Ultradwarf Coming to Greensboro

Project: Farm Greens Ultradwarf Conversion

Projected Start Date:  May 22, 2017

Estimated Completion Date:  August 19, 2017

Projected Cost:  $367,000 (Grass, Supplies, Equipment and Design Changes)

BACKGROUND

The Farm course underwent an extensive renovation in 2009 at which time the greens were re-established in A1/A4 Bentgrass.  During the period between 2010 and 2016 several courses in the surrounding area, as well as a larger portion of the transition zone of the Southeast, have converted from Bentgrass putting surfaces to Ultradwarf Bermuda.  Some of the initial concerns with playability and survivability of the warm season grass in this region of the country have proven to be less of a factor than they were thought to be in 2008 when the grassing decision was made on the Farm course.

ISSUE STATEMENT

46.5% of Total rounds played at Greensboro Country Club take place in the four months of June through September (2004-2015 average).  Therefore approximately ½ of the total annual rounds played take place during the four months that the Bentgrass putting surface is in its most susceptible condition.  Beyond the costs associated with the upfront conversion this is by far the most critical issue that most clubs in our area have examined when considering whether or not to convert.  

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

In order to convert the greens from the current Bentgrass surface to an Ultradwarf variety the course would need to be closed for approximately 13 weeks.

Week 1 – Spray out Bentgrass.  Begin making contour changes on #5 green.

Week 2 – Prepare surface for sprigs.

Week 3-4 – Sprig Greens

Week 5-12 – Grow-in new sprigs

Week 13 – Open Course

SCOPE

All putting surfaces including the two existing nurseries would be converted to an Ultradwarf variety.  The greens would be sprayed out in an effort to kill off the existing Bentgrass.  The putting surfaces would then be vertically mown and aggressively aerified.   Upon completion of the surface preparation the greens would be fertilized with a pre-plant fertilizer application.  They would then be sprigged by a grassing contractor.  Once the sprigs are on the ground the grow-in process would begin.  The greens will be heavily watered for the first 10-14 days.  Once the sprigs have begun to re-green up they would be fertilized on a bi-weekly rate for the next 8 weeks.  The greens will be mowed daily once they are established and growing.  The mowing heights will generally start out around .20 inches going down weekly until they are at a final opening height between .100 - .125 inches.  Halfway through the grow-in process the greens will need to be topdressed weekly to smooth out the surface.

Recontouring – The #5 green currently has contours that will present issues with a firmer and consistently faster Ultradwarf putting surface and will need to be softened.  The club has contracted with Golf Designer Billy Fuller (http://www.billyfuller.com) to make the necessary changes. Mr. Fuller will be responsible for drawing up a new design, overseeing bids and new construction to the point sprigs are on the ground.

EXPECTED BENEFITS

·       A superior putting surface June-September

·       Fewer Ballmarks

·       Most dependable putting surface for late spring and summer tournaments and events

·       More heat tolerant than Bentgrass

·       Less labor devoted to hand watering during the summer months, which can be devoted to other task

·       Slightly less overall disease risk (although by no means disease free)

·       Cost savings related to removing fans

·       Light frequent watering should allow for dryer green surround complexes versus the deep watering cycles demanded by Bentgrass

·       Allows for maximized summer usage relating to outings and tournaments resulting in additional revenue opportunities

·       The current sloping of the greens should require minimal adjustments and are close to ideal for a firmer, faster putting surface

·       The overall cost differentiation between managing Bentgrass greens and Bermuda is expected to be slightly lower although most Superintendents I questioned on this subject say they estimate the costs to be fairly close.  The cost for disease treatments and hand watering is generally balanced out with the additional cost of sand, equipment maintenance, additional weekly mowing-grooming and wintertime cover installations-removals.

·       Only one significant aerification performed versus three with Bentgrass.  As the only significant aerification is limited to just once a year due to a shortened growing season over Bentgrass it is much more aggressive and may take an additional week to recover as compared to Bentgrass.  This still results in a net savings of nearly 35 days of non-heavily cultivated putting conditions (63 days versus 28) during the active golfing season.   This aerification is usually done in late June or early July and important events can be scheduled 21-28 days out depending on the nature of the event.  Small solid tine aerification which is minimally disruptive to the putting surface is performed throughout the summer months to improve water infiltration at the surface, which is impeded by the fine particle sand topdressing program.  The fine particle topdressing program is what creates a very firm surface throughout the summer months but it does result in a condition of the surface of the green “sealing off”.

EXPECTED DIS-BENEFITS

·       Cost related to establishment, grow-in and course closure. 

·       Will not tolerate shade.  Ultradwarfs require a minimum of 4 hours of direct unfiltered sunlight throughout the peak winter months and 8 hours of sunlight throughout the summer months.  Trees will need to be considered for removal on the following holes to meet this minimum:

o   Hole 4

o   Hole 5

o   Hole 6

o   Hole 9

o   Hole 10

o   Hole 13

o   Hole 15

·       Lower degree of cold tolerance.  Greens will need to be covered when low temperatures are expected to drop below 27 degrees.  The amount of days the greens are covered in our area will vary each winter but will generally fall into a range of 7- 21 days depending on the severity of the winter.  Covering is a labor intensive process but not to the scale of hand watering on Bentgrass.  Revenue loss on covered days should be minimal due to cold conditions when demand is already low and due to the secondary outlet at Irving Park.

·       Ultradwarfs produce more grain.  Grain accumulation requires additional time throughout the week to perform additional cultural tasks such as double mowing, verticutting and topdressing to deliver a highly conditioned putting surface.  Most Superintendents at private clubs use the course closure on Mondays to perform these task but based on the schedule of events such as outings, holidays, and tournaments there are times where a 1 - 1 ½ window of mid-day tee times is required on a slow day between Tuesday and Thursday to make up for when a Monday is lost or the growth rate of the grass demands more input.

·       More inputs required in the form of sand topdressing.  Weekly sand topdressing during the active growing season triples the cost of sand and doubles the maintenance cost related to grinding reels.  A minimum of two fulltime mechanics is necessary to keep up with the demands related to managing Ultradwarfs.

·       The spring transition months result in a growth spurt that results in lowered green speeds.  This period of less than ideal putting conditions generally occurs around the time of March 15 through May 1 and can be similar in nature to lower green speeds on Bentgrass during the months of July-August, in that membership expectations are often difficult to achieve.

SPEED COMPARISON

A generalized comparison of the varying stimpmeter readings throughout the year for Bentgrass versus Bermuda at a random private club in the Piedmont region of NC:

	Bent	Bermuda
January	10	10
February	10	10
March	10	10
April	11	10
May	11	11
June	10	11
July	9	12
August	9	12
September	10	11
October	12	11
November	11	10.5
December	10.5	10.5
Average	10.3	10.8

TIME SCALE (Monday, May 22, 2017 – Saturday, August 19, 2017)

Based on the 2017 calendar and the ideal growing window for a Bermudagrass conversion the course would be closed on Monday, May 16 and re-open on Saturday, August 12, 2017.  The sprigs would be scheduled to go down in late May-early June allowing for a 9-10 week grow-in period before opening.

RISK

A primary risk of an Ultradwarf conversion would be related to damage sustained from a significantly cold winter, which has proven to be less than once thought due to the turf cover technology being used at courses in the transition zone.  This is also no greater and may be less destructive than turf loss to Bentgrass during significantly hot summers.

Disease activity is a secondary risk.  All the new Ultradwarfs have shown susceptibility to certain diseases such as Spring Dead Spot, Leaf Spot, Mini Ring and Pythium being the four most destructive diseases on Ultradwarf.

One risk receiving a lot of attention is mutation.  The grass receiving the most attention for mutation is the Mini Verde variety.  Quail Hollow recently re-grassed their greens, which were established during their first Bentgrass conversion in Mini Verde after only 3 growing years (2014-2016) due to a high number of mutated areas.  Some courses that have been established with the Champion variety for 5 or more years are now voicing concerns over very small areas of mutation.  When discussing mutation it is important to keep it in perspective.  Small areas of mutation are mostly aesthetic in nature.  The majority of mature Bentgrass greens all have some form of expressed mutation.  Although, firmly established mutation in Bermuda does have a much greater tendency to affect ball roll due to the difference in growth rate and grain on the parental variety versus the mutated strain.  The one variety that has shown the greatest degree of resistance to mutation is Tif Eagle.

TREE REMOVALS

Ultradwarf Bermuda(s) is highly sensitive to low levels of sunlight and/or short sunlight duration.  The simple rule for sunlight requirements are:

Minimum 4 hours of direct sunlight during winter months

Minimum 6 hours of direct sunlight during the spring and fall months

Minimum 8 hours of direct sunlight during the summer months

New technology combining GPS positioning data integrated into cellular camera 3D apps now makes it possible to go anywhere on your property and see exactly how much sunlight is available on any given day of the year at any location.  Using that very same technology we have developed a list of existing trees that would have to be removed to provide for the proper growing requirements at each green site.

Hole #4 – Remove two large hardwoods on the back right of the green.  This would add 2 hours of morning sun in the winter months to the existing 3.5 hours.

Hole #5 – Remove 4 large hardwoods from the back right corner of the green to add 2.5 hours of winter sunlight to the existing 3.5 hours.

Hole #6 – Remove two oaks on the right side of the green.  One on the green side of the cart path and the other on the #7 ladies tee side of the cart path.  Removing these trees would add I hour in the winter and two hours in the summer to the right side of the green.

Hole #7 – Two hardwoods behind the green on the opposite side of the cart path would need to come out to get above the 4 hour threshold on the back of this green.

Hole #9 – The back portion of the green receives only three hours of sunlight during peak winter months.  The large Cedar behind the green would need to be removed and by doing so would add 3 more additional hours of sunlight.

Hole #10 – The back of the green only receives 3.5 hours of sunlight.  Removing the large Oak immediately behind the green would add an additional 2 hours of sunlight.

Hole #13 – The front of the green only receives 4 hours of sunlight.  Removing the large Oak to the front left of the green will add 2 hours additional sunlight.

Hole #15 – The back right side of the green receives 3.5 hours of sunlight.  The large Oak immediately behind the green and closest to the path would add 2 additional hours of sunlight.

Total Contract Tree Removals – 14

Additional trees may be subject to future removal.

GRASS OPTIONS

The final decision on which variety of Ultradwarf will be chosen will be decided upon by the spring of 2017.

All the below grasses were developed in the 80’s and began to be established on courses in Florida in the late 90’s.  They therefore have a proven track record for courses in the Deep South.  As Superintendents began to develop improved management programs for these grasses in comparison to the older Tif Dwarf or 328 variety the putting quality began to improve significantly.  As the putting quality improved so did its demand from courses northward.  The first notable golf course to convert was East Lake in 2008, where the Tour Championship is held each year.  In 2007 East Lake experienced a lot of damage to their Bentgrass greens, which forced them to cancel the Pro-Am and produced very poor quality greens for the tournament.  As the Tour Championship is held each year in September the decision was made to convert to Mini Verde in 2008 to much success in the many years that has followed.  The success at East Lake over the next several years gradually opened the door for consideration at other private and public facilities even further northward.  Starmount Country Club converted their greens to Champion in 2011 after losing their greens in May and was therefore left with no real good option other than to convert to an Ultradwarf.   Sedgefield Country Club converted their greens to Champion Bermuda in the summer of 2012 in an effort to provide a better putting surface for the Wyndham Championship held there each year in August.  A great many of the earliest courses to convert in transition zone all had significant reasons as to why they chose to move away from Bentgrass.  But as those courses produced successful products over the past 4-5 years the conversion to Ultradwarfs began to rapidly take off.

                                   

Champion – Champion has shown to be the preferred choice for courses in our area due to its aggressive growth habit, its fine leaf texture and a strong level of marketing and support from its supplier.

·       Pros

o   Produces fastest rolling speeds of all the Ultradwarf varieties.  This has been shown to be as much as 1.5 feet under the same management regime.

o   Produces greater root mass than Tif Eagle.

o   Produces similar thatch as Tif Eagle.

·       Cons   

o   Slight to moderate risk of mutation.  A vegetatively selected mutation.

Tif Eagle – Tif Eagle is the first Ultradwarf variety to come to the market but has not received quite the attention as Champion and Mini Verde due in large part to marketing and roll speed.  Tif Eagle is a slightly coarser grass (larger leaf) that demands more input to get the same green speeds as Champion.

·       Pros

o   No reported mutations.  A gamma radiation produced variety that has shown to be very stable.

o   Minimal off coloring during the winter months

·       Cons

o   Higher inputs to maintain fast green speeds

Mini Verde – Mini Verde has demonstrated the most mutations of the three Ultradwarfs, which has significantly affected the number of new courses selecting this grass.  Bryan Park converted their greens to Mini Verde in 2013.  As mentioned earlier Quail Hollowed re-grassed their greens in 2016 due to excessive mutation on Mini Verde.

·       Pros

o   Good color and turf density

·       Cons

o   Numerous reported mutation and management issues.  A vegetatively selected mutation.

The First Day of Fall and Ultradwarf Bermuda - Will it Work Here?

The first day of fall can't get here soon enough after this year's long, hot summer.  The first official day for fall was Thursday, September 22 and continues until it officially ends on Wednesday, December 21.  The 90 days encompassed within the fall season provide for a lot of great golfing weather and generally a lot of days with better than average course conditions.


GREENS AERIFICATION


Speaking of golf and course conditions, the two courses are both healing from our late summer aerification on the greens. The Irving Park course is now in its third week of recovery and while not still quite there the green speeds have gotten back over 10 on a daily basis.  The Farm course is now 10 days into recovery and we expect to have speeds back up over 10 by the weekend.  We expect the greens on both courses to be in really good shape by next weekend and we shouldn't look back on green speeds until the heat returns again next July.



ULTRA DWARFS

A lot of conversation this year seemed to center around green speeds, both here and at a great many clubs in the Southeast that are still growing Bentgrass. I have written numerous times about how the above average temperatures this year took a heavy toll on Bentgrass but in the end the typical golfer really doesn't care why, they just want them faster.  While not every summer is going to be as difficult on Bentgrass as this one was, those same conditions made for some really great Bermuda greens in our area. As such, this year we heard a lot more about how good some of the Ultradwarf greens were when our members came back from some of the many courses that now offer these types of putting surfaces.  Thursday's first day of fall was also the same day the East Lake Golf Club begins hosting this years Tour Championship on their ultradwarf greens and at first glance, they look really good.  In response to this consistent feedback and the success so many clubs are now enjoying with this putting surface the Club has asked that we begin studying as to whether or not this particular type of greens surface would work for this club on the Farm course. Therefore, we are currently working on the details of a proposal for a 2017 (or thereafter) conversion for committee consideration, member feedback and ultimately Board approval. This project would be a significant investment and change to the playability of the course and the Club is therefore seeking feedback from the golfing portion of the membership.  Feel free to communicate your thoughts on the subject to the following individuals:

Doug Lowe - Director Golf and Grounds
Bud Taylor - Director Golf Operations
Robert Lesinger - General Manager
Lloyd Peterson - Green Committee Chair and all other Green Committee Members
Cabell Poindexter - Golf Committee Chair and all other Golf Committee Members
GCC Board Members

PROJECTS

Cart Paths - The Irving Park staff is currently working to remove and replace several damaged sections of cart path.  The majority of these sections have been damaged by root growth from nearby trees.  The first step was to prune these roots to minimize root damage to the newly repaired section. Next the asphalt will be removed and hauled away and compacted gravel will be added to create a firm base.  The last step will be to bring in a paving contractor.  We expect our prep work to be done by early next week at which time we hope to get on the contractor's schedule as soon as possible.

Overseeding Farm Practice Tee - The Farm practice was overseeded with Ryegrass on Monday, September 19 and will take approximately 3 weeks before it is established enough to put golfers back on to that portion of the tee.  In the meantime golfers will be hitting off the back section of the tee established in Zoysia.

Fall Cultural Management - Both courses were recently treated with a fertilizer application designed to strengthen the plant going into the fall and provide the best color possible before our first frost, which usually comes in late October.  Both courses were also treated with a winter pre-emergent herbicide application to prevent winter weeds from germinating.

Heatwave Replaced by Rain

The end of the brutal heatwave of July and early August 2016 has subsided but in its place is another set of challenging conditions put forth by good old Mother Nature: Rain... and lots of it.  The weekend brought nearly 4 inches to the courses and since then we have experienced mostly cloudy weather and light intermittent rains.  This has slowed down the drying process on each course to a snail's pace.  As I write this the rain has once again settled in and completely erased what little bit of drying out we enjoyed over the past two days.  

WASHOUTS

The hard rains over the weekend washed out the bunkers at Irving Park.  All the hard work on Saturday was for not as the rain Saturday night came down even faster and harder.   It is now Wednesday and we are finally making the last few repairs.  The bunkers on the Farm course were built with washing in mind and are much less susceptible to the erosion effects of hard rains.  

The washing effects not only make the bunkers unplayable until they are repaired but they carry sediment from the base of the bunker that contaminates the sand and slows down the it's overall drainage properties.



















DISEASE

While the greens at both our courses are still hanging in there that is not the case at several nearby courses.  The heat in July lead to significant root loss leaving behind dead decaying root tissue.  Add that to the current wet pattern we are in and disease is beginning to appear on the greens.  Samples that were submitted to the NCSU Turf Pathology lab yesterday confirmed high counts of Pythium on the Irving Park greens.  These greens are Cato Bentgrass, which has shown itself to be more susceptible to disease during hot, humid conditions. The Farm greens are also showing thinning on several greens but mostly on the front 9 where sunlight and air movement is limited by tree growth.  

Accepting we have done everything we can up to this point with our mowing, spraying and cultivation strategies we do expect to see continual thinning on the greens at each course throughout the month of August.  All we can do going forward is to continue to stay vigilant, plan for the worst and hope for the best.

On top of the concerns with our greens, this is always a difficult time of the year for our staff.  Nearly all of our seasonal college guys have left early to go back to school, which leaves us very shorthanded for the next 4 weeks or so while the course is still growing at peak rate.  So, when we do finally get a chance to get out and start mowing some grass and things look a little worse then we hope for I hope everyone understands that sometimes you just have to take what the dealer throws your way and do the best you can.

President"s Cup 2016 - Heat Warning

July 19, 2016

Everyone, including the course maintenance team, looks forward to the arrival of the President's Cup each year.  The excitement on the side of the membership seems especially strong this year with the current waiting list sitting at four teams.  The maintenance team always looks forward to showcasing what they hope will be not only a beautiful course but one where the conditions are a step above what members normally see.  This is accomplished with a little bit of preplanning to get the course in peak condition but mainly this is the result of a lot of hard work and long hours from a group of employees dedicated to serving the membership.

Irving Park #1 Green 7-19-16

GREENS
While we are expecting really good course conditions this year it looks like Mother Nature will be bringing some really hot weather on the four days surrounding the tournament. Temperatures are being forecasted to hover in the mid-upper nineties and may reach 100 on Sunday. Even more important is that nighttime lows are not forecasted to drop below 70 for two weeks following the beginning of the heatwave on Friday.  With that being the case, our Bentgrass greens will be put to the ultimate test. Survival of the greens throughout this period will be our primary focus with extremely high temperatures along with a high volume of tournament play. This particular scenario will not only lead to a slower green speed and softer surface but our staff will likely be syringing greens in and amongst play.  While we attempt to minimize disruption to play from our cooling efforts we will be asking for the patience and understanding of the participants during both Saturday and Sunday's round.

As a proactive measure we needle-tine aerified the greens this week on Monday and Tuesday with 1/4 solid tines to increase the pore space heading into this event.  On Monday (7/25) we will once again be aerifying the greens on the Irving Park course with a slightly larger 3/8 solid tine.  We will then aerify the Farm greens on Tuesday (7/26) with the same sized tine.  Mowing heights will also go up slightly beginning next week from our current .110 height.  The Farm course will also be closed on Monday-Tuesday of next week for the second fairway aerification.  This is required because the Zoysiagrass is a much more aggressive thatch producer than Bermudagrass.  As we only have two days to accomplish this our spacing will be much wider than our first aerification and recovery time will be less than a week.  

So, everyone try your best to stay cool this weekend and to those playing in the President's Cup we hope you all play great and enjoy the two courses.

# 10 Farm

Bentgrass Greens in the Hot, Humid Southeast!

July is here and so are the temperatures we have become accustom to in Central North Carolina.  90 Degrees or more are almost a daily occurrence and the humidity is often the cause of afternoon thunderstorms.  The summer temperatures are great for outdoor activities and vacations, however they can cause serious issues with Bentgrass greens on golf courses.

The greens at Greensboro Country Club are creeping Bentgrass, Agrostis stolonifera.  More specifically, the Bentgrass on the Farm course is a blended variety called Penn A-1/A-4.  The Irving Park course is a variety called Cato.  Bentgrass is what is known as a cool season turf, meaning that it grows best in temperatures of 65-80 degrees.  The A-1/A-4 variety on the Farm course is an improved variety over the Cato variety on the Irving Park course.  While both are improvements over the old Penncross variety that use to dominate the region both still require many cultural practices in order to keep them healthy and thriving. 

During the summer months the maintenance staff at Greensboro CC will spend countless hours "watching" greens in the afternoons during these hot days.  Our assistants spend their afternoons looping the golf course looking for any signs of stress or wilt (wilting turfgrass shows up as purple in color).  If the temperatures are extremely high we will often mist the greens down to use the evaporative cooling of the water to lower the temperature on the surface. "Watching" greens is the final cultural practice to keep greens alive through the summer heat.  There is much more that is done before the heat of the day to help reduce the possibility of wilt.  Our crew inspects each green every morning and takes moisture readings on a digital soil moisture meter as well as pulling cores to get a visual image of what is happening to the roots.  The assistants will pay close attention to areas that are chronically the first ones to show summer stress.

Solid Tine Venting

There are numerous additional practices that must take place once the heat sets in to help ensure survival of the greens.  Flushing the greens every 2-4 weeks is a practice we use to remove unwanted soluble salt buildup in the soil and to uniformly wet the entire soil profile from top to bottom.  The frequency of this heavy watering practice is often dictated by weather.  The hotter the weather the more frequently we will flush.  We also occasionally vent the surface of the greens with a small solid tine aerification.  Dead plant material in the upper portion of the soil profile is very common on Bentgrass this time of the year and the decaying plant material will eventually seal off the upper portion of the soil profile.  This resulting unwanted organic accumulation allows the buildup of carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulfide, which will lead to a very toxic growing environment if not managed properly.  Small tine aerification helps with the infusion of higher levels of Oxygen into the critical rootzone to combat the natural growth cycle of a highly maintained cool season grass that is growing in a region of the world where it is not fully adapted.  

Syringing / Misting

June 10 Course Update

The first full week of June was one of our busiest and most productive week's of the year.

Heavy Rains
The Irving Park course started out the week extremely wet following three out of four of the preceding days each receiving over an inch of rain.  During that time period the bunkers on the Irving Park course washed out severely with each of these thunderstorms resulting in nearly 60 man hours dedicated just to pushing sand back up onto the faces.

IP Aerification

With all the rains the fairway aerification had to be put off a day but we were able to begin aerifying tees and greens on Monday.  The greens were core aerified with the same size 1/2 inch tines we use every year in late spring.  Once aerified the plugs were removed and the surface was cleaned to allow for the sand topdressing.  Once the sand was applied the sand was smoothed and the greens were rolled.  The final step was a light fertilizer application was applied and watered in.

6-10-16

Unfortunate Hydraulic Leak

6-6-16

As if the washed out bunkers and wet course conditions was not enough to contend with we had a very unusual hydraulic leak on one of the greens aerifiers on Monday.  A steel hydraulic line broke on the aerifier while working on the #9 green.  A solder weld on one of the fittings broke and released an oil spray up and down the entire green on #9 and one pass on #8 before it was noticed.  It was especially difficult for the operator to see because the oil itself was immediately covered with plugs.  Once the leak was identified the staff immediately went into cleanup mode by rinsing the affected areas with a high volume of water.  The affected areas were then all scrubbed with a soapy solution to try and remove as much oil off the plant as possible.  While there will be some noticeable damage for the weeks to come I believe it will be much better than first suspected.  As time goes on and we see exactly which areas die or thin out we will then make the appropriate efforts to repair these areas.

With the course dried out the staff began aerifying fairways on Tuesday and finished the last one mid-afternoon on Thursday.  Once aerified the plugs were broken up and the fairways were blown clean and mowed.  We expect the fairway playing surface to be completely healed over by the following weekend.

Farm Drainage
While the staff was working hard at Irving Park the guy's at the Farm were also busy installing new drain lines on the #9 hole.  The never ending quest to create a well drained course requires staying diligent each year adding additional french drainage and new catch basins to areas that remain wet for a longer period of time than desirable.  To install new drainage the areas are painted out to identify where the new piping and basins are to be installed.  The sod is then removed in those areas and a trench is dug. With a trench in place the spoils are removed by hand and the trench is filled with pipe and gravel and the upper portion of the trench is filled with a blend of sand and peat moss. If the sod cannot be replaced the finished trench line is covered with a geo synthetic material to protect it from washing until new sod can be installed.  All the work planned this year for #9 has been completed with the exception of some new sod going down, which is scheduled for delivery next week.  Similar new drainage will continue to added to other high priority areas of the course throughout the next 4-6 weeks.


Farm Practice Bunker
Over the past 6 years there has been nearly 18 inches of sand buildup on the primary practice bunker located on the Farm short game complex.  The staff took this project on last week by essentially rebuilding the entire face of the bunker.  The sod was removed and all the sand buildup was excavated down to the originally soil level.  The face was then resodded with sod taken up from new drain line construction on #9.  The result is a practice shot where the golfer can once again see the green when standing in the bottom of the bunker.

While speaking on the short game area, the Golf and Green Committees both agreed the chipping green would be better served by limiting shots to a maximum of 30 yards.  This will seek to make the area safer for multiple people practicing at the same time and should greatly lessen the ballmarks that are created from the longer pitch shots.

Mulch
In addition to all the work listed above both courses were spread with pine straw.  Nearly 3,000 bales of pine straw were added to the two courses and that is in addition to the 1,200 yards of hardwood mulch that has already been added to the courses.

Needless to say it was a very busy but productive week at each of the courses and despite a few obstacles the two crews accomplished everything they had set out to do a the beginning of the week. Looking forward, the next 10-12 weeks will continue to be busy for each of the two courses so keep on the lookout for new blogs to try and keep up with everything going on with the Club's two beautiful golf courses.