Welcome to my blog!
It is my intention to give the readers a better understanding of what we do to maintain The Farms Country Club's 18 hole championship golf course and grounds.


Friday, May 13, 2016

Bunker Renovation on Hole #14 Complete!

We began our renovation of the left green-side bunker on hole fourteen late last Fall. The bunker is now complete and in play! Below are some pictures which show the process we went through.
The base was cleared of old sand and the "DREADED FABRIC". Then it was sodded.

The sod was killed this Spring and the dead turf was scalped with a string trimmer.

After dead turf scalped and cleaned of debris.

The drain lines being filled with bunker sand so work vehicles could easily dump loads throughout. 

After 45 tons of sand added. We smoothed and packed by watering and using Sand Pro Machine.

Another view. The sand will continue to firm up and level off through normal maintenance.

Thursday, May 5, 2016

Soil Temperatures. The Waiting Game.

Soil temperatures greatly effect our turfgrass management on the course. We have been struggling to see afternoon soil temperatures get over 55 degrees. It has been even worse this week with 48 to 50 degrees. There are a few things you should know about low soil temperature...

  • Air temperatures may get warm for portions of the day but soil temperatures fluctuate more slowly
  • Grass seed will not germinate so our project areas are slow to develop
  • Creeping Bentgrass and Poa Annua will not grow evenly due to different genetic characteristics
  • Those yellow rings on the greens will not go away until the grass grows
Soil temperature #1 Green
Air temperatures finally look to be on the rise for next week. With it, the hopes that soil temperatures will improve and we can get this party started! Soon enough we will be talking about green grass and thick rough!