Bunker (In)Consistencies

I have received questions regarding the consistencies of our bunkers. The USGA produced an informative video on the consistency or rather the inconsistencies of bunker hazards. This short video discusses why bunkers are inconsistent and the challenges with maintaining them all to be the same.

GCM Welcomes New Assistant

It is my pleasure to introduce Mr. Colton Jones (Right). He is replacing Drew Hensley, 2^nd Assistant, who left our management team to join Quail Hollow earlier this summer. Colton received his Bachelor of Science in Plant and Soil Science and Minor in Business Administration from the University of Tennessee-Martin.

Colton joins us most recently from working at Pinehurst Resort #2 where he experienced historic back to back U.S. Opens and the putting green conversion from bentgrass to ultradwarf bermudagrass. Colton has previously worked at Charlotte Country Club, Callawassie Island in Hilton Head and volunteered at The Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass. He has also interned with the USGA Agronomic Turf Advisory Service under Chris Hartwiger and Patrick O’Brien.

We are happy to have Colton join our team. When you see Colton on the course please welcome him to The Peninsula Club.

Aeration a Success

Last week the GCM staff completed the green’s aerification process. Although the practices were new to the staff, our preparation paid off. It took two 15 hour days plus a 5 hour evening on Sunday. 

The aeration was done with our staff catching the cores as they are pulled from the green.

The green was then blown off and watered to make sure the holes were as open as possible to receive as much sand as possible.C

The greens were topdressed using dry sand with push brooms.

The greens are eleven days out from aeration and the holes are 60-75% grown in. The fast healing is due to the manual labor put into the aeration process. Minimizing the use of large machines on the turfgrass lessens the damage done to it and allows it to recover quicker (Figure 1). We topdressed the greens on Thursday the 17^th to increase the smoothness on the greens. We are now back on our weekly topdressing program going forward.

Factoids from Aeration:

·       -  The process took 35 hours in 2.25 days

·       -  Used 1 aerifier with 5/8 inch hollow core tines that pulled cores 2 inches deep

·       -  10,000 ft² of turfgrass area removed

·       -  19 people involved

·     -    Used 48,450 lbs of sand to fill holes (24.3 tons) 

·      -   50 gallons of water and Gatorade consumed by staff

The aerification last week did not go into the collar or rough surrounding the greens (Figure 2). This is to reduce the risk of contaminating the putting green surface with other cultivars of bermudagrass. This past Monday we went with a smaller tine (3/8) and did one pass around the outer edges of the greens to get the areas that were skipped last week.

Hand Fertility Helps Weak Areas

One of the simple tasks done by the staff at The Peninsula Club is to monitor our very small, weaker areas on greens. These areas may have shade, traffic, rootzone or other challenges to maintaining a dense healthy turfgrass. The rest of the green that is healthy may not require the extra fertility but the weaker areas do.

Therefore, one of the many things we do to make these areas better is to hand fertilize with a 50:50 mix of sand and organic fertilizer (Figure 1). This mix fills in voids with extra topdressing and gives the area much needed fertilizer that has no risk of harming the grass. This is a simple task done without most golfers noticing that we have done this practice.

Assistant Jesse Cigary hand applies a 50:50 mix of topdressing sand and an organic fertilizer to weak areas on the edges of greens.

Green's Grooming Practices Have Begun

Last week the GCM staff started its vertical mow practices on the greens. We have now done this practice for the last two weeks. The process is a very intricate system that utilizes 3-Dimensional mowing to remove bermudagrass leaves that are laid over. Each week the depth and amount of tissue removal is established based on plant health and growth of the plant.

The vertical mow process includes:
1) Vertical mow down and back on the same line using a hybrid triplex
2) Blow off the grass debris
3) Roll the green
4) Double cut the greens

It is essential to remove the excess leaf tissue that is laid over to decrease friction on the golf ball which makes the green play faster. Furthermore, brushes attached to greens mowers are used to stand the grass up. This allows us to remove more of the leaf blade than just regular mowing. All of these systems are used to keep a healthy turfgrass plant that ensures a fast and smooth playing surface.

Last week we started the grooming practices consisting of verticutting, rolling then mowing.

Assistant Jesse Cigary grooming the greens with the new Jacobsen 322 triplex while the staff blows off the debris left behind him.

Vertical mowing #2 green.

Close-up after the triplex has groomed the area.

The three dimensional grooming removes excess leaf tissure.

Check Plot on #10 Green

On #10 green there is a square that looks a little different than the rest of the green. This is our check plot for our putting greens. The check plot allows us to visually assess what the putting green grass would look like without our weekly spray program. Essentially it is a window into what the grass looks like underneath the protection of our spray program. This helps us make critical decisions on how to manage our putting greens on a daily basis.

The check plot on #10 is an important part of maintaining high quality putting greens.

Jesse Cigary Volunteers for the Wells Fargo

Jesse Cigary spent last week volunteering at the Wells Fargo Championship at Quail Hollow Golf Club. This was his 2nd year volunteering at this event and he was given more responsibility as he is now considered a veteran volunteer.  

Jesse had many different jobs throughout the tournament including greens rolling, debris clean up, bunker maintenance and rough fluffing. The course work and being part of such a magnificent PGA tournament was enjoyable for him but his favorite part of working the tournament, was the camaraderie and networking with some of the industry's top professionals.

Jesse stated, "I had such a great time and am very thankful to The Peninsula Club for allowing me to take part in The Wells Fargo Championship. It is always a great learning experience to take part in such an elite tournament. Hopefully, I will be able to bring some of the things I learned there and bring them back to The Peninsula Club."

All of the assistants at The Peninsula Club volunteer at one tournament every year. This helps develop our young proffesionals and they learn tips that can be used at our club.

Jesse Cigary rolling the greens at Quail Hollow.