Sunrise

Watching the sunrise over the golf course is still one of my favorite things to do. I wish all of you many birdies in your golfing endeavors this weekend.

Now That The Monsoons Are Coming To An End...

This has been a very challenging summer to keep up with maintenance and efficiently complete projects. Repeated low pressure systems mixed with summer weather patterns brought us consistent rainfall. Everytime we began to dry out another rain event occured. Even now that the rains have decreased, the ground remains close to saturated. Besides keeping up with the mowing, one of the most challenging aspects has been weed management. Rainy weather decreased both the frequency and effectiveness of herbicide applications allowing weed populations to increase. 

You will notice we have been more active applying herbicides over the past couple of weeks. This is evident by the brown weeds and sometimes thin areas of turf where weeds have died. #6 fairway (one our wettest) was one of the worst locations for weed development this summer. When we sprayed out the nutsedge (weed) we were left with areas of thin turf. We had some sod leftover from a recent project so we chose to sod the worst areas in 6 fairway as opposed to waiting for recovery. These areas are currently marked as ground under repair but will be ready for play within a couple of weeks. 

This week we are applying fertilizer to provide the grass with the nutrients necessary for healthy growth. A large truck is used to apply the fertilzer. The grounds maintenance staff will repair any tire tracks left by the truck. However, if you find your ball lying in an unrepaired track you are entitled to a free drop. 

   Nutsedge is the shiny appearing blades mixed in with the turf.

   Nutsedge used to reside in this location before herbicide application.

   Day old sod leftover from a project used to patch 6 fairway. (It will green up!)

   Areas of tropical signalgrass killed on #16. The bermudagrass will recover.

Turf and Surf?

This week the grounds crew installed sod by the new wall along the parking lot. A few areas were left open for landscaping to be installed next week. 

   Sod Along New Wall

Extra sod from the project was used on select golf course collars. These areas had experienced higher concentrations of goosegrass following the summer rains. Because of the proximity to the green, herbicide applications in these areas are not safe. The infested areas were removed and replaced with new sod. These areas have been marked as ground under repair. While it is currently taller than the existing collars, over the next month the sod should establish and we will be able to cut it at the normal height.

   Sod On Collar

A few people have raised questions regarding fishermen under the new bridge. Most of the concerns are over vehicles traveling where they may endanger golf carts or pedestrians. As you know, last winter we installed new bollards in the cart path with Casa V's approval. This has prevented automobiles from using the cartpath as a driveway. However, where there's a will there's a way. It seems that some people are accessing the bridge by pulling their cars into the grass at the corner of Sun Blvd and the Bayway. While there are bollards installed here as well, they are fitting their vehicles in between. After numerous requests, the DOT intalled additional signage to prohibit unauthorized vehicles but that has done little to help. Technically, none of this area is our property and our options are limited. We can't completely close this area off to vehicles. "Authorized" vehicles from the city, DOT, Duke Energy and landscapers do need to access this area. At this time we plan to install posts in between the existing bollards at the corner. These posts must be removable to allow access for the "authorized" vehicles but we hope they will deter those who shouldn't be there with vehicles. 

Where The Green Grass Grows

We seem to have an abundance of green grass growing here at Isla Del Sol. It sure beats the alternative but it has been difficult to keep up with the mowing. We've experienced over 6.5" of rain over the past two weeks which has resulted in faster grass growth and reduced mowing time. Due to soggy conditions we have lost 4 days of mowing over the past two weeks because the golf course was too wet. It's important to understand that it takes all 3 of our fairway mowers 2.5 to 3 days to mow the golf course just one time under normal conditions. This normally allows us to mow everything 2 times per week which is typically frequent enough to provide the excellent conditions you prefer.  Keep in mind that almost our entire golf course is being maintained at fairway height including tees, fairways and green slopes. Due to faster growing grass and reduced mowing time the mowers have struggled to keep up. This has resulted in taller grass on the fairways and tees than we are accustomed to. This taller grass not only impacts play but also slows our mowers down as the workers often have to mow the same spot 3 times to get the grass fully cut. Obviously, this slows the process and makes it difficult to mow the entire golf course even one time in one week. For example, it took approximately 10 man-hours just to mow #6, one of our smallest par 4's! The grounds department will be working extra hours over the weekend to continue working towards catching up. If the weather cooperates, we hope to be caught up by the end of next week.

   Tall grass on a tee

   Trails of clippings left behind a mower.

   Placido on his second cut of this fairway.

Not only has the wet weather impacted the mowing process but it has impacted our weed control as well. Herbicide applications must be avoided during times of rain. This coupled with wet soil which promotes weed seed germination puts us behind in our control program. We experienced similar conditions last September but were able to catch up in October once the weather cooperated. 

   Tall grass mixed with nutsedge (weed) on 6 fairway.

What A difference A Week Makes!

The golf course was closed for four days from August 18th thru August 21st in order for grounds maintenance to perform the second of two aerifications this summer. While never popular, this is necessary for long-term health and playability. I posted numerous photos last week showing our activity and "destruction." I was pleased with the end results of the work performed and I am also pleased with the recovery. The grass looks healthy and the golf course is well on its way to returning to its excellent condition.

During the closure we also took the opportunity to construct a new forward tee on number 13. We have a target date of October 1st for opening this tee. 

For those interested, I had the pleasure of appearing as a guest on SiriusXM PGA TOUR Radio last week on Katrek & Maginnes On Tap. For those who missed the original broadcast you can find it by clicking on "Kevin Sunderman" at the following link: PGATOURRadio-KevinSundermanInterview

   New Forward Tee on #13 

   15 Green Last Week

   15 Green This Week

   9 Fairway Last Week

   9 Fairway This Week

Coming to an End

It's been a long week for the grounds maintenance department but that activities of aerification week are coming to an end. We continue to work on the clean-up but the bulk of the work is complete. While conditions will be a little rough for a couple of weeks, we should see a little recovery every day. Thank you for your patience and understanding that this is for the benefit of your golf course. 

   Pedro and Arturo clean up the last of the aerification plugs.

   We used plugs on #8 fairway to improve the thin areas along the cartpath.

   #9 Fariway on Thursday following verticutting

   #9 Fairway on Saturday morning already starting to green up.

Beauty Is In The Eye Of The Beholder

The work continues for the grounds crew as we work towards the completion of aerification week. The title of this post is "Beauty is in the Eye of the Beholder." That describes the results of the aerification process very well. I am very happy with the progress this week and consider it to be one of the best aerifications and vertical mows we've ever had. We were able to incorporate sand into the aerification holes up to 4+ inches deep. The sand helps the holes to maintain their integrity which prolongs the benefits achieved through aerification. This will help to improve the movement of air, water and nutrients within the soil. A good deal of thatch was removed from the greens but an immense amount of thatch was removed from the fairways! Especially with the significant amount rain this summer, the grass tends to grow so fast that it grows on top of itself as opposed to growing on top of the soil. We were able to harvest a great deal of thatch from the fairways which should result in improved health and playability once they recover. While I'm excited, I realize that golfers may not see things in the same light. I assure you that the short term pains felt following aerification yield long term gains in aesthetics and playability! Full recovery typically takes a couple of weeks.

   15 Green with holes full of sand

   Dillon aerifying 5 tee

   Fernando running the fairway verticutter

   Lines where the verticutter pulled up thatch

   1 Fairway following a verticut and mowing

   Chris putting the final touches on grading the new forward tee on #13