Willow Tree Removal

The willow trees are becoming a serious problem on the edges of our ponds. As you can see below, the championship tee on our third hole is blocked by willow trees that have grown up along the edges of the pond. We are also concerned by the environmental problems that the willows can present.




#3 Championship Tee




















Miguel and Roel are removing these trees to open up the view of the green from the tee.

Miguel

Roel

This will make this hole play much fairer.

The small willow shrubs that are growing on the edge of the pond are also removed.

Now a much more open shot at the green

Beneath the willows there is a nice stand of fescue grass. Now we will be able to mow as close to the water's edge as possible to control future growth of willows and noxious weeds.

We also find infestation of thistle wherever the banks of ponds are allowed to become overgrown by willows. Thistle is a noxious weed and it does not do a very good job of stabilizing the soil on the embankment from erosion and sentimentation pollution. Our work to clear and mow these areas down to promote the spread of fescue grass is good for the environment AND the game of golf.

Thistle and Reed Canary Grass (noxious weeds) growing beneath willows

 

September 12

Lots of interesting stuff happening today.  Miguel and Vicente are cleaning up a fallen tree limb.

The fairway expansion on 18, that Keith has been cutting down in gradual increments, is beginning to play firm.

Kieth has been expanding the fairways on 2, 9, 10, 11, 12, 15 and 18. This will make the golf course much more enjoyable and playable for the mid to high handicap player. 

Keith Da-Man

 

Noa is leveling heads on the edges of greens for better coverage - this should help us to cut down on hand watering



Bernardo continues to replace defective solenoids and valves on our Hunter Sprinklers. Notice that the soil in this repair has sand in it, a good indication that this sprinkler has been worked on before - irrigation techs will often back fill a repair with sand when the soil is wet.  

Hunter Sprinklers require constant repair.

Peter and I took advantage of the dry conditions to trace drain lines. Here Peter has located a riser. We ran a fish tape down the pipe and wire tracked it. 

We then moved the fish tape to the next riser down the line and tracked the wire through an area that was extremely wet back in July when we had the big rains.

This is me tracking drain line with the wand and marking paint. 

We will dig down and place a surface risers on top of the pipe - this will save us from having to spray this fairway for Pythium Blight the next time we have another hot wet July/August.

First Week of September

The Burr Oaks put on 10 inches of growth on side branches this year. You can trace the amount of growth by the joint in the branch where I am pointing.

The Morning Doves are nesting.

Turf is looking good overall but showing signs of hunger after a long period of high humidity through July and August. Only a week ago the grass was lush and actively growing - now it needs some fertilizer.

Even though the daylight hours are fading and the temperatures are cooling dramatically, we continue to water. In fact Thursday this week was one of the heaviest waterings that we applied this whole year.

This week we will be giving the turf a good balanced feeding of NPK, and then we will begin the process of leaning it out before the winter months.

Topdressing

At Bittersweet we have begun topdressing every 2 weeks with a moderate layer of sand - now that we have the equipment to do the job.


The Toro Pro Pass Topdresser

Our mechanic, Keith Vavrusa built our drag mat with two coco mats that we ordered out of the McMaster Carr catalogue. He sewed the two mats together with heavy gauge wire every three or four inches.



Keith

He made a rigid but light frame out of aluminum.

Aluminum Frame

The brush is very soft and nonabrasive, allowing us to topdress and drag even in hot weather like we had this summer. Here you can see Peter Anderson brushing the sand in.

Peter

Hey how many of those Anderson boys are there anyways?

Da Man!

Topdressing with sand provides a firm and smooth surface for the roll of the ball.

It helps fill ballmarks, and to make the green firmer and more resistant to ballmarks.

It also helps to dilute the formation of excess organic matter at the surface so the green is healthier - the natural way!

Bittersweet Golf Club Acreage



Native Hardwood Forest

Bittersweet Golf Club occupies 200 acres of land accordingly:

Greens 3 acres
Tees 3 acres
Bunkers 1 acre
Fairways 19 acres
Rough 75 acres
Water 29 acres
Native Forest 29 acres
Native Prairie 2 acres
Wetlands 39 acres

The aerial photo below was taken in 1988. That land that is Bittersweet was part cropland, and part native forest & wetlands. (double click to zoom)

1988

The photo below was taken in 2007. (double click to zoom) The native forest and wetlands were remarkably well preserved during development of the golf course and surrounding neighborhoods. Bittersweet truly is a wonderful environmental asset for the Gurnee community. And the golf course is located, within walking distance, for many people to enjoy.

2007

Sprinkler Auditing

This summer we performed audits of our Hunter Sprinklers in side by side comparison with the Toro 800 series sprinkler. This test was performed during windy conditions and the Toro sprinkler provided a much more uniform distribution of water in the gauges than our Hunter Sprinklers. There is no doubt that we would be able to provide a greener golf course, with less water and electrical consumption, if we replaced the Hunter Sprinklers with new Toro sprinklers.

Gauges are placed every 15 feet from center

Hunter Sprinklers

On any given week of the golf season we repair at least 10 Hunter Sprinkler leaks on the golf course.

Note that the components of the Hunter Sprinkler  are all made of a light gauge plastic. The sprinkler body is prone to leak at the base. The valves are prone to frequent failure, and the electrical solenoids are unreliable. This sprinkler was designed for commercial landscapes – not for golf course use.

We feel that it is in the best interest of the club to begin replacing the Hunter Sprinklers, as they fail, with new Golf Course Sprinklers that will stand up to the flow and pressure demands of the golf course.

This will cost much less than what we are wasting in parts and repair costs. And it will free up the man-hours that are needed to improve the golf course so that we can make it more profitable. Moreover, the new sprinklers would consume much less water and electricity to provide a green golf course.