9 green basking in the sun

The agronomy staff has been keeping busy just doing routine gold course maintenance tasks such as mowing, rolling, changing hole locations, fertilizing, hand watering, raking bunkers, repairing equipment, making irrigation adjustments, and weedeating. Our hard work is paying off, as I am continuing to receive compliments on the condition of the golf course. Most of those compliments have been specifically regarding the condition of the greens, which are rolling great.

Putter cam

The Boys & Girls Club Tournament is one of our biggest tournaments of the the year. This year it took place on Saturday May 31st. While mowing the 13th green in preparation for the tournament, one of the hydraulic lift arms blew apart, leaving a hydraulic oil spill right in the middle of the green (see the picture below). We had just enough time to get the reels cleaned up and swapped onto another mower so that the rest of the greens could be mowed prior to the start of the tournament. Needless to say, that really wasn't the way we were hoping to showcase the 13th green.

Hydraulic leak on 13 green

Jerry and I repaired the hydraulic leak with sod from the chipping green first thing on Monday following the tournament. The damaged sod was placed on the edge of the chipping green where the repair sod was taken from.

Jerry repairing the hydraulic leak on 13 green

The repair process went pretty smoothly. First, we cut the sod on both greens. Then, we took out the damaged sod from 13 green and swapped it with the good sod from the chipping green. Finally, the sod was tamped down and swept off. The repair turned out great. Hopefully, we won't have to try out our greens sodding skills again anytime soon.

Finished product

The new tee on hole 8 had filled in enough prior to the Boys & Girls Club tournament that I thought it would be fun for the players to try it out for the first time during the event. It wasn't perfect, but I think everyone enjoyed the opportunity to give the new tee a try. We will work the new tee into the rotation for regular play in the near future.

New tee on hole 8

I had a great time playing in the Boys & Girls Club Tournament. I think our group finished somewhere in the middle of the pack (67 gross). We had all the usual highs and lows associated with scramble golf. In the end, it was all about raising money for our local Boys & Girls Club and having fun in the process.

2014 Boys & Girls Club Tournament