Off with the raingear and on with the shorts

Jerry rolling #12 green

The weather has been spectacular lately.  Yesterday (Thursday 1/27/11) the temperature was 67 degrees.  The weather forecast for next week is also looking good, although it is supposed to get a bit colder.

It has been a productive week.  With the exception of the rough, all turf areas were mowed this week.  The tees and 2 passes in the rough were also fertilized.  The greens, approaches, and fairways were fertilized last week.  When we get a dry weather pattern in the winter, we try to get a light rate of fertilizer out so the turf can better sustain the traffic created by carts, play, and maintenance practices.

#18 fairway, 67 degrees on 1/27/11

Recently, I was in the market for some new ground under repair signs.  As I began to mull over the options, I realized I did not care for any of them for one reason or another.  I narrowed it down to two options.  The recycled plastic ones looked great, but $30 per sign seemed like an awful lot to pay.  Then there is the $20 per sign option, which looked cheap and flimsy, and did not seem like a good choice at any price in my opinion.  I decided I would try and make a ground under repair sign that looked descent without costing a bundle.  I really liked the recycled plastic look, so I went to the local lumber yard and found some Trex and TimberTech odds and ends they sold by the foot.  I found a piece of TimberTech that I thought might make a good looking sign.  The next task was figuring out how to get the words ground under repair on the board.  I didn't want to take a lot of time, but I also wanted something that looked good.  I contemplated using stencils and paint, but decided to look into using vinyl lettering.  I went to Treehouse Signs and Decorative Arts to see if they could help out.  Sam and Karen are the owners of Treehouse signs, and they fixed me right up with some vinyl lettering and background.  All I needed now was the spikes.  I decided on 7" gutter spikes.

The TimberTech lumber was $2 per foot.  The vinyl background and lettering was $75 for enough to make 10 signs.  The gutter spikes were 25 cents each.  I was able to save some money by installing the vinyl myself.  Sam and Karen showed how to install the vinyl on the recycled lumber.  It was pretty easy to do, and I enjoyed learning how to do something new.

TimberTech Lumber                  $2.00

Vinyl background & lettering      $7.50

7" gutter spikes (2)                   $0.50

  Total for each sign                  $10.00

Custom ground under repair sign

I think the signs turned out really well.  I made 10 of them and they did not take long to make.  For the $100 spent on this project, I would have only been able to buy between 3 and 5 ready made ground under repair signs.  The ground under repair sign project went so well, that I am now in the process of making some directional arrows at an even lower cost.  Keep those creative juices flowing, you never know what you might come up with.

A River Runs Through It

Water running across hole 3 fairway

The picture above was taken last Sunday (1/16/11) on hole 3.  Sandpines received 3.11 inches of rain on Saturday (1/15/11).  The river running across hole 3 was due to a plugged drain.  Jerry removed the debris that had accumulated away from the catch basin, and the river was gone after about 24 hours.  On Sunday, the rain let up a bit, and the golf course only received 1.77 inches of rain (4.88" in 48 hours).  The golf course was closed due to high water and unplayable conditions on Sunday.  The back nine opened for play on Monday with carts.  By Tuesday, all 18 holes were open for play with carts.  There are still a few areas with standing water, including some bunkers, but overall the course is very playable, especially considering the amount of rain the golf course has received since November.

Water flowing onto Sandpines property from the north

As the ground gets saturated and the water table starts coming up, seasonal lakes and ponds can begin to form to the north of Sandpines.  This usually happens to some degree every year.  During years with low rainfall these lakes and ponds may not get high enough to flow onto the golf course.  Last year was a fairly low precipitation year at Sandpines, but with the wet spring, water started to flow onto the golf course around June.  It only lasted for a couple of weeks, and only flowed off of the golf course in one spot (near hole 2 lake), and even then it was just a trickle.  In years with a wet fall, the water from the lakes and ponds usually starts flowing onto Sandpines around the start of January, give or take a few weeks.  This year water started flowing onto the course from the north around January 8th.  By Janurary 15th, the flowing water had worked its way through the course and started flowing off of the golf course in two locations ( near hole 2 and hole 5 lakes).  It had been at least 2 years prior to this year since water flowed off of the golf course in the drain area near hole 5.  During that time, a drain become clogged down stream.  When the water began flowing recently, it began to backup, and made more than a couple of home owners nervous.  Thankfully, the clogged drain was discovered and the clog was removed before any damage occurred.

This drain was clogged, but thankfully, property damage was avoided

The weather went from horrible to fantastic within a couple of days.  Wednesday and Thursday this week were sunny with blue sky.  The weather is looking good for the week ahead, so get your clubs out and go golfing.

Cold Weather, Brush Clearing, and Environmental Stewardship

It has been a cold start to 2011.  My usual two minute commute to work has been taking closer to ten minutes due to defrosting.  I definitely prefer defrosting over dodging rain drops, and I am sure many people would agree.  Despite some frost delays, the golf course has opened for play every day of the new year so far prior to 11:00 am.

The weather forecast looks quite a bit wetter starting today.  Speaking of wet weather, the final precipitation total for 2010 was 83.32 inches.  A full thirty inches more than 2009 (53.03 inches). 

The old Cushman deck mower  used to mow brushy areas outside the primary rough has been utilized during our recent frost delays.  It does not get around very well during wet conditions, so the frost delays are really the best time to catch-up on knocking down the salal and small pines that invade the areas adjacent to the primary rough.  Mulching these areas before they get out of hand and require far more labor intensive means of removal is good utilization of frost delay time.  There are plenty of these brushy areas to keep us busy for quite some time.

Love that blue sky!

The green on hole four does not receive enough sun light to sustain healthy turf.  This is notoriously our weakest green during the winter.  We began removing trees in order to reduce the amount of shade cast on the green last winter.  During the recent frost delays, we have been selectively removing trees in order to increase the amount and duration of sunlight the green receives.  This project should be completed for this year over the next week or two.  This project will likely be ongoing and will be evaluated each year.

Kelsey Meyers works in the golf shop at Sandpines when she is not busy taking college classes.  Recently she had an opportunity to get some extra credit in her Psychology 215 class.  The assignment basically consisted of researching and writing a short paper on  the impact businesses were having on the environment.  Kelsey chose to look deeper into the operation here at Sandpines, and more specifically at the effect golf course maintenance has on the environment. 

Kelsey and I met and discussed how the golf course is managed with regards to fertilization and pest management strategies.  We also went over how clippings are recycled back on to the course.  I explained how tree and brush debris are utilized to create wildlife habitat.  Kelsey was surprised to learn of the extensive water testing that had been recently completed, and that none of the fertilizer or pest control products used at Sandpines were detected.

Below are a few selections from Kelsey's paper.

"I knew from watching the maintenance crew that there are chemicals that are applied, frequent mowing, and other necessary work that is done to the course to ensure its playability.  I had always assumed that these efforts were harmful to the environment in some or many ways, but after an interview with our superintendent, I realize I could not have been more wrong." - Kelsey Meyers

"Cultural practices are a very important part of pest management.  We strive to keep the turf healthy.  Healthy turf is less susceptible to pest (weeds, diseases, and insects) infestations, and therefore require less chemical control products.  Cultural practices such as aeration, topdressing, and dew removal are important processes that help keep turf healthy, thereby reducing the incidence of pest infestations." - Eli McGallian

"After meeting with the superintendent of the golf course, I feel more at ease knowing that the company I am working for is not only not contaminating the water supply and surrounding areas, but it is actually working in the direction on being self sustaining.  Whether it is the creation of new habitats for the animals on the course, using the grass clippings to fertilize the land, or the responsible practices of using and disposing of chemicals, these actions show Sandpines in not having the negative effect on the natural environment surrounding the course." - Kelsey Meyers

Great job Kelsey.  Thank you for your interest in learning more about how the golf course in managed.