day to apply post-emergent herbicide to the non-overseeded rough.
10th - Members - Closed all day to apply post-emergent herbicide to the non-overseeded rough and add colorant to the greens.
15th - Players - Closed all day to apply post-emergent herbicide to the non-overseeded rough and add colorant to the greens.
16th - Reserve - Closed all day to apply post-emergent herbicide to the non-overseeded rough.

February

9th - Members - Nine holes closed to add colorant to the greens.
10th - Members - Nine holes closed to add colorant to the greens.
12th - Players - Closed all day to apply pre-emergent herbicide to the entire course and add colorant to the greens.
13th - Reserve - Closed all day to apply pre-emergent herbicide to the entire course.
16th - Members - Nine holes closed to add colorant to the greens.
20th - Founders - Closed all day to apply pre-emergent herbicide to the entire course.
21st - Members - Closed all day to apply pre-emergent herbicide and lime to the entire course.

March

19th - Founders - Closed after double tee to fertilize (21-0-0) the non-overseeded rough.
20th - Reserve - Closed after double tee to fertilize (21-0-0) the non-overseeded rough.
21st - Players - Closed after double tee to fertilize (21-0-0) the non-overseeded rough.
30th - Members - Nine holes closed to fertilize (21-0-0) the non-overseeded rough.
31st - Members - Nine holes closed to fertilize (21-0-0) the non-overseeded rough.

April

14th - Members - Nine holes closed to fertilize (21-0-0) the non-overseeded turf.

May

6th - 9th - Reserve - Closed for four days to aerify and deep tine the greens and fertilize (21-0-0) the non-overseeded rough.
11th - Members - Nine holes closed to fertilize (21-0-0) non-overseeded rough.
14th - Players - Closed after double tee to fertilize (21-0-0) non-overseeded rough.
18th - Members - Nine holes closed to fertilize (21-0-0) non-overseeded rough.
19th - Members - Nine holes closed to fertilize (21-0-0) non-overseeded rough.
20th - 23rd - Founders - Closed for four days to aerify and deep tine the greens and fertilize (21-0-0) the non-overseeded rough.

June

3rd - 6th - Members - Closed for four days to aerify greens, apply insecticide to the entire course, fertilize (25-0-8) the entire course and apply a nematicide to the fairways.
12th - Reserve - Closed after double tee to apply insecticide and fertilize (25-0-8) the entire course.
13th - Reserve - Closed all day to spray herbicide to gradually eliminate the ryegrass.
17th - 20th - Players - Closed for four days to aerify greens, apply insecticide to the entire course, fertilize (25-0-8) the entire course and spray herbicide to gradually eliminate the ryegrass.
22nd - Members - Nine holes closed to spray herbicide to gradually eliminate ryegrass and fertilize       (25-0-8) fairways and tees.
23rd - Members - Nine holes closed to spray herbicide to gradually eliminate ryegrass and fertilize        (25-0-8)  fairways and tees.
26th - Founders - Closed after double tee to apply insecticide and fertilize (25-0-8) the entire course.
27th - Founders - Closed all day to spray herbicide to gradually eliminate the ryegrass.
29th - Members - Nine holes closed to spray herbicide to gradually eliminate ryegrass and fertilize fairways and tees.

July

9th - 11th - Reserve - Closed for three days to fertilize (21-0-0) and verticut fairways and tees.
16th - Players - Closed all day to fertilize the fairways and tees. (21-0-0)
23rd - 25th - Founders - Closed for three days to fertilize (21-0-0) and verticut fairways and tees.
31st - Reserve - Closed after double tee to fertilize the entire course. (25-0-25)

August

6th - 8th - Players - Closed for three days to verticut fairways and tees, deep tine the greens and fertilize (25-0-25) the entire course.
14th - Founders - Closed after double tee to fertilize (25-0-25) the entire course.
19th - 22nd - Members - Closed for four days to verticut the fairways and tees, deep tine the greens and fertilize (25-0-25) the entire course.

September

10th - 16th - Founders - Closed for one week to aerify greens and overseed tees, fairways and surrounds.
17th - 23rd - Reserve - Closed for one week to aerify greens and overseed tees, fairways and surrounds.  
24th - 30th - Players - Closed for one week to overseed tees, fairways and surrounds.

October

1st - 7th - Members -  Closed for one week to overseed tees, fairways and surrounds.
23rd - Founders - Closed after double tee to fertilize (25-0-25) the entire course.
30th - Reserve -  Closed after double tee to fertilize (25-0-25) the entire course.

November

2nd - Members - Nine holes closed to fertilize (25-0-25) entire course.
3rd - Members - Nine holes closed to fertilize (25-0-25) entire course.
5th - Players - Closed after double tee to fertilize (25-0-25) entire course.
9th - Members - Nine holes closed to fertilize (25-0-25) entire course.
10th - Members - Nine holes closed to spray overseeded edges with herbicide.
13th - Founders - Closed after double tee to fertilize (21-0-0) overseeded turf.
16th - Members - Nine holes closed to spray overseeded edges with herbicide.
17th - Members - Nine holes closed to spray overseeded edges with herbicide.
20th - Reserve - Closed after double tee to fertilize (21-0-0) overseeded turf.
23rd - Members - Nine holes closed to fertilize (21-0-0) overseeded turf.
24th - Members - Nine holes closed to fertilize (21-0-0) overseeded turf.
26th - Players - Closed after double tee to fertilize (21-0-0) overseeded turf.
30th - Members - Nine holes closed to fertilize (21-0-0) overseeded turf.

December

4th - Founders - Closed after double tee to spray overseeded edges with herbicide.
7th - Members - Nine holes closed to add colorant to the greens.
8th - Members - Nine holes closed to add colorant to the greens.
11th - Reserve - Closed after double tee to spray overseeded edges with herbicide.
14th - Members - Nine holes closed to add colorant to the greens.
17th - Players - Closed after double tee to spray overseeded edges with herbicide and add colorant to the greens.

      As stated above this is an overview of the entire calendar year. We will have the turf calendar updated with this information for your reference next week. Make sure to keep following the blog for detailed posts on the happenings with the St. James agronomy team.

PC Conversion Update - 8/5

      Only eight days remain until the Players Club reopens. We have now shifted into full course preparation mode. The coming week will see us wrap up any ongoing projects and prepare the course for play. The greens are in excellent shape and will be 100% ready for golf on August 13th. Below is a picture of the Players Club practice green on Friday.

      You can see that the green's have come a long way in six weeks. We will shift our focus next week from growing to grooming the greens. The grooming will help to increase speed and maximize playability. Here is last week's recap and a look ahead to next week.

Last Week 7/29-8/4

• Monday - Today we mowed the greens. We cut at (.150"). This height allows us to benefit from the increased leaf tissue. We will rapidly decrease the height next week to prep for play.

      We fertilized the greens today with (22-0-22) fertilizer. This fertilizer will help restore potassium levels and keep the turf green and vigorous.
      On Monday we also began to prep the bunkers. We started mowing the banks, edging and redistributing the sand. Redistributing the sand is a job done on a biannual basis. The sand gradually works itself to the lowest points of the trap. This results in increased sand on the low side and virtually no sand on the high sides. There is plenty of sand in the bunker, however it has worked itself to the low points. Our job is to move the sand from areas where there is too much back to where there is too little. We strive for a depth of four inches throughout the bunker.

• Tuesday - We dropped the height on our mowers today. We mowed the greens at a height of (.140). We will remain at this height until next week. At that time we will drop the heights to an acceptable playability level.

      We aggressively groomed the greens today. We verticut the greens at 1/8". This means that we sliced the surface at a 1/8" depth. This will promote lateral growth and better assist the surfaces to fill in.
      Today we spread lime over the entire golf course. Lime (CaCO3) helps to raise the pH of the soil. the increased pH level will help in increasing the availability of certain nutrients to the turf. Here is a website explaining the benefits of lime in turf.

• Wednesday - Today mother nature did our work for us. Six inches of rain dropped on the plantation. Although we lost a work day, the rain was much needed and greatly appreciated.
• Thursday - We mowed the greens today at (.140"). As stated we will remain at this height until next week.

      The rain and ensuing humid conditions increase the chance for disease and algae. Today we applied a contact and systemic fungicide to help prevent the onset of any diseases.
      Today we also continued to work on the bunkers and make some more progress on our sight line projects.

• Friday - Mowed greens at (.140"). We also topdressed the greens today with a light layer of sand/peat mix. The topdressing will help to fill any remaining voids on the surfaces. The peat will help to keep the moisture at the surface. The retained moisture will encourage new plants to fill these sand voids.

Next Week 8/5-8/11

• Continue bunker work. (edge, mow, redistribute sand).
• Edge cart paths, sprinkler heads, and yardage markers.
• Verticut the greens.
• Groom greens with mower attachment.
• Roll greens.
• Mow out the entire course.
• Apply growth regulator to the entire course.
• Continue fertilization of weak areas throughout the course.

      The coming week will be our busiest and most enjoyable so far. Nobody is more excited to unveil the new and improved Players Club than the maintenance staff. We will all be working Monday to Monday to ensure that we provide the best playing conditions possible on the 13th.
      Remember to follow the blog for updates on everthing St. James agronomy.

PC Conversion Update - 7/28/12

      We have definitely reached the home stretch now. Only two weeks remain until the greens will be unveiled. August 13th is fast approaching and we are gearing all of our attention towards opening the course. With only 10 working days left its time to wrap up ongoing projects and begin prepping the course for play. Here is a recap of last week and a brief look ahead to next.

Last Week 7/22-7/28

• Monday - We mowed the greens at a height of (.150"). We are holding steady at this height until the last week of the grow-in. We are still trying to fill in a few areas and the increased leaf surface will help to accomplish that.

      We also continued our project of scouting the greens for weeds today. Because the turf is still relatively new, we must take precaution on the chemicals we apply. This forces us to remove noxious weeds by hand. Here is a picture of the types of weeds we are removing.

      Although difficult to see, above is a picture of some 419 bermudagrass that has emerged on the surface. Just below the screwdriver you can see the 419 rising above the surface. The 419 has a longer leaf blade and a distinctive growth pattern. These traits help us to isolate it on the MiniVerde surface. We then remove the plant and repair the green like repairing a ball mark. On a typical day we may pull 20-25 weeds from the surface over four acres.
      On Monday we applied an miticide to the greens. This product is designed to decrease nematode populations in the soil. Nematodes are a serious problem in turfgrass, especially in sandy soils. Here is a fact sheet on nematodes and the problems they present.
      We also started fertilizing the tees, fairways and weak areas on Monday. We fertilized with ammonium sulfate (21-0-0). This fertilizer will improve the color, quality and vigor of the turf.   

• Tuesday -  Today we spiked, verticut, topdressed and fertilized the greens. The spiking was to break up the surface algae and allow the turf to cover in. The verticutting was intended to nick the MiniVerde plants, thus encouraging lateral growth. Finally the fertilizer we used was an (22-0-22) product designed to promote growth and replenish the potassium leached in the soil from increased irrigation.

      We also continued to clear sight lines around the course. Today we concentrated our efforts to the left of #1 tee. This area has become overgrown and the cutting back has been long overdue.

• Wednesday - We mowed the surfaces today at a height of (.150"). As stated we will remain at this height until the surfaces are 95% covered.

      Wednesday also saw the completion of our putting green collar restoration. As of today all collars and weak areas around the greens have been sodded. We will continue to hand water them for another week to ensure a successful planting.

• Thursday - Today we started our application of growth regulator to the course. We applied the growth regulator to all the turf sans the putting greens. This application will slow growth, therefore limiting scalping and improving turf quality.
• Friday - We wrapped up all of our ongoing projects today. We finished our fertilizer and growth regulator applications. We also made an application of gypsum (CaSO4) to the greens. The gypsum will aid in flushing the salts from the soil. The increased salts associated with increased fertilization can be extremely detrimental to the turf. We typically apply gypsum twice per year. This year may see an increase to four or five. Here is a website explaining the benefits of gypsum applications.

Next Week 7/29-8/4

• Continue mowing the greens at (.150"). A change in frequency may occur. Mowing everyday as opposed to every other may be necessary according to the health of the turf.
• Fertilize the greens. We will be applying Urea (46-0-0) in liquid form to the surfaces. The different chemistry in Urea will help us to benefit from microbial activity beneath the surface.
• Verticut the greens. One to two times as necessary
• Topdress the surfaces.
• Level sprinkler heads.
• Begin refinishing course hardware. (i.e. tees, 150 pole, etc..)
• Edge sand traps, cart paths, yardage signs, etc..

      Next week we will be devoted completely to reopening the course. We will wrap up any unfinished projects and focus 100% of or manpower on course conditioning. We expect to be in excellent condition on August 13th. Remember to follow the blog for more updates on the Players Club conversion and all things St. James Agronomy.

PC Conversion Update - 7/21/12

      Five closed weeks down and only three weeks remain. August 13th is fast approaching and our workload is slowly gearing towards opening day. We mowed the greens three times this week and verticut once. They are becoming smoother everyday. We are currently at 75% coverage throughout the course. Here is a picture of the surface on Friday.

      We are currently mowing the greens at (.150"). We mowed our former surfaces at (.125"). We are getting closer and closer everyday. Our expectations for opening on August 13th are still right on schedule. Here is a recap of week five and a look ahead to week six.    

Last Week 7/15-7/21

• Monday - We mowed the greens at a height of (.175). This height is equivalent to slightly less than 3/16". A standard height of cut is (.125") or 1/8". Today we also implemented hand watering into our irrigation schedule. Hand watering the weak areas of the green will help to supplement water where our irrigation deficiencies exist.

      Monday was also the beginning of our collar restoration. Here are some pictures of that process.

The first step is to cut a fine edge along the new putting surface. This will prevent the sod cutter from tearing the new surface.

Next, we cut the sod surrounding the green. We cut the sod at 24". This will match the width of the sod purchased from the sod farm. This matching will reduce waste and ultimately make our job move faster.

The following step was to clean up the cut turf from the collar area. We then used this "waste sod" in other areas around the course. Excessive traffic and low lying areas were the targets for our scraps from the collars.

These pictures above illustrate the collar waste I described. These traffic areas are normally sodded annually. By using these wasted sod chunks in these areas we are able to offset the cost of sodding the collars. In turn we re sod the collars and improve our traffic areas for relatively the same cost as sodding the traffic areas alone.

And last but certainly not least. A picture of the sod being laid and the finished product.

Here you see a finished collar on #18. This week we were able to finish the back nine and start on the front nine. We will complete this project in the middle of next week.

• Tuesday - Today we continued work on the collars. We also began work on more sight lines throughout the course. Number 10 and 11 were are target teeing areas.
• Wednesday - We mowed the greens today. The height of cut was lowered to (.165"). We also began the grooming process today. First we topdressed with a medium coat of sand/peat mix. Then we used a steel drag mat to move to mix into low areas on the green. The dragging helped to smooth the surface and "stand up" the turf. By standing the turf above the mix, we are encouraging new growth into the sand filled voids.
• Thursday - One task that became vital on Thursday was the scouting of the surfaces. We are scouting the surface for noxious weeds that appear. Our inability to spray herbicide on the immature turf has left us with no option but hand removal. Expect a blog post mid next week detailing this job in its entirety.
• Friday - Normally a slow day, Friday proved to be anything but that this week. We began the day by verticutting the greens. We verticut the greens at a zero setting. This setting does not cut into the surface. Our goal was to "tickle" the turf. This type of verticutting has many benefits. The two most beneficial are the smoothing of the surface and stimulation of new growth.
      Today we also made our first application of fungicide. This application will help to alleviate the symptoms of algae. See our post about algae here. The broad spectrum fungicide we used will also help to disrupt many other diseases that may be prevalent. 
      On Saturday we mowed the greens at (.150"). This our lowest height of cut to date. We plan to continue this decrease in height of cut through next week.

Next Week 7/22-7/28

• Mow greens three times. Decreasing height each time. goal is to be at or around (.125").
• Complete collar restoration.
• Fertilize the greens with potassium nitrate. 
• Continue scouting the surfaces for unwanted plants.
• Initiate our project of leveling sprinkler heads.
• Topdress and verticut the greens.
• Spray wetting agent around the greens. Our increased irrigation has resulted in wet areas around the putting surfaces. This wetting agent will increase the infiltration rate of our irrigation water. The increased infiltration will keep the surrounds dry until we can decrease out irrigation frequency.

      With three weeks remaining our efforts are continuing to increase in anticipation of opening day. The increased coverage of the greens and finished collars will have the putting greens looking like a golf course again. We continue to encourage people to come out and see our progress. Also, keep following the blog for updates on everything from the St. James agronomy department.

     

PC Conversion Update - 7/14/12

     We have now reached the halfway point of the conversion. Here is a video with Conrad Broussard and Grayson Grainger with a brief recap of our progress.
      The greens are covering as planned and we are getting excited to start grooming them for play. Here are some pics of the surfaces from Friday.

     We have come a long way from three weeks ago at planting. Here is a photo of a green after planting only three weeks ago.

      This past week we were able to shift our attention to a few projects away from the greens. Here is a recap of last week and a look ahead to next.

Last Week 7/8-7/14

• Monday - We mowed the greens for the second time on Monday. The height of cut remained at (.200"). We applied Calcium Nitrate (15-0-0) to the greens and we sprayed the greens with a different variety of plant stimulants.
• Tuesday - Sprayed greens with Potassium Nitrate. The potassium is a necessary supplement to avoid deficiencies. Our increased irrigation associated with grow-in can flush important nutrients like potassium from the soil. This will help correct those deficiencies for the short term until we can apply a granular product.

      On Tuesday we also started and a project associated with sight lines from the tee boxes. The surrounds of #2 and #8 tee complexes have become overgrown to the point of disrupting play. We cleared these areas back to increase the sight line from the tee. Here is an example of that job in progress.

Sight line from #2 tee

• Wednesday - We mowed the greens for the third time today. The height of cut remained at (.200"). We will remain at this height for at least one more week.

      Wednesday was also our wall to wall insecticide spray. We sprayed a combination product that targets mole crickets, grub worms and ants. This took approximately six hours to complete.
      We resumed work on the ladies tee on #6 today. Here is a series of pictures detailing the work.

      
      The final picture shows the contractor installing the turf. The new turf is designed to support a golf tee. The need for additional support is unnecessary with this type of artificial surface. Pictures of the completed project will be available early next week.

• Thursday - We topdressed the greens with a light to medium layer of sand/peat mix. This application will help to keep the surface smooth. Additionally, the peat will aid in water retention at the surface.
• Friday - The greens were fertilized with Ammonium Sulfate (21-0-0). This fertilizer will promote leaf growth, which in turn helps to produce carbohydrates. These carbs will be used to produce new plants and encourage the surfaces to fill in.

Next Week 7/15-7/21

• Mow the greens three times. An adjustment in height may occur. This will be dependant on the condition of the surface through the week.
• Lightly groom the greens. This will be done with a steel drag mat, brush, or coco mat. Again, this will be dependant on the green's condition.
• Fertilize the greens with nitrogen fertilizer.
• Topdress the greens one or two times.
• Begin work on collars. Here is a brief description of that job.

      With a busy week behind us and a busy week ahead we continue to keep focused on preparing the greens for August 13th. We encourage all of you to keep stopping by and checking our progress. The collars should be finished late next week. At this point, the definition of the surfaces will take shape.
      Remember to adhere to our irrigation schedule if you should stop by. At this time we are watering four times a day, 7am, 11am, 3pm, & 7pm. These cycles run approximately 45 minutes. Anytime outside of these windows would be ideal to visit. And of course continue to follow the blog for updates from the staff at St. James.

PC Conversion Update - 7/7/12

      We officially have three weeks in the books. Only five weeks more until the Players Club re-opens. This past week we had excellent weather and were able to accomplish all of our goals. The greens are moving along nicely and we are confident that they will be in excellent condition on August 13th. Here is a rundown of last week and a look ahead to next..

Last Week 7/1-7/7

• Monday - rolled and fertilized the greens. We fertilized with a starter (7-23-19) fertilizer and high nitrogen (21-0-0) fertilizer. This application will encourage new vertical growth. The new growth will provide the leaf tissue necessary to produce carbohydrates. The stored carbohydrates will help to produce new plants and encourage the surfaces to fill in.

Associate Juan Diaz Garcia

Associate Paul Stephens

• Tuesday - applied growth regulator to the entire course. This will slow growth, resulting in less scalping from mowers and improved water efficiency.
• Wednesday - we sent our staff to assist the Members Club for their triple tee preparation. The PC managers stayed and watered throughout the day. Here are a few snapshots of the surfaces on July 4th.

      You can see in the photos that the green is beginning to cover. On Monday, we decided that we would mow on Thursday. The appearance of the greens on the 4th reassured us that they were ready.

• Thursday - This was probably the busiest day of the week. We mowed the greens for the first time. The height of cut was (.200"). This cut was designed to "clean up" the surfaces. Here is a picture of the mowing.

Associate Ricardo Hehua

      From the picture above you can see the difference that the cutting made. The mowed section is to the left of our associate and the uncut portion is to the right. You can see that the mower has removed the top layer of the new growth.
      On Thursday we were able to begin another long overdue project. Replacing the artificial turf on #6 ladies tee/drop area. This tee has deteriorated and become an eyesore for the last year. Here are some pics of the removal process.

      The last picture shows the tee on Thursday afternoon. We expect the new turf to arrive late next week. I will post more pictures through the week detailing this project.

• Friday - We finished our topdressing application that we started on Thursday afternoon. We applied a light to medium amount of sand/peat mix to the surfaces. The turf is growing at an uneven rate. The topdressing helps to maintain the smoothness through this transition. Here is a picture of #10 green after topdressing.

     
Next Week 7/8-7/15

• Mow the greens two to three times next week.
• Topdress greens. We will be applying another light-medium layer of sand/peat.
• Fertilize greens with calcium nitrate (15-0-0). The calcium is necessary for a few reasons, but one in particular. The reclaimed water that we use for irrigation has a slightly high ratio of sodium. Since we are watering aggressively, we need to take preventative measures to avoid a calcium deficiency.
• Apply insecticide to the entire golf course. This application targets mole crickets, grub worms and ants. This application will be made on Wednesday, July 11th.
• Finish #6 ladies tee.

      With only 36 days until re-opening, we are beginning to see the greens come to life. We will continue to water regularly through next week. The greens have matured to the point that we can increase the amount of water and decrease the frequency of application. I say this to remind you that we are watering the greens regularly. If you choose to stop by and see the greens, do so between 8-10 A.M. and 1-3 P.M. And of course, continue to follow the blog for more updates from the maintenance staff at St. James.

PC Conversion Update - 6/27

      The day has finally come and gone. The sprigs arrived around 12:00 on Monday. They came in a refrigerated tractor-trailer. After a short training session, we began planting around 1:00. We were able to complete the back nine (w/pg) around 6:30 Monday evening. We started the front nine at 7:00 Tuesday and finished up on the nursery green at 2:00. Here are some pictures and descriptions of exactly what transpired over the last two days.

      Prior to planting we applied two fertilizers and a pre-emergent herbicide to the greens. The fertilizers were applied to be readily available for the sprigs upon planting. We used a (46-0-0) and  (7-23-19) fertilizer for this application. These fertilizers were selected based on a variety of factors associated with our specific site. The pre-m herbicide was for control of crabgrass and goosegrass. Oxidiazon is the common name of the product we used. This product is the only pre-m that will not interfere with the establishment of new turf.

      Below are pictures describing the various stages of the sprig planting process. The first picture shows a full bag of sprigs as they arrived. These bags are placed all over the surface of the green. We used 15-20 bags per green.

     The bags were then placed onto tarps for opening. The tarp prevented foot and hand marks in the surface from grabbing the sprigs. 

 
 Here is an opened bag dumped atop the tarp. The sprigs were compacted tightly in the burlap sacks, therefore we had to spread the bag over the tarp in order to seperate the sprigs.

 

  This photo shows the laying of the sprigs. It is just as it sounds. We would grab handfuls of sprigs a shake them out all over the surface. This process was similar to spreading bales of straw. 

Below you can see the green take shape. We had roughly 10-15 people per green spreading the sprigs. Each green took approximately 30-40 minutes to spread.

Near completion we began to apply water to the sprigs. This helped to keep the sprigs in place until we could apply water with the overhead irrigation. Below you can see a green in the final stage of sprig laying.

The next step was to slice the sprigs into the surface. We sliced the sprigs in two directions. This process helps to promote good soil to sprig contact. The slicing also helps to keep the sprigs intact on the surface. This theory was tested and proven Monday night. We received two inches of rain and had zero displacement of sprigs.

After slicing, we topdressed the greens. We applied a heavy layer of sand & peat on top of the sprigs. The topdressing provided the sprigs with the proper soil medium to encourage growth. Below you can see a photo of the green being topdressed.

Below is a photo of the topdressed surface. You can see how the sprigs and sand/peat mixture have become incorporated onto the soil surface. 

The final stage in the sprig planting was to roll. The rolling helps in smoothing the surface and promoting soil to sprig contact. Below is a picture of our roller in action.

And then finally, water. Watering, rolling and fertilizer will be our primary focus over the coming weeks. At this point the sprigs need to be treated like seeds. We will apply light amounts of water at frequent intervals to establish the sprigs. At that point we will begin to reduce the frequency of water application.

      After months of preparation and planning, the sprigs have finally been laid. Our focus now shifts to establishment and maintenance of the green surfaces. I encourage all to stop by and check on the new greens. And always, continue to follow the blog for updates on their progress. Also, follow along on Twitter @stjamesturf.