Tiger on the Tee?

Yes, Tiger's here. His gallery was big. In NC, Michael Jordan's was HUGE. (He played with Fred Couples!)

Getting on the Greens

With today's warmer weather we took advantage of getting to the turf. Since the greens have been cleared for a while, it was time to clean them up. Some of them have more growth than others, but they need a little bit of a spark to get going for the season. Clearing any debris will allow them to fully take in oxygen and sunlight to begin with growth.

Due to the cold front coming to the valley in the next few days we won't be mowing until next week.

WWW 4-28-10

This Wednesday at the Edwards Ambulance District at 5pm, join me and other local Superintendents as we discuss various methods of managing water on golf courses today in the Vail Valley. Click here for more information.

Pictures of Tournament Prep

To the right side of the page you will see the various pictures coming in from Quail Hollow and its preparation for tournament play. Below are some of the descriptions of pictures.

1) Sixteen Jacobsen Super LF 1880's groom a fairway. The two on each "outside" had to make a second pass. Reminds me of the groomers on Poppyfields in China Bowl!!

2) Five maintenance crew tackle a bunker. Every edge perfectly angled. Two more followed trimming the 2' collar so all shots in the vicinity will roll in. Two more followed them with leaf rakes. All are ready for the players who show up tomorrow.

3) No magnolia leaf allowed atop pine straw around the QHC clubhouse grounds.

4) Table tennis in the air conditioned caddy tent. That plus soda, ice cream and bbq right there. QHC is renowned for making certain the caddy experience on the entire tour.

5) Quail Hollow Champions

6) Kemper Open Champions

7) World Seniors Champions

Behind the Scenes At Quail Hollow

What is tournament construction?

In the words of Tony Schuster, Tournament Director of Operations, it's "Destroying a perfectly good golf course, then putting it back together." From staffing to security, telephone lines to temporary offices, restrooms to real time scoring; tournament operations is a year round function. Here are more of the vital relationships and areas of responsibility that fall under this broad function:

· Operations

· Vendors

· Tents and trailers

· Power, cable, and phone lines

· Stand alone kitchens

· Porta-Potties

· Course Construction

· Quail Hollow grounds maintenance

"I could not believe my eyes as the creek, probably 400 yards long, was drained and staff cleaned it of all debris except the rocks and the mud/gravel base. QHC strives for perfection everywhere!!"

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Question: What is the result of a long, cold, wet winter in North Carolina?

Answer: The best conditioned golf course Quail Hollow has ever had.

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Question: How fast are those greens on the stimpmeter?

Answer: Bit over 11

Question: How fast will they be on Sunday?

Answer: Smile. Twinkle in his eye.

Question: Well what does that smile mean to the average golfer?

Answer: If those pros hit their shot into the green above the hole and miss your first putt…it’s almost guaranteed the next one will be uphill!

Fourteen Inches

That's right, Tony measured 14 inches at the golf course this morning! That is springtime in the Rockies.

The Supers (golf superintendents) - Part 1

The Supers (golf superintendents) - Part 1

Click the above link!!! Great press from 11 News in Grand Junction for Rocky Mountain Golf Course Superintendents.

8150

"8150" (our guest blogger) says that the golf course is in pristine condition. The staff has their work cut out for them with the caliber of players headed to Quail Hollow. Click here to read more about the preparations for the Championship.

Vail GCM Exclusive

Over the next 7-10 days this blog is pleased to announce its very own reporting blogger, live from Quail Hollow in North Carolina. Our guest blogger will be on the grounds preparing for the championship scheduled next weekend.

Word has it our guest blogger landed in Charlotte today and is excited to be a part of this PGA tournament once again.

With Tiger Woods making his second golf appearance of the 2010 season, the scene should be electric and the crowds anxious. We will have some "guest blogs" straight from NC, so stay tuned.

Round 3

Redlands Mesa GC in Grand Junction was the scene on Monday. Fabulous weather, almost 80 degrees. The event was the first golf and education event for the RMGCSA this year. We usually kick off the year on the Western Slope because of warmer temperatures.

It was my first round of the year that I could post for my handicap. I posted a 91, not too bad, but I need some work on the short game.
Redlands Mesa is a unique course to say the least. This Jim Engh design provides a lot of variety and it can be a shot-makers course. I consider it a must-play course in the state. Superintendent, Andy Nikkari and his staff have it in great condition, the course played very well.

The Spring Plan

I apologize if my last blog was confusing. Let me clarify.

The last two spring seasons we did not core aerify the greens. Core aerification means pulling out "plugs" or cores of soil, thatch and turf. This was not done because the thatch levels in the greens have returned to acceptable levels. (Acceptable levels in this business means that maintenance needs to continue, but maybe not as intense.) Instead of pulling cores we used a solid tine or a spike to create a hole and "no mess". We can still incorporate some sand with this process to help dilute the thatch.

To begin this season, we will include scarification with the solid tines to the putting surfaces. Scarification is when we use aggressive vertical blades (pictured here) to cut about 1.5 inches into the putting surface. The blades are about 2 inches apart and each blade is 2mm wide. This practice contributes to the removal of the thatch/mat layer in the green which prevents them from becoming too soft.

Between each scarification blade is a brush which helps with clean up. This process is time consuming but very little disturbance to the putting surface. It can only be done in the spring in Vail.

Scarifying is the first step to greens maintenance this year, followed by solid tine/spiking. Finally a sand topdress is applied to fill in open spaces to help dilute the thatch and help provide a smoother putting surface.

Highway Cleanup

Saturday, May 1st is Highway Cleanup Day, brought to us by the Eagle River Watershed Council. This is a fabulous program to help clean the valley from all of the debris along the roadsides. Volunteers are needed. You can help anywhere from Vail to Dotsero on highways; I-70, 6, 24 and 131. Litter pick up is from 9am-noon followed by a BBQ with music and prizes at 4 Eagle Ranch in Wolcott from noon-2pm.
To sign up please call 970-926-3956 or email volunteer@erwsc.org.

Everybody is Aerifying!!!

Except us of course. As the golf course slowly melts off we are beginning to see more and more turf throughout the course and mostly healthy. It seems everyone that I have spoken to recently on the front range is aerifying greens and ready to get the season going.

This is the view from behind the first green (one of my favorites on the property). This green looks great. It is very soft in the front right portion of the green, which is no surprise. This area is the low point in the green and is very susceptible to traffic damage when it is this soft.
With the intense snow melt you may notice many areas with standing water in fairways and rough. With the river and the water table climbing it will be interesting to see how much, if any flooding were to exist this year.
I certainly do not expect to see much by mid-May with our snowfall, however we all know winter is not over in Vail. But sunny days still do appear and are welcomed.

Our aerification plan is similar to years past and should be less disruptive with a solid tine approach. We will accompany it with a scarifying technique that we have not done in a few years. This will require less disruption to the surface than core aerification but we will still be able to remove some thatch and continue help with dilution. It will also get us to quicker and better putting surfaces.

Don't be fooled, pulling cores is extremely important and is done in the spring on many courses. These courses have longer seasons than we do. Now that we have the thatch at a controlled level, we can begin to reduce the aggressive thatch attack in the spring and perform our main core aerification in the fall. Throughout the season we will continue with bi-weekly topdressing applications. We will also spike the greens periodically throughout the season to open the surface and allow gas exchange into the soil profile so the plants can breathe easier.
These practices are nothing new to VGC.

Silver Spruce GC

Peterson AFB, Silver Spruce GC yesterday. It was the first day of the season the Superintendent Scott Anderson and his staff to mow greens. The course played great and I had a nice round. Lots of space to hit and a great course to start the season on.

Each fairway is lined with beautiful Ponderosa Pines. They are limbed up nicely so you can advance the ball. The course is still coming out of dormancy but the greens played great. Overall it was a good day. A real nice design. The back nine returns to the clubhouse three times. It makes it nice for beginners or anyone just looking to play 3,6 or 9.

The front plays closer to the air strip. At times it can make I-70 sound like a country road, but what a unique experience to say the least.

Pictured here, I am teeing of #14 with the control tower and a snow covered Pikes Peak in the background. Cool shot! Jeanne, how is that finish?

14 inches

That's right, 14 inches in the last two days here at the golf course. Yesterday's snow was heavy and wet, however the last part of this storm the flakes were soft and fluffy.
The weather for the end of the week is expected to bring warmer and sunnier days. I would give this new snow until the weekend before it is gone, if the weather pans out.
Aside from catching a few turns this week, we are painting the staff areas and offices in the shop, a little clubhouse maintenance and possibly clear a couple of greens at the end of the week if the weather cooperates.

Tomorrow, I have a tee time at Silver Spruce GC at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs. I am looking forward to round #2 of the young season.