Storms and rain continue

With over 5 inches of rain already this month, the course is very saturated and we may have to consider renting out boats instead of golf carts.  Despite the poor golfing weather the maintenance staff is out working in the elements.  We have finished a few projects here within the past couple of weeks and they include bunker drainage, catch basin repair, split-rail fence repair and our second solid tine aerification. 

Solid tine aerification helps to keep thatch and organic matter from building up, aides in gas exchange in the root zone and also improves drainage to help keep the surface of the green firmer.  There is minimal disruption in play with this process compared to pulling plugs and actually doing a core aerification.

Last week we had a line of severe weather pass through the area that contained high winds.  This line of storms actually took out a portion of split-rail fencing that is surrounding the course.  Here is a picture of the downed fence on #18. 

Another catch basin on the right side of #14 has been repaired as well.  There was a gap in the tile about 4 feet below the surface that was the cause of the washout.  As you can see below, the gap was large enough to put your hand into.  This has been repaired wtih concrete to patch the hole and the surrounding area was then backfilled with pea gravel.

We have been working on an extensive drainage project on the fairway bunker on hole #2.  This bunker has not been draining properly for quite some time and has hindered playability.  We began by uncovering all the existing drainage to see what was actually in the bunker.  This allowed us to see which areas needed additional drainage and also allowed us to measure the slope of the tile to see if it was draining properly.

By uncovering the tile we also found an area that was damaged and were able to repair it immediately.  Here is a picture of the damaged tile.  Having a hole like this allows for sand to be washed away during heavy rains and if left unrepaired can actually clog up and/or reduce drainage itself.

After the tile was exposed we then marked out where new drainage would be added and trenched in a new line with a pull behind trencher.

Once the new line was trenched, we cleaned it out and laid in the new tile.  The tile is dual walled for stability and strength, and lined with a "sleeve."  The sleeve helps to keep larger material out of the tile itself.  Once in the ground we then shot the slope of the tile with a transit to make sure water would flow out of the bunker properly.  Once the tile was set to grade it was then backfilled with pea gravel.  In all, we added about 150 feet of new drainage.

As of today, April 25th, the drainage is complete and about 40 tons of new bunker sand has been added.  Much of the bunker had less than one inch of sand in it, 3-4 inches is recommended on the bottoms and 2-3 inches is recommended for the faces.  I currently do not have any photos of the new sand that was added today because my phone is not waterproof! 

I hope all of you had a great easter and we are looking forward to warmer and drier weather!