GMS golf maintenance blog at Pueblo del Sol Country Club in Sierra Vista, Az.
Thursday, December 21, 2023
Thursday, December 14, 2023
December ....around the grounds in pictures
We are entering the second week of December with some pretty amazing weather so far. Let's all enjoy it while we can because we will be getting into the 20's towards the end of the month and frost delays will be the norm. Just a reminder: during frost delays we need to keep OFF the turf. This ALSO applies to the numerous people walking the course before play. PLEASE STAY ON THE CARTPATHS to avoid damaging our turf! Please see our November 21st post from the USGA "Frost Delay: 5 Things Every Golfer Should Know" for more information about frost and frost damage.
December
And takes our autumn joys away;
When short and scant the sun-beam throws,
Upon the weary waste of snows...
~Walter Scott, Marmion, 1808
Wednesday, November 22, 2023
Giving Thanks......
The GMS team would like to thank the PDS members and guests for supporting our golf course through the trials of this year so far. We are grateful for your loyalty and wish you and yours a very Happy Thanksgiving! We also wanted to thank our awesome GMS team, a tough year made better with all your hard work and dedication.
“Peering from some high window, at the gold of November sunset and feeling that if day has to become night, this is a beautiful way.”
— E. E. Cummings
"At times our own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person. Each of us has cause to think with deep gratitude of those who have lighted the flame within us." — Albert Schweitzer
Tuesday, November 21, 2023
Frost Delays: 5 Things Every Golfer Should Know
We are doing a repost on everyone's favorite topic........ frost . This USGA article from 2018 gives some important facts about the effects on turf and why we have frost delays. Not only does this apply to golfers but also to all the people walking our course in the early mornings.
While much of the U.S. deals with winter’s brunt, golfers in the Sun Belt and other mild parts of the country are still playing away. However, cool, crisp mornings bring the risk of frost delays. At some golf courses frost delays are rare, while at others they may be a regular occurrence. How often your morning round is affected by frost depends on the weather and a variety of other factors. Here are five things every golfer should know about frost delays:
1. Crunchy grass is vulnerable to damage.
Golf course turf is normally resilient to traffic, but when ice crystals form inside the plants, they become brittle and vulnerable to damage. Walking or driving over frost-covered grass may rupture plant cells, leading to dead turf. Or the plants may be weakened without immediately showing the effects. It can take grass more than a month to recover from this damage.
2. When it comes to frost delays, location is everything.
Many of us have looked out our windows at home and seen no signs of frost, only to find a frost delay when we reach the golf course. This is because frost can linger in colder microclimates long after other areas have thawed. North-facing slopes, low-lying areas and areas sheltered from the wind are especially likely to remain covered with frost. If you are worried about a potential frost delay it is best to call the golf shop to check on conditions at the course before leaving home.
3. Closely mown turf is at high risk.
Frost damage can occur on any part of the golf course, but it poses the greatest risk to closely mown turf. Putting greens are particularly vulnerable because they experience the most concentrated traffic. A foursome typically takes 300 steps or more on each putting green; if there is frost present, all those steps could cause serious damage.
4. A little frost can cause big delays.
No signs of frost on the first tee? That doesn’t mean you will get the “all clear” sign. If frost remains in areas that are unavoidable early in the round, the course must remain closed. It is also important to remember that once the frost is totally clear, the maintenance staff will need time to catch up on course preparations before play can begin.
5. More light goes a long way.
Shade extends frost delays by preventing sunlight from melting the frost. Pruning or removing trees that shade primary playing surfaces can improve the course’s overall health and reduce the duration of frost delays. This is especially true on holes played early in the round. The shade from a few trees can keep an entire course closed.
To learn more about frost delays and other important course care topics, visit the Course Care section of USGA.org.
Thursday, November 16, 2023
November..... around the course
COURSE CARE
I was on #7 green cutting cups last week when a walker came up to me to ask a question about the course. After I answered her initial question she made a comment that I sure had a lot of ballmarks that I have to fix. Actually it's the golfers responsibility to fix ballmarks I told her, not the GMS staff. Of course we try and fix as many as we can because we are proud of our greens but usually we don't have time to fix the 30-40 unfixed ballmarks on virtually every green virtually every day. Golfers need to do their part....... so a little help out there please!
Divots in fairways
The GMS team prefer: If the divot is intact and there is soil still attached, simply replace it in the correct orientation and firmly press the divot into the ground with your foot.
Makes no sense?!?!?! A fully intact divot !😠 Just put the intact divot back and press down with your foot
Irrigation Issues
As most of you have seen, we have had some wiring issues on #2 fairway. Once again tree roots along the cart path have caused havoc with our station wires. We had to dig up a portion of the cart path on #2 and cut out a section of tree roots and repair the damaged wires. It's a painstakingly long process going through and matching the bundle of 28 station wires we had to cut but we also had to repair a section of our lateral water line that was being affected by the roots.
tree roots and wire
Replaced water line..... and working on identifying the wires
Images around the course
Well on the positive side we have had some wonderful weather over the last month..... enjoy it while it lasts!Tuesday, October 17, 2023
"There is no season when such pleasant and sunny spots may be lighted on, and produce so pleasant an effect on the feelings, as now in October." - Nathaniel Hawthorne
October is here........
We have continued our seeding and sanding areas on fairways, approaches and surrounds where we had lost turf during the drought.
We still need to keep carts out of these areas during seed germination !
IRRIGATION
We have already gone over some issues we have had on the golf course over the last few months in previous posts but forgot to include some of our irrigation "issues" during the months of August & September. Our Irrigation Tech Ramon, with help from his sidekick Super Dave, kept us going with some quick fixes through numerous breaks on our 30+ year irrigation system(holes: #11,#15 & #16).
Ramon QC fix #16PDS Natural Geyser......Nope a main line break #16 fwy
Ramon..... main line fix #16Repaired pin hole leak on main line in the middle of Glenview road back #10 green