Home Owner Irrigation Valves

As you all already know, we have had a bit of a heat wave lately.  In addition, it does not take a turfgrass scientist to understand that with the heat, the turf on the golf course just as the turf in your yard requires more water.  Many of you may know that many homes on the golf course are tied to the golf course irrigation system.  This is where our teamwork comes into play.  Historically, we have allowed a home owner watering window from 6:00 AM to noon.  This is in an effort to supply everyone, including the golf course itself, with the water we need while not over taxing our pumps. 

However, the past two nights our pump station experienced "system faults." This occurs when the pumping system is attempting to operate above it's capacity.  When this fault occurs, the pumps automatically shut down, cutting off water to everyone, including the golf course.  These two faults occurred because multiple homes on the golf course had their valves manually turned on attempting to water outside the scheduled window for home owners.  When operating in manual mode our computer system cannot account for the water use.  Therefore, the combined load of the golf course watering and unaccounted home owner watering was enough to take the pump station passed it's limit.

In order to ensure that our home owners and golf course get the water required during the summer months, we have changed the home owner watering window to 7:00 AM to 7:00 PM. This water window will ensure that everyone has enough time and pressure to grow healthy turf during the mid-summer heat!

Thank you.

Like the vents on your ski pants...

Yesterday, we began our first "venting" treatment of the year.  I could use the words aerification or aeration, but those nasty words (at least in the opinion of some golfers) do not do justice to what this process does for the putting green and its playability.  First of all, the tines are flat and small, creating narrow, 3/4 inch long slot which allows water and air to move more freely through the soil profile (hence the "a" word).  In addition, because we are not creating a hole that will take time to grow in, no organic matter is removed, and the effect on ball roll is minimal.  Therefore, turf managers are using words like "venting" or "slicing" that to most golfers do not carry negative connotations in order to more accurately describe the agronomic process.


After sand topdressing and venting, we brush the green to work the sand into the newly created "vents" and plant canopy.   We generally do this process once a month during the peak summer season to help the greens tolerate the mid-summer stresses by improving water and air flow.  One should note that this has little effect on thatch and organic matter in the soil profile, so it will never replace traditional aerification and vertical cutting (we will get to those topics later in the season).

Later in the week, now that we have thousands of little open "vents" in greens, we will take advantage of the improved water infiltration conditions and apply our monthly greens soil treatment.  But we will save the "what's in the spray tank?' question for tomorrow...





Happy Independence Day!

 

I hope everyone has a safe and wonderful 4th of July holiday!

 

Looks like visitors both young and old will be enjoying the golf course today...



Teton Half Marathon



This morning about 2,000 runners traversed the 13+ mile course to finish the Teton Half Marathon on our practice tee at the Jackson Hole Golf & Tennis Club.  Their determination was rewarded with the gorgeous view, medals, chocolate milk, and snacks...  Congratulations to all the participants!  Thanks goes out to the folks with Vacation Races for putting on such a popular event!  Special thanks to all the players that still got your morning rounds in despite the circus-like atmosphere around the practice area!  And to anyone like myself concerned about what all of that traffic may do to the practice tee and surrounds: we have scheduled light aeration, topdressing, and fertilization treatments and should see no ill effects going forward. 

Happy Memorial Day

A special thank you to all of our service men and women! I hope everyone has a wonderful day on a golf course, next to a bbq, or simply with friends and family!

National Golf Day in Washington D.C.

Last week I was fortunate enough to be invited to attend National Golf Day in our nation's capital as part of the "We Are Golf" coalition.  Members of the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America (GCSAA), PGA, USGA, and other allied associations met with members of Congress on Capitol Hill on May 18th to discuss various issues impacting the golf industry.  I have been volunteering for the GCSAA's Government Affairs Committee as a Grassroots Ambassador which pairs members of Congress with superintendents from their respective states in order to give a voice for the various issues affecting the golf community.



After meeting with Senator Barrasso (pictured above) and Senator Enzi sharing coffee, doughnuts, and ideas with other Wyoming constituents it was on to check out the National Golf Day exhibit in the Rayburn Foyer (I was curious if the Republicans or Democrats had a better swing...)

 

In the afternoon, I finished a busy day with a wonderful meeting with Representative Lummis (pictured below) who was kind enough to talk with us despite coming down with a malicious cold the previous day.   It was very rewarding to find that our Wyoming representatives hold similar views on the issues that concern the golf industry but had not fully realized how their work has or could benefit our industry.  Thanking them and sharing how the game of golf benefits our environment and so many people around the country was definitely the highlight of my day!

 

 

My thanks goes out to all the members of Congress who took time out of their day to meet with us, and many thanks to my staff at home for covering for me on the golf course!



New Blog for the Jackson Hole Golf & Tennis Club

Welcome members, guests, employees, and fellow golf enthusiasts to the new (and hopefully improved) blog for the Jackson Hole Golf & Tennis Club!  My name is Jeff Jensen, the golf course superintendent, and this will be the current and future home for golf course news... at least as I see it... whether it be a heads up on a long frost delay, current course conditions, future projects, or the latest wildlife sighting.  I am looking forward to "blogging" early and often so put this link in your favorites and check it out anytime!