Tuesday, June 9, 2015

June Update

We are well into June and still in need of a good soaking rain. Although we have had a few showers last week the very dry weather is exposing the flaws in our 25 year old irrigation system that is tasked with watering the tees, fairways and rough. The greens sprinklers were upgraded a few years ago and  are performing fine. Any issues with dry surrounds has more to do with the quality of soil on the side banks. The lack of pin point control when applying water is obvious as is the failure of the sprinklers due in large part to decades old technology and changing demands put on short mowed grass that will meet today's standards in turf care. You may have noticed areas of stress around many of the older fairway sprinklers. The picture below shows how the distribution of water is affecting turf quality. We can no longer obtain replacement parts for these sprinklers. Installing new sprinklers is one of our solutions but it too is creating uniformity problems as this new sprinkler may be paired with an old one. We are applying wetting agents and will be spot aerating over the next few weeks to help the turf in these areas.

Worn out unavailable replacement parts and old technology cannot keep up with the type of turf we maintain at The Royal Mayfair



The first fairway has been widened on the left and right sides to increase the width of the fairway before the fairway bunkers by approximately 12 to 15 feet depending on your landing area. We will wait for feedback before any more increases in this area.




The teaching area is almost ready for daily use. The artificial mats are in place. There is electrical power for the computers and the canopy will be rolled into position on Wednesday morning. The natural turf in front of the mats will not be ready for a few more weeks.





The new turf at the driving range is not ready for use yet. We are hoping to have it open by the 20th of June. It still needs an aeration and more topdressing as well as more uninterrupted growing time as it is being mowed just above our fairway height. Continued mowing will tighten up the turf canopy over the next 10 days.




Other Course Notes:
  • Greens will be verticut, topdressed, vented and rolled today and tomorrow. Back 9 this morning and front 9 early Wednesday.
  • Fairways will be lightly topdressed next week. It should only take a day or two depending on the weather.
  • More rainbow trout will be stocked in the 10th pond on Thursday morning.
  • As the cleanup from the paving project comes to a close we can redirect out Turf Care staff to some areas in the rough that need attention. Tree line weed control, tree line trimming and new wood chip areas all need work to bring them up to standards that I feel are not where they should be. 
  • Dave Quinn is back full time next week and the paving stone "side outs" will be completed soon. He has been picking away on a part time basis and the work he has done so far looks good.




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