Aerification time is upon us again

It is that time of year again for the dreaded aerification of the greens.  The golf course will be closed to play Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday of next week to complete the process.  This year we will be aerifying our greens twice with small 1/4" tines only one time in June.  The holes should heal up rather quickly and allow us to get the greens back to standard in a timely manner.

Over the past week we have been working on getting the aerification of the green surrounds completed, or at least started.  Over the years of topdressing and fertilizing the greens, the surrounds have begun to grow a "hump" on the outside 2-3 feet of the collar.  This "hump" creates several problems with mowers and rollers, water being restricted from flowing off of the greens surface, and disruption of ball roll onto and around the green.

The process of removing this "hump" has been a work in progress but we seem to have a pretty good process down now and it is working quite well.  We are using 3/4" side eject tines on our John Deere aerifier to remove material from this area.  Removing the soil creates quite a mess but will allow for voids in the subsurface so the "hump" can be mashed down.

The material created from the aerification is picked up and any excess cores blown off of the area.

The aerified area was then heavily watered to soften up the subsurface for compacting.

We tried to roll down the area with our greens roller but quickly found that it was too light to get the job done to our satisfaction.  We loaded up our Dakota topdresser and used the weight of the sand plus the machine to flatten out the areas.  The process was a little messy in some areas but we were able to lower the "humps" around the greens by several inches in many areas.  We will continue the process throughout the summer on the worst areas to continue improving the golf course.

I have had several questions about the brown areas on some of the greens and collars, especially on #16 green.  First, let me say that the greens are NOT dying or in any threat of dying.  The brown areas were caused by a fertilizer "burn" which is being investigated by the fertilizer company.  I have used this particular brand of fertilizer on these greens for the past four years with absolutely zero issues so this is something that is puzzling to all of us.  I am thankful for all the concern and interest and we are working on it steadily.  I believe the upcoming aerification will help to relieve the issue and get our greens back were they are supposed to be.

Revised Turkey Feeders

Several years ago when a flock of wild turkeys showed up at the golf course one morning we were all really excited.  An occasional single turkey had been seen on the golf course in the past but never a flock this size.

In an effort to try to entice them to stay and take up residency on the golf course we looked at our habitat and resources for them to thrive.  The habitat of the golf course is very adequate for their survival with several movement corridors, native grass corridors, and plenty of trees to roost in for the night.  The part we were missing was a good food source so we created some supplemental turkey feeders to provide them with shelled and cracked corn until we could install some food plots for them.

The original feeder design was a very simple trough style feeder.  The feed was stored in the upright portion of the feeder and fed into the trough by gravity as the feed was removed by the wildlife.  The feeders were successful in the beginning but they had a few downfalls that we needed to correct.  One downfall was the fact that they feed in the trough could get wet from irrigation or rainfall and had the possibility of spoiling and possibly making the wildlife ill.  Another downfall was created by our deer being smarter than we were in our design.  The deer were witnessed taking their front leg and knocking the trough off of the feeders which would release all the feed at one time. 

Mitch Sivley with a completed feeder tube

So we had to revisit the drawing board of our turkey feeders and we have come up with a different design that is working out great and is still inexpensive and easy to build.  The new design uses 4" PVC piping with the trough being replaced by one inch feeding holes.

One inch holes are drilled in the end cap which was glued to one end of the pipe.  We have made our feeders between four and five feet tall.  Holes are only drilled on one half of the feeder since the other side will be against the tree.

Any rough areas on the holes were filed down smooth as to not injure the wildlife while eating.

The other end of the tube is fitted with a screw on cap fitting which will keep the feed dry and will allow for easy removal to refill the feed.

Once completed the PVC piping is camouflaged with different colors of paint and leaf stencils to allow it to blend into the landscape.

Four finished wild turkey feeders ready for installation.  Total time on these feeders was about two hours and they are ready to be added to our wildlife conservation program.

A "new and improved" turkey feeder attached to a tree with plumbers tape.  The smaller holes and more upright design insures the feed will not be eaten at a rapid pace and will not be contaminated by rainfall or irrigation practices.  All in all the project has been a great success with the wild turkey staying at the golf course and being seen at all times of the day.

If you would like more information on this or any other project we are undertaking please let us know at paul.carter@tn.gov.

Bent grass bowing to Bermuda on Tennessee golf course greens | Nooga.com

#18 green at The Bear Trace at Harrison Bay

Bent grass bowing to Bermuda on Tennessee golf course greens | Nooga.com


This is a recent article on Ultradwarf bermudagrass greens taking over the south recently run on www.nooga.com.  Very nice article and one that probably only four years ago would not have been even thought of.  When we chose to convert to Champion it was a matter of survival for both the greens and the golf course but golf courses are making the change now to provide better playing surfaces for thier members and guests. 

Times they are a changing.

Spraying bunker faces at Harrison Bay

I wanted to share with you a great way we have devised to apply fertilizers and chemicals to our bunker faces at The Bear Trace at Harrison Bay.  With our limited staff we have always had to find interesting and time saving way to efficiently and effectively apply growth regulators and chemicals to our bunker faces without having to apply them with a hand gun or spray hawk.

What we did was to add an metal pipe on to the end of the right side boom.  We added a series of four nozzles spaced 20 inches apart to mirror the standard right side boom. 

In order to control the operation of this set of nozzles we placed a Banjo connector on the left side supply line and connected the extension to this line.

The extension allows us to spray narrow areas on bunker faces with the standard right boom control and when we need to reach out a little more we can activate the left side valve and apply our chemical or fertilizer in a controlled and calibrated way.  We have had great success with this addition and it has saved us countless hours and product by allowing us to spray quickly, accurately, and without fear of damaging the turfgrass from over spray or skipping an area by human application.

Here is a video of the "Bunker Boom" as we like to call it in action.

Latest and Greatest in Sprayer Technology



I got the opportunity today to demo the next greatest thing in chemical application and environmental protection.  What I am talking about is the Star Command Spray System from Smithco.  A couple of weeks ago I saw an advertisement on TurfNet for it and thought it was too good to be true, but it's not.  Jeff Wells with Ladd's brought the sprayer by today and I have not seen anything this promising in a long time.  If you haven't seen the new Star Command Spray System video then you need to watch it.

After watching the unit spraying and seeing the nozzles turn on and off individually and without having to control any particular nozzle I can easily see how this technology would save on chemical and fertilizer costs, save time, and insure the proper amount of product, at the proper rate, is being applied. 

The magic is in the GPS controlled Star Command module which allows the operator to spray at different speeds and different carrier volumes without having to change nozzles.  All settings are controlled from the command module which tracks the application area showing sprayed areas in one color and non-sprayed or "missed" areas in another.  Once the perimeter is logged into the computer the operator doesn't have to worry about turning nozzles on or off; it's done automatically.  Readouts can be sent to your computer or downloaded for time and product records and the drift control allows the operator to adjust the water volume on the fly to maintain an accurate spray pattern.  The GPS can turn nozzles on and off within one inch of the area and the program can save your different areas from application to application.

One of the best features of this technology is that it can be outfitted on any brand of sprayer which makes it even that much more appealing.  I'm not speaking about this unit to try to help sell any sprayers but rather how much safer it would be for the environment and the resources it could save.  If you get a chance, look at this new technology.  I think it could pay for itself in product and time savings very quickly.  Going to have to get one of these.

Utilizing Native Plants

In the winter of 2007 we renovated the area between our first tee complex and the driving range removing the unsightly landscaping and crumbling cartpath which did not give our guests a good first impression of our golf course.  Through the aid of the Iris Fund, a program designed to provide funding to Tennessee State Parks for the protection and planting of native plants, as well as the removal of invasive exotic plants through the purchase of Tennessee State Park specialty license plates, we were able to build a raised planting bed which would be planted solely with plants native to Tennessee.  Many years have past and the plants have grown to a mature state now providing our guests with a wonderful showing of color and texture. 

Photo of the #1 teeing complex prior to the renovation.

The #1 teeing complex after the renovation.
Drainage was placed in the cartpath to remove rainfall and irrigation and the golf car path was regraded and paved by TDOT.

Some of the native plants we chose for the planting

Flame Azalea

Rhododendron austrimum

Columbine
Aquilegia canandensis

Threadleaf Blue Star
Amsonia hubrictii

Fothergilla  /  Witch-Alder
Fothergilla gardenia



Our native areas around the golf course, which we began renovation of last summer, are also beginning to show promise with the growth and bloom of some native wildflowers in the areas.  The native areas will not only provide color and beauty to the golf course but will also provide food and shelter for birds, butterflies, and small animals.  Foot traffic is allowed but we do ask that you please keep the golf cars out of these areas.

A Little Help...Please

For many years the biggest complaint about our golf course was the condition of the bunkers.  Well, we took the concerns of our guests and members to heart and over the past two winters have renovated most all of them.  We have spent tens of thousands of dollars rebuilding the bunkers to make them playable and enjoyable and have spent hundreds of dollars on bunker rakes so they could be maintained throughout the day by golfers. 

We have been blessed with great weather this spring and with that has come an incresed number of rounds on the golf course.  The maintenance staff does a great job of maintaining the golf course but some of the upkeep falls on the shoulders of the golfers who enjoy it.  Raking the bunkers when you have finished playing out of them is just part of the game and we would greatly appreciate a little help in keeping the golf course in the top condition that we like to see it in.

In addition to the bunkers, please keep in mind to fix your ball marks and fill your divots.  Each golf car is outfitted with two sand bottles and we have refilling stations on #6, #10, and #14 if you run out of sand. Ball marks are becoming an issue on the greens as well, if you need a ball mark repair tool just let me know and I will get you one.  I encourage every golfer to view and follow the techniques demonstrated in the United States Golf Association video on Repairing Ball Marks.

For our many members and guests who do take pride in the golf course we say THANK YOU!!!

Remember The Bear Trace at Harrison Bay is your golf course, treat it with respect.