Meet the Crew

The Golf Course Maintenance Team
Back row: left to right, Isreal, Victor, Rigo and Beto.
Front row: Left to right, Agustin, Fernando, Miguel, Jorge, Kirk, Luis, Alberto, Rigo and Francisco.

Greens Aerification: Five Million Holes and 250,000 Pounds of Sand

Aerifying and Topdressing the Par-3 Course Greens

We will be aerifying the greens on April 9, 10 and 11. The Front-9 greens will be aerified and topdressed on Monday, the 9th, and the FRONT-9 WILL BE CLOSED. On Tuesday the 10th we will aerify and topdress the Back-9 greens and the 18-HOLE COURSE WILL BE CLOSED. On Wednesday, the 11th the Par-3 course greens will be aerified and topdressed, and the PAR-3 COURSE WILL BE CLOSED.

If you've always wondered what exactly happens during the aerification/topdressing process, come on down to the putting green on Monday the 9th at 8:30 for DEMO DAY 2012. You'll be able to see the entire process, including: drilling, the sand application, aerification, and dragging in of the sand. 

Mystery Stakes

Returning To Cartpath By The First Green

  We are going to try a new program, and we'll need all golfer's cooperation... On each fairway we have placed two blue and white stakes. We are asking golfers who are still driving on the fairway as they approach the green, to access the cartpath by driving between the two stakes. These stakes will be moved daily. If we can get a majority of golfers to do this, we will spread out the wear and tear on the turf. This should help us keep the grass in these areas in better condition.

Please Don't Call Me a Trap

We put new sand in the bunkers on holes: 5, 6 and 7. It's been over seven years since these bunkers were renovated and had new sand put in them. Over the years, dust, pollen, grass clippings, tree leaves and other contaminants have made their way into the bunkers. These contaminants completely change the characteristics of the bunkers. They tend to become more compacted and hold onto more water. The new sand will keep the bunkers softer and dryer.

Crop Circles

You may have wondered what those dirt spots were around the golf course. The answer is that these areas were infested with a weed, Dallisgrass. Last fall we sprayed the Dallisgrass with Round-Up. We recently used a sodcutter to remove all remnants of the dead Dallisgrass, and are now in the process of sodding these areas.  

17th Hole

2011 in Review

Measuring Green Speed With a Stimpmeter

     During the summer of 2010 it became obvious that we needed to make some  changes to our greens management practices here at The Villages. The greens had become soft and puffy with unacceptable putting quality. After talking to the USGA, fellow Golf Course Superintendents and several suppliers, I came up with a game plan on how to make the greens smoother, faster, firmer and more consistent.  Here is a list of the changes we implemented during the summer of 2011:

1. The biggest change we made was in how we verticut the greens. We set the verticutter blades much deeper into the green than ever before. (7/32” below the green’s surface) We verticut the greens twice a week for a total of 16 times. We were planning to apply light sand topdressings after the verticutting, but found that the verticutting brought sufficient sand up to the green’s surface that we were able to blow off the thatch and drag the sand back into the green’s surface for a nice light topdressing.
2. We lowered the green’s ‘height of cut’ by 1/100”. We also started mowing the greens with hand greens mowers five days a week, instead of only once.
3. We changed our green’s small tine aerifications from hollow to solid tines. It isn’t possible to get sand into a small aerification holes. I made this change because I felt that removing a plug and not filling the hole with sand was contributing to softer greens.
4. In 2010 we switched from Unipar to the smaller  #30 topdressing sand for all light topdressings. We will continue to use Unipar to fill the holes with the large tine aerification in April.
5. This past summer we also began working with a new vendor who specializes in greens maintenance products. We began using several of his products, including fertilizers, growth regulators and a soil wetting agent. I feel that this change has helped keep our greens healthier than in past years while maintaining good turf color and reduced excessive turf growth.

Fortunately, all the changes seem to have paid off. I think the consensus of the golfers this year has been very positive. Stimpmeter readings for the months of August and September have gone from an average of 10’ in 2009 to 10’6” in 2010 to 11’7” in 2011.

           

     

     

      

2012 Annual Birdhouse Tour

                                                                                                                                                                                                         

  

Bluebirds

The second annual golf course birdhouse tour will take place on May 21st. The tour will again be lead by local bird experts, Mary and Dave Fullerton, who will talk about the inhabitants of the houses, as well as any other birds spotted during the tour. We will be handing out maps of the golf course, showing the locations of the birdhouses. We will also handout a complete list of birds that have been observed at The Villages. Stay Tuned for more information!