Late Summer Post -

The cup changers "tools of the trade". At Rolling Meadows cups are moved 3 to 5 times per week depending on events and the time of year.

It is hard to believe fall is only 9 days away. From my perspective it has been a interesting season so far. The cold wet spring followed by a cool summer with ample moisture made the entire summer feel like May. Rain was common and with the exception of ten days in July when we gave the irrigation system a workout and stopped mowing the non-irrigated rough, the rest of the year was mow the course, turn around and mow it again.

Electricity costs will be down because the pumphouse was not used very often but gas and diesel costs associated with mowing are up a equal amount. In August we watered fairways once and spent most of the month praying the rain would stop so the course would firm up and be more enjoyable and mowable. A couple days each week it was too wet to mow without doing damage and the other days we played catch-up mowing all we could around the players.  

The wet and humidity along with cooler than normal temperatures allowed the turf disease dollar spot to flourish throughout the course. Usually a disease of closely mown greens tees and fairways this year it infected the roughs. It is cost prohibitive to treat the roughs due to the acreage and recovery will happen naturally when the weather conditions change. In the rough dollar spot is mainly a aesthetic problem but on greens and fairways it can reduce playability.


Above is a small area of untreated fairway (check plot) we do use to see how bad the disease would be if we did not treat with fungicides. You can see the result is not good aesthetically or for playability as a ball can sink in the lesions.

This picture shows a fairway treated with a fungicide according to the label should last 21 days on day 22. The lesions are smaller and do not affect playability. When disease pressure is low a 21 day product may last 21 to 28 days or longer. When pressure is high it may last 14 to 21 days. In this case disease pressure was high and we applied a new treatment the next day to stop the current lesions from growing and prevent any new lesions.

 

As I wrote this spring the bridge collapsed on hole 19 and with no other options to get players from hole 19 to 20 we had to act quickly. The new culvert on hole 19 has been well received and cuts off quite a bit of distance for walking golfers as they go to 20 tee.

 

The second culvert was installed in summer to replace the walking bridge of Rays Creek on hole 17 and allow a more natural flow for golfers while reducing the visibility and ball flight problems caused by the railings from the walking bridge. We still have to remove the supports from the walking bridge but for the most part the bridge replacement project is finished.

 

The plaque for Rays Creek was moved from the bridge railing to this rock placed near the culvert crossing. Ray Puddy was a long time county board member and chairman of the Parks and Recreation  committee as well as a avid golfer.

 

 

The drainage swale project on hole 2 is complete and we will start on the final grading and seeding of the new red tee soon. The swale will allow rain water to enter the pond system faster without flooding holes 2 and 9.  

 

My next post will be on the greens aerification process. Hopefully we will have great weather to do this unpleasant job and the process and greens healing will be quick.

June grooming and projects

It's the first week of June and in some ways it feels like it should be April 15th and in others ways it feels like August. For the turfgrass you play on and the trees if feels like early May with July rapidly approaching. The course has matured a lot in the past ten days as ample rain, warm nights and days filled with sunshine have allowed growth to peak.

Monday, June 2nd we verticut or thatched the greens on all three 9's despite the 3" of rain before and after the job. Holes 1-14 were done and topdressed with sand before the heavy downpours and for golfers it is hard to tell we did anything because the huge rain drops pounded the sand into the turf. For holes 15-27 and the extra greens we were not as lucky and gofers will see some sand although it should not effect ball roll. The verticutting and sanding are key to providing smooth and consistent greens though the season. The cutting action from the verticut blades fills old ball marks and other small inconsistencies on the greens.

Last month I discussed the bridge collapse and am happy to say despite the wet weather we were able to get a culvert crossing in place to replace the bridge. In a ideal world we would have had time to engineer a new bridge but with that being the only way to get carts from hole 19 to 20 time was of the essence. Future plans are to add a second culvert crossing for hole 17 to replace the walking bridge over Ray's Creek.

Our work continues on the drainage project on hole 2. The damage from the haul road has been graded and seeded but every time we final grade the swale itself we are blessed with heavy rain before we can get it seeded. The project will help reduce flooding on hole 2 and 9.

The new family tees are installed on each hole and the brass plates are marked with a gold or blue flag so they are easy to see. I have seen a few groups using the tees and they will see more use when the junior programs start. The gold tees average 2065 yards per 9 and the blue 1520 yards.

We are lucky to have great staff members in both the clubhouse and maintenance departments and it is nice to see the students back to help us serve you.



Spring Fling!

Golfers and golf course staffs were spoiled by the early spring in 2012 and have been cursed by the late cold springs of 2013 and now again in 2014. Although we were able to open on April 5th the course has been cold and slow to green up.

Fortunately the recent increase in temperatures and helped dry the course and green up the playing surfaces. As I write this on May 6th the trees are just starting to bud out and the rough is just starting to grow. Some new things you may notice on the golf course include:

On hole two we changed the route for water draining from Trowbridge Drive into the pond by the tees. Last fall we dug a new ditch to allow the water to reach the pond via a culvert under the cart path. As part of the project mounding is being built left of the tee and right of the fairway bunker and a new forward tee will be added. Disappointingly they fall rains and early winter put a halt to the project so the areas will need to be graded and seeded this spring.

The rains stopped and the winds cooperated to allow us to mow about half our gorse or natural no-mow areas. Controlled burns reduce weeds and promote healthier growth of the grasses. Burning also returns nutrients to the soil while improving the overall visual quality of the no-mow areas.

 

Burning reduces last years matted vegetation.

 

The marsh grasses on hole 14 burn quickly.

In a bit of bad news part of the bridge used to go from holes 19 to 20 and 17 to 18 collapsed on May 5th. Due to the importance of the creek crossing we have to move fast to provide a passage way for the carts. We plan to install two 24" culverts side by side to the back right of 19 green for traffic going to hole 20 and a 36" culvert on hole 17 near the walking bridge.

Both of these crossings will be more convenient and a shorter route to the next hole. It may take a few weeks to bring in a air compressor and jack hammer to take out the old bridge and abutments so we appreciate your patience.

The right span of the bridge behind 19 green collapsed. It will be

replaced with a culvert crossing.