Snow, Cold, Rain, Repeat

 

This is why we always back in the plow truck in the winter.  We had 11 inches of snow a couple of weeks ago.  The snow really wasn't the problem but the wind that followed.  The wind created some huge drifts.  Jose and I gave the truck a workout and broke a bolt.  Butch was able to weld a new bracket and replace the bolt.  The snow cover was nice because it was followed by some extremely cold temps.  In the winter, superintendent are concerned about several things.  Bare turf and cold wind.  Rain or melt down of snow followed by a quick drop in temps.  Ice cover on turf.  All 3 can lead to dead turf.  And then later in the early spring, snow mold.

 

 

After the cold, we had a warm up and over an inch of rain.

 

Jose and I set up pumps on #12 and #16 for a couple of days.  This is our new 4 inch trash pump.

 

Freeze, thaw, freeze, thaw.  We got the 3 worst pot holes on Friday.  Expect more.

Tree Removal and Member Help

 

We have started cutting some of the infected ash trees this month.  Jose and I hope to have all marked trees cut by early February.

 

NIPSCO is now required to keep the area within 50 of power lines free of trees.  Several years ago, a tree in Ohio took out power for most of the East coast.  Now if a tree hits a line, there will be a huge fine.



 

 

 

John Sulek and son put some new shingles on the 19th hole.

 

 

Santa and some helpers were here last weekend.  Guy Liptack makes this possible every year.

Golf Season Coming to an End

 

Tuesday, I treated the greens for snow mold.  This is the last application for the season.

 

Here, Butch started grinding reels.  He will do this on all mowers.  He also grinds bed knives, and checks all mowers.  With the help of Jose, all machines will get oil changes, new filters and plugs.

 

With frost this morning, we cut down an infected ash tree.  We plan on cutting about 20 more this winter.

 

This shows what happens to ash trees after they are infected.  Basically, water movement is cut off under the bark.  The top of the tree then defoliates and the tree eventually dies.

Irrigation Blow Out

 

We rented a 375 cfm air compressor from Burris Equipment to blow out our irrigation system.  Matt Davis dropped it off early, so I got a head start and started blowing out the system Sunday morning.  With weather looking not so nice this week, the jump start to the process helps out.  We hook into the compressor at the pump house.  Since we are flat and small, I don't have to move it around the course.  Jose actually started Friday by winterizing the pump house and by disconnecting the intake pipe and pulling it up on shore with the help of Juan and Alex.

 

First, we go around and get most of the water out through the quick couplers that are on tees and greens.  This took me about 2.5 hours this morning.  Jose will go around Monday morning and do it again before I turn every head on with the radio.  We get 99% of the water out before I start with the radio.

 

 

We keep the heads on until we see mostly misty air coming out and go onto the next head.  I check off each station as I go.  With about 500 heads, I need to keep track to make sure I get them all.

Reminders of the next couple of weeks

Reminder that we are bringing in the porta a johns on Thursday.  In November, we slowly start bringing course accessories like ball washers, benches and bunker rakes.  On Monday, November 11th, we are blowing out the irrigation system.  We are down to 2 seasonal workers that are now part time.  We'll try and cut greens 3 times a week, tees and fairways twice, change cups and rake bunkers when necessary.  More time will be spent blowing and mulching leaves.  The driving range will be closed after this week.

 

 

We had some success with the wild flowers even with drought conditions.

 

The fescue came in nice by the pump house.

 

We've been cutting the native areas down the last couple of weeks.

 

Lansing Country Club grounds staff for 2013.

Greens Aerification Complete

 

On Tuesday, we had CS Turf aerify our greens with 1/2 " solid tines.

 

 

Jose then applied sand.

 

Alex and then Juan waited for the sand to dry and then used a coco mat to drag.

 

 

I then blew off any excess sand.  Alex then reset the cups followed by watering.  The hole process was finished in 8 hours.  Wednesday we received .4 " of rain and we were able to mow again on Thursday.  The holes should be completely healed by the end of this week.

 

We will try and fertilize greens this week and aerify a few par 3 fairways.  We are down to 3 seasonal workers and lose Ricardo next Saturday.  Juan, Alex, Jose and myself will try and keep up with all daily tasks.  This is the time of year when we start to back off on mowing.  Longer, cooler nights and shorter days will start to reduce the need for daily mowing.  Leaves are starting to drop, so that becomes priority for the next couple of weeks.

Back Nine Tees Complete

We were able to complete the back nine tees on Thursday.  We will take a week off and finish the front nine the week of the 16th.  We generally do the back nine first because the front side has more issues with tree roots from trees planted close to tees.  This usually results in broken tines that need to be replaced.  With leagues, outings and a small staff, we spread this process out.  Jose and I start the aerifing and the crew joins up in the clean up as they finish their morning tasks.  Our goal is to finish the day in 8 hours.

 

 

After mowing the tee we used our Toro aerifier.  We used 1/2 tines at a depth of 3 to 4 inches.

 

After allowing time to dry, we use a metal drag mat to break up the cores.

 

We then blow off the left over thatch, clean up any debris, and turn on water.  This process goes best when you have a sunny, slightly breezy day.  Thursday was cloudy, so the drying process took an extra couple of hours.  With continued warm temps, the holes should recover in a week or 2.