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Golf California.com's Poppy Ridge Review

The greens have all had at least a week to heal and are coming along quite nicely. In fact, last week’s rains helped to keep adequate moisture in the greens (at a typically vulnerable time) and the heat that we are expected to get this week will help them to heal.

Tomorrow, Thursday, we will aerify the main (Chardonnay) practice green. We postponed aerifying it last week due to the heavy rains.

 Aside from aerification, the course is drying out nicely and the carts should be allowed off of the paths starting tomorrow (just in time for our first NCGA qualifier of the year). While most of the course is quite firm now, there are just a few places out there that are still a big soggy. Just remember to use caution and common sense.

Until next time, see you on the links.

We did receive some relatively high rainfall (totaling 1.20”) on Friday and over the weekend but they had little effect on aerifying Merlot. The largest noticeable effect was that we didn’t quite pull a core that was as deep in the wetter areas than in the dryer ones. A few showers throughout the day were just enough to wet the sand but not to stop our process. By the end of the day on Monday we were able to get all of the greens dragged and all of the holes filled. 

Today (Tuesday) we aerified the Chardonnay nine. This, too, was another success in spite of the recent rainfall. The big difference today was that we didn’t get any rain during the day to wet the sand. Because of this, we were able to get all of the greens dragged and all of the holes filled by 2:30 PM.

The day after we aerify and sand a nine’s greens we will go out and mow with a special mower that uses brushes instead of blades to mow up the excess sand for removal. This was done first thing this morning to Merlot and will also be done first thing tomorrow morning to Chardonnay. And, after being “brush mowed,” we use a special type of mat to smooth the sand on the green one more time.

Beginning tomorrow morning (Wednesday morning) we will utilize walking greens mowers to mow all of the greens on Merlot. This will not only aid in the removal of excess sand but also keep the greens closely mowed. Remember, it is always easier to remove too much sand from a green than it is to add more sand later.

 Until next time, see you on the links.

Aerification Dates:

• Monday, 3/21 – Merlot Greens
• Tuesday, 3/22 – Chardonnay Greens
• Wednesday, 3/23 – Zinfandel Greens

This is also a good time for a refresher course on why we aerify greens:

1. To reduce compaction that us caused by golfers and day-to-day maintenance of the greens.
2. To remove thatch, a layer of dead stem tissue that can hinder water and air from reaching the roots.
3. To create channels for air (most importantly oxygen) to reach the roots more easily.
4. To create channels for water to reach the roots more easily.

Aside from preparing to aerify the greens, this past month and a half has been fairly busy. Phenomenal weather in the end of January gave way to some much needed rain in February. With temperatures in the 70s in early February, we actually found it necessary to begin lightly irrigating to keep the course healthy.

Over the past several weeks many projects have been started and completed on the golf course. One of the most visible projects was the renovation of the white tee on Chardonnay #1. Over the years a crown had developed in the middle of the tee which causes less than desirable locations to tee off from. To fix the crown we first removed all of the sod, used a box grader to remove and level the underlying sand, then used grass from a teaching tee at the back of the driving range to re-sod the tee. We have been topdressing and mowing the tee each week and we are anticipating having the tee ready for play on March 31.

In addition to the tee renovation we have also completed removing many volunteer willow trees that have been growing along the pond back on Merlot #9. While they weren’t an issue with play, they were beginning to compromise the bank of the pond and were becoming less and less aesthetically pleasing. For this reason we went in and removed many of them (we did spare all of the original sycamores and live oaks, as well as several willows, that were not growing along the bank).

Please check back in the coming weeks for an update on our aerification and how the greens are healing. Until next time, see you on the links.

Poppy Hills Renovation Update

I hope that everyone’s holiday season was relaxing; now we are back to the daily grind.

The weather over the past several weeks has been a little bumpy. In December we received 2.65 inches of rainfall and had several frost delays. Unfortunately, January is shaping up to be very similar. If it isn’t cloudy and raining, it is inevitably sunny and cold. We recently completed an irrigation project around the first, right-hand, fairway bunker on Zinfandel #8. Several pop-up sprinklers were added to the bunker bank and, come mid-summer, the bunker should look fantastic. Next week we will start another irrigation project. This time it will be on the fairway bunker on Merlot #1. By adding some of those same pop-up sprinkler heads to the fairway side of the bunker, we will increase the turf cover (which will produce a much improved lie).

Another major project that we are undertaking right now is the removal of some trees from around the pond on Merlot #9. Over the past 10 years many volunteer willow trees have sprouted and have grown quite large. As such, we are removing several of the problem trees. Speaking of the pond on Merlot #9, we are currently doing a fun experiment. Every winter we have a problem with coots (duck-like waterfowl) taking up residence, tearing up a lot of grass and making a big mess on the green. This year we have enlisted the help of a coyote, a fox and an alligator to aid in discouraging the coots from hanging around. The two-dimensional coyote and fox cutouts sit on the far side of the pond while the floating “alligator” lies in wait near the green. The jury is out on just how much they will help but I figure that they are worth a try (besides, they are fun to spot!).

Until next time, see you on the links.

In between the rain storms of last week, we had our first frost. To avoid damaging the golf course during these frosty and frozen conditions, it is necessary for us to delay the start times first thing in the morning. The good news is that our driving range does remain open for practice during these frost delays (with the exception of Wednesday, our day for mowing the driving range). If you would like more information regarding frost delays (or a variety of other topics) and why they are important, please visit this link to the USGA’s website: http://www.usga.org/turf/articles/video/frost.html.

In addition to frost, late autumn and winter provides another inconvenience: rain. Even though the golf course drains very well (evidenced by very few puddles after a rain storm), there are still times when the soil gets so much water in it that we need to keep the golf carts on the paths. By keeping the carts on the paths for a day or two after a healthy rain we can keep the ruts in the fairways and rough to a minimum, this results in much improved playing conditions after everything dries out.

Some projects that we have been working on lately include adding some new drain lines, adding sand to bunkers, pruning trees on the golf course and general trimming to signs and markers. Next week we will start a multi-week-long irrigation project on Zinfandel #8. We will add some small pop-up sprinklers to the first, right-hand (large), fairway bunker on this hole to increase the grass coverage.

Until next time, see you on the links.

 Things are slowly wrapping up for the season out on the golf course. This week we started an irrigation project on #9 Zinfandel that should be complete by the end of the week. We are adding a sprinkler to help irrigate a perennial dry spot in front of the tees. We also recently completed some drainage work in the fairways of #9 Zinfandel and #5 Chardonnay.

The solid-tine aerification of our tees and approaches is complete and now we are moving on to some smaller thin-spots in the rough and fairways. On a side note about aerifying, we have not and will not be aerifying our greens this fall.

Another project that we have begun is the pruning of the trees. Our Valley Oak, California Pepper, and Sycamore trees are in need of some light pruning which will be ongoing throughout the winter.

Until next time, see you on the links.

Last week we went out and fertilized the entire golf course with a slow-release fertilizer. By using a polymer-coated fertilizer we should be able to receive nice color with minimal growth through to the spring when we will fertilize again.

The fescue and native areas of the course are about half-way finished being mowed, as long as we continue to get some mild weather we should be finished late next week. We only have three holes worth of tees left to solid-tine aerify and should be finished by the end of the week as well. Other projects that we are working on are the edging of yardage markers in the fairways and tees, mowing down the bunker banks, and edging drains.

The last two remaining raptor perches that were donated to use by the Dublin/San Ramon Women’s Club were installed this week on Merlot 9 and Chardonnay 8. Next week, if the weather cooperates, we will be installing two barn owl nesting boxes on the property. As soon as everything is installed we will post some pictures. It is really fun to watch the hawks on the perches in search of prey!

Until next time, see you on the links.