Sod Installation

West Coast Turf began installing our new Santa Ana Bermudagrass on #6 yesterday. They will move on from there to #7, saving #8 for last. Right now they are planting about an acre a day, which should see the project complete on Monday (7/18).

With some sunshine, water and fertilizer we hope to open all of the holes by August 1st.

Phase 2 Begins!

Phase 2 of the Fairway Improvement Plan began yesterday. We completed removing the old turf on #6, moving on to #7 today. If all goes as planned, we will complete #7 today and start #8. We will begin to install sod tomorrow, which will continue into the weekend.

Project Prep

Phase 2 of the Fairway Improvement Plan begins next week. We are just finalizing all of the project details, gathering the necessary equipment, and going through the schedule with a fine tooth comb. The Kikuyu on # 6 has been sprayed with a selective herbicide and we are seeing great results.

Kikuyu 1 week post herbicide (Drive XLR8)

We continue to water holes 6-8, as many of the heads that water the fairways also irrigate the rough areas. We also want to avoid creating a surface that is so hard that we will have problems aerifying.

Aerification and stripping will begin on Monday the 11th and sod will begin to be installed on the 13th.

I will keep you updated as the process moves along.......

Project Work

Spring is a very busy time for us, as the warmer, longer days increase the growth rate our the turf. Even with increased mowing frequency it never seems like we get fully caught up. Aside from our routine mowing schedule, we continue to plug away at our never ending projects list. Over the last few weeks we have been focusing some of our attention upon front nine sod patching, spot aerification / seeding of bare rough areas, and topping off greenside bunkers with new sand.

We should complete the front nine by Friday, moving to the back nine beginning next week.

Tree Removals

We removed two trees on Monday. Both were in really bad shape and had been designated for removal long ago. On #5 we took down the large Blue Cedar in the right rough. It was previously in really poor health and the drought seemed to push it over the edge. It was completely dead and nothing more than an eyesore. We also removed a large Stone Pine behind the 14th green. Although it was relatively healthy, our Certified Arborist noted that it was very dangerous due to its really unbalanced growth habit. There was not an option to trim, as it was too far gone.

Irrigation upgrades

We continue to work on refining our irrigation system. This week we worked near the 3rd tee to replace several large area sprinkler heads with smaller, fine-tuned heads. This will allow us to irrigate this area more precisely while eliminating excessive overthrow and waste.




 

Seeding

We finally made some time to seed most of the thin/bare areas in the fairways this week. Most of these areas are historically poor performing areas that fill-in with Poa over the winter, only to die when the summer heat arrives. This is really just a band-aid to hold us over until we can buy some Bermuda sod to fix this perennial problem once and for all. Hopefully, we see some rain this spring to help the seedlings along.

How to Practice

To save what precious little hitting space we have, everyone has the responsibility to practice in a way that will minimize healing time. The pictures to the right say it all.......

Poa

We are starting to see the existing poa annua flower. This directly coincides with seed production, with each poa plant producing 80 viable seeds per plant on average. Therein lies the problem in controlling this pest in an environment that supports it growth for 8 months of the year. The upside is that many of the thin areas around the course will soon begin to fill-in and playing conditions will improve. Unfortunately, poa is a true annual and will begin to die as summer arrives.

El Nino is finally here

The first real rains of this years El Nino have finally arrived packing some punch. We were fortunate to be able to prepare as forecasters were very accurate on the time and amount that these first few storms would deliver. Tuesday we received 1.35" and Wednesday we got another 2.10". Understandably, the course is very wet, with surface water still draining at this moment.