May 4-7, 2009

Sprayed the greens with Chlorothalonil, Magnesium, and Manganese. The Magnesium and Manganese help to strengthen the grass. As I was spraying I noticed this on the left side of #1 Green:



With all the rain that we have been getting and no sun. Algae has appeared on some greens. The Chlorothalonil was applied to it and it's gone.




Also spotted this little lizard on the seventh green:



Shot of the Driving Range and the Range tee:




Steve and I went out and fertilized the front 9 greens with an organic fertilizer 17-0-17. It was greens grade and it was a dispersable granule which means as soon as the water hits it all the but nutrients release into the soil.

April 30, 2009

Started out spraying Fairways with the Toro 300 gallon sprayer:



This is a much newer an updated model of the 200 gallon sprayer. Note the control panel which has the pump switch, boom activators, tank agitator, foam switches and throttle control, all in the same area:



The total area of the fairways is 1, 500, 000 square feet. 1,200,000 of that area we used a water soluble fertilizer 28-8-18 and the preventive dollar spot fungicide, Emerald(Boscalid).




I took some pictures of how the fertilizer breaks down in the water. First emptied it into the screen:



About 2 minutes later:



3 minutes in, it's all watered into the tank:



We got these two new fungicides to see how they work. Honor-which is a combination of Boscalid(emerald, a preventive) and Pyraclostrobin(which is a systemic, like propoconizole). Tourney- which is made of the chemical Metconazole. I found information on tourney on the basf website and it says it's a systemic fungicide which is quickly absorbed in the plant and also has demonstrated some preventive properties. A systemic fungicide attacks the disease from inside the plant. In other words if the plant is already infected then a systemic will go inside the plant and kill the pathogen. Where a preventive fungicide will apply a shield on the outside of the plant but will not cure any infected plant.



16 Fairway:



9 green with the clubhouse in the background:



After spraying I was sent to the now closed Blue Heron Pines East Course to retrieve some Rain Bird 700 and 900 series irrigation heads. I couldn't find any pics of the course when it was open but here is a shot of #14 green, #14 fairway, and #6 fairway. Reminds me of that show "Life After People" on the history channel:

April 22,2009

Today I started out by fertilizing and then seeded the walk on areas of the tees and greens. We used a Tuckahoe Turf Farm Athletic Field Mix for the seed which consists of two types of tall fescue and a bluegrass variety:



Sticking with Tuckahoe Turf, we also used their fertilizer a 16-5-9 mix. Let me explain the fertilizer. the 1st number represents the Nitrogen content, the 2nd number for Phosphorus, the 3rd number is Potassium. These numbers are actually percentages of whats in the bag. So there is 16% of N, 5% of P, and 9% of K. To figure out the exact number multiply the percentage by the volume in the bag in this case it's 50 lbs. so the total N in a bag=.16 x 50=8 ,P=.05 x 50=2.5, K=.09 x 50=4.5. So in each 50 lb. bag there are 8 lbs. N, 2.5 lbs. P, 4.5 lbs. K.



Here is a picture of #1 Tee walk on:

As you can see it needs to be fertilized and seeded



The walk behind spreader used:



The practice green and clubhouse:



Here are some shots of a sprinkler head that got rocked by the aerator:



You can see the crack down the middle of the shell:

April 15th-19th,2009

I went out to a pond deep in the woods that is usually bone dry in the Summer but look at it now:



All week we have been putting down this crushed clamshell material on the cartpaths. We are doing this because the club came up with a new rule that you get a free drop if your ball lands in the shells. So far we have used about 9 truck loads and have done the whole front 9:



Here is a picture of the collar on #3. The problem with this part of the collar is it sits right up next to the edge of the bunker. I don't know if it has ever been addressed. It is a nightmare to mow the green across. I think the solution would be to bring the collar into the green more and provide more of an edge for the bunker.



#8 Green:



#3 Fairway:



I sprayed the greens for dollar spot prevention and growth reduction. We used Emerald(Boscalid) and PGR 113. With Emerald it must be sprayed before there is any sign of dollar spot. It does not kill active or existing dollar spot. It has a prevention time of 14-28 days.



PGR 113 is used to reduce the vertical growth of grasses. It promotes horizontal growth which helps with green speed and also helps the green heal faster.



I used an old Toro 200 gallon sprayer.



It has a Raven control board which potrays the flow, rate, and volume of the sprayer.



These are the buttons that lift and lower the booms and turns on/off the pump.



I mowed the greens with a Toro 3250D with groomers on the units. Groomers are used to help smooth out any imperfections and also to speed up the greens. The little spikes help keep thatch(the layer of organic matter located directly under the turf canopy) to a minimum.

New York Met/Jet updates

The Mets played they're first game in Citi Field last night. It seems a lot bigger than Shea Stadium as two plays were crushed and they hit the wall. The stadium looks awesome though and I can't wait to see it on the 19th.

The other big story with the team was the signing of 40 yr. old slugger Gary Sheffield. I never liked him because of his attitude and the his approach at the plate,which is try to hit a homerun on every swing. He is very outspoken and can sometimes say things that hurts the team. The mets only had to pay him 400k which could turn out to be a steal. I think this move spells the end for Church who will be traded by Aug 1st.



After the Jets lost out on Jay Cutler(Thank God!)I think they will stick with the qb's they have and trade down into the mid to late 20's and select Kenny Britt,WR, from Rutgers. This way they can pick up another 2nd or 3rd round pick and select a DE and a RB. They also need a blocking TE which they may address on day 2.

March 31st, 2009

Took some pictures of the course today. . .

#1 Fairway. . .



#1 Green. . .



Shot from men's tee on #2. . .



Shot of #2 green from about 150 yds. away. . .



#2 green from back of #3 tee. . .



#4 Par 3



First thing in the morning I mowed greens with a Toro 1000



We used the old 1000's because there was some sand still left on the greens from an earlier topdressing as you an kind of see in this picture. . .



Using the old mowers help save on the life of the newer Flex Toro Greensmowers.

After that I mowed approaches with a Toro 3250 Diesel Mower. . .



Where I noticed some new mole damage on the back of #5 Approach



There are different ways you can get rid of a mole, set traps, which in my experience almost never work, or apply Castor Oil, which is applied to a granule and spread where you don't want to mole to go. You then water it in and the mole either smells or tastes this oil and does not return to that spot.