2015 Invitational Recap

With our biggest event of the year now in the rear view mirror, I wanted to share some pictures and discuss the hows and whys of setting the course up for tournament play.

It was a long two weeks of prep work and set up. Over 250 hours of overtime went in to produce the conditions we had for our Men's Invitational last week. The staff really turned it up a notch and I thank them for their hard work and long hours. The focus leading up to the event was catching up with all the detail work we fell behind on this spring. With the dry weather this winter and into spring combined with a short staff, we had fallen behind with some of the little things around the course as we made mowing and setting up for play the priority. The focus during tournament week was drying the course out and fine tuning the playing surfaces for our major event of the year. This means lots of extra mowing and rolling of greens and daily mowing and hand watering of tees, fairways and approaches. The result of this focus and detail was a course that set up and played as good as I have seen it.

While it's fun to tune the course up for these big events, it is unrealistic to expect these conditions daily. Many factors go into preparing the golf course in this fashion with the most important being the health of the turf leading up to the event. Greens and fairways have been in the best shape that I've seen and Mother Nature was kind enough to help out with some mild temps.  Therefore we were able to push things pretty well to the limit without any adverse affects. All of the aeration, sand topdressings, soil and water testing, inter-seeding, fertility and water treatments and general care and planning over the last few years is paying off nicely with the results being a healthy turf that can stand the kind of stress we put it through. Our goal now is to maintain the health and playability of the course through the summer. We will monitor the health of the turf closely and when we can push, we will. When we need to back off, we will. Please enjoy the course each day you play knowing we are doing all we can to provide the most pleasant experience for members and guests possible.

Thanks and we'll see you on the course!

Happy Mothers Day Mom

In many ways I owe it all to her. My Mom grew up working the family farm in south eastern Colorado with her 3 siblings. Over 1000 acres between them and my grandfather, 7 days a week 365 days a year they worked hard and played hard. She became and art & pe teacher, a coach, a wife, a mother and an amazing home maker. No one I know worked as hard as she did. She never took a day off and she didn't blink an eye when challenge presented itself. She instilled in me the value of hard work and dedication. She pushed me to always be better in life and everything I chose to do. In 1996 I was a few years out of high school and a bit lost. It was March, I found myself out of work and spent the better part of the month watching every game of the NCAA tournament from the couch at my parents house. She was not thrilled to say the least. One morning she pickled up the Reno paper and went throughout the classified adds in attempt to get me off that couch. When she spotted a seasonal grounds maintenance position at Northgate Golf Club she insisted I call and apply. I did, I got the job and the rest is history. Without her love, support and constant pushing for me to be my best, I would not be where I am today, and I'm in a pretty good place.    
                                 
Thank you Mom for never giving up on me and for pushing me all those years. I couldn't have done it with out you!

Happy Mother's Day to all of the wonderful women in my life. Jill, Kristen, Mom, Grandma Karen, you all mean the world to me. Thank You!

Course Etiquette 101

As we enter prime golf season here at Claremont, I wanted to take the time to talk about course etiquette. My father always taught me to respect the course and leave it in better condition than I found it. Here are some ways we can improve member experience by doing so...

BUNKER MAINTENANCE

Unfortunately we see this way too often. The staff puts many hours of labor into these hazards (204 hours last week!) and the picture here shows the result of one of the first groups of the day.

Please remember these tips when playing from bunkers:

• Enter & Exit from low side
• Rake out area of play and all foot prints
• Be sure to PUSH the sand back to where you played from. DO NOT pull all the sand back to the edge of the bunker
• Leave rake inside bunker
• Please tap your shoes when finished

Please take a look at the attached video from the USGA on bunker etiquette:

BALL MARKS

Ball marks continue to be left un-repaired far to often. Each flag in the below picture is an un-repaired ball mark.

This picture was taken on a Saturday morning just a few weeks ago. Please see the USGA video on Ball Marks:

                                             SAND & SEED YOUR DIVOTS PLEASE

Sand and seed stations are located at tees on holes 1, 2, 6, 10, 13 & 16.

TRASH - Tees & Butts Drive me NUTS!

I've received numerous comments lately regarding trash left around the course. There are trash cans at every tee box. Please use them. I'm not sure when it became acceptable to leave tees and cigar / cigarette butts all about the course but its to be the new norm. These items are garbage and someone has to pick this stuff up.

I would prefer to have the greenkeeper staff work on making the course look and play the way we all expect it to. When basic golfer etiquette is not followed, it creates additional work load the staff and as we shift labor away from grooming and detail to clean up and repair. The regular readers of this BLOG are a good lot. You know and practice what is being preached in this post and others. Let's get the word out to all others. WE can do better.

Please leave the course better than you found it.

Thanks!

Out With the OLD, In With the NEW...

We are now a full week into our Spring aeration and things are going nicely. Greens were drilled & filled with sand to a depth of 12". We followed that with our traditional core aeration using a 5/8" tine. A significant amount of organic material as well as old silt and clay soils were removed from the greens and over 80 tons of new sand added. Out With the OLD and In With the NEW! A fairly aggressive process for sure and one that will pay off big time come July and August.

This picture shows the green just 1 day following aeration.

Fast forward 1 week and we see the greens healing up nicely.

We can expect about double the heal time for the Drill and Fill holes.

Currently we are half way through Fairway aeration and hope to finish up Thursday this week. Sand will be applied to all Fairways, Tees and Approaches next Monday and Wednesday.

Your patience is appreciated during this important process. We know this is a disruptive time for all golfing members. It is a long 3 weeks for all of us in the Turf Department as well and we are looking forward to wrapping things up on Wednesday next week. Despite what some may think, aeration is not something Superintendents look forward too as it is stressful on the turf and staff alike. This year has been particularly straining as we have yet to fill out our seasonal staff. The regular staff has stepped up with a great effort and some long hours. Please thank them when you are out on the course. What we do look forward to is providing members and guests with the best conditions and experience possible. The cultural practices performed over a few weeks in Spring will set us up for a fantastic golfing season here at Claremont.

Josh Clevenger; Golf Course Superintendent

Spring Aeration

It's hard to believe but it's that time again... Spring Aeration. The weather forecast for the next 10 days is for dry conditions allowing us to begin our aeration as planned on Monday the 16th. The schedule is as follows:

March 16, 17 & 18  - Greens Drill & Fill / Core Aeration
March 19 to 23 - Tee & Approach Aeration and Sand
March 23 to March 30 - Fairways Core Aeration
March 30 & April 1 - Fairway Sanding

Late last year, we took soil core samples and sent them to ISTRC (International Sports Turf Research Center) to analyze the physical properties of the soil in our greens. This very in-depth testing of 8 inches of root zone has given us a large amount of hard data. Varied soil particle size and numerous layers throughout the 8 inch profile has made it difficult to establish healthy roots, has created issues with properly watering the greens and allows for more salt accumulation in the root zone. The recommendation was to perform an aeration called Drill and Fill to modify the subsurface by removal of old material and incorporation of fresh new sand. 

Please take a look at the Drill and Fill Video from the last blog post...

While this is a new process for us, the Drill and Fill has been used for years, many times on modified soil push up greens like those found here at Claremont. We will follow the Drill and Fill with our traditional core aeration and sanding and hope to have the greens healed up in 4 weeks time.

drill and fill video