Last day at Bear's Best Atlanta

Tomorrow morning, July 29th, will be my last day at Bear's Best Atlanta. I will be the new Director of Golf Course Maintenance at Quail Hollow Country Club in Concord, Ohio. This is also a ClubCorp property. My wife and I are both from Northeast Ohio and are very excited to get back home. Thank you to all the members and guests at Bear's Best for all the support the past 3 plus years. Please visit our new blog at http://qhccgrounds.blogspot.com

GO BUCKEYES!!!!

#5 New Tee Sod

Every year because of shade and the transition of the ryegrass, the blue and white tees on #5 struggle. The tee was 419 bermudagrass. This year because of the lower temperatures and all the rain those tee had no chance at recovery. We leveled it and resodded it with Zeon Zoysiagrass this week. Here are the pictures.

Roots are good

Below are pictures of #17 and #18 green and what it looks like below the surface. For July 15th, the roots are still in good shape and about 3-4" down.

#17 roots.  Looking good and holding soil/sand together.

#18 from the bowl where we always have trouble growing/keeping roots.  Very good for this time of the year

Rain and more rain

We have seen a total of 3.6" if rain since Monday night and more is forecasted through Monday the 8th. Monday the 1st we got 1.3", .7" Wednesday morning, 1" more on Thursday and another .6" early Friday morning. The course is wet, but still in great shape. We mowed greens and tees today and all the fairways and back nine rough were cut earlier in the week. We will get as much done tomorrow before play as the rain and course allows. With all this rain, the greens are soft, but are in great shape. They are the healthiest they have been in July in the past 4 years since I started here. The temperatures in the upper 70s the past few days have really given the greens a fresh start halfway through the summer.

Looking out the back door of the pro shop towards the Big Putting Green

Pictures from this week

Watering #12 green early Saturday morning

The "Whopper" Begonias looking good next to the white regular begonias

Wave Petunia's mixed in with new gold Lantana

Bianca mowing 17 green.  Dave checking moisture, Paul cutting collars and approaches

Getting some air

This past Wednesday and Thursday we punched little 1/4" cores on all the greens. This was a scheduled event and will allow air/water to get into the root system. We did not put any sand on them and only rolled them and set the flags before play. They have been mowed everyday since Friday and are hardly noticeable now.

This picture was taken right after 1/4" cores, blowing, rolling, fertilizing and watering.  Most of the holes have covered over now.

Moisture Meters

The use of moisture meters have gained popularity over the past few years and we at Bear's Best Atlanta have also adopted the process. We have used a meter, the TDR 300 from Spectrum Technologies the past four years. They give us a specific number or volumetric water content (VMC) for us to use. In conjunction with checking dew patterns, we take anywhere from 20-40+ readings per green in the morning and then monitor throughout the day. Watering then is based on weather conditions for the day. On low humidity days, the number we use is higher than on more humid days. We have greatly reduced the use of overhead sprinklers by hand watering the areas of the greens that need it. We keep much more consistent moisture in the soil this way. We have reduced our wilt in the afternoon, but also have been able to keep the surface healthier and firmer with drier conditions. These are the same meters that they use each week on the PGA Tour to dial in the moisture levels.

The readout we see on the screen when taking readings.  On this green, 33 readings were taken with an average VMC of 14.5%.  This spot was 14.4% 

Putting the probes in the greens

Tuesday topdressing

On Tuesday, we topdressed greens lightly and watered in the sand. This further smoothed and firmed up the putting surface. Because of our dense G2 bentgrass, it is difficult to work the sand into the canopy. Below is a picture taken two days after topdressing. Lets hope these temperatures continue and we have a mild summer.

Dense G2 bentgrass two days after a light topdressing

Storms

We received 6.1" of rain on Sunday, May 19th. About 3.2" fell in about a 2 hour window and washed everything out. Debris washed everywhere and the bunkers were destroyed. We will be working all week to get the bunkers back in order. Most everything else was cleaned up today.

#2 Fairway from 100 yards

#2 Green after the water had receded

#14 bunker

Creek bank between #4 and #5 (big uprooted tree)

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New Rough Mower

As part of our capital equipment plan, ClubCorp purchased a new Toro 4500D rough unit. We were in great need of a new dependable rough mower and this will be awesome to have. Roughs are currently cut at 1.75" and are 419 bermudagrass.

                           

Double verticut

On Wednesday this week we verticut the greens lightly in two directions. This helps thin out the canopy a little and stand the grass up. After the picture as taken we came behind the verticutters and mowed the surface. During that mowing we removed about three times the grass we usually do.

6.4" of rain the past two weekends

The past two weekends we have received 2.5" and 3.9" of rain. The bunkers washed out this past weekend, but the course was not in too bad of shape. By Tuesday afternoon we should have all the bunkers repaired and the cart paths cleaned off.  It will take a few days for the course to dry out so we can go out and mow fairways and rough.  Greens have recovered from aeration and look very good.

Rainbow at 6:50am this morning

One of the most vibrant rainbows I have ever seen

Champions Tour Prep at TPC Sugarloaf

I had the opportunity this week in the evenings and Saturday morning to volunteer with the preparation for the Greater Gwinnett Classic over at TPC Sugarloaf. Mike Crawford, CGCS and his staff had the course in great shape for the Champions Tour event. Below are some pictures from the course.

One of my favorite things from tournament preparation is the equipment train in the evenings getting out onto the course.

View Wednesday night after cutting #18 fairway

Cutting fairways and approaches

Looking down at #5 Green on Saturday morning

The crew raking bunkers and preparing the green Saturday morning on #6.  Great golf hole!!!!

1.65 inches of rain - Course cleaned up

Thursday night into Friday morning we received 1.65" of rain. Luckily we dodged the storms and really only had washouts in the bunkers and debris and silt on the cart paths. The crew worked a long day Friday and had all the bunkers repaired and the course cleaned up for this morning. Greens were brushed, mowed and rolled today and we will be off the cart path tomorrow morning(Sunday).  Notice the amount of pollen in the water in the bunkers.

Spring 2013 maintenance crew

We had all the full-time and part-time staff at the golf course this morning prepping for over 240 golfers during Masters week. We also got our new polo uniform shirts making it a perfect time for a group photo.  These guys have worked extremely hard keeping the course in great shape!!!

Spring 2013 Golf Course Maintenance Crew

Spring 2013 Golf Course Maintenance Crew with safety helmets

Start of Masters Week

The start of Masters week is Monday, yet at Bear's Best Atlanta the excitement starts an extra 3 days early. After a busy day on Friday, today started with a 7:15am Final Four shotgun, an 8:00am MGA Masters tournament and a full tee sheet to follow. Greens were mowed and rolled today and are firm and fast.  We will finish the weekend with over 210 golfers Sunday, and a very busy Masters week after that. Hopefully these mid 70s temperatures will continue and the rain will stay away later in the week.

Greens Mower, cup changer, blower, and roller all in action on #17 green early Saturday morning getting ready for Final Four Shotgun

Beautiful sunrise looking from the Big Putting Green to the Clubhouse

#1 Tee at the start of the MGA Masters tournament

Fairway fertilizer

Here are two pictures of number 9 fairway about 3 weeks ago and then this week. We sprayed a fertilizer package with some pre-emergent and the color change is remarkable. Just wait until real spring weather hits!!!!

Pictures from this past week

With warmer temperatures, some rain and a fertilizer application the cool season grasses on the golf course have very good color.  The greens have healed from aeration and are smooth and fast.  Here are some pictures from this past week.

Front of Clubhouse

Striped up clubhouse lawns

Cool double/single striping pattern around Big Putting Green done by Jesus

10 Fairway early Saturday morning

Chipping area Saturday morning.  Aeration holes 95% healed. 

5 Tee Wetlands

The crew cut down the tall plants at the wetlands by #5 tee. It really looks good from the tee box.

Monday's aerification

We decided to aerate Monday instead of Tuesday to best the rain. We used 3/8" coring tines on 2" spacing. We put a little more than a light top dressing down and roll the greens twice. 1.4" of rain washed the sand in nicely. A lot of the holes are still open and we will topdress again next week. Greens should heal up rather quickly and still roll very well.

Finishing up #18 Green right before dark

Blowing sand into the holes on Wednesday

Up close after sand was blown around