Dye Course Fairway Update August 2012

The Dye Course was closed from August 1^st – 17^th for its late summer aerification.  During this time, all of the greens, tees, and fairways were aerified as well as a number projects completed.   The greens were aerified using .400” hollow tines, and then cleaned and heavily topdressed, followed by brushing the sand in and have recovered quite well.  The tees were aerified using .625” hollow tines, then cleaned and have also recovered very nicely.  The process on the fairways was a little more in depth and disruptive to combat a slight thatch layer that has accumulated as a result of a few different factors.

 In 2007, we began painting the fairways in the winter as opposed to overseeding.  The results have been fantastic and have required no transition in the spring months.  The down side to this is that when we paint we are pushing the grass to green up and grow during periods of the year when it would normally be dormant and not producing any new growth and associated thatch.  Secondly, we have been gentle with our early summer aerifications the last few years on the Dye Course so that when the Nicklaus Course goes into its early summer aerifications and transition from Perennial Rye back to Bermuda grass that the Dye will be in excellent condition with only having one course opened for approximately a month.  These two factors have resulted in a larger accumulation of thatch than we would like to see below the canopy of the turf.  We used two methods to combat the issue during our most recent closure: aerifying and vertical mowing (verticutting).  Both of the practices can be disruptive to play, but we felt with having 17 days of closure that we would be able to minimize the exposure to the membership.

The process on the fairways was as follows:

1.       Mow the fairway in a circular pattern at .100” below our normal height of cut.

This allows us to mow the fairways in multiple directions that we normally do not mow.

2.       Aerify the fairways two times with .700” tines.

·         Normally would only go one direction.

3.       Use a drag mat to break the soil and thatch apart from each other.

·         This allows us to reincorporate the soil back into the canopy as sort of free topdressing helping to dilute the thatch layer.

4.       Vacuum the entire fairway to remove thatch plugs.

5.       Verticut  to bring up thatch from below the soil surface.

·         This will also stand up any grass that has developed a grain.

6.       Vacuum the fairway again to remove the thatch brought to the surface from the verticutting.

7.       Mow the fairway again in a circular pattern to remove the leaf blade that was fluffed up by the verticutting.

·         This helps with grain removal, some areas were stood up as much as 2”.

8.       Aerify the fairways with a .750” solid tine to a depth of 8-10”.

·         The fairways have been repeatedly aerified to a depth of 3-4” for the past 10 years and by doing this a pan layer is created at this depth, by going deeper than that depth we are able to drain excesses moisture into the lower soil profile.

9.       Lastly we fertilized heavily and watered to promote new growth and recovery.

Although the immediate visual results may look very disruptive, the long term benefits will significantly improve the overall playablity and health of the turf, as we have significantly impacted the amount of thatch in the profile and have created new channels to help the soils drain better and faster.  The fairways are growing in nicely and we continue to fertilize and monitor their recovery, playability should be back to normal within a few more weeks.

Winter 2012 Newletter Article

Notes from the Agronomy Department

The Dye Course:

The Dye Course continues to be in “tip-top” shape!  The over-seeded greens continue to provide a great playing surface, firm and fast.  While it hasn’t happened yet this year, don’t be surprised if the fairways begin to show a more dormant look.  This occurs each winter when the temperatures drop below freezing for more than a few days, causing the leaf blade of the plant to “curl” into its self – allowing only the back side of the leaf blade to be visible.  As the temperatures begin to climb again, we will apply more paint to the fairways, giving the course a better appearance for the rest of the winter.

We will be adding shell sand to the paths during the month of January.  As we work through this project, the paths will be bumpy until the surface is completely level and compacted.  We appreciate your patience with our progress.  Please note: Cart traffic on #2 will be limited during January and February to provide adequate playing conditions for the winter months.

The Nicklaus Course:

The over-seed is the best we have had so far and the greens continue to stay very healthy and roll true.  If you recall, in normal years, playing on a full stand of over-seeded rye grass doesn’t take place until late winter.  This wasn’t the case this year as there was a full stand everywhere except for a few “problem areas” by Christmas.  This puts us far ahead for the spring months.

Upcoming Course Projects:

In the month of January, we take advantage of the closure periods and perform as many projects as possible that would otherwise be disruptive to the membership.  The most visible this year will be work on the lagoons of the Nicklaus Course on holes #2 and #8, as they are the worst culprits for leaking on the property.  Each year, we pump millions of gallons of water into several lagoons on the Nicklaus for aesthetic purposes.  If you recall, last year we repaired, in-house, the first lagoon on #7 with positive results.  With the help of an outside consultant, we were able to find an alternative solution to the problem and save the club over $60,000 on that lagoon alone.  We will attempt a similar repair to both lagoons on #8 and the first two on #2.  The length of time for the project will not be known until after the height of the water is dropped and we are able to see the full extent of the project.  Other projects this winter will be on the more routine side and include:

·         Trimming of all the native plants

·         Adding and adjusting sand levels on all of the 400+ bunkers on the property

·         Trimming suckers from trees and other plants throughout the property

·         Transplanting of sea oats in the dunes on the Nicklaus

·         Pressure washing all bridges, bulk heads, and wood structures

·         Adding additional shell sand to cart trails

·         Adding dune sand where necessary

·         Testing all backflow prevention devices

Hope to see you on the course!

Bill

Dye Course Update - December, 2012

Dye Course Update December 2012

The cooler weather over the past few weeks has slowed the growth of the Bermuda grass almost to the point of dormancy.  To preserve the quality of playing conditions of #2 fairway on the Dye Course carts will be restricted to path only until warmer weather in the spring allows for the turf to outgrow the damage caused by carts.  This practice has been in place for the past several years and has shown to significantly aid in preserving the quality of the left side of the fairway now and also aids in spring recovery.  Since beginning this practice minimal sod has been utilized along the left, shady side, of this fairway.  Carts should be allowed back onto the fairway sometime in late March.

Other projects going on around the Dye have been pruning of natives along the marsh on holes #12-15, removal of the overgrown vegetation along the pond back on #10 & 18, and the addition of sand to various bunkers throughout the course. Also many of the sprinkler heads in the fairways have been raised to not only stop balls from coming to rest on top of, but also to allow for better distribution of water.  In the next few weeks, we will begin adding new coquina shell sand to the all of the cart trails.  This is an annual maintenance practice that is performed during the winter months.  Immediately after the new material is put down the paths may be a little bumpy and rough for couple of weeks until the material has a chance to pack down and firm up, we appreciate your patience during this time.

Paint of 11 Fairway

                                                        Fairway 2

Nicklaus Course Update 9-24-12

Nicklaus Course Update   9/24/12

             

              During the past week of closure on the Nicklaus Course, we overseeded the tees and fairways with our Rye grass, as well as the Borland Course.  When the overseeding starts to establish its roots and matures enough, we will begin mowing and striping the fairways, tees and approaches; however, until then, the course conditions will be slightly wet and the grass will be longer than normal, as we will be watering throughout the day.  As you are aware, it is very important to keep carts off the fairways during the closure to keep the seedlings from tracking into the rough.   We ask that over the next week, you drive on the cart paths or on the rough as much as possible to keep the stray Rye grass to a minimum.

On a different note, the greens have fully recovered from aerification and are rolling great.   Other small projects were completed during the closure such as cleaning of the dunes, pruning trees, cleaning beds and edging of the cart paths.  Thank you for your patience and understanding as we prepare these courses for the upcoming fall, winter and spring seasons.