Summer Recap

We had some nice curve balls thrown our way this year.  If you're close to the grounds department you'll know our crew foreman fell seriously ill during men's MG. He made a full recovery, but blog updates, as you can imagine, took a deserved backseat after that. 
I'm going to try to catch all the main events of the season broken down by month. Thanks for bearing with me.

June
In a word: Washout.  With 11 inches of rain, June broke records for Central New York and made for a dismal, soggy month.  The only upside was the course didn't see a lot of play so divots and ballmarks were less than if we'd been full to the gills with tee times.

Flooded again #6

We had some excitement down at the shop when the skid loader lost power to its hydraulics and sat on the maintenance road for a week.  When parts arrived, we made a plywood sled under the loader and with enough horsepower, were able to drag it close to the shop for the repairs to be made.

Physics for the win

Major surgery

In spite of the rain, the pavement job around the first tee and entry and exit roads went off without a hitch. It was a badly needed improvement to the clubhouse area.  As the dust continues to settle up there, and season winds down, we'll revisit the area between the cart staging area and the 9th green to plan for some visual and strategic flair.  So far, the ideas range from a gigantic flower bed to a mounded area with a few trees. More to come!

Waiting for asphalt

Much improved

 July
The first half of July was wet like the month of June except there was one difference - heat.  Unfortunately the few areas on the course that had no relief from standing water ended up essentially being par-boiled.  The turf literally suffocates from sitting in warm water on a daily basis when rainfall is too high and drainage can't move water off fast enough.

Water damage

The second half of the month was super.  Men's 3-day MG saw great weather, save for one evening, and perfect course conditions. The NYSGA held their Women's Amateur championship here and it was well attended. Course was fantastic and nice to see it hold up to skilled outside players.

#17 Picture perfect

August
With the rain tap turned off and heat in full swing, it was time to get down to some serious golf rounds.  The course saw a record amount of play in August between outings and internal special events. With that comes excitement and new experiences, like driving carts, and filling divots!

Unbelievably no one was injured

FYI - Over-filled divots are worse than not filling at all
as it dulls the blades of the fairway mowers.

Age considers; youth ventures

Hydraulic leak

#3 black tee starting to show potential and spawn more ideas

Water damage in 10 fairway grown back (dark green bits) after overseeding

September
The heat and dryness continue. The operating system upgrade of the irrigation system last spring couldn't have come at a better time.  It allows water to be applied more accurately which makes the system more efficient and less costly to run.

 

 Labor Day weekend has come and gone and the college and high school help have retreated back to their respective schools. The grounds staff, and pro shop staff are back to skeleton crews which require longer hours and a different way of looking at things.

It's been another busy, and great season. To quote Bill Moore's comment from this picture posted to facebook: "This place gets it"  Sums it up well.

 

#17

Fall and beyond

Pond algae

Pew

For new members, the reason the pond suffers in the summer with algal bloom is due to several causes

1) Phosphate/nitrate loading resulting in eutrophication. Inflow of manure runoff from the fields upstream during any rain.
2) Shallow bottom of silty organic muck/decomposing manure that heats up in the summer sun.
3) Low oxygen and water circulation through the water column.

The pond likely started out as a farm marsh/pond over 100 years ago before the course was built. At some point, someone decided to dig it deeper and create a water hazard and it's remained relatively unchanged to this day. Unfortunately, they stopped digging when they hit bedrock which, in some places, is only 3 feet deep.  

Tuscarora Proto Pond

Building a functioning pond at a golf course today would require specific parameters.  There are depth minimums, water inflow and outflow rates to be maintained, and a way to control the depth of the pond without adversely affecting surrounding drain pipes that empty into it.

We're giving barley straw another try in the pond to control algae. Decomposing barley straw is thought to give off a substance that inhibits algae.  We'll assess the results this fall and try again next spring.  The idea is to supress the algae before it can get a start each season.  If the Barley straw isn't the answer, the next strategy will be introducing triploid grass carp that eat all aquatic plants including algae.  We hope the type of algae we have is to their liking.

Barley straw caged up and ready to deploy

We'll exhaust all of the least expensive options available to improve the pond before we move on to invest in a permanent solution (which exists).  That will require completely removing the silty manure bottom with a special vacuum dredge as well as adding an additional hi-volume industrial subsurface water mixer/aerator (the same grade used in sewage treatment). This will remove the organic material (and resulting decomposition and nutrient loading that feeds algae) at the same time as making the pond deeper and less prone to algae outbreaks.  Once the pond is cleaned out, biological digestants and grass carp will be added to keep algae and organic buildups in check. 


Into Fall
As fall approaches, the talk of course projects ramps up. The Greens Committee has come up with a list of potential projects and has set a priority for them. There's never-ending potential for improvement of the course as well as work to do down at the shop.  More to come in a future post when projects are under way.
 

Happiest when she's helping