New Bunker Complex

 It's my pleasure to announce that the bunker on the left of #3 green has been redesigned and constructed. Superior Golf Concepts came in and did all of the work creating a functioning bunker once again. They reshaped, added new drainage, sod, and G-Angle bunker sand. This particular bunker will be monitored over the course of the season to determine the characteristics and maintenance needed for this bunker. Outlined below is a series of pictures taken during the entire process. The pictures will give you a real understanding of how much work has gone into just this one bunker. 

 The first step in the rebuilding process was stripping back all of the sod to define the work area.

Once all of the sod is displaced from the work area, the mini excavator moves in to start the demo work on the old bunker.

The rough shape of the new bunker complex is starting to come to life after just one of work.

By now the old bunker is a thing of the past. 2 1/2 loads of fill dirt was used to create what you see here.

Once the rough shape of the bunker complex is determined, then we go in and water jet the existing drain line. This will   will be the drain line used to hook the new drainage into.

the rough shape of the bunker is coming to life in the form of a bright orange paint line.

Once the bunker shape is determined, then the drainage is added to the base of the bunker to displace any rain or irrigation runoff.

The yellow arrows represent the drain pipe that will catch all runoff from the green slope. Once sod goes down these will be cut flush to the ground and a drain grate will be placed on top of each pipe.

Due to the steep slope, bunker liner is installed on the face of the bunker to help with stability of the slope and grass that will be laid on top.

Grass is starting to get laid prior to sand being added to the bunker. The grass will be laid working away from the bunker.

9/15 -9/16 Greens Aerification

I would like to inform you that your Jupiter Country Club Agronomy Team has completed our final aerification of the year. As season draws near, we needed to keep our final aerification short and to the point. We scaled back a bit on this aerification to allow for a speedy recovery of the turf. This also allows us to groom the greens in preparation for season. I have included a few pictures of the process from start to finish.

We performed a process called verticutting on the greens. We went at a depth of 1/16" into the canopy of the turf down and back in the same pass with the machine.

In order for us to avoid injury to the perimeter of the putting surfaces, we verticut the green through the collar. This allows us to avoid extensive damage to the green while performing an excellent verticut to the collar.

After the green is cleaned off, we walk mow the putting surface down and back in the same pass with a brush attachment.

This is an illustration of the putting surface with a ¼" of sand. After we sand the greens we come behind with a walk behind aerifier and vent the greens with ¼" solid tine on a 2" x 2" spacing.

The putting surface is then rolled and brushed 2 times to a smooth clean finish. The greens are now ready for a fertilizer application to help the healing process by providing essential nutrients to aid the plant in recovery.

Above is an up close shot of the putting surface on hole #6. Te sand should be completely covered up by the beginning of next week.


The putting surfaces are in great shape coming out of aerification and should be fully healed in within the week.

Enjoy!

Foliar Feeding Fairways

One may ask,  what is "foliar feeding"? Foliar feeding is a process in which you give small amounts of nutrients to the plant directly instead of indirectly as in the case with granular feeding. In most cases the plant recognizes the nutrients in a form in which it is easier for the plant to process and use. Foliar feeding also prevents waste or runoff of unused nutrients or nutrients waiting to be used by the plant.

Foam marker used to identify the previous spray pattern.

Foliar feeding a fairway with a 300 gallon John Deere sprayer

The practice of "foliar feeding" is commonly used when providing nutrients to the putting surfaces of the green. It has no disruption to ball roll and can be dry within :30 minutes of application depending on weather conditions. Foliar feeding also allows the plant to take in the nutrients in a timely manner resulting in very little loss of fertilizer due to uncontrollable conditions. Years ago your best approach to fertility on any golf course playing surface was granular fertilizers. With the technology we have today we are able make foliar feeding more cost effective to the end user.

There are a variety of combinations and products on the market for Golf Course Superintendents to use on his or her golf course. What products to choose is based on the need of that particular golf course. Here at Jupiter CC we use products on our fairways that contain Nitrogen (N), Potassium (K), Iron (Fe), Manganese (Mn), and Magnesium (Mg).

Nitrogen - used for leaf growth and  density, root growth, cart traffic tolerance, heat and cold stress,                     and recuperative potential.
Potassium - used for heat and cold tolerance, strengthens cells of plant, and aids in plant health                                against diseases.
Iron - used for greening of the plant, leaf and root growth, and cart traffic wear tolerance.
Manganese - used by the plant for nitrogen uptake and photosynthesis.
Magnesium - used by the plant for cold hardiness, chlorophyll synthesis and helps with utilizing iron                        and phosphorus.

All of the nutrients can be custom blended by our local suppliers to fit our needs based on soil and leaf tissue samples. We typically only take samples on greens twice a year and a few tees once a year. Currently we are using a blend on fairways referred to as 12-0-0 w/ 3% Fe, 2% MG, !% Mn and 6-0-18. The numbers in sequence with a dash represent Nitrogen - Phosphorus - Potassium. These are the 3 key nutrients in plant health and development.

Summer 2014 Update

As most of you may have noticed, we have had a tremendous amount of rain this summer. Since July 1 we have had over 19" of rain to date. This has caused some set backs in our overall goals for the summer and has caused some adverse conditions throughout the golf course.

The bunkers have taken the brunt of the rain causing major washouts over the last seven weeks. We have discovered that the washouts are happening due to the integrity of the sand which in turn has caused the silts to build in the sand. By having excessive silts in the sand the drains have been compromised and have lost their functionality to remove water from the bunkers. Once your silt levels build the fines of the silt build up in the drain rock and slits in the drain pipe causing a super slow draining of the bunker.We have also determined that the original function of the bunkers does not allow for proper diversion of water around the bunkers. By diverting the water away from the bunkers it would ultimately prevent the excessive rush of water into the bunkers.

The fairways have also had a set of its own issues with water retention. Over the last 2 weeks we shot grades to determine if our drain lines are adequate enough to remove water from the surface of the fairway. We determined that if we are to get a drier surface we simply need to add more drainage to the existing catch basins that already exist. During construction of the golf course it is often difficult to determine if you have installed enough drainage at that particular time. We feel we can make a significant improvement in our surface drainage next summer by adding some more drains throughout our common wet fairways. By doing so it will make for more fairways accessible by cart during our rainy periods. Some areas might take longer to dry down than others after this project due to the water table, but we feel confident that it will shorten the intervals of CPO.

Greens have also been a challenge this summer due to the excessive cloud cover and rainfall. just in the last few weeks we have gone from excessive rain to extreme heat and dry weather. This plays a big part in the health of the green. Excessive rain causes the roots to shrink up closer to the surface. The reason the plant does this is for survival purposes. If the plant is getting water everyday it does not have to put out new roots to go search for water since it is being supplied right at the surface. Once you turn the spigot off, in our case rain, the plant is confused and starts scrambling to find water. Since the roots have shrunk the plant goes into panic mode searching for water. If the plant does not receive the adequate water it needs it will go into a protection mode and show signs of wilt to protect the healthy stands of grass. Once this happens the soil usually becomes hydrophobic. When a plant becomes hydrophobic it repels water instead of absorbing water. When this happens we have to break the surface tension on the soil to allow it to accept water again. This process usually takes 3-4 days of aggressive hand watering before we start to see a change in the volumetric water content. Volumetric Water Content (VMC) is the amount of moisture in the soil which is measured by a determined number based on the plants water requirements. At this point we feel we have the situation under control and are providing the troubled greens with the proper care they need for a full recovery.

Some positives thus far this summer include new flags throughout the golf course, bunker, and chipping greens. We also have completed a spray of the driving range which eradicated 90% of the goose grass and smut grass weeds. We are currently working on a plan to try and eliminate the signal grass that has called the range its home. Among all of the weather we have managed to apply a growth regulator to the fairways and an organic fertilizer to the tee surfaces as well. We also plan on fertilizing the fairways within the next week to build the nutrients back up after the rain flush.

MH - 400 Material Handler Rebuild

 The MH - 400 material handler is a crucial piece of equipment that helps with efficiency when hauling various bulk materials around the golf course. We use this particular machine for hauling sand while topdressing greens, tees, and appraoches. This unit also has an attachment for allowing the user to topdress fairways and other large areas needing sand.

A view of the snapped belt from underneath the MH - 400

During our first aerification this past May, our MH - 400 decided it had enough and snapped the conveyor belt. This was a blow to our overall efficiency during the aerification process and it was not going to be an easy fix. The conveyor belt is the single most important aspect of the machine other than the tractor you need to haul it with. Since the belt broke the MH - 400 was not able to move the sand out of the machine into the topdresser.

Rear view look at the machine midway through stripping it apart. Notice all the rust. 

 Once we determined the belt broke the next plan of attack was to strip the machine of all parts and assess the damage. Since the belt requires so many pieces of the MH - 400 to come off, more often than not the MH - 400 needs a complete makeover. Due to the age of the machine, this was going to be the case with our MH - 400.

Completely stripped machine ready for some body work.

 Once we stripped the machine of all necessary pieces we began to assess our situation and created an action plan for replacement parts. Since our particular machine is nearing the 14 year old stage, we felt it was necessary to rebuild as it would be a cost effective way to save us from not buying a new MH - 400.

Floor of the MH - 400 that houses the belt rollers waiting to be sanded, primed, and painted.

Roller assembly with primer

 To the left is the floor of the MH - 400 after it was sanded and primed. We determined that the best way to prolong this unit was to give it a couple coats of primer and seal the exposed metal with a product similar to Rhino Liner or Line X. The reason for the decision was to give our MH - 400 the best possible scenario to survive another 5 years. Below is a picture of the finished product before being installed back into the body of the MH - 400. This will protect the main roller assembly from sand and water corrosion which could potentially cause severe rust damage.

Roller assembly with a Rhino Lining type material.

Up close picture of the Rhino Lining material used to prevent damage to the metal frame.

Here is our finished product after many man hours and countless cans of paint. All that is left is a test run so we can adjust the tension on the belt and get the unit dialed in so we can put it back in service.

Finished product

Raise Them Right!

Christian is seen here leveling heads around greens. We use a device called the Level Lift to slowly ease the irrigation heads up until they are flush with the playing surface. The Level Lift does 90%of the work to raise the irrigation head. All Christian has to do once the irrigation head is level, is pack fresh sand around the irrigation head to prevent any settling. This irrigation head should be able to go another 2-3 years without needing any leveling once the process is complete. 

Aerification 5/12/14 - 5/15/14

 Left;
Aerification equipment staged and ready to go punch some holes.




Right:
Walk aerifiers punching holes using 3/4" tines on the driving range tee.

Aerification equipment in action. We used 3/4" tines to aerify all fairways and approaches. Tractor mounted 1298 Toro aerifiers help make the job quick and easy.

Left:
After the cores dry, we drag them with a steel drag mat to knock off all dirt leaving the thatch behind to be swept up for disposal.

Right:
Cody is blowing the leftover thatch into rows for the sweeper to pick it up.

Thatch removed from all playing surfaces on holes 1 through 8. 

The chipping green blanketed with 304 topdressing sand after a core aerification. The sand was dragged in to fill all holes to allow for better water movement and nutrient uptake.

Summer Aerification Dates

As many of you may already know summer is fast approaching for most. While most of our membership departs to venture back north, the GC Maintenance team stays behind to groom the golf course for the upcoming 2014/2015 season. During this time we will perform a host of jobs, including aerification. Now I know mentioning the word aerification is like finger nails across a chalkboard for most, but it is a necessary practice that benefits the health of the golf course.

The GC Maintenance team will perform 3 aerifications this summer. Below are the dates and scope of work that will be performed.

May 12-15  :    Greens, tees, fairways, approaches, and rough will all get cored aerified. We will apply a     layer of sand on greens, tees, and approaches. 

July 14-17  :      Greens, tees, fairways, and approaches will all get cored aerified. We will apply a layer of   sand on the greens, tees, and approaches.

September 15-18  :     Greens, tees, fairways, and approaches will all get cored aerified. We will apply a     layer of sand on the greens, tees, and approaches. 

We hope you have a safe, enjoyable summer!

Jupiter CC 

GC Maintenance

Winter Venting of Greens

The Hydroject is used to in place of your normal aerifier during the winter months. As you can see from the pictures below it creates a tiny hole in the surface of the green to allow for venting. It not only makes a hole in the ground, but also creates a channel for oxygen and new roots to form. It is a similar process as to our summer aerification, just not as disruptive to the playability of the green.

Raul with the Hydroject in the reverse position.

Resulting hole from the Hydroject. To the left is a ballmark repair tool to give the hole some size reference.

Raul with the Hydroject in the forward position.

FROST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Frost on #3 rough on the morning of 1/19/14

Frost on #17 on the morning of 1/19/14


The frost blanketed most of the golf course that morning with temperatures hovering around 40 degrees. Some of you might be asking why a frost around 40 degrees. the only answer I can give you is that we were in the upper 30's for a couple of days prior to this frost. When you have upper 30 degree weather with no frost and then a 40 degree morning with heavy dew. It creates the perfect recipe for a heavy frost. At that particular moment that morning the ground temperature was colder than the air temperature, thus making it the perfect scenario for the frost.

As you may have noticed the tees and fairways had no significant impact due to the frost. the reason being for the lack of damage is associated directly to the size of the grass blade. The rough has a bigger grass blade resulting in more surface area for the dew to set on, which in turn allows for a higher chance for a good frost to set up on the grass blade.

Damage 4 days later after the frost around #7 tee box.

Poa Annua

Poa Annua on the #18th tee

Poa Annua is an invasive winter weed that causes many unsightly problems in the south during the winter months. If not taken care of in a timely manner, it could cause the weed to spread into other parts of the golf course.

We are currently spraying Poa Annua throughout the course as we see new areas pop up. They key to this is getting on it early before it has a chance to establish a stronghold in the turf.

In addition to us spot treating nuisance areas, we have applied another pre-emergent. to the turf to reinforce the one we put out in September. This should allow for us to gain control over future outbreaks before it spreads to other areas of the golf course.

Poa Annua in the rough #1

Since we had tremendous Poa Annua pressure last season, it will take some time to build up enough pre-emergent efficacy before we start to see a drastic change in outbreaks. To clarify, we will always have small pockets of Poa Annua no matter how much pre-emergent you apply. Controlling it from this standpoint makes it a task that is very attainable in the early stages of the germination process. Depending on the results of our control this year, we will look into other pre-emergent products for the winter months. In our industry we have many useful products at our disposal. The trick is finding the one that suits our facility the best.