Good Improvements

 

Above, the staff ran a 12" trunk line to alleviate the drainage sumps on 18.  This 12" will continue up towards 18 green later this year to provide a drainage source for the new green on 1, all the new bunkers on 1 and all the restored bunkers on 18.  Before, during prolonged wet spells, the sumps would fill up keeping water in the bunkers.  This will not happen going forward.

Belgium block curbing was installed along the practice green to help protect the cart path edge from carts and utility vehicles from pulling off into the grass.  Being a high impact area and visible from the clubhouse, this will clean up the area and offer options for cart path reductions in the future.

A Welcoming Entrance

 

When you look back at our original entrance, it was a miracle there were not more accidents.  The pinch point was right where cars were swinging in and cars were trying to get out.  Now, our entrance will allow cars to safely turn in and out and also allow trucks to make deliveries without damaging our plants.  A great improvement!

New Employees

 

We have officially entered the autonomous world!   We are starting with 2 mowers and if the mowers continue to mow like we have seen, we will definitely be adding more to our fleet in the coming years.  The self adjusting height allows the mower to mow low, then automatically raise the height to mow rough areas.  Ideally practice areas and rough are where I think this will fit in at Arcola.  They mow 24 hours a day unless charging so stay tuned for more updates.

Data Based Decisions

 

Often times we are asked how fast the greens are or how firm they are.  With the new USGA GS3 ball and Deacon app, we can now provide numbers for how fast, firm and true they are.  The USGA determines numbers for each matrix so we know how we are doing on a daily basis.  With moisture meters that sync with this app and apps that provide growth regulation data, we can now have more control over our inputs daily and are able to make more data based decisions every day.

GS3: A Look at How to Use the USGA's New Smart Ball

Entrance Improvement

 

The entrance is getting a much needed facelift with some tree removals and the installation of new plants.  This will greatly improve the appearance of the Club.  While we are at it, it was decided to widen the curb lines as much as possible to allow for safer entry and exiting for cars and trucks.  Stay tuned for more pictures when the project is complete.

Wildflower Area Transforming

 

The picture above is the wildflower area along the driveway last year.  At this time last year, annuals were filling the area with color.

The photo below shows the same area this year, with a few annuals growing from the over seed this past winter, but this area will be mainly perennials for the next few years.  The key to establishing wildflowers is to not disturb the soil over and over when introducing new seeds.  By doing so you limit the amount of weed invasion.

Making Progress!

 

While the picture above may not look very pretty, it is a thing of beauty for the grounds staff.  The dreaded 11th green has been a thorn in our side since it was built in 2011.  After fighting to keep bentgrass thriving on it, a battle we were slowly losing, we opted to transition it over to poa to match our other greens.  This variety of bentgrass could not tolerate our aggressive management practices and would thin out every year.  Finally, 2 years ago we decided to start working poa into the green every chance we could.  Each aeration we took small plugs from our other greens and spread them on top and then punched them into the soil.  By the looks of this green, we are more than 85% poa now and will continue to encourage poa.  Allowing the poa to go to seed allows more poa to spread in the spring and being the bentgrass is not waking up, the poa will out-compete it right now.  I feel confident enough when the green is rebuilt this fall, we can strip the green sod and reuse again.

A Little Facelift

 

The staff provided a much needed facelift to the overgrown landscaping around the clubhouse.  In a matter of 2 days, much of the landscaping around the building and patios were replaced with simple, yet elegant plants.  It is imperative to stay on top of maintaining all the new plants with proper pruning, fertilizing and watering.

Its Getting Real!

 All the planning for the past few years is starting to become a reality as the irrigation materials are starting to arrive for a July start.  10 truckloads of pipe in total will be delivered and you can see how quickly the area by the houses is filling up after only 5 truckloads.  This will be the irrigation hub for the installation contractor and it was the only area on the property that could handle the amount of materials and not be seen by members.

A Flock of Seagulls

 

If you are wondering what the green dots are on the greens that are near the pond on 7, it is from the seagulls that visit for a week every spring.  After picking fish from the pond and eating them on the greens nearby, this is what is left behind a week or two after.  No worries, they will all level out in color but right now we have uneven growth in these dotted areas.  Greens that are effected are 2,6,7,14 and 13.  

Busy Week!

 

A busy and productive week by the grounds staff.  Almost all projects are completed including the building of new bridges, ditches, mounds, new tee on 16, hydroseeding new native areas,  plus fairway aeration and topdressing.  This is a normal spring for most clubs, but this is 5 days at Arcola!

Timing is Everything!

 

The large maple that was damaged last summer in a thunderstorm is vital to protecting the dogleg on 18.  To find a significant replacement is costly.  We moved this decent London Plane from 17 to take its place.  This tree will not only grow quickly, we have time for it to get established before we remove the maple.  Luckily we moved it right before the heavy rain last night!  The cost of this is about 20% of what we originally thought.  We are also moving other trees in locations noted by Andy Staples to support the renovation work this fall.

Seasons Here!

 Despite the cold winter, a few warm days and its business as usual.  A few rolls this week to help smooth out greens from the winter frost heaving and now changing cups and raking bunkers.  While the weather still feels like March, we are in April mode.

Construction Update

 

Progress being made.  Coming down the stretch in that almost all major shaping is completed and now comes the finish work of sodding and buttoning up the winter projects.  The bunker has been removed on hole 12 (top) and the new white/blue tee for the future new 16th hole is just about ready for sod.  Once our crew fully returns later this month we will button things up quickly.

Its Gonna Get dICEy!

 

This is what most grass growers do not want to see in the winter months, the dark grey areas in the middle of white greens.  While this has been a colder than normal winter, with frequent small snow events and the grass is probably hardened off, the next few days are going to get interesting.  The pictures show when the snow starts to melt and run off and then freezes overnight.  The ground is frozen, so internal drainage is not working which makes surface drainage more important.  A week or so ago, my staff cleaned off the fronts of greens allowing the last snow to fully run off, but the most recent snow is sticking around, experiencing melting and freezing.  More snow is forecast for tonight followed by heavy rains and 50 degree temperatures on Sunday.  Monday we will be below freezing and that will be the case all week.  Lets hope the hardened off grass will not wake up with the temporary warm temperatures before it goes through a flash freeze on Monday.  You can imagine once we get sustained warm temperatures how messy the course is going to be when the ground begins to thaw and final snow melts!

Great Progress on 16 and 17

 

This has been the first real winter in years.  We have a lot on our plate to help prepare for the upcoming refresh later this season.  Despite snow and frozen soil, we have been making progress excavating the new drainage ditch on 17.  This will tie into the ditch on 16 as well.  Once we get to March and hopefully get some warmer weather, we will do all the final shaping and then sodding and seeding will occur right after.

Also part of the project was the construction of a new forward blue/white tee for the  future new 16th hole.  We felt it would be wise to build it while doing the ditch work on 17 since a lot of fill would be available.  For the most part the tee is roughed in, squared and aligned to the new fairway line.  Once staff returns, we will be able to get this completed quickly.

Pushing Through Cold Weather

 

The staff continues to battle cold and white conditions.  What better time to get the lift around the course without creating any tire tracks on our turf.  We are more than halfway through the course with our pruning and hoping to have most of the trees done in the next 7 working days.

While the ground is still pretty frozen, we have been able to begin construction on the newly routed drainage ditch on 17.  While we are at it, we are constructing the new white tee on 16, which will be the official white and blue tee once the hole is renovated later this year.  It is great to be able to get a lot of the heavy lifting done now, but all the finish work will take place in mid to late March and beyond.  It will be a busy spring for the staff!

Tree Pruning

 Assistant Andrew Stilwell and Roberto Polanco are checking all trees for suckers and any dead wood.  We did this last about 3 years ago and really should be done every 2 years.  The monthly cost to rent the lift will cost the same as our tree contractor for 1 day.  With the cold temperatures, Andrew and Roberto are knocking it out of the park without leaving much tire damage.  We are thinking about 3 weeks to get the entire course and clubhouse area done.  Both are harnessed in and only elevating to about 25 feet since we did such a good job a couple of years ago.