Soft Greens - Watering Practices

As we reach the end of the summer calendar we have been receiving some comments on our greens here at Canyon Farms about their softness and them seemingly being too wet.  One of the many challenges that we are facing is within our Root-Zone and Greens Profile.  Below and to the right is a photo of what a healthy Greens Profile should look like, take close look at the uniformity and especially the top inch with very limited thatch buildup:

To the bottom left is what our current profile looks like, you can easily see the differences with the overall appearance.  Within this photo you can observe several noticeable differences, first the top ½ inch where a lot of organic material has been built up over the years and a considerable black layer underneath.  This is a result of the organic material creating a perched water table starving the soil for air.  Black layer is the result of an anaerobic zone absent of adequate oxygen and proper drainage.  These two layers inhibit root growth, water infiltration rates, oxygen levels, but in turn massively affect our ability to drive water down into the 12” root-zone resulting in a firm putting surface.  You may ask what is different about 2015 and why might we be seeing this have an effect this year.  Organic material does not built up over night, but it is the accumulation from the past 8 years and then magnified by the never ending rainstorms and events we've experiences this year.

Some of the changes we have made is within our water management and cultural practices.  Would like all of you to watch this video from TPC of Sawgrass and how they manage their greens that best illustrates our process with water management here at Canyon Farms:

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYgl6xPxVJk

As most of you have witnessed in the past, you will see my assistants and myself out in the morning measuring the greens moisture and dragging hoses where we tend to these areas just like in the video.  With our root-zone there are times in the afternoon that our water content drops to 13-15% on our mounds that require more water to keep them alive and healthy, even when the lower areas of the greens are still reading high from rains.  This is a very delicate balance, as seen with our heavy and consistent rains the mounds tend to shed the water causing it to pool in the lower regions resulting in 25+ percentage in lower spots and still 15% on the mounds and slopes.  We do our absolute best to not use overheads unless required either by our weekly topdressings or pesticide applications.  This week we have also incorporated the best water driving agents and an acid based substance to help push water and in theory help dry out the surface of the green.  Additionally we have been treating only the mounds and slopes of the greens that dry out quickly with a water holding agent several times. This will hopefully aid us in limiting our watering in the afternoon and making the greens consistent from the front to the back of the green.

Moving forward we will be taking a look and changing some of our cultural practices to better drive water through the greens profile, providing roots with proper drainage and oxygen for a healthy firm putting surface, these practices do not happen overnight and we ask for your patience as we work through the “root” of the issue here at Canyon Farms.  As always we strive and demand for perfection giving you a place to be proud of to play and enjoy a round of golf.

July Storms

Have had a few questions today and last week on on bunkers and course conditions following some of these massive storms.  In the past 15 days Canyon Farms has been hit with 4 major storms bringing a total of just under 10" of rain.  One of these storms brought a small micro burst producing 2.5" in less than 30 minutes, knocking several trees down on holes 13 & 14 and even completely bending the flagstick and cup IN the green from the strong wind, seen here to the left.

We had finally finished all of our bunker cleanup and were rocked once again yesterday with 3.25" in just over 1.5 hours.  I want to reiterate that during and after events such as these our course will not be at its best, especially our bunkers.  Please be patient as we rebuild them back by shoveling out silt, mud and then shovel all the sand back up the faces.  This is such a backbreaking duty, and with a crew of 7 it takes us some time.  If you happen to find yourself in a bunker that we have not gotten to please follow USGA rules and rake a spot and place your golf ball, or play it as a lateral hazard.

Here are some of the photos during these events:

Its HOT out there...

Well the long wait from the spring rains to full on summer heat is upon us this week and foreseeable future.  Some key reminders as you are out there playing:
- Always have extra water bottles, fill up at all chances
- Dont play by yourself
- If you feel overheated seek shade, call proshop and drink water

Additionally things you will notice for maintenance of the golf course, as soil temps reach upper 80's and 90's our cool season turf will be in massive stress mode and we will be taking some different tactics with watering, cooling greens in the afternoon and running blowers in our drains to supply our rootzone with oxygen.  We are in survival mode for the next 45 days, please remember to always fix your ball marks as they take longer to heal in days like this.

We here at Canyon Farms are a dedicated group, all the way to our lovely golf course dog Gonzo.  Some of you have seen him running or even gotten the chance to meet him, he is one of the nicest and personable dogs I have ever been around.  Gonzo is a rescue dog who is 2.5 years old and is a hybrid Border Collie / lab mix, in short he has an abundance of energy, perfect for his course.  I call it his course because if you see him running in the morning, chasing off pesky geese, rabbits, or this morning our neighboring Hawk population he defends this place with every bit of energy he has.  Typically Gonzo will run all 18 holes, take a swim in our ponds to cool off and will spend the rest of the day sleeping after his 7-10 mile run. 

One of the best advantages we see to owning a course dog here at Canyon is with our reduced geese population.  Since bringing him onto the property in early February we have drastically reduced geese not only flying here, but nesting and creating massive havoc with their lovely droppings all over the course and being a territorial nuisance to you.  We will really notice Gonzo’s impact later this fall and through the winter months as the geese migrate through the area, I think I can speak for all of our golfers and neighbors this is a huge bonus.

So next time you see him running around stop and say hello, he will be more than likely try to get you to pet him as he gives you kisses.

Happy golfing and remember to always repair ball marks and divots.

Sink hole #13

Well as most of you have already noticed or have seen on the news we had an interesting Fathers Day weekend here at Canyon Farms.

At roughly 9am on Friday morning an isolated sink hole appeared east of Hole 13 on the Canyon Farms Golf Course in Lenexa, Kansas. Portions of the golf course are constructed over a non-operating limestone mine. The area where the sink hole appeared had subsurface conditions inferior to the rest of the mine. A safe perimeter has been secured around the site. The majority of the mine is considered stable according to various geotechnical studies. Excessive groundwater from the wet spring is believed to have contributed to stress on the mine roof at that location. The mine is being evaluated and a course of action to stabilize this portion of the mine will be determined shortly.

We are still open for play, currently with #13 played as a par 3 from the lower section until a full evaluation and restoration of the sink hole, we ask all golfers and guests to please respect the signs and closed off area.

So much rain...

Well another day started with heavy rains here at Canyon Farms, currently at .8" with more on the way later today.  I know most of you have been frustrated with the current course conditions, mowing frequency, cart path rule and overall course appearance the last 3 weeks.  You are are not alone.  In the past 23 days we have received just under 12" of rain, some being extremely heavy downpours.  One positive is our water supply in the ponds is at full capacity and we should be good going into this season.

Here are some photos I took this morning showcasing just what we see after such a heavy thunderstorm and why we will be cart path only today and more than likely through the weekend.

As always as soon as we can get out and start mowing and maintaining our beautiful golf course we will be doing so, as you can clearly see today is a lost cause for mowing and we will be focusing on some more of our never ending detail work.

Thank you for your patience as Mother Nature has not been kind to us this spring.

Meet Our New Equipment

Good morning readers!  Today we will be discussing our amazing new state of the art equipment here at the Canyon Farms Maintenance Department.  A huge thanks to our owner Mr. Klausman and our Great Life Management team on getting these pristine machines for our fleet.  As always we spare no expense on having the highest quality of cut and appearance for our many members and guests.

First is our two state of the art brand new Greens Mowers.  These Hybrid Toro 3320's deliver walk mower quality with a reduction of over 50% labor.  This enables us to have the highest quality of cut, appearance and ball roll with labor savings used to better detail this great facility.   Another great feature is with the Hybrid technology and 14-blade reels, this gives us the ability to have the highest clip rate (times the mower cuts the crass per square inch) in the market.  Here is one of our most experience crew members Juan mowing number 5 green on this lovely morning.

Second is our brand new Salsco Greens Roller, this side to side machine gives a 5 psi on each pass, this gives the most consistent ball roll and smooths out any imperfections from foot traffic, improper ball mark repairs and leaves a glassy appearance when finished.  This industry leading roller will be used 2 to 3 times per week to give you a consistent and better ball roll than Canyon has ever had in the past.  To the right you can see Rene rolling #2 green and leaving a pristine and tournament style ball roll.

Lastly is our two new rough units, the Toro 4700 Grounds-Masters. These machines have 7 single decks that have a solid back roller giving us a striped appearance of 12 feet. Given our acreage of the golf course when both are in operation we can give you the highest quality of cut, striped appearance with zero scalping in just under 4 hours for the entire property.  With this extremely efficient mower not only can we accomplish our rough mowing faster than ever before but we can mow the golf course 3 times per week giving everyone Monday - Sunday a consistent playable rough.  Here you can seeing one of my Assistants, Mr. Duane Davied mowing #4 Green Bank in 20% less time than it took before.

Many thanks to our owners and managers for finding and purchasing these amazing pieces that complete our fleet here at Canyon Farms Golf Club.  I hope all of you are enjoying our more consistent and playable golf course.  As always thank you for reading this blog and taking part in learning more about our Maintenance Department and our many processes that go along with maintaining a golf course.