We started off with greens aerification on March 4th (day 1). The weather delayed our aerification process a little bit, but we were able to complete it all in 3 days. The picture below was taken yesterday (March 21st). As you can see, the greens have a long way to go to heal. This March has been colder than normal and much colder than last March. This has really slowed down the growth/healing of the greens. They are about a week behind normal healing time right now and the forecast doesn't create a lot of optimism.
Immediately after core aerification on March 7th and 8th, Specialty Turf Supply, Inc. from here in Birmingham, performed the dryject procedure on our greens. With mininmal surface disruption, the dryject machine uses high pressure water to create channels up to 6" deep in the soil profile and simultaneously fills the channels with sand or amendments via it's vacuum technology. The main benefit for us is that it creates additional channels (deeper than core aerification and completely sand-filled) for air, water, and gas exchange in the soil profile.
the dryject machine in operation
dryject before and after
surface and profile look of dryject results (green sand) seen during demo done last September
While aerification was going on, Heer's Stump Service constructed a burn pit at our dump (on the hill by the clubhouse) and started burning our trees debris, which we have been accumulating up there for several years. We were able to burn for a couple of days and make some good progress before the wind increased and the humidity level dropped to a point that was unsafe to burn.
the early stages
fire in the hole
we were very pleased with the progress that we made in a couple of days
Once the weather became unsuitable for burning, Obye with Heer's Stump Service, immediately shifted his attention to the sinkhole at the chipping green complex. The first goal there was to dig down to discover the extent of the damage to the 30" drainage pipe. The news was not good, as we expected. The pipe was much deeper than we anticipated, the dirt was poor, and the damage to the pipe was extensive. Fortunately, the first 40' of the pipe, which extends out into the lake, was in good condition and we were able to tie in to it and not have to dig out into the lake. That was about the extent of the good news. To date, we have replaced 160' of the pipe and have another 20' to go to get back to good pipe. The pipe for the last 80' has been much shallower, the dirt has been much better, and things have progressed much quicker. It should only take another day or so to complete the run and get a rough cleanup done. Following that the fun starts for our staff. We will have to put back together all the irrigation and drainage lines that we had to cut in the trench line in order to lay the pipe and then will come the sod prep and laying of the sod, which is extensive.
at times you couldn't even see the excavator in the trench it was so deep
a shot from the path
the tie-in to the existing pipe
the trench keeps going...
a pic from late yesterday, almost at the cart path and only 20' more of pipe to be replaced
We also aerified the greens collars during this time. The goal of this was to help smooth out the transition between the greens perimeters and the collars, where the collars are a little higher than the edge of the green and there is a slight bumper effect. We ran the aerifier across the collars 2 times and then followed up with a plate compactor. We also used hand tamps on the severe areas. We did not completely smooth out all the areas, but definitely made a noticeable difference. We will try to do the process again at a later date to continue to improve the smoothness of the transition.
plate compactor in the foreground and aerifier in the background
hand tamping of the more severe areas, most of which are bordered by a bunker
We spread fertilizer sparged with a pre-emergent herbicide to the course on March 15. Harrell's Inc. blended the product for us and made the bulk application. We used predominantly slow release fertilizer, which is designed to provide nutrients to the turf through the end of the summer.
spreader truck applying the product in the background
product applied as seen on cart path and being watered-in to establish weed barrier
We also rented a stump grinder for 2 weeks during the closed period and ground a lot of old stumps. We will continue with this at a later date.
Tomas in action on 10
We renovated an area left of the fairway bunker on 10 as well. The area was heavily shaded before and had encountered a lot of erosion. We removed a couple of trees, did some pruning, ground some stumps and roots, then prepped the area for sod by tilling, amending, and leveling, and then finished it off with some new sod. We will be doing this in a couple of other areas in the near future.
the hazard line had extended way up the hill to where the red stake is as a result of the deteriorated turf
sod prep work
sod being laid and stapled for stability
the finished project
Bunker maintenance was another project that we worked on during the 18 days. We have added about 160 tons of sand and have about 95% of the bunkers completed.
As you can see, it has been a very busy couple of weeks at the Legacy! We are glad that you are back!
As you can see, it has been a very busy couple of weeks at the Legacy! We are glad that you are back!
