100 day war begins, day one

The day started off really well, no break downs or major issues through lunch.  However, right after lunch, off to the southeast, you could see it coming.  Calls went out over the radios, people were redeployed to tasks that required immediate attention, but all the efforts were in vain as the rain was not to be held back.  Right at about 1:30 the rain came down very hard for a short burst of a few minutes, just big enough to screw up part 2 of the day's plan...the clean up process. During aerification week you want the weather to be as hot and dry as you can get.  The heat and dry conditions allow all the materials extracted during the aerification process to thoroughly dry out and be easily cleaned up.  As of the posting of this update, all aerifying and verti-cutting has been stopped for the day (it's only 2 & we were planning on staying until 5).  Because of the weather, we will have completed about half of the days expected work load.

Driving around in circles

Circle cutting is a very effective way of attacking the grain of the grass in between fairway verti-cuttings. As the mower makes a turn it forces the cutting units to sink into the turf canopy a little bit. This extra down pressure is used to attack areas that have become puffy and thatchy. As the height of cut in the fairways is lowered throughout the summer, frequent circle cutting will be done to produce a well manicured surface. If you look at the picture you can see very small areas where the mowers forced the cutting units down into the turf and slightly scalped a puffy thatch area during today's fairway circle cut. 

First project of the summer, 2013

Today is the first course closure of the summer and the golf maintenance team is wasting no time in capitalizing on the course availability. Today we are prepping the ground left of the cart path on hole 7 just past the fairway bunker for sod. Ever since the course was rebuilt in 2009 this area has struggled with turf coverage and acceptable playing conditions. The new sod will be installed tomorrow and will be a great needed improvement to this area of high use and high visibility. 

Going vertical

Yesterday was the first of many vertical mowings to be done to the putting surfaces over the summer. The verti-cutting is a necessary practice to help maintain the high level of playability everyone has come to expect.

The process does two major things, removes thatch and controls grain. Thatch is the dead plant material that accumulates over time and if left unchecked will cause the surface to become puffy. Eventually this puffy nature leads to severe adverse agronomic impacts. Grain is caused by the plant laying over in a particular direction. To control this, the vertical mower makes a pass across the green and then reverses it's course along the same pass. This down and back on the same line pattern ensures that whatever grain is present is attacked and controlled. 

All of the dead plant material that is extracted out if the putting surfaces is cleaned off, the greens are mowed, and then sanded. Although the putting surfaces look as if they've been beat up a bit afterward, they still roll very true. In a few days the lines will disappear and hardly anyone will know otherwise. 

Rain, rain go away

If you think we had a lot of rain yesterday think again. We only receive .8" of rain. It rained for a long time, but not hard.

Check out the picture below of TPC Sawgrass's 17th hole. Not too far from going under water due to a hard, long duration rain.

Rain, rain go away

If you think we had a kit of rain yesterday think again. We only receive .8" of rain. It rained for a long time, but not hard.

Check out the picture below of TPC Sawgrass's 17th hole. Not to far from going under water due to a hard, long duration rain.