Turf report

So far so good this early melt down season.  The turf that is exposed in the high spots looks wonderful if treated for Snowmold in the fall (Greens-Tees-Fwys).  The humidity was low last week during the warm up and there was a nice breeze so no big puddles formed that could refreze and cause other issues to our turf.

  

16 approach H looks great

Note the spray lines.  When turf is not treated up here Snowmold will dominate the surface and cause damage.  

High disease pressure on upper 16 fairway H is controlled well with a two a.i. Mixture

16 green H looks fantastic

Reel grinding

Reel rebuilding and grinding is coming to an end in the shop for me which is good because that means spring is just around the corner.  Our seasonal mechanical staff will be starting soon and relieving me of the bulk shop duties so I can begin to focus on the final hiring of grounds staff and begin work in the field as the snowpack recedes.  By the time we need a mower on the turf they should all be ready to provide the highest quality cut possible to our emerging grass plants.  

Here is a close up look at a modified roller and bracket I created with the help of our local machine shop.  I had an issue with the reels digging into some of our green edges in areas that the greens took a sharp upward swoop on the edge.    This is a groomer roller that we machined to fit our 15 blade greens reels.  Works perfectly.  Our great turf equipment manufacturers come out with wonderful products but because every property is unique, modifications are necessary to enhance the ability of the equipment.  

Another look at the roller and bracket positioning 

15 blade reels are wonderful and provide a glass surface to the putting greens but you really must pay attention and have perfect positioning when completing a relief grind.  

Complete and Ready to be put back on the machines.

Heavy Fairway reels ready to go.  It's always nice to have help lifting these as they are a back buster.  

New course signage

New directional signs for Greywalls are in production right now at the shop.  

This need stems from listening to feedback from our playing guests.  Flush bathroom on the property is always the number one question followed by the direction signage.  We listen and try to act on positive feedback as time and monetary funds allow.  

The issue with our older wood signs is they became difficult to see as the weather faded the wood.  If it is your first time playing the course the signs were easy to pass up thus causing confusion in some locations and potentially leading to a wrong or missed turn. 

Stacks of cut and routed signs

The letter template gauge set up for perfect routing 

We use composite decking boards to build these signs, it is easy to cut, route and will be low maintenance.  These new signs will last for many many years.  

A close up view of a board reveals their true natural wood look.  We want the signs to blend in to the natural surrounding but not so much that you can not see them.  The older wood signs had to be sanded and resealed every year but over time they became to faded. 

We cut directional arrows on the ends to indicate the proper direction of travel.  

The letters are routed and the small frayed edges are trimmed off.  

Painting the lettering Black makes the signs Pop!!

The ends will be painted a darker brown to complete the finished look we are trying to achieve.

New 4x4 posts will be installed to mount the signs on.  

I am looking forward to enhancing the Greywalls experience with these unique customized signs.  

We took our first delivery two weeks ago.  Our hybrid Eclipse Greensmower and our GP400 returned to us after recieving several factory mandated updates.  These were completed at no cost to us and I thank Jacobsen for standing behind their products and keeping the customer happy. 

We also took delivery of our seed for the season and our drums of wetting agents.  Ordering early and in bulk saves money plus we then have the products that we utilizes on hand to use as needed.  The summer months are much to busy to worry about ordering everything, so I take the time in the winter to strategically plan bulk orders and delivery dates for the products we use every season.  

These are my latest putting green flagstick design, I call these the candle cup sticks.  I really enjoy creating these unique golf course accessories out of raw wood. I feel it sets us apart from other courses as they add a classy touch.  

Staining and sealing process

Candle cup top

I build the metal screw tips myself.  I weld a 5/16 flat top bolt onto 5/8 ID tubular steel.  Getting the bolt straight is the tricky part, then I grind off the excess weld.  After painting it grey I mount it to the wood stick with glue and a roll pin for extra strength.  

The final coating is a clear shrink wrap material called vinyl guard.  

Before and after picture of the shrink wrap process.  The vinyl guard hugs tight to the wood and adds extra strength to the flagsticks; the wood grain still remains the focal point.  

The Finished product just needs to be screwed in the cup base.  

I made three hot pink stripped sticks to put out during our wonderful ladies events.  

Cheesebrough Wooden Accessories factory tour

Last week I was down in East Lansing for the Michigan Turfgrass Conference I had the opportunity to visit the Cheesebrough Wooden golf Course Accesory factory.  It is a small family run operation in Lake Odessa Mi. that is turning out the finest products you will ever see on a golf course.  I was very impressed with the skill level and attention to detail in their products.  I look forward to doing business with them in the near future.  

A stack of their raw material, boards soon to be flagsticks 

Shop tools used in production

More shop tools used for product production, the racks behind hold the wooden rake handles and raw cut flagsticks before finishing. 

Rope stakes

Tee Markers

Flagsticks on a drying rack 

Hazard stakes drying

Putting green stick

Putting green stick

Fat flagstick

Andy holding a fat flagstick for a Full view 

Close up of the quality

My favorite is this flagstick, it is the P84 perennial design.  

Check them out at...

www.cheesebrough.com

2014 in review

2014

Another odd season slow to start then cool moist conditions persisted

Water use was very minimal 36% below our 11 year average

(all 36 holes = 17.8 million gallons used this year 27.5 million is our 11 year average) 

The addition of a walk behind Field and Brush mower made a big difference in our management of some key natural areas on the course.  Look for that to continue.

Green expansion started last fall on the remaining 5 Langford green (4,5,7,10,13). As with the other expansions in progress these areas will remain at approach height until density increases and a transition in turf varieties occurs. 

Several greens damaged (16/17-GW) from snowmold were a challenge to recover because of the early cool temps but once temperatures rose, recovery was rapid.  We were able to keep those greens open for play but with obvious limited pins and 'recovery' playing conditions until mid-August.  We were very lucky to only have those two areas damaged with the length of the 2013-2014 winter; most course did not fair so well last spring. 

An additional adjustment was made this fall to our fungicide program on those two greens because it has become an annual issue to some degree on both those surfaces. 

UW once again is running a very extensive snowmold fungicide trial on our 11^th fairway of the Heritage course.  A great deal of information was learned last season from our site and they are excited that we continue to host them. 

The door shut hard and early this November with a 3 foot snow storm. 

Being weather hounds we knew this was coming and I had the guys kick it into hyper-drive.  Working around wind, leaves, rain and freezing temperatures my spraying and winter prep program went on every available moment when condition were proper including several nights of spraying.  October and the first week of November was a complete blur but the large task of proper winterization was a success. 

The early snow did eliminate the entire late season project list that I wanted to complete but that is life in Mqt.  

Winter conditions right now look fine as the majority of the snow crunched and settled during the last two warm ups.  I have found ice on several greens that did not have deep snow pack on them before the two above freezing event occurred.  Winter monitoring will continue. 

Looking for an early spring next year

Both courses continue to shine and benefit from our long term sustainable management programs. 

The Grounds Focus is always on the game of golf and prioritized to our Greens-Approaches-Fairways-Tees and playability of those areas as they relate to the game. 

Rising costs without rising budget funds continues to be a challenge and we continue to stretch for more efficiency within our operation but as time goes on they become more difficult to achieve because we are so dialed in. 

A big thanks to my staff again this season, they rock!

Grounds information sources continue at…..

Blog

www.marquettegolfclubgrounds.blogspot.com

Twitter

@MarquetteGolf

Feed back is always encouraged

My email

Craig.moore@marquettegolfclub.com