Greens Maintenance

     For those of you that do not know, the USGA has an excellent set of educational videos for all golfers to view concerning important parts of golf course maintenance and the game of golf.  Recently, I came across a video that details what the golf course maintenance crew does in regards to greens maintenance.
     Greens maintenance is the main focus of any golf course maintenance operation.  We spend most of our time and energy trying to ensure that the greens at St. James are in good condition.  Please take time to view the USGA video we have linked below to better understand the maintenance practices that we routinely use on your golf course greens.

http://www.usga.org/videos/2013/03/05/video--making-a-great-putting-surface-2205021413001.html

Making our final push at Members Club. The Irwin front greens open next week.

Last Week 7/21/14 through 7/25/14

·        Again, we continued to lower the height on the mowers, making a couple cuts at .130 with the walk mowers.

·        Continued to topdress and fertilize.

·        Edged bunkers, beds and paths.

·        Sodded weakened and bare areas

·        Installed irrigation to alleviate wet approaches

Next week 7/28/14 through 7/31/14

·        Lower the height on Irwin front greens

·        Continue to topdress and roll for smoothness

·        A contractor will treat nematode infested areas such as around Cate #9 tees.

·        Stump removal throughout all three nines at The Members Club

·        Install a repeater to remedy our irrigation broadcast signal issues

·        Scalp, verticut, aerate and fumigate back nine Irwin greens to prepare for MiniVerde sprigging on August 7^th.

Tylor rolling #9 Irwin green

Prisim gauge--used to analyze cut

Drew checking out prisim gauge

New sod along path # 1 Irwin

 

Last Week 7/14/14 through 7/18/14

·        Continued to lower height on mowers. With two weeks to go, we are now cutting at .165

·        We continue to push the greens with fertilizer to fill in the last few spots. We are very close to full coverage. Some greens are completely covered now. We believe the only areas that may require more time to fill in after we open are the perimeters, where the rough meets the green. (Photo below)

 

Next Week 7/21/14 through 7/25/14

 

·        Add key irrigation heads around several greens. Our goal is to eliminate soft approaches.

·        Continue to lower the height on greens mowers.

·        Fertilizer and sod bare areas

Tylor, a BCC Turf Management student, spreading fertlizer on new Irwin greens



While the greens may be completely covered, there may still be a slight gap left to
fill in between the green and the rough after we open on August 1st



Close up of MiniVerde greens at 42 days of growth

Irwin #6

Upcoming

·        Repair cart path from #18 Irwin to Clubhouse

 



Damaged cart path from Irwin #18 to Clubhouse
**Soon to be repaired**

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

 

Members Club Conversion Update

6/13/14

This week 6/9/14 - 6/15/14

• We fertilized the sprigs with several different products this week -- 21-0-21, 5-4-5, 0-0-5 and gypsum. This is a great combination of slow and quick release fertilizers, providing a wide range of nutrients essential for growth.
• Fairways were sprayed with a chemical to remove the remaining ryegrass, allowing our bermudagrass base to flourish and prosper unencumbered.
• The bridge on Irwin #5 was renovated. The original deck was completely stripped. The old planks were hauled off and disposed of. A new deck was installed and is ready to go.

Just sprigged



One week after sprigging--As you can see, the sprigs have really started to green up

Old Bridge

New Bridge

 Next week 6/16/14 – 6/22/14

·         We will continue to push the sprigs with fertilizer

·         Strip the sod from several tees that are in need of re-leveling

·         Slice and fertilize thin areas in rough

 

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.

       

       

The keys to great greens

            The decision to change the Players Club greens to MiniVerde was the right one, but not completely without challenges.  If you’ve played the Players Club over the last two years you know the greens, overall, have been good, although a few problem areas of thin turf remain.

            Troon’s agronomist, along with staff experts from NC State University and Modern 

Turf (MiniVerde grower) believe the thinning turf is caused from a combination of shade and nematode pressure. I will attempt explain the two and our plan going forward.    

            There are many things we do to keep the greens looking and rolling great.  There are too many management strategies and cultural practices to name that can be debated for days.  The basics, on the other hand, are constant.  Light, air, and water—the fundamental keys to any good turf grass.  Light (or shade, depending on how you look at it) is a consistent factor on almost every problem area at the Players Club. Using a sun path application we charted 27 points on all 19 greens and measured the hours of sunlight for each quarter of the year.  By doing this we were able to see the amount of sunlight the good greens are getting, and then we set a baseline to try to reach on the other greens. After that, we were able to pinpoint which trees were causing the problem so they can be selectively removed or pruned. Removing trees is something no one likes, including us.  Trees are labor intensive and time consuming to take down, clean up, and haul away.  As they grow taller and leafier each year, a tree management program will be a must to keep good healthy grass.

            The one that caught us a little by surprise is nematodes.  Turf damaging nematodes are microscopic roundworms that feed on the roots of turfgrass. They’ve always been a nuisance in our area due to the sandy soil. The problem has grown over the last few years as the only products that really kill nematodes have left the market for various reasons.  Recently, we have been using organic products aimed at suppressing nematode activity.  We thought we were keeping the nematodes adequately suppressed until the cooler fall weather hit and the areas under stress quickly thinned.  That left us with thin turf and no growing season left to recover.  Needless to say it put us in a bad situation.

  On a positive note, widespread struggles with nematodes have pushed many new products to the market.  At The Members Club, we experimented with a new product this year and had great success.  The general consensus with these new products is that they only suppress certain strains of nematodes (there are many) under certain conditions (soil temperatures).  The plan for 2014 is to layer multiple products into the program at specific times for the greatest possible suppression. 

            The immediate plan is to get the worst areas covered with grass as soon as possible.  This will be accomplished by using sod and plugs from our nursery green.  This is another labor intensive and time consuming process.  Getting full coverage as early as possible will give it a full growing season to become dense and healthy as early as possible.  The next few months will be a lot of work for us as we work to put the greens in position for a great summer and many great years going forward. 

Grayson Grainger

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.

Not Only...

Not only did we: vent the greens with needle tines; dethatch tees and fairways; repaint all tee markers and 150 yardage poles; mow, vac and blow ninety acres of grass; we also continued restoring teeing areas to more consistent shapes and sizes... and leveled a few too.

Dockery - Painting lines to restore shape of tees.  

We used preformed PVC to help round the corners 

 

 

Forward Tee at Founders #9 after mowing in new shape.

Brown scalped grass around edges will green back up in a few days.

Laying sod after leveling Forward Tee at #18 Founders Club

 

What a Week!!!

 

 

A MiniVerde Winter

           We are knee deep into our first winter with the new MiniVerde greens at the Players Club.  Managing MiniVerde through the winter, like all the other seasons, is very different from managing bent grass.  We have sought out advice from the MiniVerde growers and many other superintendents who manage this relatively new grass to help ease the learning curve.  We have gathered as much information as possible and are working to adapt it to our specific situation.  There are no cookie cutter answers as to the best way to manage any type of grass; every place and grass is different.  We are in the process of trying out different things to see what works best for us.  I want to talk about what we are doing through the winter months to maintain great putting surfaces, but also set the greens up for a successful spring and summer.

            MiniVerde goes into dormancy with the onset of cold, short days and a few frosts.  Mowing heights of the greens are raised in the fall as the days shorten and temperatures cool.  One reason for doing this is to add leaf surface so when the leaves shrink down in the winter the greens don’t become too fast to putt on.  Another reason to raise mowing heights is that having more leaf surface helps the plant store more carbohydrates that it needs to survive the winter and reemerge in the spring.  The greens are rolled more frequently as mowing heights are raised to maintain a smooth, consistent ball roll.  At the same time the grass is also losing it’s color, going from green to brown.  In the fall we start treating the greens with a green pigment to maintain the color.  Pigment treatments are made more and more frequently as the fall progresses.  Once we believe the plant has stopped growing we treat it with a stronger concentration colorant.  Most people still call it “painting” but now we use organic colorants that don’t harm the grass or our sprayer pumps.  The greens will be retreated multiple times throughout the winter to keep the color as consistent as possible.

            Bermuda grass is a lot like an ice berg, you only see a small part of it.  It may look brown and dead on top but just below the surface is a network of stolons, rhizomes and roots that are very much alive.  These living plants still need adequate moisture and nutrients.  The greens are still irrigated as needed with a goal of 12-20% soil moisture to prevent desiccation and death of the plant.  We also apply small amounts of nitrogen, potassium and micro nutrients every three to four weeks through the winter.  Those treatments will increase in rate and frequency as the temperature rises in the spring.  We continue to mow or roll the greens a few times per week depending on the weather to keep the putting surfaces clean and smooth.

            All of this is done in an effort to maintain consistently green and smooth putting surfaces.  So far, this winter has been anything but consistent.  When the weather turned cold in November the greens went dormant faster than expected.  Mid December the weather warmed, the grass came out of dormancy and started to grow again.  The same thing happened again in mid January.  The problem is when these quick warm ups cause the grass to grow again putting speeds slow and all the colorant we applied gets mown off.  When it gets cold again the grass goes straight from green to brown and that lost color is hard to recover.  It is an inexact science but we are learning and getting better everyday as we look forward to spring.

Grayson Grainger

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.

Players Club - Overseed Week

      The Players Club was closed the week of September 25th primarily for overseeding. Although overseeding was our main goal we were also able to complete some other tasks. Here is a recap of last week's projects.

Monday
      While we weren't closed, we were able to begin the overseeding process on Monday afternoon. We applied a wetting agent to the tee tops and green surround. This particular product will aid in water retention at the surface. This will keep the moisture near the surface and readily available for the seed.

Tuesday
      Today was our busiest day of the overseed week. We began the day by topdressing the greens with a medium to heavy layer of straight sand. The heavy application rate was designed to help smooth the greens.
      In the mid morning we started overseeding fairways. This process takes approximately six hours to complete and used 17,500 pounds of ryegrass seed.
      The tees were seeded as well on Tuesday. This was started in the afternoon and generally takes between three and four hours and used 2,000 pounds of ryegrass seed.

Wednesday
      Today we were able to finally correct our turf issues on some of the greens on the back nine. Modern Turf (supplier of our sprigs) agreed to compensate us with 2100 sq ft of MiniVerde sod to replace our weak areas on 12 and 13. Below is a illustrated rundown of the process of resodding of these areas.

Removal of existing weak turf.



Light tilling of soil.




Addition of new soil. A 87/13 sand peat mix.



Using a vibrating tamp to smooth the surface.



Finished sub grade.



Aligning the new sod.



Unrolling the sod



Tucking the seams.

Finished surface.

      Sodding these areas on 12 and 13 took almost twelve hours total. We finished up on number 13 on Thursday at 11 A.M.. As of posting, these areas will be played as a free drop. Should your ball lie on these areas of the green you may place the ball at some point on the green no nearer to the hole.

Thursday

      We wrapped up our sod project in the morning and refocused our attention to overseeding. We overseeded green surrounds in the afternoon on Thursday. This task takes roughly six hours and used 4,000 pounds of ryegrass seed.

Friday

      Today we applied our preemergent herbicide to the perimeters of all of the overseeded turf. This product will prevent any wayward ryegrass seed from germinating outside of the target overseed areas. The application of this product is done with a walk behind sprayer and typically takes about three to four hours.

      Overall we had an excellent closed week for overseeding. Mother Nature cooperated enough to allow us the time to complete all of our goals. Our focus can now shift to preparation for the Member-Guest tournament in late October. Keep following the blog for more updates from the St. James agronomy team.

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.
     

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.
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