Gorgeous day for golf

We vented the greens at the beginning of the week again this week. The tiny holes healed up quickly and didn't have to much impact on play even when they were visible. As you can see from the picture below the holes are not visible at this point. The greens took the much needed half inch of rain we received yesterday with no problem at all. The fairways on the other hand, are in need of aeration and we saw some standing water here and there. We started aerating the fairways this week, but it has been a slow process thus far. The fairway on hole nine is almost done, but we have had some equipment challenges already. Hopefully, the process will go a little smoother next week.

15 green this afternoon

We are getting into the best weather of the year at Sandpines. Get out and enjoy a round during the next couple of months and you will see what I am talking about.

In honor of the opening weekend for college football, I will end this post with the following picture.

Go Cougs!

Another great day for golf at Sandpines

Earlier this week, the greens were "vented" (sounds better than aerated) using small solid tines. The greens have seen quite a bit of traffic from mowing, rolling, fertilizing, top dressing, and playing since the last time they were aerated in late April. All of this traffic adds up and the surfaces of the greens had become compacted and sealed off. They were in need of some improved gas exchange and infiltration. Venting fulfills this with minimal disruption to the putting surfaces. There is nothing to pickup or cleanup after the greens have been vented. The greens are simply rolled and then they are ready for play. The small solid tine holes don't impact ball roll much at all. Venting of the front nine greens was completed on Monday. The back nine greens were vented on Tuesday. The practice greens were completed at the end of last week. There are many courses that have incorporated venting into there greens maintenance programs during the peak season with great success. Improving turf health without reducing putting quality is the goal.

Jerry venting 16 green

Before you get excited, yes we still need to core aerate greens. The venting process only achieves some of the benefits of core aeration. With core aeration, thatch is removed and sand channels are created for prolonged gas exchange and infiltration. With venting the benefits are fairly short lived. Therefore, ideally venting would take place every 3-6 weeks during the peak season. I think venting once per month during July, August, and September would be about right at Sandpines.

Green surface after venting and before rolling

Green surface after venting and rolling

View from behind 3 green this afternoon

It has been hard to find time to blog lately. Each time I think about it, there are always things to do on the golf course. This is the 30th consecutive day without measurable precipitation at Sandpines. Typically, there is at least a shower or two sometime during the month of July. While its not much, the rain we normally receive in July helps keep the golf course from getting overly dried out in areas with poor irrigation coverage. Jerry and I have been busy hand watering when we can, but it has been hard to keep up. We recently trained Thaddeus to hand water, which should help us out a great deal.

Earlier this week the greens were top dressed, and are rolling nicely. So far this summer, we have been alternating between mowing and rolling greens daily with good results. We are at the point in the season where the bentgrass is growing more than the Poa (annual bluegrass) on the greens. This is just the opposite from the rest of the year when the Poa is growing more than the bentgrass. If you look closely, you will notice the greens have quite a bit more bentgrass right now than they do during the winter months. Poa has the advantage in our climate for most of the year, but during July and August, the bentgrass is usually thriving. On the other hand, these are the months when the Poa is the most stressed. It is important to limit stress as much as possible in order to maintain healthy turf. With any luck, we will get a rain shower or two, which helps to relieve the stress on the Poa. It has always been my dream to receive a 1/3 of an inch of rain every third night. While I am wishing, I would also like a day time high of 72 degrees (we are not to far off at Sandpines) with a gentle afternoon breeze (5 mile per hour max).

14 green

You may have noticed the water level in lakes is pretty low lately. Two of our 5 wells on the golf course have been offline for the entire irrigation season so far. For that reason, we are not filling the lakes on holes 2 and 5. The lake on hole 18 supplies the irrigation system with water, so we have continued to keep that lake as full as possible. This should not have much of an impact on play, other than for those who skip their balls across the water (I witnessed someone make par that way just yesterday). Hopefully, we will be getting at least one of the two offline wells up and running in the near future.

18 lake level looking a little lower than normal

Yesterday, I spotted three bucks hanging out between 3 tees and 13 green. I was not lucky enough to see any sparring take place, but I did capture a few pictures. It won't be long before the bucks start locking horns.

On another wildlife note, this is the year of the rabbit at Sandpines.  I routinely see 3 or 4 rabbits while traveling on hole 9 each morning. I have seen nearly as many rabbits this year as I did in my previous six years at Sandpines combined.

The coyote population seems to be a bit more normal this year (which might explain why there are more rabbits). I have seen one here and there, but certainly not as many as last year. Come to think of it, there are also more ground squirrels running around (another coyote favorite).

3 bucks enjoying the Sandpines experience

Play at Sandpines and Escape the Heat

3 green basking in the sun

The weather in Oregon has heated up recently. Thankfully, on the coast we are hovering near 70 degrees, which is perfect for playing golf. Come out and enjoy a round at Sandpines and beat the heat at the same time.

The maintenance staff has been busy trying to keep up with all the work it takes to keep a golf course in good playing condition during peak season. Time seems to be flying by. It is hard to believe the days are already getting shorter. Most of our time recently has been spent on routine golf course maintenance tasks including:  mowing, setting up the golf course for play, rolling greens, hand watering, fertilizing, repairing and maintaining equipment, line trimming, raking bunkers, repairing weak turf areas, and making irrigation system repairs and adjustments.

My son Dylan practicing his putting stroke

I thought I would put my son Dylan on the blog to honor his first par. He participated in the Boys & Girls Club Golf Camp hosted by Sandpines last week. At the conclusion of the camp, the kids played a few holes. Dylan hit a good drive on hole 2. Then he hit it pretty close on his approach shot, nearly holing out for eagle. He narrowly missed his birdie putt, but tapped in for par. I am happy to see him enjoying the game of golf. I encourage everyone to take advantage of opportunities to learn the game. There are many programs and discounts in place for juniors to encourage participation. If you have ever heard the phrase "I bored" from your youngster, consider taking them out to the course to hit some balls, practice putting and chipping, or play 9 holes.

Hole 17

It has been almost three weeks since my last post. I have been trying to fit one in, but it just keeps falling down the priority list. We have been busy with various aspects of golf course maintenance. About three weeks ago we had some wind that top dressed 7 green for about a week straight. We used our Thatch Away verticut reels to pickup sand several times during that stretch to keep the green playable. It was probably the truest green on the course at the time, although it did look pretty sandy. Thankfully, the weather has been great the last couple of weeks, and is perfect for golf. I added a couple of pictures below to give you an idea of what the green looked like during the process. We were able to verticut and top dress the rest of the greens on the golf course this week, and they are rolling nicely.

 7 green after verticutting (picking up sand) in one direction

7 green after verticutting in 3 directions and brushing

Most of our time since my last post has been spent on routine golf course maintenance tasks such as mowing, rolling, changing hole locations, fertilizing, hand watering, raking bunkers, weedeating, filling divots, and making irrigation system repairs. Peterson has also been busy in the shop keeping the equipment in service.

Playing it where it lies

I was fertilizing greens earlier in the week when I stumbled upon the photo opportunity above. Now and again, someone hits a wayward shot on hole 7 and ends up with something like the scene above. There aren't many courses where you can end up with an approach shot like this.

Jerry mowing  number 8 green

The weather has been gorgeous the last few days at Sandpines. There is also a lot of sunshine in the forecast, so come on out and enjoy a round with us.

Site of golf ball drop on 18 fairway

Sandpines hosted the annual Fore Kids Golf Classic this past Saturday. In addition to the tournament, there was a BBQ, auction, putting contest, and helicopter golf ball drop. The proceeds raised by all the events will benefit the Boys & Girls Club of Western Lane County. I included a video of the golf ball drop below for your viewing pleasure.

12 green

Over the past few weeks we have been dealing with a mystery turf issue. I have been waiting until I had more information before I mentioned it on the blog. I sent off samples to Oregon State University and Rutgers University in an effort to get past the mystery. Neither Oregon State or Rutgers found any typical turf pathogens for commonly occurring turf diseases. Oregon State came back with a diagnosis of phytoplasma (which is like a bacteria but different?) Apparently, a vector (such as a leaf hopper) with piercing-sucking mouth parts spreads the phytoplasma to different areas. Since there are no fungicides that are labeled for phytoplasma, I was advised to keep the turf healthy and keep stress low. The Rutgers samples went out the week after the Oregon State samples. Rutgers called the issue white leaf and agreed with Oregon State about it being caused by phytoplasma. Rutgers had no way to test for phytoplasma, but felt confident about the Oregon State diagnosis. I have been in an email loop with some of the best turf experts in the industry in order to come up with the best plan of attack for moving forward. Maintaining adequate fertility, reducing stress, over seeding (in the worst areas), and reducing the vector populations were recommendations I received.

"white leaf" ?

On Thursday, I went to an Oregon Golf Course Superintendents meeting and shared the information I had with the rest of the group. There were a couple of Superintendents from other courses that were having similar turf issues. On Friday morning, I received a follow up email from Oregon State. The original diagnosis was further evaluated in the lab and was found to be a false positive for phytoplasma. So as of Friday morning, I was back to square one.

mystery turf issue

The not so good news is, the turf issue can be found on each green. Greens 1 and 2 are the worst. The better news is most people will not notice the issue on most greens. You have to look closely to distinguish the issue from Poa annua seed heads on most greens. The vast majority of the areas do not cause ball roll issues and are only aesthetic. There are however a few areas that have suffered some die back and may cause the ball to hop here and there. Most of the areas with die back are beginning to fill in with bentgrass. The bentgrass seems to be resistant to the issue. As far as I can tell, the issue is not being spread by mowers or equipment. The good news is, the greens are rolling nicely (except for the odd spot here and there) and are still very enjoyable to putt on. I will be maintaining adequate fertility and keeping stress as low as possible until we get past this mystery turf issue.