Hole 9 soaking up the sun

The weather forecast for the next several days is looking good for golf. The greens have healed up pretty well and are rolling decently. It would be a great time to get out and enjoy a round at Sandpines. We have a fantastic $39 special (includes cart) going on right now for Oregon and Washington residents. Use the coupons on the image below to receive the special pricing.





I have been receiving a number of questions about the project going on near the 8 tee complex. We are working on a new tee to the left of the cart path. The teeing areas that are the most heavily utilized are small and get chewed up rather quickly. Currently, the tees are either kept on the chewed up areas or are pushed back to a longer yardage in order give the divots a chance to fill in. The plan is to add more tee space with a similar yardage, which will also provide a different perspective. This project also gives us a chance to use some of the abundance of sand that has accumulated behind the tee complex. The picture below gives a sneak peek of what a future tee shot might look like. We still have a ways to go before the project is complete. At this point we do not have a time frame for the completion of the project, but I will keep you posted.

If you have played lately, you may have noticed the white dots near the edges of the collars. The dots indicate where the green/collar edge should be. As we mow the greens over the course of the year, the edges have a tendency to creep in or out a little. The dots are just a guide we use when mowing to get our collar width more consistent.

Jerry aerating the tees on hole 10

The month of October was a blur. We started the month by finishing up the aeration of the fairways. Then, the tees were aerated. Next, the greens were aerated and top dressed. After that, the approaches were aerated and top dressed.

Greens aeration process on hole 2

The driving range tee was also aerated, seeded, and top dressed. We have also been top dressing fairways over the last couple of weeks, hopefully we will finish them up next week.

Jerry top dressing the fairway on hole 9

View of 17 green from 18 red tee

We are getting closer to completing the fairway aeration process. The fairway on the 18th hole is all that remains. Hopefully, we will have that done early next week. If all goes well, tee aeration will be completed following fairway aeration. Greens aeration is coming up in a couple weeks. We will begin following play on Sunday October 20th. The golf course will be closed to complete the process on Monday October 21st and Tuesday October 22nd. Approach aeration will take place once the greens have been completed.

The cart path behind 8 tees is now open

The cart path behind 8 tees had to be closed several weeks ago due to sand accumulation. Last week we took delivery of a loader and dump truck that are on loan to help us deal with the sand that has piled up on the golf course. Our first order of the business was to clear the path behind 8 tees so the cart path could be opened up. We will be working in the area off and on as long as we have the use of the equipment. We installed a Road Work Ahead sign in the area where we will be working. Please use caution when you are in the area, as it can be difficult to see golf carts when operating large pieces of equipment.

Green surface following a light groom last Friday

We have been keeping plenty busy out on the golf course, so I have not had much time to devote to blogging lately. Our main focus in addition to performing routine golf course maintenance tasks has been fairway aeration. It has been a slow process, but we have made some headway. So far, all of the par fours have been completed. We are currently working on hole 3. If all goes well we hope to finish hole 3 today. That leaves holes 7, 12, and 18. The par three fairways will be completed when we aerate approaches.

Sandpines has received some rain over the past few days and there is a huge difference between the fairways that have been aerated and those that have not. The aerated fairways have not had any standing water on them what so ever. On the other hand, the fairways that have not been aerated puddle up quickly and are extremely slow to drain. It is nice to see all the time and effort we are putting into fairway aeration paying off.

Jerry aerating and Thaddeus harvesting on 3 fairway

Last Friday, we took a break from fairway aeration to mow and groom the greens with walk mowers. It had been quite some time since we last walk mowed greens. Our triplex greens mower is not currently outfitted with grooming reels (they are in the process of being rebuilt), so using the walk mowers was the only way to get some much needed grooming accomplished. Check out the picture at the top of this post to see the green surface after grooming.

Jerry walk mowing 15 green

3 green basking in the sun

This week we were able to be a bit more productive with regards to fairway aeration. Fairways on holes 4, 9, 10, and 13 have been completed and the fairway on hole 1 was started. That may not sound like much progress, but considering we didn't even finish an entire fairway last week it was a huge improvement.

15 green

In addition to fairway aeration, we have pretty much just been focused on routine golf course maintenance tasks such as mowing, changing hole locations, maintaining and repairing equipment, fertilizing, and making minor repairs to the irrigation system.

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