With fall approaching I have finally made the time to sit down and write a blog. It was a stressful summer for the course, which also means it was for myself and the staff as well. Going into the summer I was aware of the issues the golf course faces. We were down to two working 75hp pumps and irrigation satellite boxes that are out dated making them extremely hard to find replacement parts for.
It was beginning to look more promising when we were able to get the inoperable pump pulled and sent off in April. At that time we were able to get a new pump ordered and it was to be installed in June. June passed by us long ago and the latest update I have been given is to expect the new pump at the end of September. I am being told the manufacturer is currently building multiple pumps and it is taking longer than expected to be able to get parts in to complete the pump.
Not long after the inoperable pump was pulled I had no choice but to turn off a second pump. This pump had begun to spin irregularly forcing wear on its bearings. Due to the irregular spin water was being dispersed throughout the pump house. To protect the electronic panel in the pump house and to prevent further damage to the pump, the pump needed to be turned off.
Not long after we experienced issues with the computer panel in the pump house. We were able to run the pumps manually over night while I worked through the night making sure the pump ran sufficiently. After two weeks of that the parts finally found their way here. This winter we will be reconfiguring the panel in the pump house. My pump technician was unable to determine a direct cause to this failure but the software is long outdated and the company that designed the control panel has fallen out of business.
With one 75hp pump and nearly 50 acres of bentgrass it was making for a long summer. With one 75hp pump our system is only able to pump 1000gpm of water out on the course. With such little flow it is impossible to get all the water out on the golf course throughout the night. Along with not being able to pump enough water out during the night we have outdated satellite boxes that are constantly going down. These satellite boxes are supposed to receive a signal from my computer that has the times for the boxes to turn on the sprinkler heads. With boxes constantly going down and not downloading planned watering we had to run water manually early in the mornings.
Having to run water cycles in the morning is less than ideal. For the golfers it mean wet fairways that are undesirable as well as disease in the summer. With hot nightly temps and even hotter day temps wet bentgrass is very susceptible to disease. We saw this in several fairways throughout the summer and they are finally able to recover now that we are hitting cooler nightly temps. Unfortunately there is no turn-key solution and it will take time for these areas to heal in.
Throughout the summer I have been spraying fairways every two weeks to help combat the diseased fairways and tees as well as spraying them with wetting agents. The wetting agent I have been using, and that has been used here in the past helps water penetrate into the soil as well as break apart hydrophobic soil allowing the moisture to be held in the soil rather than runoff the soil surface. However, pond water can only do so much. We can get by with our irrigation water but nothing can beat all the natural nutrients you get from a rain.
Tees that have struggled through the year have started to recover and are currently being seeded to help speed up the heal in process. Larger fairway spots will soon follow. In the past it is apparent fairway spots that had struggled were seeded with varieties other than the Princeville bentgrass that makes up most of the fairways. I have located a supplier for the Princeville seed and are currently using it.
The range tee took it on the chin this year to say the least. When the range tees was graded two years ago there was a noticeable clay layer in the range tee. This clay layer prevented strong, long and healthy roots. Once the heat set in the range tee gave out, they did not had strong enough roots to get by. We have since seeded the range tee and ask all golfers to hit range balls from the mats for the remainder of the year, to give the range tee the best chance of filling out this fall. The range mats will hold a golf tee therefore there is no need to step off the front of the mats to hit driver, you will be asked to return to the mats. Next spring we will be aerifying the range tee to give roots a channel to get through the clay as well as spraying plenty of wetting agents to help maintain moisture throughout the soil profile.
With all that said I am pleased with how the golf course looks and plays today. Given the issues we have faced that are a result of an aging irrigation system that continued to fail I am pleased with the amount of grass we have been able to keep. When I took the job my director made it clear to ownership if we end up with just one pump, grass will be lost. That conversation got the ball rolling to get new pumps. New pumps are on the way slowly but surely. I will continue to make repairs to our satellite boxes as we as make it known that an update is necessary to be able to provide a top notch golf course that is expected by the membership as well myself and my staff. Are there areas that can continue to improve? Absolutely!
Going into this fall my main focus is on getting the struggling fairways and tee boxes back to healthy turf through the use of fertilizer, wetting agents and moisture. With cooler nights and days upon us we have already seen areas begin to heal. Healthy turf is thriving and areas that have struggled are slowing coming back. The course will get there it just takes time. Once again there is no turn-key solution. All you can do is provide a healthy soil through fertilizer and wetting agents, providing an optimal conditions for turf grass to grow.
Another thing to look forward to is our Fall Aerification. This will take place September 26th and 27th. The front 9 and lower putting green will be closed on the 26th and reopen on the 27th. The back 9 and upper putting green outside the pro shop will be closed on the 27th and reopen the 28th. Yes it does hurt to punch holes into the putting greens but it is important to do. This process will help reduce the compaction on the greens as well as create for pore space for water to infiltrate to soil as we all channels for roots to grow. A heavy topdressing will be put down to fill these channels with sand. Sand has a much larger surface area than clay and silt. A larger surface area results in more pore space as sand can not pack as tightly as clay and silt. Larger pore space results in better water movement throughout the soil as well as more room for roots to grow.
With all that said I have truly enjoyed being able to return to Staley Farms as your Golf Course Superintendent and will continue to do everything I can to provide the best playing conditions day in and day out here at Staley Farms Golf Club.
Bests
Grant
