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.