Thank you for visiting our turf maintenance blog. Check out the links and posts below for information on upcoming projects, current maintenance work, and much more.
Roxy and Ruby check out the rising lake water near #1 Green.
I started my last post by talking about "Crazy Weather". I will continue that same them this month as 2015 will surely definitely going down in the record books as a year of extremes. RCC only received one inch of precipitation for all of July, August, September, and most of October. However, the dry pattern quickly changed with the aftermath of Hurricane Patricia and the long awaited impact of El Nino. Over the weekend of October 23rd we received 13.5 inches. This was followed by another 5.5 inches over Halloween. So far this week we have received another inch with more in the forecast for tonight and tomorrow. The above events add up to nearly 20 inches in the last 14 days! Check out the video below showing the enormous amount of water coming from the across the 18th fairway and running accross the road leading to the Marina and Maintenance Facility. The crew was actually stuck at the shop until the water receded.
The below video shows what happens on #9 during heavy rains. Alex Johnson one of our Assistant Golf Professionals took this video earlier this year. The same scenario has taken place more than once so far this October.
The positive side of all the rain is that the entire course has shown significant drought recovery, and we are now in much better shape to enter the winter months. The downside is that we have had quite a mess on the course the last couple of weeks, several newly planted areas have washed, bunkers have been worked and re-worked several times, and we are now concerned with flooding once again. Overall the course has fared well but there has certainly been a lot of work to do. Check out the list and photos below to see some of the damage from the rain and other course happenings.
#1 Green - This green was re-planted just over seven weeks ago as a result of flood damage received in June. The green has been doing great and we are hoping to open sometime in the next few weeks. Fortunately, the flooding has reached the green yet. We came close last week when the lake hit 468ft or only 2ft away from the green. More information on #1 Green can be found HERE
#1 Green on 9.15
#1 Green on 9.25
#1 Green on 11.4
Greens- The rest of the greens are doing great thanks to fall temperatures finally coming to central Texas. The constant wet weather has certainly increased disease pressure, however the cool temperatures and occasional dry air has resulted in overall recovery from the summer heat. We are planning to sod the weak areas on 4,6, and 9 as soon as possible. Unfortunately, the rain has washed out our newly planted nursery greens twice and we have been forced to use the practice chipping green as a temporary nursery. We are hoping to purchase a small amount of sod late next week to complete repairs to these areas. Our nursery greens should be ready for use by next spring.
Crewmember Jacob Heppell planting one of our nursery greens prior to all the rain.
Water near the 18th tee and one of our new newly seeded nurseries (back).
Fall Plantings- The rain certainly caused a mess on several areas of the course. Prior to the rain we had completed overseeding of all practice tees and target greens. In addition, we were about 70% complete on planting several areas to tall fescue. Fortunately we were able to finish our fall flower change out and complete our preventative weed applications before the rain started. Most of the seeded areas are still doing great, however many will need to be reseeded thanks to flooding and erosion.
The crew decided to plant the Ridgewood "R" as part of our fall flower change out.
Overseed on main driving range tee and target green. The rain has made it difficult to prepare the grass for play.
Erosion control mats helped minimize the damage but, the newly seeded area on 13 required reseeding two times already.
Bunkers- We have spent quite a bit of time on the course over the last couple of weeks working to repair bunkers from the constant rains. Fortunately, the drainage and liner system in the bunkers is working as designed and we have not had major damage to any bunker. Most of our efforts have gone into shoveling sand back onto the faces, checking bunker depths, leveling, removing debris and defining edges. The entire crew has done a great job completing these task repeatedly over the last couple of weeks.
Bunkers near the 10th green after one of the rain events
Bunkers to the right of the 12th green.
Damage and Cleanup- In addition to repairing bunkers, we have been busy working to clean up debris and mud resulting from erosion.
Water coming across the 18th fairway. The water is over 10ft deep in places.
Water running across the back 9.
Large amounts of silt deposited near the 11th green. It is still to wet to complete clean up in this area.
Erosion on #11 coming from Lake Shore Dr and surrounding area.
Duane Kemp uses the backhoe to unplug a stopped drain.
Debris and silt near the approach on #9
Erosion control helped keep a large amount of mud off of 10 fairway
The last three months have put us back into the "Severe Drought" category.
Our exceptionally wet spring and start to summer quickly changed over the three last months. According to official rainfall reports (take at Waco Regional Airport) we went 49 straight days without any measurable precipitation - setting an all time record. At RCC we have now received just about 1" of rain since late June. Fortunately, the rainfall we received earlier in the year has helped keep Lake Waco close to normal level, and our water budget is still in good shape. Overall the course is handling the exceptionally dry conditions quite well, but you probably have noticed several areas on the course that are either very wet or very dry. We have made a lot of progress improving our irrigation system over the last year, however it was never designed to completely replace rainfall. We are continuing to make adjustments, change programming, and complete repairs, but any imperfections are painfully obvious during these long dry stretches, In addition to being dry - we have remained several degrees above normal. The heat has forced us to adjust our maintenance practices - especially on greens. Typically by late September we have experienced significant recovery from the summer months and are able to focus more on putting speed and firmness. This year we have been forced to delay some of these practices until the cooler weather sets in. Finally, most climatologist are predicting a strong El Nino effect this winter. If the pattern holds we can expect to have an exceptionally cool and wet winter.
We are constantly making notes and changes to our irrigation system
Driving Range Tees
Divot recovery after 14 days
All of the practice tees are now open for play. All construction has been completed on the main tee box and it is currently open a few days a week for play. The grass is certainly healthy enough to handle traffic, however we are limiting play in order to provide as much time as possible for the grass to get even stronger. We are currently applying weekly fertilizer and cultural practices to help the new grass continue to improve before winter. We will be overseeding all of the practice tees and target greens in mid-October (tentative dates are Oct. 12 for the upper tees and Oct. 19 for main tee). At that time the tees will be temporarily closed until the overseed is established. All of the driving range flags and poles were recently replaced and we are in the process of ordering new yardage markers. Have you ever wondered the best way to take divots in order to protect the grass? CLICK HERE to learn how to "Practice Like a Pro"
#1 Green and Nurseries
#1 Green on 9.21 after planting
10 days after planting, the seed is doing very well
After considerable time and effort, #1 Green was planted on Tuesday, September 21st. We spent several few weeks eradicating bermudagrass contamination, removing silt and algae (left over from the flood), and lightly tilling the top inch of the soil profile. September is the ideal time to plant bentgrass in our climate, and the green is already looking great. We are hoping to open the green
around Thanksgiving (10 weeks after planting) - only if it is healthy to handle traffic. Preparation has also been underway to replant our two nursery greens. The "new nursery" suffered the same fate as #1 Green during the flood, and the "old nursery" was severely contaminated with bermudagrass and weeds. These greens are critical to our care of the regulation greens as they provide a source of identical grass that can be used for repairs, testing, and removing bermudagrass contamination. In addition, we are hoping that they will be used as supplemental short game practice areas.
Practice Putting Green Improvements
The front portion of the practice putting green has traditionally struggled every summer. In my three summers at RCC we were only successful once in keeping grass here all year. The reason bentgrass stuggled in this area is due to several circumstances - with air movement, traffic, and heat being the three most difficult to overcome. We made the decision earlier this year to remove approximately 900 square feet of putting surface and to replace it with a more tolerant grass. In order to complete this process we stripped the entire area including the collar. The soil was the then amended, leveled, and prepared for planting. Also, short bump and run chips are allowed on the putting green for warm up and quick practice sessions. If you would like to practice pitch shots,bunker shots, or spend more time chipping please use the Practice Chipping Green located between #3 Green and #4 Tee.
Any good grass in the area was saved prior to preparing the area for new sod
Current and Upcoming Events
Preventative Weed and Disease Control - Herbicide applications will begin in the next two weeks to all areas of the course. The products will need to watered in following application - so the course may play extra wet for a week or so afterwards. Fungicide applications will take place on greens and zoysiagrass areas only.
Tall Fescue - Preparations are underway to re-seed many already established areas and to plant several new areas to tall fescue - including the new parking area at the driving range tee and the rough on the left side of #13.
Annual Flowers - Fall annual flower change out is already underway. All work will be completed by October 15th.
Tree Removal - Goss Tree Service will be removing the large Live Oak near the ballroom entrance and our staff will begin working on Cedar Elms on several holes and a couple of large Ash trees between holes #6 and #7. All of these trees are safety hazards and have been inspected by a certified arborist before being selected for removal.
Cart Path Repairs - Many of our cart paths have shifted with large changes in soil moisture. We are currently patching many places to prevent damage to carts.
Planet Air Procedure - We completed our first "Planet Air Procedure" on Monday the 14th of September. The scheduled procedure will take place on October 12th.
Irrigation Repairs - Similar to the cart paths, our irrigation pipes are breaking due to large shifts in the soil. Repairs are taking place daily.
Sign at entrance to RCC welcoming players to the course
Annika Clark celebrates the win. Photo Credit: Mark Button, WTGA
Ms. Clark playing into the par 4 5th. (RCC 14)
Photo Credit: Mark Button, TGA
Congratulations to Annika Clark the 94th Champion of the Women's State Amateur Championship. We were honored to host this great event and hope that all the participants enjoyed the course. The best female golfers traveled from across Texas to compete for the title. This is the 5th time that RCC has hosted this tournament (1956,1966,1980,2009,2015) and a huge thank you goes out to our membership for allowing the competition to take place here once again. RCC members Nannette Wheelis and Kem Barrett competed well in the event with Mrs. Wheelis making it to the final round of 4th Flight match play. The WTGA was a pleasure to work with, and our staff at RCC did a great job all week. For more information and tournament results check out Mark Button's article on the WTGA website by clicking here: WTGA Results.
Golfers prepare to play the 3rd hole (RCC #12) on Friday morning. It is no surprise that this hole played the toughest for the entire field all week.
The RCC Golf Maintenance Crew poses for a photo with the Spring Lake Cup trophy. The crew did a great job all week.
Ms. Clark Posing the Spring Lake Cup on 15 Green
Photo: Mark Button, TGA
The trophy claimed by Ms. Clark also has some interesting history in Waco. The Spring Lake Cup dates has roots back to the early 1900s with Waco's first golf course, The Huaco Club (1912), and to the old Spring Lake Country Club (1917) in Lacy Lakeview. I am currently doing some research on the history of golf in Waco. If you have any information about the history of Ridgewood or other courses in town please end me an email.
Driving Range Project
All major work on the driving range has been completed. Plans for the improvements were provided by Colligan Golf Design and work was completed by Jeff Johnson Golf in conjuction with RCC Golf Course Maintenance.The sod was planted on Friday the 17th of July and is doing great. We have already started mowing the tee box and look forward to getting it open for play as soon as possible. The next step will be aggressively aerating, topdressing, vertical mowing, fertilizing, and rolling. All of these cultural practices combined will help get the grass looking great, and the teeing surface as smooth as possible. At this point, we are shooting for an expected opening date of September 1. Check out the video above and pictures below. For pictures and video showing the project from start to finish please click here: 2015 RCC Driving Range Improvements
We created a new map of the irrigation system for entire driving range. Currently we are reprogramming the irrigation so that we can keep the range in better condition year round.
#1 Green
View of #1 1 Green on 7.19.15
We opened #1 Green for the WTGA State Women’s Amateur
Championship. The green handled the traffic fairly well and putted smooth
enough to keep it in play as a regulation green for the duration of the 5 day
event. As planned, this green is now open for member play - if you so
choose. It is obviously not in great condition, however it putts much better
than it looks (and certainly putts better than a temporary green). The ball
actually rolls pretty well, especially in the morning. The putting surface is
pretty much a combination of live bentgrass (young plants established from seed
after the flood), dead bentgrass (from the flood), and sand (to help the ball
roll smooth). The lack of a dense
Close up of #1 Green showing bentgrass planted after the flood
stand of turfgrass results in reduced
tolerance to traffic. As such, by mid to late afternoon footprints and
ballmarks will be more likely to impede ball roll. Please limit traffic and do
your best to smooth your ball marks. Currently we are using a combination of
brushing, rolling, and mowing to help keep the green putting as smooth as
possible. Our plan is keep #1 green open until mid-September. At this time
temperatures should be cool enough to establish bentgrass from seed. The green
will be closed for 6 to 10 weeks while we complete this process. The green will putt much better by late Fall, and should be the same as
the rest of the greens by Spring of 2016.
In summary, we will do our best to keep #1 putting as smooth
as possible, and members will have the option of playing #1 Green until mid-September
when cooler temperatures return. At this time the green will close again and so
that we can reseed the green. After the seed is established (6 to 8 weeks after
planting) we will reopen the green for play. I have been getting a ton of
questions from golfers about #1 Green. Please take a moment to read the
information below:
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT #1 GREEN
Why not just plant it to bermudagrass?
There are several reasons why this would not be a wise
decision. The simplest is that bermudagrass greens are established from sprigs
and require 8 to 12 weeks to grow in. By the time a bermudagrass green would be
ready to play on, it would be cool enough to reseed to bentgrass.
Why not sod the green to bentgrass?
Bentgrass sod is expensive, difficult to find, and would
take several weeks before it would be smooth enough to putt on. In addition,
sodding has the potential to create layers in the soil profile resulting in
poor drainage and air movement. It is also too hot to plant bentgrass sod this
time of year. Sodding is an option but RCC is much better off waiting to reseed
the green than attempting to sod. Reseeding is a fairly simple process, similar
to overseeding a bermudagrass green. The contours will remain the same and no
major construction will need to take place.
Do we have to rebuild the whole green?
No. The infrastructure on the green is fine. We only need to
replant the green not rebuild it. Rebuilding the green would be a much more
expensive and time consuming process that would likely result in #1 green being
closed until late next spring.
Can we move #1 Green to higher ground?
Yes. However, this would likely require a major construction
project. The green goes under water when the lake rises to 470ft (about 8ft
above normal). In recent years we have seen lake levels as high as 488ft
(1991), 486ft (2007), and 479ft (2015). In order to keep #1 Green from going
under water we would have to raise it substantially. The question then becomes
how high is high enough. Damage to the green is much more likely when it goes
under water for extended periods of time during the summer months. Over the
last 15 years this has only happened twice: 2007 and 2015.
Are we hurting the green by opening it?
No. There is not enough viable plants remaining on the green
for it to recover without replanting. Basically, we will have to replant either
way. The goal was to get enough seed established that the surface would hold
together enough to tolerate moderate amounts of traffic. As the long as the
surface of the green remains stable enough for play we will keep the green open
until September. If we determine that it simply cannot take traffic, then we
will close the green earlier or reduce play to only a few days a week.
Are there any positives about #1 Green?
Yes!
One bright side to #1 Green is that we have an excellent opportunity to
eliminate weeds within the green. This is especially true for controlling
bermudagrass contamination. Currently we are spraying glyphosate (Round Up) on
the green to eliminate any bermudagrass. The Round Up will also kill any
bentgrass that it comes in contact with, however since we are replanting the
bentgrass this is not an issue. In addition to weed control, we are going to
thoroughly inspect the subsurface drainage within the green. If we discover any
major problems, we have an excellent opportunity to fix them before replanting.
Weather
Click the photo to enlarge and see our weather data for the last 6 weeks
It has been almost six weeks since my last post, and how the weather has changed. The Dog Days of summer appear to have finally set in with temperatures hitting close to 100 degrees everyday and no rainfall since June 21st. Fortunately, thanks to the wet start to the year, Lake Waco is at normal elevation of 462ft and we are still looking good on our irrigation budget. The longer we go without rainfall, obviously the more dependent we are on our irrigation system. Our irrigation system is over ten years old now, but it is still in good condition overall. Randy, Duane, and our irrigation technicians - Jaime Guerra and Jacob Nava have done a great job over the last year making adjustments, repairs, and minor modifications. As a result, the overall efficiency of the system has improved greatly. However, even the best irrigation system in the country is not good enough to replace rainfall - only supplement it. The longer that we go without rain, the more the imperfections in the system will show up - resulting in wet spots and dry spots on the course. The good news is that we are getting closer to fall. In addition to the start of football and dove season - shorter days and cooler nights are only a couple of months away. As the weather changes, so will our maintenance practices on greens. We will slowly shift from focusing on surviving the heat to promoting recovery and performance. In short, as the seasons change - so will putting quality as we return to faster and firmer greens.
Flooding of the back nine and Marina on 5.31.15. Photo courtesy of Arron Jetelina.
It has been an exceptionally busy start to summer for our golf operations thanks to record rainfall, flooding, a busy tournament schedule, and our driving range tee renovation project. Overall things are going well on the course and our maintenance crew has done a great job keeping things rolling in the right direction. The Chaparral Member/Guest and the Starburst Invitational tournaments went well and we are looking forward to getting the main driving range tee open as soon as possible. We are also looking to getting back to accomplishing some of our traditional summer maintenance and cultural practices. Take a look at the photos and lists below to see some of happenings over the last month or so.
Driving Range Tee
The renovations to the main driving range tee are coming along nicely. All of the concrete work is complete and work on the retaining wall will begin in the next week. The new curbing handled yesterday's rain great and should be a long term fix to the erosion problems in the area. Once the retaining wall is finished the final soil preparation begin. Soon afterwards, we will finish the irrigation and begin planting grass. Without further rain delays we are on schedule to have everything complete by July 1st and hoping to open the tee for play by the first part of August. To see more pictures of the range work click HERE
Aerial view of the work on 6.14.15
The new parking area and curbing
The new parking area and curbing.
Flooding
You don't see this radar everyday!
The recent heavy rains in Waco and surrounding areas caused the level of Lake Waco to begin rising on May 24th. By May 30th the lake reached its highest point this year of 479 ft. Currently the lake has receded to a level of 468 ft, however the 4" of rain that we received on June 17th has the water slowly rising again. The flooding littered the course with a ton of debris, ruined the sand in several bunkers, and has caused significant damage to #1 green and to our new nursery green. We were however able to get all three rounds of our annual Member/Guest tournament completed - albeit on a modified course - #1 was skipped, and #18 was played as a par 3 from the back of 14 tee box. To see more pictures of all of the flooding please click HERE
#1 Green - Our #1 green remained underwater for 18 days. The dirty water, and high amount of silt deposits restricted light and air to the grass. This combined with the warm temperatures caused considerable damage. We are still evaluating whether or not we will be able to save the this green and get it back into playing condition this summer. Immediately after the water receded we began working to remove the algae, silt, and debris. After the green was cleared, we repeatedly lightly aerated the green using a spiker and walking aerator. In addition, we have reseeded the green. The problem with getting this green back is mostly due to the time of year. Bentgrass does not experience much recovery during the months of July and August. We are doing everything possible to give this green a chance. In the meantime, we are also evaluating our replanting options including planting sod or reseeding in the fall. Stay tuned for more updates on #1 green. The new nursery green is in about the same condition as #1 green. We are trying the same practices with it.
#1 Green on May 24 - before going underwater
Aerial shot of #1 green on 6.14
#1 Green on June 14 - the day the water receded
Randy and Pat washing the "slime" off of the nursery
Jacob aerating #1 on 6.14
#1 Green showing the seed, spiking, and aeration
Duane using a field microscope to check for viable plants
Debris Cleanup- Large amounts of tree limbs, driftwood, trash, and other materials accumulated along the Marina, shop yard, #1, #2, #16, #17, and #18. The crew has done a great job collecting all of this material. The trash was separated from "organic" debris and gathered into several burn piles. We are approximately 85 percent complete on cleanup.
Debris on #1 Fairway
Debris on 18 Fairway
Duane and Jose putting our tractors to work between #1 and #2
The crew works on #17 approach
Bunker Damage- In addition to repairing the bunkers several times a week in May and June we had to completely replace the sand in the bunkers on #1, #9, and #16.
Contaminated bunkers on #9
Moving Out- As the water continued to rise, we made the decision to move all of our equipment and products out of our maintenance facility. We based out operations out of the old basketball court near the pool for the final day of Member/Guest.
Duane moving the portable restroom out of the Marina
Our temporary Maintenance Facility
Erosion Control- We were able successfully use some erosion control rolls and mats to help with traditionally bad areas. The Curlex mats worked great to get seed established in the "triangle area" behind the new parking area. Now that the curbs are poured we have removed the rolls along the sides. We also used similar materials on #11 near the green. The crew did a great job with the installation and the products handled the 4" of rain yesterday with no problems.
Erosion conrol at behind the new parking area at the driving range
Right of 11 Green. This area is normally covered in mud after a rain.
Other Course Work and Updates
Greens- Overall the greens are handling the weather well. In order to help with the high humidity and temperatures, we have slightly raised the mowing height and are not rolling as frequently. As a result putting speeds have slowed slightly over the last couple weeks. We also have rescheduled our June 1st Planet Air procedure to June 22nd. This will likely be our last major aeration until cooler temperatures return
Sod Work- We were able to replant a good deal of the sod from the main driving range tee before construction started. Weak areas around the course and a few spots on the driving range were sodded. We also transplanted the tall fescue planted on #6 and #7 to the shaded area behind #3 green. This should help keep balls from rolling off the green and into Mr. Branch's backyard. The area on #6 and #7 was replanted with sod from the driving range tee.
Irrigation- We have remained busy with routine irrigation repairs and improvements. Our crew is also handling the irrigation work with for the driving range project. We are also taking advantage of the high lake level by sending our transfer pump off for service.
Randy helping pull the transfer pump to shore
Fairways- The entire golf course was fertilized on June 8th including fairways. We are also mowing in a reverse direction in order to help control grain.
Coming Soon
Aerating tees, collars, approaches, fairways
Adjusting mowing patterns
Preparation for Texas Women's Amateur in July
Additional driving range work
Vertical mowing of tees and fairways
More bunker work on #1
Burning of flood debris
LET'S EAT!
Big thanks to Jeff Mathis with C&M Golf and Grounds for providing a hard earned steak lunch to the crew during the Member/Guest tournament. The steaks were awesome!
The crew digs in to Jeff's steaks on Friday May 29th.
