Course Update 7/26/13

Good Afternoon,

I will begin today's post by introducing two new members to our team....

Ruby (left) and Roxy (right) inspecting 17 Green following last week's rain

Ruby and Roxy are our 2 1/2 month old Australian Shepherds. They will soon begin training on picking up trash, moving tee markers, and chasing off unwanted pest. Check back for more photos of the pups.
All areas of the course have greatly benefited from the 4.5" of rain that we received two weeks ago. As a result we have been extremely busy staying on top of our routine mowing and other maintenance practices. The list below will give you an idea of a few of things that we have been working on since my last post:


• Completed edging of all cart paths
• Edged bunkers two times
• Fertilized entire golf course (tees, fairways, and most roughs) on 7/22
• Successful planet air, topdress, and vertical mowing on greens last Monday
• Edged greens two times
• Topdressed sodded areas and drainage ditches
• Repaired several more irrigation heads
• Flower bed maintenance
• Continued work on re-aligning tees
• Spot treat of weeds
• Fire ant control
• Continued with spray program on greens
• Equipment inventory and evaluation

A quick look at our daily job board. The board is used to schedule employee shifts, daily jobs, mowing patterns, and more

A few of the items we have plans for next week include:

• Edging greens
• Continue tee alignment
• Sod/plug weak areas on the putting green
• Continue topdressing sodded areas
• Add sand/move sand in several bunkers
• Grub and ant control around tees and greens
• Weed control
• Possible vertical mowing of tees and fairways
• Finalize plans for replacing water cooler stands and other course accessories

Unfortunately, we had a hydraulic hose break on one of our tee mowers while mowing the main tee on #3. We treated the area with charcoal and fertilizer to help the grass recover, however the burn lines from the hydraulic fluid will be visible for the next two to three weeks.

Hydraulic leak on 3 tee on 7.24.13

Course Update 7/16/13



RAIN!!!!!!  Over the last 48 hours we received right at 4" of precipitation. The rain came slow and steady resulting in minimal damage to the course. It had been over 34 days since our last significant rainfall, and the rain was sorely needed. We are open today and are not restricting carts to paths only. The rain did force us to reschedule our planet air and fertilization practices which were scheduled for yesterday. We are currently working with the golf shop to reschedule these important tasks with minimal disruption to play.



Rainfall as of 2:30pm on 7/15/13

One of the biggest and most important challenges facing not only Ridgewood, but the industry as whole is water. Water is arguably our most important natural resource. Issues such as: quality, availability, and cost have and will continue to become more critical to the game of golf. As such, one of our biggest goals this summer to is to develop a water management plan for Ridgewood. This plan will focus on drought conservation and defining our best management practices related to irrigation. To learn more about how we will develop this plan please click the link below:

http://gsr.lib.msu.edu/article/gross-developing-7-12-13.pdf

Many of you are aware that we currently have a set amount of water allocated for irrigation on an annual basis and that in most years we do not have the option to purchase additional water. In order to make the best use of our water we must first develop a water budget.

A visual look at our water budget for this year. The New Budget is updated monthly based on previous months actuals. Note: July usage is month to date as of 7/12/13

I developed our water budget by dividing our water allotment (300 acre feet) over the 12 month contract period. Each month is assigned a certain amount of water based on historical usage and weather patterns. We then enter our actual usage for each month and re-adjust our budget accordingly for the remaining months - resulting in a total usage of 300 acre feet. It is also important to note that currently the elevation of Lake Waco is 5.28ft below normal, and that U.S. Drought Monitor places Waco in the moderate to severe category. If drought conditions worsen we may face drought restrictions and ultimately a reduction in our current water allotment. For this reason, we will continue to focus our irrigation in high priority areas and make every effort to stay within our water budget.

Other Course News...

We have been very busy working on several areas of the course. The list and photos below will give a brief insight into what has been going on over the last couple of weeks:

• Repaired several irrigation leaks and problems
• Re-Aligning tees
• Spot weed control
• Shop improvements
• Topdressing sodded areas
• Planet Air on sodded areas and trouble spots on the practice putting green

Jacob and Jaime replacing sprinkler heads on 16 Tee

Ropes and stakes are used to properly align tee boxes

Taking advantage of a rainy day the crew rebuilt two picnic tables

Completed picnic table

Topdressing sod on #7 fairway



Joe Nava topdressing sod on #3

Course Update 7/9/13



Good Afternoon and thank you for visiting the blog. I hope that everyone enjoyed the 4th of July weekend and all of the festivities at the club.

This week I will discuss bunker maintenance. To get started I would like to share a photo and quote that may give you a laugh...

 

And a quote from Old Tom Morris: "Bunkers are not meant to be places of pleasure, they are prisons for punishment and repentance".

Ok, enough with jokes. Bunkers are serious business. It is our goal to provide you with the best bunker conditions possible. The recent renovations have given us the opportunity to accomplish this task, and it is our responsibility to do so. As I mentioned in the newsletter, one of our main priorities this summer is to develop a sustainable bunker maintenance plan that satisfies the needs of our golfers. The information below will give you an idea of that goes into this plan.

Daily Preparation: First, all debris (leaves, dirt, grass clippings, etc) are removed from the bunkers using a hand blower. After debris is removed the crew then hand rakes every bunker. Occasionally, we simply rake any footprints and do not disturb the rest of the bunker. This is done to conserve labor hours and to allow the sand to further compact. The entire process typically requires three to four employees and requires about 3.5 hours to complete.

The crew preparing the bunkers on 5 and 7.

Weekly Maintenance: Every one to two weeks we must mow and edge all of the grass surrounding the bunkers. This is one the most labor intensive practices on the golf course. There are several steps involved which are illustrated below.

1. The first step is to pull the sand away from the edges of the bunkers. This exposes the turf and allows for the use of string trimmers to edge the bunkers. This process is completed by two crewmembers.
2. Once the sand is pulled down, two to three crewmembers use string trimmers clean up the edges of the bunkers. Proper edging keeps the bunkers defined and helps maintain the original design.
   
3. A third crew of two is working at the same time to mow all the grass around the bunkers. This is accomplished using a specialized type of mower that is capable of mowing very steep slopes. We recently purchased two new Hover Mowers to accomplish this task.

   

   David Nava and Ramiro Tenorio III using the new Hover Mowers.

4. After the first crew is done pulling sand away from the edges, they then return to the first hole with hand blowers to remove any grass clippings from the above practices.
5. Finally, as the "edging crew" and the "hover mower crew" finish, they begin the process of pushing the sand back up on the edges, and hand pulling any grass that was missed by the edging.

   

   Kevin Hejl pulling runners.

Monthly Maintenance: Approximately once a month the bunkers must be checked to ensure that sand levels are consistent. Often time more sand must be added, or the sand must be moved from one part of the bunker to another. The frequency of adjusting sand levels depends on the individual bunker. For example, the chipping green bunkers (which receive more play than others) must be checked more frequently.