What's up with those Fairways?

Hello Members of Oconomowoc Golf Club,

We have received lots of questions about what has happened and is happening to the fairways so we are here to explain what is going on!

First of all, no it was not us practicing our wedges out on the course and no, it was not a mower malfunction. It was from a machine called a Verticutter, now you may be asking what is a Verticutter? Well, we can explain that too. The turf is happiest, healthiest, and plays the best when growing upright, however, over time and on a consistent mowing schedule the turfgrass plant starts to grow sideways and becomes intertwined with the other turf blades around it. This then can lead to what we know as thatch. Thatch leads to lots off issues such as puffy/soft playing surfaces and restricts the ability for oxygen, nutrients, and water from getting to the roots.

Photo from Greenthumb.co

Look at Steve go!

Look at all that material/thatch being removed!

Look at that mountain of organic material!

Now lots of you have seen the final product of the verticutter but maybe not right after the verticutter has come through. Yes, it does leave a mess but a good mess, you know what they say beauty is pain. Their are 2 major things that we are trying accomplish with this process, First being the removal of organic matter or commonly referred to as thatch, like we talked about before. During the process of verticutting we removed an estimated 1,601,000 liters of organic matter, that can fill 748 Subaru Outback's to the brim, 4.5 million bottles of Spotted Cow, or can fill the City of Oconomowoc water tower 1 1/2 times. This will only allow the plant to take up water more efficiently and breathe better. The second major reason for verticutting is it allows the turf blade to stand up and be mowed at its natural height. So the next time that we come through and mow after verticutting it is essentially restarting the plant at its natural height.  Ultimately, this process makes the plant healthier and for golfers, a better playing medium to play golf from.

Look at that turf stand up!

Now the clean up starts!

All hands on deck to clean up the hayfield!

This machine is called a Super 6, it works as a vacuum and sucks up any debris.  It also likes to pick up divots too :(  !

A healthy and happy turfgrass after verticutting!

Now for the question that everyone is wondering, why is there so much divots or damage out there? Well, there are a couple reasons to this. First and foremost time, it has been 8+ years since a cultural practice this aggressive has been done. So there are multiple areas where the turf is so knitted together (or tightly bound), and overgrown it isn't healthy enough to withstand growing up right. In addition, there are a couple of areas that were a little weak from the crazy weather of a year that we had. We have made several changes to the set up of the verticutter as we have continued in a effort to minimize the aesthetic damage that is being caused. We continue to make adjustments where needed and are pleased with the progress that we are making. All of the damaged areas will continue to heal and will come back healthier then before. Believe it or not, we did the same veritcutting practices to the back 9 fairways while we were closed for the bunker renovation last Fall and were very pleased with the results and the recovery. 

Verticutting is a very common cultural practice that we try to do to our greens weekly in the Spring and the Fall. This is one of the reasons, why the greens are high quality. Our greens have become very accustomed to this process and they now see it as a spa day, and are very happy to see the verticutter coming. We are hoping to reach this same level of plant health with the fairways at some point.  One other addition discussed is to topdress fairways in the future which will ultimately make verticutting less damaging and a better root zone for the OGC fairways with consistent sand additions.

As always please don't hesitate to reach out with any questions!

 

A Blast from The Past

 Hello Members of Oconomowoc Golf Club,

As we watch the rainfall from this last week, we wanted to give you a look into what this kind of rain would've done to the course pre bunker renovation!

Belly flop or flop shot?

After even the smallest rain we knew that we would have to go and pump out the bunkers

Everytime we tried our best to get as much water out of the bunker as we could, but could never get it all!

Once the water was out we would have all hands on deck in order to push and shovel the sand back up on to the the face of the bunkers. This process was one of the most labor intensive and physically demanding . To do every bunker on the course could take as long as 3 days with all hands on deck, to then have the possibility to wash out again the next day!

Its safe to say that their are still lots of things that we are learning with the new bunkers but we are extremely happy with how they have stood up against the recent storms!

As always please reach out with any questions!

First day of school, Cart paths and so much more

 Hello Members of Oconomowoc Golf Club,

You may have noticed a couple more roped off sodded areas around the course. No we aren't doing another renovation, we are just touching up a couple areas that were affected during or after the bunker renovation finished up. A lot of these areas being cart path on and off points, these areas are a pinch point for carts and are tremendously affected by the condensed cart traffic.

We have had success with a product called Traqmatz that helps protect the plant from the ware of cart tire traffic. That is what the black mats that you see out on the course and in the pictures are. Over time the turf will grow around and absorb the mats to the point that you may not be able to see them. But they are still doing their job underneath the surface.

Our team works extremely hard 7 days a week to give the best possible product to the membership. So we ask that you take a little bit of consideration when decided where and how you drive your carts. The picture below shows a tire rut that was left in front of 5 green.

This is Dylan, Dylan is a amazing member of our team. But he is also a Senior at Oconomowoc High School and apart of the KMMO hockey team. He had his first day of school the other day but not at the Highschool, he is apart of the youth apprenticeship program. So he spends his morning working and learning at the course and then spends the 2nd half of his day sitting in class leaning about not as fun stuff!.

He got up to early for his parents to take a first day picture so I asked him to pose!

What is happening on 10 green?

Hello Members of Oconomowoc Golf Club,

We hope that you are enjoying the recent freezing temps of 70 degrees as much as we are! You may have also noticed that we started several projects around the course. One of the most impactful being the changes to #10 green. As you all know we included an expansion of 10 green last fall included with the bunker renovation. We noticed over time some settling of the green expansion and this created an uneven putting surface. This has been the leading reason preventing us from lowering the height of cut to match the other greens on the course.

As you can see their were several of these depressions across the greens, preventing us from being able to get a smooth mow.

We first cut and peel back the sod then add a greens grade sand mix below the surface to smooth out the sod. The difference in color in the pictures above is the line of the old edge of the green to the green expansion.

We then gave the final product some fertilizer and water! We are going to continue doing different cultural practices in order to improve the playability of the green. We hope to restore 10 green to the same playability as all of the other greens as soon as Mother Nature allows!

Sodded and seeded areas, what's going on?

 As you may or may not have seen our two seeded areas on holes 14 and 15 are coming along very nicely. Now they may look green and healthy but they are still very fragile areas and we ask that you keep off these areas and play them as ground under repair.

In sodding news! We are very pleased with some of the fronts of fairways that were sodded this spring and as you may have noticed we have pulled the stakes around some of these areas and are now fully open to normal play and carts. As we feel more areas are ready we will remove the stakes! But for now please respect all cart signs and stakes that we have on the course!

Another spot on the course that looks a little bit different is the native area to the right of number 9. We have begun the process of restoring this area to match the other native areas. So you may have noticed some hoses and heads watering the area periodically through the day similar to the areas on 14 and 15. These areas will continue to be very soft and muddy for a little while so we ask that you stay off these areas and treat them as ground under repair.

As always we ask you to please come right to us with any questions and we will be happy to answer!

Tips and tricks for the new bunkers!

 With the new bunkers that means that we have to do things a little bit different, I was able to enlist the help from the pro shop for a couple tricks on how to get out of the new bunkers!

Like we mentioned in the video the bunkers will play a little soft for the time being as the sand is still very fresh and will take time to fully settle and firm up.

Just as a final reminder we are not trying earn our mountain climbing merit badge out on the course. We can't stress it enough to please enter and exit the bunker through the shallowest side of the bunker. This is for your safety as well the health of the bunkers. To get a extra gold star from Steve after you have hit your shot and raked the bunker please place the bunker rake on the outside of the bunker.

We want to avoid pulling sand to the edge of the bunker, as over time the sand will build up on the edge of the bunker.

We as well want to avoid leaving the rakes right on the steepest part of the slope, as this makes the rakes inaccessible to members playing behind you.

As always we ask you to please come right to us with any questions and we will be happy to answer!

Caution

 

Caution:

Sprinkler heads in Seeded Areas       

(#14 AND #15 FWYS) will turn on randomly ALL day for 3 minutes each! 

3 sprinklers on each side!

Course updates and 18 hole course opening

Here is the latest info on the course, common inquires, and its future availability.

When will the Front 9 open?

The Front 9 will open this coming Wednesday, June 24th.

When again?

Yes, Wednesday, June 24th!

What is it going to look like out there?

There is a lot of Ground Under Repair (GUR). Similar to the back 9, the front will have lots of stakes and signage out there. We need everyone to stay off of these areas in order for long term success. All bentgrass and bluegrass areas at this time will play as Ground Under Repair - Free Relief and Drop outside of that playing area. These areas are massive and marked with white paint but when in doubt, play it as GUR!!

When is #10 Green going to be a normal green?

Only Mother Nature knows! That's the short answer, the long answer is that we are doing different cultural practices each week to fully establish the green in order to push the limits once it's ready. Sodding a new green is very tricky as typical "green" mowing heights would severely hurt the health of the new sod establishment. For now, plan for #10 green to play unlike the other greens for the foreseeable future.

What is going on with the front of fairway areas?

Originally, all of the front of fairway areas were planned to be seeded. First, we need to talk about the types of grass. There are two main types of grass or sod used on the project. The first is bluegrass sod. It is used for all bunker banks and surrounds of the greens. Bluegrass sod is readily available at sod farms unlike bentgrass sod. Bentgrass is on the shorter cut turf areas on the course like, greens, tees, fairways and approaches. Similar bentgrass varieties to what we have at OGC is not readily available at sod farms. This is why we've used the front of fairways to harvest bentgrass for the project areas. Recently, the Board approved to sod bluegrass to much of these areas as we could instead of seeding. This allows for quicker establishment and allows for play to resume sooner. In the end, the only holes to be seeded will be #14 and #15 fairways. These areas cannot be walked in, drove, stepped, etc., so if a ball lands in these areas for the foreseeable future, leave the ball and we can return them to Susan as conditions allow us to go in these areas.

#10 Bentgrass harvested and prepped for bluegrass sod.

Bentgrass harvesting in progress, final product = a "swiss cake roll" of bentgrass.

Bluegrass sodding on #10 and #16.

Rain or shine, bluegrass sod installation on #9!

What's going on with the naturalized areas between #5/#7 and right of #9?
These areas were where the old bunker sand, sod, rocks, and whatever else they found.😁  These areas have been shaped and will be seeded when conditions permit.  These areas are also areas to stay clear of when searching for those golf balls...

Teamwork!   Sod delivery, check, pouring rain, check. 

Here are the OGC grounds and the Hollembeak teams, putting down bluegrass sod on #9 in the pouring rain.  Rain or shine, we have been here working each day on the Front 9 this Spring to ultimately give you a fully revamped Front 9.  The OGC grounds team has also spent time this Spring revamping the green collars on the front.  We utilized bentgrass that would have otherwise been thrown out, and repurposed it for the green collars.  These new collars are wider and more consistent with bentgrass than before.

This is how stuff gets done!

Green Collar removal and install on #2 green!