US Open Week

A once in a lifetime opportunity has come and gone for myself and our Equipment Manager Mike Newbould. Last week we volunteered our time to help the staff at the Olympic Club prepare the golf course for the 112th United States Open.

First of all I must thank Director of Maintenance Pat Finlen, Lake Course Superintendent Justin Mandon, HR Director Celeste Repsher and all of the staff at the Olympic Club for their amazing hospitality and for allowing us to be part of such a special week. This group is truly a class act!

Sunday afternoon prior to the tournament, all of the staff and volunteers met for the first time to eat dinner and get job assignments for the week. I would be off to mow fairways morning and night and Mike was assigned to the shop to assist in maintaining the equipment.

There was an amazing amount of equipment to maintain and Mike and the other volunteer technicians worked as hard or harder than anyone else. Not your average everyday tournament as there were thirteen fairway mowers rumbling down each fairway morning and night. A very impressive sight I must say!              

The hundred or so volunteers from 16 different countries, all the extra equipment and all of the chaos that surrounds a tournament of this size made for many logistical challenges. The planning, coordination and timing that goes into this event was amazing to see from "inside the ropes" and the staff at Olympic pulled it off seamlessly.

For me, the most impressive aspect of seeing the golf course set up for a major championship was the amount of time and scientific data that goes into managing water. The players are so good and so critical of the day to day set up of the course that they notice any slight change in the course. Moisture readings, firmness testing and speed readings are taken all over each green morning and night to insure that the pros are getting the most difficult test in golf all while keeping the consistency and fairness that they expect. That course was a firm and fast as anything that I've ever seen and witnessing first hand the best in the world get tested on one of the great golf courses in the world  in that condition was an experience I'll never forget.

Take look at the video below for an inside the ropes look at the US Open maintenance and volunteers:

Lastly I must thank Claremont Country Club, it's Board of Directors, the Greens Committee and the Management team for their support and for allowing me the time away from work during the US Open. The experience was invaluable and I feel Mike and I both are back this week excited to bring with us some of the tips and tricks that may only be learned at a US Open.

Thanks again and we'll see you on the golf course!

Men's Invitational Week

Despite the light rain today, all systems are a go for a fantastic Men's Invitational this week at Claremont. Something about Murphy's Law and Mother Nature... the last thing we need today is rain. Monday of tournament week is a big day when we plan many maintenance activities to help set the course up for the biggest week of the year. These activities include the application of a preventative fungicide on the greens as well as applications of growth regulators to the greens and fairways. All of these products should be allowed to dry on the surface for an hour to achieve the desired result. Thanks Mother nature!

With or without the rain, the course will be in tip top shape this week and into the summer. We are very happy with the condition of the turf and this week the focus will be on mowing and clean up work. It's the little details that will set the golf course apart from day to day condition to tournament condition and the staff in the turf department has worked well at preparing for the big week. Good luck to all participants and here's to a great Men's Invitational. Thanks and we'll see you on the course!

Solid Tine Aeration

The majority of the greens were solid tine aerated yesterday and the staff in the turf department will finish the process this morning on the back nine. The process includes verticuting in two directions:solid



The greens are then aerated with a solid tine at 9 inches deep and sanded:



We then apply our organic soil amendments including compost and granular sea weed extracts. Once all is dry, we drag the sand and materials around the green and into the hole. When done, each green is rolled twice to remove imperfections and disperse the sand once again. This finished product:



Over the next few days we will not mow the greens. They will be rolled 1 to 2 times a day until the sand is all but gone and the turf has grown up through the sand. We expect the greens to be back in fantastic condition in the coming week. Thanks and we'll see you on the course!

Bulk Fertilizer Application

Beginning today we will be applying our bulk organic fertilizer to all of the short cut turf areas around the golf course. This will include tees, approaches and fairways. I am a big fan of using organic products on the golf course and the 8 tons of 8-2-2 fertilizer that will be applied is exactly what our sand based fairways are in need of this time of year. Unfortunately with any organic fertilizer comes an aroma. To most, that aroma is not very pleasant



If you are on the course over the next few days, you will know what holes have been fertilized and which have not. The timing is perfect for us to make the application as most of the fairways have been core aerified and the forecast is for more rain to begin tomorrow. Once the rain starts and begins to break down the fertilizer, the smell will go away and all things will return to normal at this wonderful facility. Thanks, and we'll see you on the golf course!

Greens Update and Fairway Aeration

GREENS UPDATE

Two weeks out from our core aeration, despite the cool and wet weather, the greens are coming back nicely. The picture below was taken on #17 green on this past Saturday after just 10 days.

The tricky part of aerating the greens this time of year is timing the process around the weather, rain and member events. Because the greens were so wet due to the March rains (5.38 inches!) we were unable to perform our entire greens aeration that was to include a deep, solid tine aeration as well. This process will take place over a 2 day period on April 9 & 10. Monday, we will solid tine the greens on the back nine and putting green. Tuesday April 10th, the front nine will be closed for the solid tine aeration. This will include a light application of sand and will be of minimal disturbance.

FAIRWAY AERATION

To my knowledge, the fairways here at Claremont have never had a true core aeration. As we all know, the intensive fairway sanding over the last 12 years has built up a fantastic sand base and now it is time to change our approach to how we manage that base. Below are pictures that will take you through the sequence of events during our fairway aeration.



Core Aeration on 12 Fairway

 




















Seed applied over the top of the Fairway






















The sandy cores and seed are driven over with the Core Buster Drag Mat.
This process breaks up the cores and disperses the seed into the hole and
Throughout the fairway.





Once the plugs are broken up and seed is dispersed, the remaining debris is
blown into the rough to be mowed.



Up close view of cores on the fairway. Notice the dark thatch rings on each

core. Great example of why we need to aerate!






















Up close view of the finished product.



Knowing this is a new process to Claremont, much thought has been given to effectively accomplish our goals for the golf course all the while minimizing the impact to our membership and their guests. Yesterday and over the next week, if you are on the golf course, there is no doubt your round of golf will be impacted at some point. We will do all we can to minimize the impact by working efficiently and scheduling creatively. The remaining fairway aeration schedule is below:



Wednesday April 4 : Holes 9, 16 & 17

Thursday April 5 : Hole 11

Friday April 6 : Holes 15 & 6

Monday April 9 : Holes 1 & 18

Tuesday April 10 : Holes 4, 5 & 7

Thank you and we'll see you on the course!

Now is the Time!

It's that time of year again ladies and gentlemen, time for the process you've all been waiting for...The Punching of the Greens!

As you all know, the spring aeration is one of the most important practices there is to ensure healthy and resilient turf throughout the growing season. The important thing is the greens and surrounding areas are firm enough to hold up to the heavy traffic that takes place during the process. The slide below depicts the effect of aeration in the soil and to the turf.

We appreciate the flexibility given by the membership to properly perform the spring aeration. When putting the club calendar together late last year, much thought was given to the timing of these aeration's and a decision was made to block off a four week period starting March 12th for weather dependent aeration. This is an important step in putting the golf course first as this time of year, the weather will dictate how and when we can implement this all important practice. Looking at the forecast we feel that now is the time.

The putting green and BACK nine will be closed Wednesday the 21st.

The FRONT nine will be closed on Thursday the 22nd.

Thank you for your cooperation with this process and we'll see you on the course!