Aerification Update

We are now two days post small tine aerification. The aerification process went very well. The process this time started with vertical mowing in two directions, then the sand was applied to the greens. After the sand was in place then we aerified with small tines on a 1.25" by 1.25" pattern. Then greens were then seeded with bentgrass and the sand was dragged in a figure eight pattern to fill the holes. The greens were rolled and then fertilizers were applied. Potassium and Calcium were applied to help offset the ill effects of the sodium in our water. Over the last two nights the greens were heavily irrgiated to help settle the sand into the canopy and move the applied fertilizers in to the soil. During the recovery the greens are rolled every afternoon. We will return to mowing on daily basis starting Saturday. I would expect the green to be fully recovered by next Wednesday. The two pictures are of our afternoon greens rolling that help smooth the surface and push the holes back together. The other photo is an up close of a typical putting surface this afternoon. You can see the small holes made by the aerifier are now filed with sand and the rest of the putting surface looks like it recieved a good topdressing.

Venting!

A Mid-Summer Venting

Small Tine Aerification and topdressing will occur:
June 22nd and 23th
Holes 11 -17 will be completed on Tuesday the 23rd. We hope to have these holes available for play by 9 am.

This mid-summer small-tine aerification is critical to the success of our greens through the summer months. The ‘venting’ using small ¼” solid tines allows for improved gas exchange and release of toxic Carbon Dioxide that has built up in the soil.

Where does all of the built up carbon dioxide gas in putting green soils come from? The majority is produced by soil-dwelling bacteria and fungi that consume oxygen and produce carbon dioxide as a by product of their metabolism. As the temperatures increase in the summer so does the production of CO2.This would not be a problem if the CO2 by-product had a way of escaping from the soil into the atmosphere. However, the thatch layer tends to act as a barrier for gas diffusion. Compaction further seals the turf surface, making gas escape even more difficult. This early summer venting aids in creating a healthy environment for the greens to survive and prosper through the summer.

Thank you for your patience and understanding during this necessary maintenance task. I expect that the greens will be completely healed within 7 days.

Lake Maintenance

Over the years, one of the most problematic areas of the course is our lakes. The lakes heat up in the summer time causing algae to bloom, fish to be starved of oxygen and give a off a smell that is not so pleasant. Some of the causes of our lake problems are excessive organic matter on the bottoms, excessively shallow, and a lack of water movement and aeration. The first two problems would require complete reconstruction. The last problem is something that can be addressed. Yesterday we completed installation of an aeration system on our irrigation lake. 9 air diffusers are set up through out the lake to help maintain oxygen levels and circulate the lake vertically through the summer.

Currently the Pondweed in lake is actively growing. Today and tonight we will be lowering the lake level through irrigation. Then on Wednesday morning we will chemically treat the pondweed. The lake level will need to remain low for 48 hours and no water can be removed from the lake in order for the herbicide to work properly. The herbicide does not harm the fish or other wildlife. Once 48 hours pass we will refill the lake a resume normal irrigation on the course.

The photo shows one of the lake aerator pods. Also in the lower portion of the photo you see the pondweed that growing near the banks of the lake.

Fairway Aerification

Tomorrow we finish our early summer fairway aerification. We began May 4th and completed one to two fairways per day. Tomorrow we will complete the 6th fairway and that will be our last. There are many reasons and benefits to aerification. For us we aerify fairways this time of year for two predominate reasons:

1) Add create channels to allow oxygen to penetrate into the soil. By increasing the amount of oxygen we see an increase in soil temperature and an increase in the microbe activity. The increased microbe activity adds in the breakdown of organic matter in the soil. Organic matter in soil is the type of soil that gets sticky when wet and allows mud to stick to your ball. The increase in soil temperature encourages bermudagrass growth.

2) Aerification also allows sunlight to penetrate the turf canopy to where the bermudagrass shoots are beginning to grow after winter dormancy. Bermudagrass is a sun-loving grass and grows best with maximum sun light. Many agronomists, including me, argue that the biggest killer of bermudagrass is a lack of sunlight.

May is a busy month for the golf course. The days are longer and the weather is perfect, despite what Craig thinks, and therefore we do more rounds of golf this month than any other. Please do your part in keeping the course in great shape by filling divots and fixing ballmarks.

One last thing, if you wonder why I have not posted an entry in the past month please visit- www.laurenhertzing.blogspot.com

Congrats!

Congratulations to those who won their respective flights in the Men's and Senior's Club Championship. Once again it seems as though the golf course stood its' ground. I was pleased with the way the course was presented for the tournament. I felt for three weeks post aerification the greens rolled well and the course firmed up through the weekend to produce championship worthy conditions. I am very fortunate to have such an excellent staff that time and time again steps it up a notch for tournaments.
Moving on to this week. Today we began fairway aerification. Like in years past we will attack one or two fairways a day. By doing this we will have the fairways cleaned up and ready for play by 10 am. This week will be working on the back nine. Next week we will focus our attention to the front. Next week we will be starting play off #10 to allow us more time to work on the fairways prior to play. We conduct our semi annual aerification during the month of May to help encourage our transition to bermudagrass for the summer months. The aerification allows sunlight to penetrate the turf canopy and reach the emerging bermuda grass. In conjunction with aerification we will be applying a granular fertilizer for the bermudagrass and applying a growth regulator that will slow the growth of the ryegrass while not inhibiting the bermudagrass.
In addition to fairway aerification, we will also be verticutting and topdressing greens on Tuesday and Wednesday.

An Update on a busy week.

The picture of the yellow dot represents the hole locations for the Men's and Senior Club Championship this weekend. As you are out practicing and fine tuning your game this week you can check out the hole locations for the weekend. There are three dots on each green and you won't know which dot correlates to which day until the tournament gets here.

This is a busy week for the golf course.

On Maintenance day Monday we are aerifying the Driving Range and re-distributing sand in the bunkers. Both of these are time consuming projects and require most of our labor for these two tasks.

Tuesday is Ladies Team. We will be double cutting and rolling the greens for the ladies and their opponents. Beginning Tuesday afternoon and continuing on for a few days we will be having a golf course photographer out taking a few photos of the course. His name is Aidan Bradley and his work can be seen at www.golfcoursephotography.com

The rest of week we will be preparing the course for the first major of the year.

The greens are 95% healed from aerification. As the week progresses and we continue to roll the greens, our speeds will be back to normal and we will be ready for the busy months of May and June.

Dan Forsman Note

I recently recieved a note from Dan Forsman, 2009 AT&T Champions Classic Winner, that I would like to share with everyone:

Dear Robert,
Please accept this check as a "Thank you" to you and your amazing staff who worked so hard to prepare the awesome Valencia Country Club for the AT&T Championship. The golf course was in tremendous condition and I particularly liked the 18th green. My wife Trudy and I were hoping perhaps you could host a BBQ or special gathering for for you and your staff who worked so hard during the tournament week and all year long.
We know you will do what makes sense and please thank everyone for their hard work and kindness. They say it was the last, but we are sure hopeful it won't have been. We dearly want to come back.
Robert, please invite Craig and his staff as well as others you would like, as they all worked so hard and made the week extra special for all of us.
Warm Regards,
Dan