Winter Maintenance

 The following post was prepared by Kirk Hudson, Second Assistant Superintendent.  Kirk joined the Glen Oaks team last fall.  Kirk graduated in the spring of 2013 from ISU with a degree in Turf grass Management. Throughout his time at Iowa State Kirk worked at Veenker Memorial, as well as completing internships at Copper Creek and Wakonda Club.

 

 

The focus of this post is to inform our members of the work that is being done when the golf course is closed. When it comes to winter work the focus is on preparation. Countless hours are spent each winter going over the pros and cons of our previous golf season and developing plans for improvements. Everything from our daily maintenance routine, irrigation practices, staffing, and budget evaluations. This information is used to develop our golf course maintenance plan that guides us toward our goal of providing the best possible playing conditions on a daily basis.

 

Figure 1: Oil, hydraulic fluid, and all filters are being replaced on this workman.

Our winter maintenance program begins with servicing and inspecting all of our utility vehicles. Filters, belts and fluids are replaced and a thorough inspection of each piece of equipment is completed. Chris Horton (Equipment Manager) is in charge of the equipment maintenance schedule and oversees all of the equipment repairs.

 

Figure 2: Each vehicle is inspected and repairs are made as necessary

Figure 3: Jordan and Chris inspect our roller for any necessary repairs

The next phase in our winter maintenance program is servicing all of our cutting units. In total we have nearly 30 cutting heads that must be torn apart and inspected. Bearings and seals are replaced in the rollers and cutting reels. The head is then reassembled and sharpened. This is by far the most time consuming part of our winter work but is crucial to keeping our mowers operating and cutting properly.

Figure 4: New bearings and seals about to be installed in front roller

Figure 5: Disassembled Toro cutting unit

Figure 6: Using Accugage to set mowing height on heads after grinding

Although equipment maintenance consumes a big portion of our winter, there is still a great deal of work being done on other key aspects of our golf facility. All of the yardage plates, tees markers, signs, benches, rope stakes, flags, bunker rakes and other materials you see on the course each day are brought inside for the winter to be repaired and refurbished.

Figure 7: Rope stakes are sanded and repainted

 

Figure 8: Doors being built for our workbenches

The winter is also a great time for us to reorganize and clean the maintenance facility. This winter several projects are being completed to help with organization including building doors on our workbenches to allow for better storage, reorganizing the irrigation parts/tool room, and reorganizing the golf course accessories room.

Aside from our typical work week the maintenance staff is also responsible for snow removal at the Clubhouse. A recent purchase of enclosed cab tractors have aided us in our efforts to clear the never ending snowfall. During each snowfall event our staff is responsible for clearing the main drive leading to the clubhouse, the parking lots, walk paths, and applying sand and salt to any area necessary.

Figure 9: One of our tractors used for snow removal at Clubhouse

This winter we have spent numerous hours developing new irrigation maps to help manage water use more precisely.  Many of these irrigation maps required updates as a result of the new controllers that were installed during the dual head irrigation project that was completed last spring.

Figure 10: Jake Newman working on Freedom maps for irrigation system

As we near the end of the winter our focus turns toward future course improvements and overall playability. Course set up is one example; course set up here at Glen Oaks is broken down into 21 different days all with specific tee and pin locations. Throughout the golf season we analyze each hole individually in terms of difficulty from the tee to green. Changes are made to our set up schedule that help us spread the wear and tear of play and provide the golfers with a variety of pin locations each day.

Figure 11: Jordan Kapple analyzing and adjusting course set up sheets

In summary, the overall functioning of the golf course each playing season is directly related to the amount of preparation done in the winter. Taking the time to evaluate areas for improvement, implementing a maintenance plan, and creating new goals is what allows us to provide the Glen Oaks members with the best possible course conditions each day.

New Driving Range Tee Installation

The following post was prepared by Kirk Hudson, Second Assistant Superintendent.  Kirk joined the Glen Oaks team last fall.  Kirk graduated in the spring of 2013 from ISU with a degree in Turf grass Management. Throughout his time at Iowa State Kirk worked at Veenker Memorial, as well as completing internships at Copper Creek and Wakonda Club. He did a great job assisting with the irrigation installation and construction of the newly renovated south tee box along with the rest of the Glen Oaks grounds staff.

New Driving Range Tee box installation

The construction of our new expanded tee box on the south end of the driving range began last September. The new design added nearly 18,000 square feet of tee surface by consolidating and enlarging the area into one tee surface totaling nearly one acre.

The first step in the construction process was to remove the existing sod from the site and harvest as much of the existing sand based growth medium as possible to be reused for the new tee.

                                                                       Figure 1: Laser grading the tee box surface

Once the tee box had been shaped and leveled we began installing the irrigation system. All of the exsisting irrigation heads, valves, and couplers were removed from the site before construction began. Our full time staff worked together on designing the new irrigation system that would provide efficient coverage for the tee box. Head spacing, quick coupler location, angle/arc of the sprinklers, and overall coverage were some of the inputs we incorporated into our design. Each part of the system was pre measured, marked, and flagged before the trenching began. Once the earth moving and trenches were complete the irrigation system was quickly assembled. The pipes, sprinkler heads, quick couplers, and wiring were all installed within a couple long days of work.

                                      Figure 2: Irrigation pipe and sprinkler heads are laid out to allow for quick assembly

 

Figure 3: Each head was wired in to connect with our satellite boxes and automated computer irrigation system

                         Figure 4: New satellite boxes are installed and wired to accommodate for the new sprinkler heads

Once the irrigation system was installed, the trenches were then backfilled and tamped to ensure limited movement of any of the pipes or sprinkler heads. The next step was to install the sub-surface drainage system. New trenches were cut and drainage tile was installed throughout the entire tee box. Each trench was backfilled with pea gravel to allow for excess water movement out and away from the tee.

                                          Figure 5: Charging up the new irrigation system

Once all the sub-surface construction was complete we covered the tee box with a four inch layer of sand. The sand cap allows for quick drainage of excess water, less compaction, and a good growth medium for the seedlings. Finally it was time to seed the new tee box. A blend of bentgrass cultivars were selected to provide the tee box with a uniform appearance, the ability to withstand stress and disease, and the ability to repair itself from the constant damage incorporated with a driving range tee use.  

                        Figure6: The crew worked late into the night laying tile and backfilling the trenches for the drainage system

 

                                              Figure7: Sand cap is leveled and ready to be seeded

 

                                         Figure 8: Starter fertilizer and seed being applied to the tee box

     Figure 9: A grow cover is used to cover the entire tee box to aid in seedling growth and protection during the winter

 

Figure10: Looking under the cover in late fall to see the very small creeping bentgrass seeds germinating

 

Figure 11: Taking another look under the cover before any snowfall and finding a good stand of creeping bentgrass growing

Three large grow covers were used to cover the entire tee box for the winter months. These covers provide protection for the seedlings and help to minimize winter desiccation. When the grow covers are removed in the spring, the new stand of creeping bentgrass will not be mature enough for use just yet.  The new tee will undergo a grow-in period while nutrients, water, and cultural practices, such as mowing, will be provided to the plants allowing them to develop and mature. During the grow-in period the bentgrass plants will develop root systems and grow both vertically and laterally to increase the density of the turfgrass stand.


In summary we were able to convert three of our driving range tees into one large tee box. This expansion added an additional 18,000 sq. ft. of hitting surface by re-grading and leveling almost an acre of land on the South tee. The new tee construction also allowed us to upgrade the irrigation system and seed in new cultivars of bentgrass that are more suitable for driving range use. These upgrades will provide the members with an overall higher quality hitting surface by extending recovery time. We are excited about the improvements to the driving range and hope the membership enjoys it.  
 

Wrapping Up Dual Head Greens Irrigation Improvement Project

Work wrapped up on greens irrigation improvements this week!  No more temporary greens!  This was an important improvement project that will ultimately result in improved playing conditions and turf health.  A considerable investment was made to bring our irrigation system up-to-date.  I wanted to repost this detailed explanations of the benefits we expect from this project.  Please feel free to contact me with your questions or comments.

In the above aerial photo of hole number two the current location of the irrigation sprinklers are marked by dots.  The yellow dots and the sprinkler coverage circle surrounding them indicate the present location of sprinklers that are designated to water the green.  The red dots and the sprinkler coverage circles surrounding them indicate the location of sprinklers that are designated to water the rough and the blue dots and circle indicate the location of sprinklers designated to water the fairway approach.

 

As you can see the uniformity and spacing of the sprinklers are excellent and if the entire area required the same irrigation there would be no issue.  The challenge is that within a very small area we are managing three very different turf areas.  Here is a short description of each area:

• Greens are providence creeping bent grass mowed at less than 1/10th of an inch on a daily basis.  The greens were built to USGA specifications and are growing on a 12 inch plus base of 90 % sand and 10% peat mixture.  
• Fairway approaches are penn eagle creeping bent grass mowed at 4/10ths of an inch, three to four times per week.  They are growing on a 1" sand cap on top of very heavy dense clay loam soils.
• The Rough areas are kentucky blue grass mowed twice per week at 2.5 inches.  They grow on heavy clay loam soils.

In addition to the physical differences in these areas described above we are also challenged to provide healthy, firm playing surfaces on greens and approaches while maintaining healthy, dense rough surrounds.  Here are a few examples of the challenges we face:

• USGA greens should be irrigated with "Drenching" type cycles that brings the system to field capacity and then should be allowed to dry out for several days.  This is virtually impossible with our current single head system and would result in extremely wet approaches and surrounds.
• Tournament Prep.  On those occasion where we would like to ramp up conditions for special events by firming up surfaces to a greater degree the single head system limits our ability to dry out playing surfaces like greens and approaches while maintaining healthy thick rough areas surrounding the greens as well as providing enough moisture to the bunkers to keep them firm.

As a result we are forced to manage surfaces to a compromise between desired moisture levels for each, usually resulting in greens and approaches being wetter than we would like.

 



In the above photo I have indicated the location of the new dual head system that also includes a third head in the front of the greens where necessary to provide separate irrigation of the green, the approach and the rough surrounds. 

 

The irrigation distribution circle surrounding the three new sprinklers has be divided into the appropriate areas (the blue head waters the approach only, the red head waters rough and the bunker only and the yellow head waters the green only).  This improvement will allow us to manage these three very different turf areas individually and will result in improved turf health, improved playing conditions and improved efficiency in labor required to hand water.

 

I would appreciate any question or concerns you may have concerning this project... please contact me at chris.coen@glenoakscc.com.

 

Spring Is Almost Here

 

 

Spring is quickly arriving and Mother Nature has blessed us with some much needed moisture over the last week.   As we look ahead to forecasted temperatures, we are trying to quickly finish up all remaining winter projects in the shop.  These projects range from refurbishing accessories to completing all maintenance on equipment.  With fresh snow fall on the ground, we plan to finish all remaining items as scheduled as well as keeping up with snow removal when needed.

 

Also, as soon as temperatures and snow melt allows, there are items to be finished up on the golf course such as tree work, removing covers from greens, and the completion of the irrigation project that begun late last fall. 

 

As are most of you, we are excited to get the season underway.  Below are pictures of snow removal and a few projects that we are currently in the process of finishing up.

 

See you on the course soon! 

 

Snow Removal from week of March 4th



 

Refurbished Tee Markers

 

Refurbished Benches

 

Mechanical repair on mowing equipment

 

 

 

 



 

 

 





A Time for Learning

 

It's educational time for most of us in the golf course industry.  Recently our staff attended the Iowa Turfgrass Conference as well as the National Golf Course Superintendent's Assocaiation Conference and Trade Show in San Diego.

 

The Iowa Turfgrass Conference is annualy held in Des Moines and offeres a variety of things from networking, educations, as well as unveiling new products coming to the market from local distributors.  Through these educational classes, current university research is conveyed as well as round table discussions with golf course professionals throughout the state.  Pesticide recertification and continuing education were also completed by our staff at this event. 

 

In San Diego, we had the opportunity to attend more specialized educational classes, network with colleagues around the country, and see new products from around the world.  Many of these new products we currently use, and others are new to the industry.  Many of these products include the newest of technology such as some of the items below that we purchased while in attendance.

 

 TDR 300

This meter measures the moisture in the ground quickly and accurately which allows us to manage playing conditions to the best of our abilities. 

Putting Green Firmness Meter         

This tool will allow us to take daily firmness readings and produce more consistent playing surfaces.  

 

       

 

 

 Educational Classes at the State and National Shows

 

• "Facing the Impossible-New Perspectives During Times of Change"
• Renovation Issues- Agronomics
• Customer Service: The Root of How Relationships Grow
• Weather Modeling for Golf Course Management Decisions
• Round Table Discussions
• Turfgrass Weed Control
• Turf Insect ID and Management
• Turf Disease ID and Managment
• Cultural Practices for Turfgrass Management
• Sever Weather Policy
• Pesticide Applicator Training
• Conflict Management for the Superintendent
• Turfgrass Disease ID and Management
• To Grass or Not to Grass
• Green Infrastructure for Today's Landscape
• New Tools for Managing Poa
• Wetting Agents and Thier Effects on Moisture On Sand Based Greens
• Setps to Improving Irrigation Water Quality
• Innovative Superintendent; Cutting Edge Ideas

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 







Dual Sprinkler Head Installation Explanatioin

In the above aerial photo of hole number two the current location of the irrigation sprinklers are marked by dots.  The yellow dots and the sprinkler coverage circle surrounding them indicate the present location of sprinklers that are designated to water the green.  The red dots and the sprinkler coverage circles surrounding them indicate the location of sprinklers that are designated to water the rough and the blue dots and circle indicate the location of sprinklers designated to water the fairway approach.

 

As you can see the uniformity and spacing of the sprinklers are excellent and if the entire area required the same irrigation there would be no issue.  The challenge is that within a very small area we are managing three very different turf areas.  Here is a short description of each area:

• Greens are providence creeping bent grass mowed at less than 1/10th of an inch on a daily basis.  The greens were built to USGA specifications and are growing on a 12 inch plus base of 90 % sand and 10% peat mixture.  
• Fairway approaches are penn eagle creeping bent grass mowed at 4/10ths of an inch, three to four times per week.  They are growing on a 1" sand cap on top of very heavy dense clay loam soils.
• The Rough areas are kentucky blue grass mowed twice per week at 2.5 inches.  They grow on heavy clay loam soils.

In addition to the physical differences in these areas described above we are also challenged to provide healthy, firm playing surfaces on greens and approaches while maintaining healthy, dense rough surrounds.  Here are a few examples of the challenges we face:

• USGA greens should be irrigated with "Drenching" type cycles that brings the system to field capacity and then should be allowed to dry out for several days.  This is virtually impossible with our current single head system and would result in extremely wet approaches and surrounds.
• Tournament Prep.  On those occasion where we would like to ramp up conditions for special events by firming up surfaces to a greater degree the single head system limits our ability to dry out playing surfaces like greens and approaches while maintaining healthy thick rough areas surrounding the greens as well as providing enough moisture to the bunkers to keep them firm.

As a result we are forced to manage surfaces to a compromise between desired moisture levels for each, usually resulting in greens and approaches being wetter than we would like.

 



In the above photo I have indicated the location of the new dual head system that also includes a third head in the front of the greens where necessary to provide separate irrigation of the green, the approach and the rough surrounds. 

 

The irrigation distribution circle surrounding the three new sprinklers has be divided into the appropriate areas (the blue head waters the approach only, the red head waters rough and the bunker only and the yellow head waters the green only).  This improvement will allow us to manage these three very different turf areas individually and will result in improved turf health, improved playing conditions and improved efficiency in labor required to hand water.

 

I would appreciate any question or concerns you may have concerning this project... please contact me at chris.coen@glenoakscc.com.

 

More Rain and a Frozen Golf Course!

We received another 1 inch over the weekend.  Work continues this week on drainage and irrigation projects.  We also began blowing out the irrigation system this morning.