Spring Projects are Keeping Us Busy

 XGD Systems was here on April 23rd-26th installing internal drainage into greens 1 and 6.  These two greens, on average, are our wettest greens.  It was time for us to make a decision and use what tools are available to us to improve the overall playing condition of these putting surfaces.  Each green took two days to complete and once finished were ready to play on the following day.

 The crew from XGD, of about ten guys, was extremely efficient during the process. Each man had a specific job to do each and every step of the process.  It was like watching a finely oiled machine work in complete precision.

Trench lines before they were filled and compacted

Tamping and filling of trench lines

The completed product as final clean-up was taking place.

The completed product on 1 green following .66" of rain in less than an hour.

The front right of 17 green following the same rain event.  It's quite obvious this green will be a good candidate for the XGD internal drainage.

 Nick Folk has been extremely busy the past two weeks repairing and sodding a few of our weaker bunker faces. The photo above shows the repair of the left greenside bunker on #10.  The edge had deteriorated to the point where it needed repair.  At some point the entire face may need to be rebuilt as you can see the 8-10" of sand that has built up over the past 10 years.  Thankfully the quality of the turf on the face is in extremely good condition and is really not an issue to be concerned about at this time.  Greenside bunkers on 5 and 7 were also repaired.

The approach bunker on the left side of 7 was re-sodded and we were also able to do a little reshaping of one of the back slopes which now allows the player a little more room to swing their club if their ball is in the right corner.  

 The new bunker on the inside of the dogleg on 7 was a concern for the members that they could not see any  sand from the tee.  On the recommendation from our Architect Ron Prichard, Nick raised the face of the bunker so more of a flash of sand will be visible from the tee.  This "little" project took over a day to complete as it was a real fineness job to make sure the sod matched the existing bunker and to make sure it looks as if it was part of the original construction.  Nick did a great job making sure it all turned out right.

 Perennial gardens have been planted at the new tennis facility as well as at the driving range and 10th tee house.  Horticulturalist, Ryan Hogan, along with some of our seasonal staff did a great job with the installation.  I'm sure everyone will enjoy the new looks these gardens will provide.

Its been 10 years since the restoration and during this time some of the tee surfaces have sloughed off leaving us with an uneven teeing surface.  We continually look for these areas. Rick Krause has leveled many over the years as the soil settles.  This year is no different.  These two photos are of the back of the white/blue tee on 5.

 The red/green tee has also sloughed off on the east side.  This is the second time re-leveling of this tee has been performed.

Following a recommendation from the Grounds Committee to expand the size of the Ball Drop at #6 we have since tripled the overall size of the area to aid with improving the overall condition.  We will be using tee markers to dictate the area of the Ball Drop that will be used that day.  Thanks to my former Assistant and current Superintendent at Olympic Hills CC, Jake Schmitz, for providing us with the sod for 5 tee and the Ball Drop here on 6.  He has plans to renovate his nursery and was giving the sod away.

 The front right of 17 green has healed very nicely.  We still have the height of cut a little bit higher in this area and will slowly begin to lower it over the next few weeks.  Hopefully by some time next week we will remove the ropes and open this area for play.  Thank you to the membership for showing extreme patience as we bring the condition of this area of the green back to proper health and condition.

 17 following the removal of covers in March.  You've come a long way Baby!

Spring Projects

Lead Assistant Nick Folk lead a crew this week stripping turf on the dogleg bunker on 7, the two left bunkers on 7 as well as the 160 bunker 16.  As you can see the turf quality on the bunker was quite poor and needed to be replaced.  The poor turf quality was in part do to our efforts to allow the turf on these faces to be thin and wispy.  Since it was decided last fall by the Grounds Committee to abandon the wispy look and go with completely mowed bunkers, there was a need to re-sod these four bunkers.  

Next week our staff, lead by staff Horticulturalist Ryan Hogan, will begin the process of planting the perennial gardens at tennis and the driving range.  Our staff spent this past week prepping the beds and making some minor changes from the construction last fall.  We have a great design, completed by Heidi's Lifestyle Gardens and are excited to see the final product in place.

 Prepping the driving range bed.

You've Got to Love the Colors in the Spring

 A perfect Donald Wyman Crabapple by 18 tee

The view of the mass planting of tulips in the spring never gets old.

20 Years and Counting

It's not often when a grounds department has an employee that's worked 20 years on the seasonal staff.  Barry Bloomgren has returned for his 20th year on our staff.  Beginning on the staff when he was 16 years old, Barry has done almost every job the seasonal staff members do, from mowing, trimming, raking bunkers, etc.  For the past 10 years or so Barry has worked exclusively on weekends mainly helping to mow greens, occasionally rake bunkers, fill water coolers as well as complete the tee service task.  It's great to know we can count on Barry to be here almost every Saturday and Sunday to help with the weekend set-up.  Thanks Barry for all your years of service to The Minikahda Club.

Making Progress

Aside from our normal spring clean-up projects we have seen excellent progress on the 17th green as well as the grow-in on the driving range.

 17 before our efforts to over-seed

2 weeks later we had excellent germination.  We continue to maintain a cover for protection during the cool nights.  This area will remain roped off for the remainder of the month of April and until we are confident in the maturity of the new seedlings.  Care will be required the remainder of the season for this location especially since this is a high traffic walk area as well as the low spot on the green.  

The range tee continues to show progress.  Some areas lacked good germination and seed cover so those areas were over-seeded this past week.  By next week expect to see germination.  We will continue to fertilize to push the bent to fill in and establish.  The tee has been cut once and next week a second mowing will be required.

The range fairway and target greens are also looking fantastic.  Timely rains, warm temperatures and some fertilizer have all contributed to a quick establishment.  We're hoping a first cut to the fairway will happen this week.  Before that happens we will roll the surface to smooth out any imperfections to help insure a good first cut.

Practice Facility

Yesterday we removed the cover from the practice tee.  Overall the tee looks good and there was significant germination.  Though some of it looks spotty with continued warm weather as well as timely fertility applications, in a few weeks we will see a more consistent growth pattern.  Nick and I fertilized the tee with an organic fertilizer and next we will be applying a starter fertilizer that will offer more phosphorous to the young seedlings. We are months away from opening the tee and are currently looking at early July for the opening.  We also see very good germination on the fairway and target greens.  These areas will go through the same establishment process as the tee and should fill in nicely over the course of the next few weeks. 

Yesterday we removed the cover from the practice tee.  Overall the tee looks good, there was significant germination.  Though some of it looks spotty with continued warm weather as well as timely fertility applications  , in a few weeks we will see a more consistent growth pattern.  Nick and I fertilized the tee with an organic fertilizer and next we will be applying a starter fertilizer that will offer more phosphorous to the young seedlings. We are months away from opening the tee and are currently looking at early July for the opening.  We also see very good germination on the fairway and target greens.  These areas will go through the same establishment process as the tee and should fill in nicely over the course of the next few weeks.

Welcome to our New Horticulturalist

This winter we hired a new Horticulturalist, Ryan Hogan.  Ryan has an extensive background in landscape management.  Ryan has owned and operated his own Landscape and Design company and until recently has been employed at Tangletown Gardens in Minneapolis.  Ryan earned his B.S. Degree in Forest Resources from the University of Minnesota and recently completed his Masters Degree in Horticulture, also from the University of Minnesota. We are excited to have Ryan on staff.  We are quite certain you will see an improvement to the overall look and appearance of our gardens.

Spring Preparations

With the course scheduled to open on Friday clean-up on the course and preparing the playing surfaces becomes our number one priority.  The irrigation system has been pressurized and the playing surfaces have been cleared of debris.  Starting on Thursday we will begin mowing greens, tees and approaches.  We will mow fairways Friday morning.

Since we are opening so early this year we have cancelled Member Clean-up, but thankfully we were able to have the Southwest High School golf team give us some of their time in exchange for the club allowing them to use the course to practice as well as play some matches.  Roughly 30 players spent 1.5 hours raking on the course.

The 17th green was the only green that incurred winter damage.  It appears water found its way under the cover and accumulated in the low spot.  The turf that died is poa annua, the green grass in the middle is creeping bentgrass that was plugged into the green last summer following when we had summer turf loss.  Which grass is the heartier grass?  I will let you decide.

The plan is to over-seed the damaged area this week.  We will maintain a protective cover over the area until we feel the seedlings are established enough.  We will also keep this area roped off for a number of weeks. Please be patience as we need time to regain full recovery of this area of the green.

West Lake Landscape is here again this spring working on another project.  This time it's around the 10th tee house.  All of the old blue stone is being removed and we are replacing it with red brink pavers.  One of our goals is to create consistency of products used on the course and around the club.  Red brick pavers along with  lannen stone is and will be installed where and when we feel improvements are necessary.

An Early Start

It's March 15th and we have removed all the covers from the greens.  I would say we are about 2-3 weeks ahead of schedule with this process.  Thankfully we were able to have 7 seasonal staff members come in early to help us begin the process of preparing the course for the season.  Obviously the more staff we have the smoother and more efficient we are with the process.  Of the 21 greens at the club 19 of greens are covered using the Greenjacket covers with foam insulation.  Only the 17th green appears to have some minor turf issues.

It appears that at some point moisture got under the cover and became trapped causing the low spots of the green to become water soaked.  I have pulled a sample to see if the turf will recover.  We are also immediately covering this portion of the green with an HPI cover to aid with warming the soil to generate some growth.  We want to see how much of the grass is truly alive and if there is really any death associated in this area of the green.

Front right corner of 17 green.

Otherwise we are very pleased with the overall condition and health of the putting surfaces.  In preparation for opening the course we will get the greens cleaned off, rolled and mowed over the course of the next week.  General clean-up and spring maintenance will be in full swing starting next week.  By all accounts we are off to a solid start.

 9th green

 13th green

It takes a team to complete this task!

Cooler Stands Complete

After 19 days of labor, the cooler stands are finally complete.  Rick and Johnny placed a great deal of thought and work into the restoration of these necessary accessories and deserve all the credit.  The wood and stain now matches other accessories on the golf course such as our tee markers and benches.  We have spend a great deal of effort over the last few years of making sure we have continuity throughout the course, whether its with retaining walls, stairs, or course accessories we have made a conscious effort to upgrade and maintain a high quality and standard throughout the property.  

We estimated new stands would have cost a minimum of $8000, we were able to purchase the identical wood for $1500 along with additional hardware upgrades.  So for $2000 plus labor we were able to improve the existing stands and utilize existing operating budgetary funds for their completion.

Quite the improvement from the old stands

Updates to the Storage Area

Winter is a great time of year for our department to analyze our maintenance facility and look for areas where we can improve an update the overall appearance and functionality of our space.  One area that we have been looking to improve for a few years is our back storage area.  This is an area that was once shared space with the Golf Staff.  They utilized this area in the summer for washing and storing range balls.  Now that they have a new building we have the space to ourselves.

The original shelving was installed in 1997 and was in great need of replacement.  That shelving has been replaced with stronger more supportive metal shelves.  Since this area is where water coolers are cleaned and filled with water and ice the main purpose of the shelves will be to store the coolers.

What might be our best addition to the room is our new washer and dryer and storage cabinets.  Typically tee towels and other assorted items that need cleaning are sent to the club house.  This is not always convenient for us and we wanted to have more control over when the towels are cleaned and where they are stored.  Nick was not only able to find a used unit on Craiglist but he completed all of the necessary plumbing and venting work.

A number of years ago the club was in need of a new cardboard compactor, instead of trading the old compactor, we took it off their hands and have be utilizing it in our facility for a number of years. The compactor is great to have in the building and we know all cardboard is being properly recycled.

Rebuilding Cooler Stands

This winter we decided it was time to rebuild our cooler stands.  We've estimated the original stands were built over 25 years ago when Dan Hanson was the Superintendent.  The wood slates have been replaced numerous times.  The last time the wood was replaced was about 10 years ago.  At that time we utilized cedar.  The wood has held up well over the years.  Annually the wood has been stained and the metal has always received a fresh coat of paint but the time has come to upgrade the quality and appearance.

This time we felt it was important to replace the wood with the identical wood that is used for the benches and tee markers.  Our goal is to maintain a consistency with the products we use on the course and create a clean well maintained look, not only to the playing surfaces, but to the course accessories as well.  If we were to purchase the cooler stands that are made with the same wood type, costs would exceed $850 per stand.  With 9 stands needing new wood our costs would exceed $7600. We were able to purchase the identical wood for only $1500.  Of course we will have a good number of our own man-hours into the project, but there is a certain amount of satisfaction that comes from doing the work in house.

The old cooler stands

 Freshly stained wood

Metal bases had years of paint stripped and sandblasted off. Primer has been applied and now await a fresh coat of black paint.

Assembly of the the 9 stands will take some time but when completed will have all new hardware and will be as good if not better than ones purchased from a supplier.