Goose Control

coyote cutouts and goose light around 9 green

One of our big problems in the winter is controlling our Canada geese population.  With 11 lakes on the property geese can and do become a large problem for us every winter.  Cleaning up after the geese is a daily operation for me and my staff.  After the frost is gone in the morning we head out the door to scoop droppings off of the greens.  Some mornings it can take us two to three hours to just clear all the greens.  Then one of us usually gets on the tractor with a large turbine blower mounted to the back and spends the rest of the day blowing the droppings off of the fairways and tees.
We have been trying new techniques to help reduce the population of geese on the golf course.  A few of the best ways to help control the geese  is to spook them with Benni and Morrison, our golf course dogs, we chase them with our golf carts, use laser pointers, cutouts of coyotes, and goose deterrent lights.  None of these techniques work alone but a combination of them seem to help reduce the total number of geese.
I am excited about the prospect of the goose lights over the long run.  The theory behind the light is that the blinking light will disturb the sleep pattern of the geese, thus causing them to look for another location to spend the night.  While this is not an immediate fix, over the course of a few winters we should see our Canada goose population diminish.

Winter Watering

watering 18 green in December

While the unseasonably warm weather is great for golf, it makes most Superintendents worry about the health of the grass coming out of winter. With less than 1/2 of an inch of rainfall since the middle of October we have been watering different areas of the golf course on a daily bases to help replenish the moisture levels in the soil.  The turf does not need as much water as when it is actively growing, but it does need a 'drink' every couple of weeks to stay alive during the winter months.

 Excessive cart traffic on dormant grass is another concern Superintendents have during the winter.  Golf carts can cause serious injury if there are no traffic control measures put in place.  So as you are out on the course, please watch for new rope patterns and signage so we can keep the course as healthy as possible.

Farmlinks

I was lucky enough this past week to be invited to Farmlinks golf course in Sylacauga, Alabama.  BASF invited the Superintendents from Landscapes Unlimited to this research golf facility for some education, networking, and golf. 
Farmlinks is a demonstration facility that uses new chemical, irrigation, and maintenance products in real world situation, and allows superintendents from across the country to see the effectiveness of each product.  If you are looking for a great vacation spot in the South check out www.farmlinksgolfclub.com, it will be well worth your time.  The accommodations, food, and hospitality are a step above anywhere I have ever been and I am looking forward to the next time I am invited to travel to Farmlinks.

First Snow!

10 fairway

We have been spoiled with the warm weather so far this fall, but Mother Nature is finally bringing us some much needed moisture in the form of snow!  Although we only have about 1" on the ground the course received .3" of rain yesterday.
Snow might be bad for golf, but snow cover can be a blessing for a golf course.  Even though the grass is still green this time of year it is putting all of its resources into preparing for dormancy.  This means that it does not have the ability to recover from high volumes of golf traffic like it can during the summer.  The snow acts like a blanket of insulation over the turf, protecting it from extreme cold temperatures as well as protecting it from golfer traffic.

2 Cart Path Reconstruction

2 path before

2 path during

2 path finished

#2 cart path has been in desperate need of attention for the past couple of seasons.  We decided to remove the old road base cart path and add a crusher fines material .  This material will pack in on itself and overtime and will create a very firm surface that acts and looks a lot like concrete.  In order to make sure the path sets up correctly we needed to treat the path like we were pouring concrete.  We first excavated the old road base material to a depth of 4".  Next we came in with some wood framing and frame the path to 7' wide.  Next we put down a landscape fabric that will prevent the new cart path material from migrating down into the soil.  We then added the crusher fines product at a 6" depth and packed the material down to a 4" thickness.  In the spring we will be sodding the golf course side of the path to make a clean edge from the tee to the green.  Over the next couple of seasons we will be reconstructing the paths on 7, 8, 13 and 15, and 18 the same way.

What are the white dots all over the fairway?

foam on 2 fairway

close up of foam

I get this question every time we take our sprayer out to apply fertilizers and herbicides. Our sprayer is equipped to drop little droplets of foam at the end of our sprayer booms. This allows the operator to see where he has applied the products so that he does not go over the same area twice. The foam marker for our sprayer eliminates the need to add dye to our spray solution which can be very messy to apply.



Frost is finally here

This fall has been the warmest fall I can remember since I have been at the Broadlands. Our average nightly temperatures for the month of October have been 5 to 6 degrees warmer than average. Our first frost finally came on Wednesday this week. Frost is a sign that the end of the growing season is near. Frost will help lower our soil temperatures and begin to slow down the growth of the grass. We have already cut down our mowing of fairways and tees down from 3 mowings per week to 2.
The reason we keep golfers off the turf during frost delays is that the cells inside the plant freeze, when you step on the grass it breaks the frozen cells and kills the plant.

A few reminders for you during frost delays:

• Please stay off of any grass areas, this includes the wheels of the golf cart, your golf bag, and yourself
• After the frost is gone, the maintenance department still needs to setup the course before you begin play, so please be patient.
• Go inside and get a nice hot cup of coffee, who wants to play golf when its that cold outside?

Hydraulic Leak on 7 green



Hydraulic oil leak on 7 green

 As a Superintendent one of your worst fears is having a hydraulic oil leak on one of you greens. Earlier this week we ran into some bad luck while topdressing and had our machine leave 4 lines across #7 green and one line on #6 green. Hydraulic oil is a killer for turf due to the extreme heat of the oil and the oil can coat the soil particles not allowing new turf to grow.

While devastating to see we moved into action quickly having both areas re sodded within 24 hours.

laying new sod

The first step was to use a sod cutter to remove the oil soaked turf.

Second, we had to replace the removed turf with turf that we harvested from our nursery green.

Jeff leveling sod



 Third, we needed to level the new sod. We had to tamp areas that were high, and add sand under the areas that are low.

Tony and Nick watering new sod

Eric mowing the green after the new sod was installed

  Finally we watered in the new sod.

Even with the extreme care taken to make sure the new sod is placed even with the existing green, We will be mowing #7 green with a walk mower set at a higher height of cut (HOC) to help prevent scalping of the new turf.

Sod Projects

Over the past week we have been working on 3 sod projects around the golf course. Each area that we have repaired has a different reason why turf conditions are not ideal.

14 green cart parking

This area has many factors working against it for a successful turf Establishment

- 1st it faces south where the suns rays are more intense

- 2nd every golfer that walks to the green from there cart walks over this area

- 3rd the slope collects all the water that runs down the cart path.

To repair this area we needed to remove the hill between the cart path and green. We began by using a Skid steer to remove the existing mound, and get a rough grade for the new slope. Next we shaped the area with a sod cutter to remove any humps and then added some topsoil to smooth and level the area. Finally we installed the sod and set up a mister kit to water the area.

5 fairway bunker

You wouldn't think that one golf cart can do much damage to a golf course, and you are correct. The damage occurs when we have over 100 carts per day driving over the same area. To repair this traffic issue we first aerified the soil, then filled the holes with some topsoil. Then we installed the new sod over the area. We will be directing traffic around this area until next spring to give the sod a chance to survive.

3 fairway

This area has been a challenging area since the golf course opened. The main reason we have had trouble keeping a playable surface in this area is due to the extremely poor soil conditions. 3 fairway has the highest sodium (salt) levels on the golf course, as well as very heavy clay. High Sodium levels and turf do not mix. in order to give the new sod every chance to survive we removed 6" of existing clay and replaced it with a sandy loam growing medium. This should help give the turf a good rooting mix and we will be able to better manage the turf in this area.

It's that time of year again!

Matt on aerifier

Aerification of the golf course began about two weeks ago. Aerification is a vital part to keeping your golf course healthy and playable. Our primary goals for aerification is to relieve compaction, remove unwanted thatch, and create an easier pathway for air, water, and nutrients to get from the surface down to the roots.

GreensOur greens aerification program takes two days and requires 7 employees to complete. We begin by aerifying the green with 5/8" tines pulling a 4" long core every 2" on center. This gives us a total of almost 5,000,000 holes poked just in the greens.
We have a specialized piece of equipment called a core harvester that picks up the cores from the greens surface and puts them into the bed of a utility vehicle.
After the cores have been cleaned up we begin top dressing the green with sand. Our goal is to put down the perfect amount of sand, where all the holes are full and there is no extra sand on the playing surface.
After the sand has dried completely, we begin to drag the sand into the holes using a specialized drag mat called a coco mat. This mat is made up of millions of strong bristles that brush the sand down into the holes.
The greens will typically be 100% healed within 10 to 14 days.

topdressed green

Tees
The tee and approach aerification process is exactly the same as greens, except we use a solid tine that does not pull a core. Due to the differing types of grass from our greens to our tees, we can use different cultural practices, but still receive the same benefit.

Areway marks in fairway

Fairways and rough
Our fairways and rough are aerified with an Aerway. The Aerway will slice a hole in the turf 6" deep and 1/2" wide. This machine is very quick and we can usually aerify all 18 fairways in 3 days.

Aerification by the numbers
105 tons of sand for tees, greens (that's 210,000 pounds)
32 5/8" tines
32 3/4" tines
24 slicing tines
7 employees

History

My History

I began working at The Broadlands Golf Course as the Second Assistant Superintendent under Dan Miller after I graduated from Colorado State University in 2002. After 3 years as the Second Assistant Superintendent I was promoted to Assistant Superintendent under the then Superintendent Brian Ridgway. When Brian moved on to new endeavors I was given the chance to become Superintendent. I have been Superintendent here at the Broadlands since 2005.

During my time as Superintendent I have had the pleasure of watching the golf course mature into Broomfields best golf facility. I am proud to have been a part of a few golf course improvement projects over the years, from concrete cart path construction, to planting over 300 trees, and construction of some new tee boxes. I hope that this blog allows you to get a behind the scene look at what it takes to complete these projects.

Course History

The Broadlands Golf Course was built by Landscapes Unlimited and opened for play in early 1999. Rick Phelps designed a magnificent 7,289 yard par 72 golf course that bends its way through some of the most beautiful rolling hills of the area. The Broadlands is situated on 250 acres of land with 11 bodies of water, 69 bunkers, 3.25 acres of greens, 5.9 acres of tees, and 55 acres of fairways.

The Broadlands is owned and operated by Landscapes Unlimited (LUI). LUI is located in Lincoln, Nebraska and they are involved in Construction, project development, recreational development, and golf course ownership and management.