Staff

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Irrigation and Syringing

The crew has put the irrigation system to the test this summer, in which heat and drought conditions still prevail.  A necessity on any course, it has definitely proven its worth this season.  The system and pump house put out over 270,000 gallons of water a night, through 1500 odd sprinkler heads and a couple miles of PVC pipe.  With the sheer number of heads on the course and the amount of water being applied, constant checking and maintenance of the system is required.  Breaks will happen and the members have probably seen sections of the course staked off because of soft conditions.  The crew tries to remedy the situation as fast as possible and we appreciate the concern members show when these breaks occur in areas of play. 
Moisture management is key, especially if the demands on the course call for constant firm and fast conditions.  Watering heavily will meet the demands of the turf, but can lead to soft greens and fairways, higher disease pressure from fungal pathogens and compaction (saturated soils compact extremely quickly when traffic is added to the equation).  On the other end of the spectrum, watering lightly will provide that coveted firm surface but one will see losses in turf density, poor color and overall weakened stands of grass.  Light, frequent irrigation is the trend of most golf courses but other factors come into play as well.  Soil types, elevation and amount of sunlight have to be taken into account.  Each micro environment calls for a different watering pattern, and automatic sprinkler heads are limited in this aspect. 
Because of those limitations, hand watering is often utilized, especially here at Meadowbrook.  Hand watering allows a crew member to apply the desired amount of water to a certain area.  Admittedly, accuracy depends on the skill of the crew member but a superintendent will train an employee to recognize areas of wilt and heat stress and to water accordingly. 
Another benefit of hand watering is the ability to syringe the turf.  Syringing involves a very light amount of water to drop the temperature of the grass in times of extreme heat.  Enzymes that facilitate necessary chemical reactions within the cell do not perform efficiently at high temperatures and a cooling of the turf is necessary. 
Once again we would like to thank the memberships patience when the crew has been hand watering greens.  Our concerns are your concerns and with cooperation (and a little help from mother nature) we can keep Meadowbrook looking great.  Enjoy. 

Thursday, July 5, 2012

Storm Damage


Missing a limb?

Found the limb

While there was a considerable amount of brush down around the course, Meadowbrook was spared the brunt of last nights weather.  The morning duties were postponed and the crew deployed around the course to pick up debris.  There was no damage to vital areas (greens, tees and fairways) but the total amount of downed limbs and sticks that needed to be picked up was daunting.  For the crew to accomplish this task, and than mow, roll and spray greens is impressive.  Thanks are due to the members as well for their patience this morning with the postponement of early morning cultural practices. 


A word of caution to those in carts; there ARE wet areas on the course so please be vigilant when driving on fairways.   Regular mowing and maintenance practices were delayed because of the rainfall over the past couple of days but the crew has caught back up and we expect the course to shine over the holiday weekend.  Enjoy. 

9th green at 7am

9th green at 9am


Tuesday, July 3, 2012

Open Mondays

Having an open course on Mondays allows the crew to accomplish tasks that would be impossible with play.  A closed course is a rare thing in todays economic climate, so when one occurs, full advantage is taken.  The following list was completed yesterday in 90 degree temperatures.

  1. Verti-Cut Greens and Tee's.
  2. Topdressed Greens and Tee's.
  3. Sprayed Greens and Tee's with various fungicides and fertilizer.
  4. Mowed Fairways. 
  5. Mowed Tee's by hand. 
  6. Checked every sprinkler head on the course for rotation and amounts.
  7. Driving Range Tee tasks:
    1. Cleaned Divots and Mowed
    2. Seeded and topdressed current hitting line.
    3. Fertilized with granular product.
    4. Irrigated.
    5. Sprayed Fungicide
  8. Bunker tasks:
    1. Pulled weeds/cleaned.
    2. Edged bunkers.
    3. Hand mowed areas unreachable by banks mowers.
    4. Raked bunkers. 
  9. Mowed clubgrounds in their entirety.
  10. Mowed Range floor.
  11. Fertilized and applied a wetting agent to bunker edges and green surrounds.