Chemical app

Watering in second spring dead spot application. 

Brent Graham, CGCS

Two Rivers Country Club

1950 Two Rivers Rd.

Williamsburg, VA 23185

Office: 757-258-4606

Ropes

I hate ropes.  I made a suitable replacement for #12 and 9. The posts have large nails in the bottom so they can be easily moved to manage cart traffic.  

Brent Graham, CGCS

Two Rivers Country Club

1950 Two Rivers Rd.

Williamsburg, VA 23185

Office: 757-258-4606

Club islands

We sodded a few to Bermuda about a month ago. They look great. I would like to start doing a bunch more in the club parking lot. 

Brent Graham, CGCS

Two Rivers Country Club

1950 Two Rivers Rd.

Williamsburg, VA 23185

Office: 757-258-4606

Irrigation

44 leaking heads and 8 line leaks fixed in 3 weeks. Can't wait to shut this thing off for the winter!

Brent Graham, CGCS

Two Rivers Country Club

1950 Two Rivers Rd.

Williamsburg, VA 23185

Office: 757-258-4606

Watering in chem

We are busy spraying this time of year.  It is time to get down the first round of spring dead spot control along with fall pre-emerg. These chemicals have to get watered in.  I would prefer not to run the heads and really dry everything out, but we have to get these products down and watered in with the soil temps around 70. 

Brent Graham, CGCS

Two Rivers Country Club

1950 Two Rivers Rd.

Williamsburg, VA 23185

Office: 757-258-4606

Greens and rounds

The greens look tired. You can tell we have been busy the last couple of weeks. Still rolling well.

Brent Graham, CGCS

Two Rivers Country Club

1950 Two Rivers Rd.

Williamsburg, VA 23185

Office: 757-258-4606

Course conditions

There are still a few areas out there that are a little soft but course is good to go. Carts in fwys. Greens mowed and rolled. Rolling really good...maybe a little on the fast side. 

Brent Graham, CGCS

Two Rivers Country Club

1950 Two Rivers Rd.

Williamsburg, VA 23185

Office: 757-258-4606

Wet fwys

We had an irrigation mishap that really threw a wrench into what we had planned this morning. All the fairways and rough irrigation ran last night for some reason. Carts will be in the rough today, maybe it it dries out, we will open fwys. 

On the positive side 14 was one of the only fwys we were able to mow this morning. That says a lot about all the drainage we put in that fwy.  It went from one of our worst to one of our best!

Brent Graham, CGCS

Two Rivers Country Club

1950 Two Rivers Rd.

Williamsburg, VA 23185

Office: 757-258-4606

Algae on greens

We have had a major algae flush on greens after all this rain.  This is a result of watering with garbage well water for the last month during the dry spell. It's worst on our driest greens - the ones that we never really have any issues with regular summer stress (river holes, 1, pg, 9, etc).  The greens that we don't hand water as much (14, 5, etc) hardly have any algae on them. Also I included a pic of the bunker on 16.  Where it get a hit with greens irrigation heads there is algae in the bunker.

We waited and tried to spray them this morning but the rain never let up. To best control the problem, we need to have the fungicide dry on the leaf blade. We will spray in the morning. 

The greens were vented with needle tines and a light topdressing in anticipation of this issue on Thursday. It helped, but not as much as I would have hoped. 

The good news is with a little air movement, some sunlight and a fungicide application, it should disappear in a few days. It's not something we really worry about damaging the greens. 

I also might punch them with some knife tines on Monday to get some extra oxygen in there to dry them out. 

All in all I'm glad it rained, but this is the perfect example of why dry is better than wet in the summer. It's always better to be able to control moisture levels in greens to my exact specifications. 

Brent Graham, CGCS

Two Rivers Country Club

1950 Two Rivers Rd.

Williamsburg, VA 23185

Office: 757-258-4606

Bunkers

The bunkers are really inconsistent right now. Some are really firm and wet and some are soft. With the amount of irrigation we are having to run every night to keep the Bermuda alive, a lot gets into the bunkers and makes them very wet and firm. Some bunkers don't receive as much water like the right side of 5 fwy and they are softer. 

Brent Graham, CGCS

Two Rivers Country Club

1950 Two Rivers Rd.

Williamsburg, VA 23185

Office: 757-258-4606

Hand watering.

http://www.usga.org/content/usga/home-page/course-care/forethegolfer/2017/why-are-putting-greens-watered-during-the-day-.html

Brent Graham, CGCS

Two Rivers Country Club

1950 Two Rivers Rd.

Williamsburg, VA 23185

Office: 757-258-4606

Swing and a miss.

Another miss. Rather have this than the amount of rain the VB guys have been getting with this heat, but a little would sure help.  It has become a shop gathering watching radar after handwatering from 6 am- 5 pm recently. I'm sponsoring a party for the boys for next rain event.  Hope it's soon. 

Brent Graham, CGCS

Two Rivers Country Club

1950 Two Rivers Rd.

Williamsburg, VA 23185

Office: 757-258-4606

Dry

Last rain we have had was 4th of July and that was about .2".  Trying to keep up with watering. Having no one playing in afternoons with this heat really helps us. We are able to get around quickly on greens and spot water Bermuda. 

Brent Graham, CGCS

Two Rivers Country Club

1950 Two Rivers Rd.

Williamsburg, VA 23185

Office: 757-258-4606

Wow

Oh my lord.....do we have some sprigs to clean up tomorrow. 

Brent Graham, CGCS

Two Rivers Country Club

1950 Two Rivers Rd.

Williamsburg, VA 23185

Office: 757-258-4606

Bunkers

http://www.usga.org/content/usga/home-page/course-care/regional-updates/west-region/2017/five-reasons-why-bunkers-are-not-consistent.html

Brent Graham, CGCS

Two Rivers Country Club

1950 Two Rivers Rd.

Williamsburg, VA 23185

Office: 757-258-4606

Greens

Greens still look ok, but we have had to really stay on them with the hoses during this dry spell. 

By Monday it will be 21 straight days of play on the greens. It will be a much needed break for them on Monday without any play. We have had quite a few days with 100+ rounds on them. 

We are going to change cups in the middle of the day today to spread out some of the foot traffic. 

Brent Graham, CGCS

Two Rivers Country Club

1950 Two Rivers Rd.

Williamsburg, VA 23185

Office: 757-258-4606

Dry

It got dry real quick!  We pumped more well water in the last 2 weeks than we did all of June and July last year. 

Brent Graham, CGCS

Two Rivers Country Club

1950 Two Rivers Rd.

Williamsburg, VA 23185

Office: 757-258-4606

Tees

Just finished the new tees on 3 and 12. They look pretty good. Should be ready for play in a few weeks. Put Zeon zoysia on the tee tops and Bermuda around the edge.  Other Zeon on the course: range targets, 1 white, 1 red, 13 red, around putting green.

We also installed a drain at the beginning of 6 fairway where water had been sitting resulting in thin Bermuda. That was sodded with the tees. 

Brent Graham, CGCS

Two Rivers Country Club

1950 Two Rivers Rd.

Williamsburg, VA 23185

Office: 757-258-4606

Mowing

Trying to get caught up on all the mowing after all the rain the last couple of days. The Bermuda is officially out of bed and raging at full speed. Rain and humidity fixed that problem. 

Brent Graham, CGCS

Two Rivers Country Club

1950 Two Rivers Rd.

Williamsburg, VA 23185

Office: 757-258-4606

Greens

Greens are starting to heal a little after last week's aeration. This hot, humid weather the last few days doesn't make me feel real good with all the sand we have on them.  Hopefully some rain and cooler temps will cure what ails us this week. 

Brent Graham, CGCS

Two Rivers Country Club

1950 Two Rivers Rd.

Williamsburg, VA 23185

Office: 757-258-4606

Greens

Finished greens aeration yesterday after an outing on Monday followed by a 2" down pour. We got a lot of material out of them...which is good. I am making an aggressive attempt to decrease organic in the top inch of the greens profile. 

Brent Graham, CGCS

Two Rivers Country Club

1950 Two Rivers Rd.

Williamsburg, VA 23185

Office: 757-258-4606

Rain

Getting a little dry out there. Was hoping for rain, but having to go the artificial route this morning.

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

Grain in bermuda

The fairways seem a little tighter with the cross cutting we have been doing. I'm trying to get rid of some of the grain in the fairways.  It was getting a little excessive.  Completely different lie depending on which line you were on in the fairway. It is getting much better. 

Greens

Greens look good. The wind is really going to firm things up this afternoon. The Bermuda should really start kicking with these heat. 

Brent Graham, CGCS

Two Rivers Country Club

1950 Two Rivers Rd.

Williamsburg, VA 23185

Office: 757-258-4606

Looking good

Fairways

Bermuda got an early wake up call this year. It's looking good. Still a little growing left to go to completely fill in. The recent cooler nights have slowed things down a little which isn't a bad thing.

Bunkers

Been working hard on bunkers the last couple of days. Working on restoring the edges on low areas and moving some sand around. These things were pretty jacked up from all the rain and the big winds the last 10 days. 

Looking good now. Slow and steady wins. This is a long process. Should have them all completes by tomorrow or Thursday. 

Brent Graham, CGCS

Two Rivers Country Club

1950 Two Rivers Rd.

Williamsburg, VA 23185

Office: 757-258-4606

why we aerate greens

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=863Ix8czcoY&list=PLnU5qUEfww3cOAU8iTQTUpF5S4UqhXJka

 

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

 

http://www.usga.org/content/usga/home-page/course-care/regional-updates/west-region/2017/eight-reasons-why-putting-greens-play-differently-in-the-afterno.html

Brent Graham, CGCS

Two Rivers Country Club

1950 Two Rivers Rd.

Williamsburg, VA 23185

Office: 757-258-4606

Greens

Greens have healed up good after aeration with this heat. We are 10 days out and they look pretty good. Still need another light topdrrssing next week to smooth out any bumps. We will be making our first growth regulator application this week to be able to keep consistent speeds throughout the day.

Brent Graham, CGCS

Two Rivers Country Club

1950 Two Rivers Rd.

Williamsburg, VA 23185

Office: 757-258-4606

Getting it done

Finished aeration today, fixed drains on 14, mowed out...getting a lot done now that the guys are here. Still 2 short but should have those guys soon. It's amazing what you can get accomplished with a little experienced labor. We are still about 2 weeks behind but gaining ground fast. 

Brent Graham, CGCS

Two Rivers Country Club

1950 Two Rivers Rd.

Williamsburg, VA 23185

Office: 757-258-4606

Storm

1.5" in 20 minutes.

Brent Graham, CGCS

Two Rivers Country Club

1950 Two Rivers Rd.

Williamsburg, VA 23185

Office: 757-258-4606

Rain

The course is trashed again. We just finished fixing bunkers and the are worse now than the were last time. The amigos get here on Sunday so we should be back in ship shape in a week and a half. 

Remember...we punch greens on Monday and Tuesday. 

Brent Graham, CGCS

Two Rivers Country Club

1950 Two Rivers Rd.

Williamsburg, VA 23185

Office: 757-258-4606

Rain

The bunkers are waxed...again. I need my amigos a week early. They will be here on the 10th. 

Brent Graham, CGCS

Two Rivers Country Club

1950 Two Rivers Rd.

Williamsburg, VA 23185

Office: 757-258-4606

It's spring...again

Everything is starting to look green again. Fairways have really popped in the last couple days. With this green up I have been mapping fairways with a drone to record where all of our worst spring dead spots are. I used a much more expensive fungicide last fall on the approaches and tees and it made a huge difference in those areas. This year I will be mapping with a drone, saving those files, then bring them out in the fall when we have to start spraying for spring dead spot to see where we need to spot spray the fairways based on disease severity the prior year. This should improve the effectiveness and save us thousands of dollars versus spraying the entire fairways. Plus I will have some really neat pictures for the blog.

Course cleanup

Finally got all the bunkers fixed and all the sand depths checked. I took about a week. 

The course is starting to get cleaned up again. We mowed and fertilized fairways today, getting ready for some warm weather next couple of weeks. 

The amigos show up....hopefully.....on the 9th. Christmas in April for me...only better. 

Brent Graham, CGCS

Two Rivers Country Club

1950 Two Rivers Rd.

Williamsburg, VA 23185

Office: 757-258-4606

Collars and Bermudagrass

The collars look great for as early as it is. Hopefully this Rollercoaster weather doesn't ding it up.

The tees, approaches and collars were treated with a different chemistry and much more expensive fungicide in the fall compared to what we have been using in the past. My goal was to try and improve the spring dead spot that we have been dinged up with in the spring on sand based areas (tees, approaches, collars).  It's still early, but I can tell already that it conditions are much better.  

I just hope that the unseasonably warm weather followed by a few days of really cold temperatures.  My concern is that the cold will set already green turf back, making it difficult to get things back to ideal, peak conditions. Time shall tell.

Brent Graham, CGCS

Two Rivers Country Club

1950 Two Rivers Rd.

Williamsburg, VA 23185

Office: 757-258-4606

Re: Projects

SCAN_20170220.pdf