Dry Conditions

 This a simple, quick read about irrigation during drought/dry conditions. 

USGA irrigation article

We have a double row system here at HMGC, which means we have irrigation heads on each side of the fairway. If we run each head for 5 minutes, the center of the fairway will receive 2 1/2 minutes of water from each side for a total of 5 minutes. The areas (rough and first cut) will only receive 1/2 of that water or 2 1/2 minutes total , which most likely is an inadequate amount of water for the plant to survive. 

The issue is if we increase the amount of time that each fairway head runs to compensate the rough, the fairways will become even more saturated and softer. We are doin the best we can with the irrigation system that was installed in 1997 and was an upgrade to a single row system that featured sprinklers only down the middle of the fairways. 

We will be due for a new system in the next 5-10 years, so until then we will continue to keep the in play areas alive and as firm as possible as to limit any turf loss. 

Golf Traffic (Walking and Carts)

    As we are all aware, HMGC is a very busy golf course. This equates to increased wear and tear on our turf from not only golf carts, but push carts and foot traffic as well.  With any traffic it is best to walk or drive on the healthiest looking turf and avoid pathways where the turf is laying down or damaged from previous traffic. General rules that I am sure we have all heard is to keep carts at least 30 feet from greens and tees, but ON the CART PATH when available. 

    We use yellow ropes and stakes to protect wet/soft areas after rainfall and also to direct traffic around greens and tees. Around greens and tees our goal is to move traffic around so that all turf receives equal traffic but the turf closest to play receives little to none. As you can see below we are trying to push traffic as far away from the playing area where most shots will "miss". This does create a wear area on its own but if no rope was there the worn area would be right next to the bunker as it is the closest spot to the green. 

Every year we try to pick a cart path to repair or replace. With the amount of money that we have invested over the years we ask that you please stay on paths where they are available. This may require a few extra steps, but the materials (fertilizer, water, sod) and labor (fertilizing, roping, aerifying) will allow us to be more efficient with our finances. My personal pet peeve is a couple or all tires hanging off the paths. 

 

Finally, if you have to pull one of our ropes and stakes to hit a shot, please put the stake back in the ground after your shot is taken. This will insure that areas stay protected. 

Record setting April rainfall.

The golf course opened on March 2nd this year, but we really have not had a consistent stretch of nice weather to reward the early start. Cold was the culprit in March and rain has been the norm in April. The creek has come out of its banks 3-4 times already this year, and last year we were in the midst of a 22 day drought that kept the creek in check, but had us scrambling for help with our turf. 

April has brought us almost 8 inches of rain which beat the record of a little over 7 inches, set in 1929. Year to date we are 6 inches over our normal average to date. 

The golf course in general drains extremely well, but the take home story, we are at the mercy of the creek. The entire course eventually drains into the creek. As the creek rises the drain tiles that empty directly into the creek, fill up and water will work backwards through the drains and fill bunkers and low areas. While this sounds like a problem, it is actually advantageous, as it allows all water to drain back into the creek as the creek level goes down. This eliminates standing water and large puddles that develop where the creek crests the banks but it presents an opportunity for the water to drain back into the creek once water levels go down.

The most unfortunate part of the creek flooding is that we lose access to 9, 10, 11 and sometimes 2 bridge. The bridge on 2 is the last that we lose access to, and once this happens we lose most access to the south portion of the course. 

Please be patient as we are at the mercy of the creek and all areas to the west of us that drain into the creek. As you know I own a very large amount of stock in the yellow rope company and will do our best to get carts out as soon as we know that damage will be minimal or non existent.  

Pictures below are from 2021, but pretty much sum up what we look like when we lose the creek.

2 fairway looking back at 2 tee.

Standing on 11 tee box

17 looking from 7 green.

Tree Trimming along Erie Street

If you drive down Monroe Street, I am sure you have noticed the aggressive tree trimming that is being done underneath the power lines. The same will be done along Erie street on our property. In speaking with the crew that is doing the work I have learned that their goal is to have 25 feet between the tops of the trees and the power lines. (Also, please be aware that during the heat of the summer the power lines will sag substantially at times.) The crew will be topping off all of our Arborvitae along 18 tee and I have requested that they do their best to create a uniform look to the best of their abilities. Some trees, when they are finished, may need to be evaluated to see if they are worth having in that location or if a different species of tree might be a better option. Again, they are just getting started so we will see what are best coarse of action is after they have completed their work. 

Pine along Erie street right of 18 black tees.

Pine behind 18 black tee.

Golf Course Update

 I will make an effort to better tell our story here on the blog and keep membership updated on course conditions and what we have in the works throughout the season. Thanks to our loyal follower, ROB, for requesting some new content. You can also follow us on twitter @hmgcgrounds. 

While the course has been open for a few weeks, it has been hit or miss with the weather and course conditions. We are environmentally about 3 weeks ahead of where we normally are. If you have tulips or daffodils at home I am sure you have seen them start to grow. The early start to the year is a positive for the club, to golf with carts in early March is not something that happens very often. With that said, we are slowly ramping up our daily tasks and you should see improvements each time you come to the club. More benches, trash cans, tee markers and bunker rakes will go out on the course gradually as more staff returns and we have the ability to focus on daily tasks. 

Today we started clean-up and prep on the bunkers. This includes cleaning up the edges and sand that has blown out of the bunkers, removing debris, sand depth checks and raking the bunkers. The depth of sand in the bottom of the bunker should be 3-4 inches and 2 inches on the slopes. We will move some sand around to achieve the depths and will note where more sand is needed so that we can address at a later date. Most of our par 3 bunkers and a few other high traffic bunkers, like the bunker in front of 14, are yearly candidates for additional sand due to high traffic. 

Crew checking sand depths and moving sand around to achieve required depths. 

We also are trying to finish up some tasks as weather and availability allow. We added a 60 foot run drainage pipe in front of 14 green that will be finished by a contractor in the spring as they become available. We decided to start this project so that we would not have to close this hole in the spring and the contractor can pick up where we left off without being in the way. This pipe will run down to the creek in front of 15 green. Unfortunately there were a few trees near our new drain that were removed as not to clog the new drain in the future. These are decisions that are made to protect the infrastructure of the course for years to come. 

Flooding in front of 14 green. This is due to aging infrastructure that still works, but not as well as it used to. 

We will be finishing sod work along the new path on 2 green to 3 tee as soon as the sodfarms open and sod is available for purchase. 

To conclude, one of our staff members just finished up four years as a manager with the University of Toledo mens basketball team. Wes Matthews will graduate this spring with a business degree from UT and will also be returning to HMGC as he decides his next career move. Wes has worked at HMGC since he was in high school at Bedford, and is a very important piece to our great staff. Thanks WES!

Updates to dry conditions.

 This has been a very strange year to say the least. Lack of snowfall over the winter left the turf exposed and caused damage to the poa on 15, 9 and the putting green. These areas are healing well, but not as fast as some would expect. We had a choice to leave these greens open and continue play or close them and create a temporary green. The choice we made was to leave them open witch has caused a delay in how fast they are able to heal with active play on them daily. Please continue to be patient while the greens heal in. 

A cool damp April didn't do us any favors as far as warming up the soil. We see significant green up and growth when soil temperatures reach the 60 degree range. Although air temperatures are warm it does not always translate to soil temperatures rising quickly. Our last light frost was Friday, May 26th. Even though day time temps can get in the 80's or even 90's if you cool into the 30's or 40's in the evening you effectively lose any rise in temperature that we gained in the soils. 

May saw only .5-.9 inches of rain (we recorded a 1/2 inch, the airport recorder 9/10). Although we do have an irrigation system, it does have its limits, we do not have wall to wall irrigation across the course. We have a double row system on fairways and tees. This means that between the sprinklers on the left and the sprinklers on the right side on any given hole are getting adequate moisture to survive. Outside those sprinklers towards the rough is getting 1/2 the water that it needs or that the fairway is receiving. This is why you tend to see the edges of any area browning out. To get the outer edges more water would cause the in play areas of the fairways to be oversaturated which can lead to soft conditions, rutting from equipment and carts, and disease to the plants. 

The following are the irrigation totals in gallons for the last few years in May:

2023- 3,000,000

2022- 1,270,000

2021- 2,000,000

2020- 1,100,000

2019- 300,000

2018- 900,000

June 1-today we have ran a total 1,318,678 gallons. High temps last week didn't help either. We made it through and are catching up on some water with a few cloudy days. Its sad, but we are at the point where we will take a cloudy day to catch up and make a positive move forward with water.

Thank goodness for the wells, because we would not have enough water from the creek.With the extra water that we are using, the bunkers will be a lot firmer due to nightly irrigation. Bottom line is we need some rain to help us out a little bit. 

We do appreciate your understanding that our crew is doing just about all it can to keep up with this dry pattern and hope that you understand that we will not be wall to wall "green".  

Let's bring etiquette back.

 This is a good read from the USGA. The picture below is from Wednesday at HMGC on number 8 fairway bunker. I am sure we can do better, and your fellow members behind you would greatly appreciate it. 

Bring back golfer etiquette.

Recap of winter work.

 Our crew has been fairly busy over the winter with outside projects. We took advantage of snow free ground to remove trees that were unhealthy or not conducive to play. This also included cleaning out the hillside after you cross 12 bridge. While this area became more aesthetically pleasing, its main purpose was to allow you to see the fairway with the mirror behind the tee. There is such a small gap to be able to see with the mirror that the scrub tree in the picture below, once leafed out, made it nearly impossible to utilize the mirror. This will help and hopefully decrease the need to yell up to 11 tee to see if you are clear to hit. 

We are currently working on cleaning up the golf course of sticks and debris, so that when we do open we are ready to go. There still is a little frost in the ground, especially in heavy shaded areas such as 8 green complex. As we are closer to opening the proshop will send out a notice or message on the 4tees app. 

A new weather warning system with automated sirens was also recently installed. The main weather station is mounted above the proshop, with two additional sirens located on the course. One is at the snack shack and the other is mounted on the back of the driving range. This system is automated and will engage when a lightning strike is detected within 10 miles of our course. There will be one solid warning that will last for 15 seconds. When there have been no lightning strikes over a 15 minute period the system will then have 3 short five second blasts to give the all clear. This takes the human aspect out of sounding our previous sirens manually at the club and shack. The sirens can also be used to commence a shotgun start on the course. There are signs posted in the locker rooms to inform our members as well. Our weather station is equipped with a camera as well that may have an option to view via an app. 

Look forward to seeing everyone soon on the golf course. As the weather warms, hopefully we do not have to use our Elmer Fudd hats to stay warm!

Frost Delays

 This week we have already had a few lengthy delays due to frost. We do our best to try and forecast the delays the day before so that tee times can be adjusted accordingly so that our members do not have to sit and wait at the club. We get this right most of the time, but this is very dependent on how fast temperatures rise in the morning. The slower the rise in temperatures the longer it will take for the frost to burn off which not only delays tee times but also delays our ability to access the course to mow and blow leaves. Please take a moment and watch this video from the USGA on frost delays and the importance of not damaging the turf going into the winter when it can not recover on its own. 

USGA Frost Delay Video

Flooding 2021

 Due to the excessive amount of rain in our area on Wednesday and Thursday last week the course was closed due to the creek flooding. This is the highest that I have witnessed in my 7 years here and would imagine that it was worse than the stories I have heard from the 2006 Marathon tournament. 

Here are a few pics from around the course. Special thanks to our crew and the membership for their patience and care when we did open. Other than some debris you really cant tell that we were under water. We did lose the ballwasher from hole 12 so if anyone spots that in the next week or so, please let us know. 

2 fairway looking back at tee box.

11 tee looking at green. (12 tees completely under water)

7 green looking at 17 tee.

Greens Aerification

 We will be aerating greens on October 18/19. The course will be closed both days as we complete the process. 

Grubs, Critters and Undesirable Turf

 Every fall some of our nocturnal friends on the course try to find grubs to feast upon. You will notice light damage where they dig test holes, and if they find enough to make a meal they really tear into the turf. Most of the time they are racoons, but this year we are fortunate enough to have a family of skunks out near 4 and 15. Between 4 and 15 tees they have hit pay dirt and have done some significant damage to the roughs, especially the bentgrass that has migrated to where bluegrass should be. 

With any goof turf management plan we have to look at all the reasons that the animals are there and decide if the damage is at a threshold that we should take action. Below are the reasons the damage is happening and also what our course of action will be to hopefully prevent damage going forward or at least minimize it for the future.

Problems:

1. Grubs: There are always grubs in the soil that feed on the turf roots. We treat for grubs in the spring on all our greens/tees/fairways. This keeps the threshold down and we typically do not see damage to the turf. 

2. Animals: Racoons and skunks love grubs, they are a great source of protein going into the winter. As part of their diet they search for grubs in areas that are brown and usually not irrigated. Most of the time the damage is minimal and does not require action on our part.

3:Bentgrass in roughs: Over the years bentgrass can migrate and fill in areas in the roughs. Its not a desirable turf to grow at 2 inches and vey fluffy and hard to hit out of.   

Solutions:

1. Grubs: Spray an insecticide to kill grubs and other organisms in the soil. This is only done if the threshold has reached a point where the grubs are actually causing the turf to die. Spot treating some of these areas would be a proper course of action. 

2. Animals: Trapping the animals and relocating them will be done by a professional service, especially skunks. You will start to see some live traps on the course and we have hired a company to come in the morning to relocate the animals. 

3. Bentgrass in roughs: We will start a test trial between 4 and 15 tees with a product that kills bentgrass and poa only. The product allows us to seed right away as it does not harm bluegrass or ryegrass. It is a very systemic product that kills the roots as well, but as the plant dies it turns white instead of brown. 

There is no magic pill to stop any of the three factors from happening on the course but hopefully we can minimize all three factors so that we minimize our reactions in the future. We have chose this area between 4 and 15 tees so that you can see the effects and the progress that we will make moving forward. The area is also not in play so it will not effect any members or guest experience on the course.

The light colored area between the tires is bentgrass.

Light colored grass is bent. Animals not digging up bluegrass.

Animals have found grubs in the bentgrass, but not the bluegrass.

Please Rake Your Bunkers

 When we were forced to remove the bunker rakes from the course last year our members did a great job of adapting to the changes. Now that we have placed the rakes back on the course we ask that you please return to raking bunkers after you have played your shot. 

With the new sand that we have added it is not necessary to use much force to smooth the sand out. In fact, the lighter you rake the smoother the sand will be. Please also remember to rake the area where you hit from but also every foot print that you make. We are into the heart of the season and this means Old Pal, and other matches are being played, which means the ball has to be played down. It is not fair to the members and guests behind you to not have the same conditions that you were able to enjoy. 

Below are two pictures from the same bunker on hole 13 today. The bunker was "kinda" raked by this golfer, but the golfer didn't take the time to finish raking. In the first picture is a ball in their footprint alongside a spot where they did a great job raking. The second picture is a ball that has rolled up to a pile that was left by this same golfer because they raked too hard. Which shot would you want to play in your match? (and no I don't know who did this)

Please note that we have requested the rakes be left OUTSIDE of the bunker, on the side furthest away from the green or fairway.

Again please take a little extra time so that the members and guest in the afternoon enjoy the same conditions that you enjoyed.

Greens Speed

With the ups and downs we have experienced this spring in regards to temperature and weather in general, greens have been running very fast. Unfortunately or fortunately, depending on your preferred greens speed, the greens will seem to be slowER over the next few weeks. With the latest extended warm up, soil temps have risen to a point where the bentgrass and poa are both greening up together and will start to grow more on a day to day basis. Our goal day to day is to have stimp reading of between 11-12. Last week with little growth we were at or approaching almost 13 on the stimpmeter. Again, conditions were optimal to achieve the speeds we were at. This is not very sustainable on a day to day basis, but can be achieved with extra mows and rolls for tournaments and other events. There are other cultural practices that we use such as topdressing, verticutting, height of cut and plant growth regulators that we use to try and provide the best greens that are true but also sustainable for the entire season. 

   

Bunker Rake Placement Change

Photo courtesy of Tim Kirk.

The grounds committee has unanimously decided to make a change to the placement of bunker rakes around our bunkers. We ask that after you rake bunkers to place the rake back on the outside of the bunker.  The decision was made due to concerns of balls coming to rest against the rakes on the downslope of the grass, and in the bunker itself, not allowing the ball to roll to a spot that was playable. If you keep the rakes on the outside away from greens and fairways, it is less likely that the rakes will come into play. 

Colors of Spring

 

Photo by Clubhouse staffer Devon Desmond

We have been open for almost a month and a half, we are now in full spring bloom. The crab apples and maples have flowered and the rough is growing (some would say out of control). We will have two mowers going for the next few weeks to try and keep up with the rough but its an uphill fight, especially when we lose days to snow and rain. The roughs that were sodded with the bunker project have all been inter-seeded as well this spring. Pure stands of bluegrass and bentgrass need warmer soil temps before they wake up from dormancy. Add walking and cart traffic to these areas and they tend to get thin in the shoulder months of the season. This will improve as the plants mature and acclimate to our soils and cultural programs. With the warm rains on Wednesday night helping to warm the soils, I already notice these areas are starting to green up. 

Like most other seasonal business's we are seeing a slight labor shortage. I have high school and college students lined up and they will be starting in the next few weeks, but it has been a struggle this spring to keep up with detailed tasks. Hopefully this will change this fall, but the staff that we have has done a great job of keeping up with the day to day tasks. 

Ballwashers will go out next week, after what is hopefully our last frost. We will be minimizing the number of washers that we put out on the course. This is due to reduced usage and minimizing clutter on the course. The bagroom has towels to use and there are buckets on the first and tenth tee. 

The spring scramble is tomorrow, good luck to all of those that are participating. Please continue to rake bunkers, fix ball marks and replace divots. 

Sand and snow.

 While the bunker project was completed last year it does not mean that the bunkers are maintenance free. We spend an enormous amount of labor to keep them playable and as consistent as possible. On average 3-5 hours daily to rake them in season, plus mowing and edging of 15-20 hours per week. This is what I would consider "routine" maintenance. We also periodically check the depth of sand in the bunkers, and would like to see four inches of sand on the floor of the bunker. The bunkers lose sand to compaction, wind, and shots that blast the sand out of the bunker. This week we added sand to the short game bunkers, 9 fairway, 14 green and 18 green. When we add sand we are adding an inch or two to the floor of the bunker. This will continue to happen year in and year out and the better we stay on top of this the more consistent the bunkers will be. Yes, these particular bunkers will be different for a week or two, but I would rather do this now than in the summer while events and matches are being played. If we were to do this in the late fall we likely will lose a significant amount of the sand to high winds that we experience in the fall and winter. 

The snow storm really did not hurt the course at all. We received about 5 inches of heavy wet snow, and the only damage was to some branches that could not handle the weight. These were for the most part the white pines and the elms between 14 tee and 9 fairway. Below is a picture of the crab apples right of 15 cart path. Once the snow melted the branches went back to where they should be. 

Green Aerification

 When I started here in 2015 my predecessor, Dan Salois, aerified greens every spring and fall. He was able to bring the organic matter (thatch) to a manageable level during his tenure.  We sample soils twice a year and I made the decision to just aerify in the fall as our organic matter levels were holding steady or slightly increasing. After three years of just fall aerification the organic matter kept increasing when we sampled the greens so we made the decision to throw a spring aerification in every other year and this has stabilized our organic matter to the proper level. 

    With variable weather in the months of March and April it is hard to plan a date for spring aerification. I try to just pick the first "good" Monday where the weather cooperates. We were fortunate to have decent weather on the 5th of April and we decided to get the aerification started and finished our process on the 6th. The holes should heal by mid next week and we will reap the benefits throughout the rest of the season. These benefits include decreased organic matter, better drainage, more oxygen to the roots and an overall healthier stand of turf. 

Thanks for understanding the benefits of this disruptive process and enjoy the rest of the season. 

Greens to open.......(insert drumroll here)

 We will be opening the golf course on Saturday the 20th at 12:00. You will be receiving an email from the golf shop today with instructions for tee times. Sunday the course will open at 11:00. The reason for the later start is due to the forecasted low temperatures in the 20's. The late start will let the frost burn off and the ground to thaw, especially on greens. Carts will be available this weekend and daily depending on rainfall. The range will be open on the mats. The short game area will be open but not stocked with range balls. The fairway on the short game area is still dormant and we prefer to let that start growing before we beat it up to much. 

As far as the course goes we will only be placing blue tee markers this weekend. This is where 80% of our play will be and we need to not kill the area around the blue stone. 17 and 15 tee will be open and we will have all tee markers out on this hole as to not randomly beat the tee up. 

Flagsticks will still have the foam in the cup, proceed how you see fit. 

Bunker rakes and benches will be placed out in the coming weeks, again proceed how you see fit. 

Please follow and respect our ropes and stakes as the turf is still coming out of dormancy and can not recover from repeated traffic. 

Thanks for following along and here's to a great 2021.

Greens Still Closed

 We will NOT be opening the greens this week. While we have a few nice days ahead, we still have some snow and frozen soils that will need to thaw before we open. The temporary pins are still in and we would appreciate everyone staying off of the greens. Excessive foot traffic and ballmarks are very detrimental to closely mown turf that is not actively growing. 

The course has emerged from the winter in great condition and we will be working on spring clean-up of debris. We are looking forward to a great year!