Hole 11 prepped for EARS (Eugene Area Radio Stations) Tournament

Sandpines has received over three quarters of an inch of rain so far today. The last time we had this much rain in one day was on May 8th. We really need the rain. According to the forecast, the sunny weather will be returning tomorrow, so I am going to enjoy the rain today. What a perfect opportunity for a blog post.

Jerry venting the clubhouse practice putting green

The greens were vented at the beginning of last week. The tiny holes healed up quickly. They were only visible for a few days. Venting is great because the holes don't have much impact on play. The greens get the benefits of improved gas exchange and infiltration. Venting is one of the reasons we have been able to keep our greens in such good condition. It allows us to keep the greens healthy in between hollow core aeration events.

Putter cam

During my last post, I mentioned we had a hydraulic leak on 13 green. Unfortunately, three weeks later, we had another hydraulic leak on 14 green. It was similar in severity. This time the culprit was a hydraulic line instead of a lift arm. All hydraulic hoses on the greens mower were replaced after the leak on 14 green. Hopefully, we will not have any more hydraulic leaks on greens. Both greens are healed up nicely at this point.

Robert from Leisure Excavating removing sand off the cart path

We recently reached an agreement with Leisure Excavating to have them remove sand from the cart path behind the tees on hole 8. The encroaching dune can make it a real pain to keep the path navigable for golf carts and maintenance equipment. The big loader that Leisure has makes quick work of the sand. The sand removal typically takes place in the morning between 8:00 and 8:30 before players arrive. They can move more sand in 20 minutes with their equipment than we can in 2 hours with ours. This allows us to spend more of our time working on the golf course.

Peterson working on the rough mower

One of the challenges we have been facing over the last couple of months is mowing rough. Our Toro 4700D has been in the shop for a few different issues. It started off with a cracked cylinder head. Then, it was having some issues with the injector pump and injectors. Peterson has been working on it while juggling all the other maintenance and repairs that are needed to keep the golf course equipment operating. There were several weeks we were using our Toro 3500D (surrounds mower) and Laztec Articulator (previously retired) in order to get the rough mowed. Working with diesel injectors and injector pumps requires special test equipment in order to properly diagnose problems. It took awhile to acquire these items. The Toro 4700D  is currently operating, but not at 100%. Peterson is in the process of making and installing custom shims in order to get the mower performing at its best.

Filling multiple divots

Thank you to those of you who have been filling your divots. I noticed the lady in picture above filling multiple divots while waiting for her turn to hit. I thanked her for filling so many divots and snapped the picture. I know there are many other people that fill multiple divots as well, so I thought I would take this opportunity to thank you. Your efforts do make a difference, so keep up the good work.