Tetherow Golf Course Maintenance

2011-06-14T20:53:00.000-07:00

Course Conditions

Finally, the warmer weather has arrived on a consistent basis. This will really help the golf course get into the condition that we have been waiting for this spring. I cannot believe that it is already the second week of June. Time flies. The golf course conditions are pretty good and we expect to see the conditions get even better as the warm days continue. We have been busy with many projects since the last posting.

But first an important message to all members and guest about the upcoming MOSQUITO season. We are very unfortunate to have issues involving the mosquito population that has been experienced the past few seasons. In an attempt to lower the population, we have implemented a few strategies to decrease the possible population. The ponds on both holes #3/#6 and #13/#15 were stocked last fall with Bluegill and Black Crappie species of fish. Both lakes received an estimated 600 hundred fish. These fish will hopefully feed on the mosquito larvae before they hatch. Another strategy is to decrease the presence of any standing or stagnant water on the golf course property. The water features both on holes #4 and #5 and in front of the tees on #6 have been left to dry up and stay dry until after the mosquito season. Lastly, both lakes have been and continue to get treated with Healthy Ponds Mosquito Control. This product use a bacteria to grow and be ingested by the mosquito larvae and then disrupt their digestive system. Bacillus thuringiensis subspecies israelensis is the bacteria that help control the mosquito population. We are trying and making a strong effort to control the population. Please be prepared to experience some mosquitoes because it is virtually impossible to eradicate the entire population at Tetherow.

Our renovation projects are finally growing in and nearing completion. I expect to have all of these areas ready for play at the end of June. This should not be a problem as all of the areas are really doing well despite a cold spring. Be ready to play on the new green areas on holes #2 and #9 along with a new angle to #7 from an additional tan tee. Finally the new addition of fairway on #11 will please everyone who plays or has played Tetherow. This addition will really keep an errant ball in play. Much different than last year on #11.

#2 Green addition and green surround. Looking good

#7 new Tan tee

#7 Tan tee

#11 During seeding

#11 two weeks later

The greens are experiencing some thinning in areas predominately on the edges of the greens and on the undulations. Last year we did a combination of seeding and diatomaceous earth in order to create a favorable growing environment for turfgrass. We had some good success but not enough to solve the issue. This season we are doing something a little more aggressive.

A 1/2'' solid tine is used to create a hole in these thin areas where we fill the hole with fine fescue seed and diatomaceous earth and a little sand. With the increased amount of diatomaceous earth, these areas will definitely hold more moisture hence creating the favorable environment need to healthy turfgrass. In the past seven days we have completed the back nine greens that required this treatment and the process went very well. We have seen a lot of germination in these areas. Now comes the hard part. Maintaining the new and old turfgrass. We will use an approach that is very tedious but well worth the effort. Spot treatments of fertilizer and wetting agents will be used to "grow-in" these areas until they maintain themselves.

1/2'' Holes

Applying the diatomaceous earth

Brooming in the diatomaceous earth and seed

Before and after

Other items that have kept us busy besides the normal day to day preparations of the golf course are:

Weed eradication

Spraying wetting agent wall to wall using Aquatrols 16/90

Iron trials where we have sprayed a target green with four rates to see how the fescue holds up. We have sprayed to applications of 4 oz., 8 oz., 12 oz. and 16 oz. respectively. So far I have not seen any turf loss. The whole goal of the trials is to see how much iron we can apply in order to use it has a moss control. Our carfentrazone-ethyl applications have done very well after two applications. A third application is scheduled for next week.

Below are a few pictures to show you what weeds we are targeting and how our iron trials are doing.

Clover

Must get rid of this asap. Someone important at Tetherow keeps asking me about it.

Dandelion

4 oz. of Iron

8 oz. of Iron

12 oz. of Iron

16 oz. Iron

Going Forward

June 16 - Spray greens with fertilizer

June 21 - Spray greens with fertilizer and carfentrazone-ethyl

June 25 & 26 - MEMBER/MEMBER TOURNAMENT

June 28 - Spray greens with fertilizer

June 28 - July 1 - Spray wall to wall with fertilizer and iron for next weeks tournament

July 1 - Open renovation projects on holes #2, #7, #9 and #11

July 5 - Spray greens with fertilizer

July 10 -16 - PNW AMATUER

July 18 - Fertilizer greens with granular organic product

July 18 - Topdress greens

July 18 - 22 - Fertilize wall to wall with NX Pro product

That is the tentative schedule for the next month and a half. Along with these listed items, expect just normal daily golf course maintenance.

2011-05-23T11:51:00.000-07:00

Course Conditions

The golf course is playing very well these days. We have been getting a few warm days along with some cool rainy days. Actually a good combination of weather for the fescue and the playing conditions. When the days are warm, you can see or sense that the fescue is starting to grow consistently which is good to see this time of the year. With the occasional rain storm, we have not needed to water very much so the golf course is playing firm and fast. The forecast is more of the same, nice days and possible rainy days.

Two weeks ago we applied our first application of carfentrazone-ethyl for moss control. I noticed a slight discoloration of the moss and no effect to the fescue. Our second application is scheduled for this week. We should see a noticeable discoloration of the moss after a few days of the second application. Along with this weeks carfentrazone-ethyl application, our trials for the optimal iron rates for our greens will start. I will make sure to take pictures. This should be very interesting to see what our "near death" rate of iron is on our fescue.

Below are a few pictures of our seeding progress of the renovations that we did this winter/spring. Hole #11 is scheduled to be seeded this week and when that is done, we are finished with our construction projects and now we switch to the grow-in phase of the projects.

New tee on #7. The light colored area is the new tee a week after seeding

The back of #2 green a week after seeding

Seeding the back of #2

Seeding #2

So now that we are almost completed with our renovations we will turn our attention to a few other projects. Since this July we are hosting the Pacific Northwest Men's Amateur Championships, we are going to really pay close attention to the playability of the golf course. Our biggest concerns are the green speeds, the firmness of the approaches and the bunkers. Currently, the green speeds are very good and should have not much work to do on the greens. As for the approaches and bunkers, they are very close. We will topdress the approaches and pay close attention to the water regime they receive in order to maintain a firm playing surface. The bunkers do not have much work to do, but we will need to maintain a nice and clean bunker edges along with maintaining appropriate sand depths. Not that big of a deal for us but just want to keep a close eye so that we do not have a lot of work preparing for the tournament.

On a personal note, last week I played in the Washington Open with my owner Chris van der Velde and as a team we finished in a tie for third place. Not to shabby for the both of us. Chris had a total knee replacement last fall and this was his first stroke play tournament since the procedure. As for me, I have played a total of six rounds since last October which three of those rounds were during the tournament. I really enjoyed playing and thanks to Chris for inviting me.

2011-05-09T06:49:00.000-07:00

This past week, we hosted the Tetherow 4-Ball which was a huge success. The golf course was is very good condition despite the weather the week prior. It actually snowed on Thursday the 28th of April and we had cold temperatures that weekend. The weather for the 4-Ball was great, warm and sunny.

Course conditions are coming right along. We have seen a very good response to our fertilization we did a few weeks back. The staff has been busy since the tournament getting all of the golf course details accomplished. Our details are all the areas that are done using weedeaters, edgers, rotary mowers, etc. all of our hand work. When the details are done, the golf course looks very sharp and tidy.

This week we will finish the irrigation installation and hydromulch the renovations on #2, #7 and #11. Since it is May we can start the seeding process. Actually, I am not sure it is May because today we woke up to snow again. In any case, we are moving forward with our seeding and just push those areas pretty hard so they are in play sooner than later.

We have a lot to accomplish in a short amount of time but it should be no problem. We are just starting our growing season so our efforts will pay off very soon and quickly. There are a few issues that we need to address this month. For example, we have an increasing population of moss on our greens which we will be addressing using iron applications and carfentrazone-ethyl as well as improving the thinning areas on some of our undulations. Coulee Prince, our assistant superintendent came up with a watering idea for our large humps and bumps which we are considering on trying. I will keep you updated on that in the future. Since we have much to do in this month below is a schedule for the month of May.

May 2011

May 9th - 12th - Finish renovation projects
May 10th - Spray greens with foliar fertilizer using Floratine products
May 11th - Spray greens with carfentrazone-ethyl
May 13th - Hydromulching on #2, #7 and #11

May 16th - 22nd - Normal maintenance practices and experimenting with iron rates for greens
May 17th - Spray greens with foliar fertilizer using Floratine products

May 23rd - Fertilize Tees with GroPower 10-0-10
May 25th - Spray greens with carfentrazone-ethyl
May 26th - 30th - Normal maintenance practices

May 31st - Knife tine and topdress greens
June 1st - Knife tine and topdress greens

We have a Winner!

2011-05-05T05:33:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to David Phipps for correctly answering the question. Yes indeed, the tool or "sod spatula" was used to keep the delicate pieces of fescue sod together while doing the renovation work on #9. The idea came to me before we started sodding #9 remembering back to our other sod jobs on greens and how the end result was not as smooth as I would have liked. The reasoning behind the sod spatula is that the edges tend to fall apart while handling the sod and that the fine fescue does not knit together as well as other turfgrasses. I wanted to imitate the large wooden spatulas that the pizza joints use. It really worked. Thanks to Marty our Equipment Technician for building the sod spatula.

Win A Free Shirt!

2011-04-27T16:00:00.000-07:00

The contest is still going on. We have had two guesses so far. They were both incorrect although one of the guesses is on the right track. The other guess thinks we live in the Artic and we need to make snow shelters. We do get cold and have our fair amount of snow but not that much. Keep guessing and someone is bound to get the correct answer. Good Luck!

Win A Free Shirt!

2011-04-25T11:54:00.000-07:00

Before my blogging begins, I would like to give a free shirt away to the person that can tell me what this tool has been used for at Tetherow. Just think about what we have done in the past and what you have read in the past and you should be able to figure it out. The first person to leave the correct answer in the comment section will win a free shirt. Good Luck!

It is almost May and during the last week of April, the golf course is getting a little bit better but we are hoping for a good weather week. These past few weeks have been very frustrating mainly due to the weather. It has not been very good to us. We have not received the needed weather to coincide with the golfing rounds we were expecting and the golf course quality. It actually looks like it is fall again.

This past week, we put out a wall to wall application of fertilizer to our greens, tees, fairways and roughs. We used a new product on our fairways and roughs this year. A Lebanon product with an analysis of 20-0-10 with 60% methylene urea was applied at a rate of 1/2 pound of nitrogen per 1000 square feet and it was honestly a very good product to distribute. We will see how it actually reacts in a few weeks. The greens and tees received the same organic product that we have used since day one. Gro-Power 10-0-10 was applied at a rate of 1/2 pound of nitrogen per 1000 square feet. This week we are planning on spraying our greens and fairways with a micro nutrient package to help green the turfgrass up in preparation for the Tetherow 4 Ball.

#9 Renovation

#9 Renovation is finally completed. We actually completed the sod work last week and I am very happy to have this project finished. It actually took longer than I expected mainly due to the weather and that we were opening the golf course at the same time. We have received a lot of good comments about our work and many of the members are happy to see that additional green space has been added to make the hole a bit easier. Like our other projects, we will have the new green and bunker ready for play two weeks prior to the Pacific Northwest Men's Amateur Championships in July.

I am really looking forward to opening the section of green that we added mainly because it will take a lot of pressure off of the other parts of the green. We saw a dramatic improvement on #3 green when the new section of green was opened. The previous areas for pin locations were severely battered and thinning due to the excessive traffic. We have seen the same wear patterns on #9 so the additional green surface will be a huge benefit. You can see in the picture that the new green side bunker was sodded. We grassed all of the original bunkers during construction to minimize contamination. Once the green is ready to open, we will spray the sand line and install the bunker sand. I truly believe that this process is an effective way to "line" a bunker and we will probably do this in the future to all of the bunkers a few at a time.

#7 Renovation

In addition to #9, we have started the construction of a new tee box for #7. The "Tan" tee box is a very popular set of tees and we have two tee boxes on #7 that we utilize for the "Tan" tee but the space is not large enough to handle the traffic. So we are adding approximately 1500 square feet of new tee space so that we can provide better conditioned turf when the "Tan" tee placement is used. Once the subsurface is finished and a 6 inch sand cap is placed we will utilize the sod from a nursery green to sod the final product. This will allow us to have a quicker grow-in period especially since the "Tan" tee placement is so popular.

#2 Renovation

After the completion of #9, we began putting the final touches on the renovation project on #2. The renovation of #2 was mostly completed last fall and the sod that was laid down survived very well over the winter. Now we are just completing the fine grading around the future green making sure that the tie-ins are good and the surrounds are rock picked before we start the seeding process. Next week is the Tetherow 4 Ball and once that is completed we will start the seeding process. I am scheduling a seeding date of May 6th which is the day after the completion of the tournament and maybe the weather will have improved by that time. We have such a short growing window that if the weather is not optimal then the germination process goes very slow. We will put down a preplant fertilizer prior to seeding which will comprise of a slow release 16-16-16 product at a rate of 1 pound of nitrogen per 1000 square feet along with a 10-0-10 organic based fertilizer at a rate of 1 pound of nitrogen per 1000 square feet. This combination worked very well during the initial grow-in of Tetherow. Along with the preplant, a 10 pound per 1000 square feet rate of our fine fescue blend and a 0.65 pounds per 1000 square feet of colonial bentgrass will be hydromulched using a rate of hydromulch of 4 bales of hydromulch per 1/4 acre. We only have two months for grow-in for both the seeded and sodded areas. The renovation of #2 needs to be in play two weeks prior to the Pacific Northwest Men's Amateur Championships that we are hosting in July.

I am hoping for better weather this week and next because we have the Tetherow 4 Ball next week. I would really like to showcase the golf course but without warm weather most of our efforts of fertilizing, topdressing and our maintenance practices go unseen. For those who read other golf course superintendents blogs, one theme is always talked about, WEATHER. It truly plays a huge role in our efforts to provide a quality golfing experience.

Opening Day April 1st, 2011

2011-04-03T11:52:00.001-07:00

April 1st, 2011 was our Opening Day of the 2011 golf season. The weather was the best day we have had all spring. The temperature was nearly 70 degrees with clear blue sky. It was a very good day to show off the golf course to everyone. The prior day we had a member preview during which nearly 25 members enjoyed the golf course prior to opening to everyone. The members could look at the renovation work that we have been working on, on holes #2, #7, #9 and #11. The comments were very favorable to the slight changes that we have been making. To reassure everyone, David McLay Kidd has been involved in every change from start to finish. We appreciate having David so available to Tetherow in order to continue improving the golf course. Even though we have experienced some of the worst weather this winter and early spring that I can remember the first days of golf were the best. All it takes is a little bit of sunshine and warmer days to get the golf course looking pretty good. I can finally see the turfgrass starting to wake up from the long winter and beginning to look like Tetherow once again.

Course Conditions

The golf course is actually in great shape despite the brutal wet weather. The putting surfaces are very close to conditions like we experience during the peak of the season. They are getting greener and growing day by day. The tees and fairways are also beginning to awaken. Like I have explained in the past, the heavy topdressing during the winter provides the elements for an early green up of the golf course. There are some pictures later in this post concerning the topdressing. We are actually not to far off from peak season conditions. We have the month of April to get course conditions to a premium. The first week of May is the Tetherow 4-Ball where many of the best golf professionals in the Northwest arrive at Tetherow for three days of match play. The Tetherow 4-Ball was a great success last year and I presume that this year will not be any different. As we continue to work on golf course conditions, we still have a few unfinished projects to complete this month.

Composting

We have continued our composting efforts this year. The purchase of a chipper/shredder will help our efforts to produce the essential elements for compost. Compost is generally a mixture of "green" and "brown" waste. The "green" is our grass clippings and other similar bi-products and the "brown" is the bi-product of chipping woody materials. Show above is a pile of tree limbs that have been chipped directly into our composting pile ready for a thorough mixing. I have to thank Scott Moffenbeier from Broken Top Club for the tree limbs. Since we do not have many trees at Tetherow, I asked if Scott wanted to bring his limbs over for our composting. He does not have to pay for removal of the limbs and we get our "brown" waste. A win win for the both of us.

#9 Renovation

The #9 green renovation is coming along nicely. This past week we completed the profile and David McLay Kidd came and approved our work. Now we can start sodding. The pictures can tell the rest of the story.

Chris van der Velde and others looking over our work

Spreading out the sand layer

Installing the sand layer

Topdressing and Spring Green Up

#9 Look how green the turfgrass is due to the sand topdressing generating heat. We have only fertilized the greens to date. This greening is what I like to call "artificial heating".

#4 For comparison, the fairway has not been topdressed yet. We have had to postpone any topdressing efforts due to the amount of rain and snow that we have received. With all the moisture, the fairways are very soft and we needed to postpone the topdressing to prevent creating ruts in the fairways. Not very green when compared to #9.

#15 The tees were topdressed and the fairway was not. You get the picture.

So now that the golf course is open and members and guests are enjoying the course, we need to switch our efforts from construction back to maintenance. We still have a few construction projects to finish but with the added staff we will be able to do both construction and maintenance. We look forward to the golfing season and hope to see you out on the golf course.

Back to work

2011-03-20T16:12:00.000-07:00

The past few weeks have been very nasty. There has been numerous rainy or snowy days. Not the best conditions to get a long list of projects completed before we open March 31st. Anyway, after one last vacation to Sun Valley for some perfect spring skiing, I cannot wait any longer. On Wednesday the 17th, David Kidd, Chris van der Velde and I had a brief meeting concerning the outcome of the renovation project for #9. The following pictures show our progress since that meeting. We are in complete construction mode for the next few weeks.

Along with the pictures of #9, there are pictures of the crew hard at work on the bunkers and in the shop. Five of our regular staff members returned on the 7th of March and they have been working in between storms on the bunkers. They have been adding sand, redistributing sand and giving them a final check prior to the golf season. They have done an excellent job especially during some very rough weather conditions. I really appreciate their perseverance and the dedication they bring to Tetherow.

Starting to core out the new green extension on #9

Progressing nicely. I am continuing to core the new green while Coulee checks the grades

Scoping out the new bunker site. We intended to replace the original bunker only a smaller version, but after some thinking, David suggested to place a bunker on the left side of the green. This will actually allow us to use the front left pin location more often. A slight adjustment to the green while installing the bunker will make this pin location less frustrating than before. Before, many players would actually putt off the green when the pin location was in the front left position. Ultimately we are striving to increase the playability and enjoyment of the golf course with these small changes.

Continuing the coring of the new green.

The weather is not always on our side. Snow then Grapple then Rain then Sun. We experience it all in just one day.

Sometimes my pictures do not come out so good. I believe it is because of two reasons. The first reason is the weather is always lousy when the photographs are taken. The second is that I am a subpar photographer. Maybe I should learn some photography tips in my spare time.

The new bunker is taking shape.

Bunkers

This process at times can be very frustrating. Many of the bunkers have been loaded by drifting snow throughout the winter. We need to remove the snow before any actual work can be done. This particular bunker is on #9. You can see there is about three feet of snow that needs to be removed. Cosmo is always on site to lend a helping hand.

Next year I think it would be good for us to place some snow fence in strategic areas to prevent the snow from accumulating in places such as the bunkers. This would allow us to use our time more wisely come late winter and our bunker renovation process will go much faster. Another solution is something that we already do, and that is cover the bunkers after we close the golf course. The past few years we have had most of the bunkers covered and it has made a big difference in the amount of sand that is lost during the winter. We found a company that may help us out with collecting more material to cover our bunkers. We would use scraps of lake liner to use in the bunkers and eventually we can have a cover for every bunker. It used to be that covering greens was the most important task prior to winter.

Hauling and dumping sand.

Spreading the sand.

Once the sand is uniformly distributed, a small compactor is used to finalize the surface and ready it for play.

Adding the final touches to the bunkers.

Inside the shop

Marty and Coulee hard at work designing a trailer to haul all of the driving range supplies. This year we are going to prepare and maintain the entire practice facility from setup each morning to breaking done the facility each evening. This trailer will help the person setting up the tee prior to play more efficiently. I am always trying to think of ways that we can best utilize our time.

I have received many compliments on the blog site. Many of those compliments are coming from others in the industry who say they follow the blog and really enjoy reading what is happening at Tetherow. THANK YOU very much for your kind words and I will try to continue to provide useful and entertaining information about our efforts at Tetherow.

Melting Wonderland

2011-03-08T07:38:00.000-08:00

The snow is finally melting. After three weeks of snow cover, the snow is leaving rather quickly. these pictures were taken on Friday of last week and most of the snow was gone on Monday. I am very happy to see this since some of our crew are returning this week. We have a lot of work to accomplish in the next three weeks, so the weather needs to be on our side.

I love the snow and always look forward to a good snow fall that provides a lot of moisture that is spread out evenly throughout the golf course. The moisture is always needed in Central Oregon. Anytime we can get a good even moisture event here in Central Oregon is a great day. But sometimes the snow just slows down our work progress especially when the snow event comes so close to our opening of the golf course. This just means that we work harder and more hours so we can be prepared for the opening.

For the next three weeks we will be busy doing the following:

Clubhouse landscaping
Working in the bunkers redistributing sand and adding sand where needed
Finishing the renovation work on holes #2, #7, #9 and #11
Finishing the fairway topdressing
Aerifying greens and tees
Cleaning up and mowing prior to opening
Starting up the irrigation system

We have a lot of work ahead of us but we are used to this type of pressure and we will be ready as always.

Topdressing

I hope that you can see the color differences in the turfgrass. What I am trying to show is the effects of our topdressing efforts. These pictures were taken last week during the melt. The grass was starting to "wake up" from the heat that is being generated from the sand and the sunny days. The heat is warming the surface and creating a warmer environment. The green grass is evidence of the warming. The greening has actually be occurring for about four weeks.

I really like to see this especially at this point of the year. The days are getting longer and the winter is almost over. Since the golf course will open April 1st, it is best to have the turfgrass actively growing. It gives us a jump on the season both with growth and color.

The green-up actually started in early February. We actually had a lot of sunny warm days during February and the grass was responding very well. My biggest concern is very cold weather arriving when the grass is actually greening up. Since the grass is somewhat growing, it is lush and rather weak. So if frigid temperatures hit with out any snow cover, this could be bad news.

This scenario came very close to occurring a few weeks ago. On February 15th, we received about 10 inches of snow on top of the greening grass. That next week, the low temperatures dip below zero for several nights along with some windy conditions. Thankfully, we received the snow before the cold temperatures. Not sure how we could avert any damage if we had frigid temps and no snow, I guess just cross our fingers.

I still believe that our practice of burying the turfgrass areas in sand prior to the winter is the best thing for our golf course. Tetherow is very exposed and wind can be our enemy. Wind with no moisture is a killer. So the sand is our only defense. We could invest in covers for our greens which may be an option for some of our greens but sometimes they actually hinder your efforts in protecting the green surface. The sand has a lot of benefits and until we see something negative from this practice, we will continue on with our winter topdressing efforts.

Disease

There is some disease present after the snow has melted. I am not that worried about the disease because it is areas that are out of play or edges of fairways or rough. All of the important playing surfaces such as greens, tees and fairways are very clean. This picture is from an area near the cartpath on #3. Even though the fine fescue is very susceptible to Pink Snow Mold and Gray Snow Mold, it grows out of the damage rather quickly.

But I really do not want to press my luck next season. I will be looking for a combination of products that we can use next year that will allow us to spray more area for the same or lower cost. Since we spray our winter disease products primarily once in the fall and hope that they last the entire winter, it is best to have all of the turfgrass areas covered. We never know what kind of winter we will have year after year. The Farmers Almanac did say that we would have a wetter winter this year. I would say that the prediction was correct.

This picture is from #7, from the looks of it we will need to spray a bit more area next fall. It is probably the worst area on the golf course. No worries, it will come back with minimal effort.

Take care and we will keep you updated on our progress.

A few notes during a long Winter

2011-02-16T07:48:00.000-08:00

It has been a few weeks since the last blog entry because I needed time to get some information to write about. It is a little slow at Tetherow during the winter. Since it is the slow time of the year, it is a perfect opportunity to attend meetings, the Golf Industry Show, take care of the little things for the golf course and in general recharge the batteries before the season begins.

A few updates, the construction on #9 is going very slow. The weather has hampered our efforts in that either the soil is too frozen to work or it is under snow. I am hoping the snow goes away quickly and we can resume with our work.

I took these pictures on February 14, 2011. On Tuesday the 15th, we received about 10'' of snow. As of the 28th, #9 is still under snow and the forecast is not looking promising for the next week.

You can see that the rough grading of the extension is finished. I asked David Kidd to stop by and approve the work but that night the snow began to fly. He has not seen the work yet. Maybe next week.

This past January, I attended the Western Washington Golf Course Superintendents Association meeting that was held at Broadmoor Golf Club in Seattle, Washington. The host superintendent is Sean McDonough a very good friend of mine. The speakers for the meeting were Robert Randquist, Vice President of the GCSAA and Piet Peters, Executive Vice President of Ernie Els Design. Both speakers were very good and discussed issues such as the state of the GCSAA and how Ernie Els Design works as far as a design firm. The Els philiosphy had some similarities to how David McLay Kidd Design operates.

Since we were in Seattle in the middle of January, it was raining and since we live in an area where rain is not very common, there was no way I was going to play golf in the rain. I have become a bit spoiled living in Bend. I told Sean that I will play his course during the season, when it is not raining. I have played Broadmoor several times and Sean does an excellent job. If you get a chance to play Broadmoor, do not hesitate and you will not be disappointed.

A week later, Tom Baty, Superintendent at Bend Golf and Country Club hosted the annual "Moss" meeting. This is a get together for all of the local superintendents to discuss many subjects such as winter disease control, snow/ice issues, growth regulators and moss. I enjoy catching up with the others in the area and discussing issues we all experience. The network of superintendents in Central Oregon is very tight and we help each other as much as possible.

Then in February, I attended the Golf Industry Show in Orlando, Florida. I attended the reception for the ELGA winners. Two days of educational classes and a day at the Trade Show gave me many ideas that will help our maintenance staff and practices. I took three classes:

Environmental Check-up: How sustainable is your facility? was a day long class which included a field trip to a local golf course. The biggest take home point from this class was implementing an Environmental Management System that would have policies and procedures for most of our maintenance practices. The class also discussed issues such as environmental site evaluation, water resource protection, storm water management, emergency responses and energy conservation.

21st Century Leadership: What's Different Now? A very helpful class on how to be the leader in today's work environment which is different than say 10 years ago. I took away a lot of helpful hints that I can implement to create an empowered and involved staff who understands the vision of Tetherow Golf Course Maintenance.

Survival Skills for the Superintendent. A class that discussed many topics but most importantly the topic of improved communications from the golf course superintendent to the other departments within the golf course.

While I was gone, Coulee, Marty and Paul kept busy doing various projects. Coulee has been topdressing the fairways. The sand pile is getting smaller as the days go by. Marty has been working in the shop servicing equipment, re-wiring our new TX Gators for various implements and has been making some alterations to previous brain storming ideas that I came up with. Paul is the painter of the three. Painting all of our course supplies that need some touch up paint work. Items like tee stones, garbage can lids, signage, etc. have all been repainted this past month.

Marty and I have been revising a earlier version of our blower/course set-up trailer. I think this one will work great this season.

Paul sanding and painting the garbage can lids. To date, all of our golf course accessories are ready for the golf season.

Thanks for following along. Once the snow lifts we will have a lot of work going on which will give me a lot of material to show and tell. Until next time, enjoy yourselves and come visit Tetherow this year.

Finally a break in the weather

2011-01-18T14:24:00.000-08:00

This past week has been productive. We were actually able to get out onto the golf course to do some work. Some of the scheduled projects are still on hold waiting for drier conditions.

The sand keeps piling up in the maintenance yard. We have been stockpiling sand in our yard waiting to get out on the golf course fairways to topdress with a heavy application of sand. The weather has not been very cooperative in our efforts. Finally, the golf course is clear of snow but we had a lot of rain last week which has heavily saturated the soil. We still are not able to get out due to the softness of the fairways. If we were to start topdressing now, the affects of the heavy machinery and wet sand would create a lot of ruts in the fairways. So we need to wait for either the fairways to dry or a good freeze without the snow.

Meanwhile we wait as the sand pile gets bigger and bigger.

The fairways are showing some Pink Snow Mold in areas. The light brown patches in the picture are spots of Pink Snow Mold. Even though we treated the fairways with a combination of fungicides to help with the Pink Snow Mold this past fall, we still see the affects of the disease. We have had many days of snow cover and many days of warm wet weather both are optimal for promoting the disease.

No need to worry, the fescue with grow back once the spring returns. I guess we will wait until February 2nd to see if we will expect an early spring or a longer winter. I am hoping for an early spring.

Construction or renovation continues despite the weather. The past few weeks, we have been able to continue with our renovation efforts. Below are pictures of #9 and #2 respectively.

The above picture is of #2 showing the area where we eliminated the spilloff. We took this spilloff out due to the extension of the green. Now with the spilloff gone, a player will be able to putt or use a rescue to reach the hole from either side of the green.

Just adding some more soil or fill to make the green surround fit in better due to the addition of the new green extension.

Good News

2011-01-07T09:18:00.000-08:00

Tetherow Golf Course has been named the Chapter Winner in the Resort Category by the GCSAA/Golf Digest's Environmental Leaders in Golf Awards program, presented in partnership with Syngenta and Rain Bird - Golf Division.

This award recognizes the environmental stewardship that is very important to Tetherow. An extensive application was submitted in October. Water management, Resource Conservation, Integrated Pest Management, Wildlife/Habitat and Education/Outreach were the categories that the application was based on. We were able to exhibit examples within each category that explained our efforts.

It is truly an honor to represent Tetherow Golf Course and the Oregon Golf Course Superintendents Association in receiving this award. We are going to continue our environmental efforts and submit an application this fall in the pursuit of winning an award in the National Category.

In other good news, a new addition to our golf course maintenance team has arrived. Coulee Prince has joined Tetherow Golf Course as the Assistant Golf Course Superintendent. We are looking forward to the knowledge and experience that Coulee will bring to our team.

My name is Coulee Prince and I am the new Assistant Golf Course Superintendent. It is with great excitement that I am joining Team Tetherow. I am a fourth generation Central Oregonian. Growing up here, I was bitten by the golf bug. As a kid there was nothing I would rather do than be on the golf course. When it became time to venture out in the working world, my first thoughts were of the golf course. I got my start as the was then "North Course" in Sunriver raking bunkers and performing many other entry level duties. Over the next few years I would move on to other courses and other duties, gradually moving up the ladder. Eventually this led to enrolling in the Turfgrass Management program at COCC. I completed the program in 2003 with an Associate of Science degree. The next move was to Western Pennsylvania to work as a chemical technician at the Nemacolin Woodlands Resort. The resort had two golf courses, one of which was designed by Pete Dye and hosted a PGA Tour event. After a year I was promoted to Assistant Superintendent. I spent four years in that role were I was exposed to the standards of a five star resort. By 2008, it was time to come home to Oregon. I took the Assistant Superintendents job at Rivers Edge in Bend during the winter of 2008-09 and spent the last two seasons there. The move to Tetherow is one I am excited about and am proud to be affiliated with such a unique facility. I love living here in Bend, and hope to do so for a long time. Fishing, hiking, golfing and spending time on our lakes and rivers are some of my hobbies. I am married to my lovely wife of eight years Megan and we have three dogs.

Coulee Prince.

A Winter Wonderland

2010-12-20T14:50:00.001-08:00

Three days of consistent snow fall starting last Friday accumulated nearly a foot of snow on the golf course. The weather has been a bit inconsistent this winter but the severely cold temps have not really been a factor. The ground is not frozen so when the sun comes out and the temperatures rise we get a decent rate of melting. This is good in many ways. Since the ground is not an ice cube it prevents the snow from sticking around for long periods of time which would promote disease (Discussed in an earlier blog entry about Why we spray?) Another factor that we benefit from due to the ground not being frozen is when we do have any melting of the snow or rain the excess water can infiltrate the soil profile thus preventing any appreciable ice buildup. Ice accumulation can have many adverse affects to the turfgrass which can be explained in another blog entry. I will make sure that an entire entry is devoted to ice damage which we have seen many times in Central Oregon.

Anyway, a couple of pictures to show off the beauty of the golf course under snow. It is probably one of the most peaceful moments on a golf course other than sunset during the summer. For those of you who live on the course, I am sure you love to look out your living room windows after a snow fall.

Hole #15 with a blanket of snow

Hole #14 with Cosmo enjoying the snow. Cosmo does not have much work during the winter since the lakes are frozen over and the geese have no place to swim. In any case, she really enjoys running around in the snow.

Since the snow has fallen and our outside projects are on hold, this will give us a chance to focus on a few projects inside the maintenance facility. Only three of us on site currently, but between the snow plowing and shoveling there are a few ideas that I have for us to plan and construct for next season. I am going to keep these a secret until they are ready to unveil to everyone. One of the ideas is going to make a huge impact next season. I hope! A hint: What should come back quickly after the golf ball has left the the ground?

To everyone who follows our blog, have a great Holiday Season!

Back on the course

2010-12-09T10:09:00.000-08:00

It is good to be back on the golf course. I have been away attending family functions, seminars and work outings. In a previous post, I mentioned that a trip to Las Vegas was on the schedule. Our ownership treated the managers of Tetherow to a three day trip to Las Vegas. On the agenda were many restaurant visits, a visit to Angel Park Golf Course and of course some work. Our work topics were discussed over a few hands of blackjack, a few rolls on the craps tables and some extended discussions while in the sports book. We won a few dollars in the sports book but no luck on the tables.

Thanksgiving was spent in the Valley with family and friends and of course the Oregon vs. Arizona game was the day after. We all know the outcome of the Ducks season and I am very happy and shocked the the Ducks could actually pull off such a great regular season. Hopefully the National Championship makes all of the Duck fans very happy.

The week after Thanksgiving it was back on the plane to Las Vegas for a seminar hosted by the Floratine Company. Floratine is a fertilizer company who provides speciality products for golf course superintendents to use in their fertility programs. We implemented a complete program this past season and were very happy with the results. The consistent growth and color was very impressive along with the low stress levels we encountered during the hot portions of the summer. We are going to continue the program this season with a few alterations. I would like to thank Mike Madden our Floratine representative for providing the trip and the opportunity to learn more about the Floratine products and the company. As usual, I lost on the tables again.

A flight from Las Vegas after the Floratine seminar lands in Portland for the annual Pesticide Conference. The Oregon Golf Course Superintendents Association puts together a day and a half program in which many speakers speak about new developments in pesticides, new laws and regulations as well as how to properly apply pesticides. This seminar allows golf course superintendents to stay current in their knowledge of pesticide usage as well as earning credits to maintain a valid pesticide applicators license.

So now that I am back on the course I cannot see very much. The golf course is covered in about six inches of snow. I was hoping that our crew would be able to get a few projects done in my absence but the snow stop any progress. Today, the snow is melting and the forecast is for warmer weather for the next few days. Next week will be our window to complete our list of projects.

Golf Season is over and Winter season begins.

2010-11-17T10:47:00.000-08:00

The season is officially over and looking back, it was a very successful season for us on the golf course maintenance staff. I would have to say that the golf course improved tremendously and we learned a lot more about our golf course. Just because the golfing season is over does not mean that our season is over. There is much more work to be done. Blowing out the irrigation system, topdressing, covering the bunkers, renovations on #9 and a trip to Las Vegas are projects that need to be done before winter is upon us. With all of the work ahead, I was able to keep six members of our crew on until the end of the year. I am very thankful for having them.

Last week the irrigation system was blown out for the winter. The air compressor this year was bigger than last year so the process went much faster. I have a picture of the compressor but the photo came out blurry. Below is a picture of the 13th green during the blowout. As you can see there was a bit of snow but not enough to slow us down.

A funny story from my past. When I was in Casper, Wyoming doing the first irrigation blowout of my career, it had snowed more than a foot the night before. Not knowing what the winters in Casper entailed, we started blowing out the system and what a nightmare that was. During the process we had many heads stick on and would not shut down until the valve was closed. Well finding the locations of the valves in 1 to 3 feet of snow and snow drifts is very difficult. It took us a week to finish blowing out the system. The two superintendents of the other courses in town would drive by for a good chuckle. A few weeks later when the snow had blown away and they had just finished blowing out their systems in a day, we went to lunch and they just laughed at me about doing a blowout in feet of snow. They both told me that each year around Halloween, a storm comes through and dumps some snow and once the snow leaves they blow out the irrigation system. Well thanks for telling me before hand. I will never forget my time in Casper.

The weather has been great for topdressing. Yesterday the staff completed topdressing the tees. It took us about a week to finish which was a few days faster than last year due to the weather. We have started topdressing the greens but have been slowed down due to the slow delivery of sand. Our topdressing efforts are progressing much faster than the hauling so once the sand shows up, the pile is done the next day. I am hoping that we can beat the snow that is coming our way.

Every year we have to cover the bunkers to prevent the sand from blowing out of the bunkers. The sand is imported from Florence, Oregon and since it is beach sand it is very light. We tend to lose a lot of sand during the winter. So our efforts in covering the bunkers is time well spent. We cover the bunkers for two reasons; so that the sand that is blowing out of the bunkers is not deposited on the any of the playing surfaces especially the greens and so that we do not have to purchase as much sand in the spring for replacement.

Construction on #9 has begun. Monday and Tuesday were spent stripping the sod, moving bunker sand and removing any irrigation that would need to be rerouted. The plan for #9 green is to eliminate a large portion of the green side bunker and enlarge the front of the green. The green will increase in size approximately 1500 square feet and what is left of the green side bunker will become a riveted pot bunker. Since we are going into the winter season, we will only do the shaping work and finish the green next spring due to the freezing and thawing that occurs during the winter in Bend. The plan is to get the shaping work done before this Friday since the management staff is off to Las Vegas for a managerial team building session.

Along with all the work we have done and currently doing, our new equipment package arrived yesterday. We received 12 Gators, 12 walkmowers, 2 riding mowers, a bunker rake and a tractor. All of the equipment that arrived is replacing a fleet of equipment that was here during construction and grow-in of the golf course. During that process, equipment is put under more difficult working conditions compared to a finished golf course. The new equipment is greatly needed and will last us for the next five years.

Thanks for following our blog and I hope that everyone has a great week.

Winterizing Update

2010-11-08T11:50:00.000-08:00

The winterizing has started and the weather is cooperating to some degree. We have been able to spray the greens and fairways with our preventative winter disease applications. This week the tees are being sprayed and we will begin topdressing the tees as well. This entire process takes a great deal of time but the benefits definitely outweigh the time spent. In the previous entry, a detailed explanation of why we spray and topdress was written. Here are a few pictures to go along with the explanation.

This picture was taken in April of 2009. You can clearly see the areas that were topdressed prior to the winter. The green grass is from the sand absorbing the sunlight and giving off heat.

One of the tees on hole #4. I show this picture every year to the person that is topdressing the tees. Please try not to make any skips while topdressing. This picture was taken in March of 2009. Not green yet but it is starting.

Not me or a person on my crew. These pictures were taken in December of 2007. A decision was made by a Superintendent to continue to topdress. If you really want to know, try and expand the following picture on the driver of the tractor and you will find the answer.

Probably not the safest time to be topdressing with a heavy load of sand and smooth tires.

Winter is coming

2010-10-20T07:35:00.000-07:00

It is October 20th and we are getting to the point where winter is just around the corner. Winters in Central Oregon can be pretty unpredictable. There is the chance of snow, rain, sleet, 70 degree days, below zero nights, sunny and windy. All of these can actually occur in the same day, so protecting the turfgrass from the elements is key to a successful spring and following season. Here are three items that help us going into the winter: eliminating cart traffic, fungicide applications and topdressing with sand.

Why cartpaths only?

The fine fescue needs a break after a long golfing season of traffic both from golf carts and walking. Since the fine fescue has a moderate to low wear tolerance and low recuperative capacity, it is beneficial to remove excess traffic at some point in the season to encourage the fescue to rebound before inclimate weather arrives. This season carts were moved to cart path only in the middle of September. I agree 100% that this is a major inconvenience to our members and guests but it is necessary. Since the recuperative capacity is low, it takes a prolonged amount of time for the fine fescue to get back to a stage of quality so that it can take on the rigors of winter. Since the carts have been on cart paths only, I have noticed a significant improvement in the fine fescue. This fall, we have started to aerify and incorporate crumb rubber and diatomaceous earth in order decrease the affects of traffic, namely in reducing compaction.

"Surface compaction of turf soils occurs primarily in response to traffic. Particles of soil are pressed together with resultant increases in bulk density, soil strength, and water-holding capacity and decreases in aeration porosity, water infiltration and percolation.....Physiological responses of plants to soil compaction include not only reduced root growth, but reduced shoot growth, reduced water and nutrient uptake, reduced tolerance to heat and drought stresses, and increased susceptibility to scald and direct low-temperature injury." (Turgeon, 1996)

As you can see, such a simple process of driving a golf cart over turfgrass, especially fine fescue, can have a major impact on quality and survivability. Our practices are based on the best interest of the turfgrass environment and not to inconvenience anyone.

Why fungicide applications?

The application of fungicides going into the winter is to prevent or decrease the amount of infection from the Microdocium nivale fungus otherwise know as Pink Snow Mold and to a lesser degree from the Typhula incarnata fungus or Grey Snow Mold. These diseases can be devastating to turfgrass especially the fine fescues if not treated with a fungicide prior to the first snow fall. Pink Snow Mold is active during prolonged cool, wet weather and in climates where snow is common intermittently. Grey Snow Mold develops under deep and prolonged snow cover. Pink Snow Mold and Grey Snow Mold are common in Central Oregon but like the weather, disease infection can vary from location to location. Golf Courses in Sunriver suffer worse outbreaks than in Bend and Bend suffers worse outbreaks than in Redmond. More specifically Tetherow will see less disease outbreaks than Broken Top Club and Widgi Creek Golf Course and we are only separated by approximately three miles.

As we near our usual dates of applying our preventative fungicides a very important change has occured this year that affects each and every golf course. The EPA put a stop sale on the popular fungicide PCNB this year. This means that our suppliers are not able to purchase and sell PCNB to their customers whom normally use PCNB as their preventative fungicide application. Those suppliers and golf course that have PCNB from prior applications can apply it this season. PCNB has proven to be a cost effective product in Pink Snow Mold and Grey Snow Mold protection for the period of time, 90+ days, that we normally want to see the protection last. So this year we are going to use different fungicides that have been tested by many universities throughout the country with great success for our preventative applications. I believe that the products available to us now have better chemistry's which will provide better protection from the snow molds but the only question is will they have the longevity comparable to PCNB. A repeat application may be required mid season if we have a break in snow cover. I am crossing my fingers.

Why the heavy sand topdressing?

I have learned many things from all of the golf courses in different areas of the country that I have worked at but one of the most important lessens I learned was topdressing. While in Casper, Wyoming, topdressing at a heavy rate was the difference between having grass or not having grass in the spring. The winters in Casper are brutal. The dominate weather during the winter are extreme cold temperatures, very low humidity and very high consistent wind speeds. A typical day includes, high temperatures 25-35, 10% humidity and sustained winds of 30 mph. Not the best environment to be living or working outside.

Our winters in Central Oregon are similar to those in Casper but not as extreme which makes our topdressing practices very important. A heavy layer of sand benefits our golf course in these ways:

The sand layer protects the crown of the plant (growing point) from wind desiccation during the winter. So as the temperatures and humidity decrease and the wind speeds increase, the sand will protect the delicate crowns from dehydration. Just because the sand is applied does not always mean that the turfgrass is protected. Many high spots can still be damaged due to the lack of moisture.
The application of sand in either light or heavy amounts dilute the organic material produced during the growth of any turfgrass environment.
Heavy or light topdressing will smooth and firm the playing surfaces.
With the sand being a dark color it absorbs the sunlight thus heating up the surface and subsurface or soil temperature to encourage plant growth during the spring. I like this aspect of the practice because we are getting a jump start every spring instead of waiting for the ambient temperatures to increase soil temperatures. As we all know, our springs can be very cold in Central Oregon.

"Topdressing is the practice by which a thin layer of soil (sand) is applied to an established turf or a new turfgrass planting. When used in conjunction with turfgrass establishment, its purposes are to partially cover and stabilize the planting material and to retard desiccation. On established turfs, topdressing is performed for several purposes, including controlling thatch, smoothing a playing surface, promoting recovery from injury or disease, protecting greens in winter, and changing the characteristics of the turfgrass growth medium." (Turgeon 1996)

The topdressing program is vital to the success of our turfgrass environment. As you can see, applications of sand on a regular basis provide multiple benefits. And these benefits will always outweigh the cost of the sand and labor needed to continue the program. Many course have been doing a similar program for the past 10 to 15 years and have been very successful. The next time you travel to Portland or Seattle and play the premier clubs, notice how firm and smooth the fairways are and envision that at Tetherow in the future.

Well that was a lot of information and I hope that it answers any questions that you may have. I will post some pictures of these topics in the near future.

#2 Green Renovation Continued

2010-09-24T15:06:00.000-07:00

The green is ready for sod. The sod that we stripped during the initial phase of the renovation will be replaced. The entire sodding process took us two days. We still have some final shaping of the green surrounds and then we will hydromulch the rest of the disturbed area.

Now we hope that good weather is forcasted so that the sod can begin rooting. Once the sod is more stable, we will topdress the new sod with a heavy coat of sand and put it to bed for the winter. Throughout the winter, the sod will be checked on a weekly basis for moisture. If the sod needs any moisture, we will add some water using the hydromulcher. I will make sure to take photos when that occurs.

We will look forward to opening the new green extension next season. Look for future blog topics such as topdressing, disease prevention, winter construction and more.

#2 Green Renovation Continued

2010-09-17T07:12:00.000-07:00

The shaping is done and has been approved by David Kidd and now we can start installing the drainage system, pea gravel layer and then the USGA Greensmix. The following pictures show you all the remaining steps besides the grassing. This coming Monday, we will start sodding the new green and this should take us approximately four to five days to complete.

In my opinion, the sodding is the most difficult task in a greens renovation. During the sodding process, the staff is very meticulous in placing the sod pieces so that the seems are smooth and consistent. A quality sod job ensures a quality putting surface.

Hearing bone drainage system.

Perforated drain pipe is laid into the trenches. Then a four inch layer of pea gravel is spread out over the entire area.

After the pea gravel is installed, we check the final grade and make any adjustments necessary.

Then the sand installation begins. Twelve inches of USGA Greensmix is installed.

Once all of the greensmix is installed, we take a lot of time compacting the sand so that settling will not occur in the future. In order to compact the sand we use the mini-ex, plate compactor and a lot of water to make sure not only are the depths accurate but to ensure the stability of the sand. This process will take several days. In comparison to time, the installation of the drainage ditches, pipe, pea gravel and sand only took two and half days.

See you when we are sodding.

#2 Green Renovation

2010-09-14T16:52:00.000-07:00

Great golf courses are a work of art. Many of the top golf courses in the world have gone through many changes over the years. These changes are generally intended to enhance the playing experience, turfgrass health, technology, etc.

At Tetherow our ownership is committed to making the course its very best. With the guidance and support of David McLay Kidd and his talented team along with an in house construction team lead by Golf Course Superintendent Chris Condon, we will be improving areas that will ultimately increase the overall playability, agronomic health and enjoyment of the golf course.

After last seasons' successful projects, most notably the #3 green extension, the ownership has given the green light to continue the success. Currently we are working on the #2 green and when completed will have an additional 1700 square feet of putting surface which will make the entire green size approximately 6600 square feet.

Following are some pictures of our progress. Please look through them and watch the progress in additional blog entries.

We started by stripping the turfgrass in the proposed construction area. This sod with be replaced in a couple of weeks once construction is completed.

With any renovation work, the existing irrigation system requires some re-routing on additional sprinkler heads added. Fortunately for us, the work on #2 will only require irrigation to be re-routed or repositioned.

You can see just a portion of the green that is affected by the renovation. This picture only represents about 5% of the entire green surface. To the left of the green/sand/pea gravel is the new portion of the green.

This is the end result of shaping the area prior to coring for the future green bowl. The shaping is being done in house by yours truly. It is very important to re-create the same type of playing surfaces in and around these green sites. The goal is for the new areas to look and play as if they were originally designed and constructed during initial course construction.

Along with shaping a new area, it is important to incorporate existing features such as this bunker. With the new green, this bunker will really make one think about which line of play they chose. #2 is a 546 yard Par 5 which is rather easy to reach in two. After we are finished and the entire green is in play sometime early next season, certain pin positions will raise the risk/reward level.

So far so good. The construction process is progressing very nicely and we should be grassing within the next 7 to 10 days.

Secret Owner's Tee #9

2010-08-20T11:28:00.000-07:00

The par 5 ninth at Tetherow Golf Club is already a difficult hole. When the wind is coming from the South or Southwest, the tee shot is very difficult due to the tightness of the landing area which is surrounded by bunkers. So with that, a new tee was installed when renovation work was being done on the green surround of #8. As I stood behind the #8 green looking up the #9 fairway, I saw an opportunity to add a tee which would create a challenging tee shot. Those people who can hit their drives a long way with accuracy, this tee will definitely be a challenge. The tee is not intended for everyday play but possibly be a tee location for the Tetherow Two Ball or the next time we host the Pacific Northwest Club Professionals Championships.

Look for the tee to be ready for play this fall.

Walking Trails

2010-07-23T14:16:00.000-07:00

Walkers look for our new trails from tee to fairway and a few from green to tee. We have added quite a few walking trails or shortcuts to and from to help the walking golfers get around easier. Try the trails on holes #1,4,5,6,7,8,9,11,13,14,16 and coming soon 18. If you see any other ways that will make your walking easier just let us know.

#3 Open

2010-07-21T14:59:00.000-07:00

I apologize for not updating the blog for a month. I have been working many long days. But there is good news, the new extension on green #3 is open for play. It opened last weekend and it is a real treat to see new pin locations. Here are some pictures taken today. Seeing a pin location behind the pot bunker is great.

#3 Green Update

2010-06-22T16:23:00.000-07:00

Here are a few recent pictures of the new extension on #3. The extension is doing rather well considering the weather and temperatures. This past week we applied another heavy amount of sand and have been lowering the mowing heights. In a past posting, I said that we could have the green open in the middle of June. Well sometimes the weather does not cooperate and puts the progress of opening the green off for another few weeks. Now that we have consistent good growing weather predicted for the next week we should be able to open the green in two to three weeks.

Consistency

2010-06-01T13:01:00.000-07:00

One our biggest goals this season concerning the golf course is "consistency". We are still learning and will continue to learn how fine fescue actually behaves in a high arid environment. I know of only one other golf course that is in almost exactly in the same environment as we are and that is Ballyneal Golf Club in Holyoke, Colorado. I have spoken with the golf course superintendent a few times and he has experienced the same challenges that we have. After discussing our similar situations, the conclusion is that fine fescue behaves much differently than if we were located in a coastal environment such as Bandon Dunes Resort. No matter what particular climate we are in, it is my job to make the necessary adjustments in order to provide high quality turf conditions day in and day out.

This season we are doing a few practices a bit differently than the past few seasons. The number one priority in our efforts to consistency are green speeds, firmness and color. We have started our efforts in our fertility plan in which we have chosen to use a line of products from Floratine. The Floratine company has a long history of providing quality turfgrass when using their products and programs. The plan we have implemented since the beginning of May is to provide the turfgrass with all of the necessary nutrients. The amount of nutrients that are applied come from soil samples that have been taken to measure how much of each nutrient is required for optimum turfgrass health.

We all know that nitrogen is the key component however in our case a very small amount of nitrogen is applied. The plan is based on giving the fine fescue all of the required nutrients minus nitrogen in order to create a health plant. The idea is to provide the necessary nutrients for healthy fine fescue from the bottom up. The bottom up idea is that the soil would provide the nutrients once the values have been met to the plant rather than us through spray applications. We will see how this plan works out when the weather becomes more suitable for plant growth. Along with our fertility plan we have added a growth regulator product to our plan to help control the top growth of the fine fescue so that putting speed and quality is consistent from morning to evening. Coupled with the decrease in top growth, the plant will grow more laterally thus increasing the density of the canopy. We are on application number one in a four month period and already I can see a difference.

The firmness of our greens will naturally become softer as they age. As more organic matter builds up in the greens they become softer. In our efforts to keeping the greens firm, we will rely on topdressing and water management. The addition of small amounts of sand through topdressing will continue to dilute the organic matter thus create a continuous soil profile as well as firmness of the greens. Our water management strategy will be to do more deep and infrequent irrigation cycles so that the surfaces of the greens remain "dry" thus firmer. So as we continue to topdress, irrigate and fertilize the greens, all of these components are key to creating the consistency in our green speeds.

Renovation Update

2010-05-27T11:53:00.000-07:00

Cool weather is not helping us out with the establishment of sod or seed in our renovated areas. The areas that were seeded are showing a slight greenish hue but still a long ways to go for these areas to be ready for play. It looks to be a bit warmer for a few days starting on Sunday so maybe this will get the seedlings going in the right direction. Next week we will begin to fertilize the seeded areas with a spray application of calcium nitrate and a micronutrient package. We did this during the initial grow-in of the golf course and it really worked well. Also next week we will cut back on the watering of these areas which will dry them out a bit so that when we are able to start mowing there will be a firm surface. The sodded areas look very good. We have been giving them a heavy topdressing which has smoothed out the surfaces. I would like to have them in play as soon as three weeks from now. I will snap a few pictures when the sun is shinning and post them as soon as possible.

Renovation Update and Seeding

2010-05-18T14:22:00.000-07:00

A small update on our progress with the renovated areas as well as the seeding process that continues on the greens and green surrounds. We have made a lot of progress despite the weather. Below are just a few pictures recently taken.

New green extension on #3. The turf looks very good and is responding well to fertilizer applications and heavy topdressings of sand.

Seeded area on #4 which is showing new seedlings. This area was seeded on May 4th. I would suspect that a greenish hue will be showing in next weeks pictures.

The new green surround on #8 behind the green. Currently, we are mowing this area along with #7 at approach height so it is in play. More topdressing of sand will eventually smooth and firm up these areas. You can see the amount of sand we put down every two weeks.

Brushing in the topdressing sand. We initially drag in with a brush towed behind a gator and then finish with a broom. By finishing with a broom, we are able to make sure that the low areas have enough sand for the grass to growth up through eventually creating a smoother surface.

The seeding of the thinner areas on our greens continues. Here is an example of the process on #11.

The Proseed, has a roller with spikes on it creating holes as the implement travels across the green. Our fine fescue blend of seed is dropped immediately behind the roller falling into the holes.

An application of a diatomaceous earth product called Axis is then spread over the seeded areas. This product will hold the moisture needed for germination and aid in water retention after establishment. Since most of these areas are on the high spots of the greens, it takes more water to keep these areas moist due to gravity. The diatomaceous product will hold the necessary moisture that the turfgrass needs throughout the season. We should see a dramatic response in the form of overall turfgrass health, less handwatering and less turf loss during periods of stress.

Brushing in the seed, diatomaceous earth and a little sand into the holes created by the seeder.

We should see all of these areas in much better shape soon. In conjuncetion with this process, we will be renting a mower that has a flexible cutting unit in order to mow the undulations correctly. This mower will arrive late this week so expect to see pictures next week and and explanation on the initial results.

May Projects

2010-05-03T16:21:00.001-07:00

It is already the month of May and we have a lot of projects ahead of us on the golf course. The golf course maintenance staff is dedicating the month of May to turfgrass quality, repair, seeding and overall color.

As mentioned in our last blog, the seeding of the newly renovated areas has started. Today we seeded the areas on holes #4 and #7. Tomorrow we will finish the seeding on holes #6, #13 and #16. Along with the seeding, we have began cutting out areas of weak or worn out turf so that we can replace with good healthy sod. You will see various areas throughout the back nine that are either new areas or areas ready for sod. This process will continue until all of these areas are fixed.

The most important area that we will focus on are our greens. Last week we hosted the Tetherow Fourball during which our green speeds were between a 9.3 and 9.8. We will maintain a 9.2 for the golfing season. I feel that we are right on track to achieve this goal and that our greens have become faster sooner compared to last season. As you may have noticed, a few of the greens have some areas that were damaged this past winter. This week we are going to start addressing these areas. Drill seeding, topdressing with sand and diatomaceous particles along with a wetting agent application should remedy these areas. Any other areas that are completely bare, we will replace with healthy turf.

As for the color, we will continue to fertilize and maintain the current color. Tetherow is not going to be a "green" golf course. We strive to maintain a color that is not so green. Due to the fine fescue and colonial bentgrass mixture, our fertility rates are rather low compared to other golf courses in the area and with low fertility comes a not so green golf course. Just look at it as a golf course that is firm and fast that produces longer drives off the tee. Always a good thing for most of us average golfers.

From the golf course maintenance crew, have a great week.

Seeding Next Week

2010-04-26T13:14:00.000-07:00

During the week of May 3rd through the 7th, we will be seeding all of the renovated areas. The renovated areas on #2, #4, #6, #7, #8, #13 and #16 will all be seeded with a fine fescue blend. After seeding, the irrigation will be set up to water the newly seeded areas every hour on the hour starting at 8:00 am til 5:00 pm. We will monitor these areas for water during heavy play to ensure that members and guest are not disturbed by the running irrigation heads.

While we wait for the germination and maturation process, please take care in and around these areas until the turfgrass is mature and we open them up for play. It should take about 14 days give or take a few for the fine fescue to start showing and then about another 14 to 20 days until it is mature enough for play. The golf course maintenance staff will do everything in our power to hasten the maturation of the fine fescue. We would prefer to have these areas open for play sooner than later.

#3 Green

2010-04-19T15:45:00.000-07:00

The extension on the 3rd green is really taking shape. After a bit of fertilizer and some warm weather, the new sod is finally growing. Now it is time to start mowing and topdressing in order to get it nice and smooth and ready for play in about a month. We figure that we can have the new portion of the green ready to go in the beginning of June.

The extension once it is ready for play will have some great pin placements and will be a great hole to play. The back, middle and front of the right side has plenty of pin placements for us to use this season. No more going at the pin and ending up in the water.

Today was the first mowing of the new sod as well as a light topdressing of sand to help smooth the putting surface. We will continue mowing, rolling and topdressing until the putting surface is ready for play. Below are a few pictures from today.

First mowing of the new sod. We began mowing at 1/4 of an inch.

Topdressing with a light application of sand.

Time is Money

2010-04-16T09:17:00.000-07:00

Efficiency is a very important word for the golf course maintenance department. As the Golf Course Superintendent, I am responsible for a rather large budget and being able to save as much money along the way is important. We save money by being efficient. Everything that is done from filling divots to mowing greens to setting up the golf course is done as efficient as possible.

The simple task of filling divots is made efficient by using a Rickshaw to hold a bucket full of divot mix. This makes it faster for us to fill divots. Time is not lost going back and forth to the gator to retrieve more divot mix in the bottles. Filling divots does not really take long per hole, but setting up the golf course usually takes around four hours. With our next prototype, we should be able to cut that time down to two and half to three hours.

This trailer/blower combination will allow the setup person to do multiple jobs at once. Blowing cart paths, setting the pins, recycling, etc. can now all be done by one person. In the past the entire process took two people.

Our irrigation pump station has been recently tested for pump efficiency. This test will give us a base line on which we can document the efficiency of the station from season to season. Why is this important? The irrigation pump station consumes the most electricity within our maintenance budget. A motor that is used to run the pump is most efficient if it is running at 100% capacity at all times.

Once we have all the information concerning our pump station, we can then calibrate both the pump station and central control system for the irrigation system to run at peak efficiency. This will save money first, secondly we will be using our resources (water and electricity) more wisely and third our watering window at night will shrink thus creating drier and firmer playing conditions.

So like the saying goes, "time is money", we are always thinking of new ways to combine jobs and become more efficient with our labor and resources.

Hoping for warmer weather

2010-04-08T15:39:00.001-07:00

Still waiting for the warmer weather to arrive. We have had some very nasty days this past week. The cold weather keeps lingering and giving us shots of snow from time to time. This coming week does not look any better.

Despite the weather we must keep on working. The golf course maintenance staff has scheduled a few important tasks to accomplish in the next two weeks. We have scheduled a wall to wall fertilization and an aerification on the greens.

The turfgrass is in much need of a little nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium to give it a jump start. The purplish color of the turfgrass is from the lack of phosphorus. After a long winter, the grass plant has used all of its reserves and is in need of some "food" and warmer temperatures to start is growth process.

Once the greens have responded to a fertilizer application, we will aerify with 3/8'' solid tines. The holes will then be filled with the excess sand that remains on the green surfaces. After this aerification, the sandiness of the greens should be lessened. The greens will generally be aerified with a solid tine due to the quickness of recovery. A traditional aerification where a plug or part of the greens profile is extracted would be slow to recover due to the growth habit of the fine fescue.

So the fertilizer application and greens aerification will be our biggest projects the next two weeks. Along with these to projects we will continue with our normal day to day course setup and mowing.

Golf Course Opening

2010-03-29T19:51:00.000-07:00

The golf course will officially open this Friday, April 2^nd. We are very excited to open the golf course and show everyone some new changes. This past fall and winter we have been busy make a few player friendly changes. Some of you may have seen the changes on holes #3, #7, #8 and #13 last fall but most of you have not seen the changes on #2, #4 and #6.

The main objective of Tetherow ownership and management along with DMK design was to make changes that would ultimately improve the playability of the golf course while not losing the unique character and feel of Tetherow. We will go into depth about the changes to the golf course next week.

More importantly, the subject of green grass and quality playing conditions will be the focus of this posting. As the golf course opens, the weather will play a large role in the quality and appearance of the turfgrass. Soil temperature and ambient temperature measurements are both very important to the growth and overall health of the turfgrass but the soil temperature is most important. Air temperatures affect the soil temperature but the soil temperature affects turfgrass growth.

Optimum soil temperatures for both shoot and root growth are as follows:

Shoot growth is 60.8 - 75.2 degrees Fahrenheit

Root growth is 50 – 64.4 degrees Fahrenheit

So as the temperatures rise day by day, the turfgrass will respond accordingly. Once we have higher ambient temperatures for a prolonged period of time, the soil will continue to warm. Currently, the lower temperatures dominate the day therefore the soil temps are slower to raise.

While ambient temperatures influence soil temperatures there are other factors that directly influence soil temperatures. Soil moisture and type of soil are factors that need to be considered as well.

Soil moisture plays a role in the warming of soil. The wetter the soil, the cooler the temperatures because it takes more specific heat to warm water than it does the air space within the soil structure. A sandy soil has more temperature influence than clayey soils. Sandy soils warm and cool at a faster rate than clayey soils, due to generally higher aeration porosity and lower retained moisture. Similarly, compacted soils undergo slower warming and cooling than well-structured soils.

With that, you can see this information in real life on the golf course. Notice that the greens and tees are greener than the fairways and rough. The heavy topdressing has accelerated the warming of the soil simply because the sand is dark and absorbs more radiant heat than a lighter sand. So we have artificially or quickened the pace at which the soil warms during a time when it naturally would be at a lower temperature. Since the greens and tees are sand based they will warm quicker than the fairways and rough which are soil based.

Tetherow Golf Course Maintenance Blog

2010-03-22T16:09:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the Tetherow Golf Course Maintenance Blog where information concerning the golf course will be posted on a regular basis. The site is intended to be a resource for those interested in what is happening on the golf course. Many of the posts will contain explanations to what you may encounter during your round. These explanations will range from the simple to the technical. Look for pictures and videos to help you understand what the golf course maintenance department faces on a regular basis.

As the site moves forward, I will do my best to keep the blog as up to date as possible. There will be current and future information concerning the golf course as well as bits of history of Tetherow. Please feel free to contact me or post comments and questions about what is presented on this site.