Refurbishing Course Accessories

We are currently working to refurbish our golf course accessories.  Many of the ball washers are in need of repair and the red paint on the body of the ball washers is fading and beginning to flake off.  Following a good pressure wash, the ball washers are sanded, primered and painted.  We are changing the color from bright red, to hunter green.

We are also repainting our medallions that are placed in the fairways, indicating the depth of the hole location on each green.  Benches, hazard stakes, tee balls and course signage are being cleaned and touched up as well.

Playing On Frozen Greens...

With the recent weather conditions and freezing temperatures, I have had a few members ask about playing on the greens when they are frozen.  The decision on if the golf course will be open, changes daily based on weather conditions and temperature.  Our goal is to allow play on the golf course as much as possible, while protecting the turf and health of the greens.

The best comparison I have found to help people better understand, is ice on a pond.  When the water on a pond surface is frozen very deep (4-6 inches), you can walk on the ice with no damage to the ice and nothing happens.  However if you try and walk on ice that is only partially frozen or thawing, it will shatter, splinter and break.

Essentially, the same thing happens to the turf.  During a frost or a thawing period after a freeze, the plant is only partially frozen.  Walking or driving on the turf in these conditions will shatter and kill the cells in the plant,  killing the turf.  However, when the greens are frozen solid to a depth of 3-4 inches or more and there is no frost on the leaf blade, golf can be played and no damage will occur.

In summary,  if the greens are frozen deep into the soil profile, with low daily temperatures where no thawing will occur, playing on the greens will cause no damage.  Restricting play on days with frost or thawing of partially frozen greens, is necessary to prevent damage to the greens. 

 Below is a photo demonstrating damage to the turf when frost is present.(This photo is not from Shadow Hills..)

Let's hope for some warmer weather!

  

January 2017

It has been quite the winter here so far.  We encountered the ice storm in mid-December and now snow blankets the course in early January.  Low temperatures are expected to be in the teens the next couple of nights, resulting in the course being closed for a few days.  We aren't used to golf course maintenance while wearing snow goggles...

December Ice Storm

On Wednesday, December 14, we encountered large amounts of ice throughout the golf course.  Not only was the entire course covered, but many of the trees collected large amounts of ice.  Due to the weight of the accumulated ice, we have incurred a massive amount of tree damage.

Hundreds of branches were broken, as well as entire trees falling over.  Many trees lost large amounts of limbs and central leaders, resulting in the entire tree needing to be removed.  The cleanup process will be lengthy, as we are currently clearing all cart paths.  We will then begin to clear debris adjacent to fairways and focus on the areas that are in play.  Here are a few photos of some of the damage...

Bunker Work

With the arrival of wet, cold weather we are able to complete some projects throughout the golf course.  One of the projects we are beginning to work on is creating a new edge on many of the bunkers.  Over time, the bunker edges deteriorate and become very ragged and inconsistent. Sand also builds up along the edges and needs redistributed. There are numerous bunkers that need improvement, therefore this will require 2-3 weeks to complete.

The photos below demonstrate a before and after of a bunker edge that was recently improved.

Turf Disease Control

This time of year in the Willamette Valley, most days consist of cloudy, wet weather.  These conditions are conducive for our most common turf disease, fusarium patch or microdochium nivale.

The past two weeks we have treated all greens, tees, approaches and fairways with a plant protectant to control this disease.  You may have noticed the blue appearance of the turf in these areas.  The blue color is simply a dye that is added to the water in the spray tank, acting as a spray indicator.  This allows the applicator to make a precise application, avoiding any overlaps or missed areas.

Tree Care

With the nice weather in early November, tree work continued using the high lift.  The lift allows us to raise the tree canopy much higher than we could from the ground.  Dead material throughout the interior of the tree is also removed utilizing the lift.  We concentrated our efforts on holes number 10, 13 and 14.

Due to the weather and wet conditions, this is the last of the pruning with the lift for 2016.  We will continue next year!