A Fall Chill

A fall chill is in the air!  We just wrapped up with the morning meeting and the guys are patiently waiting to hit the course.  We're waiting for the sun to come up and see if there is a light layer of frost that develops as it is only 40.34 degrees out.  I believe the soil temps should still be high enough to prevent any frost but better safe than sorry.  We continue to remain very busy.  The ongoing bunker project has consumed a great deal of our labor as we are being sure to have things done right and have the bases along with drainage perfect before we put in sand.  Tuesday we began installing sand, 9 and 18 were the first to be tackled.  Today we'll begin installation on number 10 as yesterday the guys were able to get the bases and edges all tamped down and ready for sand.  Ryan continues to fly along with drainage, currently working on number 2 so all that is left for them is 3, 4, 5, and 6.  I believe they'll be finished up if not by Saturday then early part of next week.  Packing the lips with clay is the most time consuming task as things have to be perfect, clay particle size, moisture, etc...  When the bunkers are finished and ready for sand I'll have to say the bases are excellent!

Greens continue to improve!  We were racking our brains for a bit trying to figure out why things were coming along a bit slow.  Growing conditions were ideal and our procedures were on point but yet the turf was taking a bit of time to get established and dense.  After exhausting ourselves with the why's, we thought about the weather and what we've been doing since it has been so dry, and that was using a great deal of our irrigation water.  Irrigation is a good supplemental form of moisture but still no natural rain.  In the spring of 2010 while trying to grow in number 1 green along with a few other areas from ice damage we discovered that our irrigation water wasn't the best.  Our water is high in salts and bicarbonates which during germination and grow in can create havoc on new turf.  Salts and bicarbonates bind soil and tie up nutrients, not making it available for the plant.  New seed and seedlings need constantly available nutrients to help them push, and we weren't getting that.  I'm happy to say that through the use of a couple of products we've seen a great turn around over the last week with turf coverage.  Although still some spots are behind which yesterday we used a slit-seeder and went through the golf course addressing those spots in the approaches and on the greens.  Now if we could get a nice rain things would even be better and we'll be well on our way to getting these greens and approaches mostly filled in before winter. 
The next few nights and days will be a bit on the cool side.  I anticipate that we'll be utilizing our greens covers on some of the areas that are a bit behind.  The covers will help keep soil temperatures up in the optimal area for turf growth and establishment.  We'll probably remove covers tomorrow to mow before the weekend but again only weather and conditions will tell.  I'm happy with where we are at.  I think through all this patience has been the hardest thing for me.  One would assume that if you put all the seed down at once it should all come up at once.  Challenges are always brought forward when you embark on a task of such magnitude.  Expectations and success always has one push faster than one probably should but as the agronomist from the seed company told me "Justin, let the grass do its thing."  So over the last couple of weeks we have been doing that and it has responded.