State of the Club

Nine days after the completion of a very aggressive aerification of the greens which included 5/8" aerification holes on 2" centers, along with 1" by 12" deep drill and fill process, we are in better shape than expected. 

What do I mean by that statement?  I mean that historically we are removing excess sand for up to two weeks after aerification, however, this time with more expense we aggressively rotated the mowers to hasten the process, performed extremely heavy fertilizations, and the even more so we have had fantastic weather we are having to expedite the recovery process with higher than normal heat and humidity.  Other than some spot plugging on holes 1, 4, 5, 8, 11 & 15 most of the greens are about a week ahead of plan thanks to these processes and weather.

12's Green - Slightly Scalping Due to Thatch

So what is the plan and what to expect?  Today we will be double cutting the greens using two triplexes and then topdressing all of the greens.  Since the sod laid in the beginning of June and late May is becoming thatchy (leading to the slight scalping you may have noticed) we will be also verticutting those areas.  The sod that that was put in last week we will be sand leveling today and tomorrow.  We may have to spot aerify some of the new sod if the verticutting doesn't handle the thatch issue ... but it is premature to guess on that presently. 

All of today's processes, along with the starting of the growth regulator application are for one goal ... increase green speed.

So what else to expect?  Since we have stopped chemical transition in 2010 in an effort to save funds for the Club, the roughs and the fairways are still poised for transition.  Presently there is an average of 50% ryegrass remaining in the fairways.  Here at Avondale we purchased a hardier ryegrass since we do not have wall-to-wall cart paths, which will handle the excess cart traffic during season.  This also slows its removal in the summer thus reducing the spread of the common bermudagrass that we have here.  Over the next couple of months this transition will continue in the approaches, fairways, select (non-328 bermudagrass) tees and roughs.  We will address these areas as they occur.

14's Fairway Going Through Transition

Transition is not preventable if you overseed a golf course.  By its very nature, ryegrass is devolved to die in the summer time thanks to excess heat and increased disease to allow the bermudagrass to fill in and make a wonderful base to overseed into the next season.  If this ryegrass could survive year after year we would not overseed at all and only grow ryegrass.  There is no amount of money that can stop transition and this is the reason that most golf courses in Florida, Texas and southern Georgia have stopped overseeding completely.

So the last question you may ask is “why did we sod the same areas on the greens again this year?”  This is a great question but not a simple answer but here is the quick and dirty version.   New bermudagrass sod requires 100+ days of growth to improve its chances of survival, and ideally is not overseeded for one year after.  The one year not overseeded is not realistic for us here at Avondale but the 100 days is possible.  Last year I debated with JC Resorts to sod early like we did this year, but they decided not to go that route … I did, however, in July of last year go ahead and sodded these extremely bad areas to improve the conditions for our summer members.  I used funds and savings in other areas of my budget to pay for this sod work thus I still kept my budget within line.  Sadly, 70% of these areas did not survive the overseeding process since they were not fully established.  This summer, we increased the survivability by given the sod 100+ days of growth.

I will note that there will always be some problematic areas on the greens during transition such as on 1, back of 5 & 10, 11 and 12.  You may ask why? And what can we do to fix this problem permanently.  On the 1’s green – remove the large eucalyptus next to the green who’s roots are damaged that side;  same holds true for 5 (the palms and shade issues on side and back, 10’s back where the large eucalyptus encroaches the green.  On 11’s green there are two major issues one of which holds true on 12 & 15 as well …  extremely poor percolation issues thanks to years of tilling in the bentgrass root mass long before the conversion.  Additionally, 11’s green faces major shading issues on the back and left side, and some root encroachment.

To address these issues we also trim the trees surrounding the greens every year just before overseeding; and lastly aggressive aerifications and deep drilling to address the percolation issues.  Other discussions to how to best address these issues have been in the Green Committee for potential rectification.

Transition in Fairways & Greens

Areas to Have Plug Repair



Tifdrawf Runners Filling in the Void

The two above pictures show the 5th green and the plug repairs that we are performing during this week and why.  The blue dots are areas that will fill in but not as quickly as I would desire.  The second shot shows the runners filling in the hole ... this is ideal.

As the temperatures rise and the humidity increases, the ryegrass dies out leaving "voids" that will be filled in by bermudagrass.

In the two pictures above you can noticeably see the effects of the area with ryegrass not allowing the bermudagrass runners to fill in the upcoming voids.  In the second picture where the ryegrass has died the runners quickly fill in these areas thus leading to complete transition.

Working the Greens

Today the recovery of the greens is in full force so much so that now it is time to slow the growth back down.  Mark and myself went to evaluate the quality of cut on the greens this morning and as suspected with the increased temperatures and humidity, plus the extra fertilizer inputs the growth is through the roof.  We even went as far as to double cut 13's green only to discover the baskets were almost just as full on the second pass as they were on the first ... almost.

Tomorrow, we are addressing the green speed by in the morning double cutting the greens, then following that up with a light topdressing.  Additionally, we are addressing the thatch of the new sod laid in June by double verticutting just those areas.  These processes will start the process of smoothing out and speeding up the greens.  But remember this will not happen overnight ... but the day after I will be spraying a growth regulator to future speed them up.

Aerification Continues Monday

Monday is the start of round two of the aerification with my team start the rough aerification again.  This is a very lengthily process which requires over a week to complete and is listed in the calendar.  You may ask "why so soon" and you would be right.  It has been only two plus weeks since the rough aerification was completed but an error was made in the calendar by JC Resorts which we are trying honor. 

Even though this was a mistake in the timeline it isn't a bad thing since these aerification aid in the reduction of hot spots by allowing deeper water penetration.  Plus we will try our very best to stay out of the members way during this process.

I know many of you like me have been noticing the increased amount of fire ants on the property.  This is true and is affecting the Valley in general since the State's eradication program did not stem the tide of these imported ants.  The good news is that since we were some of the first golf course who worked proactively with the Vector control they are still sending teams to aid in the control at Avondale.  They will be coming on the 19th of this month to treat the entire property ... at no cost to Avondale.

Sod Repairs on Greens Continues As Heat Pushes Transition

At Avondale one of the major contributors to issues on the greens besides of course the overseeding process itself is our wonderful trademark trees.  Between the root encroachment into the greens and the shade issues every year we have the same problematic areas that plaque us such as on 10, 11, 1, 5 and the PG.

This year is no exception as we continue the repairs on the large putting green and 5.  You also today will see us working on 4 (thanks to wind storm dust damage) and 8 in the back (another hole with tree root issues).

Yesterday we finished the large putting green and will be rolling and watering for the next few days to facilitate recovery.

7's Approach is Fading Fast

Bermudagrass Runners

Transition -- a word hated by all.  With the near 120 degree heat this past week transition is coming on fast.  The good news is that as you can see by the above picture so is the spread of bermudagrass to fill in these areas.

Little Chipping Green

Every year we have to repair the small chipping green next to the tennis court due to root invasion and its location to the tennis court, trees and homes themselves.  The good news is that it was fixed quite quickly.

Today, we are starting work on the large putting green and 5's green.  They will be finished today and then all that remains is the plug repair. 

After Aerification

Dead Live Oak Tree on 18

 This year after overseeding we had several young trees struggle until finally they just gave out.  After we finished aerification this year we ended up removing these trees.  This make 10 in total we lost of the Virginia Live Oak.

Dead Live Oak Tree on 18

Gravel, Covered Head, and General Mess

Every year we struggle with the homeowner's landscapers and contractors who think the golf course is their private dumping ground.  This mess was along 3 and I am sure the homeowners were unaware of the mess they created or left behind.  So please, if you can ensure your workers around your home clean their mess daily.

Gerald Ford Along the Road

FINALLY ... they have sealed part of the area across the street on Frank Sinatra that reeked so much havoc in the wind storms.  Hopefully, that is now fixed.