3.2" of rain

We saw rain for 34 straight hours, from 4:00pm Friday until 2:00am Sunday, with only a few short breaks in that span.  In total, the course received 3.2"

The river came out of its banks yet again.

Bunkers were washed out and were repaired today.

Along with the rain, we also saw plenty of wind.  The course is littered with debris, most of which will be picked up tomorrow. 

 

Still raining

1.9" of rain last night and into this morning. 

Damage assessment

The damage from the recent flood is not bad considering how long some areas were under water and how warm it was.

18 approach, along the creek on 18, and a few small areas on 8 lost grass.  We put seed down on the worst areas today, within a few weeks we will be back to green and healing.

Besides the normal mowing routines and flood clean-up, we focus on the details of the golf course during the summer months - string trimming, edging sprinkler heads and tee plaques, edging bunkers, cleaning cart paths, trimming trees and spraying weeds.

In preparation for the July 4th fireworks, we had the tall grass cut down in the field south of 8 fairway.

Flood damage

In celebration of US Open weekend, we decided to go "brown" here at FCC.

The flood waters on 8, 9 and 18 have receded, leaving us a silt covered course.

Larger puddles were removed from the course this morning, what's left will slowly drain away.  Any debris was also cleaned up. The silt on the turf will soon dry and get mown off.  I expect minimal turf loss due to this flood - a little on 8 and 18. 

 

All holes are open this weekend, barring anymore rain.  Cart traffic will be limited on 8 and 18.

Flooding

As I am writing this, we are flooded and rain continues to fall.  1, 8, 9, and 18 are unplayable, carts have been restricted and the range has been closed for the last few days because of standing water and soggy conditions.  We are mowing what we can, spiking greens when needed and will be pulling the irrigation pumps from their perch shortly.

In preparation for the flooding, everything that could possibly float away was removed from the area.

Currently, 8 and 9 are underwater, 18 is mostly covered.

 

8 green is half under as of this morning.

A deadly disease - Pythium - showed is ugly head yesterday.  This disease spreads quickly and is typically spread through the movement of water - ouch!  Good thing we sprayed a preventive fungicide application yesterday on all the fairways, we should be protected but may see some breakthrough due to the high pressure.

 

Choking greens

With all the rain and humidity we've had recently, the greens have started turning an orange color.  When that happens, we know that the turf isn't getting the oxygen it needs.

10 and 18 are usually the worst, they tend to hold water more than the other greens.

When the turf needs oxygen, the best way to remedy this is to aerify.  Today we solid tined all the greens, let them breathe for a few hours, then rolled them smooth for this afternoon's play.  With the extended forecast showing little change, I would expect we will do this again next week. 

Drainage project

A sink hole developed near 2 green over the past few months.  This week we dug up the problem area and found 4 tiles that were broken and needed to be replaced.

A project like this is always bigger than it may appear - a small sink hole turned into a large drainage repair.  Wayne and Mat did a great job digging it up and fitting in a new pipe.  We attempted to finish this up on Friday afternoon but was called off the course at 2:00 due to the large storm that moved through.  This project will be buttoned up early next week.

Landscape project

This week we completed a small landscape project along the tennis court fence, adding a little more color and definition to the area.

Eric laid out 24 ornamental grasses and also planted numerous hostas and flowering perennials.

This finished project turned out great.  Thanks to all the members that donated funds for these plants, (left over funds donated in honor of Cheryl Wenner).

Leaking sprinkler

Because we pump our irrigation water out of the Blanchard River, our sprinkler heads get plugged with debris very frequently.  This can cause them to stick on or not come on at all.  Sometimes it causes the heads to bubble out water until repaired.  With over 800 heads on the property, we don't check every head for leaks on a daily basis - small leaks typically become apparent the first time someone drives over that spot.  Any major issues can be seen from a distance and get noticed fairly quickly.

This morning, a head was bubbling up on 11 fairway.  I drove through that area at 6:15am and it wasn't bad enough for me to notice a problem.  By 12:00, as the Saturday Morning Group went through, I was notified by 4 groups that there was a leak, it had been leaking for long enough to become an issue.  A quick 30 second flush and it was fixed, by tomorrow that area will be back to normal.  Thanks for the heads-up on the issue.

Product testing

There is no shortage of fertility products on the market that we can apply to the course.  There are products that have been out for years that are well vetted in the industry, there are others that are fairly new to the market and raise an eyebrow when presented by a vendor.  I am open to trying new things when I think it is in the best interest of the club, BUT I want to see it work before I go all in.  One of the products we are trying this summer is labeled as a biostimulant - it is a fertility product that contains seaweed extract and acids that stimulant plant health and root growth.  There are plenty of golf course that use this type of product all the time and I want to see if it would have beneficial effects at FCC.

We are trying this fertilizer on half of our greens this year, we also split #3 green - with half the green getting the usual fertility package and the other half getting the new product added.  You will notice the red hash marks on #3 that split the green in half. 

 

We will be able to monitor the greens with and without this product to see if it lives up to its hype.  If plant health, root length and stress reduction is apparent, then we have a potential candidate for our fertility package in 2016.  If we see no difference in health, playability or appearance, then we know the product isn't worth the jug they put it in.  Many of these products are pricey and I don't want to apply it liberally if there is no significant benefit vs. our current program.  The only way to verify this is to have a "check" plot or spray certain areas with the product and some without.

During the summer months we fertilize the greens with the "spoon feeding" method - giving the greens small amounts of nutrients on frequent intervals, not using any granular products from April to September.  This gives us a very firm control on the health and growth of the greens.

Surprise encounter

Yesterday as we were picking up sticks on the course, I ran into a young fawn.

 

 

It was well hidden in our stick pile, it didn't see it until I threw a pile of sticks on top of it.  Mom wasn't too far away and keeping an eye us.

 

Grounds update

I recorded sparse rain from the end of April through the middle of May, we were getting fairly dry.  This all ended this past weekend as we received almost 3" of rain over three days.  As these fronts move through, they typically bring wind with it, and wind means plenty of sticks and debris.

Phil has been on stick duty most days this past week, keeping the course clean on a daily basis.

Most of the mulch has been laid and the annuals almost all in the ground, Peggy is now turning her attention to some of the details in the landscape beds around the club.

Jeff and Tim from Blanchard Valley Center finished planting the pots today.  In a few weeks the Grounds Staff will hold a cookout for all the BVC clients that helped us out.  Jeff, pictured above challenged me to a round of golf, winner gets a hat - he's pumped! 

Due to the recent storm activity, we needed to spend some time on our bunkers to get them back in shape.  The crew did a great job today edging, weeding, pickup up stones, and raking the bunkers.

This spring we purchased a much needed bunker rake through our capital budget.  We were able to get a good deal on a used demo.  The updated machine is significantly better than our old rake, increasing our efficiency in this area while also providing a better surface in the bunker.

The finished look of the bunkers today was outstanding, the crew was really proud of the finished product.

Flowers

With the threat of frost now behind us, we have begun to plant the annuals around the club.  Blanchard Valley Center and their clients grew half our flowers again this year and have planted everything you see out there - including 16 hanging baskets and 20 pots around the building.

Karen, Nichole, Molly and Michael helped us for a few days, planting around the pool, river rooms and locker rooms.

Sonja and Molly are always here with a smile no matter what the weather.

 

Bill was one of the few that helped with the pots, along with Alex and Dustin.

The Grounds Staff has been using our extra time after our typical course duties are done to lay down mulch around the club.  This upcoming week we will continue to lay mulch around the course.

 

Seed heads

All grass species produce seed at some point in their life cycle, this time of year many of our typical cool season grasses are seeding.  Poa annua or Annual Bluegrass is a prolific seed producer and one of the few grasses that can seed at a variety of mowing heights - from rough height to greens height.

The greens at FCC are predominantly poa, some of the poa is more of a perennial biotype and produces less seed, some is more of the annual biotype (think #1 green) and produces more seed.  The older the green, the more perennial poa and typically less seed.

We are currently in the middle of the seed-head flush, within a few weeks the seeding will be complete.  During this seeding stage, greens tend to be a little slower and little bumpier due to the seed-heads in the way.  We try to limit the amount of seed-heads on the greens but there will always be some seeding that occurs.

The main strategy we use to reduce the seeding pressure is to apply growth regulators to the greens to slow down the growth of the plant and inhibit the production of seed.  This application is timed with 'Growing Degree Days', giving us a great tool to apply the regulator at the optimal time and give us the best chance of success.  We follow certain models that give us day to day readings in our zip code on where we are in the phonological calendar, once we hit the correct 'Growing Degree Day' we apply the regulator.

The suppression this year on seed-heads was a little above average, but we are still seeing seeds.  This natural process will conclude in a few weeks, leaving us great greens for the remainder of the season.

Extra help

It has been a few weeks since my last post, we have been quite busy, as is typical for this time of year.  It has been all hands on deck to keep up with the mowing and blowing off the clippings that we have abundantly produced lately.  Today we completed filling all the holes left from our winter tree removals, next week we will start preparing our landscape beds for mulch.

A few weeks ago we took on a new hire to help maintain the landscaping and flowers around the clubhouse.  Peggy Biolchini, who was formerly working in the club office is now with the Grounds Department filling this position.  Her love for the outdoors, flowers and plants makes this position a great fit.

 

We have also received a little extra help from our friends at Blanchard Valley Center.  We are using the Grounds Department as a resource for some of their clients to learn job skills that will make them marketable in the work place.  Pictured above is Michael, he has been helping us out with a few details around the course.

Today, Ian came to help us sweep out the barns for a few hours.  We wish them all the best as they search for the right positions.