2014 Year In Review

During the December Greens and Grounds Committee meeting we took the time to review some of the accomplishments of 2014 benefitting the grounds at Isla. Simply maintaining the grounds is a full-time job, but we always strive to go above and beyond to accomplish even more for our members. As we prepare to enter 2015 I felt that this would be an appropriate time to share with you some of the highlights from the past year.

- Constructed new wall on #5

- Installed new sod and landscaping at clubhouse

- Planted bamboo along the parking lot right of #1

- Desingned and installed a butterfly garden

- Expanded the forward tee boxes on #'s 1, 2, and 5. Built a new forward tee on #9

- Added a total on 3900 linear feet of drainage on #'s 5, 6, 12, 13, 14 and 16

- Scalped rough down to fairway height and continued maintenance of increased fairway acreage

- Re-grassed the bottom half of #8 fairway using plugs from the May greens aerification

- Renovated front bunker on #15 green

- Planted new palms on beach by gazebo 

- Renovated landscaping in front of sign at front entrance

- Added landscaping around driving range tee

I wish all of you a Happy New Year!

   You can catch a glimpse of the new wall on 5 looking back from the green.

   Butterfly enjoying the garden

   #3 green slope looking sharp mowed at fairway height

What An Office!

There hasn't been much to update on recently. However, I wanted to share some of the sights from this morning. I have the best office!

   #8

   #9

   #10

   #17

   I shared the sights on #15 with this bald eagle.

Happy Thanksgiving!

From my family to yours, have a Happy Thanksgiving Holiday.

Spending Thanksgiving in NYC. (It's much warmer in Florida!)

The Wall on #5 is Complete! (Well, almost)

There were a few groups of ladies who braved the cold this morning but only a handful of golfers this afternoon. The light play allowed our grounds crew to go to work laying sod along the wall on #5. This was the last major step towards finishing the seawall project and I am excited to say that it is complete! We still have some light detail work to complete such as peeling off stickers and giving the wall a wash down but no more construction or ground work. 

The area has been marked as ground under repair and will be played as such for the foreseeable future. Over the next week or two we will also be giving extra attention to #5 fairway to alleviate some of the stress brought on by having the tees in the fairway, construction traffic and cart traffic.

Finally, thanks should be given to the men who worked so diligently on this project. All of our grounds employees work hard everyday, but these guys really took ownership in the project and gave it their all. Special thanks to Chris Hewitt who was the project foreman on the job.

   Placido, Jose, Alex and Pedro finishing the grading work.

   Yay! The sod has arrived.

   4800 square feet of bermudagrass sod. 1/2 completed. Keep up the good work!

   Cristino is giving the new sod some water.

   Finished product is looking good. 

   In case you have forgotten what the old wall looked like!

Light At The End Of The Tunnel!

While it has taken longer than we had hoped, it appears that the the wall project on #5 is almost complete. We had a few setbacks along the way including overcoming a learning curve, issues with the initial backfill, and work delays to accommodate certain golf events. While we were hoping to complete the project sooner, it was more important that we get it done right. We are currently working on the final backfill and grading of this area. Sod is scheduled for delivery next week and we are hoping to be able to wrap up the project by the 20th. We appreciate your patience with the project and hope you will be pleased with the result. 

   

Update #5 Seawall

As mentioned earlier in the week, there was a setback earlier in the week with the new wall on #5. During the backfilling process the wall bowed in towards the water. We attributed this to having too little undisturbed earth holding back some of the tie-backs. With the extremely busy golf schedule this week we did not have much time to work to correct the issue. We will be resuming work on the wall 11/7 and working as needed to complete the project. In order to strengthen the wall, we will be adding several more tie-backs, many of them longer and adding more concrete to secure each one. We feel confident that once complete, the new wall will be in great shape for decades to come. 

Setback on #5

Unfortunately, we had a small setback while backfilling the new wall on #5. There was not enough undisturbed soil to anchor the tiebacks holding about a 30 foot section of the wall. This resulted in the wall bowing out in this area. We will have to excavate along this section of wall in order to straighten it. Once the wall is straightened, we will then be installing longer tiebacks with more substantial concrete to secure the wall. We are disappointed with this setback but feel confident we will be able to rectify the problem. 

Something Out of Nothing

I have received many positive comments about the condition of the peninsula on #8 fairway. For those who weren't here this summer, I'll let you in on a secret. When we aerified greens at the end of May we spread all of the plugs over the bottom half of 8 fairway. This area struggles every year, primarily due to poor soil conditions and the low elevation compared to sea level. The paspalum grass on the greens is more tolerable to these conditions. While we haven't seen how it will react to the winter, the results have been great so far. 

This isn't the first time we've used aerification plugs to renovate areas. Tees on 3, 5, 10 and 17 have all been renovated over the past few years in this fashion. We are currently growing in two more tees that were grassed with plugs from the greens aerification in September. The new forward tee on 9 and expanded forward tee on 2 will be ready soon. In fact, I plan to open the forward tee on #2 on Monday.

   8 fairway covered in plugs in late May

   8 fairway today

   2 forward tee in September

   2 forward tee today

   New tee on 9 in September

   New tee on 9 today

#5 Wall Update

Over the past few weeks the grounds maintenance crew has been working diligently removing the old wooden wall on #5 and installing a new vinyl wall in its place. The old wall had deteriated to the point of being an eyesore and had become a safety concern. I am pleased to report that the construction of the new wall is complete and the wall looks great! The final stages remaining are the backfilling of the new wall and laying of sod. We will be working over the weekend to backfill the wall in order to minimize any disruption for the Ladies' Invitaional on Monday. 

   New Vinyl Wall

   A picture of the old wall in case you have forgotten what it looked like!

Surprise! Duke Energy Project

Tuesday morning we were surprised by a mini-excavator on the cartpath by 3 tee. Unfortunately, this caused some damage to the grass on the tee slope. After some investigation we have learned that Duke Energy is running new power lines underground that will feed out to St. Petersburg Beach. The process involes pulling out the old lines, installing new underground boxes and pulling in new power lines. This may take up to a few months to complete. We will see most of the work on the north side of the bayway along #'s 1, 2 and 9. We will be reimbursed for the repair of any damage caused by the contractors to the grass, trees, hedges or landscaping.

   Damage by 3 tee. 

Butterfly Garden Dedication and Butterfly Release

Please join the children of Rosemary Healy on Saturday, October 25th at 3:00 for a dedication of the butterfly garden. This garden was planted in memory of founding members John and Rosemary Healy. The family would love to have your participation at the dedication where they will be releasing butterflies. 

   Do you see the butterfly?

   This butterfly showed up early for the festivities! 

Where Have All The Flowers Gone?

You may have noticed the absence of flowers around the clubhouse. Some of the flowers were pulled over the last few weeks due to disease brought on from the wet September weather. The remaining flowers are being pulled this week. The beds will have new potting soil added and new annuals will be planted once they arrive from the wholesaler. 

   This area soon will be full of beautiful flowers!

GCSAA Delegate Meeting

Last week I had the oppotunity to join other golf course superintendents from around the country at the 2014 GCSAA Delegate Meeting. We met not only to shape the future of the superintendent industry but the golf industry as a whole. (Yes, all those men in suits are the same guys who take care of your golf courses.)

   At GCSAA headquarters in Lawrence, KS

What Are Those Blue Lines?

Starting this week, around each green there is a blue line painted on the grass. The lines have been painted to help our members with Blue Handicap Flags identify the appropriate distance to keep the cart from the green. These lines are painted at approximately 15' away from the greens which is the distance as stated in the original handicap flag agreement. The rules haven't changed. The golf committee simply wants to assist in helping golfers identify the appropriate distance. The intent is to continue to provide our members needing assistance with the help they need while also managing the cart traffic around our greens in order to protect our golf course. 

A few other things to keep in mind:

1- A cart should never be driven between a green and a bunker. This is both unsafe and concentrates traffic stress into a small area.

2- The blue flags are intended to help the players who have difficulty walking. If the other player in the cart does not need a blue flag they should not be driven to their ball beside the green and dropped off. This places unnecessary wear and tear on the golf course.

   Blue line in front of a green.

Does the Grass Have Chicken Pox?

You may have noticed a number of small brown spots throughout the golf course. These spots are a result of the grounds department spraying grassy weeds. Our weed control is continual throughout the year, however, the extensive rainy weather in September prevented us from making applications for about 3 weeks. Not only did the wet weather put our control applications behind it also promoted the growth of new weedy plants. We will continue to make treatments as long as the weather and conditions allow. Green grass will fill in where the weeds die out. 

   Weeds dying from spot herbicide treatments.

Time To Say Goodbye To The Seawall on #5

On Monday, October 6th, work will begin to remove and replace the old seawall bordering the lake by #5 green. The existing wall has been in bad shape for some time, is an eyesore and poses a safety risk. It has been decided to replace the wooden wall with a new vinyl wall. The vinyl wall should install easier, has a cost comparable to wood and will last much longer. In fact, the vinyl itself is guaranteed for 50 years! 

The work will be performed by the Isla Del Sol Grounds Maintenance Department. We hope to complete the project in just a couple weeks. While the wall is under construction, #5 will be played as a Par 3 with the tees between 75 and 100 yards. No handicap strokes will be awarded with the tees forward. By moving the tees forward it will allow the employees to continue working without worry of being in the golfers' way. It also will be safer for the golfers not to have to look for balls and play shots close to the construction area. Please keep your distance for your safety and the safety of the workers. 

   Old Wall on 5

   Dangerous Washouts Due To The Failing Wall

   No Words To Describe This

   An Example Of A Vinyl Wall

Rain, Rain, Go Away... Come Back When You Are Needed

With 6" of rain over the past 3 days and 12"+ over the past 2 weeks, I am not very excited to see this radar image.

The Grass IS Greener

This week the clubhouse lawn got a facelift. New sod was laid to freshen the look of the area. Excess sod left over from the project was used to extend the left tee on #5 back to the cartpath as well as to improve the collar along the right side of 18 green. 

   New sod at clubhouse

   New sod extending the left tee on 5

   Grounds crew preparing for sod on 18

Drainage Update

Earlier this summer the grounds department at Isla installed almost 4000 feet of drain lines. The locations targeted some of the worst draining areas on the golf course that would often hold standing water for days following rain events. Of course, this year Isla experienced one of the driest summers in years! It's difficult to evaluate the success of a drainage project without rain. This past week the drainage finally got its test. Over a few days we received just under 6" of rainfall. The results were encouraging. We were under cart path only restrictions on Saturday following 2.75" of rainfall experienced on Friday. However, the areas with newly installed drainage were in much better condition than many other areas on the course, and by Sunday the restrictions were lifted. No standing water was found in the newly drained areas but puddles could be found elsewhere. After seeing the positive results, talks have already started about future drainage projects.

   Area on #16 without drainage

   Area on 16 with newly added drainage

   Area on 14 prior to drainage installation

   Same area on 14 after drainage installation 

Not More Holes?!?

You may notice over the next few days that we have punched more aerification holes in select locations. Yes, our last major aerification was two weeks ago but as part of our ongoing maintenance program we continue to focus on key areas that will benefit from additional aerification. Most of these locations are areas that receive heavy cart traffic resulting in compacted soils. Aerification of these areas promotes stronger plants to better withstand traffic. Other key areas receiving supplemental aerification are some of the sandier spots with poorer soil quality. Following the aerification of these areas, an organic fertilizer will be applied to improve soil structure and water retaining ability as well as important nutrients for the grass.

Disruption of the golf course should be minimal and only be noticeable for a few days.

Before and After

Just a quick update to show you the recovery progress from aerification. While things are not back to 100% they are well on their way. The pictures below do a great job showing how far things have recovered in the past week. 

    #13 Green 9/5/14

    #13 Green 9/12/14

    #9 Fairway 9/5/14

    #9 Fairway 9/12/14