Kiltie Days Recap

With a golf season thus far of up and down temperatures and frequent rainfall, we have to cross our fingers prior to any event and hope for full cooperation from Mother Nature. We certainly got our wish with Kiltie Days this past weekend! Aside from almost an inch of rain on Wednesday, the tournament weather conditions on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday were mild and dry and about as good for golf as we could get. From all accounts I think it was one of the most successful Kiltie Days to date!

Prior to any major event such as Kiltie Days, or the Derby, there is a significant amount of course preparation involved. We schedule maintenance activities to peak at the same time as the event. Topdressing, plant protection (disease and insect management), growth regulation, and detailing programs (edging sprinkler heads, markers, and drains, edging cart paths, filling divots, removing runners/grass clumps in bunkers, removing sucker sprouts on trees, and more) are all addressed. And, of course, mowing of all primary play areas is performed each day and repeated often, as is the case for greens. Double mowing each morning, followed by greens rolling, and single mowing each evening (also often followed by rolling) is employed to provide the ball roll speed challenge that competitors enjoy, or at least think they enjoy!

 Quality mowing begins with sharp and well adjusted mowers. Here Mike (and his friend Gato) inspect a bedknife in the process of being sharpened

Rafa, and Miguel (in background on bunker rake machine), smooth and adjust depths of sand

Mowing and Rolling equipment head out for tournament evening tasks

In addition to these course maintenance activities, other items such as erecting the scoreboard, finishing up projects ( at this time #5 Mound & the Half Way House fence/landscape replacement) and other assorted tasks such building and setting the target "gong" for this year's Kiltie Days, add up to a very busy pre-tournament period. It's always a rather feverish and sometimes very challenging time for us, but when the tournament is underway and players are enjoying the competition, it's also a very rewarding feeling knowing that our efforts have made a significant contribution to the success of the event.

 

Mound project at #5 after hauling material and shaping

Mound seeded, drainage installed, & final prep for sod 

 Sod, seed, and mulch blanket in place

Resolving one of several drainage issues along haul road route

Mulch blanket installed post seeding along length of #5

After all work was complete we came in this morning to see this.

Do you suppose it was the rope, or the bright orange ribbons, or the different color sod that this cart driver was oblivious too???

This pix shows the damage a little better. Just thrills me to have to repair this!

 Apparently this rope is not visible enough either!

Fescue beginning to emerge above blanket. We intentionally seeded at a low rate to see if this tall rough area will be more playable than other such areas. Establishment will be slower but it may be a benefit long term.

A quick project at Half Way House. These overgrown shrubs and deteriorated fence needed to be changed.

New fence, enlarged stoop, new shrubs, more road space, much better! 

Beautiful day and nice crowd watch playoffs for this year's Kiltie Days Championship.

With a few weeks now before tournament preparations for our next "major", The Skokie Derby, begin, we'll keep plenty busy with routine mowing, trimming, raking, topdressing, plant protection,and more and we'll add a few projects or two such as drainage in a few places and re-grassing a portion of the bank at No. 9 pond.

I'll keep you posted of these activities.

Tournament Time is Here

It's been way too long since I've posted but it surely hasn't been because I haven't had anything to post about. To the contrary! We've had so many things going on that I just haven't had time. But on Skokie Derby Eve., and the Western Amateur Championship about a week later, it's a great time to update you on what we've been up to for the past several weeks.
I mentioned in my last post that it hasn't been just the past several weeks that we've been getting ready for the Western, but in fact the last several months. Most recently though, we've made the final push to have the course in as fine a condition, both from a playability standpoint as well as an aesthetic standpoint.
Over the past several weeks, which have been especially challenging for turf survival with high heat and humidity at times (leading to high disease activity), and high heat, drought, and wind conditions at other times (leading to moisture stressed turf ), we've had our hands full just trying to keep turf healthy and alive much less carrying out several special projects. With a lot of hard work and many long days (definitely a sleep deprived staff), I think we've managed to do both fairly well.
I'll write more about the difficult weather year we're experiencing, the impact it's had on turf conditons, and reference or link you to some other articles regarding this, but for now the following items have been part of our preparations for both the Derby and the Western Am. It's a photo recap...hope it gives you a little insight into our world.

Asst. Superintendent Jacob applying nutrients and plant protectants

(a frequent activity these past couple months during these challenging environmental conditions)

Miguel & Javier checking sand depths and smoothing all bunkers

Robbie painting rails, posts, and wire of fence at #13 new Champ. Tee area

(planting of native grasses and vines to more thoroughly mask has also been completed)

Gus completing a drainage repair project in area between holes #1 and #10, an area which will be heavily trafficked during Western Am. 

Fairway rolling on Derby eve to provide smoother, firmer surfaces to aid ball roll.

Careful though - don't let that ball roll to far off the fairway. 

Here Freddy is "topping it off" - at 4 inches!

Some other tall rough you'll want to avoid! Here Nestor is finishing removal of seedling and other weeds. He and others have spent considerable time combing all tall rough areas for unwanted plants.

Otto "fluffs" same rough area after cleaning small branches and leaf debris.

With new gazebo being installed soon, it was time for this declining willow to go. 

We didn't want it falling on new gazebo - or on a player!

Rafa and Nestor pause from clean-up activities. Trunk measured nearly 5 feet in diameter.

Miguel, Javier V., and Perez remove center supports so that footings can be dug while still keeping roof in tact if needed for shelter during Derby

Drilling 1 of 24 holes, 12" in diameter, approx 42" deep. This was a day and a half job for 4 of us. Compacted clay with a few rocks and roots to go through (and 90 degree temps) made this a really delightful task!

Another 3 days were spent laying out exact positioning for concrete footings (piers)... 

and then pouring took place.  Several of the crew were involved in this project with Steve as my main assistant. All piers are now in place and curing. Old structures will be removed Sunday after Derby and new structures will be erected next Monday, Tuesday & Wednesday.

Eli Beechy, the Amish-man from Montana will be coming in town. More later on this....

  Another project (following removal of several disfigured and diseased spruce trees) was new landscape plantings at #9 pond.

New plants include Serviceberry, Chokeberry, Little Blue-stem, Indiangrass, and False Indigo

Cirilo removes a dried divot and fills with...

a green dyed sand, peat, and seed mixture

 

Miguel does a little "Aquatic Gardening"...thins some of the water lillies

& after a Derby eve mowing, to help gain some putting green speed...

(we'll do this a couple times in the morning too!)

The course is... Ready for the 60th Run for the Roses!

Best of Luck to you all!

Seven Weeks and Counting

It's been over two weeks since I last posted (which is indeed much longer than I like) but it seems like it's been so much longer with everything in full swing and many course activities in progress. Time sure flies and before we know it, Kiltie Days will pass, then it will be the 4th of July, then the Derby, and very shortly thereafter, The 108th Western Amateur Championship. A member asked me the other day "When will you start preparation's for the Western Am."? I though for a second and replied, "Well, actually we started preparing about eight months ago!"
At that time, October 09', we were modifying (rebuilding and adding) the fairway bunker complex on #18, expanding a few fairway areas to better incorporate bunkers into fairway contours, extending #17 tee, installing drainage in a few poorly drained fairway and rough areas, building the base for the new cart path (brick edge and crushed brick) at #12 Green / #13 Tee, and much more.
I told the member "eight months ago" but now that I've thought more about it, I probably could have said, "two years ago"!. It was then that we started the installation of the new irrigation system which, if it ever does get dry this year, will give us the ability to water only where needed, or where desired. For example, should the rough start to go dormant we can keep it well irrigated without adding any extra water to the fairways. We could also water the slopes and surrounds of the greens, without putting any water on the putting surfaces. Our goal as we approach the Western, should we get cooperation with the weather, would be to have fast and firm fairways, approaches, and greens and "healthy and challenging" roughs and green surrounds. Our new irrigation system features the ability to water each of these mentioned areas independent of the others. At this point I'm hoping that we get the chance to use it as opposed to the frequent rainfall we've experienced lately! This high moisture and high humidity recently has caused saturated and soft ground conditions and dense, lush and slow turf conditions.  I'm really looking forward to a break from this rain forest-like weather very soon!

Our projects this spring are progressing nicely and have included:

• Repair of winter damaged fairway areas(several seedings and finally sodding using our "home-grown" sod and "harvested" sod from shifting the beginning of #7 fairway) is now very near completion. This damage was the worst I've seen in my 20 years at the club and it's repair has required nearly daily efforts for the past six weeks! It's nice to be about finished
• Extension of #10 Tee and landscaping behind tee complete.
• Grassing of buckthorn cleared area adjacent to #9 tees is complete and seedlings are emerging. We'll soon add some established native plants, Indian grass and Little Blue-stem grasses, to supplement seeded plants.
• Cart Path at #12 Green/ #13 Tee now complete.
 

Otto and Javier near completion of winter damaged fairway repair - they've been at it for nearly six weeks now!

A sample of winter damaged fairway turf being removed

Tee #10 sod work - now complete, including planting ornamental grasses behind tee

Tee #17 - extension now complete

 New cart path complete at #12 Green / #13 Tee

Fine Fescue grass seedling emergence at #9 Tee

Plenty to do in next few weeks:

• Sod any bare spots such as cart traffic areas and tree stump holes.
• Renovate cart path (add brick edge, soil separator fabric, and crushed brick) along side #9 tee.
• Remove deteriorated asphalt on pathway from #11 tee  to #2 green, and replace with crushed brick.
• Erect three new gazebos to replace deteriorated ones at #5, #12 and  at #15 tee / #16 green.
• Replace some of overgrown shrubs at Half Way House.
• Repair and sealcoat main parking lot and lower parking areas (by lower tennis courts) and perhaps paths adjacent to putting green, #1 tee, #10 tee, and near range tee.
• Water-jet several tile lines exhibiting slower drainage.
• Continue to attempt to "tame" the rough, and \conduct all routine daily tasks such as hole location changing, tee servicing, mowing (greens, tees, approaches, fairways, intermediate rough), bunker raking, range tee and chipping area overseeding and set-up, plant protectant applications as needed, and much, much more.

I'll try to post more frequently on these projects, and other activities, as they progress.

 A few of the eight new residents at #9 pond -  Mallard Ducklings!