March .......... Can we get a little help on the course please???

 We have spent the last 3 weeks aerifying the greens, tees and fairways. We have put out 75 tons of sand on greens and collars and tees. We have started to sand and seed green surrounds, approaches and fairways. We have fertilized virtually the entire course. Why do we continue to have 20-30 unfixed ball marks on the greens on a daily basis? We do we have divots that are not repaired on every single fairway? Honestly it's quite disconcerting. The GMS crew has put in a ton of work getting us in a position of having a great season this year and we really need the help of the membership and guests to do their part. The basic golf etiquette of fixing ballmarks, repairing divots and raking bunkers is every golfers responsibility. 

Ball marks

Leaving ball marks on a green unrepaired not only lowers the playing surface quality for the next golfer, but also makes the turf damage more likely for disease and weed breakouts. If you fix a ball mark after you make it, healing usually takes 2-3 days. An unrepaired ball mark can take up to 2-3 WEEKS to heal.

Replacing Divots 

We have talked about this on numerous posts but here at PDS we recommend putting back the divot if the grass is intact. At this time of the year a replaced divot will almost start rooting immediately. The sand on the carts can be used when there is no grass to put back to fill the divot. Just so you know there is no seed mix in that sand, so putting back the turf is the best way to help. All the fairway divots that are sanded and actively growing is from the GMS crew filling those divots with our seed/sand/fertilizer mix.

No care at all......no attempt made .  #2 fairway yesterday morning 😠

What it should look like....available turf put back, light sand added  

#6 fairway..... a player no course wants to have 😠

Feeble attempt at sanding divot, intact turf inches away 😠

Spiking, Seeding & Sanding

#1 approach

Our proper sanding/seeding of unfixed divots #1 fairway

 Bunkers

Hmmmm....... you can use the rake 😕

????? unreal ..... 😠

  

#5 green .... light spike and re-seeding of bad spots

We continue are work on the back part of the green and surrounds on #5. The high percentage of POA(annual blue grass) on the back part of the green mixed with the close proximity of trees and their roots that have extended to the green sucking moisture and nutrients for awhile now. All these factors have caused weakened turf in that area.  We have repaired the green, spiked and re-seeded bad areas. We will be renting a trencher in the coming weeks and will be root pruning around the green. 

light spike & seed #5 green

Top dressed  with usga sand

Leveled and watered in 

Some images from a windy March.... it's all about the clouds  🌥 ⛅ ☁

AERIFICATION SCHEDULE

 

2024 AERIFICATION SCHEDULE

Monday 3/4 - Thursday 3/7  Back 9 Fairways & Tees 

*ALL 18 OPEN FRI  3/8

Monday 3/11 - Tues 3/12  F9 Greens    Wed 3/13 - Thurs 3/14  B9 Greens 

* ALL OPEN FRI  3/15

Monday 3/18 - Thursday 3/21 Front 9 Fairways & Tees    

* ALL OPEN FRI 3/22

We are almost done with our aerification process(shouts of joy heard by everyone!) with just F9 aerification and fertilization of fairways and tees left to do next week. The process has gone really well so far with the hard work by our crew and the mild weather we have gotten the last few weeks. The only issue has been the late afternoon winds that have progressed into the evening that can make it harder to keep adequate moisture in these areas we have aerified. We would like to thank our GMS crew, who have done an excellent job so far during this always tough monotonous 3 week stretch. We would also like to give a shout out to our "Jefe" Bill Nauroth, who came down this week to help out his favorite GMS team. 😜👍

3/25 Update:  We have finished our spring course aerification except for some extra cleanup of plugs/debris on the front 9 fairways and roughs that we will hopefully(weather permitting) get finished this week. The entire course has also been fertilized.

NOTE :  This particular post will continue to update until the aerification process is finished 

3/11 ..........Let aerification on greens begin !

3/11 ......filling holes with drag brush

3/11....... #15 green

3/11....... #17 green sanded , soil amendments applied, brushed and watered in

3/18.......Punching fairways front 9

3/18......Collars and approaches F9 

3/18.... first mow with sand reels @.125

3/20  ......  #2 green  9 days post aerification

3/20 .......  #7 green   9 days post aerification

3/22  .... #15 green  9 days post aerification

3/25 ....... #1 green 14 days post aerification

3/25 ...... #8 green,  healing nicely !

4/1  ........   #3 green

4/1  ......  #13 green

Around the grounds Jan & Feb

Snow, fog, rain and a lot of chilly mornings here in the desert🌵 after the first two months of 2024. With the ongoing weather we have continued our winter work : filling in selected bunkers #2 & #16, cleaning up the desert area behind #13 green, bulrush removal #13 pond, edging all sprinklers, irrigation boxes, sumps and yardage markers. We will also be working on repairing boards on the bridge #15 in the next few weeks.  

Even had a Sasquatch sighting........