Game Changers

 Check out what showed up Thursday.  These are triplex mowers, and yes we will be using them on our greens from time to time.  These two new units are replacing 20 year old machines that we phased out of our mowing programs several years ago.  Why did we stop using the old triplexes?  Simply put, they were inefficient and posed a risk to our putting greens.  The old machines were slow.  Yes they could mow a green faster than the walking mower, but transporting from green to green was slow so overall there wasn't a huge time savings.  Most importantly is that the old machines used hydraulics to power propulsion and the cutting units. With hydraulics comes the potential for hydraulic leaks.  I'll never forget the first Member Guest Invitational with myself as superintendent in 1999.  We were mowing greens in the afternoon trying to get a blistering 10 on the stimpmeter (today our daily green speed average is about 11 on the stimpmeter) and a triplex blew a hydraulic line on the 18th green.  Today, you can still see where that oil leak occurred since we had to cut out the dead, oil soaked grass and  replace it with new sod. 

 A lot has changed since those days.  For one, we don't have to double cut or triple cut greens to get great green speed.  We have learned how to grow grass with less fertilizer and we even have products that slow the growth of grass so all that mowing is no longer necessary to produce fast green speeds.  Also we now have really neat greens rollers which help us get speed and smoothness.  But that's not all that's changed.  Mower manufactures have figured out how to eliminate hydraulics.  Take a closer look at the cutting unit of our new machines.

 The two lines going into the reel motor are not hydraulic hoses, they are wires.  This motor is powered by electricity.  In fact all the motors on this machine are powered by electricity.  The only oil in this machine is that which is in the engine. This machine has a small 2 cylinder diesel engine that drives the generator which creates the electricity to power all the motors.  So really there is absolutely no fear that this machine will leak oil on the greens.  It doesn't stop there, with the on-board computer, you can customize the mow speed and transport speed to maximize efficiency.  With 15 blades per reel there isn't a machine out there that can mow any faster.  Lastly, this baby transports from green to green super fast which really increases its overall productivity.  I could go on about this machine but I'm sure you've heard enough to know these things are "game changers".  With these as part of our fleet, we now have options.  If we need to mow super fast, we can do that.  If for some reason a double cut is necessary for that special event, we can easily do that.  Watch this video and see this amazing technology in action.

Finally, if you're on the course this coming week (which you should be since the forecast is perfect), you will notice a couple new things.  First, on the maintenance you'll see we're installing white dots which will replace the white line for the O.B. markers.  Why?  Well......the white line faded so there was certain times when it was difficult to see.  Yes we could paint it more often but the road is a mile long so that isn't cheap or easy.  Every time we paint the line, the area needs to be prepared with the pressure washer and like I said, the road is a mile long.  Washing a mile long road is tough.  The white dots are more permanent.  This of course is just a trial so please check them out and let me know what you think.

The other things you'll notice this week is the big dots on the fairways.  Each fairway will have one big green dot and one big red dot like you see in the picture below.  These markers represent the Committee's suggested locations for the new family tees.  Once the final location of these tees is decided, the painted dots will be replaced with permanent markers.  Adding these two short courses will give the golf course a wider range of suitability for all those different types of golfers.  Super young players or those that are just learning will like that they can reach the green in regulation.  Older players that have lost some yardage off tee can now play a course that is easier to score on.  When you score well, you're happier.  It's all about making golf more fun and part of that is keeping a good pace of play.    

If you're playing a course that is too long for your ability, you are taking too many swings.   The USGA and PGA have done a lot of research on the subject.  They have found that the magic number for keeping golf fun is 90.  If you can't break 90, you are not having enough fun to keep playing the game, AND you are taking too long which means your ruining the fun for the group following you.  Be courteous to others on the course and play to an appropriate set of tees.  Keep moving up to a shorter set of tees until you can consistently break 90.  It's good for you and for those that are waiting on you.  Click here to learn more about the family tee program.

Take that Mother nature

This says it all.  Nearly 8 inches of rain this month and it really didn't start raining till the 17th.  That's almost 6.5 inches above normal for the month, so let's just say, it poured!..  This really messed up my plan to punch the greens a second time with that small 1/4" tine.  When your plans depend on the cooperation of mother nature, you simply win some and you loose some, because Ms. Nature likes to keep you on your toes.  In this case, she beat me with my experimental aerification strategy, but I am definately winning the battle of me versus wet conditions.

Check out some of these pics from the record rain events of September 2013.  Above you see 12 greenside bunker washed out again.  All together I think the bunkers were washed out 3 times.  It takes a little work to shovel the sand back in place but the reality is we have some really awesome bunkers given we installed the sod liner during initial construction.  The liner is performing beyond my expectations.  The sand is simply washed out, but the only thing washing out is bunker sand.  The liner is keeping the native soil and rocks in place and the bunker sand remains completely clean and free of contamination.  I JUST LOVE IT!!!  Mother nature can't ruin our bunkers now.  

This puddle on #7 was impressive.

This puddle was between 5 and 8 green.  It's no surprise that this area is holding water.  Since it was always roughs before the renovation, it hasn't been on the top of our priority list.  Well right now it is fine turf and this new short mowed area is one of our favorites.  This area will be on the top of our list now.  Standing water here will soon be a thing of the past.

The area left of 12 is again one of those new short mowed collections areas and given it is brand new, it's not surprising that it doesn't drain well.  I say that because it you look at all our typical wet areas, you will notice they aren't wet anymore.  Why????????  One word....................Vertidrain!  Our new deep tine aerifier has corrected the drainage on nearly every one of our historically wet areas. ........Observe.

Above you see #2 fairway last week after receiving 8 inches of rain in the 13 days prior.

Here's #2 fairway a couple years ago following a rain event less severe that the one we just had this past month.  How cool is that??

Here's a picture of  15 fairway taken a couple days ago.  I'm sure you remember that swale holding water for several days following a heavy rain.  I'm not sure we will ever see standing water there again thanks to Mr. Vertidrain.

And look at the swale in front of #5.   Again, this picture was taken a couple days ago after receiving that 8 inch deluge.   In the past, following large rain events, we would have ducks swimming in a small pond fronting this green.  (by the way......I hate ducks).

Yes...........I have said it before and I will say it again, the Vertidrain and Kioti tractor purchase was probably the best money we have ever spent.  The golf course is not what it used  to be.  We are currently still able to mow every square inch of the property.  Hope you get a chance to come out and enjoy it.

Aeration Update

If you make it out to the Club this weekend, you should be pleasantly surprised with the condition of the greens considering they were punched on Monday, or just 5 days ago.  Above you see what they looked like Friday afternoon.  Basically they are playing just a little sandy and not bumpy at all.  Why are they so good?  Well this fall we are trying something a little different.

Instead of punching with a 1/2"  tine like you see on the right, we punched with a 1/4" tine like you see on the left.  Of course they are going to heal much faster with this strategy, but it also means we are removing much less organic matter (OM) and that could lead to softer surfaces that drain less readily.  I say "could" because honestly I'm not so sure which is why I want to try this out.  Clearly with the smaller tine we are disturbing a smaller percentage of the surface, but because the tine is thinner, we can punch deeper and actually remove the same amount of total material as with the larger tine.  We proved this on Monday when we used the same amount of sand as always to fill  the aeration holes.  Now the plan all along was to punch them again with this smaller tine in October so as to make up for the decreased surface disruption versus the larger tine. If that works out, we will get even more sand on the greens which means this method might actually do a better job of thatch management compared to our past treatment with the larger tine.

But time will tell and we will continue with this method until we actually can see if it is working positively or not. How will we determine the performance of this method?  By taking soil tests.  Above you can see the results of 4 years of soil testing.  If you look at these numbers, you can see that there really isn't a significant change in the values from 2009 up until this year.  Since 2009, we have done the same thing in the spring and fall with the 1/2" tine, and just in the last year, we have increased our frequency of solid tine venting significantly. I think it's safe to say everyone is happy with the firmness of the greens and the rate that they drain, so we don't need to get more aggressive necessarily.  So the idea is we change to the smaller tine which means the greens will be in better shape immediately after punching, and simply punch them an additional time to make up for removing less surface area by using that smaller tine.  The only way to know how this is going to work is to try it for a while and keep testing to measure the results.

Now don't forget that we've added another aeration treatment in the last year...............the deep tine aerifier. In the picture above, you see this machine in action, and click on the video below to see it working on the second green this past Monday morning.

I just love this machine and with it we have totally changed the way the course drains.  I can honestly say I don't think there's a situation of slow drainage on this property, that can't be fixed with this machine.  On Monday we started aeration of the greens by first running this machine over them using a 1/2" tine that was punching 8" deep.

Then the surface was punched with the 1/4" tine at 3" deep.

The surface was cleaned off using backpack blowers.

Sand was applied and brushed in.

Extra sand was blown into piles and picked up.

Finally, the greens were rolled with the "one ton roller" to correct the surface disruption.

Again, they turned out really good and are rolling great just days after completing the aeration process.

The weather has been perfect for aeration so we also have punched and sanded most of the fairways this week.  In the next 24 hours, it's predicted that we will get over an inch of rain.  If that happens, the sand will get washed in nicely and the course should be ready for play right away.  I hope you find time to get out there and check it out. 

Aerification sights and sounds

I know I said in my last post that my next post would be about the master plan but I wanted to share something else real quick.  First of all here is how the back of 7 green turned out after installing the run off run on.

It is really neat and another thing these pictures show is how much sunlight is on the back of #7.  You'll remember there used to be a huge fir on the back of this green.  Back in October we removed the tree since it had simply outgrown its space.  It was seriously shading the green and also competing with the Garry Oak that resides back left of the green complex.  With the tree removed and the run off installed, I must say this is one of my favorite spots on the property right now.  Can't wait to play golf here and decide whether to chip it or putt it.  Anyway, we are in the middle of punching and sanding the golf course.  Actually we are almost done and it happened quickly this year with our new fairway puncher.  Watch the video below to see the new TORO 864 married to the new Kioti DK55.  Everyone knows Kubota is a great tractor but I'm here to tell you the best Orange tractor is the Kioti

This next video is of the core harvester.  The Cushman Core harvester has been around for decades and has changed very little.  We use it on the TORO Workman.  We have one on a Diesel powered rig and one on a gas powered rig.  The newer rigs like ours have high flow hydraulics giving the old core harvester almost more power than it can handle.  These machines work well but I'll tell you they require a lot of attention.  Joe and Jason spend hours preparing these machines for the abuse of fairway aerification.  Let's face it, if you get the weather to punch, you want to get it done quick so break downs are unacceptable.  In this video you'll see Dustin in the back shoveling like a machine.  This is how we do it so the driver can just drive.  With the guy in the back distributing the plugs, the driver can go "non stop" till the bed is full.  This is how one harvester machine can keep up with our new really cool, really fast  TORO 864

So after harvesting the plugs, sand is applied to the fairways.  The next video shows our 1992 Ford 3930 tractor pulling the Tycrop MH400 which spreads the sand.  The Ford is pretty old but for the last several years, all she has done is pull the Tycrop and she does that really well.  Check out Doug topdressing #5 fairway.  Doug is really good at getting a uniform application.

This next video is of a sand delivery.  We apply over 700 tons of sand with each application to the fairways so we get 17+ truck loads of sand delivered.  What you'll see here is only half a load.  We consider the truck and transfer unit one load which is usually about 40 tons.

With decent weather it takes just about a week to punch and sand fairways.  I know it is an inconvenience but I think most of you will agree it is worth it to have the turf quality we have come to expect.  This post was to show that we have some really cool equipment which makes the aerification process fast and somewhat painless.  It also shows how well  the iPhone takes movies.  If it wasn't for my new iPhone, making these movies would take too long and I wouldn't bother sharing this stuff with you.  I took these movies and posted them to youtube all with the iPhone and in just minutes.

Great News! We Punched Greens!!!

Now it's pouring down rain which is perfect.  This will wash all the sand in very nicely.  I know most of you are not thinking that us punching greens this past Monday is "great news".  As always the greens were just getting really good.  At least that's what everyone seems to say the day before we punch greens.  But really, punching greens this past Monday is great news because it's a week before our scheduled date, and that means they will be healed up a week earlier and essentially you get an extra week of great greens this spring.

Here's Kevan putting the first roll on the greens after the sand has been drug in.  

This always makes them roll so nice.

Here's Joe dragging the greens again yesterday which we followed up with the first mowing, which basically just picks up extra sand and as you can imagine it dulls the mowers big time.  This final drag was really critical because it filled up any remaining holes,  packed sand in all the holes, and allowed us to equally distribute the extra sand.  In the spring we don't always get a chance to get this final drag in because it rains so often.  Dragging sand on greens is only possible if the surface is dry.  Yesterday morning the rain had not moved in yet and there was a steady breeze so by 9 am we were dragging and mowing.  Again, this almost never happens so I would have to say we had the best spring weather I've ever seen for greens aerification and so you can imagine the process went as good as I've ever seen it.  Below is what they look like this morning and they are rolling pretty good.

So like I said, yesterday morning the rain was still holding off so we decided to get out our brand new TORO 864 and punch some fairways.  We did indeed punch fairways 10 and 12 before the rain hit and they turned out great.  Looks like we will get a chance to sand them next Monday.  Below is Tim on #12 fairway with our new fairway puncher.  Click on the video and watch how smooth this thing is in action.

CLICK ON THE VIDEO BELOW TO WATCH THIS AMAZING MACHINE

 Lastly, this picture below is of the blog, specifically the top right corner of the page.  Take note of the "follow by e-mail".  Put your e-mail address in there and click submit.  Now you will never miss a blog post again.  Every time I add something new to the blog, you will get an e-mail.  This way you don't have to keep checking the blog anticipating something new.  You simply check your e-mail, which I assume you do often anyway, and If I've added a blog post, you will have it right there.  Don't pass on this awesome feature.

Mulch.....Now......Hurry!

Today we sent the rough mower out but its job today is not to mow rough.  Its job today is simply to mulch.  The oak trees are defoliating rapidly and luckily we have yet to have a major wind and rain event.  Without wind, the leaves fall straight down and the new TORO 4300 can chop them up nicely.  If we were to have any kind of wind event now, leaves would be blown all over the place which means we would have to condense them into piles or rows which would be too dense with leaves to chop up. If we get any kind of rain with that wind, now we have wet, dense areas of leaves and that's the worst conditions for mulching.  Conditions are perfect for mulching right now.  No wind and dry weather.  So today we are trying to cover as much ground as possible, focusing on just mowing up leaves.  Every leaf we chop up now is one less leaf we will have to pick up after our first major windy, rainy day which is bound to be any day now and looks like what we're in for tomorrow.

Deep Slicing Fairways

This medieval looking machine is made by Bannerman and although it looks primative, it has a very advanced slicing action that creates significant subsurface disruption with very little surface disruption.  Today we were running this thing over the fairways to relieve compaction below our core aeration depth.  You can see by this next picture that this thing penetrates deeply.  It slices about 7 to 8 inches deep.

The beauty of this machine is the low impact to the surface.  Here is a picture of the fairway immediately after running over it with the Bannerman.

Now watch the Bannerman in action by clicking on the video below.

We'd be done now, but..........

This is the TORO Procore 660.  It is a tractor mounted aerifier capable of punching many different kinds of holes in any turf area.  It really is an awesome machine but we've really run ours beyond its normal life expectancy.  Our machine was purchased in 2000 and since then it has puched millions of holes and run for thousands of hours.  In preparation for this weeks fairway aerification, we overhauled it by replacing most of the bearings to insure dependable performance.  Unfortunately this week we have been plagued with unforseeable problems related to the main gear box which is its direct connection point to the tractor PTO shaft.  This means we will have to order parts if we want to repair the machine.  By the time the parts would arrive here, our window of opportunity considering the golf schedule and weather would be lost.  That is why you see us today using a walk behind type of machine on the fairways.  This pic shows Kevan punching the 18th fairway with our TORO Procore 648.

 We have two of these machines but one of them is an older model that dosn't do a very nice job because it doesn't hold down the turf as well as the newer model.  So we are going to finish fairways this friday with this one machine, but we would already be done now if the TORO 660 wouldn't have had problems.  Thank goodness the weather is going to hold out for us.  We need dry weather for the fairway aerification process and this past week has been perfect.  Looks like rain coming in for next week so I am very happy we're going to get this done before the weekend.  I can remember vividly the nightmare last year when we had over 2" of rain between September 15th and the 20th.  That resulted in a muddy aerification and a long recovery period.  This year it's really going well.  Everything is dragging in nicely.  The rain thats coming next week will wash it all in and the course will recover rapidly meaning great late fall and winter conditions can be expected.  At this point, I'm not sure if I will repair the old TORO 660 since our new fairway aerator has been ordered and should be here soon.  Our new machine is the TORO Procore 864 and it is amazing.  Expect a blog post explaining the benefits of the new machine when it arrives.

I'm in LOVE with a mower!

Here she is.  Our new TORO GROUNDSMASTER 4300.  Let me just say I am in love with this machine and this blog post is intended to tell you why.  In this picture she is getting the once over by our mechanic to make sure she was delivered "ready to go".  Joe will check all the fluid levels and make sure every fitting and bolt is tight before it goes out on its maiden voyage.  This machine is brand new and came with a price tag of $53,000.  Yes, that is a ridiculous amount of money and hard to swallow but this is a very specialized piece of equipment and should serve the club well for over 5 years.  She is replacing our Jacobsen AR5 which is in the picture below.  The AR5 was purchased 5 years ago and cost $45,000.

That was a lot of money back then and I guess it still is but the worst thing about it was the AR5 came with many problems.  All of the rollers and caster wheels on the cutting deck required costly maintenance.  She blew hoses almost every month from a poorly designed steering system which meant hydraulic oil leaks in our roughs was a common occurrence.  The frame cracked and which Jacobsen repaired free of charge, but it had to be off site for that repair so we were without a mower for over a week.  In reality though the AR5 was not a complete waste of money.  It simply was a case of early release.  The AR5 was the first of its kind as the industry was shifting from mowing rough with reels, to mowing roughs with rotarys.  It takes a lot of horsepower to mow with rotary blades and up until recently, that kind of horsepower was not achievable from a small lightweight power plant which is essential on golf course equipment.  We were one of the first owners of the AR5 and since it was really the first fine turf rotary mower on the market, it had some issues that have since been improved on.  Anyway, let me introduce the TORO 4300 to you and show you why I love it.  First and foremost, it cuts rough like no other using a proven cutting deck design that TORO has been using for several years now on its smaller machine, the sidewinder which you see below.  We have two of these and they handle all the roughs around the greens and tees.  Below you see the sidewinder.

Now below is a picture of the cutting deck on the 4300.  Notice the similarities.  I love the way this deck cuts and it recycles clippings very well leaving behind very few clipping clumps.

Also the rollers both front and back have not given us any problems.  The same rollers are on the sidewinder machines and to date we have not had to rebuild one after several thousand hours of operation.  Below you see the turbo charged power plant on this beauty.

The 4300 has plenty of power to mow even tall wet grass which of course we see all the time here in the great Pacific Northwest.  Below you see underneath this machine and how they used steel lines wherever they could instead of hoses.  Steel lines hold up much better than hoses over time so we should see much less oil leaks on the course.

Oh yeah, the picture above also shows the business end of the cutting deck and you can clearly see the aggressive blade we use that pulverizes grass, leaves, pines cones, and everything else that gets in its path.  Our mechanic Joe loves the accessibility of the filters for easy maintenance and little design features like good clearance around fittings for repairing or replacing lines and hoses.  Check out this pic.

Of course the crew loves operating this baby.  It is the most comfortable machine to operate in the fleet with a control center that has everything at your fingertips.  Below you can see the helm of the 4300.

So in closing, you'll have to trust me that the 53K was worth it on the new 4300.  I mean the last thing we need is "out of control" rough.  With this machine, we can keep the rough under control because the only time it will be in the shop is too change the blades.  We won't be wasting time and money keeping the decks in working order and we won't be repairing dead turf areas from oil leaks.  This is no experiment on my part because I know from experience as this new 4300 is actually our second one.  Our first 4300 has been out on the course for over a year with no issues.  I just love it.  Just don't tell my wife I have a new love at the golf course, she'll be jealous.  Click here to go to the TORO website and see all the features and specs on the 4300.