A beautiful morning

New roots in August!

A couple weeks ago, we used "bayonet" tines for the first time on the greens. The slices left were barely noticeable after rolling and mowing. A few days later, the marks were invisible but testing with a soil probe reveals excellent rooting in the channels opened up by the tines. In each of the slices, new roots have developed, sometimes down the entire length of the tine. Without venting, it is unlikely we would be growing new roots in August - especially this August.  The channels formed by the bayonet tines offer some much needed oxygen to the rootzone allowing golf courses to keep their greens healthy in tough conditions.

 

Bayonet tines on a Toro 648 with rear roller

 

New roots!

7 Tee Area Before and After

With seed germinating and the cart path installed, I thought it was time for some before and after shots of the area behind 7 tee.  This project accomplished several things: improved drainage, removal of old fill pile, improved cart routes, and safe access from the driving range to the course.  The "after" photos were taken after several rainstorms and the improved grading and drain lines performed as expected with no standing water in the area.

 

Looking back from 7 tee:

 



Before removing the pile and after:

 



Same area earlier this year and now:
 

Looking north after the drain was installed and now:
 



Early morning net repairs

Thanks, Stan!

 

Blue tee on #7 is open

The cart path around the back of 7 tee was finished Friday and the tee is open for play.

More seeding around 7 tee

7 Tee Project Timelapse

December 15, 2015: Trench dug for drain pipe

December 16, 2015: Pipe installed. Backfilling begins.

April 16, 2016: Tilling and grading

May 9, 2016: Seed and blanket down

June 24, 2016: First mowing

7 Tee Cartpath

Serious progress made today on the renovations around the back tee on 7.  The crew spread moistened stabilized crushed granite in the forms and rolled it out.  It was a beautiful day for working outside.  Good work, Gary, Felix, Aaron, and Chase!

The day lilies are in bloom

Another new drain line

A couple weeks ago, we added a drainage pipe to connect an old drain line to the newer system.  The old drain line could have been connected when the newer line was put in, but I'm guessing the architect did not know the old system was there.  The connection should allow some areas of 7 fairway to drain more quickly as the perforated drain lines will be draining into a deeper basin instead of being full of water after a rain.  It should also reduce the puddles you can see in the pictures that were caused by the old drain line "daylighting," or emptying onto the surface.

Thanks to Elmhurst Park District for letting us borrow the backhoe.  We could not have done it otherwise.  A trencher would not have worked on some of the large chunks of concrete we ran into.  Some were so big, we just had to leave them there.  We ran into a complete slab of sidewalk at one point.  Luckily it was deep enough we could leave it there and still maintain our slope.

Sunrise at Sugar Creek

Tree Trimming on #4

There was a certain branch on an eastern cottonwood tree on the 4th hole that has been the target of many curses for the past 10 years.  For those with a low-trajectory drive playing from the front of the white tee, this branch was often in their flight path - especially if they were compensating for a slice.  This hole favors golfers who can play a draw so that they can stay to the left side of the fairway and avoid the twin cottonwood trees on the right.  You can also go over the trees with the right club selection.  Either way, many golfers will be glad to know that the most offending branch is now gone.  The tree remains, however, to guard the left side of the hole, and to keep things interesting. 



Before



After

The result makes the hole a bit more fair for those hitting from the white tees while retaining the challenge and uniqueness of this par 4 which plays 315 yards from the white tees and 350 yards from the back tees.  It is interesting to note that the cottonwoods on this hole are some of the only trees on the golf course that were present before the golf course was built and are still alive (the others were ash or box elder that have since died).  The cottonwood trees on the right and left of this fairway were carefully saved during construction.  You can see them by looking through the construction photos here: Construction Photos Slideshow  There are more than one way to play around these trees, but they force the golfer to get creative and think ahead on both the drive and approach shots. 

Coyotes and rope

A coyote had a lot of fun here!  I know it seems strange, but coyotes love to cut this hollow braided poly rope that golf courses often use to mark off areas and guide cart traffic.  They can cut it as clean as a pair of scissors.  I did not catch this one in the act, but I have seen them before in the early morning playing with the ropes.  This was a rare occurrence 10 years ago, but not anymore.  Is this a sign that there are more coyotes in the area, or is that they are enjoying cutting this rope with their teeth more and more? (My guess: more coyotes.)  Does anyone know why they do this?  (My guess: just for fun.)

New drain, and 'Goodbye, Ash trees!'

Golfers at Sugar Creek are already fitting in their first rounds of the year and noticing some of our projects from the winter.  Specifically, the area around the 6th green looks much different after the removal of 111 dead ash trees.  These trees have been dead for two years, but the removal of the trunks is still shocking to see.  The trees died due to the Emerald Ash Borer, which I have written about in the past.  It will take time, but the area will be restored and planted with a wide variety of native trees which will be more resistant to a species specific pest like the EAB.  If you are interested in donating a tree, with or without a memorial plaque, now would be a great time.  See Memorial Tree Program for more.

As part of the renovation in this area, we added a large drain between the 6th green and 7th tee to alleviate some wet areas that have long been problematic.  At the moment, the back, blue tee on the 7th hole is out of play but it will be back in action soon.  Here are some pictures from the area:



New drainage connects to existing basin



The trench between 7 tee and 6 green



This wet area will drain better now!

Ash trees removed



A different view

Left of 6 green in 2014 when trees were about half dead



Behind 6 green

Interesting colors in turf this winter

Since early January, we have been seeing some interesting color patterns on a few tees at Sugar Creek.  In late January, after a snow melt, I was asked if the patches on the 4th tee were snow mold.  From a distance, they did resemble pink snow mold patches, but I did not think that was possible given the conditions we've had.

This was the first area I looked at:

4th tee

It became obvious that they had to have been caused by footprints -- but how?  This area gave another clue:

4th tee

 The snow in these areas melted first in the footprints.  This tee is shaded, so snow lasts here longer than open areas.  There must have been a time when the the snow protected the green areas from freeze injury.  A look at the weather history allowed me to narrow the date of the event to January 17th and 18th. 

January 2016 weather looked like this:

Turf at the course was green all of December and into January.  In mid January, it was covered by snow and still green underneath.  Then we had a real cold snap on the 17th and 18th and most areas turned brown.  The few areas under snow remained green.  I kept expecting the color difference to even out, but for a while the difference became more pronounced due to above average temperatures.

1st tee - February 4th

1st tee - February 4th

These spots are still visible, but less obvious as of this writing - February 19th.  Often you can see this phenomenon where there are snow piles or drifts melting, but it is rare to see pronounced footsteps like this.  It took a very specific weather pattern to cause this, so I thought it was worth memorializing.