Yep its Weather, Getting Dirty/TIlling Deep, Zoning Out, and Early Range Shutdowns

 Its been a while since I've made a blog post. If you follow me on other forms of social media you've seen a regular plate full of details regarding the work our hard working staff are accomplishing on a daily basis.

Weather

First and foremost, lets talk about the weather, especially the colder than normal temperatures we have experienced in late April and May. The average temperatures in April were a couple degrees above last season. Now, May 2021 is a different story. We are currently 8 degrees behind average in both daylight highs and night lows. Last May we were actually a degree above normal. More importantly, our soil temperatures have dropped since the first of May to 63 degrees.

Soil temperatures at this level are excellent for our rough grass(cool season) and greens. Our bent grass likes temperatures to be slightly warmer, especially at night but they are in full production of energy which contributes to root growth and adds to storage within the plants. 

It is most difficult for our dominant short grass zoysia, especially our tees and areas of fairways with heavier cart traffic and additional shade. We've cleaned up our zoysia mowing only weekly at this time due to the lack of growth. Some of our weaker areas we will keep the mowers away completely. It appears we might begin to see some increases in heat over the weekend and into next week. We can't force the plants to grow. The systems within the plant currently are slowed because there is not enough energy to produce growth.

It is very important during this time that membership operating carts reduce traffic in fairways as much as possible. Using a 90 degree angle from the cart path to your ball in the fairway reduces traffic in the fairway. Once the ball is struck, move the cart back to the rough and cart path when possible and proceed to where you ball is located. We are still seeing a tremendous amount of traffic going from the teeing ground area directly through the rough off of the tee and into the fairways and then driving another 50 to 100 yards down the fairway. Your assistance is greatly appreciated to reduce this type of activity.

Soil and Sod 

Stumps from a few trees removed were ground a few weeks ago, remnants cleaned out and this past week they will filled with soil. Yesterday and today, our staff edged the existing filled areas and laid sod to cover the spots. Six in total were cleaned up. Our contractor will be out in the next couple of weeks to grind the remaining stumps that we have on property so we can get them cleaned and covered for the summer.

Sycamore and Sweegum that were in the club lawn to the right of 9 cart path were covered with sod. Also, 9 tee, a pine tree in the club lawn and in the triangle between 5/7/main drive.

 

Some additional soil work was completed along some seriously compacted cart path edges behind 11, green, at 13 green and at the curve just short of 15 green by the 16th tee. We used a heavy duty tiller going as deep as 6-8". We added some black gold compost from St.Louis composting and covered with fescue sod. These areas will be kept very moist over the next week or two so it is important that we do not step into the 20" width of sod that are next to the path. Access to the green areas are still available at the top end of these renovated areas.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=No8JNhqkE78

From the 11th cart path going up the hill to 12 tee. We have this section roped off and are asking cart to proceed to the top of the hill at the circle turn for the 12th tee to enter the 11th green complex. This area has been very problematic because of the severe slope and the large Pin Oak that keeps this area  depleted from moisture and into heavy shade. Hopefully this extra work will finally keep this area in better shape.

This area leads up to 13 green. We tilled from just above the left tee up to the top of the hill in the bottom picture. You can access the green from below or above the section. Some can step across the sod without issue but please be reminded this area will be kept wet for a week or two to help it root properly. We will also keep the tees up on the upper tee of 14 for a week or more so more the reason to pull up to the top of the sodded area.

No pictures of 15 but this area will be roped off and will be obvious for our golfers. Carts can stop short of this area and or proceed to the circle for 15 green/16 tee.

Drop Zones

We have one established drop zone at the club which is the red teeing area of hole 9. As play has increased, so has the wear and tear to this teeing ground. It is also a fairly small tee with an extension that was added a few years ago that frankly speaking needs to be renovated. Teeing grounds are not the best locations for these drop zones so a couple of changes will be occurring over the next couple of months. 

On hole 9, we have rough graded in a new drop area beside the 9th red tee. We will be covering this with zoysia over the next week. Later this summer,(after July 4th, we intend to close the red tee and blue tee on #9. We will strip the sod from the tees, enlarge the red tee forward, to the right and a little off the back. We also will strip the blue tee and will extend its teeing ground to the right. We anticipate these tees will be ready for play by August 1st with the heat of the summer pushing a quick grow-in. In the meantime, we will utilize the new drop zone for the red tee/drop zone and the white tee will have the blue tee added.

New drop area to the right of 9 red tee. We still have some work to complete on the slopes and some leveling but its roughed in. We anticipate the red tee to split the different between the existing tee and the new drop zone.

        

The golf committee and green committee has been in discussion regarding a potential drop area to be established for the 15th hole. We will be placing a drop zone about 35' from the cart path about 10' from the Egan's Lake. It will be mowed at a reduced height of cut and a circle designating the area will be put in place. 

Driving Ranges

There are signs at each driving range that mention the range will be closed early on Thursdays. This must occur so that all balls can be removed by the pro shop staff and readied for our staff to mow before the first golfers whom arrive on Friday morning at 7 am. This program is usually implemented in late April and runs into June and or until the grass begins to slow its growth. Its important that the grass be cut twice a week so staff can see the balls and remove them so they are not chopped up by the mowers. 

On event day Mondays, our staff usually picks the ranges clean and mows after the groups begin play. The pro shop staff assists us with as much removal before dark on Sunday evenings. We do not close the ranges early on Sundays so our membership are not inconvenienced by our necessary operations. We appreciate your understanding during this time.

I hope you get a chance to get out and see your golf course over the next couple of weeks. Ball roll out has been pretty good I hear and hopefully the rain starts falling at night and leaves our weekends free to play golf.

 

Grass Range Tees Close Sunday, October 30

It's that time of the season to close the grass range tees until next spring. They will close on Sunday October 30th and will reopen sometime in April would be our hope or early May at the latest.
The Zoysia grass can no longer repair itself from damage so time to protect it from  potential serious injury which could delay opening next spring. The mats will be available for your use during this time.

Driving Range Protective Net Nearly Completed

The staff has installed the wire border and put all the netting up on the Long Range Tee over the last 2 days. We have some additional work to do in the morning and hope to have the mats open by noon on Friday.

Netting rolled out and staff installing rope border.

Guys had to run the rope in and out of the netting so it can be attached to the wire.

Hanging netting on wire that was installed yesterday. 5/16" wire stretched across the top,down the poles and across the bottom where the net is attached to it using carbiner snaps that hold them in place.

Additional view of guys up on the lift. Skip and Russ doing this work.

Attaching more snaps in place. About every 3'.

The maintenance building side of the range that was finished for the most part on Wednesday.

Long Range Grass Tee Officially Opened Today

The Long Range Grass Tee was officially opened today with the first shots being made by about 1/2 of our 17 member donor group. The grass tee will be open weather permitting on Wednesdays and Friday through Sunday until sometime in June when the turf will be actively growing and can fully recover from divots. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, the mats will be used on the Long Range but the Short Range Grass will be open for your grass hitting pleasure.

We still must install a couple of poles and the netting on the Long Range Tee over the next few weeks and time allows.

We are very appreciative of our group of members who donated to this project. Over $ 22,000 was raised and spent on this project.

Mr, Coe, Dr. and Mrs. Herrin, Mr Henderson, Mr Storey, Mr Abel, and Mr and Mrs Muller taking first swings. Mr Todorovich arrived after the first swing. Contributors but unable to attend included  Lockhart, Caruso, Sommer,  Dr Miller, Mr Anthony Bommarito,  Carsten, Pranger, Lueken, Gabel, and May families.

Long Range Tee Work

With a 5 a.m. arrival and a dash around light frost Thursday morning, the staff quickly prepared the course for a 120 person outing. Once the outings work was completed, we then moved to the Long Range Tee construction. All the holes augured yesterday for the telephone and shorter metal poles for the netting on the long range. We initially borrowed an auger from our friends at St. Louis Country Club and made an extension. Drilled a great hole but not deep enough. We were able to use the smaller auger for our 2' deep holes for our 12.5' net which will go along the left side of the tee. We rented a skid steer with our change of plans and an auger which you will see in action below.

If weather is okay on Monday, we intend to put poles in place.



This hole is a little wider on top because we had large roots in the auger area. Removed them with the backhoe and were able to make quick work of the 9 holes that were needed. We also drilled 9 holes with the tractor auger.

We have retreated the bottom 6' of the poles with a water sealer in recommendations from Ameren where we purchased the poles. We still have to cut a few feet off the poles. The poles will be in the range tee area over the weekend.

Long Range Tee Update/Course Etiquette

The long range tee was mowed for the first time today, 15 days since the sod was laid. We are using a walking mower and are mowing it at a height of .900" which is effective height of our riding tee mower of .750". To give you an idea of the height of cut, our tees are mowed at .500". We might drop it slightly over the next couple of mows but will keep it higher than normal  to insure good rooting going into winter. We have plenty of time next season to bring the height down to an effective practice height for you and our guests.

62 steps to walk mow the long range tee in one pass.  40 passes so far with about 25-30% left to mow.

Using our collar walking unit to cut the tee.  Trying to keep the riding equipment off of it as much as possible except the roller to help smooth the surface.

A disturbing view today was to see a divot out of the tee and a spot where someone set up out on the tee hitting drivers. Will one or two individuals hitting off the tee kill it, of course it won't but why not hundreds of people hitting off of it since one or two are going to do it. You know the answer if hundreds hit off of it, it will be destroyed before we get the opportunity to use it.  I do realize there are more than our members that use this facility who could be involved in this issue and the one below.

Also have seen two divots near holes over the last week. This type of damage is rarely seen at our club and now we have seen two of these in a weeks time.

Golf Course Update

A number of things are happening on the golf course so below is your update.  I've done this in video format with a little music so enjoy the update.  This took a few hours to complete but will be much quicker in the future as I become more familiar with the set up.  I hope you've enjoyed the weather as much as we have on the grounds staff.  We are beginning to dry a little around the edges but we have been able to hold our water costs well below budget over the first two months of summer which is a good thing.  Of course that can change in just a few weeks if the rain stops.

I do need to mention a equipment hydraulic leak which many of you might have noticed if you've played over the last few days. Our surround mower which cuts our rough around our greens had a leak in a rear hose.  The operator went around 6,8,9 and 14 green before he saw the leak.  My hope is that since this is in mostly taller turf, we will have some damage but mostly just leaf die back and no suffocation type damage where the crown of the plant is saturated with oil.  The lines were probably less than an inch wide initially but did expand when he began to make some 3 point turns which caused more additional fluid to drop to the turf.  I would expect the heat over the next few days to bring the damage out more. If necessary, we will cut out any major loss of turf.

There Will Be Some Killing Going On at Glen Echo Today!

I don't like to utter those words at a golf course, its all about keeping things alive most of the time.

Say hello to my little friend Roundup and Fusilade Long Range Tee Bermuda grass.  I will be spraying out the long range tee this morning in the beginning stages of changing the grass back to Zoysia.  Proper divot patterns are not necessary this morning as you get ready for the Clarkson.  Chop, chop all you like.

 Please refrain from walking on the grass area after this morning to prevent transferring of chemicals to finer turf areas.  We appreciate your cooperation.

Details of Long Range Tee Turf Replacement

I sent out an email blast to the membership earlier in the afternoon giving  notice of our plans regarding the turf replacement for the long range tee.  The following information is some additional detail regarding changing this playing surface from Bermuda back to Zoysia which is the main fwy/tee surface.

There might be a couple of questions you might have regarding this project.  Why start this now?  A couple of reasons.  The Bermuda was damaged coming out of winter and is slow in responding.  Also, we need enough time to kill a majority of the Bermud and give the Zoysia a chance to root and grow before dormancy sets in.

Why not change ends of the range to the top.  A number of reasons I explained to my committee.  Cost would be much higher.  A dozer would be needed to move dirt and build targets.  Hitting balls down hill will increasing ball flight leading to more cost for balls and endangering my staff in our maintenance area.  I'm sure we would be required to put up a very large fence to protect the metro link trains from being hit.  Logistics of cart travel and walkers would be much more difficult and almost impossible.  Shall I list more?

As mentioned in the earlier email, our operating budget does not have the money to fund this project.  I had also stated the project would not be worth our time if we did not remove trees to improve turf conditions. 
My apologies in forgetting the estimated cost of $ 15,000 in the email.  Our staff will do all the work except laser-leveling the tee and some of the larger scale tree work will require some assistance.  No additional labor cost will be required. Like anything else we do extra on the course, we will schedule our regular work and plan our extra work accordingly.

The long range mats will be open as much as possible during the process.  The short range grass tee will remain open until dormancy so you have a place to warm up.

During the construction, I encourage everyone to stay off of the treated turf.  You could track chemicals back onto good turf surfaces such as the practice green from remnants of chemicals used to kill the Bermuda. We have 9 trees to remove on the east side of the tee.  One will die from a lightning strike that occurred a month ago and the other is a hazard tree we will be removing.  The trees shade parts of the teeing ground as late at 10 a.m. each morning.  We plan to keep the shorter scrub material along the creek to provide some separation between the first hole and the range tee but as trees continue to grow, they will be removed as they begin to create shade on the tee.  We will remove some trees along the creek bank on the west side of the tee as well.  These trees shade the tee from 3 p.m. on and reduces the total amount of sunlight to the turf.  We need a minimum of 8 hours of sun or more to have turf that can repair itself quickly enough as we rotate stations through the tee.  Additional sun equals a turf that dries quicker and can become playable that much sooner than the past wet, soggy turf that we have experienced on this tee. A drier tee surface also reduces damage from divots during practice time.   The work on the tee should get us almost two additional hitting stalls and we should have at least one more days's rotation from the very front of the tee.

The following is a general work plan for the project.

•    Spray the tee with non-selective and selective herbicides. GECC staff
•    Scalp and strip the remnants. GECC staff
•    Cover the tee and attempt to grow the Bermuda again. GECC staff
•    Spray herbicide application again.  This total process should take approximately 6-8 weeks.  Using     soil fumigant could shorten window but might require total shutdown of all weather tees on the long     range required by product label. GECC staff
•    Install drainage in tee to improve the health of the zoysia and allow it to opened sooner after rain        events. GECC staff
•    Adjust irrigation heads as necessary. GECC staff
•   Till and Laser-level tee. Contractor.
•   Install big roll zoysia.  GECC staff.
•   Tree removal would be occur as needed.  Couple potential removals could be during winter season  but would need to evaluate.  Staff and contractor

·        The tee will not be ready for play until mid-May to the 1^st of June 2015 depending upon completion date and grow in weather.

      As always, I will keep you informed of the activities as they happen.

Long Range Tee Progress

Making progress in turf growth on the long range tee but its slow progress.  Other clubs in town with bermuda range tees are having the same struggles.

Posted a video with all the details below regarding the long range tee.

Walk Mowing, carts on paths and grass driving ranges

It's that time of year when many firsts occur.  Today is one of those days.  The staff is beginnings the the millions of steps and the thousands of miles it takes to walk mow our greens and collars.  We will walk mow a majority of the days with a day per week or so using the riding mower depending upon our work schedule. Rolling greens with our riding mower vibratory system will occur 3-4 times per week. When we use 4 staff members to mow, it takes a little over 2 hours to mow 2 acres of greens.  When 3 staff mow, it takes about 2.5-3 hrs to mow the greens.

Jason walk mowing #1 green.

We are still a week or two away from allowing carts off the paths for the season.  The zoysia must green up enough and be mowed for the first time before I allow carts off the paths.

The driving ranges also will remain on the mats until sufficient growth occurs so they will begin healing once divots are taken from the surface.  The overseeded section of the long range(right half) has been really slow in growing out of its winter freeze and the overall tee is extremely wet. I would hope to open this part of the tee once there is sufficient drying to reduce excessive damage. A little fertilizer and some warm days should give the ryegrass over seeding a little kick in the pants.

We appreciate your patience as we transition into our spring season.