Steven tidying up 4 green after spiking and rolling on 2/24/12

The weather earlier this week was awful.  Thankfully, on Wednesday afternoon the rain stopped.  Thursday was a beautiful day, and so far today is even better.  We were able to get the fairways mowed this week despite the 3.4 inches of consecutive from from last Thursday and until Wednesday of this week.  Being built on a sand dune definitely has its advantages.

Jerry mowing 15 fairway

This week, the tee yardage markers were edged, pot holes have been filled on gravel paths, tee marker restoration was initiated, height of a few sprinkler heads was adjusted, several wet areas were hand aerated with cup cutters and back filled with sand, the turf in the wet area between 5 green and the cart path was removed and capped with sand, and leveling of the area next to the cart path near 4 green was continued.  In addition, the greens, collars, approaches, tees, and fairways were all mowed.  The greens were also spiked and rolled.  It was a pretty productive week considering the foul weather we started off with.

Jerry working on the wet area behind 5 green

Jerry worked on the wet area behind 5 green during our worst weather early in the week. He scraped off the soggy turf and capped the area with sand.  Once we accumulate some aeration cores, we will put cores and seed on the sandy slope in order to establish turf.

Area behind 5 green capped with sand after turf was removed

2 green basking in the sun on 2/15/12

The weather on Wednesday was spectacular.  We started off with a frost delay, but it warmed up quickly and actually was close too tee shirt weather by noon.  The blue sky and brilliant sunshine really has me itching to play some golf sometime soon.

7 green

I have received a number of compliments on how well the greens are rolling lately.  The growth has picked up over the last couple weeks, so we have been mowing and rolling the greens a bit more frequently.  The recent top dressings have also had an impact by filling depressions and imperfections helping to create a smoother surface.

Hawk enjoying a snack on 14 fairway

Earlier this week there was a hawk eating what appeared to be seagull on 14 fairway.  On closer inspection, the prey turned out to be a kite instead of a seagull.  The next day I spotted the hawk in a tree being pestered by a bunch of crows.  I need to work on getting a fancy camera like David Phipps at Stone Creek so I can get better detail, but at least these give you the general idea.  By the way David's blog just hit 40,000 page views.  If you have not seen it yet, check it out (http://stonecreeksuper.blogspot.com/).

Hawk in a tree being annoyed by crows

It was a productive week for the maintenance staff.  The greens, approaches and tees were all fertilized.  So far, the greens have been mowed twice and rolled once since Monday.  Other accomplishments included:  tee divots were filled, sprinkler heads around the greens were edged, a couple more stumps were removed, pampas grass plants around the clubhouse were trimmed, fairway mower reels and bed knives were ground, and cleaning out of  the clubhouse parking lot drains was initiated.

7 fairway wet spot renovation in progress

The wet spot on the left side of 7 fairway that is located about 60 yards from the green was also renovated this week.  The organic layer that was impeding infiltration was removed and replaced with sand, and then seeded.  It will take some time to recover, but the area should be vastly improved once the grass fills in.

Turf damage caused by cart traffic

There seems to be an increasing amount of turf damage caused by cart traffic occurring just off the cart paths next to tee boxes.  The area pictured above is next to 10 white tee, but similar turf damage is popping up next to several other tee boxes as well.  Please park fully on the path while teeing off.  If another cart or mower should need to pass, they can go around your cart or wait until you are finished teeing off.  If we do not correct these bad parking habits, we are going to be looking at mud holes next to tees for a long time.

Jerry rolling 14 green, while Matt repairs ball marks and whips debris

The weather over the past week has been a bit warmer.  The days have been mostly cloudy except for Wednesday, which yielded almost 9/10's of an inch of rain.  While it has been nice not having any frost delays, I am starting to miss the sunshine.

Jim top dressing a tee box on hole 18

This week the tees were mowed and top dressed.  The greens were mowed twice (so far) and rolled.  The collars and approaches were mowed.  The fairways were fertilized.  The rough was spot mowed, mostly 1 to 2 passes around the greens and tees.  Two of the large stumps left of 4 green were removed.  Several areas were hand aerated with our unique cup cutter technique.

Dean preparing to grind the collar mower reel

Dean recently ground the greens mower and collar mower reels.  He will begin grinding the approach mower and fairway mower reels soon.  Dean also replaced batteries in multiple golf carts this week.

15 green with hydraulic oil spots from leak on 1/23/12

The hydraulic oil spots on 14, 15, and 16 greens appeared to be a little more evident this week.  If you look closely at the picture above, you can see some strawed colored grass. At this point, I am still hoping we will not have to perform any turf repairs.

Sailor's warning sunrise on 1/29/12

The weather at Sandpines has been decent so far this week.  The rain we had this week came mostly on Tuesday night, so it did not impact our work on the golf course.  The forecast for the next few days looks sunny and dry, so it would be a great time to come and play a round.

Jerry top dressing 7 green

The top dresser was repaired last week, and was put back into action on Monday.  The greens and approaches were top dressed, and this time there were no leaks.  The greens were groomed prior to topdressing, and the rain washed the sand in nicely.  The greens are looking and putting pretty well.  The growth on the greens has picked up a little over the past two weeks.  So far, the oil spots on 14, 15, and 16 greens from last weeks hydraulic leak do not look any worse than they did last week.

Steven cleaning up debris in a bunker

The bunkers still had quite a bit of debris in them from our recent wind storms.  Steven cleaned out the bunkers ahead of the sand pro on Wednesday.  A couple of path areas and trees that we did not get to last week were also cleaned up.  At this point, other than some new stumps, I think most of the cleanup from the wind storms has been taken care of.

New air hose reel in the shop

This winter we have been making an effort to get the maintenance shop cleaned up.  With the economy being what it is, like most businesses we have been challenged to do more with less.  In order to accomplish our goals on the golf course with fewer people and resources, the maintenance shop often takes a backseat.  It is far easier to perform service and repairs on equipment in a shop that is clean and organized.  Our strategy this winter has been to work on one area of the shop at a time when we get an opportunity. So far, we have accomplished quite a bit, but still have a ways to go.  Our most recent accomplishment was adding two hose reels that keep our air hoses out of the way when not in use.  We had a couple of air hoses that needed to be replaced.  By shopping around, I was able to find a hose reel complete with the hose for not much more than the air hose itself.  They were installed in strategic locations that allow us to cover the entire shop.

Siuslaw High School Golf Benefit Tournament Form

On February 25th, Sandpines will be hosting a benefit tournament for the Siuslaw High School Golf Program.    The tournament is a 9 hole scramble with a 2 pm shotgun start. The cost is $45 per player with all proceeds going to the Siuslaw High School Golf Program.  If you would like to participate, you can use the form above or get one from the golf shop.

The weather is looking much better this week

Thankfully, the horrible weather from last week has moved on.  Yesterday afternoon was sunny with mostly blue sky.  It is pretty chilly this morning, but should be a great day for golf after the frost is gone.  It definitely feels more like golf weather again.

Steven cleaning up tree debris behind 9 green

We lost an estimated 25-30 trees during last weeks wind storms.  We spent the majority of our time this week working on clearing trees and picking up debris.  Other than the mess that was created by the storm, the golf course did not suffer any major damage. After the mess was cleaned up, we were able to get the greens, collars, approaches, and tees mowed this week.  The greens were also rolled.

Jerry used the forks on the tractor to get trees moved efficiently

We started to top dress the greens this week, but had to stop when one of the hydraulic motors on the top dresser blew a seal.  Unfortunately, The motor is located on the very back of the top dresser and can't be seen by the operator.  To make matters worse, spreading sand over the the hydraulic oil on the turf makes it almost impossible to see the leak unless you are using dry sand (which we do not have due to our recent wet weather).  Consequently, we ended up with some hydraulic oil on 14, 15, and 16 greens.  At this point, we are waiting to see how the turf will recover.  Right now, it does not impact ball roll. However, if the turf dies in the areas where the leak occurred, we may have to due some turf repairs.

Hydraulic oil spots on 16 green two days after leak occurred

View from the clubhouse green on 1/15/12

The great weather we were having took a turn for the worse this week.  Over the past few days, we have seen snow, sleet, hail, ice, rain, and high winds.  The snow is all gone at this point, but the rain and high winds are still present while I am writing this post.

This tree blew down near 7 tees

Several trees have blown down between yesterday and today.  When safe to do so, we will begin working on removing the downed trees and tree debris.

Trees blown over on hole 3

On hole 14, sand blew out of the front green side bunker and onto the left half of the green. Once we can safely get to work on removing the excess sand, it shouldn't take to long to get the green in playable condition.

Sand on 14 green

The clubhouse also sustained some damage from the high winds.  A small section of the shingle siding has blown off and ended up on 18 green and the clubhouse putting green.

Missing shingles on the clubhouse

From what I have seen so far, none of  the damage to the golf course or clubhouse looks major.  We will begin to get things cleaned up and repaired once it is safe to begin working.

Another beautiful day at Sandpines

The weather has been spectacular this week.  There have been some frost delays, but once the sun comes up, the golf course is a beautiful place to be.  I was able to get out and play a round last Friday.  My game was a little rusty, but I had a great time.

Jerry planting dunegrass on the dune adjacent to hole 7

Jerry has been planting dunegrass on the dune adjacent to hole 7.  Hopefully, the planted dunegrass will thrive and help stabilize the dune and help prevent further encroachment on to the 7th hole.  We have been using the encroaching sand for top dressing and other projects, but as you can see from the picture, we have not been able to keep up.

View from the top of the dune looking towards 7 green

The wooded area on the southwest corner of the driving range has been a good hiding spot for range balls.  During a couple of frost delays this week, the trees were limbed up, the tree debris was cleaned up, and the salal was mowed and weedeated.  There was estimated to be 300-400 golf balls recovered during the time the work was completed.

Wooded area on the driving range before it was cleaned up

Wooded area on the driving range after most of the cleanup had taken place

On Monday, the tees, tee surrounds, and approaches were fertilized.  The tee surrounds in particular were looking pretty hungry and already look much better since the application.

New signs are located near the first and tenth tees

A couple of weeks ago, I included a picture and some commentary with regards to the lack of bunker raking that was occurring by some players.  In response, one of annual pass holders at Sandpines suggested that we put up some reminder signs.  This morning, two signs (pictured above) were installed in two locations.  One near the first tee, and one near the tenth tee.