Weather Station - Updated Address

The weather station that connects to wunderground.com has a new station ID.  The last couple months there has been issues with the connection.  It is now connected to a different computer and hopefully this will eliminate any connection issues we have been having.  

The new station ID is KWAFALLC39.  Thank you for your patience and have a great day

Project Season - #12 Approach Expansion

Summer is behind us, aerification is complete and the wind is blowing leaves off the trees.  Once the leaves start to turn so does our mentality on the course.  Switching from daily maintenance to project season.  People often ask me, 'what do you do in the winter on a golf course?'  its not quite winter, but this is the exact kind of thing we do this time of year and throughout the winter.  

When Tom Fazio visited in the summer of 2016, we discussed ideas of how to improve the golf course.  An idea that was quickly agreed upon was opening up green entrances by widening the approach, helping balls release onto the green instead of hanging up in the rough.  The change to the 13th hole years ago, has made it much easier to get the ball on the green during the summer months when the course is firm and fast.

On Tuesday (October 17th) we started moving forward on this project by altering the entrance to the 12th green.  By widening the approach and using the slope on the left, more balls will release onto the green and also allow the use of the ground game from further back in the fairway.

The project starts with removing all of the ryegrass rough.  The soil is graded to the desired depth and slope, before bentgrass sod is laid down.

Any sand/soil that is added is compacted with the plate compactor seen in the above photo to minimize any settling.  Nearly 1000 feet of bentgrass was added to improve this area.  

Final details include rolling the area with a water roller and spending the time needed making sure all of the seams between each piece of sod are uniform and knit together.  It's fun to get all of the staff together on one project and complete something that we believe makes the course better.  

The plan is to complete additional approach expansions this fall and next spring.  As I mentioned before, we believe these small changes will make a huge improvement in the play-ability of the course for golfers of every skill level.

A Trip Unlike Any Other

Welcome to The Masters!

Mark Knowles, myself, Pete Trudeau, and John Freitas at the Main scoreboard on Tuesday April 4th, 2017

 I never thought those four words could sound so good, but they are even better than you expect.  My first memory of The Masters was Jose Maria Olazabal winning in 1994.  I don't specifically remember any shots of that golf tournament, but I do remember him putting on a green jacket.  I was 12 years old and new to the game of golf.  Little did I know from that memory of my childhood my life would be centered around golf and 23 years later I'd be writing a blog about my first experience at The Masters.  (No one in 1994 had ever heard of a blog)  I'm blessed by all of the things golf and the people associated with this game have taught me, both on and off the course, over that time.

Seeing Augusta National Golf Club for the first time was simply breathtaking, its better in person than I thought it ever could be.  Augusta National on TV is like watching the movie, seeing it in person is like reading the book.  We covered nearly 10 miles our first day, I can't remember enjoying 10 miles without swinging a golf club more than that first day.  If you make your first trip to The Masters, take in a practice day so you can focus on the golf course.

John Freitas and I at 16

I returned to work on Friday with more questions than I had answers to the wonder that is Augusta National Golf Club.  I was asked by a member mid-day Friday, "what did you learn at Augusta?" 
As my fiancée, Danica, will attest too, turf consumes much of my day and I think about it while watching TV.  That evening was no different, I was constantly trying to answer the question:

                                 'What did I learn at Augusta?' 

1. Its humbly perfect.  Everything is magnificent - not opulent or gaudy. 

It has a perfect feel of Southern Charm.  From entry to exit all of the amenities suit the property perfectly.  The volunteers at The Masters also deserve an acknowledgement, they make it that much better with their great attitude and Southern hospitality.

2. The layout is so different than I thought.

The 9th Tee - he piped this one

This is Hideki Matsuyama hitting driving on the 9th Tee.  In the left edge of the photos you can catch a glimpse of the 1st green surround.  Two tee is 20 yards behind me.  I've seen aerials and watched countless rounds on television on the years, but how it all fits together is so much different than I had envisioned.  My favorite part of the layout is Amen corner.  You have to go find amen corner, you can't stumble across it.  Its hidden in the corner of the property, as with everything else, its better than you thought when you see it in person.

11 Green  with 12 Green waiting in the background

 
3. Everything you use except for the golf course is just for that week.

The parking lot.  The entrance.  The concession stands.  The bathrooms.  The golf shop.  Its all permanent and just for that week. You've never seen so much staff working a concession stand each one telling you, "Welcome to The Masters" or "Y'all have a great day!"  They seem to have thought of everything to make your experience as enjoyable as possible.

4. Augusta National Golf Club is what it is and everything they do is to be themselves.  That should be a lesson to every golf course.  Be yourself, that's sustainability.

This is the one that will stick with me for the remainder of my career.  People question whether Augusta National is good for golf?  I have often wondered myself if that level of manicuring or perfection is good for the game.  I now know for certain it is good for the game because they are being themselves.  It helps that they can afford to do things other properties can not, but they could also afford to build more opulent structures and automated concession stands.  Instead they choose to build and do things that fit their personality and be great at those things.
Sustainability is a term used in golf, attempting to latch on to our changing landscape of environmental awareness and all the other challenges golf will face in the coming generations. 

I hope Augusta National never changes, it is a beacon for golf courses across the world to be yourself and from that you find sustainability.  The goal at Aldarra Golf Club is to provide the best conditions possible each day.  My crew understands this and they work to achieve this goal.  This goal is only possible if we focus on ourselves and do it our way.  Surely we can learn from other courses and use ideas to make us more efficient, but we have to do it our way with our own identify to achieve our goals.

If you've never been to Augusta in April, take a few friends, leave your phone in the car and soak it all in, it won't disappoint.







 

Anyone seen Spring?

The clock has rolled forward and here comes Spring.  It sure hasn't felt like Spring in the Pacific Northwest, but we are pressing on finishing up a few projects before Aerification.  

ROUGH RENOVATION

We recently completed renovating all the areas we killed with Prograss this Fall.  Prograss is used on Ryegrass, it selectively kills undesirable species(i.e Poa annua) that contaminate a pure stand, in our case, Ryegrass rough. 

The picture below depicts the destruction Prograss causes.  The extended cold weather this winter helped the Prograss kill the species we were targeting.  The area not effected was due to limitations of the sprayer, it can't drive on the steep slope on the right side of #17.

Dead areas are renovated and cleaned up by hand, before ryegrass seed is covered with a layer of sand.  

Fifteen hundred pounds of ryegrass has been spread throughout the course to help rough quality and the definition we like to see.  If you're thinking about ripping out moss in your home lawn and putting down seed, this is a great time to get it done.  Covering the seed with a mulch source is a great way to help germination.  The rough was also fertilized this week to help push growth before the season starts.  If Spring finally shows up, these areas should fill in great.

TREE PRUNING

 This picture is worth more than a thousand words.  Last October we rented a tow-able man lift for pruning Specimen trees throughout the property.  The top photo was taken the morning before we started last October.  The bottom picture is from February 28th at the completion of tree pruning on 12 tee.  The goal of this project is two pronged:
                     1. Highlight views when possible
                     2. Improve playability and turf conditions
The plan moving forward is to rent this lift once per year and stay ahead of the necessary pruning.

MALLARD DUCK NESTING TUBES

Golf courses are a great place for wildlife to thrive and we have to do our part when possible to help the wildlife.  You probably noticed the new grass tubes on your drive into the club.  These tubes are for Mallard ducks.  If we have success with these tubes we could add one or two more next year.  This project is part of our effort to obtain Audubon Certification for Aldarra Golf Club.  Additional bird houses will be placed throughout the property in the coming Months.

The 5 Best Photos of 2016 and an Honorable Mention

Technology has helped to make the world more mobile, and when your office is a golf course, this is a great thing.  While I am touring the course checking progress of daily tasks, I can fulfill the office portion of my day, emails, phone calls and communicating with staff from the seat of my cart.  Another benefit is I can easily that take a lot of pictures around the course without having to carry a clunky camera.  The scenery I get to capture every day is awesome and the beauty of Aldarra is easy to showcase.  The following 5 (+1 honorable mention) are my favorite photos of the year and a small explanation of why.

Teamwork 

The course wouldn't be what it is without the staff and I'm lucky to work with them.  This picture was taken in late March and Spring is in on its way and we are preparing the course for a beautiful day.  You can see the snow on the Cascade Mountains in the distance and the beauty of Aldarra in the foreground, but the best part here is guys working together to complete the days tasks.  I am grateful for their effort and commitment.

Nature

This is a mason bee, covered in pollen as he's been out all day pollinating plants around the property. This was taken about a foot away from the front of his house. I've never been a fan of bees, due to their ability to sting, but a joint project with Crown Bees, written about in this post, opened my eyes to bees as I had never seen them.  These creatures are amazing to watch and deserve more attention and understanding as a role in pollinate the world food supply.

 Paint the W!

The University of Washington Women's Golf Team won a National Championship in 2016 and we painted the mid-field logo from Husky Stadium on our first fairway to honor their victory.  Painting logos isn't something golf course managers usually do, we leave that to our Sports Turf counterparts so this was a lot of fun.  A big thanks to the Grounds department at the UW for loaning the stencil to complete this project.  A local painter helped us finish this project and it was much easier to do this with a paint sprayer than applying it with rollers.  The paint used was indoor latex paint and two weeks after application you could still see the outline.  Note, no turf was harmed in the painting of this logo.

Goats

The use of goats on a golf course isn't groundbreaking, but it was a great addition to our program for this year.  Two hundred and fifty goats, two Border Collies, one Komondor guard dog, and a great goat herder started the process of cleaning up the area fronting seven fairway.  We have since completed cleaning up what the goats started (blog post coming soon) and it turned out great.  The best part of this project and why this picture makes the list was the positive feedback from members and their guests.   So many benefits came from this project we have secured the goats for 2017!

What a Special Place



This picture captures so much of what makes this job so special.  We get to enjoy a time of the day that most people don't see, it is a reward to see the sun come up each morning before anyone else shows up.  I've captured many photos of Mt. Si in my time at Aldarra, but never with the silhouette of the clubhouse in the foreground.   

Honorable Mention - New Tools

We added some awesome technology to our spraying capabilities that will reduce costs, while improving efficiency.  We have yet to reach the full capability of this technology, but I am excited to find out where it can take us and how it will improve our operation.

I am excited for the year ahead.  We continue to review our areas for growth and build on our strengths as a team in preparation for 2017.

Winter Workshop

I posted this picture on twitter ten days ago (@spartangrass) not expecting the reaction and attention it would receive from Superintendents around the Country.  Twitter is a world of quick communication that has changed how Superintendents communicate and share ideas.

The story of these signs date back to the beginning of Aldarra Golf Club (2000), the credit for the design goes to former Mechanic, Dean Owen, he was and is a jack of all trades.  He had a way of promising something grand and delivering a final product that was better than you imagined.  Signage on a golf course is necessary, finding a way to make it 'fit' the property is the challenge.  Originally these signs were made from both fir and cedar trees that had been removed from the course.  All signs are now made with Cedar (it holds up better in the elements than Fir) if a tree of proper size is taken down, six foot sections of the tree are stored for future sign or bench making.

This is the beginning of one of four new signs that were made this winter.  One new hole location sign will be placed on #14.  Three signs were made to replace old signs beyond repair. 

One of our Assistants, Matthew, is trying to match the face angles for the signs.  A sharp chainsaw and patience makes this step much easier. 

The bark and soft outer layer of green wood is removed.  Originally the bark was left on, but they declined rapidly.  The process was changed after a few years and they last longer with the outer layers removed.  The lighter color wood in the right half of the photo is what it needs to look like before moving to the next step.  Two staff members, Heri and Raul, deserve the credit for stripping down all of the signs.  They also painted and stained the finished product. 

  

 Measure twice, router once.  The layout of the green was printed from a hole location program we use, Strackaline.  Taking time at this step to mock up the layout, in pencil, assures us there is enough room on the face of the log.  Wood filler is used to fill large cracks and/or voids.

The outline is traced with permanent marker to aid Matt in the router process.  The log is strapped to the work bench, preventing it from moving.  The router is set to a depth of 1/4".

If you choose to attempt this at home, start in the middle and work your way out.  The next step is branding the "A" below the green outline, the brand is a one of a kind made by Dean. 

It is heated up over a propane burner, it has its own custom stand inside the burner.

 

Sanding around the 'A' after branding is done to cleanup some of the burnt face.  Plastic studs are inserted into the sign

Plastic studs (3/8") are drilled out and inserted into the sign identifying the section of the green where the pin is on a given day.

From Left to Right #14, #3, #10, #2

The final step is two coats of stain and a couple days outside under cover to allow time for the stain to set before being placed at its post near the 14th tee.

A huge thank you to crew members, Matthew, Raul, Heri, and Bill for countless hours building these four signs and refreshing many others.

These are some of the other signs around Aldarra.