Course Update 6/28/13

I will begin today's post by answering two common questions that I have received over the last week.

1) What are all those white lines on the fairways and approaches?

Our Architect, John Colligan painting the new mowing lines.



On Monday 6/24, John Colligan, the golf course architect who designed the bunkers and who has worked with Ridgewood for many years, made a visit to see the finalized bunkers and to help us define our fairway and approach mowing lines in relation to the new bunkers. John and I painted white lines along the perimeter of the fairways and approaches in order to show our mowers the proper patterns. We made minor changes to most of the holes. In certain areas we expanded the fairways and approaches into areas that had been mowed at rough height - resulting in scalping. We expect the scalping to heal and to see nice definition along the mowing lines in the coming weeks.


Sergio Zapata following the new lines on #13

2) Why do our greens slow down during the summer months?

In last week's post I discussed root depth and some of the practices that we use to help our bentgrass greens survive the summer heat. With temperatures soaring over 100F for the last few days, I felt it pertinent to provide some science illustrating why we are forced to raise our mowing heights during the months of June, July, and August. The bottom line is that when root zone temperatures exceed 87F bentgrass uses more energy than it can produce. As a result, the plant begins to use its roots as a source of energy - resulting in shorter roots and a plant that is more susceptible to disease, drought, and other environmental conditions. Raising the mowing heights helps offset this physiological process and is one way that are able to make it through the summer. This week's Green Section Record, published by the USGA gives a great explanation of how and why this happens. Please take moment to learn more by clicking here: USGA Green Section Record. 


USGA Green Section Record 6.26: "There is a period during the summer months when food consumption (respiration) exceeds food production (photosynthesis). It is during this time that putting greens are most susceptible to other climatic stresses and disease. Photo Credit: Bingru Huang, PH.D."

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A few of the things that we have been working on since my last post:

The maintenance crew hard at work setting up the course for morning play

• Completed 4th successful aeration of the year on 6/17 and 6/18
• Checked and adjusted sand depths on several bunkers including: Practice bunkers and 8 through 18
• Sprayed greens on 6/20 and 6/28
• Relocated several loads of sand from the marina to maintenance shop
• Completed controlled burn of brush pile
• Disposed of large quantities of old drainage pipe from shop yard
• Painted and started mowing new contour lines on fairways and approaches
• Repaired several irrigation issues
• Adjusted mowing height of cut for greens



Disposing of old drain pipe in efforts to clean up our shop yard



Aerating the putting green on 6/17



Course Update 6/17/13

Thank you for taking the time to visit our golf course maintenance blog. This is the first post, so please be sure to check back for updates and improvements to the blog. We will use this blog to give you insight into our daily operations, course plans, and other golf course maintenance updates. Typically the blog will be updated every 7 to 14 days.



15 Green on Tuesday of Starburst

Last week Ridgewood hosted the Starburst Invitational Golf Tournament for the 15th consecutive year. This tournament brings in players from all of the world and provides a great opportunity to showcase our course to hundreds of junior golfers and their parents that would otherwise not have the chance to see all that Ridgewood has to offer. The maintenance crew did a great job preparing the course and I feel that the event was a success. The course tolerated the traffic well, and we were able to get everything back to normal for member play. The tournament also provided us the opportunity to get started on some much needed housekeeping measures around our maintenance facility. Check out the list and photos of last week's work below:

Week of 6/9 to 6/15

Sergio, Joe, and Jacob install the fan on #5 Green

• Prepared course for Starburst Invitational
• Repaired problems with our transfer pump
• Cleaned shop and washed all equipment
• Topdressed and mowed driving range
• Installed and tested cooling fans for greens PG, 18, and 5
• Replanted flowers at front entrance, and weeded beds
• Trained several new employees on raking bunkers, mowing greens, and hand watering
• Thorough cleaning of all ball washers (including fluid and foot cleaners)
• Applied fertilizer and wetting agent to greens
• Began work on recycling metal from scrap pile at shop
• Prepared about 300 waste tires for pick up and recycling
• Removed large dead tree near pump station



Pepe shows off a few of the tires to be recycled

Week of 6/16 to 6/22

• Greens aeration on Monday and Tuesday
• Continue with trash clean-up and recycling measures at shop
• Edge and trim bunkers
• Evaluate and adjust sand depth in bunkers
• Edge greens
• Mow fairways, tees, collars, and approaches three to four times
• Evaluate irrigation heads and adjust for dry areas on fairways and tees
• Spot weed control for dallisgrass and crabgrass

A couple of important notes on greens

Thomas, one of our TSTC students watering 15 Green

Its that time of year again! The fans are out, the hand-water guys are busy, and our most important task is to keep the greens healthy throughout during summer heat. One of the biggest keys to managing bentgrass putting surfaces in our climate is to develop and maintain healthy roots. There are a multitude of environmental factors and cultural practices that effect root depth. Two of the most important practices include proper water management and maintaining a dedicated aeration program. Fortunately, Ridgewood has been able to accomplish both of these in years past and we are beginning the season with strong healthy roots (see picture below). We must now shift our maintenance practices so that we can maintain these roots throughout the summer. This is accomplished in several ways, including: precise water management, continued aeration, higher mowing heights, and proper fertility. Green speeds will decrease slightly during the months of June, July, August while we make every effort to keep the putting surfaces healthy and smooth.

This profile illustrates excellent roots on the 7th Green

First Assistant Duane Kemp using a field microscope to check for new root growth