Spot on 13

There is a sizable scar on the back left of 13 green. We had a roller malfunction on this area last week and then there were some deer that got onto it and roughed it up even more. We topdressed and seeded it as well as putting some plugs there from other spots on the green.

The outsides are still slow in recovery in some spots...something we are really working on while soil temperatures are still high enough to continue growth. We have been making weekly nutrient and bio stimulant applications on these areas to promote growth. With some continued pushing they should continue to get better.

Range

We finished the sand at the range bunker today. Still have to put some sod around the edges next week.

We will continue the drainage work at the range next week. Once this drainage goes in I think it will really help the range from staying so wet, especially along the right side.

We borrowed a trencher with a conveyor on it they really helps to speed the process up. It eliminates a lot of the manual work of shoveling up the piles. This may be one piece of equipment that we consider purchasing in the next couple of years to install more drainage.

Greens

The greens are starting to dry down a little after our week and a half of rain and no sunshine. They should start to pick up some speed to get to our ideal speed. I'm still working on the outsides of the greens, babying them back to full health.

The rest of the course is drying out as well, but some of the interior holes are still pretty wet. This time of year the Bermuda doesn't really suck up the water because it's not really actively growing. There's an outside chance that we might be able to be driving on the fairways tomorrow. We will check in the morning to see if it's a possibility.

Bunker at range

We made some really good progress on the bunker at the range today. It's amazing what you can do with some labor and a little dry weather. We will be doing a ton of work at the range tomorrow afternoon. A bunch of drainage will be going in on the west end and work will continue on the bunker.

Greens aeration

We punched greens with a small needle tine yesterday and pulled a core on the outsides of the greens were we experienced thinning this summer.

The greens were actually starting the thin out a little in the low areas from all the rain and no sun for a week and a half. Nothing bad - just some minor stuff that will disappear with some sunshine. The holes will help everything dry down.

Sun

We might see the sun today for the first time in more than a week!

Leaves

The course is trashed after that rain last night. We are working on blowing everything but it gets difficult when it stays windy - nothing really goes where you want it to go. I guess that's the price you pay for a little rain but I'll take it because we really needed the rain.

Rain

Received a much needed 0.6" of rain yesterday. The Bermuda doesn't really suck up the water this time of year because it's not actively growing. For this reason it does not green up as fast as it would after some rain in the summer.

Brent Graham, CGCS
Director of Golf Maintenance
Two Rivers Country Club
1950 Two Rivers Rd.
Williamsburg, VA 23185
Cell: 757-592-0840
Office: 757-258-4606
Bgraham@tworiversclub.com
Governorsland.com

It's dry...but it could be worse

We could be at Murifield. The Presidents Cup has some really wet, soft conditions. Some of the approach shots aren't even releasing from their pitch marks on the greens and the ones that are have some huge ball marks. I took this picture where it a little difficult to see but the spike marks are terrible...you can see every footprint. I'll take our fast and firm over that soggy and soft any day of the week. I couldn't imagine having a tournament of that magnitude and get that much rain the week of the tournament - you can see that they haven't even been able to mow fairways.

Leak 9

Had to isolate 9 this morning because of this leak near the tee. You can kind of see the turf bubble to the right of the head. This is probably a blown service tee (the fitting that attaches the head to the mainline). Add it to the last for Monday.....

Practice bunker

Still working on the practice bunker at the range. Once we cleaned it out, the edges were pretty screwed up and needed some work. We should have a good chance to knock this out the next two weeks once we get through all
the tournaments.

Irrigation

There's only one employee that enjoys it being this dry and having to spot water every morning....Duff. Lots of heads to chase.

Soil applications

Making an application of a wetting agent and some nutrients today. It's important to keep our nutritional levels where they have to be this time of year to take advantage of some great root growing weather.

The second pic is of the gyp-pot-mag we put down behind the sprayer. This is a combo product that allows us to make one application with one guy and get all the gypsum, pot ash, and magnesium down we need versus making 3 applications with 3 different products (using 3 guys). This is a great product to use outside of aeration to keep the levels where they need to be. When we have holes in the greens I use the three separate products and put them down much heavier.

All of these products have to be watered in to get them into the soil. This is the reason some days you may see us turning on the heads in the morning just in front of play. On days that we are just watering to keep the moisture levels up, I set up the computer to have the heads run at night.

Rolling

A pic of the roller following behind the mowers. The greens are rolling really good and the edges are almost recovered.

Dry!

The course is extremely dry right now. The rough is starting to so dormant early because of the extreme dryness and some really cool nights. This makes for some good playing conditions, just not a real pretty, lush look.

The tees and fairways still look really green because we have better irrigation coverage in the fairways and we also apply wetting agents to these areas to help prevent them from drying out as bad.