New Path

We are rehabbing the old path by the alternate 6th tees.  Pedro widened the path a bit and then added the new crushed stone to match the rest of the paths on the course.

Utilize the Rain

Once again with a significant rainfall in the forecast we are lightly topdressing greens again.  The rain will wash the sand into the canopies for us so we do not have to turn on sprinklers or brush the greens.  This is the 3rd time in 7 days we have applied sand to the greens.  This light and frequent approach will smooth surfaces, protect crowns and not impact play after the rain is over.

More Irrigation Upgrades

We could literally make irrigation changes every day of the week to help correct our deficiencies on the course.  In front of 15 green, the spacing of the heads was off so much that we corrected them and actually added another head to cover areas that were not being hit.  All our sins show up when we get really dry.  Our next stop will be the area in front of 13 green where the lack of coverage has less than desirable turf.

Is Spraying Important?

If you are wondering why we spray when the weather is like it is right now, the picture above should be a good indicator.  Inside the 4 white dots is a fungicide application and out of the white dots is the untreated area today at Rutgers university.  With this sultry weather you can imagine what the course would look like if we skipped sprays or did not make them at the proper times.

More Irrigation Additions

This will be the norm for the next few weeks, adding irrigation to areas that do not have any or moving heads around to improve coverage.  Our system was poorly designed and we have inadequacies throughout the golf course that show up during prolonged dry spells.

Irrigation Additions

This area left of 1 green used to be fescue and was not irrigated.  We are now adding irrigation heads to the area due to the dry weather and lack of irrigation.  We are starting to find all our sins on the golf course right now due to the prolonged dry spell we have been in.  We will address an area at a time as time permits.

Cart Path Attention

Now that our crew size increased a bit this week, we are starting to address issues that needed attention.  Our crushed stone cart paths were full of pot holes and carts started driving around them and wearing out the rough.  On top of that we have all new carts that we want to protect.  The good news is the the paths look awesome once we regrade them but the bad news is the material we used to build them in the past is no longer available.  The new material we are using now is whiter and may pack better so now we must recap all the paths so they all match each other.  We are doing the 17th hole now for members to take a look at and see how it performs.  Stay tuned.