July Course Update
The ole saying... "Dog Days of Summer"... How did they get me resting in those nicely groomed bunkers on #8.
Early in July, we had a few windstorms that were pretty intense. We lost a few giant tree limbs. The top picture fell within 30 minutes of a Monday golf outing on #1. Oh boy...
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| There are 2 "rough" maple trees that fell from high winds and weak tree limbs. Unfortunately, these will have to come out for safety reasons. |
Wow, most of July has been a test for a lot of us Wisconsin turf nerds. Daily temperatures nearing record highs for almost 2 weeks straight with mid 90's and high humidity levels = pull hair out = stressful time for us... I must take a hint from these construction workers next time...
Luckily, the course fared reasonably well throughout the intense stretch of weather we had through the beginning to mid July. Generally, when humidity goes up, green speeds go down slightly due to higher water contents absorbed in the leaf tissues and those plant tissues not being able to "respire" (retaining water inside the leaf blades). Thankfully, on July 18th we finally got some much overdue rainfall. Our last good rainfall was on July 1st. We were due! Overall, the course held up well and we were able to control the main diseases that affect the turf during these high stressful times.
This is the bad thing with rainstorms. NOOOO. The bunkers here at OGC are a known problem with inconsistencies with their construction, design, and composition. We hope to fix these items in a much larger scale restoration/renovation. Yuck...
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| Normal Bunker Washouts with Rainstorms = Soil/Rock/Sand Contamination |
We did see a few isolated spots throughout the course whether it be from irrigation sprinkler heads or irrigation controllers not working correctly and a few diseases on the banks of the #10 forward tee. On Sunday of the Ross Cup, Mike and I were out troubleshooting an irrigation controller between each group. There were 18 sprinkler heads not working. Sorry for those on #6 tee that had to dodge a sprinkler when hitting. This was another problem with that controller that day. The most affected area on the course happened to be on the #9 forward tee. We believe the irrigation controller wasn't working properly on the forward tee which caused the tee to become predominantly "moisture stressed" and turn the top of the tee stark brown. We plan to hand water that tee for the next few weeks to see if we can get it to rebound. You can even see some small footprints from that.. :)
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| Irrigation controller not working correctly on #9 forward tee |
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| Never seen this before... Usually I see cart tracking when moisture stressed, but never from walking. :( |
Odds and Ends...
One item we will be looking at in the foreseeable future is to verticut fairways at OGC. A sales person from Georgia was in town (beating the heat, I guess) and had his verticutter implement to show off. We ended up trying it on the range chipping fairway. Works great but debris collection would be the next concern. Overall, verticutting helps condition the plants to grow healthier and ultimately firm up playing surfaces. It removes the unwanted "soft, spongy" thatch/organic matter under the turf's surface.
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| Nearest Lines = blown off turf from vertuctting. No impact to play on fairways when blown off. |
Thanks to our handy mechanic, Smokey, he was able to update the #12 counter to a more presentable surface.
Our team began auditing our irrigation system and turning on sprinklers to see if they needed repairs, what types of parts were in them, and troubleshoot any not working correctly. The added bonus for Joel, our assistant, was on those hot days he didn't mind getting close to those sprinklers getting him wet as if he spent his day at Noah's Ark.
Our team did have a few course tee marker setup mistakes but have since been able to correct those quickly by painting some tee blocks half red/half gold and on #9 half white/gold.
One focus in July was to begin squaring the tee boxes on the course. We noticed coming out of the winter tee edges were a little wavy and wanted to see if we could straighten them out. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to do this in the Spring, given the condition of the irrigation system and lack of an assistant, but we are starting to work on these detail items now.
Another item completed in July, was bringing in an Arborist for a tree review. Almost every year, OGC has brought this consultant in to take a look at the trees. The focus in the past was on infected Imprelis trees. The Greens and Grounds Committee wanted to get a tree assessment specifically the ash trees. Unfortunately, all of the ash trees are showing signs of Emerald Ash Borer Infection (~30 trees). The Arborist recommended these trees could not be saved given the infection of EAB. We've known about Emerald Ash Borers for at least 6-8 years, but even treated trees are starting to show signs of infection.
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| Emerald Ash Borer Infection - Left of #15 - were treated here before my tenure. Didn't work. |
Starting in July, we have had a team member begin to prune some much needed trees on the property. We will be pruning some limbs that our team cannot cut safely in August by hiring a contractor to come in for a day. Stay tuned for those. :)
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| Pruning to be done in August - Bring on the Tree Climbers |
New's Flash... Don't leave your moon roofs open or windows for that matter. :)
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| I've seen it all now. A duck on top of a Car! Must have been checking out the Moon Roof. |
