Time is Money

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

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

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

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.