Woody

Hi, My name is Woody. I'm a woodpecker and I live in a birdhouse near the 13th tee at The Villages Golf and Country Club. I usually leave my house for 'work' at sunrise and return home at sunset. In the following weeks there will be a link on the Villages website so that you can watch me on your computer whenever you want.


'Woody'

Why Did You Cut Down That Tree?

The large Monterey Pine between the 10th and 18th fairways was starting to split down the middle. I could see that one of the two large trunks would fall directly on two irrigation controllers if it went. I called my arborist and told him that I had an emergency. The tree trimmers came out within hours and determined that both trunks could soon fall, and so they cut both down far enough so they would no longer present a problem. Unfortunately the tree trimmers are very busy this time of year with many customers wanting tree work done before winter, so they could not stay and finish removing the tree. They will be returning to complete the job in the next couple of weeks

Monterey Pine Stump with Irrigation Controllers in the distance.

Fall Fairway Aerification Schedule

2011 Fairway Aerification Schedule

 Tuesday October 11, Fairways: 2 & 3

Wednesday October 12, Fairways: 16 & 17

Friday October 14, Fairways: 5 & 8

Wednesday October 19, Fairways: 13 & 14

Thursday October 20, Fairways: 9 & 10

Friday October 21, Fairways: 12 & 15

Tuesday October 25, Fairways: 4,6,7 & 11

Wednesday October 26, Fairways: 1 & 18

Friday October 28, Par-3 Course

Jorge Aerifiying the Sixth Fairway

New Bocce Scoreboard Covers Installed

Mark Medalie and Dick Hultquist assist with the installation of two new covers for the bocce court scoreboards

What Is A Stimpmeter Reading?

The Stimpmeter is a simple, accurate device manufactured by the USGA (United States Golf Association) that allows one to make a standard measurement of -- and place a numerical figure on -- the speed of a putting green. It has proven to be an invaluable asset to the game of golf and a helpful   management tool for the golf course superintendent.                                                                       

 The Stimpmeter is an extruded aluminum bar, 36 inches long, with a V-shaped groove extending along its entire length. It has a precisely milled ball-release notch 30" from the tapered end (the end that rests on the ground). The underside of the tapered end is milled away to reduce bounce as a rolling ball makes contact with the green.

The ball-release notch is designed so that a ball will always be released and start to roll when the Stimpmeter is raised to an angle of approximately 20 degrees. This feature ensures that the velocity of the ball will always be the same when it reaches the tapered end.

The ball is put the in the notch and the bar is slowly raised until the ball starts to roll down the groove.

Repeat the same procedure with two more balls, keeping the tapered end on the same spot. After three balls have been rolled, the process is repeated in the opposite direction.  This is done in case there is any slope in the green that may affect the results.

The distance the six balls (Three in each direction) roll from the Stimpmeter is measured. An average of all six is calculated and this distance is called the "Stimpmeter reading".  Stimpmeter readings are always given in feet and inches.

Algae Attack!

The call went out. The volunteers gathered in preparation, weapons by their sides. The attack began at dawn. Needless to say, the algae was caught completely off guard and never stood a chance. Thanks to all those dedicated volunteers who came out at the break of dawn to remove algae from the lakes. Because these volunteers were able to rid the lakes of all the algae without the use of chemicals, they were able to help The Villages save money, as well as help the environment. 

Golf Course Maintenance employee Jorge, in the hip waders, assisting in the gathering of algae that is out of reach of the volunteers.

Richard Warren and Don Roberts by the 18th tee

Hugh Fahrner encouraging the troops, including: Gary Sharps, Richard Warren, George Southland, Claude Bramwell, and Dick Fisher.

'Out Damned Spot'

This year we made the elimination of the dreaded weed, English Daisy, one of our top priorities. Many hours were spent spraying individual Daisy plants in the fairways. Because some of the Daisy plants were fairly large, after they died, bare spots were left behind. We decided that the best thing to do was to sod these bare spots with hybrid bermudagrass sod. The added advantages of introducing more hybrid bermudagrass to the fairways is that it has superior drought resistance and excellent-heat resistance, wear tolerance and high salt tolerance.

English Daisy (Bellis perennis)




Bare Spot after Daisy dies

 

                 Because sod is heavily fertilized in preperation for harvesting at the sod farm, it grows much faster than our fairways. The grass will slow down as the fertilizer runs out.         

                           

  We installed the sod with a special tool we made in house. The tool quickly cuts the sod into 6" squares. We also use the tool to quickly cut out matching holes in the fairways which the sod plugs are set into. Once the sod plugs get rooted, they will begin growing sideways, filling in the entire bare spot. By using these sod plugs we were able to sod the spots much quicker and a little cheaper than if we had sodded the entire bare spot.