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.

New Assistant Superintendent

We are excited to announce the addition of Nick Mclennan to our management team at The Peninsula Club.

Nick earned his Bachelor's Degree in Agronomy from Purdue University. He has worked at many prestigious clubs such as Long Cove (Hilton Head, SC), Colleton River-The Nicklaus Course (Bluffton, SC) and The Ford Plantation (Savannah, GA). His agronomic expertise and various work experiences are a great addition to our department.

We are very happy to have Nick join our growing agronomic team.When you see Nick on the course please make sure to welcome him to The Club.

Assistant Superintendent Nick Mclennan

Cart Path Replacement

Starting Monday 4/28/14 we will begin to repair damaged or uneven cart paths on the golf course. The cart path replacement program will be conducted over the next few weeks. We will be directing carts away from those areas using signs and ropes.

Uneven cart paths like this one are unsightly and can cause damage to equipment or golf carts.

Golfer Etiquette Towards Maintenance Staff

As the golfing season is beginning to ramp up, I will begin to post USGA Educational Videos throughout the summer on a range of topics.

The first USGA Educational Video is on golfer etiquette towards the golf course maintenance staff. Many of the jobs done a daily basis are dangerous and we need the golfer's help to not add further danger to the job from errant golf shots.

Below is a quick video highlighting the keys to maintaining a safe working environment for the GCM staff.

Thank you for your help and we look forward to a great golfing season.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nM4LATAn_tk

Practice Facility Update

As many of you may have noticed from putting on the practice green (P.G) recently, the playability is much different than the putting greens on the golf course. On average, the P.G. is putting one to two feet slower than the regular greens on the golf course. Although this is not ideal for putting on similar playing surfaces to the golf course, it is the only way to keep the turfgrass healthy in the current growing environment.

The decline of the turfgrass on the putting green (Figure 1) is due to the limited amount of sunlight it is receiving on a daily basis.  Daily sunlight required for healthy “Champion” bermudagrass is eight to ten hours.

Dave Otis from the USGA said it best, “Trees can make it physically impossible to grow healthy turf that plays well. Light is the fuel source that runs the photosynthesis engine and trees block sunlight. Insufficient light prevents the engine from running at or near optimum efficiency and this produces a weaker, less wear tolerant turf.” The trees on the south side of the putting green create a huge challenge in producing a dense, healthy and consistent turfgrass on the putting green.

Several short term steps have been taken to increase the overall health of the practice putting green:

1) Over the winter, the trees around the P.G. were limbed up to 35%.

2)  The putting green is receiving daily hand watering on weak areas. 

3) We are mowing the P.G. 40% higher than the height of cut on the regular putting greens as well as mowing them less frequently.

4) The implementation of growth regulators that decrease vertical leaf blade growth and improve the plant’s shade tolerance have also been implemented.

5) The green is receiving fertilizer applications to help grow in the weak areas.

All of these things are helping to make a healthier turfgrass, however, this does not make for similar playing conditions to the golf course.

The long term action plan is to sod the weak areas on the south side of the putting green and evaluate the trees and the location of the putting green. Figure 2 demonstrates, using the Sunseeker App on the iPhone, that the current location of the putting green does not allow for even 50% of the desired amount of sunlight that is necessary to maintain a good playing surface. All options will be looked at over the coming months.

The other areas of the practice facility are improving with the warmer days of spring coming. We have fertilized the practice tee and the chipping approach two times in the last few weeks. The color and health of the ryegrass has improved with these timely applications. Soon we will be transitioning from ryegrass to bermudagrass.

When summer finally arrives, the goal is to mow the practice tee very low and topdress it heavily 1-2 times to help smooth the playing surface. With new programs in place the practice tee should begin to improve.

First Topdressing of Greens This Year

The GCM staff completed the first topdressing of greens this year. Weekly topdressings provide a smooth and consistent playing surfaces. Topdressing fills in minor imperfections in the playing surface and helps manage organic matter accumulation within the soil profile.

We will be applying topdressing sand differently this year. Sand topdressing will be applied on a weekly basis using walk spreaders and dry bagged sand. Using the dry bagged sand will help incorporate the sand into the turfgrass canopy easier, resulting in less disruption to play.

The sand comes in 50 lb bags and is applied using walk spreaders. 

Dry bagged sand being applied to #1 green.

Final product after the topdressing has been applied and broomed in.