A Blast of The Past

 Hello Members of Oconomowoc Golf Club,

As we watch the rain fall 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!

Lake front property?

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!

New Sod Not Meant for Cart Traffic

Here is proof of a cart that drove through freshly laid watered sod on the new bunker complex on hole #5.  Sure it's between #5/#11 and a ball may have allegedly landed in this area but no reason to drive right into this brand new area!

This is why we've stressed to stay away from the front 9 holes while the project is still underway.  Please use caution when playing to help us all out!

OGC Rocks?

Breaking news we have discovered rocks!

 Once again we ask that you please try to avoid driving around the front 9 during the project.  We have a lot of things going on out there and we don't have areas roped and staked off.  These areas are freshly sculpted, maybe soft, watered, and have no root systems...    We ask for your patience as we work on the front 9! Please reach out with any questions!

Poll Results

 What's your favorite golf hole results...

Label	Value	%
#10	4	12%
#11	2	6%
#12	2	6%
#13	3	9%
#14	9	27%
#15	2	6%
#16	6	18%
#17	3	9%
#18	2	6%

Driving around on Front 9

 Please try to avoid driving around the front 9 during the project.  We have a lot of things going on out there and we don't have areas roped and staked off.  These areas are freshly sculpted, maybe soft, watered, and have no root systems...    We ask for your patience as we work on the front 9!  

Bunker Update

Course Updates:

Back 9: The back nine is growing nicely as of right now.  The only reason we are keeping the ropes and stakes up is to control traffic on the newly sodded areas.  Traffic on these areas will not produce great root systems.  We will plan to update some of these areas in the next coming week or so.  Regardless, ALL of these areas can be played normally and ARE NOT Ground Under Repair anymore.  We will be pulling all of the ground under repair signs this week.  This picture below shows us where NOT to put bunker rakes.  We should be entering and exiting the bunkers on the low sides!!!

Front 9 Bunkers: As we sit here on 5/7, the front 9 is taking shape.  Hollembeak construction has worked on holes #2 thru #8 so far.  Most of the bluegrass sodding has taken place around the newly constructed bunkers and soon they will plan to start relocating bentgrass to these same holes from #2 through #8.  The front 9 definitely has had a lot of irrigation work done to it for these bunkers.  At the end of the project, I'll post some crazy stats on the number of feet of irrigation pipe we've used!  

Architect:  Rich Mandell has made 2 site visits so far this Spring while the project is underway.  He is expected to be here early next week too for his 3rd visit.  Here he is painting the bunker line for hole #3!

All in a days work:  Here are two photos of #8 in just a days work with Hollembeak.  The bottom photo is the start of the bunker and then a day later we have a new bunker built.  Yes, it will be nasty and all one bunker so don't plan to hit into it!

Rocks!!! - And you said it was just in the bunkers.... No, we have boulders in the fairways just 3.5" down from the surface.  This leads to major equipment breakdowns and not being able to manicure these fairways to the next level!  We've also found a buried dead tree in one of the banks as they have been shaping a bunker on #8.    

 

This one is from the bunker on #2.  Yes, we could shut down and be a Crary, i mean quarry at this point...

Bunker Shaping:  Here is a new bunker rough shaped on #8.  Once the architect comes in to make a few tweaks, it will be ready to start edging and spraying the liner.  After the liner goes down, sodding and sanding the new double diamond sand next comes into these sites!

Maintaining: This project has definitely pushed our limits on maintaining the course and also working on the project.  I give for credit for our staff in working tirelessly on the course to give the membership a great product.  This spring has been even more challenging as we don't have our peak staff until mid-June.  Which means everything will be already done when we finally get our full staff in.  This is also a big learning curve for us here at the G&G department, and also something that will take us time to mow.  Here is Adam trying out a demo unit but as you can see, these new bunkers will not be exciting to maintain on our end!

Shaping on #3 a week ago...

Shaping on #5 a few weeks ago...

Rain, Rain, Storm, Rain, Storm Repeat

Update: 4/18 Yet another batch of storms raced through Southeast Wisconsin last night.  We received another 1.04" of rainfall and wind.  The course has held up well except #13/#14.  Please follow the cart rules!!!  It's now rained 12 out of 18 days in April...

Update: 4/16 In five straight days, we have had around 5" of rainfall, storms, wind, and straight line winds.  The course overall did well but please take your time when your out here.  Please don't drive in low areas (not like people leaving the Brewer game and getting stuck in rivers of water).  There is still lots of things to work on and fix but we are also trying not to damage things as well out there.  We are trying to mow these steep hillsides today so it will be a learning curve for us.  The course is all staked off like before, but remind you all to follow the signage out there, especially after these rains we've had.

The biggest impact has been a tree on the right side of #18.  This completely de-rooted itself and we have at least cut up the bulk of the tree.  There are a few others out on the course that we will attend to as we catch up on some mowing areas.  What is Spring so far.  Yikes!

The last four days have been interesting for the state. Thankfully, we had some damage but not like some of our counterparts that have flooded courses right now.  Some have received over 10" of rain.  We have had 2.95" in 4 days with the storms.  Stretches like these, remind me of the countless hours grounds crew members push through tough circumstances to make golf courses what they are each and every day.  As a whole, I'm honored to be included with such a network of peers that push through these tough times in our industry.  It's not what we signed up for, but always do it for the betterment of the golf courses we work at.  When we all have to respond to what Mother Nature gives us each day is a testament to the people that work on courses!  

Last night, the storms came through and took out 5 trees on the course.  Here is one on #18...

Who's That?

 Get to know Zach Roth 

Hello members of Oconomowoc Golf Club, I’m Zach, and I’m beyond thrilled for the opportunity of being the assistant superintendent here at OGC. I’ve heard nothing but phenomenal things about your golf course, and I can’t wait to see what this summer brings.
I grew up in Reedsburg, WI, a small-ish farming town a few miles west of the Dells. I received a degree in Biology from UW-Madison in 2014 and completed my Turfgrass Management certificate through the Turfgrass Apprenticeship Program at UW-Madison in 2024, alongside our class president Adam Lois. This is my sixth year on an agronomy team, and my 13th year working at a golf course, between my role here and my time spent as a cart attendant at Wild Rock Golf Club in the Dells and Reedsburg Country Club. 
        I’m an avid golfer, and have been playing since I was eight. I love to be outdoors (hence the career choice), and to explore new hiking trails and nature areas with my dog Ziggy. I’m a big Wisconsin sports fan, especially Badger football and hockey, and try to get to as many games as I can. If I'm not doing something outside, you can probably find me with my nose in the latest sci-fi or fantasy epic novel, or listening to the latest Goose concert.