Course Update 6.18.15

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. 

Course Update 5.15.15

More Rain!!!

The new weather station located near the maintenance facility

Don't cuss the rain! We are having a great spring in terms of rainfall. It is a fact that the rain makes it difficult to get work on the course done and results in sloppy playing conditions, but we will likely benefit from these rains for the rest of the summer. Take a look at few statistics in terms of rain this year:

• Lake Level is 463.5' compared to normal of 462'
• RCC has recieved 2.2" since April 23rd and almost 18.5" YTD
• Average yearly rainfall for Waco is 34", and average YTD rainfall is 11.5"
• Our weather station (pictured above) has recorded 18.5" of rain at RCC compared to 14.29" at the Waco Regional Airport

Hopefully, the rain will continue into summer and Lake Waco will remain at normal level throughout the year. 

Driving Range Project Update

The upper tee near the teaching building on 5.15

We are making progress on our renovations to the driving range tees. All work is complete on the upper tees are they are growing in nicely. We should have no problems with getting these tees looking and playing great by the June 1st opening date. The renovations to the main tee and parking are still on track to begin June 1st. Currrently, we are in process of finalizing documents and plans with contractors. 

The renovated upper tees near #9 and the newly constructed small tee (far)

 General Course Update

·    Spring is always a busy time on the course. We have been working hard to get the course in shape for several tournaments, completing routine maintenance, and have several small projects in the works. and  Checkout the list below for a few of the areas that we have been working on.

• Greens- Completed third "Planet Air" procedure of the year on 5/10/15. The greens are healing nicely and should be in great shape by early next week. 
• Tees- Tee alignment will begin next week. 
• Fairways- We are continuing with our monthly spray program on fairways. We are using a combination of foliar applied iron and growth regulators to promote turf density and color. In addition, we completed our spring preventative grub control applications last week. 
• Weak Areas- We have working to promote growth in certain areas of the course including 3,7,8,18 and others. The goal is to limit traffic in these areas, increase our cultural practices, and apply additional fertilizer to get these high play areas looking great
• Sod Work- Completed sod work on several holes including: 6,7,8,9,10,13
• Bunkers- Overall the "new bunkers" have handled the rain quite well, however heavy downpours have caused the bunkers to wash on multiple occasions. We have put forth more labor to ensure to the depths are as consistent as possible. The sand on the greenside bunkers on #9 was replaced due to contamination from the pond in front of the green. 
• Weed Control- Weather permitting we will be making herbicide applications to the greens surrounds and bunker faces to control nutsedge in the next couple of weeks. We are also continuing to spot treat other weeds. 
• Tennis Area- We have been exceptionally busy at the tennis facility this spring. Work includes: trimming trees, removing poisen ivy, mulching large areas, sodding along the new cart path, fixing drainage and erosion issues, sewer line repair.
• Other Items- 
• Updating course accessories including new cup holders on the water cooler stands, 
• Completed drainage work on #1 and #10
• Continuing with irrigation audit and repairs
• Completed spring flower change out
• Repaired several minor damaged areas on greens

Additional Information

The prolonged cloudy and wet condtions have resulted in several outbreaks of a common fungal disease known as Dollar Spot. This disease is especially obvious on our bermuda grass tees and green surrounds. While, unsightly it will like go away once sunny and dry weather returns. It can be treated with costly fungicides, but at this point we will let mother nature take care of it for us. If it increases in severity will consider applying chemicals. See photo below:

Dollar Spot on 12 Tee on 5.14

Maintenance Facility

We are continuing work on plans to renovate our maintenance facility. Currently our site plans are being prepared for submission to the USACE (Army Corps of Engineers). Check out a few of the conceptual I drew using Google Sketchup based on our latest plans. 

Course Update 4.16.15

Course Update

Water and Rainfall: We finished our 2014-15 annual water contract with the city of Waco with no issues. Our new contract renewed April 1. Like last year, we will closely monitor our water usage and follow our "water budget". For more information on our water budget and allotment take a look at this post from July of 2013 - Ridgewood Water Budget. Since installing our new weather station on 2/28 we have recieved 6.24" of rain. The recent rains have certainly benefited the course and Lake Waco - elevation is almost back to normal. Current elevation is 461.73 compared to a normal of 462.

Course Work: We have been busy working on several areas of the course. Check out the list below:

• Driving range tee work (see below)
• Completed Planet Air applications to greens on  3/23 and 4/13. These critical aeration procedures will help our greens survive the summer months
• Fairways, tees, and most roughs were fertilized on 4/13 and all preventative weed control was completed in mid-March
• Drainage has been added to the right side of #1 green. 
• Goss Tree Service has continued their work on several trees around the club - including major work near the Tennis Courts
• We are currently preparing the area between 10 tee and main driving range tee for planting to Tall Fescue. These are will recieve further improvements beginning June 1st as part of the larger driving range project
• Steady progress is being made on our irrigation audit. We are now in the process of updating our maps and making wiring changes at controllers.
• The old gravel was removed from the parking lot islands and mulch was added in its place - providing a much needed aesthetic improvement
• Coming soon: aligning tees, spring flower change out, edging cart paths, bunker work  

Other Notes:

• We are constantly working to ensure our bunkers are the proper depth. We recently added a significant amount of sand to right hand bunker on #3. The purpose of adding the sand to this bunker is to help prevent balls from rolling all the way to the far edge by the lake. The additional sand  bunker may play a little bit softer than the rest but will hopefully result in less difficult shots. 
  
• One of our best grass for heavily shaded areas is tall fescue. This is a cool season grass that can be difficult to establish. However, once established it is able to survive the Texas heat as long as traffic is limited and it receives adequate irrigation. During the summer of 2011, severe drought prevented RCC from irrigating many of our tall fescue areas along the main entrance road resulting in major loss of tall fescue. Assistant Superintendent Duane Kemp has done a great job of working to re-establish tall fescue in many of these areas.

  

  Duane's hard work has paid off and the tall fescue looks better than ever.

Driving Range Tee Update:

The renovations to the practice tees located at the teaching building and to the right of #9 fairway are in full swing. Weather has delayed us a bit, but we are on schedule and look forward to getting these tees open for play as soon as possible. As I mentioned in last month's post, the goal is to have these tees in great shape prior to closing the main tee for renovations on June 1st. Check out the overall project timeline by scrolling down to last month's post or by clicking here Driving Range Timeline. Our basic process in renovating the teaching and #9 practice tees is as follows: 1) Strip old grass, 2) Lightly till the top 3 inches of the teeing surface, 3) Add top soil, 4) Rough grade, pack, and level, 5) Add drainage and/or irrigation where needed, 6) Laser Level tees, 7) Fine grade and sod preparation, 8) Plant, smooth and roll sod - Celebration bermudagrass, 10) Grow in sod- top-dress, aerate, and steadily lower mowing heights.  By tomorrow we should have all of the sod planted and will beginning the  "Grow In" phase on all of these tees. The photos below illustrate a few of these steps.

The Teaching Building Tee after tilling

Sergio Zapata adds topsoil while Joe Nava (rear) smooths and levels the tee box

Joe Nava did a great job of preparing the tees on #9 for laser leveling

Jacob Nava adds much needed drainage to the rear of the tee

Greg Smith using a Laser Level to put the finishing touches on the added tee to the #9 side. We now have three teeing areas on this side of the range. 

Greg Smith of Greensmith Golf uses a Laser Level to complete the final grade.

Greg Smith uses our new bunker rake with a homemade attachment to put the finishing touches on the tee

The crew works on planting the new sod

Course Update 3.10.15

Timeline of events for driving range renovations. Click the picture to see more detail.

Golf Course Update 

Believe it or not - spring is right around the corner. We are working hard to finish our winter projects while shifting gears into our spring practices. We have an exciting year ahead of us and we look forward to beginning a new golf season. Here is the quick list of happenings with on the course:

• Driving range renovations approved and scheduled to begin later this month (more info below)
• Plans for renovating the maintenance facility are progressing. We are hoping to submit all work to RCC, the City of Waco, and to the US Army Corps of Engineers in the coming weeks
• Tree work continues - Neil Goss with Goss Tree Service has started work trimming all of the trees near along the entrance road, clubhouse, parking lot, and swimming pool. Work will be completed mostly on Mondays. See photos below. 
• Upcoming maintenance items
• First "Planet Air" procedure has been postponed to March 23rd. We are scheduled for April 13th. Depending on weather - one of these events will be a complete aeration and the other will be much lighter and less disruptive.
• Spring preventative weed control will be applied as soon as weather permits - hopefully later this week 



Randy with his TDA License

• Several key applications to greens will be made in the next two weeks
• Tournaments - we are excited to be hosting several important tournaments this year, including the State Women's Amateur in July. 
• Irrigation Audit - To date we have inspected over 1500 irrigation stations, made dozens of repairs, and working with a professional irrigation designer to update all of our maps and plans. The next steps will include: re-programming our irrigation computer, incorporating all maps, utilizing weather data (see below), and combining all of the above data into a written Water Best Management Practices Plan for RCC. I was also able to take a day and half class at our annual education conference specific to conducting irrigation audits on golf courses. 
• Education Update - Thank you for allowing Duane, Randy, and myself to take part in educational opportunities over the last couple of months. We all three attended the Texas Turfgrass Association Winter Education Conference and Trade Show in Ft. Worth in December. We received a ton of great information on wide variety of topics including: weather, fungicides, mowing practices, new products, water conservation and more. In addition, Duane and I attended the Golf Course Superintendent's Association of America annual show in February. We were able to to attend more than two and half days of educational seminars that again covered a wide range of topics. Also, Randy Stewart was able to meet all state requirements is now a Licensed Pesticide Applicator in the State of Texas. We currently have four licensed operators on staff - ensuring that all pesticides are properly applied. 

Photos and More Information

Driving Range

We will be leveling the upper and #9 tees later this month. Our goal is to have these re-opened by Memorial Day (before the renovations to the main tee begin). We are officially planning to start the renovations to the main driving range tee on June 1st. These renovations will make the teeing area larger, create a better parking area, and improve the surrounding area.

Snapshot of the construction plans for the main tee.

  

Rendition of the new retaining wall on the main tee.

Crazy Weather and Water

We received 2.8" of precipitation over the last 7 days. The grass on the course is just as confused as the rest of us when it comes to deciding if this is spring or winter. Don't worry we will be back in the 70's by this weekend. The rains have certainly been beneficial and lake has risen over a foot to 460ft (two feet below normal). We will also finish our current water contract at the end of this month with no issues. Our new contract begins April 1st. Take a look a few of the pictures from last week's ice and snow.

18 Fairway

Practice Putting Green

Practice Putting Green

#1 Fairway, notice river of ice

Tree Work

I have been asked several times why we are using an outside contractor to complete the current tree work taking place around the club. The answer is that we simply do not have the tools or knowledge to safely and effectively prune some of the largest most visible trees at RCC. We met with five separate Arborists and received four quotes before choosing Goss Tree Service to complete scope of work. Goss will be focusing on eliminating safety problems, improving clearance for trucks and emergency vehicles, removing mistle toe, improving the health of the trees, obtaining clearance along power lines, and ultimately improving the overall visual appeal of our some of our most important and valuable trees. Special precautions are also being taken to reduce the risks of Oak Wilt infection.

Workers from Goss Service work on a group of Live Oak trees near the power lines on number one.

As you can see, it takes expert climbers to safely prune some of the taller trees along the entrance road.

Maintenance Facility Plans

·         Currently we are working with RBDR to finalize a site plan, building design, and estimated cost of completion for review by the RCC BOD. If the BOD approves the plans then they will be submitted to the City of Waco and the US Army Corps of Engineers for approval. We are hoping to begin work sometime in 2016. Also, significant progress has been made on cleaning up the entire maintenance facility area and along the 17^th fairway. 

Rendition of possible improvements

One potential site plan in progress...

General Course Work

We have been busy working on several areas of the course over the last few months. A few of the items include: irrigation audit, tree work, shop clean up, clean up on 17, mulch behind 16 green, fence work along Fish Pond and Ridgewood, refurbishing course accessories, and more. Check out a few of the photos below for more information. We are also selling a lot of materials that are no longer of use to RCC on Craigslist. Items include golf cart parts, pipe, stone, and other misc items. If you are interested in viewing any of the items please click here: Shop Items For Sale. All proceeds will be used for our employee BBQ fund.

Effective immediately we are going to try using a digital level to help determine acceptable hole locations. Photo Credit - USGA Green Section Record - http://gsr.lib.msu.edu/article/hartwiger-big-2-21-2014.pdf.

We recently purchased a scientific weather station. It will soon be connected to the internet and will provide real time weather conditions and historical data. This station also calculates evapotranspiration (ET) and will be used to help make irrigation decisions

We recently added mulch between 16 green and 17 tee. This area is simply too shaded for grass. The mulch should help keep everyone out of the mud.

Golf Irrigation Auditor Class

Golf course superintendents from around the world attending the Golf Irrigation Auditor class in San Antonio

Shop work continues. The crew has done a great job this winter with cleaning up our maintenance facility. Notice the before picture above taken last year. 

Large pieces of styrofoam are pipe are removed from the trees near 17 fairway

We were able to reuse an old sink found in the shop yard as a new hand wash station for employees

New cart rules signs have been installed on #1 and #10