July 7, 2012

Last Saturday morning, June 30, I learned what a “Derecho” is. I had never heard of it before, but now I will never forget what it is and what it can do.

Downed tees, snapped limbs, etc – the tree damage was just as bad and in some ways worse than what we suffered with Hurricane Irene. It will take weeks to clean up whats on the ground, and months to clear hangers and twisted limbs high up in the trees. We will also need to remove some of the damaged trees as there is nothing much left of them worth saving.

We were without power to the shop and clubhouse Friday night through Saturday – for the shop it meant we couldn’t charge out work carts, had to siphon fuel for the equipment, made equipment repairs by flashlight, and were unable to charge our phones for communication, and so on. It made things hard, but not impossible – we began the clean up and have kept going ever since.

Worse was the loss of power to the pump house. For three days – Saturday (91 degrees f), Sunday ( 98 degrees f), and Monday (90 degrees f) we were without water for the turf.  We attached city water to the irrigation system with garden hoses which gave us enough water to lightly hit hot spots on the greens, but nothing else. We were able to procure a generator that would have given us power to at least one of our three pumps, but as the electricians were hooking it up, Atlantic Electric asked us to stop so that they could get the line repaired. At 4pm Monday power was re-established to the pump house and we immediately began irrigation cycles.

We brought in extra help for the cleanup, bought another chainsaw– and haven't stopped

And as you know, weather wise its been a tough week, with temperatures in the mid to high 90's– This is today’s headline from Weather.com:

Torrid Heat: 4000 Record Highs and Counting

Records will continue to be smashed in the Midwest and East as triple-digit heat continues.

Todays forecast is for 101 degrees f  with a very real possibility of severe storms tonight.

 

 

Within the next two weeks, we will enlarge our staff with four..........

.........goats!

Last spring (2011) I suggested using goats to manage poison ivy and brush in the wooded and natural areas throughout the course. I thought that goats would be a better alternative than drenching these areas with herbicides that in turn could hurt the trees and other desirable plants, and maybe the birds and other wildlife that have come to live in these areas. At first the suggestion was taken lightly by the club, but in time, it began to make sense, and late last fall I was given the ok to give it a try!

Goats are not new to me. I have a small “farm”, and years ago I adopted a dwarf Nubian goat. One goat doesn’t make a herd, nor does it make me an expert, but from “Snoops” I learned a lot about goats – their personalities, management, diet, uses, etc. Over the years, goats have become one of my favorite animals, even surpassing dogs.  Fact is, some goats are smarter than dogs, and at some things, are more useful. Goats don’t chase geese so much, but they have other positives, such as the ability to browse, and an independent attitude. They are also affectionate and form very tight and life lasting bonds with people and other animals such as horses.

The term “got your goat!” comes from the race track. Years ago, a goat would be stalled with a nervous race horse as a companion to keep it calm and to give it a bit of playful company and in time the bond between the horse and goat would become very strong. Sometimes a competing horse owner would have the goat stolen right before race day, upsetting the horse enough so that it wouldn’t race well....hence, “got your goat!”

There are many types and breeds of goats for all kinds of uses. There are breeds for milking, showing, hair (for “wool”), meat, cart pulling, and security! Some goats are used as pack animals since they are sturdy and sure footed.

I chose to use Boer goats for this project – Boers are a meat goat breed that originated in South Africa, and the breed is known to be very hardy in all types of climates and environments. Last fall I put a reserve on three kid does (female babies) from “Just Kiddin Around” farm, located near Allentown PA. Kidding season was late this spring, and I wasn’t able to pick up the goats till the first week of June. Although I had reserved three, I ended up taking four, all 3 months old. That’s four lucky little goats – Irene, Francis, Mary, and Lucy - that otherwise would have been fattened up shipped off to be  dinner.

Since they have been on my farm, I have spent time getting them used to people and to being handled. I have also been slowly taking them off grain and onto hay and browse. At the farm they are fed sugary grain to fatten them up and to get them to market quicker - so in a funny twist, they needed to be introduced to their natural diets.

Hard for some to believe, but goats don’t eat everything.... Goats don’t eat tin cans or tires or cars. They are not the best grass eaters either, but prefer to browse on leaves of most deciduous plants. This includes brush, ivy, and trees. Many plants though, such as yews, laurel, and azaleas are poisonous to goats. Goats are not indestructible as some people might think. Still, their ability to consume poison ivy, wild rose, green briar, etc makes them seem so.

My plan is to put the goats in the naturalized area between holes 8-9-10 and let them get used to things around here. I will start with two, then in a week or so, bring in all four. We will eventually move them to the wooded and overgrown brush areas along holes 7 and 8. We will use temporary, moveable fencing to keep them in the area we want cleared. They won’t be staying overnight – too many problems with pranks and predators could occur - I will be taking them back and forth each day.

The best thing to do with the goats is to just watch them, enjoy them, and let them be – please do not feed them any treats. If your ball lands in their fenced in area, please take a drop. Please do not go into the fenced area. Although the goats won’t harm you, its best not to pester them.

I am really excited about doing this! Goats are a great alternative to herbicides, fit nicely with our Audubon program, and will be a lot of fun while we reclaim areas of the course!

June 5, 2012

Probably the hardest decision I make is after a rain storm, and whether or not to make playing the course “cart paths only”. I know that it slows play. I know too that it hurts revenue and increases the cost of course set up and labor since rangers need to come in, ropes moved, and signs put out. I know all too well that some members are unable to play when they can’t take their carts onto the fairways or through the rough. All carts are capable of causing damage, so those persons with physical disabilities must stay on cart paths too.

Yet, I also know the damages – both short and long term – which traffic can cause on wet soils. Without getting boringly technical, a saturated soil can be compacted without very much pressure, and when this happens, drainage, root space, air space, etc are reduced or lost. The turf grows weak, and weak turf is prone to moisture stress and disease. The risk of future turf loss is substantially increased. The problem is that loss of turf shows up later, which may be days, weeks, or months away from the initial event. By then, everyone has long forgotten the rainy day I let carts out.

Another damage is disease. Fungi flourish in wet environments, and can be “tracked” or carried down a fairway or through the rough on tires (our equipment as well as carts)! One infection, uncontained, can be spread. Some diseases, such as pythium, can kill turf within minutes of infection, and then spread by water and traffic, can easily become uncontrollable and devastate the course.

When I make the cart path decision, I try to balance the short and long term effects on both the membership and the course, and I always do my best to look after both. It’s not easy, and though some members will always disagree, I am always trying to do the right thing.

There is no reason to take it out on me, as some do.

May 25, 2012

Years ago I was superintendent at Stone Harbor. There, during my first year, a skinny older man with a filter-less Chesterfield cigarette hanging from his lips introduced himself  to me as Chet, explaining that he was there to help out however he could as he had done there each of the past few summers. So I gave him the bunker crew to supervise...

And soon one of the guys on the bunker crew came into my office to complain in a way I still have not forgotten... “My mamma don’t even treat me like that!” Turns out Chet was a task master. His way or do it again. And again, and again, until it was right. I realized that I didn’t have to worry about bunkers getting done  when Chet was around!

As Chet got older – into his 80’s – he lost a little stamina but still came in every summer day, whether he was scheduled or not. The last few years I was there, he became my tee divot guy. Although I had to worry about bunkers again, I now never had to worry about tee divots.

I spent a lot of time with Chet, or maybe it was he who spent a lot of time with me. At work and not at work. He’d come over to my home and play with my kids. I’d go over to his trailer and check on him, as he lived alone. We became friends.

Many times I would just listen to Chet – he grew up in the depression, his father was an orphan, his mom sold pies to the neighbors, his son was a NASA engineer, his daughter a teacher, he worked as a printer all his life, his wife died of cancer, and he served on the airplane carrier the “Franklin”, or Big Ben, during WW2.

He had enlisted in the Navy and chance put him in the hold of the fateful ship. When the two Japanese planes came out of the sky dropping bombs, hitting the ship directly in the elevator shaft, the ship became an inferno with fuel igniting and bombs exploding. 724 were killed and 265 were wounded. Chet survived and helped with the fires and later to get the listing ship back to Pearl Harbor. Not one to stand out in a crowd, but to be humble, Chet was overlooked when the ribbons were passed out.

I didn’t know anything about the Franklin until I met Chet. Fact is, he didn’t really bring it up until the last few years that I knew him. He told me the story, and gave me books that were written about the ship and the people on it. This was a watermark in his life that he needed to share. I listened. Chet said it became important to him to talk because he didn't want people to forget. He said he didn’t have many years left in him, and he feared that when he was gone, no one would be left to remember...that bothered him.

A year before Chet passed away he was finally recognized with a medal for his help during the attack and the trip back to Pearl Harbor. 

And he died with my promise that I would not forget. I haven't.

May 18, 2012

So much going on! These past weeks have been very busy for our department.

Chris Lare, the Assistant Superintendent since 2004, left to pursue a career in teaching. He is now going to college full time and hopes to be in the classroom in a few short years. We all wish him the best, and he surely will be missed.

Rick Shetler is our new Assistant Superintendent. Rick is originally from Dennisville, and graduated from the Rutgers Turfgrass  Management program. He interned at Galloway National, and then worked at courses in Hawaii and Florida. He brings to us a solid back ground working at high end courses and managing both warm and cool season grasses. Rick will be a tremendous asset and he already has made many positive impacts.

We have planted 2000 California Privets (over a linear mile) along the perimeter of the golf course to give it privacy from the bordering roads and streets. We also supervised the planting of many trees and ornamentals throughout the course.

We aerated and topdressed the new driving range tee this week. It will be ready to open May 26! We are also making more improvements to the entire driving range and practice area. I think that it will all add to your enjoyment.

We re sanded the greens to help even out the surface after the aeration/ drill and fill and soon  we will be taking the greens height down a notch and getting them into championship shape..

In the background we have been applying turf protectents to suppress the annual bluegrass weevil, fertilizing the tees, doing irrigation repair, training staff, etc.

There hasn’t been an empty moment for a long while!!!!!!

May 4, 2012

We finished up the drill and fill and aeration this week. The drill and fill – drills that bore 12” down into the soil, and filling the bore holes with sand – improves drainage. The aeration takes care of compaction and thatch.  Both help us to amend the soil profiles. We did it together so that the greens would not be disrupted two separate times, and we waited until late spring to do the processes so that with warmer temperatures, the healing will be faster!

The 12" drills

Buckets of sand are poured into the top of the drill and fill machine

The bucketing operation

Following the drill and fill, Isabella aerates the green

Clara matting in the sand after the drill and fill/ aeration and topdressing.

April 21, 2012

We finished up the driving range tee this week! We still need to sod the perimeters and fine tune a few things here and there, but the Bermuda grass is down and ready to root and grow. The Bermuda is till a little bit dormant underneath the overseeded ryegrass. It will root (roots never go dormant!) and then as the temperatures warm, the Bermuda will take over!

Irrigation installed and working!

Before sodding the tee is fertilized.

Sod has arrived!

The staff rolling out the sod.

Finished!

The next question is " When can we begin hitting off the new grass?".
I am hoping that it will be rooted and ready in four weeks, depending upon the weather. The warmer the weather, the sooner we can hit from it!