Tree Work update - 12th hole

Last week we started cutting trees down on the left side of twelve. These trees are encroaching onto the golf course and around the fairway bunkers.  Out of curiosity, I stopped to count the rings and discovered that the majority of the trees on this side of the fairway are under twenty years old.  This means that they weren't even there when the course originally opened in 1990.  These trees have trunks in the 6-10 inch diameter range and stand 40 - 60 feet high. 

This tree has approximately 17 - 19 rings, or years of growth.

This is one of the larger stumps at 20 rings, or 20 years



I lost official count, but we've cut about 75 trees on the left side of twelve, which all fall under that 20 year age mark.  It would not surprise me if we cut over 150 trees by the time we are finished.

Collar and approach work

Some of the collars here at KCCC have become mounded over the years leaving a lip that traps water on front edge of the green.  This is a contributing factor to the poor turf conditions along the front of some of the greens.  To correct this, we stripped the sod and made the necessary grade changes to allow surface water to flow off the green.  It also smooths the transition from the approach to the collar to the green and increases its playability.

In this picture we have taken the collar off the front half of the 17th green and have come out in to the approach to make a smooth transition into the newly renovated bunkers and green surrounds area.

The lip on 15 was so bad that there was actually a small hole forming in front of the green were water was trapped.  To fix this we cut the approach and collar out.  Then we cut the grade down to give it a smooth transition into the fairway while allowing surface water to easily flow off the green.

Winter tree work

 

Now that Winter has set in we are going to shift our gears and begin focusing on tree work.  There are three areas that we are hoping to focus on this winter.  Down both sides of the fairway on twelve, around the teeing area on six and the property bordering the marsh from two green around to five green.

On twelve, the majority of the work will be on the left side of the fairway from the beginning of the fairway up to the fairway bunkers.  There are fewer trees on the right side, but most of these are larger trees.  Access to left side of the fairway will be the most weather sensitive of all the areas we wish to address.  The work on this side of the fairway may be intermittent as conditions dictate.

 

For the sixth hole, we plan to thin the areas around the tee and also clean up the area next to the marsh on the fairway side.  We are not planning to tackle the area down the marsh side of the fairway this year, but this is another area that would potentially benefit from work as well.

So what's the plan for two thru five?  Opening up and exploiting what is arguably one of the properties best natural resources, the marsh.  Right now we are missing out on some great vistas and backdrops to our property.  Although we will be clearing quite a few trees and a lot of underbrush, we will also be exposing and highlighting some great trees that are currently hidden.  To top it off, this will also improve light and airflow thru the property.

This is a lot of work and there are many variables that come into play, particularly the weather during the winter.  We are optimistic and will be outside every chance we get.

Work Continues on 12

The 12th hole has been slowly recovering from the summer.  The reduced stress from closing the hole this fall will help the turf to develop the vigor it needs to survive our stressfull summers. 

Patch work is currently being done to low lying and thin areas were spring applications of pre-emergent herbicides have limited seedling success this fall.  This also gives us the opportunity to level and smooth low areas that hold water.

Jeff Pruncal and Glen Pulisifer deliver another load of bentgrass sod to 12 fairway on Thursday as the guys continue to patch struggling areas of the 12th fairway.  Over the past couple of months the crew has done a good job of patching and fixing low spots all over the course.  Our hope is by correcting the cause of the problems we will avoid the same problem in the future.

Next week we will dive into tree work on twelve.  We will be tackling trees on both sides of the fairway.  The goal is to open the area up to as much airflow and sunlight as possible.  Any improvement we can make in these areas will result in increased turfgrass health and vigor.