Thinning some trees

The nice winter weather has allowed the maintenance staff to get out and thin some tree areas. We started on the east side of #7 fairway, then proceeded to east of #11 green. 

We are basically just cutting the unhealthy non straight trees. This will accomplish two main goals. The first is to allow more sunlight and air flow to the turf areas. Second it will allow the good trees to grow better and more upright. 

If you have any questions or would like to see the tree work please feel free to contact me. 

Ross

The Season of Change!!

Things can change in a hurry, we went from golfing to cold and snow in a very short time. 

I am glad to report that the golf course was fully winterized before the weather changed. What will happen the rest of the winter is unknown, we have done our part to have green grass next spring. 

Thank you for another great golf season!!

If you have any comments please feel free to contact me. 

Ross

Top dressing

The weather next week looks to be turning cold. This week we winterized the irrigation and well systems. We also applied the fungicide/anti desiccant to the greens. Now it is time to apply a layer of sand on the greens. This layer helps protect our greens from our extreme winter weather conditions. The main goal right now is to have alive greens next spring. We will start today applying today and finish on Friday. 

The greens will still remain open for now. 

If you have my questions please contact me. 

Ross

Tee Update 10-31

We had a great October for growing in the new grass on the tee project. Seed is growing in all the new areas, some of which is starting to fill in nicely. The sod has also started to root with the nice weather.  

This is a picture of this morning on #3 tee. As you can see the rough area is looking good and starting to fill in. I think our growing season is done with the cold temperatures last night. 

Golf course is still open!!!

Ross

Tee Project 10-27

Here we are late October, and still have grass growing. Most all the seed you see growing is rye fescue grasses. There is some blue grass starting to germinate but only on a couple of holes. For that reason the tee surface areas look thin, over 75% of the seed on the tee is blue grass. In the rough area there is 50% blue grass and the rest is rye and fescues.  If the blue grass does not germinate this fall it should come up in the spring. 

The sod has really started to root in the past few days. Again we have one tee sodded on each hole. We will start using the sodded tees some time next spring. 

We will see you on the course. 

Ross

Tee Project 10-21

We now have seed germinating on all 14 renovated tee areas. The nice fall weather has helped get this seed up and growing.   This week we started to mow some of the sod on 4 of the first holes completed. What will happen from here on is unknown, but we are hoping this weather continues for a bit longer. 

The course is in great shape!!

Come out and golf!

Ross

Tee Project 10-14

We now have seed up on 4 holes, with 3-4 more holes ready to pop this week. The nice fall weather has helped the seed germinate and establish. I hope this weather continues for the rest of the fall season.  The better the weather is this fall and next spring the sooner the new tee areas will be open. 

The weather looks great this week so come out and enjoy some beautiful fall golf. 

Ross

Fairway venting

We have started the process of venting the fairways. It will take us about 4-5 days to complete. The venting will relieve compaction thus allowing oxygen and water to penetrate through the soils profile.  Once done we will then mow the fairways  to smooth out any minor bumps, when complete there will be a very minimal effect on playability. 

The course is in great shape come out and enjoy!!!

Ross

Tee Project 10-7

All sodding and seeding is complete!!  We are finishing up today with the hydro mulching, cleanup and a small punch list of other items.  

I hope we get some good weather the rest of the fall to get this grass established. 

Above is the view from #17 tee. 

If you have any questions please contact me. Thank you for your patience through this project!!

Ross

Tee Project 10-4

The finish date is near!!  Most all the prep work should be complete today. Sod trucks are scheduled for Sunday and Monday.  By mid week everything should be seeded and cleaned up. 

Above is a picture of the shape of one of our new tees. We will have a squared shape with slightly rounded corners. This will be a nice new fresh look. 

Come out for some beautiful Fall golf!!

Ross

Tee Project 10-2

We are now going on our seventh week of the tee project. By the end of the day we should have eight holes complete.  

Above is a picture of the sod ring installed around every tee. Along with that one tee on each hole that will be all sod. We have recently decided to sod extra tee areas on the par threes.  This will give us more tee surface to be used sooner. 

If you have any questions or would

like to tour the progress please feel free to contact me. 

Please remember to stay off all construction areas!!  We have had a few carts driving through recently seed areas. 

Have a good day!!!

Driving Range Tee

You may have noticed some grass starting to die on the driving range tee. This is bent grass that has contaminated our blue grass tee surface. 

There are some newer herbicides that are designed to eliminate the bent grass and not hurt the blue grass. This was our first trial, depending on the results we may try this in other areas. So far the results look really good. 

The brown area is the bent grass starting to decline. 

If you have any questions please feel free to contact me. 

Ross

Tee project 9-28

Holes 3,5,6 &7 are now complete.  Currently finishing the rough grading on hole #1, this is the last hole to be rough shaped.  Also working on finish grading 8,9,2,15 &17.  I hope we have a good week of weather to keep this project moving.

Last night we had a cart drive through a newly seed area, as shown below.  Just a reminder to everyone to Please Stay Off All Construction Areas!!

The Golf Course is in great shape come out and Play

Tee Project 9-25

We now have sod installed on 4 holes. There is one complete tee sodded, on each hole, and one ring around each of the other tee areas.  

We are now in the process of finish grading and seeding these four holes. I hope by Friday we will have 4 holes complete. 

Have a great day!!

Ross

Tee Project 9-21

Today is the day, Sod will arrive this morning. We will be finishing holes 3,5,6 & 7. 

Above is a picture of the sand on the tee surface. This sand is now till into the top 2" of soil, then laser leveled and ready for sod or seed. 

Have a great day!!

Ross

Tee Project 9-18

With a few delays we now have a laser level box on site and functioning. The level box is used to make sure our new tee boxes are level.  After rough grading the level box will level the tee,  sand will be added and tilled in, the level box will come back and do a finish grade ready for sod of seed. 

Here is a picture of the laser level box working on #8 tee area. 

Seed and sod should be happening soon!!!

All 18 holes are open so come out and play some great fall golf!!

Ross

Golf Course/Tee project

The golf course is in great shape right now!!  Come out and enjoy the nice fall weather!

The Tee Project has continued to progress this week. Some final shaping has happened, and also some more rough grading has continued. 

The plan for next week is to get some of the sand put on the tees and also start seeding/sodding. I hope te weather holds so we can start seeing some finished holes. 

If you have any questions about the tee project or any golf course maintenance items please feel free to contact me. 

We will see you on the course. 

Tee project 9-9

The project has started the phase of finish grading.  The crew is finish grading currently on several different holes. Also today we received our first loads of sand,  I think there is 100 tons on site. 

The next few days, weather pending, things should change dramatically. With some good weather sod and seed should be going down the first part of next week. 

We will see you on the course!!

Tee Project

We now have 6 holes rough shaped. Currently working on #2 which would be our 7th hole. 

The plan is to start finish shaping and adding sand to the tees starting late this or the first part of next week. Hoping to be seeding/sodding the end of next week. 

While part of the crew is finish grading the other part will continue on the rough shaping and dirt hauling. The plan is to have everything complete by October 10. Again we will be sodding one tee on each hole, this will get that tee open sooner than the seeded tees. 

Below is a picture of some new irrigation valves that were installed. 

All holes are open and the course is in great shape!!!  Come out and play some golf!! 

Ross

Tee Project 9-1

The tee crew is currently shaping tees on 7&8, should have them done today. Holes 3,5 & 6 are shaped and ready to be finish graded. When the sand comes in this week they will start to finish grade some of the holes. Next holes in line will be 9 & 2. 

Below is a picture of the new irrigation being installed. 

If you have any questions please contact me. 

Ross

More Rain

Well we received another 1.5" of rain last night. This rain was not needed.  The tee construction crew is not working till it dries up, so yes some sun would be great. 

The course is in good shape despite the wet weather. The only issue right now is we have several bunkers washed out, as shown below.  These should all be repaired today. 

I hoping for some dry weather!!

See you on the course. 

Ross

Tee Project 8-28

We now have 2 holes, 5 & 6, that are roughed in and have the general shape of our new tees.  The crew will continue on the holes 3 & 7 this week

After the rough grading is done the irrigation crew follows with our new irrigation heads.  Once the irrigation is installed they will be adding 2' of sand to each tee surface, that sand will be mixed into the top 2' of topsoil.  End result will be a 50% sand / soil mixture on the new tee areas.

The final steps will be finish grading / seeding or sodding.  There will be one tee box sodded on each hole.  This will give us one tee to be playable very soon.

Above is a picture of the irrigation being installed on #6 Tee.

Have a good Day !!

Tee Project 8-26

The tee project is now one week in. Monday was the first day of having the shaper on site and the irrigation personal.  The shaper started on #6 tee, by today you should see a close look of what the shape if the new tees will be. 

The irrigation crew spent the day taking out the old irrigation, preping for the dirt work. 

Much progress will be made with some good weather. 

We will see you on the course!!

Rain

4.4" of rain last night. Just what we really didn't need. Here is a picture of the flood pump on 16, pumping off the excess water. 

Tee construction has been at a bit of a stand still the last few days. Shapers and irrigation personal are showing up today. 

If you any questions please ask!!

Have a great day. 

Tee project 8-21

The tee project has begun.  We currently have 4 tee areas, holes 3 & 5-7, tilled and ready to start shaping.  I am hoping the shaping will start today.  Once the new tee are shaped we will install the new irrigation, finish grade and sod or seed.  Most areas will be seeded but one tee on each hole will be sodded, this will allow the tee to get  back in play more quick than the tees that are seeded.

The course is in great shape!!  All holes will remain open during the renovation.

See you on the course.

Tee project

Today is the day we are starting the tee renovation project. The plan is to start working on holes 6,7,3 & 5. We will have temporary tee areas on these holes when the construction starts. 

Please be patient and supportive during the construction process. It will be a great improvement for golfer's at every level. 

If you have any questions please feel free to contact me. 

Thank you

Ross

August weather

What great weather we have been having. The cool nights this time if year are prefect for optimum grass conditions. 

Our tee project is still on schedule to start Tuesday August 19. We will be renovating 14 holes of teeing areas. All holes will remain open during the construction an grow in. 

We will have a plan posted in the club house soon. 

If you have any other questions please feel free to contact me. 

Have a great day. 

Morning-1

Some views from Sunday morning!

Mornings

Venting

It's time again for some venting if the greens. As stated in a previous post this practice is highly recommended by our USGA Agronomist. Once mowed and rolled there will be very minimal effect on playability of the putting surface. The plan is to complete the front 9 today and the back 9 tomorrow. 

If you have any questions about any of our maintenance practices please feel free to contact me. 

Pro Am

The Pro Am is here. The crew is out this morning in full force. Mow &roll greens, bunkers raked, rough mowed, sand seed filled, rough mowed, tee markers set and hole locations changed. The golf course is ready!!!

Good luck to all participants!! 

Pro Am Week

The biggest tournament is here. And today has been one of those days!!!  Two hydraulic leaks and one irrigation leak make for a fun day. I sure hope the rest of the week goes better! 

Good luck to all players. 

Fresh Grind

Giving the greens mowers a fresh grind. Here is a picture of our spin grinder giving  our greens heads a new edge, we will typically do this mid July every year. 

Hydraulic Leak

Tuesday we had our first major hydraulic leak of the year, it happened on #8 apron. The leak was noticed and only one pass was made, thank goodness. Once a leak happens we try to clean up and disperse as best as possible. We first apply some sort of detergent, this particular time we used laundry detergent. He second step is to flush the area, as seen below Brian is flushing the area with a 1" hose. The final step mow and cleanup debris. 

On this particular machine we use a biodegradable oil. It is like a vegetable oil and very environmentally friendly. Most of the time it is not the oil that kills the grass but the heat of the oil that gets it. We will have to wait and see on this area how it recovers. 

Have a Great Day!!!

Greens

This morning we had a couple first timers mowing greens. Pictured above is Elizabeth. In the post below is Mikayla. 

Good job Girls!! 

Mowing greens

Mikayla mowing greens. 

Fairway Mowing

Fairway mowing Congressional style.  Double cut, mow to the green and turn around and mow back to the tee!!!   It looks to be 22 Toro Triplex mowers.

Mother Nature

Mother Nature at its finest. This doe was about 10 yards away this morning. Not sure where the fawn was. 

Close Up Of Venting

Here is a close up of the venting holes. 

Venting Greens

Below is a picture of Brian needle tining greens. This is a practice highly recommended by our USGA Agronomist. We are using the Toro 648 aerator to punch 1/4" holes 3" deep into the putting surface. This will give the green compaction relief and also allow oxygen to enter to soil profile. Once complete we will then mow and roll the green.   After mowing and rolling there will be no effect on the playability of the putting surface. 

If you have any questions please feel free to contact me. 

Have a great day! 

Storm

I think we got a bit of a break last night. Although the storm hit it could of been a lot worse!!  We do have some branches down and washouts in the bunkers, nothing real major.  At the course we had about an 1" of rain.  Below is a picture of a branch down on #18.  

Have a great day!!

Bunkers at Pinehurst

Check out the green side bunker #18, at Pinehurst this morning.  Not a good morning to be on bunker duty!!!

Light Top Dressing and Roll

Today we lightly top dressed te greens. Once the sand is dry we will then roll it into the canopy, as shown in the picture below. When finished there will be no effect on the greens playability, in fact they might even putt better!!

Did you know that Pinehusrt #2 reduced the number of sprinkler heads they had from 1125 to 450 during the 2011 restoration project. At Moccasin Creek we currently have 487 heads on the course and another 57 on the driving range / practice areas. 

Green speeds at Pinehurst this week are expected to be in the 12 range. The last week at MC3 we have been running 9-9.5. 

Have a great day!!

Mowing for today

Here is Mitchell out mowing fairways this morning. It's days like this you have to be prepared for all weather conditions!!  

Rain gear, gloves, head phones, sun glasses are just a few of the layers he has on. I checked on him 20 minutes later and he had shorts on. 

Come out and enjoy your course!!

Its in great shape!!

Top dressing greens

Today is the first light top dressing of year. We are applying a light coat of sand to the greens with a spinner type top dresser. The sand will help smooth the putting surface and also help assist in thatch management. Once the sand dries we will roll it into the canopy with a vibratory roller.  When complete there will be no effect on course playability. 

We will see you on the course. 

Course Update

Golf course is starting to shape up nicely. We are finally getting some good heat, this is helping germinate all the grass seed that we have planted. Some of the fairways and collars are still in need of time to recover. 

Below is an interesting photo. This is on #6 fairway, the carts have been isolated to drive down the left side of the fairway. We have roped the fairway off to give it the best chance possible to recover from the winter injuries. The interesting part is look at the cart wear after just a few weeks!!  Please remember carts do cause damage!!  

We will see you on the course. 

Fairways

Above is a picture of #6 fairway.  Why is there a nice green strip in the middle of this photo?  An why is the rest of the area brown and patchy?

Each year we wait and hope that our fairways come through the winter in great shape.  More often than not we have some issues of some sort.  This year is no different, we have some fairways that look good and others that are struggling to green up.  This year #5 and #6 fairways are the worst hit, I think it is due to the north winds this winter that blew the area clean of snow cover.  This allowed the area to be open and dry most of the winter.

This continues to happen to us for several reasons.  First we have old cultivars of grass in our fairways, most of which are not designed to be mowed under 1.5".  Next we have no drainage in our fairways, this allows water to puddle and freeze during the winter months.  If that ice stays there too long it will suffocate the grass.  And finally we live in an area that is subject to booth open dry winters and heavy snow, which can create snow mold.

So back to the photo above.  The green strip through the middle is an old trench that we raised and reseeded two years ago.  This strip has new cultivars of grass, which in this years conditions the new cultivars were able to survive the winter.  The old cultivars around it were not so successful.  The new cultivars are designed to be mowed as low as 1/2"

As I showed in a previous blog we have reseeded #5 and #6 fairways this spring.  We are hoping the new seed will take and get a good stand of the newer grass cultivars.  We are also in the process of seeding some of the other bad spots through out the golf course. Thus getting some of the new cultivars of grass in all the current struggling areas.

Why don't we just go out and reseed all fairways right now?  Studies have shown that over seeding into an existing stand of grass is not real successful.  There also has been some limited success to killing and fairway off and reseeding.  Our plan for now is to continue to reseed the struggling areas.  The process we used is to aerate and over seed.  We also have the new cultivars in the sand n seed mix, I think that is why we are seeing some patchy areas on the fairways.

I hope this explains the fairways somewhat.  No real right or wrong.  If you have any questions please feel free to contact me.

Thank You
Ross

Over seeding

Monday we started to reseed 5&6 fairways. These two were in the most need for a little help in recovering from the open dry winter. 

The first step we used was the solid tine arevate, to help assist with seed to soil contact. 

The second step was over seed the area in two different directions. 

With some good conditions we should have some seed growing soon. 

Irrigation update

It sure has been one of those springs.  The wind, dry and the deep frost level have been a challenge getting the golf course up and fully functional.  The rain this week was a huge help!!

WE are gaining ground each day on the irrigation.  There is still 6 heads not working that are froze!!  Hard to believe still dealing with frost in May.  This week we fixed one main line leak and one lateral line leak.  The system seems to be holding pressure really well right now.  I am hoping by the weekend we will have all the heads working.

Today we will be fertilizing tees, aprons, collars and fairways.  I am hoping with the recent rain and a little push of nitrogen we will help green some of the thin areas up.  If needed we will be going out next week and start over seeding any bad a areas that are not greening up.

If you have any questions or comments please feel free to contact me.

Ross Santjer

Rain!!

Recieved some much needed rainfall the last few days.  So far at the shop we have 1.80". 

Irrigation is now about 95%. I am hoping this rain will take the rest if the frost out of the ground, we an then get all our heads working. 

The course is pretty good shape. We do have some fairways and collars that are slow in greening up. Most of this is a result of the open cold winter, the plants we stressed and lost their moisture. If needed we will be reseeding these areas as the ground temperature warms. 

Here is a picture of 6 fairway. This is one of the fairways we may have to reseed if needed. 

We will see you on the course!! 

Irrigation

The last few days our focus has turned to irrigation.  Cleaning hard water deposits and heads that are still to cold to turn on are the focus. 

As of this morning we have about 85%  of the heads working. The rest are still froze,  we gain a few each night. We also still have a main line that is not working by 5 green, so we have to use the water tank to keep that green moist. 

A chance of rain today, hopefully a nice shower will come our way. 

We will see you on the course!!

Happy Easter

Happy Easter!!   

It's a beautiful day!!