Go Hawks!!!

 It's been really fun these past few days as we have most of storm debris picked up and we are back to working on a number of different course improvement projects.  The guys did an excellent job with the reclamation of the black tee on #2.  As always, we needed more material than previously anticipated to get it leveled out but today it is just that............................dead level.

 The sod came from the driving range and the 13th green complex.  It looks really good considering it's January.  Once spring hits, this should fill in rapidly and look like it's always been this way.

 Here's a picture from the very back and yes, it is a tight driving hole.

 The back of 9 green has had drainage issues for as long as I can remember and I have always wanted to do something about it.  The problem is trying to do any subsurface work on a putting green means disturbing that beautiful smooth surface which took many years to develop.   Well this week the conditions were just too nice to resist.  We've had a record dry winter meaning the green was very firm for this time of year.  The ground was not frozen and there wasn't even frost in the forecast so getting out on the turf was going to be easy.  We had the opportunity to start on a Monday and that's important to me because I didn't want to leave a project open during the weekend.  I figured this project would take several days so it's nice to have a whole week at your disposal before the weekend busy period.  Aerification is just weeks away.  This means you don't have to put up with the unevenness of the area for very long.  Anyway, the timing was perfect so we cut into the green this week in order to make that area firmer and more consistent with the rest of the greens.

 We excavated 4 feet deep in order to find that beautiful free draining gravel layer.

 As we backfilled the trench, we started with just 3/8" pea gravel and flooded it throughout the procedure to ensure the fill would be adequately compacted.  Next we backfilled the top 12" of the trench with a 80X20 sand/sphagnum blend.  That we also flooded with a gazillion gallons.

 Thursday, we started putting the green back together.  Sodding putting green sod is tough.  It just never looks smooth enough but at some point you just gotta say this is good and we will get it smooth later with topdressing and aeration.  I love this picture because you can see the puddle in the background meaning it rained pretty good the night before.  Now look at the trench area.   Dry as a bone.  This drain will definitely make a huge difference.

 So here is how it looked today and it really is good work.  Again the staff did such a nice job.  I'm so excited to finally do something about the wet conditions on the back of 9.  By the way, because of the sod work on the back of the green, we will leave the pin on the front half of the green until after spring aeration.  Sorry for the inconvenience.  Talk about excitement................How bout those Hawks?  Everyone is fired up about the Seahawks going to the Superbowl and the members of the staff are no different.  We are such big fans that we painted this logo on the first fairway.

GO HAWKS!!!

Hold Everything!

Last week I got to share with you all the fun, constructive things we were doing to improve the course.   Well "Hold Everything", the wind blew, and when the wind blows at Tacoma, we have to stop doing all those constructive things and clean up the place.  Last Saturday we had gusts up to 46 mph and that wreaks havoc with all our trees.  With wind like that the course quickly becomes unplayable and all of our focus goes into blowing off the surfaces.  We start down the middle and work our way out to the treelines.

Above you see #2 as it looked the day after the wind blew.  #2 at Tacoma is the most expensive golf hole on the planet to maintain.  Okay I made that up, but it really feels like it.  Not a day goes by that we don't blow something on hole #2.  If we get even the slightest breeze, we blow the entire hole.  If it is a calm day we can maybe get away with just blowing off the green or teeing ground.  I've never counted them but I'm guessing there is several hundred trees just on hole #2, and most of them are close to 100 years old.  This is pretty young for a douglas fir tree but they are still big and trees like that make a mess all the time.

Jason spent all week on the tractor blower and no one is better than him at gathering debris.  In wooded areas, we blow everything around the base of trees where we pick the piles up by hand.  This allows us to pick up debris that has fallen over the last several weeks or months at the same time we pick up the fresh storm debris.   There is always some kind of debris under the large trees so doing it this way means we get the place pretty clean once all the piles are picked up.  

Right now the course is covered with piles like these that are waiting to get picked up.   This past storm was fairly significant so realistically we will be spending several weeks picking up these piles.  As much as I'd like to have guys doing constructive things, we must get these piles picked up or the grass will eventually die from being smothered by debris.  All we can afford to do in addition to storm debris removal is pick away at the poplar stumps on 13.

The stump grinder person was here on Monday and so the stumps are basically gone but that was just the beginning of restoring the area near 13 green.  We have begun the tedious job of pulling out all the shallow poplar roots.  First we went after those that were under the green.  It's important to locate these roots, cut them and apply stump killer to those cuts so that hopefully we can kill the root system that is under the green.  If any of those roots survive, they can send up shoots that would start new poplar trees.  Obviously that would not be good for the quality of the putting surface.  Below you can see that we did locate those roots that are under the green.

Now we are just methodically going through the whole area looking for shallow roots and pulling them out.  This is making the area look like a battlefield.  It will take some time to get it back in shape, and since the area will now be fairway turf, it needs to be restored to a smoother condition than it was before we began.

Below is a diagram from our Master Plan showing what the mowing pattern will look like here once the area is restored.  You can imagine there will be some fun and challenging shots attempted from this new "short mowed" area.  I cant wait to see how it turns out.

Free Firewood!

Monday morning, it was crisp, cold, and the ground was pretty frozen.  Perfect conditions to dispense of the two poplar trees on 13 green.  Kevin swiftly dropped them with amazing precision and then the entire staff  efficiently processed them.  Within hours, only two stumps remained and that's were we still are on this project. 

 This coming Monday we are scheduled to grind them out and then begins the job of chasing all the shallow roots with the backhoe in order to begin the restoration process.  When this area is completely restored it will be a large extension of the fairway on 13 and connected to the fairway on 12.  There will be some fun, challenging recovery shots made from here.

 Tuesday, we began sodding behind #2 to complete the restoration of that area and today that is now complete and looks awesome.  Balls that just trickle over should come to rest on the short turf were (as we all know, since we've all been there) a difficult to near impossible up and down will be attempted.

 The six inches of sand we put down here allowed us to regrade the area and make it smooth enough for the closely mowed turf and it is going to work well to keep it firm and dry.  It's a rather shady area so in the past it was always pretty damp here so I look forward to seeing the new condition and improved play ability.

 You won't be seeing the burned out areas on the bunker eyebrows much longer.

 This week we began the "Rescue the Fescue" project.  Basically we are removing fescue in some of the flat areas and transplanting it to the vertical areas because seeding something that is vertical is very difficult (and I don't have the patience care for fescue seedlings all winter).  The flat areas where we are removing fescue can easily be reseeded in the spring.  Below you see the bunker on #1 as we got started.

 Some preparation is necessary before the surgery begins to ensure that no soil drops into the bunker and contaminates the new sand.  First, any remnants of the old sod is removed to expose the bare soil.

Then the little chunks of fescue are carefully stapled to the burned out areas and the end result is quite remarkable.  I know the skill of  the staff is exceptional but the way this is turning out just far exceeds my expectations. Check out that same area on #1 green after the process is finished.

Remember that bunker on #8 at the end of summer?

 Below you see it today after the guys made repairs.

 I'm very excited about fixing these bunker eyebrows.  I have no doubt that since we are getting an early start on this, the sod will have ample time to establish and we shouldn't see any future burnouts to the degree that we saw during this first year of the new bunkers.

Hey, if your out there this weekend, check out the ball washer on #11.  This is a regular Par Aid ball washer but we shrouded it with cedar fence boards.  We are very proud to be one of the first 90 clubs in America and ever since we began the restoration, I've been thinking about ways to make the place look representative of the year 1894 when it was founded.  I don't know what a ball washer might have looked like in 1894, but I'm guessing there wasn't such a thing at all and folks just used good old spit and a towel.  Anyway, if there was any ball washers in 1894, maybe they were made of wood and look something like this.   Let me know what you think.