Our Newest Owlets

Our resident bird expert Lee Pauser stopped by yesterday to check on the owls and he found a hen sitting with 4 owlets.  From his estimation, the oldest appears to be 1 week old.  He had placed gophers we trapped in the box on Tuesday and they have already been consumed.  We will continue to feed the owlets into maturity and look forward to our fine feathered friends arrival!

Going With The Flow

This week we are scheduled to do our semi-annual cultivation to the greens.  We were scheduled to run the deep tine aerator with 5/16" tines, topdress, needle tine (1/4") and then finally fertilize with both gypsum and 10-2-5.  With the weekend rain and the upcoming rain, I have decided that we will only needle tine the greens and then apply fungicide and wetting agent to help prevent fairy ring.  We will have the opportunity to run the deep tine many times this season and we put out sand every two weeks so I am not terribly concerned about removing those two practices.  We are still addressing the major needs the greens have right now with the needle tines and fungicide.

I Do

I remember the day so fondly that I said those words to my wife almost 10 years ago (maybe 9 years; who's counting), but I don't recall an arbor as nice as the one we just finished installing last week.  A new wedding arbor and fence had been discussed for the last several years and all those discussions have finally come to fruition.

I actually ended up purchasing the product I first came across 3 years ago from New England Wood Works and had them modify it to the size I needed.  It came in prefabricated pieces that were very easy to assemble on-site.  The biggest trouble was lining it up on the walkway and securing it with anchors, but both Gregorio and Ron Pieracci were able to get it done.

We were able to peel the roses back and just tie them back on after the new arbor was installed.  The final product is beyond my expectations and we know that any future wedding party will love it too.

Topdressing in the Rain

Customers and crew members alike think I am crazy to be topdressing in the rain today.  While I wouldn't consider today's wetting event a rain, most people have and are going to stay away from the course today meaning I am going to affect fewer golfers than if I were to topdress the previous Monday (179 golfers).  What is also great about getting the sand out now is that the rain is going to work the sand into the canopy allowing us to safe on precious water.  

It is said that Superintendents love to punch holes and topdress regularly just to agitate golfers, but I hope I have at least proved to you that we do put a lot of thought into your agitation.  :-) 

Tree Rings

This year you will notice that we have cleared away sod below the trees on 6 mountain and 1 canyon. Aside from cutting down on irrigated turf, we are doing this for the health of the tree.  We previously had small strips of grass between and around the trees that was getting watered with sprinklers.  The sprinklers blasted the trees and the water applied close to the tree didn't encourage deep root growth.

Many years ago we had a coast live oak tree fall over in a wind storm and its root mass was maybe 3 feet in diameter. Coast live oaks are very strong trees and should be able to handle a California wind storm.   The problem was the irrigation around it.

As for now, we have chosen not to put mulch down below the tree.  Golfer feedback says that the player doesn't like to guess as to how much mulch is or isn't below his ball.

Course Improvement - MP Rotator

Yesterday we put the finishing touches on the sprinkler addition to the strip of grass between the large practice green and cart path.  For whatever reason 13 years ago, they didn't do it (probably the same reason internet wasn't put in maintenance :-)) and many man hours have been burnt up there along with the grass.  Having the trencher for the Bobcat A300 is what allowed to get this project done quickly.  I know if said it before, but the Bobcat has been the best purchase Cinnabar ever made.  

We used an electric pressure reducing valve with 1" pipe along with MP Rotator nozzles.  These are low precipitation nozzles that are meant to soak and prevent runoff.  The flow from these nozzles is .38 gpm at 40 psi compared to our normal small landscape sprinklers which are 4.0 gpm at 40 psi.  We will have to run these nozzles for a longer period, but they are more effective in the long run.  The crew that installed them wasn't prepared for the low flow and they all that I spec'd the job wrong.  Even though everything is correct, the low flow isn't that dramatic when first turned on.