Sometimes the turf around and on greens just has to be replaced. Whether it is from stress from disease, traffic, or weather it takes time and effort, and the attention to detail to get these areas repaired properly. Over the past couple of weeks we have been working on these areas around several greens. This past week we moved to #16 to sod the surrounds and repair some weak areas around the edges of the greens.
For many years we have battled with small areas on the surrounds of the greens. These areas have gotten extra special attention with extra aerification, extra fertilizer, extra water, all to no avail, as they simply never healed in but the area less than a foot in on the green looked fine. So since we can not use these areas for pin placements we decided to move the green in just a touch in these areas. Our process began with the removal of any good Champion sod to be used to patch areas in the greens and then the removal of the poorly performing 419 grass which surrounds our greens.
We took the good Champion turf that could be salvaged from the weak areas around the greens and repaired some weak areas in the greens. It will take a couple of weeks to allow these areas to heal in completely and then hopefully we should not be able to tell the work has been done.
Once the bad grass was removed we had to add some dirt and sand to fix the poor slope going from the walk on area near the cartpath to the green. New sod was then laid on these areas.
After a few hours on a very hot day the area was repaired and all cut in. I have to say special appreciation to my great agronomy staff who continue to do everything needed to produce a great conditioned golf course with all the weather issues and being short staffed. These men deserve all the credit for how the course performs.
It will take a couple of weeks for these areas to heal in before we can lower the turfgrass and blend it in with the existing surround. We will be moving on to do the same to the remaining holes which need some repair work and hope to be finished with this project by the end of the month. We appreciate your patience and please consider these areas as Ground Under Repair until they are grown in.
