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!!!!