The future of Maintenance

Hawks Landing is just down the road from one of the best turf research facilities in the country.  The University also has a top notch group of plant pathologists that devote much of their time in studying ways to reduce our inputs in all facets of golf course maintenance.  some of their research includes testing new turfgrass varieties to give the end user valuable information when selection seed.  Also they have developed  many models for the golf course superintendent to use in disease forecasting , this helps us in selecting the proper chemicals, proper application timing and the end result may save us money and reduce our use.

This year I have been working directly with Dr. Jim Kerns in a study that may be the future of chemical application.  What we are looking at is using a GPS guided sprayer to save time, apply only what and where you need it and in the end reduce our inputs.

Above are a few pictures of this new technology.  The accuracy of the GPS is within 1 foot and you can see a map that is made of the area treated.  Also this map is stored in an on board computer that can be accessed for record keeping.  Another great future is that each of the 11 nozzles is independent and only comes on when needed.  At the end of the application you only treat exactly what you want.  Our current sprayer is quite advanced and works extremely well and is calibrated to the exact amount needed. but having indepented nozzle control and hands free driving does save time and there is no chance of over application.           

update

I hope that everyone had a fun day yesterday on the hard course setup.  We had the greens rolling almost 12 feet in the morning with a few challenging pins.  Ended up being a wonderful fall day.


We have basically completed the aeration of the front nine greens with the exception of 9.  This week we will be continuing to work our way to the back nine. 

I would anticipate this schedule;


27th 9 green
 28th putting greens, 18 and 13
29th 10 and 11
30th12
October 4,5,6 completedthe rest on the back nine.


The benefits of aeration I have stated numerous times, last week I took a few pictures of some plugs from 6 greens.in the first picture you can see the aeration hole at the end of the pen and within the channel is a new white, healthy root.  it is also hard to find a root that long outside the channel.   Additionally the fall is the time of the year the the turf grass plants develop roots and store carbohydrates for winter survival.  In the lower picture you can see a new root developing.  I applied a organic based fertilizer right after we aerified the front nine greens to encourage this process.  The back nine greens were treated with this same fertilizer 3 weeks ago. 

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The fescue is really starting to develop into a nice stand.  I have noticed a few broad leaf weeds that I have been hand pulling but I will also treat the new stand next year with an aggressive herbicide program to keep the stand clean. We are off to a great start with very little undesirable grasses. 


We are also making some progress in the areas in the fairways that we over seeded.  You may have noticed that I have been moving stakes around to keep cart traffic moving around in order for these areas to recover.


Today we are going to start the reconstruction  of the green bunker on hole 15.  The rains this year have undermined the sod and we plan on removing all the sod, adding soil and then resodding the backside. 


Enjoy the great week ahead