Greens Agronomy - Day 2

As of 2:00 pm this afternoon the back 9 was re-opened and ready for play.  The process went well, thanks mostly to a fantastic crew and partially because of the clear weather.  Below is a photo of the hole created by the "talon" tines (this is our chipping green, you may also see the sanded holes left from the 5/8" hollow tines two weeks earlier). 



The "talon" tines are essentially a small cross, instead of the traditional round tine.  With slow recovery speeds this time of year, we tried something new.  This season, we coupled the above treatment with relatively intensive vertical cutting.  In the end, we are hoping to still accomplish the four goals of aerification: thatch management, compaction relief, gas exchange, and improved water infiltration, without the impact on play.  



Throughout the rest of the week we will be "topping off" the greens that require a little more sand.  In addition, we will be brushing and rolling frequently to smooth out the putting surfaces for the last few weeks of play. 

 

Thank you for your patience with the process.  Practices like these keep our greens healthy and rolling true.

 

Below is a photo of our Procore operator, Joe, and the talon tine pattern on the chipping green (you may also notice how this treatment "squeezes" the 5/8" holes together possibly speeding up healing time for the slow growth we observe in September).  



Greens Agronomy - Day 1

Today we will begin vertical cutting, aerifying, and topdressing the putting surfaces on the front 9 after the Monday afternoon group.  We will close the front 9 this afternoon during this process in order to make the most efficient use of time.

Tomorrow morning the front 9 will be open, while the back 9 will be closed until the afternoon. 

These agronomic practices are important for long term health and playability of the putting surfaces. 

Thank you all in advance for your patience around these course closures.

Approach Aerification - Day 2

Today we will hope to aerify holes #9-18.  That is, if the weather cooperates.  We will also be topdressing the approaches after the aerification process starting on #1 today. 

As always, with this process we have two goals: 1. to execute the cultural practice as best as possible for the health and playability of the golf course; and 2. to minimize any disruption to the player.

Above is a video of the Procore taking 5/8" cores out of #4 approach.

Approach Aerification

The crew is hitting the front 9 to begin our approach aerification process as I write this.  The approaches have the biggest build up of thatch on the golf course so we will be using 5/8" hollow tines in order to remove as much organic matter as possible.  We will follow with a heavy topdressing in order to get as much sand into the soil profile as possible.  This should help create a firmer playing surface in the future.  With wet weather forecasted for the coming days we will try to accomplish as much as we can tonight to take advantage of the Tuesday PM maintenance closure on the front 9.

Thank you all in advance for your patience and for keeping golf carts off of the approaches during this process.  Especially if we are unable to work sand into the holes due to the wet weather.  The bigger the holes, the more sand gets in, and the better the approaches will play.  As always our goal is to minimize the intrusion to the player as much as possible.

Tee Box Aerification

Yesterday we completed tees #1 through #6. Today we will be continuing our cultural practices on the tee boxes.  Primarily we will be using vent tines and topdressing.  We will begin on #7 today and attempt to finish the rest of the tees on the golf course.  We will do our best to interfere with play as little as possible.

Frost Delays & September Agronomy Schedule

It has been a great golf season so far, and with September now here the end of the 2017 season is not far away.  Autumn brings many changes whether it is the color of leaves or the starting tee times.  While we still strive to produce the best possible playing conditions on a daily basis, our turf maintenance team also begins to look ahead to next season.  In order to help everyone maximize their time on the golf course this fall I would like to communicate a few items:

Frost Delay Message

The Turf Maintenance team will leave a frost delay message at least one hour prior to the first tee time to communicate whether or not we have a delay and the duration of the delay.  Please call (307) 733-3111.  In addition, I will continue to communicate frost delays on this blog.  In general, whether it be the outgoing phone message or blog, if there is no news that is good news, there will not be a delay for that day.

September Agronomy Schedule

As you all know the winters here are difficult on turfgrass, therefore, September is vital month for accomplishing agronomic practices that will help the golf course survive the winter.  This fall our primary focus will be on removing organic matter from the upper layers of the soil profile.  Our September agronomy schedule is as follows:

·         Starting September 5^th at 5:00 pm – September 7^th:  Vertical cutting and/or venting tee boxes

·         Starting September 12^th at 5:00 pm – September 14^th: Aerating approaches with ½” hollow tines

·         Starting September 19^th – September 22^nd: Various practices on selected areas around the golf course (minimally disruptive to the player)

·         Starting September 25^th at 1:30 pm – September 26^th: Vertical cutting and venting greens

o   Front 9 closed at 1:30 pm 9/25

o   Back 9 closed until 1:00 pm 9/26