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 !

What is that ?

Every now and then I get asked by members what is that white foam spots on the greens and fairways. This is when we do a foliar spraying either for fertilizer, fungicides, pesticides or herbicides. By using the foam we can mark and make sure we don’t over spray or under spray the area to get perfect coverage. The foam lasts a few minutes and then gets burned away by the sun or washed away by the irrigation depending on the application.

Birds nesting !

Hazard stake is one thing golfers are very aware of and tries to avoid as much possible ... with this in mind we have found some birds nesting in the rough and stuck a hazard stake next to the nest for everyone to be aware. This will help golf carts and course equipment realize where the nest are and avoid driving over them.

Distant Markers

We are currently busy going over all the distant markers with a GPS and making sure that they are all correct. This includes all the stone markers in the fairway and the markers on the sprinkler heads.

During the reconstruction of the greens some greens moved by a few meters and these markers needs changing. With golf carts and equipment driving over the course daily these markers can come loose or gets damaged so then they also needs replacing.

All distant markers in the fairways are marked to the front edge of the green but on par 3's they are marked to the middle of the green. Your daily pin sheets will tell you how many meters on and how many meters from the left or right of the green edge.

Top dressing greens.

We are top dressing greens again this week and i thought ill  explain why we are doing this ... I have two goals in mind when I top dress. The first is to make the greens smoother. We have an incredible amount of foot traffic on our greens and by no coincidence, a lot of ball marks. Both foot traffic and ball marks leave indentations in the surface and the sand helps smooth them out. The second reason is to dilute our thatch layer to keep the greens firm and draining. Thatch is the layer of dead and decaying organic matter below the surface. Too much thatch and the greens get soft. If you get the thatch level right, the greens will be much firmer, water penetration will be beter and your risk of have any pests and disease occuring will be less. A great example of this is any portion of a green that has bunker sand splashed on it all the time.

With the greens only being 6 months old and been planted with sod's, we have top dressed them every two weeks to help with the leveling of the surface. After they have been top dressed they get brushed to move the sand into the canopy and all the lower areas and this will helps smoothing them off.

The same applies to our fringes and seeing they are only 3 months old we top dress and fertilize them more aggressively to tie them in with the green on the one side and the fairway on the otherside .This is also done every two weeks in growing season.

The end result is hardly noticeable to most golfers and provides a great putting surface to play on.

Finally Rain !!!

After 7 weeks of waiting we got some good rain's !!!! Saturday evening we received a Very needed 28mm of rain and the following week looks promising. Its been a very hot February with temperatures reaching 36C and humidity never dropping below 75%. The golf course dried out especially in rough areas where there is no irrigation and on top of all the mounds.

 We are topdressing all the mounds and bad areas in the fairways with a compost mix that will help with the recovery process. We will also be applying wetting agents that will help the turf with water retention and help keep the soil wet for longer.

This video illustrates how a wetting agent helps the water penetrate the hydrophobic soil.

Aerating the new fringes...

Aeration is an extremely important maintenance practice. Although it results in a temporary disruption of the surface, aeration improves water penetration into the soil, reduces soil compaction, stimulates turfgrass root growth for a healthier plant, and improves overall growing conditions. Aeration will also help with the leveling of the turf as we roll and topdress afterwards.

We are currently busy doing this and should take 2 days to complete.

A New Book !

I received an email the other day that may be of interest to all of you golf fanatics! Within this blog post you will find the table of contents and probably a chapter that has caused you much anguish or discussion with your regular foursome or at home with your wife or husband ;) Read on and enjoy!

Chapter 1 - How to Properly Line Up Your Fourth Putt.
Chapter 2 - How to Hit a Nike From the Rough, When you Hit a Titleist From the Tee.
Chapter 3 - How to Avoid the Water When You Lie 8 in a Bunker.
Chapter 4 - How to Get More Distance Off the Shank.
Chapter 5 - When to Give the Marshal the Finger.
Chapter 6 - Using Your Shadow on the Greens to Maximize Earnings.
Chapter 7 - When to Implement Handicap Management.
Chapter 8 - Proper Excuses for Drinking Beer Before 9:00 a.m.
Chapter 9 - How to Rationalize a 6 Hour Round.
Chapter 10 - When Does a Divot Become Classified as Sod.
Chapter 11 - How to Find That Ball That Everyone Else Saw Go into the Water.
Chapter 12 - Why Your Spouse Doesn't Care That You Birdied the 5th.
Chapter 13 - Using Curse Words Creatively to Control Ball Flight.
Chapter 14 - When to Let a Foursome Play Through Your Twosome.
Chapter 15 - How to Relax When You Are Hitting Five Off the Tee.
Chapter 16 - When to Suggest Major Swing Corrections for Your Opponent.
Chapter 17 - God and the Meaning of the Birdie-To-Bogie Three Putt.
Chapter 18 - When to Re-Grip your Ball Retriever (Must Read for Every Golf Course Marshal).
Chapter 19 - Throwing Your Clubs: An Effective Stress-Reducing Technique.
Chapter 20 - Can You Purchase a Better Golf Game?

Chapter 21 - Why Male Golfers Will Pay R30 a Beer from the Cart Girl and Give Her a R20 tip, but Will Balk at R15 at the 19th Hole and Stiff the Bartender.

This book is available in fine golf stores everywhere and can be located right next to the sleeves of golf balls that refuse to listen and are afraid of the dark. Enjoy your next round!!

"The only thing you should force in a golf swing is the club back into the bag."
~ Byron Nelson, former PGA Tour player