Aeration September 2011

 Here are a few pictures taken during the aeration process.

The greens were first aerated with our new deep tine aerator 3/8'' 10'' long.

Followed by the traditional hollow tine aerator 1/2''Diameter 4'' long

Three walking aerator were used to speed up the process this year.

The core harvester removes most of the plugs.

The remaining plugs are then blown off.

The greens are seeded with T -1 Creeping Bentgrass, the greens were also fertilized with an organic fertilizer.

Next the Greens are top-dressed with #30 Silica Sand.

The process went pretty smooth this time with minimal damage.

Aeration: A breath of fresh air for greens

Coyote Damage

Every fall the coyote's cause damage to the greens; the picture below was taken this morning @ 6:15am on number eleven green. This marks the third time this has happened in the last two weeks. The coyote's are looking for insects; the birds have also been picking around at the greens in search of food. It seems a futile act as the greens have been treated three weeks ago to prevent the infestation of bill-bug larvae. 

Course Update

Calabasas Country Club

Course Update

Aeration/Over-seeding

Southern California is in a transition zone which makes fall aeration and over-seeding a must. The closures in September/October will dictate the playability, health and aesthetics of the course for the next eight months. Although it may have short-term adverse effects on schedules and playability, I stand completely behind these closures and anticipate great results. After the over-seeding has been completed it is imperative that the seed has plenty of moisture through its 10-14 day germination period; which means all 1500 sprinklers per 9 holes will be watering sporadically every hour to ensure proper germination.

This Week

The greens will be sprayed with fertilized and a preventative fungicide this week to prepare us for our fall aeration next week. The crew is also busy getting the course ready for our annual over-seeding, which entails:

·         Lowering the roughs to ensure proper seed germination

·         Fixing and cleaning drains to minimize wet areas

·         Flagging sprinklers so they do not get damaged during the process

·         Mixing sand for tee topdressing

·         Painting ingress/egress stakes

·         Inspection & maintenance on all spreaders, top-dressers and aerators

Regards,

Eric Wenzinger

Golf Course Superintendent

Update

Calabasas Country Club

Course Update

The days are starting to get shorter and some signs of fall are starting to show; however there is more heat on its way, September is in most cases as hot as or hotter than July and August.

Here is a comparison of the temperatures at the club over the last three years.

Jul-09			Aug-09
High 102, Average 79, Low 60			High 106, Average 77, Low 57
Jul-10			Aug-10
High 102, Average 73, Low 57			High 107, Average 75, Low 55
Jul-11			Aug-11
High 100, Average 74, Low 57			High 106, Average 76, Low 57

A few activities planned for this week include:

• Edging cart-paths
• Fertilizing greens
• Verticutting tees
• Sand bunker maintenance
• Irrigation maintenance & repair
• Drainage repair

Regards,

Eric Wenzinger

Golf Course Superintendent

Edging Bunkers

The bunkers are being edged, string trimmed, and cleaned up.

It takes about a week to complete all 63 bunkers.