Spring update

The calendar says that we are in the middle of spring, but looking out the window it feels more like it's just beginning.  We have been working hard to complete our renovation projects while getting the course open and ready for the golf season.
The greens aeration at the beginning of April has worked out beautifully, although the cool weather has delayed the recovery process a bit more than I had anticipated.  The rain today should put the finishing touches on the recovery, and the playing surfaces should be firm and smooth throughout the remainder of the season.  We will address the tees and fairways in the coming weeks as the weather and work schedule allow, but it will have minimal impact on the accessibility and playability of the golf course.
We now have two major projects complete, and hope to finish the third in the next couple of weeks.  The new mats at the driving range have been installed and have received rave reviews.  The fairway bunkers on the 1st hole have been renovated the sod has been installed.  They should be open for play by the middle of May.
The last major project is the re-grassing of the rough along the left side of the 1st hole.  This project is taking the longest due to irrigation repairs and upgrades which can only be completed at low tide.  These should be completed by the end of the week, allowing us to focus on improving the soil and installing the sod.  We have repaired, upgraded and expanded the irrigation over the last few weeks to improve the health of the turf after the renovation project is complete.
The phragmites are starting to recover from the winter mowing, and we will do our best to keep them under control.  There are a few people that do not like the changes, but as the native vegetation returns to the wetlands I am confident that the majority of the golfers will grow to like the new look.  The only place that there is a general dislike of the removal is along the 2nd hole.  We will be extending the wooden fence at the tee and will allow a 10'-15' buffer to grow back to block the view of the road. 
Soon warmer weather will be upon us and the grass will be growing vigorously.  We look forward to putting the projects to rest and enjoying the warm sun and sea breezes that make Pine Orchard the place to be in the Summer.

You can look, but please don't touch.

As many of you have seen, the sod has been installed on the 1st and 18th fairways.  The GreenCommittee and staff have worked very hard to get to this point in the recovery process.  Initially we tried to minimize the cost of the recovery by seeding the renovated areas, but in spite of the record warm weather this spring, complete recovery would have taken too much time so we made the decision to purchase sod.  Although this approach was more expensive, it improved the project dramatically for two reasons.  First, and most important to members, the fairway will be open for play much sooner.  Second, and most important to me, it allowed us to rework the surface drainage which will expand the area covered by the drains we installed last fall.  Ultimately this will improve the condition of the fairway, especially after heavy rain events.  

The turf that we installed has been growing in southern New Jersey for over a year.  This is significant because it allowed the turf to be harvested in large rolls that require less maintenance and will be ready for play sooner.  We tried to purchase sod in November, but there was extremely high demand for bent grass in the northeast last year due to the late summer storms and the renovation project at the Mohegan Sun golf course.  The persistent rains in October prevented the fields from maturing in time for a late fall harvest, but we were assured that they would be ready this spring.  Well, spring came early for most, but the sod in Rhode Island was still very tender and could not be harvested in large rolls.  In late March, the only source of large rolls I could find was in Buffalo, New York.  Last week I was approached by someone who had access to a field that was reserved in New Jersey, but the buyer backed out.  We jumped at the chance, and within a week the fairways were green again.

Due to the high cost of shipping the sod, we only ordered enough to cover the largest areas of the fairways.  This week I will measure and order local sod for the rough around the fairways.  We have small pieces of turf that we saved along the way that we will use to fill in small depressions that remain on the fairways.  Over the next few weeks the seeded areas and sod will continue to mature, and before long we will be playing the holes again.

Until the holes are open, please resist the temptation to walk on the sod.  

We have been watering heavily to wet the sod, as well as the soil beneath that is extremely dry due to the lack of rain.  This has created some very soft spots, and we must be very careful until the roots start to reach down into the soil.  Yesterday I began rolling the areas, and I hope to finish the first rolling early next week.  We will continue to fertilize and roll as needed, and will begin topdressing and aerating as soon as conditions allow.

Ultimately all anyone really wants to know is when the areas will be open for play.  I have a goal in mind, but it may be a bit too ambitious so I will wait until I see what the weather has in store for us in the coming weeks before I say anything.  Last October I was asked to put together a recovery strategy and timeline and said the best case scenario was that it would be open May 1, and in pre-Irene condition by Memorial Day.  The weather last fall was far from a best case scenario, but the winter and spring have helped us catch up.  I think the initial estimate is still realistic, except the fairways will be far better than before.

Complete recovery will be an ongoing  process, especially in the rough areas left of the 1st fairway and on the 2nd hole.  We will continue to work on the problems that have plagued these areas for many years until we have restored the entire area.  I will continue to provide updates and share photos from time to time.  Please remind me if it has been a while since I have posted, as we are extremely busy working on the project and getting the course ready for summer, and it is hard to find time to sit at the computer.  

For now, I am excited about seeing so much new grass, as well as seeing golfers on the course again.  Thanks for checking in, and we look forward to seeing you on the golf course.

A New Approach

The recent warm, dry weather has allowed us to get a great head start on preparing the golf course for the spring.  The greens are open and appear to have come through the “winter” with flying colors.  We have groomed and mowed the putting surfaces, fairways and tees, and the bunkers have been raked, weeks ahead of schedule.  We will continue these efforts as needed in the coming weeks.  The turf throughout the course is starting to break dormancy, and conditions will continue to improve as long as this weather pattern holds up.

The recovery of the 1^st and 18^th fairways is well under way.  Last fall we focused our attention on installing drains and improving surface drainage.  We fertilized, seeded, and covered large areas in hopes that we could get enough recovery to avoid purchasing large quantities of sod.  The mild winter and warm temperatures helped the grass that germinated in October, but the early spring came a month too late for the dormant seed to establish in time for the golf season.  We have been working this week to strip the weakest areas prepare them for sod.  I have been in regular contact with sod farms and will take delivery of fairway turf as soon as it can be harvested.  We should have the majority of the areas ready in the next few days, and I hope to install the first shipment by the middle of next week. 

The sod brokers with whom I have been in contact all have the same message.  They can get turf, but it is not very mature and it is extremely delicate.  This might be acceptable for use on small areas such as tees, or areas that will not be used until late spring, but large areas that must be playable as soon as possible require thicker rolls of mature sod that will establish more readily.  I will continue to monitor the progress of the turf, and may even travel to Rhode Island to walk one of the farms later this week.  If I am not confident that the sod will be ready by the end of the month, I may have to look as far away as Buffalo for more mature, resilient rolls of sod.  We are working very hard to make sure that we choose the option that will have the areas open for play as soon as possible, give us the best chance for long term success, and allows us to work within our budget.

I am borrowing a machine to help us reseed weak areas throughout the property next week.  This will include the bottom of the 5^th and 9^th fairways and rough areas on 1, 2, 3 and 5.  These areas will be fertilized to promote growth, and we may even use covers to speed up the process if temperatures return to normal in April.

This has been an extremely challenging spring, and I am looking forward to a time when we can shift our focus away from the recovery and concentrate on improving playing conditions throughout the rest of the golf course.  I will do my best to take a few minutes each week to update you on the recovery and course conditions.  I will include updates in the newsletter and emails from the golf shop, but the best source of information will be found on the blog.  Thanks for checking in, and we look forward to seeing you on the golf course soon.

Recovery Update

The golf season is right around the corner, and we are preparing to complete the recovery for the 1^st and 18^th fairways.  The storm surge submerged the fairways and rough areas for more than 24 hours causing significant damage to the turf.  The bentgrass in the fairways is extremely sensitive to salt damage and was completely lost.  Elevated and well drained areas such as greens and tees survived because the water receded within 24 hours and we were able to flush the salts from the soil immediately.  The flood gate prevented the sea water from returning to the sound, and therefore it took over two days for the water to recede.  By that time the turf was already dead.

Our recovery efforts began with an application of gypsum to greens, tees, fairways, and clubhouse lawns.  The gypsum provides calcium which helps remove the sodium from the soil.  This is most effective in well draining soils that can be flushed with fresh water.  It is less effective in poorly draining areas because water can not infiltrate the soil and the sodium remains in the root zone. 

Once the fairways were dry enough we seeded the damaged areas with salt tolerant varieties of grass.  Germination and establishment occurred rapidly in areas that had adequate surface drainage and good soils.  Due to the persistent rains in October the seed would not germinate in depressions and other areas with poor surface drainage. This clearly indentified where we needed to focus our attention on drainage.  We expanded existing drainage and installed new drains to correct as many problem areas as possible.   We then removed the dead thatch and brought in new soil to improve surface drainage and move surface water to the collectors.  We seeded and covered the areas in hopes that we might be able to get some turf established over the winter.  We are currently working to complete this process on the 18^th fairway.  These areas will be finished with topsoil and prepared for sod in the next two weeks.  We will continue to evaluate and expand the drainage as needed. 

I have been in regular contact with sod farms, and we will begin installing rough sod in early March.  I will continue to monitor the availability of fairway sod which is more delicate and won’t be available until the fields break dormancy near the beginning of April.  We will begin taking delivery of fairway sod for smaller areas as soon as it is available.  For the larger fairway areas we intend to purchase large rolls of sod that is cut thicker.  The larger rolls tend to establish more readily and will require less maintenance to achieve acceptable playing conditions.  The sod will take 4-5 weeks to establish depending on the weather in March and April.  I will be hiring my seasonal staff next week and I expect to take our first sod deliveries in early March.  Aeration, topdressing, seeding, and fertilization will take place throughout the spring until we are satisfied with the condition of these areas.

Our initial goal was to have the fairways open for play at the beginning of May and in pre-storm condition by Memorial Day.  I am confident that we are still on schedule, but complete recovery will be an ongoing process and our efforts will continue throughout the season.  I will continue to update you on our progress in the club news letter, as well as on my blog.

1st fairway update: 12/1/11

We are continuing to work on the 1^st and 18^th fairways to resolve the drainage issues and facilitate recovery of the turf damaged by the storm surge this fall.  Unfortunately this has been the 3^rd wettest year on record, and we will likely exceed the previous record by the end of the year.  The weather conditions have revealed the core of the problem in these areas, drainage.  The material used to fill the wetlands and build the fairways does not allow water to percolate into the soil and flow to the streams as groundwater.  Therefore any water that does not run off collects in puddles and saturates the surface until it evaporates or drains into the soil which often takes days.

The directive I was given was to restore the condition of the fairway without spending too much money.  Therefore, my approach has been to try the least expensive options first, and then proceed with more expensive solutions as needed.  The least expensive option was to seed the areas and promote recovery using fertilizer from of our existing inventory.  This worked well in areas that had sufficient surface drainage such as the beginning of the 18^th and the high areas of the 1^st fairways.  Flat areas or depressions remain saturated and have not recovered using this approach. 

The next step is to add internal drainage where possible.  Due to the heavy soils we installed catch basins in the worst areas to collect as much surface water as possible.  This strategy has worked well in the approach and just across the creek on the 1^st hole.  We continue add collectors and improve surface drainage to expand the area affected by the drains.  These areas may require laying new sod, which due to the extreme wet conditions this fall will not be available until spring.  We are currently working to determine the cost of completing the recovery using this strategy.

The final step in the process will be topdressing the fairways with sand which we initiated earilier this week.  We aerified the areas and spread out a thin layer of sand that was washed into the turf by the rain.  We will repeat this process throughout the winter as often as possible to improve the health and playability of the turf for next season.  The key to a successful fairway topdressing program is that the drainage must be in place before topdressing begins, which is why previous efforts to resolve the issue have not been successful.  (Click here for more information on fairway topdressing)

Ultimately, the solution to the problem will require raising the elevation of these areas using a well draining material, and designing a drainage system based on the characteristics of the fill used and the amount of elevation change that is created.  This solution is currently being developed by the Golf Long Range Committee with the BSC Group and architect Tim Gerrish. 

November Update

It has been a long time since I posted an update on my blog, and I apologize.  We have been extremely busy trying to keep up with course maintenance and working to improve the condition of the first fairway.  I recently shared an update with the Green Committee that outlines our efforts to date, which I have included below.  We will continue to work on improving surface drainage throughout the areas as long as the weather allows.  The areas that have suitable soil and surface drainage have been recovering nicely, and we hope that as we correct the drainage issues more seedlings will be able to fill in and the condition of the turf will improve. 

Green Committee Update dated 11/13/11:

The problems with the first fairway are not new, and many attempts have been made to correct the issues with topdressing, aeration, filling depressions with sand, installing French drains, and building berms to prevent tide water from spilling into the fairways.  Few have been successful.  Providing superior playing conditions and accessibility will require a complete reconstruction.   This solution requires significant planning, permitting, and funding.

The condition of the fairway is not acceptable, and there are no quick fixes.  In an average year, these areas may perform well, and extra maintenance may improve them to the level of the rest of the course.  In an extreme wet year, like we just experienced, no amount of aeration, fertilizer, or topdressing would compensate for the poor soils and lack of surface and subsurface drainage. 

The impact of the storm surge is an extreme example of the problems that plague this area, as is the lack of recovery in the low areas of the fairway. The current condition of the fairway is related more to the amount of rainfall that we have received since Labor Day than it is to the storm surge. The material used to build the fairway does not allow water to percolate, and therefore water that enters the fairway area can not drain into the soil.  Rainfall must run off the surface, but there is not enough elevation change for adequate surface drainage.  The lack of elevation change, combined with the fact that the edge of the stream and pond are higher than the fairway, prevents water from running off and we are left with puddles and saturated soils.  Much of the material used to build the fairway is of such poor quality that the plant roots do not grow beyond the 1"-2" layer of soil that is found at the surface.  Higher areas that have a thicker layer of suitable soil are recovering nicely. 

Last month I spelled out a recovery plan of action for the Green Committee and Board of Directors, and we are right on track.  Seeding has been completed twice, as weather and soil conditions allowed.  Fertilization has been taking place on approximately a two week interval, using both granular and liquid applications.  We have spent the last two weeks correcting surface drainage problems in the approach, and installing catch basins to help move water from the surface as soon as possible.  Once the collectors are complete we will improve surface drainage toward the catch basins to eliminate as many puddles as possible.  We will be filling as many holes as possible with soil and aeration plugs to help eliminate depressions as well. 

Once the majority of the drainage repairs and surface drainage work are complete, and we have mowed the newly seeded areas for the final time this season we will apply seed and sand top dressing to help firm and smooth the surface.  Drainage work will continue as long as the weather allows, and will resume in the spring until we are confident that we will be able to produce acceptable conditions until a comprehensive solution can be initiated.

Recovery of this magnitude under such extreme conditions takes time.  Below is a list of steps taken throughout the recovery process (dates completed in parentheses);

ü      Seed areas with Seaside II, a salt tolerant creeping bentgrass variety (slit seeded in two directions week of 9/19, broadcast seeded once after spiking in early October)

ü      Add fine fescue to act as a nurse grass to help the bentgrass get established and mature (spike seeded early October)

ü      Apply fertilizer to help seedlings get established before winter dormancy (Fairways- Granular app mid September, liquid app 9/28, 10/18, 11/7; Rough- Granular app 10/14)

ü      Locate as many existing drain lines as possible and add catch basins to remove surface water where possible (10/27, 11/1-3, 11/7-11)

ü      Raise low areas and direct surface water toward drains where possible (11/3, 11/11, 11/14)

We have also been working to prepare the course for winter.  Fertilizer and fungicide applications are near complete, and the irrigation and wash station have been winterized.  The bulk of the leaf clean up should be complete in the next couple of weeks.  Below is a link to a USGA Regional Update that explains some common practices utilized to prepare courses for the winter months. 

USGA Northeast Regional Update