1 This e-mail was sent to the club on Wednesday May 21, 2014 by a member of Willow Fork Country Club.I thought I would try to answer some of these topics.
It is inexcusable for the greens to be in the shape they are in.
It is the absolute worst and has been for a while. Anyone should
have been able to tell that there was a disease problem early on - there is
absolutely no way they should have been cut down to the level they were for the
Member/Member.
It is inexcusable for the greens to be in the shape they are in-Are we talking about the putting green? if so, yes there is an issue whether it would be drainage issues, traffic issues, disease issues-I will get that figured out. It take me time to get test results back from disease and soil testing labs.
It is the absolute worst and has been for a while. Are we talking about #1,2,3 &18 green, if so, Poa Annua which is a winter weed appeared starting back in January, Since January 6th-5 herbicide application have been applied to the putting surfaces of these greens and absolute no kill resulted. I have pictures of me pulling the plant out by hand and one single root holding that plant to life-yet our available products would not terminate the life of these poa annua plants. For 2015, I am looking into different steps to get better control, the EPA has removed the top 2 products that have been used for years that were successful, they are not available for use anymore!
Anyone should have been able to tell that there was a disease problem early on-I'm confused can I be educated of what type of disease our greens suffered through this winter. Very little Bipolaris Leaf Spot was detected and treated compared to years past. Just 2 years ago holes #2,3,4,5,7,14, & putting green were devastated with disease every year. It seems like it was almost just acceptable that we were going to lose grass on those greens. Willow Fork golf course maintenance staff began to investigate the drainage on these greens and found huge problems. After a full winter of doing drainage repairs 19 out of 20 greens now have grass completely covering them throughout the winter month and spring months.
There is absolutely no way they should have been cut down to the level they were for the Member/Member-Greens were lowered 1/64" of an inch??? and then double cut and doubled rolled for week before. Have we already forgotten the temperatures had dropped significantly the week of the event? That's devastating to the turf!!! Lowering the greens a 1/64" of an inch, has no devastation to the turf, whether it would have been in the spring, summer, fall, or winter.
The lack of grass on the fairways is also deplorable - I have played
a number of the area courses and by FAR our fairways are the worst.
The lack of grass on the fairways is also deplorable-I will not apply fertilizer down to the fairways and/or roughs until the 150 temperature degree rule is met. If you do not understand the 150 temperature degree rule, there is a write up about it in this blog. This is a huge investment for Willow Fork, fertilizer will be applied once it will work. Every fairway has grass completely covering it. We do have watering issues to deal with, very few people want to accept this as part of our issue but we do have to meet permits on the amount of water that is applied on a yearly basis. Just 10 years ago water was free and you could use all the water you wanted here at Willow Fork Country Club today we are paying $2.25 p/1000 gallons. Right know our annual cost to pump water from the ground to our lakes is estimated $88,000.00. I have commented that we should begin to charge members $2.25 p/round of golf to help in compensating the cost, but even then that would not fix the problem because the water authorities control the amount you are allowed to pump from the ground. Every year our permitted amount is lowered by the Fort Bend Water Authority. In our near future, we are supposed to be receiving effluent water. This is supposed to help in offsetting the cost of groundwater but does not offset the amount we will be permitted for. They (water authority) are now 2 years late getting here.
by FAR our fairways are the worst.-Wow-hear we are mowing fairways twice a week, we have already aerified them plus I cannot tell you the amount of members that have complimented the turf this year.
The range is an absolute joke and it can't be blamed on the kids -
there is absolutely no sand spread to fill in the divots.
Again, I am going back to the 150 temperature degree rule. When you add the night time and day time temperatures together and you don't reach 150, then grass is not in full strides of growing. Sure it's green but that doesn't mean it's growing. In order for an area such as the driving range-grass must be in the full stride of growth in order to recover from the impact of damage it receives. Yes, I'll confess more sand should be applied to the driving range tee. Tuesday May 27th the tee box is scheduled for a heavy top dressing and plus an additional fertilizer application. Already 4 fertilizer applications have been made since mid-April, (I'm going to say it again) the 150 temperature rule has just barely been met, just turf recovery is in progress.
The
bunkers on the course are poorly conditioned and the lack of sand in them is
fairly obvious.
Conditioned
1. Have a significant influence on or to determine the manner of outcome of something.
2. Bring (something) into the desired state for use.
I have been asked throughout the years why do we rake traps with the trap rake machine? Really a simple answer, we have 65 bunkers to get ready for play, 5 out of 7 days of the week we have play starting on the front 9 and back 9 as early as 7:00 A.M. In order for our staff to get the bunkers ready for play, the trap rake is our quickest route.
Drainage is another issue we have, I do not even know when Willow Fork did the last bunker renovation to the greenside bunkers, my guess it had to be in the late 90's or early 2000's. You can put the finest drainage systems in and they typically last 7 years on average. Our worst bunker conditions usually occur after heavy rains or during a rainy cycle. Rain causes the sand to erode from the edges of the bunkers and then coincides with soil. When soil mixes into the sand it stops the water from being able to drain through and then we pumping water from traps. Just last week 4.75" fell in one day. Bunkers were then pumped in 2 days and raked, but even then the sand is still wet so it does not rake as well as dry sand does.
the lack of sand in them is fairly obvious. Yes some bunkers lack sand and additional sand is planned for later this summer. Also, I am working with Century Golf on a bunker renovation plan.
I am also frustrated that we are spending money (the maintenance pictures are ridiculous bc that is what is supposed to happen) on little projects that do little to the improvement of the golf course. Maybe we should improve the quality of the course such as:
I am also frustrated that we are spending money (the maintenance pictures are ridiculous bc that is what is supposed to happen) on little projects that do little to the improvement of the golf course.
2014 improvements so far:
Cart Path repairs-we all used to the breaks in the cart paths and you just took the bump and went on. This is normally considered a capital project, however I wanted to make an immediate impact on the repairs. Our staff went in and broke out all the necessary concrete-installed rebar, plus additional rebar supports were installed into the ground to keep the repair from moving and we then poured new concrete. The pictures are there just to show the membership what we are doing. Repairs took place on holes #1,4,6,8,9,10,16-these were the worst of the worst. I could have chose to not do the repairs and just leave it up to the corporation to do the repairs but I wanted to make an impact and I knew a majority of the membership would appreciate it. The expense was quite a bite out of our budget to this project.
Leveled Tee Boxes-the worst 2 tee boxes were completed first. #5 gold tee was the single most complained about tee box on the course, the #7 gold tee was next. The maintenance staff removed the turf from the tee box and either removed and/or added the necessary soil to level them out. There are plans to do other tee boxes as well. The Ladies Golf Association has already presented to me a list of tee boxes they would like for me to address. So I do know there thoughts and needs and plan to address them. Again, this is a project that I figured the membership could appreciate.
Tree Trimming- Our maintenance staff takes pictures of pruning trees - this is not an improvement it is normal maintenance.
tree trimming will go forever, however it is an expensive project. Between the necessary equipment such as chainsaws, fuel, mulching machines, and lifts these can add up quickly. I wanted the membership to know that the golf course maintenance staff was doing the tree trimming and not some outside service. Sure, we know it's a normal golf course maintenance tasks to complete, alot of hard work from our employees go into this project and we want everyone to know who does this work. I had members coming to me and asking for a business card to the company that was doing the tree trimming, it was Willow Fork Country Clubs golf course maintenance staff doing the tree trimming!
Landscaping at the scoreboard area-The golf course maintenance staff plan was to help in beautifying this area. Making this area where it can be enjoyable to see the landscaping and having a nice place to sit and relax after playing golf. Additional landscaping beds are planned to go later this year. The pictures are there for informational reasons, we want the membership to see us at work.
I hope this answers a few questions
Willy Plowman
Golf Course Superintendent
1.
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