Week of October 2nd
- Michael Curtin
- Oct 9, 2023
- 2 min read
Updated: Oct 27, 2023
This week the Ipswich agronomy team has been working on finishing a number of small projects around the course. The last bit of the area being worked on along the 8th creek has been loamed and seeded. There was a old stump that needed to be ground by a stump grinder before work could be completed. The small stump left by the dead tree that fell along the 1st tee was also ground before being loamed and seeded. We have had good seed germination in the section along the creek seeded last week. Below are some pictures of the above mentioned area showing some of the progress over the last couple weeks.
Another area that we have been spending time cleaning up is on the left side of 17 near the start of the fairway. An old rock wall has been exposed by removing brush and the remains of dead trees. A section of dirt patches between the fairway and this area has been loamed and seeded. Some more work will be done in this area as time allows.
As of writing this post every green, with the exception of the 3rd and practice greens, has been vented using a solid micro tine. The diameter of these tines measure only 1/8th of an inch so they cause very little surface disruption. This process allows the greens to "breath" by letting built up gas escape from the root zone and fresh air in. These tiny holes also help with water infiltration for a period of time.
Irrigation Technician Marcelo has fixed two leaking irrigation saddles with another two waiting to be replaced. Luckily we haven't had many leaking saddles this season in comparison to previous years.
Some work was also completed to the tees reconstructed over the last few years. These tees would be 4 gold/blue, 7 orange, 9 white, and 16 orange. They were aerated using a 3/4 inch solid tine before being top-dressed with sand. The sand was dragged in using a drag brush with additional sand being added as needed. The gold tee on 6 was also punched and topdressed to help alleviate its tendency to dry out and wilt.
Driving range update:
The grass portion of the range tee will be closed for the remainder of the season. The driving range tee is scheduled to be aerated, topdressed, and overseeded on Wednesday, Oct. 11th. During the aeration process the range will be closed. A variety of soil amendments will be added during the aeration process.