Weed eradication program

Nutsedge.

Nutsedges are common weeds in landscapes and gardens and on golf courses especially in the coastal areas.  They thrive in waterlogged soil and that is why you will find it around some greens and tee's that gets water regularly. Once established, however, they will tolerate normal irrigation conditions or drought. Although nutsedges resemble grasses and often are referred to as “nutgrass,” they aren’t grasses but are true sedges. Their leaves are thicker and stiffer than most grasses. Nutsedges are a problem in lawns because they grow faster, have a more upright growth habit, and are a lighter green color than most grass species, resulting in a nonuniform turf.

We have applied an application of Basagran to the nutsegde in the new fringes a week ago and you can all ready see how the chemical is doing its job.

We will be following up with another application this coming week and then we will be spraying all the other general areas in the weeks following.

Bunker sand

This week we are busy topping up the bunkers and especially the green side bunkers. We go around every so often just to check the depth of the sand in the bunkers and some times it means moving sand of the faces and putting it back on the base of the bunker and vice versa. Other times we have to add sand as ever shot can remove a hand full of sand.

After we installed more sand we run a sand pro to compact the sand and firm the bunkers up so that the players don't get a plugged lie.

Rain storm

Saturday afternoon we had 50mm (2 inches) of rain in 20min. This amount of water flooded the driving range and most of the bunkers. With the construction we installed drainage in most of the bunkers and this helped us to have the bunkers and the rest of the course ready for play the next morning.

Before construction water use to stand and we had to pump it out

After construction, water drains in a few minutes

One of our members unfortunately took on the water next to the range and got stuck. His car was towed out a few hours later. This is just a reminder that if it happens again rather drive on the range as the range drains towards the road so most of the water runs in the road.

Composting and Fertilizing tee's

We have been composting and fertilizing tees this week to get them as healthy and strong as possible for the up and coming winter. By lightly composting and fertilizing them we make sure there is food for the plant all the time and it also helps with the leveling of the tees as well as the divots.

Main line problems on the 3rd fairway

We had a T-peace pewter fitting that has not been used on irrigation for decades, disintegrate on the 3rd fairway this week that we had to replace. We replaced it with a PVC fitting which is the modern way of doing it.

It is now fixed and the irrigation is back up and running.

Even the pro's can make big numbers on a hole !

For those who played club champs over the last few weekends and might have mad a big number on a hole. Don't feel to bad as Kevin Na Touring Pro made a 16 on the par-4 ninth at TPC San Antonio on Thursday.

Here is a video to show you they are also human...

Verti Cutting greens

The reason we verticut is to control the thatch buildup in the greens. Too much thatch will lead to increased disease and pest activity, reduce the oxygen supply, and also create shallow roots and localized dry spots.

Benefits include opening the canopy, removing thatch, and standing the blades upright. When the canopy is opened up, more direct sunlight is allowed in to create a healthier plant. Thatch can become an issue in excessive amounts and can make the greens feel spongy. With the blades upright, the greens will roll smoother and, in effect, increase speed and trueness of roll.

Club Champs 2011

The first club champs on the new mini verde greens at DCC was tricky for most golfers and the fact that we had a strong south easter blowing most of the day, did not make it any easier. With the old paspalum greens we had to work hard to get the greens run at 9-9.5 ft on the stimp meter. The new greens even with them only being 6 months old we did not really struggle to have them running at 10ft on the stimp. This made it tricky for the guys that are use to the slower greens around KZN and now those 3-4foot put are not that simple and strait anymore and needs some attention. 

The greens are maturing nicely and will only be at its best at about 10-12 months as they would have settled nicely and with all the topdressing we have and will be doing they should smooth out as well as speed up even more.

Well done to our new stroke play champion Keith Forde for winning Clump Chaps 2011 and to all the other winners.

Good luck to all the guys who made it through to match play !