Frost This Morning

Attention all winter golfers.... Its COLD OUT THERE!! Expect a frost delay today and tomorrow. We hope to have the first tee open by 9am.

Below, courtesy of the USGA, see a brief description of the how's and why's of the frost delay.

Frost Delays

Posted: 12/27/2012

By Ty McClellan, Manager, Green Section Education

I am an early morning golfer and have never fully understood the justification for frost delays?

Frost is essentially frozen dew. Ice crystals visible on the outside of the plant can also form on the inside of grass blades. The grass plant, normally resilient to footsteps or cart traffic, becomes brittle and fragile when ice crystals form. Under the pressure of traffic, ice crystals puncture living plant tissues and rupture plant cells. Damage will not appear right away, but it will show up in footsteps and tire tracks the following days as the plant is unable to repair itself and begins to die. Frost damage can occur on any turfgrass mowed at any height, but it is amplified when the plant is mowed low, as on a putting green.

Keep in mind, a foursome typically takes several hundred footsteps on each green, so even allowing just a few groups to play when frost is present can be very damaging to the greens, and the rest of the golf course for that matter. It is not completely understood when frost will cause damage, so the decision to keep traffic off the golf course must be made conservatively to protect the condition of the course. For this reason, golf facilities are wise to delay starting times in the morning until frost has completely melted.

A Special Thanks

Sadly, it’s that time of year when we have to say goodbye to our seasonal employees.  These guys provide a great assistance to the rest of our staff, as many more projects and special details around the golf course are completed.  Each individual has very unique skill sets and certainly made a positive impact on the golf course.  Their “can do” attitude definitely resonates throughout the staff and supports a healthy working environment.

The seasonal staff did the majority of walk mowing, both greens and collars.  They also spent time in working the corridors of the property, with pruning of trees/ shrubs around the fence line.  Other tasks include, edging sprinklers, bunker detail, clean-up during aerification, flower bed maintenance, blowing fairways and rough, and hand watering of tees, approaches, and fairways. 

These guys will certainly be missed and we hope to see all of them again next year!  Thanks for the great work!

  

First Rain of the Season and Course Update

I sit and write this morning with a smile on my face that has not been seen for 5 months. Yes, it's been FIVE long months since the last significant rainfall and if there is anything that can put a smile on the face of the California Superintendent, it's the first rain of the season. While I'm happy to see the rain for now, we hope to get a break over the next few weeks so we can finish the tournament season strong and complete our fall cultural maintenance on the course. Below is a schedule for the next few weeks:

RIX Invitational - October 25 to 27

Greens Aeration - October 29 & 31 (Back Nine Closed For Play 10/31)

Tee and Fairway Aeration - November 1 to 9

Rough Aeration - November 1 to 9

**THESE DATES ARE WEATHER DEPENDENT AND ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE**    

Upcoming Practice Green Renovation 

Beginning October 31 we will be renovating the practice putting green at the clubhouse/1st tee area. As we have all seen over the last two seasons, this greens continues to be the most problematic in both the winter and summer seasons due to poor draining soils, irrigation inconsistencies, tree shade and root competition and high levels of foot traffic. All of these issues together have resulted in poor turf quality on the most visible green on the property. With this project, we will address as many of the issues as possible. Work is to be performed as follows:

• Existing turf will be removed and stored on site
• Good sand/soil (greens mix) will be removed and stockpiled on site
• Poor soils and clay removed and a "greens cavity" shaped into the sub-grade
• Extensive drainage system installed into the sub-grade
• 75 tons of new sand blended with our greens mix to fill cavity, compact and finish grade
• Replace sod and grow-in the renovated putting green!

The result here will be a practice green that drains well during and after heavy rain events and performs to our expectation throughout the long growing season that is typical here in California. Please plan on the construction to take at least two weeks and then another 4 to 6 weeks to grow in to the point that it will hold up to maintenance and member  traffic. Again, the timing here will depend greatly on the weather. Also, do not hesitate to contact me at jclev66@msn.com if you have any questions on the upcoming project.

Thanks and we'll see you on the course!    

Claremont on Golf CLub Atlas

One of my regular visits while surfing the internet is a website called Golf Club Atlas. Recently, I pulled up the home page of the website and found a great picture of the 11th hole at Claremont with a caption below containing some very favorable comments on the course. For those of you who have not seen the website, the link is below.


http://www.golfclubatlas.com/

Golf Club Atlas is a website designed to promote frank discussion on golf and golf course architecture. Many of the worlds greatest courses, some known and others not so much are profiled under the tab Courses By Country. There is a section titled Interviews containing comments from many big time people in the world of golf and golf architecture including Tom Doak, Jim Urbina and Dave Wilber (all having ties to Claremont). The Discussion Board is the most visited feature of the website and again you will find people from all over the world discussing anything and everything to do with the sport we love. (an ongoing thread on Claremont including more pictures can be found on page 3 of the discussion board) I wanted to share this with all as I was impressed to see Claremont on the front page of a website that is admired and visited by many golf enthusiasts from all over the world. We truly have a gem of a course and I feel so fortunate to be a small part of it's rich history. Enjoy and we'll see you on the course!

Good Bye Summer - Hello Fall

Shorter days, cooler mornings and the sweet smell of recovery... All things pointing towards the beautiful fall season. Simply put, this summer has been a grind and has kept the staff and I on our toes with projects and keeping the golf course in shape throughout many busy days and some difficult growing conditions. In our attempt to keep the golf course firm and fast, we have seen some areas of the course struggle due to various issues. Dry areas, wet areas, turf diseases, insect damage and the constant wear and tear that comes with providing the playing conditions that we have come to enjoy all take a toll. While I have been happy with the condition of the golf course, I see much room for improvement and this summer has been quite the learning experience.

The changing of the season brings with it cooler mornings and shorter days and that means turf recovery. Fall also brings a busy golf and tournament season here at Claremont. As we push through the next few months on tuning up the course for the remaining events, the focus will remain providing consistent conditions on a daily basis and preparing for the upcoming rainy season. Lets all keep our fingers crossed for a big rain year!

Keep a look out for upcoming blogs on the many projects that took place over the last few months and bare with me as things have been so busy that the blog has had to take a back seat for a while. As always, any member suggestions on content for this blog are welcome and wanted. Here's to the fall and we'll see you on the course!

Summer Aeration & Maintenance Schedule

Over the next few weeks the staff in the turf department will be performing various cultural practices around the golf course. These cultural practices play a huge part in creating the proper environment for the turf to withstand the day to day beating that it takes throughout the year. Much thought and planning goes into the timing and execution of these maintenance practices to ensure that the impact to the membership is minimal and that the benefit to the golf course is to our expectation. The following is the schedule for this year's summer mmaintenance:

GREEN AERATION AND SANDING:

  July 9 - Front Nine & Putting Green

  July 10 - Back Nine (CLOSED FOR DAY)

TEE & APPROACH AERATION AND SANDING:

  July 11 to July 20

FAIRWAY SANDING:

  July 9 and 11

  July 23 and 25

I have received many positive comments this year on the condition of the course and those conditions are a direct result of these cultural practices. Thank you for your understanding and cooperation during these maintenance activities and please know that we will do all we can to get the golf course cleaned up and back in shape following each event. Thanks and we'll see you on the course!