Fall work updates

What a November we have been given! After a rain filled September and early October the weather has more than made up for it with warm and dry conditions for playing golf. We hope you had a chance to enjoy the course before the recent cold spell. We hope to have a week or two of golf yet but it depends on mother nature.
Fall is a more relaxed time for the maintenance staff as the stress of summer temperatures are gone and the day length is shorter causing turf growth to slow down. But we still have plenty to do to keep our crew busy. The rains brought a challenge as it kept the grass growing fast but it also made it difficult to work on the course without causing damage.

The swales on the left side of hole 6 have catch basins and subsurface pipes to take the water away. Oddly the system worked through the September rains but suddenly did not drain water at all in October. We tried flushing the lines with high pressure water and sewer rods without success but we were able to determine the location of the blockage and dug up that section.
The tile was put in during the expansion in 1994 and the portion we dug up must have been damaged during back-filling because we found old pieces of pipe in our hole. The original pipe was laid on the native clay but the repair was laid on a bed of sand. This sand seemed to attract tree roots from the Cottonwood trees 70 feet away. One root found it's way into a joint between the original pipe and the repair and from the picture you can see formed a root mass and blocked water from draining. We replaced that section of pipe and the water was flowing again. This time we taped our pipe seams with multiple layers of duct tape to prevent future root intrusion.

The root mass in this 4" tile on hole 6 kept any water from flowing. 

 During the rainy season we noticed the overflow drain for the pond on holes 4 and 5 was not draining properly causing water to run above ground down hole 4 and 8 to the next drain basin causing traffic problems for golfers and our staff traveling to and from the maintenance facility. After investigating the problem we found a section of pipe just past a catch basin was clogged. Upon digging it up we found a collection of reeds, pond weeds and a dead turtle blocking the waters path. We could have done without the turtle but we did find and release 4 large frogs and one bluegill.

A muddy job but a easy fix to remove a clog and allow the water to
flow from the pond on hole 4 and 5. 

Other fall activities include:

• 300 to 500 labor hours blowing and mulching leaves to make the course better for you our customers. By mulching a few leaves daily we eliminate having to pick up and dispose of the leaves. 
• Mow down the natural grass or gorse areas on the golf course to clean them up and keep trees from growing where we do not want them.
• Blow out the irrigation system with air to remove the water and keep the miles of pipe from freezing. 
• Clean all surface drains and mark the ones that tend to clog up with slush and snow so we can find them in the winter.
• Aerify greens, tees, fairways and rough areas that are compacted.
• After we close for the year we apply a medium layer of sand to the putting greens to protect the greens from winter winds. This application also serves to smooth the greens for spring play.    

Blowing out the irrigation system by blowing in air with a 750 CFM compressor.

9 green after topdressing with sand for the coming winter.

As we move from fall to winter we have a few more things to finish up outside as we close holes 10 - 27. We have started our winter equipment maintenance but by December 26th will be ready for spring to start and get back outside. Feel free to call at 920-960-1678 or email davidb@rollingmeadowsgolfcourse.com if you have any comments, questions or concerns. Think Spring!