Monday, July 31, 2017

The Real 19th Hole





We all enjoy a cold beverage in the 19th hole after finishing the 18th hole but for my grounds staff and I, our driving range is our 19th hole.  Here are some pictures of my guys at work on the 19th hole. 
The ribbon cutting ceremony back in 2006.

An aerial view looking south.

We blow the divots off of the tee three days a week.  This is called a turbine buffalo blower and I bring this down to help blow off the divots.

Here is our John Deere tractor with a blower on the back to also blow divots off of the tee before mowing.  We get Dave out of the shop to help first thing in the morning.  
Our new debris sweeper works amazing at picking up the divots we blow off the front of the tee.

This is JB our driving range set up guru.  We set up the tee fresh every morning, pick up the tees, topdress/seed the divots, change the yardage sign, and refresh the accessories.


Dave H. mows around the tee bank as well as the target green, banks, and chipper.


Dan mows with our groundsmaster around the trees in the east woods.

Here is Tyler mowing the range fairway.  With all of those fingers up to the target greens it takes longer than normal to get it all mowed.

Ben is mowing the rough on the range.  This is where we really count on a pro shop clean pick the night before.

We mow the tee in two different directions on Tuesday and Friday.  We take the grass buckets off to return the grass and nitrogen back to the tee.  

Jordan

Nate

Once a month or so we spray the range targets and fairway with fungicides to keep dollar spot and other diseases from growing in the bentgrass.  JR is our spray technician.

This is what we like,  long rows of divots vs. scattered divots all over.  
This type of divot excavation will take months to recover.

Perfect!
We measured 235% more grass removed from scattered vs. taking divots in rows.


We use two artificial mats each day to help with divot recovery. A lot of members like to loosen up before golf on mats vs the ground.

A view of the tee and range from above.

Looking north.

Golf Course Condition Update 3/7/24

Yes, I am very happy with the condition of the golf course and all of the playing surfaces.  My team did an amazing job last fall with all o...