Legacy Hills Pump Station Repair Work

Due to a failed isolation valve four weeks ago at the LH pump station, the entire underground pump vault was flooded. This resulted in damage of the control panel and pumps in the vault. We were able to get one pump back up and running which has allowed us the capability to water greens and select areas of the golf course. This is why LH looks a bit less green than the other two courses right now. We are well on our way to getting the necessary repair work done and getting the station back to 100%. The irrigation panel and valve work for the LH pump station repair will take place on the week of Nov.12th. The panel will be ready on the 6th but needs to be put on a simulator for two days so that the adjustments to the software can be made before they pick it up and bring it here for install. PMTS will be here next week so that we can lay out the prep work to insure we are ready on Mon. the 12th to start installation.

Rally for the Cure 2012

Rally for the Cure

Every year at Sun City Texas we have the largest Co-ed golf tournament for the Rally for the Cure in the country. It’s a great cause and we the staff enjoy setting up for it and participating in the event. Each year, starting last year, we started turning the water features pink for the event and breast cancer awareness. At the end of the month we will add a different dye in to turn the water back to blue. This year we also put in Pink putting cups and pink flags for the event. Below are some pictures of the water features.

October 2012 Course Condition Report

October 2012 Course Condition Report

October was a busy month for us due to a heavy tournament schedule. With all of the detail being focused on tournament preparation we did not spend much time on playability report items. We will resume work on those items over the next few months.

Course conditions have really peaked this month and all of the work done earlier in the year has contributed to the conditions we have today. We have had some slight disease pressure on the greens as of late. We sent samples in from each course and the disease pressure was at a level of 3out of 5 for Bermuda grass decline and the Rhizoctonia Zeae was at a level of 4 out of 5. We sprayed a fungicide that covered each of these diseases and will send more samples in next week to see where we stand.

Pre-emerge and overseed has been completed at each course and we are ready to move into the winter months and focus on playability projects.

Cowan Creek Soil Profile Update

  Cowan Creek Soil Profile Update

(9/27/12)  

Prepared by:  Craig Loving  

    Cowan Creek Superintendent     

Last week, all three courses had soil samples taken from several of our greens for fertility analysis.  We do this periodically to see what nutrients are available to the plant in the soil profile, as well as in the plant tissue.  We also run tests on our irrigation water to determine how many salts and bicarbonates we are dealing with.  The results from these tests allow us to make adjustments in our fertility program to promote optimal growth and maintain a healthy root system.  We purposely took samples from #9 green at Cowan to see how it has responded to our new technique of providing sub-surface airflow to the rootzone.  The plugs taken from each sample are 1.25” in diameter and 6” deep.  The following diagrams will detail where we currently stand in our soil profile, and what progress we’ve made with this year’s cultural practices.

Both of these pictures were taken from the same plug.  “photo B” shows the profile intact with soil that the roots are holding, and “photo A” has the soil knocked off so we can see the root system.  The lengths of the roots are approximately around 4”, which is relatively good for mini-verde greens.  The light color of the feeder roots indicates that they are healthy.  The only existing concern is in “photo B” from the 1”-1.5” depth in the profile.  This area is still anaerobic, which can prohibit air and water movement through the soil profile.  The anaerobic area is, however, much smaller than it once was earlier in the year.  In addition, the roots are thriving below the anaerobic area, which demonstrates the positive effect of our new practice of blowing air into the drainage system and up through the rootzone from below.

The plug in the above picture was also taken from #9 green.  This photo signifies the importance of routine aerifications.  The darker area is a cross section of an aerification channel from a ½” hollow tine.  Below and along the side of this channel, feeder roots are actively growing.  As you can see, the root system is much healthier in an environment that provides adequate air flow and water infiltration.  If you scroll up and look at “photo A”, you will notice that the roots along the left side of the plug are much longer than on the right side.  This was more than likely due to another aerification channel in that area.

            As we transition into the cooler months of the year, we will alter our fertility program accordingly (based on our soil sample results) to promote healthy root growth throughout the winter.  In addition, we will continue to implement non-aggressive cultural practices (star-tine aerifications) to provide more channels for air and water movement through the soil profile without effecting playability.

Employee Appreciation Day

Here are some pictures of the dedicated staff we have here in golf course maintenance. Last week they were able to take a day to relax and enjoy some BBQ while the Superintendents cooked for them. They have done an outstanding job this year and the golf courses are looking great thanks to their hard work.

Course Conditions September 2012

This month we have continued to work on the playability report items such as shrub and plant bed removals, DG/rock work, sodded weak areas and dead tree removals. We were also able to finally get Mini-Verde sod and repair the chipping green at Cowan Creek; we used some of the remaining sod to repair some areas on the course as well. The one big area that still needs to be addressed is the bottom portion of the driving range at Cowan Creek. This area had washed out in the flood a couple of years ago and we have not been able to repair it do to the extent of work it would take.

Also this month we received some much needed rain that couldn’t have been timed better. It rained a few days before we were headed into our Club Championship and it was a nice, steady, soaking rain. Things dried up quickly enough to allow us to get a fresh cut on the courses before the tournaments started and we have received a lot of positive feedback from the players regarding the course conditions for the event. Great job by the Superintendents and maintenance staff!

Looking forward to next month we will be spraying the golf courses with pre-emergent to avoid a “weedy” fall and we will also be over-seeding the Par 3 tee boxes and Driving Range tees for the winter. We have chosen not to overseed the remainder of the tee boxes. This was the same approach we took last year and by using liquid fertilizers we were able to keep them green through the winter months. Once these two items are complete we will focus on the playability report punch list and get ready for the winter.

Painted Tee Markers at Legacy Hills

Over the past year we have had occasional complaints about the visibility of the various colors of the Tee Markers at Legacy Hills. So we decided to figure out a solution that would keep us from having to go out and purchase all new tee markers for the course. You would not believe how expensive these small little objects can be and then you have to multiply that by the five different sets of two. Needless to say it gets costly. So I asked the Superintendent at Legacy Hills (Robert Rodriguez) to try some different paint schemes out to see if we could come up with a solution. We found what we think seems to be answer and have gotten a lot of positive comments back from the players from our recent major events.  Below is an example of what we have done without turning the marker into just a big painted rock.

Cowan Creek Chipping Green Update

The chipping green at Cowan Creek has been sodded and roped off for the grow-in period. We ask that during this time all players use the lower chipping green at Cowan Creek for their short game practice and allow us time to get the other green established before re-opening.

We have also used some of the Mini-Verde sod on some other areas on the greens that had not completely healed from the spring. We used the remaining sod on the back tee box on #1 at Cowan to establish a small nursery of Mini-Verde. It will be maintained at tee height but will be easily taken down to green height if it’s necessary to use it in the spring for any small repairs.

Access Flag Policy

Just a reminder, with the implementation of the new Access Flag policy we will be painting a line across the fairways 30 feet from the green so that everyone can get an idea of what distance 30 feet is in relation to the green. This will remain in place for two to three weeks while we begin this new policy. Below is a picture of what to look for so that the line can be identified.

August Course Conditions

This month wrapped up the core aerifications on the greens and will be going into the busy season without any further major disruptions to the putting surfaces. Cowan Creek will do some small aerifications but nothing very aggressive. The remainder of aerifications on greens will consist of star tine aerifications (solid) and slicing with the Planet Air machine.

Water had been an issue earlier this month due to the COGT having some mechanical problems on their end. They have been very good about communicating to us and keeping us informed on the time frame of the necessary repairs. The system is running well currently and with the recent rain and temperatures we have had little issues as of late.

The test Bunker at White has turned out to be a success and this is the direction we will move to remedy the softness of the greenside bunkers. Currently the Adopt A Hole program Volunteers are being allowed to use sand from the greenside bunkers to do their maintenance on the course and this should help expedite the sand removal process before we add in the Caylor White sand. We plan to start on this during the winter months.

2012 Mid Year Update

It’s been a busy year in 2012 already and the time seems to be flying by with everything going on at the Golf Courses. As we all know we had a horrible time this spring with transition at Cowan Creek in regards to the greens conditions. We worked with the USGA on recommended cultural approaches and the Staff implemented a plan that turned the Cowan greens around in a short period of time. They are much smoother and healthier now and continue to get better. We are still not 100% satisfied with a few of the greens and have found underlying drainage problems that were caused during construction that have finally manifested into poor turf quality in low lying areas of the greens. We will continue to identify these areas and address them as we move forward.

Many of the other issues we have dealt with this year so far have been more of the mechanical type failures. Legacy Hills has had to replace two irrigation pumps that went down and the loss of power to numerous irrigation controllers at both White Wing and Cowan Creek due to lightning strikes.

On a more positive note we have been very fortunate to receive some summer rain this year. This has helped out tremendously in the areas that suffered from last year’s drought.

The cultural practices that we have put in place are paying off and the courses

are showing it. We have aerified all of the fairways and tee boxes at each course and are now focused on weed control and detail work in these areas. The greens are always our number one priority and we are finishing up core aerifications on them this month. We have two more good months of growing weather and intend to get everything as healthy as possible before heading into fall.

Last year we started working with the Golf Course Playability Sub-Committee so that we could get resident golfer feedback from the perspective of our own golfers. We meet twice a year and tour the courses with the Committee members, Golf Pros, Course Superintendent and the Director of Golf Course Maintenance. We establish a list of items that would improve playability for all golfers and use that as a punch list of items to be addressed by the Maintenance staff. This has been a great Committee to work with and it allows them to see issues that we deal with on the courses and for us to see the playability issues that affect your everyday play.

Another one of our focuses this year has been to get more communication out to the Sun City residents about what goes on behind the scenes in regards to Golf Course Maintenance. In March we introduced the Golf Course Maintenance Blog. www.sctxgcmaint.blogspot.com This is a site that solely pertains to the maintenance and care of the golf courses and includes information in the form of a posted letter or article that covers many of our cultural practices and daily maintenance items. Feel free to visit the site at any time for updates.