Jim Kearns watching his well struck second shot on hole 12
during the Turkey Shoot Tournament held 11/25/12

The storm that came through prior to Thanksgiving brought damaging amounts of wind and rain to many throughout the northwest. Sandpines made it through relatively unscathed. The high winds sent a snag crashing down on hole 9, caused a couple of new leaning trees between holes 3 and 4, and a fair amount of needles and small branches throughout the course. We had the majority of tree debris that was in play cleaned up pretty quickly. Most of the work the storm created for the maintenance staff was created by the heavy rain. Almost every bunker washed out to some degree. Jerry and Steven had the unenviable task of prepping the bunkers following the storm. Repairing bunker washouts is hard work, and those two did a great job. By Thursday morning, we had the course in great playing condition.

Earlier that week, a couple of culverts located in the gravel path between 6 green and 7 tees were repaired. The two small sink holes in the back of 10 green were also repaired.

12 green soaking up some sun

The greens, collars, approaches, tees, and fairways were all mowed this week. The greens and approaches were also top dressed. In addition, we made some progress on cart path edging, sprinkler head edging, and golf cart repairs. Peterson has been busy in the shop performing various equipment maintenance and repairs.

View from 12 green

Hole 16 basking in the sun

The grass growth is starting to taper off a bit, but there was still enough growth to necessitate mowing of all turf areas this week. Most of our time this week was spent mowing. However, we were also able to hand aerate a few wet spots, edge some cart paths, edge sprinkler heads, edge tee yardage markers, fill some driving range tee divots, roll greens, fertilize approaches, and fertilize greens.

The golf course continues to be in great shape, and we are receiving compliments on course conditions daily. Thanks for all the great feedback, the agronomy staff really appreciates the recognition for all the hard work.

Steven mowing 18 green

On Thursday, the greens were walk mowed for the first time in quite awhile. The greens triplex mower was in the shop for repairs, so we broke out the walk mowers. Jerry, Steven, and Jim did a nice job mowing and got some good exercise in the process.

Sand Pro

Peterson received some kudos from the Agronomy staff for his work on the Sand Pro this week. The Sand Pro had been in need of some repairs for some time, but it just kept falling down the priority list. It made the list this week, and Steven and Bob both said that it has never run better or had more power. It was only running at about 60% until the repairs were made, which made bunker work challenging and inefficient.

Analyzing macroinvertebrates with Mr. Marohl

Last Thursday (11/8/12), I had the opportunity to go on a field trip with my son Dylan. Mr. Marohl's Stream Team class visited Knowles Creek. We started off by getting into chest waders at the Siuslaw Middle School. Then, we went to Archie Knowles Campground. The class was broken up into three groups. Each group was tasked with evaluating the creek in different locations. Each group took multiple samples in order to evaluate the water quality of the creek. Data collected included:  temperature of the creek, the oxygen content of the creek, the pH of the creek, and the macroinvertebrate population within the creek. Everyone seemed to have a great time with the hands on learning approach that field trips offer. The weather cooperated nicely, and the only rain we saw during the trip was as we were leaving.

The following information was obtained from Andy Marohl's Siuslaw Middle School homepage:

Stream Team is a class focused on watershed ecology and the importance of salmon to our area. The class learns about salmon, their life cycle, and how to keep their habitats healthy. They also learn about the importance of riparian zones, water, and the requirement it takes to maintain proper conditions for a dynamic and diverse ecosystem. Students study and monitor local streams and become the next generation of guardians of the watershed.

Hands on learning

We are hoping to host one of Mr. Marohl's classes for a field trip at Sandpines in the near future. First Green is a very successful program in Washington State in which local schools use golf courses as learning labs. I think it would be a great benefit if we could do something similar at Sandpines.

Panoramic shot of the 18th hole

I have been using my new camera the last couple of weeks. The picture above was my first attempt at taking a panoramic shot. I thought it came out pretty good, so I decided to share it.

We are now hitting on the mats at the driving range

We have been able to keep the driving range tee open to this point due to the warmer weather. Now that the weather is getting cooler, we need to switch over to the mats. By switching to hitting off mats now, the driving range tee should be in good shape when we open it up in the spring.

Hole 16

I am continuing to receive a number of compliments on the condition of the golf course. The course is looking and playing great. The weather is looking good for tomorrow, so get out and enjoy a round.

The video below was taken this morning. You never know what you might encounter on the golf course. I hope you enjoy it.

Peterson captured the video below while I was dragging dew off 7 fairway with my one man dew dragging creation.

18 fairway mowed with a black and white pattern

We had quite a productive week. The sunken area in the fairway on hole 4 was repaired. The eroded bunker face on hole 10 was stabilized. A sprinkler head near 14 approach was moved to create more uniform irrigation coverage. The cart path at the practice area was edged.  Additionally, the greens, collars, approaches, tees, and fairways were all mowed.

Aeration holes have grown in nicely

The recovery from the greens aeration is going really well. There are still a few areas here and there where aeration holes can be seen, but for the most part they are pretty much healed over. The greens are rolling pretty good considering greens aeration took place less than three weeks ago.

The weather has been good for growing grass, but it has also been good for Microdochium nivale, which is the fungal pathogen responsible for the Microdochium patch disease (aka Pink Snow Mold, aka Fusarium patch). If you look to the right of the golf ball in the picture above, you can see a small spot of Microdochium patch. Most of the greens have some Microdochium patch, with some being worse than others. There is not much you can do when the conditions are perfect for the disease. We treated for the disease before and after greens aeration. We will treat for it again when we get a break in the weather.

Eroded bunker edge on hole 10

The bunker edge on the left of hole 10 has been in need of stabilization for some time. The bunker edge has eroded over the years, bringing the bunker edge closer and closer to the green. Jerry came up with the idea to use stacked sod and create a wall to stabilize the edge. Sand was packed behind the sod wall and capped with aeration cores. The picture above is what the bunker looked like before the repair. The picture below is what the bunker looks after the sod wall was installed. Once the cores and seed are grown in, it should look really good.

Jerry tamping the seed and aeration cores