Aerification Recovery

Our greens continue to heal at a good pace. Immediately following the aerification we made an application of fertilizer and a vitamin pack. Three days following the aerification we made the same application. Yesterday's forecast for rain today and through the weekend prompted us to apply a granular application of fertilizer. This application should begin showing signs of release this weekend. I am anticipating the greens being back 100% by next weekend.

Since the aerificaiton, we have been rolling the greens daily, always in the afternoon. We began cutting the greens today, but with additional rain we had to stop. We will be mowing and rolling the greens tomorrow and Sunday as long as the weather cooperates.

Collars on a few back 9 greens

I have had a few questions arise regarding the few collars on a few holes on the back side. These collars were stressed from the aerification process. These collars were weakened from dragging the sand over the greens. Bentgrass is extremely resilient, so I have no concern over these collars. We are bringing several pallets of sod in next week, if these collars continue to heal slowly, we will sod them out to show a more immediate recovery.

Aerification Update!

As I am sitting at my desk awaiting our restart, I can hear the rain hitting our metal roof......I can't believe the only cell of rain is over Hartefeld! Last night a severe storm hit Hartefeld at about 7pm. The outing finished late, in turn we got a late start on 10. We tried to wait out the rain, but it wasn't cooperating. We made a decision to leave and return this morning at 3:15am to begin again.

To ensure a finish by early afternoon and ahead of the forecasted weather, we will be shutting the front nine down while we complete aerification. When we move to the back nine the front will be open, the back closed.

Countdown to Aerification

As I sit in my office finalizing the specifics of our almost night long aerification two things strike me, we are 45 mins away and there is storm heading towards us......Can we get a break!! My team and I made the decision to aerify the greens at night because of the heat. I am not concerned about the heat affecting the greens, but the heat affecting my team. We will begin aerifying the back 9 at about 5:30pm. We will push as hard as we can until about midnight. At 4am, part of my team will return and begin aerifying the putting green, 9th green and 6th green. We hope to have all greens completed by around 10am, weather permitting.

We will be using 3/8" tines on a quad block, so there will be more smaller holes versus less bigger holes, to put it simply. We will make some fertilizer applications tomorrow morning to push the recovery as quickly as we can. As stated in the email Joe Mackley sent out, we will not be able to mow the greens on Saturday and Sunday morning. This is because the sand will be wet causing the mowers to jam or cake on a roller. Until the amount of sand is reduced on the surface from turf growth, any cultural practices we do can only be done when the sand is dry. It has been asked before about removing the dew on the greens if we are not mowing. Whipping or dragging the greens when the sand is wet will pull the sand to the surface and slow our recovery. We will be doing everything we can to ensure a rapid recovery.

Thank you for your cooperation.

Bunker Rake Interference

There have been a few discussions regarding the "new" placement of our bunker rakes. Hearing your input and suggestions hear is what we have. The placement of a bunker rake, in, out, partially in and out can be the most discussed issue on a golf course. Like the placement of a pin, there is no set rule the USGA has for the placement of a bunker rake. The USGA simply makes suggestions on both of these issues. At Hartefeld, our bylaws state to the effect that a bunker rake is placed in the bottom of the bunker. Regardless of where a rake is placed, if it interferes with a ball USGA Rule 24-1 Obstructions will handle removing the rake a getting your ball back in play properly. Below I have extracted what I feel are the important segments of Rule 24-1, 20-2 and 20-3 required to put a golf ball back in play.

24-1. Movable Obstruction

A player may take relief, without penalty, from a movable obstruction as follows:

a. If the ball does not lie in or on the obstruction, the obstruction may be removed. If the ball moves, it must be replaced, and there is no penalty, provided that the movement of the ball is directly attributable to the removal of the obstruction. Otherwise, Rule 18-2a applies.

b. If the ball lies in or on the obstruction, the ball may be lifted and the obstruction removed. The ball must through the green or in a hazardbe dropped, or on the putting green be placed, as near as possible to the spot directly under the place where the ball lay in or on the obstruction, but not nearer the hole.

The ball may be cleaned when lifted under this Rule.

When a ball is in motion, an obstruction that might influence the movement of the ball, other than equipment of any player or the flagstickwhen attended, removed or held up, must not be moved.

(Exerting influence on ball - see Rule 1-2.)

Note: If a ball to be dropped or placed under this Rule is not immediately recoverable, another ball may be substituted.

20-2. Dropping and Re-Dropping

c. When to Re-Drop

(vi) rolls and comes to rest more than two club-lengths from where it first struck a part of the course; or

(vii) rolls and comes to rest nearer the hole than:

If the ball when re-dropped rolls into any position listed above, it must be placed as near as possible to the spot where it first struck a part of thecourse when re-dropped.

20-3. Placing and Replacing

d. Ball Fails to Come to Rest on Spot

If a ball when placed fails to come to rest on the spot on which it was placed, there is no penalty and the ball must be replaced. If it still fails to come to rest on that spot:

(i) except in a hazard, it must be placed at the nearest spot where it can be placed at rest that is not nearer the hole and not in a hazard;

(ii) in a hazard, it must be placed in the hazard at the nearest spot where it can be placed at rest that is not nearer the hole.

If a ball when placed comes to rest on the spot on which it is placed, and it subsequently moves, there is no penalty and the ball must be played as it lies, unless the provisions of any other Rule apply.

Many have asked me over the last week what the white lines are painted around the greens. Over years of mowing the proper collar width and area change and migrate. Since we will be aerifying next week, it is the perfect time to correct any issues like this. Attached are photos of the lines painted on 2 of our greens. To note, a few collars are being pushed back towards the rough which in turn is causing us to scalp the greens back. These scalped areas will quickly recover, I have no concern over them.

Excerpt from GCM Blog on the PGA Championship Course Maintenance

Below is an excerpt from GCM's Blog at the PGA Championship. We are not alone in our struggles with rain. Take notice of the manpower used to restore the bunkers prior to the event.

News and notes from Minnesota

Random bits of information that I've stumbled upon during my first two days at Hazeltine for the 2009 PGA Championship. Prepare to be randomized!

• All told, the heavy rains that resulted in monumental bunker washouts around the course this past weekend took a heavy toll on staff as well. Superintendent Jim Nicol, CGCS, estimates his team spent nearly 450 man hours working on the bunkers — back-to-back 15 hour days on Saturday and Sunday for a group of about 15 workers.
• The course got about an inch and three quarters of rain on Friday, with a real drenching Friday night into Saturday of at least five inches of rain (and maybe more ... Nicol's manual rain Gage's near the maintenance facility hold five inches and both were topped off when the storm subsided).

Photo of New Fairway Mower

New Fairway Mowers

I have had a bit of an absence with the weather, just another unfortunate spell of nasty weather. This past Friday the much anticipated arrival of our new fairway units occurred. Yesterday, we were able to use them for the first time and what a noticeable difference! I received some comments on the course regarding the new mowers. The overwhelming response has been, "The clippings are gone!" YES, the clippings we continually dealt with from our previous 15 year old mowers are no longer an issue.

Left are 2 close up photos of our units and the specific parts that have corrected our clipping issue. The first photo is a picture of the rear of the cutting unit. Above the rear roller is a powered brush. This brush spins at a high rate while the unit is engaged and breaks up any clippings that roll up on the rear roller.

The second photo is a picture of the front of the unit. Attached to the unit's shield, just above the reel are small fins. These are loosely fitted on the shield so when the clippings are pushed out in front of the reel, these fins break up any clumps.

SWAMPED!!

Well, in our 10th day since it started raining we have received 8 inches of rain! Just as we had gotten the course back in condition, greens were rolling 10.25" on Friday morning, the sky opened up again. The worst of the rain hit Sunday afternoon. We received 1.5" of rain in about 12 to 15 minutes. This type of downpour is the worst, especially for our bunkers.

As always, our goal is to return Hartefeld to optimal playing conditions as quickly as possible. Today, I have our entire crew, shoveling the extremely washed out bunkers. Late this afternoon we will begin mowing some of the playing surfaces and continue tomorrow early in the am. The forecast is not calling for any additional rain until late in the week, I am hoping we are back to "normal" by Wednesday mid day.

Thank you all for your cooperation!