week 13 update 2011

Well another week gone, this week we have put all our efforts into getting the bunkers back into a reasonable condition, and the course ready for monthly medals and pennants.

The problem with the bunkers is that the silt and sediment from the flood waters is still in the bottoms of the bunkers and mixed in with the sand, also it has clogged up the drainage pipes in the sumps under the bunkers thus every time it rains or even if we water too heavy the sediment comes to the top and clogs it all up. We have been scraping the mud off the top of the surface when ever we have time possible, but it is a long slow process and it is impossible to get it all.

This week we got all the greens sprayed for weeds, fertilized and rolling well for this weekend, I just hope the rain stays away.

This week we also took delivery of a verti-drain machine, it will be out next week doing the fairways that were worst affected and Ill do a separate blog next week on it. A special thanks to the fellows for putting substantial funds to purchase this piece of equipment it is a important piece of equipment that we now are able to utilize and as time goes buy I'm sure you'll notice areas improve because of the availability and flexibility of owning you own equipment. Thanks again for the funds being made available.

The irrigation installation is going along well, and this week a lot of time was put into topping up the trenches, next week will also continue on filling the sunken areas up. The areas left to irrigate are 14th fairway in the gully, all the 15th, 16th tee, 17th fairway, 2nd fairway and green and 3rd tee and half the fairway.

Well today is a bit sad in that Harley is finishing up after  nearly 4 years on the groundstaff  (Harley is going to give concreting a go as it is allot more wages than greenkeeping, )  all the best cob hope all goes well.

The council works department is still doing the sewage line replacement near the 7th tee and will possible be another two weeks.

Well that is about it for this week, keep well and keep swinging... pete

week 12 2011 update

12 Week into the year already, time fly's when your having fun,
This week we have done allot of tidying up with sand in the trenches around the greens, stick runs, fertilising the bare areas on the fairways, and weeds in the greens sprayed
The council are doing works on the sewage line between the 5th fairway and 7th tee this area has been fenced off and has security guards patrolling the area around the clock. so when hitting off the 5th tee it will pay to aim a little more to the right. the works will take about 3 weeks to complete depending upon the weather.
The greens continue to improve the root depth is now steady at 15cm and it looks like we mightn't get much more going into winter as the night time temperature cools down.
Irrigation works is going along well with the 10th,11th,12th,13th,16th all completed , the 14th has only a couple of banks to complete it and that leaves the 15th and 17th holes to do and early next week we will go over and fill in all the trenches where they have sunk
till next time keep swinging pete

Australian Turfgrass Flood Edition 2011

news letter article march 2011

The following is a email to the Queensland superintendents newsletter on update

HI Mark

    Well here at McLeod Country Golf Club things are starting to get back on track, not back to normal yet as I think that wont be to next spring

All greens are back in play and looking ok, the 15^th and 17^th are a little behind the others(as these were under water for three to four more days than the others) but still ok to play on, we have been putting a lot of effort into getting  the root system back to a good length,, as before the floods they were around 27cm in length, and after the flood they went back to 3cm to 4cm and were looking very sad, withered and brittle, so that was our main aim, to get the root system back on track along with applying products that would force any salt and sediment  left behind, through the growing media, thus far all is going well the root system is back up to 12 to 15 cm in length and they look healthy with plenty of root hairs visible.

The tees and fairways still have several bare areas on them, but the turf is coming back strong and hopefully the weather can hang in there to keep the growth rate going so as these will fill in before it turns cold, but some over-sowing will have to take place when the temp drops.

The biggest problem we face is player safety, as when it rains or we water the area it turns slippery, so any slopes become a problem, especially if you have elderly players like on vets day so it is a juggling act to play or not to play, but apart from that all is well.

I would  like to take tis opportunity to thank all those who rang or called in or emailed to see how we were and if there was anything you could do to help, this is what got us through… those first few days, so thanks again to all for the support … the main thing I learnt from all this is, that when faced with a massive problem and the situation has the potential to overwhelm not only you but your staff and even club, is not to look at the problem as a whole, it comes back to a saying  from a mate who is in the army… Q how do you eat a whale ? A mouthful by mouthful and its that saying that resonated with me at the peak of the flood. So with that in mind  each day we just chose two tasks that we thought were the most important, and got them done and anything else achieved on that day was a bonus, that night we would all meet as a team and go over what we did for the day  thus seeing that the  main aim was achieved and go through all the extras we did, we then choose the next 2 tasks for the next day and so on. In that way you felt positive as you achieved your goals  each day as the two most important tasks were done and a lot of bonus work done and as a result you weren’t thinking of the bigger picture as much but in fact were getting amazing results with a good positive and supportive team.

Well these are just my thoughts  if you want to keep up with what we are up to at McLeod check out my blog  at http://mcleodsuperintendent.blogspot.com/

Thanks again Peter Daly

Start of week 10

Well its week 10 already, we got through open day with no rain and ladies have there interclub today and all holes are open so over all not too bad.

These last few weeks we have been concentrating on keeping the turf growing as fast as possible as we really want to get the muddy patches to grow in before the growing season stops. Our biggest problem is that every time we get any rain it just gets very slippery, and this then becomes a safety problem for machinery and carts.
and we have had several slips in the most unlikely places, so it will be good to get to the situation where the turf has grown over and this is no longer a problem.

We got a verti-cut in on the greens last week, and hope to get one in today as well, we will have to be on top of our game this winter as with the flood and salt water effects  on the turf we were unable to scarrify the greens this February renovation, thus while we can  verti-cut with the right conditions we will take every opportunity to get away with it now because  in early spring the turf will be very tight and stressed similar to a plant that is pot bound. thus the more we verti-cut now the more thatch we take out, to hopefully get us through to our major renovation in October.

The other major problem we face is the weeds in the green, and here is the dilemma, the root system is still recovering and not even back to its appropriate length and health , winter and cooler nights are fast approaching which naturally cause the root system to retreat to a fair degree and if we apply spray to control the weeds it has a root pruning effect on the turf and can the turf cope with this added stress and recover quickly enough to be able to go into winter in good shape.... that is the million dollar question or as Shakespeare would put it "to spray or not to spray"

So the safest option is to spot spray the bigger weeds and with the colder weather most on the weeds will disappear as they overwinter, and we will get them coming out in spring.

Well to next time keep swinging  Pete

Week 7 update

Well what a week
A big Thank You to the volunteers who come out on Monday to help us in the bunkers, thanks guys it was a huge effort  taking out a total of 15 trailer loads of mud, in the heat was a massive effort. Then during the week we cleaned up some more and added sand to some and overall we managed to get all bunkers in play by Saturday for open day.
Also a big shout out to all the vets who came out on thursday to do a general clean up, that too was a big effort and helped to get all the debris finally under control.
We had all 18 greens in play for Saturday and managed to get allot of mowing done as well. The major problem is that with the dew in the morning that has become very difficult to find enough time where the sediment is not sticky and clogging up the rollers and cylinders of the mowers.
well that is about it just a quick one, thanks for your patience and with the growth of the turf it is growing in very quickly and more areas are getting back to a good standard.   till next time .. keep swinging  pete

remember this ?

Well it doesn't seem that long ago when we had this water all around, allot has happened between now and then, today we opened back up the 7th green and the 15th should be right for next week then 17th the following week , the turf is coming back nicely on the fairways, but great care must be taken if and when these bare areas get wet as it turns real slippery very quickly.
Today we pushed off the last of the mud on the 15th fairway, and began fertilizing the couch to help quicken the speed of recovery.
The root system in the greens before the flood was around 25 cms deep after the water cleared ( 2 - 5 days) the effects on the plant were obvious in the root system degenerated back to only 2 to 3 cms and all the healthy white root hairs non existent.but after extensive applications of potassium, calcium, auxinone and chemical treatment to ball the clay partials and force them down through the profile we are seeing great success.Now the root system of the turf  is bouncing back with healthy and strong growth and starting to get some length ( about 7 cms) there is still along wat to go but we are heading in the right direction.
The greens Renovation will be altered so as to not stress the plant out thus we wont be scarifying this reno but we will have to verti-cut more often, we will be verti-draining the greens on Monday the 14th with a long thin solid tyne this will alleviate  compaction and have very little disruption to the turfs surface.
Just a quick note about temporary greens - we do not mow these regularly in fact we mow these as little as possible as after a few mows the little turf that is there at the start will no longer be there after a couple of mows  and turn to the surface back to dirt these are temporary greens and put in to use to enable some more holes to be played if these were not used we would still only have a few holes to play instead of 17 as is now the case and id say 17 is better than 7 .....just a thought.
well to next time keep swinging.....and thanks for the photos (Trev thoroughbred) pete