SLO County Golf Courses

GCSAA's very own Greg Lyman!

2011-12-13T11:49:00.000-08:00

Greg is the Director of Environmental Programs for the Golf Course Superintendent's Association of America. In this video footage he is a guest on the Morning Drive, a talk show on the Golf Channel. The message he protrays is relemvant to anyone that enjoys the game of golf because he discusses some of the regulations that golf course operations are governed by that many golfers do not even know about and that anti-golf individuals consistently pursue. Now many of these regulations are valid, but should not only pertain to golf courses, but homeowners and place of business as well. Things like water usage and chemical regulations.

There is not a great deal of statistical information in this video or even reference material in general, but hopefully you will gain some awareness about some of the challenges facing your favorite course. And also how golf course superintendents are managing the playing surfaces in an effort to promote environmental awareness across the globe. Many golfers flock to courses across the world, but how many know where the turf maintenance facility is, let alone the person entrusted with the upkeep of the turf. Get to know your golf course superintendent and ask him/her what he/she is doing to improve the environement at your course.

Click on the link below and enjoy the message!

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=2842137780972&set=vb.88819872477&type=2&theater

"Being in a links bunker is a little like sitting in a rigid pew at the village kirk on Sunday. 'You're noot here to have a good time, lad. Yer here to atone fer yer sins.'"

~Donald Steel, British golf architect, quoting a Scottish friend.

Frost Delays

2011-12-09T16:49:00.001-08:00

Every year around this time I get to talk about a subject that many golfers do not like to hear about....Frost Delays. Let me tell you, golf staff doesn't like this topic either. The reason is that every year around this time they are required to enforce frost delays and deal with unhappy customers that are anxious to get on the golf course. We understand that getting on the course is important to you and we will do everything to make that happen, but frost is not something that we have any control over. Some courses will run water to knock the frost off of the grass, but this can lead to bigger issues like ice. This was a common request when I worked in Indiana (where frost delays lasted until 12:30 some days), but the practice performed when some areas of the course are still below freezing can lead to more waiting because ice takes much longer to thaw than frost.

The reason for the delays is the damage that can occur from foot or equipment traffic to the turf when frost is present. With more frost days expected, this is a good time to look at the conditions favorable for frost.

Frost occurs on clear cold nights when turfgrass plants re-radiate heat (exothermic reaction). As the plant loses heat to the atmosphere the plant leaf cools. If the plant temperature is cooler than the air temperature then moisture from the atmosphere will condense on the leaf. If the leaf temperature drops below freezing then the water freezes and frost forms. This will occur even if the air temperatures are slightly above freezing. At this time of the year it is not uncommon to have frost form even if the air temperature is in the mid to high 30s. This is due to the fact that the soil temperatures are still creating a much cooler microclimate at ground level. Think of the scenario when you pour your favorite beverage into a glass that has been in the freezer. FROST!

Frost itself does not cause damage, but injury does occur with traffic on frosted areas. Turf damage is generally superficial. This is not to say that traffic should be allowed on frosted turf. If traffic occurs, whether it is foot or mechanical, damage caused by crushing the leaf blade will occur. Initially the symptoms will appear purplish to black in color. The damaged turf will then progress to a straw color. If no damage occurs to the crown (the growing point), recovery will occur from the generation of new leaves. However if the crown of the plant is damaged the plant may be severely damaged or worst case it may die.

A new link for the blog...check it out!

2011-12-06T09:00:00.000-08:00

Our non-profit partner that we are working with to become a Zero Waste Golf Course has changed their name from EPA Inc (Environmental Protection Associates Incorporated) to Zero Waste Concepts. You can find their link on the right hand column of the blog for future reference. Right now I invite you to click on the link below to go directly to their site. At the present time the website is undergoing changes and development so that we will be able to schedule docent led tours via this website as well as provide a bevy of information regarding our Zero Waste Park at Dairy Creek and various other tidbits of info about how you too can utilize Zero Waste Concepts in your own home, place of business, and school to help make a difference in the global environment. The below link will allow you to view the informational video piece that KAlta Designs created for our Zero Waste Park at Dairy Creek, which describes our goals and how we began down this path. Please enjoy and let me know if you have any questions or share your comments. Thanks for visiting!

www.zerowasteconcepts.com

USGA Green Section Record

2011-11-29T09:00:00.000-08:00

Check out a recent article in the USGA greens section record. I'll give you a hint...it pertains to Zero Waste Golf. Enjoy!

http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs003/1103157499740/archive/1108608015500.html

Play each shot to the best of your abilty . . .and take dead aim!
~Harvey Penick, golf instructor

Zero Waste Golf is a success!

2011-11-23T13:58:00.001-08:00

Our Zero Waste Park at Dairy Creek Golf Course is a success. Our first goal is to demonstrate how zero waste efforts can be accomplished at home, work areas, schools, hospitals, prisons, etc. so that we can make a global difference in the overall environment. We are not advocating or disputing climate change, but we want to make sure that we are proacitve with our waste streams at our facilities. Our second goal is to reduce or eliminate our inputs into landfills, inorganic fertilizers, water usage, and pesticide usage. These goals will help us to maintain recreational opportunities for our communtiy in a truly sustainable fashion. If you would like a tour of the facility please contact me (805) 781-1318 or jheptig@co.slo.ca.us or you can also take our self guided tour as the compost facility has been created as a park so that anyone can learn about this process on their own by reading the signs and experiencing the park at their own leisure.

Enjoy the following pictures below of our ribbon cutting ceremony on Nov. 10, 2011.

Our display area near the restaurant, which is where many golfers enter to grab a bite to eat or drink at the turn.

Our Mission and Vision statements for our golf facility.

We started the day with a power point presentation and video to provide some background
for our project and how it can help our communities and the overall environment.

Supervisor Bruce Gibson talking about what the project means to our County and its communities.

A sideways shot (sorry, new technology) of our demonstration site.

In-vessel composters are the true workhorses other than Richard.

Our material bins
wood and carbon sources green or nitrogen sources finished compost

Mike di Milo of Integrated Waste Management Authority
presenting info about worms and vermicomposting.

Albert Nunes discussing the operations surrounding our vermicompost
and how we screen the material.

Here I am giving a captivating talk about microbes, which was not nearly as interesting
as our worm bins for these two young participants.

Richard McConaghay and I tossing the ceremonial compost onto our screening bins.

The ribbon cutting to officially open the site for self-guided or docent led tours.

Please contact Josh Heptig at (805) 781-1318 or jheptig@co.slo.ca.us

for tour scheduling or more information.

Oncourse Restroom Facelift

2011-11-08T09:00:00.000-08:00

Our restrooms at Morro Bay Golf Course received a much needed facelift during the past two months. The replacement costs and assiciated perimtting were well outside of the range of money that we wanted to spend so we renovated the structures in house using some volunteer and community work release labor. There was a fair amount of rotten wood that was removed given the moist ocean climate that the course resides within. New shingles were installed, paint was applied, and new fixtures freshen up the interior areas that have not been updated since the 1950's. This was a long overdue project that help improve the outside services of the facility.

Have a look at some before and after photos below.

Here you can see this structure is showing its age.

Not our best foot forward, even before we started removing the rotten wood exterior.

A close up of the rotted exterior wood. Luckily the damage did not make its way into the structural components of the building.

Here is the clean finished product after replacing the rotten wood and a fresh paint job! To finish this project we plan to install a faux rock surface over the concrete section of this front fascade along with a nice metal logo. I'll post those pics once the work is complete.

Zero Waste Park Ribbon Cutting

2011-11-04T17:10:00.000-07:00

Zero
Waste

Demonstration
Park

Ribbon
Cutting Ceremony

Please join San Luis Obispo County Parks as
we celebrate the completion of our Zero Waste Demonstration Park at Dairy Creek
Golf Course.

Thursday, November 10, 2011

10:00 a.m.

Project Info: This Demonstration Park will explain how one of our County Golf
facilities is protecting the environment by utilizing Zero-Waste strategies.

Directions: Heading north or south from US-101 take California Blvd. exit. Turn right onto California Blvd. Turn left onto Foothill Blvd. Turn right onto CA-1/Santa Rosa St and continue

for approximately 5 miles to Dairy Creek Road. Turn right, follow up the hill then turn left at the Dairy Creek Golf Course sign. Follow the road to the clubhouse and golf course parking lot.

Refreshments will be served. Lunch will also be available for purchase
after the event at the clubhouse Fairway Restaurant

Please
RSVP by November 8, 2011

to Anna Diaz at 805.781.4386
or by email adiaz@co.slo.ca.us.

For information on the demonstration park
please contact Josh Heptig at 805.781.1318

or by email at jheptig@co.slo.ca.us

Bunker Maintenance and Expectations

2011-10-19T12:55:00.000-07:00

The other day, Albert Nunes (Golf Superintendent for Morro Bay
and Dairy Creek Golf Courses) and I were sitting down for our weekly meeting.
During our discussion we were

discussing course conditions and our golfers’ expectations. Recently he had

heard a few complaints from some of our regular patrons, golfers that we value greatly;
complain about the condition of our sand bunkers. Primarily these comments were
directed at the amount of sand in the sand bunkers and/or their relative
firmness. I have also received similar comments or questions regarding the sand
bunkers at Chalk Mountain since we renovated those hazards in 2008.

The comments are a concern of Albert's as he desires to please
as many golfers with the course conditions as possible day in and day out. He
and the staff at Dairy Creek pride themselves

in the product quality they produce especially given that our staff size is down
to 6.5 full time employees and one and a half of that quota is Albert (0.5, as
he is the superintendent of operations at Morro Bay and Dairy Creek) and Brad
(1.0, our equipment manager at Dairy Creek). This full time crew is bolstered
by 5 to 6 seasonal/intern staff that work 20 hours per week on average. I am
blessed with a fantastic crew that is dedicated to our customers

and our courses.

I wanted to discuss some of these issues as many courses have
some of the same issues. Sand material that is used to build golf sand bunkers
is selected based upon criteria established through testing by the USGA.
"Bunker sand" as it is called meets a specification that primarily
allows for the penetration of water over a certain amount of time, as well as,
limits cohesion of the material particles. These specs help to maintain
drainage by alleviating standing water after irrigation or rain events, but
also allow for a quality playing surface that does not easily washout during
rain events, create fried egg lies, or become firm like concrete.

The recent comments that we have been receiving stem from the
firmness of our bunkers. Our courses are watered with medium overhead
sprinklers and these sprinklers water our green surrounds and therefore also
irrigate our greenside sand bunkers. We consistently rake our sand bunkers at
Dairy Creek each and every day so that the sand is not too firm on the surface
and to eliminate foot prints. WHAT!? Footprints you ask? Well even though
common etiquette suggests that you are to rake out any remnants of an attempt
to remove your ball from the sand bunker, many players feel as though this is
the duty of maintenance staff and leave these areas prone to "poor
lies" for the following golfers. Please rake the sand bunkers after
playing your shots so that the conditions are ready for the next group behind
you. Now that we have that issue resolved let's address the firm sand/no sand
issue.

As I mentioned before the sand can be compacted by the
irrigation water as it waters surrounding turf areas. Many new courses have
been built with small pop-up heads surrounding their bunkers so that bunker
faces and the turf surround them are more adequately irrigated and maintained
by keeping the water out of the sand and on the sod, which prevents sand
washouts and crispy turf. With overhead irrigation, like we have, the sand can
become contaminated with fine soil particles and grass clippings allowing the
sand to become compacted over time. Through the course of play sand is also
lost from the bunkers as shots are hit and sand is thrown out of the bunker
onto the green or roughs around the sand bunkers. Consequently we have to
replenish or replace the sand over time to provide quality playing conditions.
Quality playing conditions...now there is a difficult term to define.

The expectations of golfers has increased over the past 15-20
years as equipment technology has improved greatly and the amount of daily fee
courses providing the country club experience boomed in the early to mid-1990's.
The ability to travel to a new course across town or in another community exposed
many players to conditions they had not previously experienced. When they returned
to their home course or club they began to ask why their course could not
produce the same conditions. When these
questions are asked, they do not consider the cost they paid to play

the other course which was typically much higher than what they pay for their round
at home or their monthly dues. In short they were not comparing apples to apples.

The amount of time spent maintaining sand bunkers is
considerable. On average we spend 2 hours per day raking the traps 7 days per
week. These areas are edged and defined
at least 2 times per year and that often times takes two workers 3 days to
complete 18 holes, so that is 152 hours per year raking, edging, and keeping
the sand relatively clean. This figure
does not take into account the number of times rain washes out the sand and we
spend 3-5 days reconstructing the sand profile within the bunkers
themselves. This procedure can easily
eat up 40 hours per occurrence. Luckily
we live in CA and this does not typically happen more than 3 times per year (In
the Midwest and East this can happen weekly or multiple times per week). So let’s see that is 866 hours of minimal
bunker maintenance per year. With the
cost of sand and labor alone we likely spend $30,000 per year maintaining our sand
bunkers.

Albert's concern is valid as customer satisfaction is high on
our minds these days given the recent economy and the number of the daily fee
courses that are now competing at the municipal

fee level to stay competitive. As the Director of Operations/Superintendent, satisfaction
is also a great concern of mine as well. This is why earlier I said quality playing conditions
is a difficult thing to determine as the rules of golf deem sand bunkers as
hazards, but many players are upset when they are greeted with a fried egg lie,
on hard-pan, or for god's sake in a footprint!
In fact many tour players aim for greenside bunkers, especially in the majors,
as a lie in bunker sand is much more consistent than that of the lush sticky
rough.

My final thought here is that each course’s budgets, customer
expectations, and course conditions vary.
You can typically rest assured that the golf course superintendent is as
concerned or more concerned about your lies across the golf course as you are
because her/his reputation and job may depend upon it. That being said you are participating in a
sport without rigid surfaces like a basketball court and mother-nature often
dictates what we do or how the turf performs on any given day. I can tell you that my staff and I are
working hard to make sure that your experiences on our courses are pleasurable,
but if you want a truly consistent playing surface fairways and greens are the
places to be.

Aerification time AGAIN?!!

2011-09-23T13:59:00.000-07:00

This is the time of year golfers everywhere are asking, "WHYYYYYYY!? I get this questions each fall as the greens always seem to be in prime condition and then we break out the dreaded aerifiers to begin punching holes in the most sacred areas of the golf course. This is a practice that is not a very fun period for staff either as it means getting the course ready starting two weeks before aerification day by preparing equimpment and ordering supplies (sand, seed, fertilizer, and perhaps wetting agents), making a few practice runs on practice areas, fertilizing the greens to boost nutirition levels so that healing time is reduced, and adjusting schedules for staff.

This is not a task that is taken lightly given that the greens are our most precious asset outside of our STAFF! I must emphasize how important these men and women are to every golfers experience on every golf course around the world. Our crews perform some of the most difficult tasks and work some of the worst hours with little to no recognition and maybe some complaining from golfers about the pin on hole #12. The staff that I have is amazing and to think that all of the tasks we accomplish is done with 6 full time staff (that includes our Equipment Managers) and a few interns at each course only proves how lucky I am to be where I am. We have staff members that could be or have been head supers at a course of their own, but enjoy the life and luxuries that we are blessed to have here on the Central Coast.

The day of aerification starts around 3:30 when the aerifier first breaks ground on our putting green. That's right, we start in the dark using lights and our own wit and senses as this process starts. It is somewhat of an eerie situation when you are all alone on an aerifier in the dark of night when you can not see beyond the lights of your rig and all you hear is the noise of the equipment. You never really know what is lurking about in the openness of the golf course.

We usually punch 3-4 greens before the rest of the staff begins the process of cleaning up cores, dropping sand, and brooming the sand into the holes. This fall we will not be pulling cores as we use this time of year to attempt to push our roots deep by using a solid deep time aerification approach. This process fractures and heaves the soil beneath the turf, thus loosening the soil particles allowing better flow of water, nutirents, and also better penetration of roots. Consequently, this process also takes less time to healas the amount of damage is lessened. This helps us to keep more golfers on the courses and maintain revenue streams.

The day ends near dark and the staff is tired and ready for some nourishment and rest of their own once all of the equipment is cleaned up and properly stored. But they will be back tomorrow to help push the sand around a bit more and water it in using hoses and irrigation. We keep the mowers off for the first day to help not pick up any sand with the equipment, which helps reduce the loss of resources and also reduce the wear and tear on cutting units. Mechanics hate sand and I wonder how they ever enjoy our beaches around here?

We will then begin mowing with a set of reels we call Sand Sharks. These reels are used for a 2-3 days until the clippings in our catch baskets are pretty free of sand particles. Again mechanics HATE sand. After that period we send out a brand new set of reels and gradually work the height of cut back down to our traditional 0.130. The first day with this mower usually requires a double cut to smooth out the surface and stand up the lazy Poa Annua leaf blades. A week or after the initial aerification we will come back with another round of fertilizer to help push the roots of the mature turf and new seedlings deep within our soil profile so that they will handle the wear of play during the year. We do go through this process again in the spring by pulling cores, but the fall allows for the best root growth as the temperatures are typically moderate and stress levels are low. Those elements coupled with the fact that cool season turf grows optimally during the fall and spring, fall deep tining, at least in my mind produces the most opportunity for deep healthy root development.

All of this allows our turf to be in the best possible condition this same time period next year and the year after that too. I understand as a golfer this process is not well appreciated from a playability stand point; but if we did not aerify at all the health and playability may decline during the summer months when high use compacts the soils. With compacted soils, water penetration is reduced, air pore space is reduced, and nutrient absorption is also reduced. All of these factors work against the health of the plant and can result in dead turf and nobody wants that in the middle of the summer!

Morro Bay was aerified a week ago and the greens will be back to normal this weekend. Dairy Creek is scheduled for aerification October 4th. We apologize for the inconvenience and we will take all of the "atta boys" you are willing to give next spring and summer when the greens are healthy, smooth, and enjoyable. Thanks for your patronage and check out the video below from Pace Turf for more information regarding aerification.

"Reverse every natural instinct and do the opposite of what you are inclined to do, and you will probably come very close to having a perfect golf swing."
~Ben Hogan

Video Tour of Our ZERO WASTE Golf Compost Operation at Dairy Creek Golf Course

2011-09-06T17:07:00.000-07:00

Please see the attached video for a guided tour of our Compost Facility that we intend to utilize to become a zero waste golf operation. Let me know your thoughts and comments....enjoy!

Morro Bay Club Champion

2011-09-01T09:31:00.000-07:00

Golf Club Crowns New Champion

By Jack Beardwood

orro Bay resident Les Wade shot a two round 151 then held on to win the Morro Bay Golf Club Championship, held Aug. 16 and 23 at the Poor Man’s Pebble Beach. Wade said he felt the pressure as he entered the second day of the event with a 3-stroke lead over San Luis Obispo resident, Cullin Rutherford, a Cal Poly student who took second with a 154. “I had to sit with it (the lead) for a whole week,” said Wade. “I’ve worked hard to get my game into the shape it is, so it’s very rewarding to see it come together for this tournament. My ball striking was really good today. I made a couple of clutch putts.” He also made three birdies on the final day. “I think it’s an excellent tournament. Very competitive,” he said. “The course is in excellent condition. And I won. It’s pretty hard not to like a tournament that you win.” He said it is the first time that he has won a club championship.

Rutherford previously won a club title in Nevada City, Calif. “It was close right up to the last hole,” he said. “It’s a great tournament. He (Wade) played great the whole time. It was good to play a fellow walker. Everybody else was in carts.” Rutherford said he has been a club member for a few months. “It’s just a great group of guys,” he said. “Everybody was very welcoming. I love the golf course. You can’t beat this area. You can’t beat the views. It’s the best course in the county.” He has a message for Wade: “I’m going to win it next year.”

Josh Heptig, superintendent of the county’s golf program, won the previous two events. He reportedly has been dealing with a shoulder problem. Wade was proud that at age 67 he was able to hold off the Poly student. “This is a game where an old guy can play with the young dogs,” he said. “It’s an amazing game where you can still be competitive.” A retired computer engineer, Wade couldn’t say enough about the course. “Morro Bay Golf Course is one of the best kept secrets in California for coastal golf. The ocean and bay views are superior to any course I’ve played.” He has played in Canada, Ireland, Washington, South Carolina and North Carolina.

It is not known how long the club championship has been contested at the golf course that was built 85 years ago. A plaque in the clubhouse has the names of champions as far back as 1971. Randy Kleinhammer, who won in 1994, 1980 and from 1996 to 2000, appears to have been the biggest winner. Dean Greene II won five straight from 1986-1990.

Rutherford, who hails from Nevada City, won low gross for the first flight. Don Albin of Los Osos won the low net at 139. In the second flight, low gross was Morro Bay resident Phillip Davis (169), while Don Hanak of Cambria won the low net (139). In flight three, Peter Wightman of Morro Bay was low gross champ with a 183, while Dave Dabritz of Cayucuos shot a 145 for low net.

Virtual Golf

2011-08-26T23:55:00.000-07:00

We recently bought our way into the virtual golf arena by purchasing a golf simulator. The equipment is really pretty simple. Well let me take that back a bit...it is simple to use, but the set up and configuration was quite a bit of work for our IT staff to tweak and perfect. The final results are spectacular. We will be able to utilize the equipment during our rainy season, trade shows, and various events in which we participate.

There are a number of courses that an individual can play as well as a great practice demo that helps by showing graphics and information that depict your impact positions. The club face angles related to your target and trajectory are nice information to have as well as ball speed, trajectory (high or low), spin rate, clubhead speed and a number of other factors that determine the overall result of your ball flight.

Below you can see photos of our first use at an event, which was the SLO Farmer's Market on Thursday nights in downtown San Luis Obispo. The event was a hit and we gave away buckets of range balls to each participant and our contest was a closest to the pin on the 6th hole at Pebble Beach. The winner was actually a young man visiting from Germany as he knocked the 140 yard shot stiff to within 2 feet. Not bad for his first swing of a golf club ever! Kent Lauble our head pro gives some mean lessons as he instructed the new golfer on how to hold and swing the club. So if you are looking for a new coach give Kent a call. All in all it was a great event and fun was had by the Farmer's Market patrons and our staff alike. Click on the link below and you can see a video of the simulator in action!
http://youtu.be/hB9ljmjFsig

Here Donovan Romero(right), our Pro Shop Manager at Morro Bay, assists one of our
participants hit into the 7th hole at Pebble Beach

Here you can see the screen with the clubface characteristics
and ball information from his previous shot.

Work day #2 was a success

2011-08-12T12:29:00.000-07:00

Last Month the Morro Bay Golf Club held their first club work day and we planted flowers and afixed yardage plaques to the cart paths. Those plants are thriving and the plaques are adding to the experience of our customers by providing them with yardage reference points throughout the course and some color to the landscape other than the typical green you will find on every golf course.

This month we are attempting to add more yardage reference points by placing yardage plaques on the irrigation heads. The club members broke into groups of two and headed out with GPS devices, clipboards, and paint pens in hand to record the gps guided measurements for each individual irrigation head 250 yards or closer to the greens. We had the assistance of 8 members this month and each group recorded the measurements for three holes each, so we were able to finish 12 holes leaving us with 6 more to complete the course.

For the time being the yardages were written on the heads with the paint pens, but that will not last very long (maybe a month). We will finish these measurements with our staff or during the next work day scheduled for September 27th. Albert and I will be researching the most cost effective way to attach these distances to the heads and possibly taking donations to help defray the cost of the materials and production. I have attached some pictures below that show the process and results of the work by these dedicated members.

Mike and Larry are maximizing their efficiency by slitting up and and each taking a different task.

Bill and Jim are working more as a team and contemplating whether their GPS is providing the proper measurements based upon our current yardage placement efforts.

Here Les is showing off his caligraphy skills by writing a temporary yardage on the head.

Green Golfer Foundation: Exclusive unpublished photos of World's First ZerO...

2011-07-28T14:00:00.000-07:00

Below is a link to the blogsite from a member of our non-profit partner that is trying to establish a foundation much like the surf-rider foundation, but for golf. Have a look at the site and narrative that accompanies the photos. I returned from a trip to Pittsburgh to find out that our crew has been busy upgrading the facility and that the 500 gallon brewer is nearly complete! We are all so excited and ready for our goals to become a reality. More soon...so stay tuned!

Green Golfer Foundation: Exclusive unpublished photos of World's First ZerO...: "Welcome to Dairy Creek Golf Course, the first zero waste golf course in the world This is the view from the clubhouse deck looking out o..."

Bird watcher's paradise!

2011-07-19T10:16:00.000-07:00

I hate that I do not have any photos to share, but I wanted to at least tell you about my experience yesterday at Dairy Creek Golf Course. Albert, our golf course supervisor for Dairy Creek and Morro Bay, and I took a drive around the course yesterday to check out a few fairways to see how we could reshape them to make the course a bit more user friendly. Keep your eyes peeled as these changes will be happening soon if not yesterday.

The real reason for my post today is to talk about the avian specimen that abound on the course! People that complain that golf courses ruin or destroy the environment may be somewhat correct during the construction or grow in of a golf course due to the amount of disturbances, increased watering in some instances, and the techniques to establish turf and landscaped areas. However, once established these areas can be havens for an abundance of wildlife and plant life and Dairy Creek is the perfect example.

During our drive we left our Turf Center and headed backwards on #9 cart path. At the white tee box there was a Mallard hen with her 5 ducklings grazing on the grass and enjoying the sun not far from the ponds edge. We continued across our maintenance path alongside of the tee boxes on #2 and the puddle ducks were thick on the pond's edge adjacent to the tees along with a few Egrets as well. We headed cross country from there and drove through the rough on #2, across the 7th fairway and back to the path up to the restrooms behind the 4th green where we encountered a wild turkey hen bedded down in the tall grass. Upon closer inspection she hopped up and we discovered she has a lame leg and was struggling to put some distance between herself and the two of us so we left her to rest and possibly recover from her injury. I saw this same bird on Wednesday afternoon when I was out with the turf professors, from Cal Poly, taking soil samples last week. At that point I did not notice her injury. She may make a recovery or become a source of food for a larger predator like a mountain lion or coyote and continue nature's food chain.

Albert and I stopped at the 5th tee box to examine the 5th fairway and look at ways we could reshape it to make it more attractive to the eye in hopes that more balls will end up down the middle. On this tee box I came across a gopher snake last week that was heating her body for the day ahead. We then continued towards the tee boxes on #4 and took the maintenance path over the hill to #17. This hole is looking great especially considering it has the least amount of top soil of anywhere on the course. We continued backwards on #17 to the restrooms then to our maintenance path behind #13 green to #11 tees. During this drive we passed many of our raptor perches, which were in use by many birds of prey and a few crows trying to get a look into the unmaintained tall grass areas we have across the landscape of the golf course.

Albert had me take a look at their mornings work, which was carving out a fairway on #11 approach and rough across the creek. They did a great job extending the approach into a fairway and carried the closer cut of turf up onto the mounding right of the green so that shots that hit this area would possibly carom onto the green. We took our maintenance path behind #11 towards the cart barn and came across a large group of California Quail. This group was actually a mother with her, it seemed like at least 20 chicks, scratching at the ground and then scrambling for cover in the tall areas surrounding the cart path in that area. The little guys were really small and could not have been much older that a week or two. Hopefully many will survive to increase our population of this species on the course as they provide a great food source for many predators up the food chain, which will eventually increase our population diversity.

All in all it was a great day on the course, which I relish a lot these days, since I am mostly confined to my office performing more managerial and financial tasks. As I got in my truck I was surprised that we had not seen any other turkeys than the hen near the bathrooms on #4, as we have as many as 300 wild turkeys on the property at their peak of the year. Just before I drove through the gates of the golf course I waited while two turkey hens cautiously escorted their 11 poults, baby turkeys, across the road. Ahh...the circle of life! During your next round make a point to look around and enjoy the nature that you are in and share your experiences with your non golfing friends as they may have th opinion that we are destroying the ecosystems, polluting ground water sources, and reducing our wildlife populations. Let them know that we are stewards of the environment and it they would like to chat give them my information as I very much enjoy educating people about what we do for our golfers, our community, and the wildlife which we are thrilled to share our lives.

First Morro Bay Golf Club Member Work Day

2011-07-15T10:19:00.000-07:00

Last Tuesday, July 12, we held the first ever Morro Bay Member Work Day. The event was our kick off event so we made it fun and simple yet productive. We had 7 individuals help install some plant material around the stairs leading up from the bag drop area and also at the forward tee box on the 15th hole. We had another 5 individuals adhering yardage markers onto the cart paths throughout the course. After all of the hard work libations and discussions of future projects were had on the outdoor patio with all involved. If you are interested in helping during the next work day it will be held Aug. 9th at 2:30 pm. We have a lot of good projects to complete that will enhance all experiences at the Morro Bay Golf Course and provide a way to give back to a course that has provided us with so many memories and friends throughout the years!

Learning the tricks of fixing a yardage marker to our asphalt cart paths. It's really not rocket science, but it's close...just ask Albert, our golf supervisor.

Here is most of our motley crew standing above the newly planted landscape areas.

Thanks for everyone's help and dedication!

A Dairy Creek Flyover

2011-06-27T14:29:00.000-07:00

My wife and recently were traveling by plane and happened to fly right over the top of Dairy Creek and Morro Bay as well, but I couldn't get to the other side of the plane as we were still climbing in altitude (darn aviation rules!). Below you can easily distinguish our 88 acres of maintained turf among the brown area that used to be the Gilardi dairy farm.

Brewing some good stuff!

2011-06-17T12:02:00.000-07:00

The tea is steeping and will be done in the next 48 hours. The video is not much but you can check it out on Youtube below. I hope that everyone has a great Father's Day weekend and enjoy watching the 110th U.S. Open. It does not seem like 10 years ago that I was helping our crew battle the pressure and elements preparing the course at Southern Hills CC. I really feel for the guys sticking it out this week as the greens already look a bit stressed during yesterdays round and sleep will not be something those individuals get a lot of until Monday night.

"If you were playing Jack Nicklaus, you knew that he was better than you, he knew that he was better than you, and you knew that he knew that you knew he was better than you."

~Chi Chi Rodriguez

20 Facts You Didn't Know About Golf.

2011-06-16T09:35:00.000-07:00

Here is a list I came across the other day on LinkedIn.

1. 125,000 golf balls a year are hit into the water at the famous 17th hole of the Stadium Course at Sawgrass (pictured).

2. The longest drive ever is 515 yards. The longest putt ever is a monstrous 375 feet

3. Phil Mickelson, who plays left-handed, is actually right handed. He learned to play golf by mirroring his father’s golf swing, and he has used left handed golf clubs ever since.

4. The chances of making two holes-in-one in a round of golf are one in 67 million.

5. Tiger Woods snagged his first ace at the tender age of eight years old.

6. Balls travel significantly further on hot days. A golfer swinging a club at around 100 mph will carry the driver up to eight yards longer for each increase in air temperature of 25°F.

7. The longest golf course in the world is the par 77 International Golf Club in Massachusetts which measures a fearsome 8325 yards

8. The highest golf course in the world is the Tactu Golf Club in Morococha, Peru, which sits 14,335 feet above sea level at its lowest point.

9. The longest golf hole in the world is the 7th hole (par 7) of the Sano Course at the Satsuki Golf Club in Japan. It measures an incredible 909 yards.

10. The largest bunker in the world is Hell's Half Acre on the 585-yard 7th hole of the Pine Valley Course in New Jersey.

11. The largest golfing green is that of the 695-yard, 5th hole, a par 6 at the International Golf Club in Massachusetts, with an area in excess of 28,000 square feet.

12. The driver swing speed of an average lady golfer is 62mph; 96mph for an average LPGA professional; 84mph for an average male golfer; 108mph for an average PGA Tour player; 130mph for Tiger Woods; 148-152mph for a national long drive champion.

13. There are 336 dimples on a regulation golf ball.

14. The first golf balls were made of thin leather stuffed with feathers. Tightly-packed feathers made balls that flew the farthest. Feather balls were used until 1848.

15. The youngest golfer to shoot a hole-in-one was Coby Orr, who was five years old at the time. It happened in Littleton, Colorado, in 1975.

16. 22.8% of golfers are women. Source

17. Golf was banned in Scotland from 1457 to 1502 to ensure citizens wouldn't waste time when preparing for an English invasion

18. The term birdie comes from an American named Ab Smith. While playing 1899, he played what he described as a "bird of a shot", which became "birdie" over time.

19. The word golf does not mean "Gentleman Only, Ladies Forbidden". This is an internet myth. Read more here

20. Don't feel bad about your high handicap -80% of all golfers will never achieve a handicap of less than 18 .

"If you wish to hide your character, do not play golf."

~Percy Boomer, golf instructor

US Open at Congressional Country Club

2011-06-13T08:00:00.000-07:00

U.S. Open Maintenance at Congressional Country Club

With the 2011 U.S. Open scheduled for Congressional Country Club June 16-19, the competitors are preparing themselves for a stiff competition to identify the best player at the championship.

While watching the U.S. Open on television may make many golfers envious of championship playing conditions, this work involves many extra volunteers who help the maintenance staff accomplish the countless tasks to put the course in shape. Thanks to the support from equipment companies and highly-qualified volunteer labor, maintenance tasks can be performed daily, and often many times per day. Every area of the golf course is maintained to provide the best possible playing quality, but these conditions are just temporary. This level of conditioning cannot be sustained week-in and week-out without such tremendous support.

Congressional Country Club

Course Fact Sheet

Fairways:

Width: Ranges from 18 to 35 yards, averaging 25 yards wide in the primary landing zones.

Grass Type: Predominantly Penncross creeping bentgrass along with other varieties interseeded over the years.

Mowing Height: 0.345 inch

Tees:

Grass Type: Penncross creeping bentgrass

Mowing Height: 0.345 inch

Greens:

Grass Type: Greens were rebuilt in 2009 to USGA Guidelines for Putting Green Construction and established with a blend of Penn A-1 and A-4 creeping bentgrass.

Mowing Height: 0.10 Mowing Height for collars and approaches: 0.310 inch

Target Stimpmeter Reading: 14-14.5 feet

Irrigation Practices: Only hand-watering on the greens. The goal is to achieve firmness without compromising the health of the grass. Soil moisture levels are constantly monitored with hand-held testers and in-ground sensors. Fairways and tees are irrigated on an as-needed basis. Wetting agents have been applied due to sand topdressing of both fairways and tees. The goal is to achieve even wetting when irrigation is applied.

Roughs:

Grass Type:

o intermediate rough – primarily perennial ryegrass

o primary rough – predominantly turf-type tall fescue.

On each side of the fairway, a 6-foot wide swath of intermediate rough running the length of each hole will be mowed at 0.875 inch. The same mowing height is used for the bunker tie-ins.

On greens with a primary rough, the mowing height is 3 inches.

For the sixth consecutive year, the USGA will use graduated primary rough. This setup creates a tougher and more challenging recovery shot for those who hit their drives farther off-line.

The first cut of primary rough is 6 yards wide and mowed between 2.75-3.25 inches, depending on the length of the hole.

The second cut of rough is mowed to 4 inches, depending on the turf growth rate. This height extends to and beyond the gallery rope lines.

Bunkers:

Maintenance: New sand has been added to all bunkers. All bunkers are hand-raked.

Maintenance Crew:

Congressional C.C. crew size: 55

Number of mechanics on staff during the Open: 3Pg 3 TGIF Record Number: 182513 Green Section Record Vol. 49 (23) June 10, 2011

Number of volunteers: 120. Most are experienced golf course superintendents and assistant superintendents who volunteer their time for the week.

Where the volunteers are housed: Nearby in housing at American University.

How the maintenance crew and volunteers are fed: Breakfast, lunch and dinner are prepared by the Congressional C.C. chef for the entire maintenance staff and volunteers.

Typical hours worked during the championship: Morning shift 4 a.m. to 8 a.m. Afternoon shift 4:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. Staff is on property throughout the day in case of rain.

Miscellaneous Maintenance Points:

Amount of extra equipment on hand: Six walking greens mowers, four walking collar mowers, eight turf rollers, four walking tee mowers, 19 five-plex fairway mowers, three rotary rough units with 9-foot cutting width, two rotary rough units with 6-foot cutting width, one reel rough unit with 6-foot cutting width, two mechanical bunker rakes, 22 maintenance carts and 36 squeegees.

Typical mowing schedule during the championship: All principal in-play areas will be mowed every day. Greens, tees and fairways are mowed twice a day.

Soil moisture: Monitored by in-ground soil sensors and hand-held soil moisture meters. The greens are also equipped with an underground water evacuation system.

Soil Firmness: The firmness of the greens will be measured each day (morning and evening) using the USGA TruFirm system to monitor soil firmness. A relative range has been determined for each green to gauge the receptiveness of the green in holding an approach shot.

The SLO Life (check it out it is Dairy Creek Golf Course!)

2011-06-10T10:15:00.000-07:00

San Luis Obispo was recently rated THE happeist place in America and 2nd in the world and the footage here clearly defines why. This video is not truly golf related, but Dairy Creek was the site chosen for adding golf to the promo. It was great working with Ben the videographer with Cana films and his acting staff (well done Ben and thanks!) If you are ever looking for a little slice of paradise come to SLO and look us up.

Enjoy!

Landscape upgrades which add serious curb appeal

2011-06-09T09:51:00.000-07:00

Recently we hired a new staff member, Frank Dutra, who previously owned and operated his own landscape company in our County. Frank has been doing well and his work efforts have been making a statement with our customers. Before you ask what Frank has been doing on the greens to make people stand up and take notice let me fill you in about what Frank has been doing to help our facilities undergo recognizable changes.

With Frank's background and experience in landscaping we put his talents to work revamping our plans to imporve the landscaping at Dairy Creek GC. We started the project nearly a year ago, but have not had the time or energy to complete the task. When Frank came aboard the timing was perfect! He started along the walkway entrance to the building after staff poured the new mow strip at the base of the rock wall. Once that was complete he moved across the front lawn to totally rework the landscaping in our large beds. Here have a look!

Dave Wilkerson is our concrete expert with years of experience utilizing these materials. His experience has been instrumental to many projects we have completed around our courses.

Sometimes you just can't keep a hard working guy in his office! This Albert Nunes our Golf Supervisor out with the crew getting his hands dirty.

Here is the front lawn and landscaping all completed. Now it's time to let Mother Nature do her thing!

On to the front entry sign...here is Dave setting the forms for the concrete.

The concrete is in and the Grizzly Youths are planting the new material as per Frank's design.

We are awaiting bark mulch, landscape boulders, and some river cobble to finish off the look. Keep watching this area as you drive in for your next rounds of golf at Dairy Creek.

2011 SLO County Amateur Championship Results

2011-06-08T12:44:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to the winners of the 2011 SLO County Amateur Championship

Justin Warthen is the SLO County Amateur Champion

and

Patrick Sumner is the 2011 SLO Net Amateur Champion

Champion Division	FINAL
Justin Warthen**	140
Rory Doll	140
Levi Garci	141
Alex Romo	143
Brian Walker	145
Drew Perolio	145
Tim Toste	146

Net Division	FINAL
Patrick Pumner**	140
Lew McDaniel	140
Bob White	143
John Tanner	144
Tom Biggs	145

** won in playoff

Compost/Zero Waste Facility update

2011-05-25T12:47:00.000-07:00

Some improvements have been made or continued since the first post about our facility. Take a peak at the pictures below...and enjoy! If you have any questions please feel free to contact me or stop me the next time you are out at the course.

Here is the worm bin. The right side is filled with ~100 lbs of worms chowing on food waste. The left side of the bin will be used for storage later and eventually more worms as our population grows. The worms double in number every 90 days, so we have the potential to have a 1600 lb population after the first year!

Here they are munching away!

Jack-pot...the stuff we are after! This photo is taken from the vents in the front of the bin looking up at the bottom of the screens below the worms and their food pile home. As you can see the worm castings (poop) is beginning to fall through the screen mesh. This material will be harvested and used to steep our compost tea that will then be sprayed across our greens and eventually injected into our irrigation system for course wide applications.

The Earth Tubs take center stage.

Here is an over view of our facility. The building on the right is our pumphouse for the golf course. The silo on the far left was originally used as part of a gypsum injection through the irrigation system. That system had issues from what I am told as the gypsum would bridge and never truly worked to its full potential.

Our Zero Waste facility is newsworthy!

2011-05-25T10:01:00.000-07:00

If you caught my post a couple of weeks ago or have been out to the golf course recently, you were ahead of the game. The Tribune ran a small blurb about it yesterday in the Buzz section and it has caught national attention. The USGA director of the Southwest Region came to our facility on Monday, by chance as he was speaking at a class at Cal Poly and since the small article in the Tribune I have been contacted by the Environmental Intitute for Golf, the GCSAA, Golf Course Trades, another blog called Turfhugger, and a few other interview opportunities. This is exciting and we are looking forward to sharing our goal and updates as the project plays out.

If you missed the article yesterday have a look below.

Three golf courses swing for zero waste - Local - SanLuisObispo.com

"The harder you work, the luckier you get."
~ Gary Player, former PGA Tour Player

Good bye to Seve Ballesteros. We lost another good man.

2011-05-13T10:18:00.000-07:00

Check out these video feeds from ESPN. At the time Seve was playing golf we Americans did not konw much about our European competitors other than through the Ryder Cup matches, but I would bet that most knew who Seve was, now you will know a bit more about his importance to the game.

Enjoy!

http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=6498510
http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=6501987
http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=6500925
http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=5003896

"The golfer has more enemies than any other athlete. He has fourteen clubs in his bag, all of them different, eighteen holes to play, all of the them different; and all around him are sand, trees, grass, water, and wind."

~Dan Jenkins, sportswriter and humorist

You are never amazed by the strange things seen on a golf course

2011-05-06T14:51:00.001-07:00

Click on the links to these two videos to hear a bit about the strange happenings that golf course superintendents witness while at work. I continue to be amazed at the antics and things that I see on the courses, but it has been quite some time since I have been amazed or shocked.

Enjoy!

http://www.gcsaa.tv/view.php?id=276

http://www.gcsaa.tv/view.php?id=413

My first head superintendent job was a small course in Indiana and I arrived at the course during the winter and noticed tracks up and down a number of the holes as I was driving in and recognized them as snowmobile tracks. During my course inspection that morning the driver evidently tried to make across what they thought was a safely frozen pond, only to find out that it was not frozen enough as the machine was in our pond on the 2nd hole. Using the plates we located the name of the owner and charged him not only with trespassing, but rather for damage done to the greens, fairways, and tees that he had ridden across and damaged.

Composters are on site!!

2011-05-05T17:12:00.001-07:00

Our facility at Dairy Creek Golf Course is attempting to become a zero waste golf course incorporating normal composting with Earth Tubs, worm composting with worm binning, and compost tea brewing as the third component. We will be utilizing food waste from our F&B operations and combining that material with our green waste harvested from various operations among the golf course and parks maintenance practices. We will begin the process by composting and brewing tea to then spray across our greens with the intention of decreasing chemical inputs like fertilizer, wetting agents, water usage, and fungicides. Our ultimate goal is to utilize the tea for direct injection into our irrigation system for utilization across all 88 acres of our irrigated turf areas.

We are working in conjunction with a local non-profit named Environmental Protection Associates Inc. They have been the mastermind behind the facility design and have worked alongside of our staff to develop ideas and systems to enable our facility to do something bigger than reduce our inputs on the golf courses, but to reduce the amount of waste that is passed along and disposed of in landfills across the country. We hope to develop a system and set of protocols that can then be copied by other golf courses, hospitals, community living facilities, schools, and other similar types of operations. Below you can see some photos that have chronicled our progress so far. Stay tuned and I will keep you updated throughout this exciting project!

The composters have been moved onto the site. This is our pump house in the background.

Just another angle of the composter/pump house facility

We removed the fence to make room for the worm bins

We had a fantastic new arm of the Rotary International called Eco Rotary donate their time and energy to build these storage bins on site for us with the materials donated by Hayward Lumber

Another shot of the storage units

This will be the future site for the Earth Tub composters that were donated by Integrated Waste Management Authority

This is Richard a member of E.P.A. Inc. sanding down the worm bins for painting

This is why golf is such a great game!

2011-04-19T15:48:00.001-07:00

Have you ever wondered why you continue to play this game that so many of us love? I would encourage you to watch this video about Manuel De Los Santos and remind yourself and all of your golfing and non-golfing friends why this game is the best game man has ever aspired to play! Granted determined individuals will find a way to accomplish anything. but there is no other sport that can be enjoyed by multiple generations on the same arena at the same time.

Please enjoy this video and introduce one person this year to the GREATEST game in the world!

http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=aw-nt0eTb2w

Dr. Frank Wong...

2011-04-18T16:18:00.000-07:00

Here is a great interview I received last week. I wish that I could have been there for the talk, but this seems like it hits the high spots of the presentation with good insight about anthracnose and fusarius/pink snow mold(michrodochium patch). All of you turf junkies can eat this up and I am sorry for all of the golfers with this post. Although it does give you some insight as to what kind of science goes into what we do as turf managers and my goal with this site is to educate as well as have some fun! ENJOY!!!

http://www.golfcourseindustry.com/brown-ring-patch-control-frank-wong-research.aspx

A photo representation of the suspect on a putting green.

If you golf on the Central Coast you have seen this character.

Here it is again on a tee box.

It's Master's week...

2011-04-07T14:34:00.000-07:00

Follow this link and enjoy! http://www.cbssports.com/video/player/masters-live?ttag=ML11_on_all_cbsi_na_push_0001

Large deep roots are what you want in a putting green, but come on REALLY!?

2011-04-04T15:58:00.000-07:00

The 15th green at Morro Bay golf course has always been a bit different than the rest of our greens. We give it more water and fertilize it more frequently. In addition to water and fertilizer the keys to a healthy putting green are air movement, above and below ground, and sunlight. Sunlight, particularly early morning, provides the full spectrum of UV rays that all plants require to live and flourish. Sunlight is key to putting green health as each 4-some will take 300 steps on average or 75 steps per golfer. Thats over 10,000 steps per green on a typical day at Morro Bay!

Sunlight is only part of the problem on this particular green. True the green is shaded for the majority of the morning hours by the grove of Eucalyptus trees to the northeast and the Monterrey Pines on the Southwest. Not only do these trees outcompete the turf for sunlight, but they are also outcompeting the green for water and nutrients. Let me show you what I mean.

This is a photo of an area of the 15th green at Morro Bay that consistently struggles each year.

Here is the same area excavated out. What was removed you ask...well see below.

Large, deep TREE roots among our sandy soil. This is not ideal by any means.

These roots range from 1/4 of an inch to nearly 5 inches in width. These roots inevitably traverse the length of the green which is why we periodically prune the roots of the Eucalyptus trees with our trencher. This process severes the roots from their growing point and kills the roots farther from the tree. The only problem is that our trencher can only cut to a depth of 3.5 feet. Every little bit helps!

Joe Oles is pruning the roots of the Eucalyptus with a trencher. Below is a photo of the final results that will hopefully improve the health of the green for a few years until we will need to do this all again.

SLO Golf Card Member Appreciation Event 2011 at Dairy Creek Golf Course

2011-03-18T16:53:00.001-07:00

Our Appreciation event was our best so far; third time is a charm! The day started with a bag drop, a bag pipe serenade (compliments of Paul "Piper O' the Pines" Dunn), donuts, checking in, finding your cart, meeting your friends, range balls, and a chance to win free rounds of golf playing our miniature golf course on the putting green.

On the Course we had a few suprpises in store for our guests that differ from what they usually expect when they come to Dairy Creek! Some of the greens had mulitiple holes cut into them, one being the regulation 4 1/4" hole and one 6" hole. There was a straightest drive competition on #5, popcorn and wine on the 8th tee box, blackjack on the 10th tee to determine what tee you would hit from, closest to the pin on #13, three reverse shortened holes on #14, #15, and #16, and a chance to accept an aspiring pro's (Eric Olson) drive on #17.

All in all the day went exceptionall well with the culmination at the restaurant and bar with a fantastic buffet of tri tip or chicken masterfully prepared by the chef's alongside of a spring tossed salad, potatoes, steamed vegetables, rolls, and a plethora of cookies for dessert. The awareds were MC'd by Cody Van Dorn and went very well this year with great crowd participation. The winning gross and net teams each won 8 rounds of free golf and the 2nd place gross and net teams each won $100 gift certificates for the restaurant and bar. Over all nearly $3000 worth of merchandise and free rounds of golf were given away at the event! If you did not get a chance to play this year put the event on your calendar for next year as will not want to miss out again, trust me!

Nick Price and his view of the golf course superintendent.

2011-02-17T10:49:00.000-08:00

Nick Price was awarded the 2010 Old Tom Morris Award at this years' Golf Industry Show (GIS) in Orlando, FL. He is being interviewed here prior to accepting his award in front of the Show attendees. The GIS is comprised of Golf Courses Superintendent's, Golf Course Owners, Golf Course Architects, and various other industry professionals from around the world.

The Old Tom Morris Award is the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America's most prestigious honor. It is presented each year to an individual who "through a continuing lifetime commitment to the game of golf has helped to mold the welfare of the game in a manner and style exemplified by Old Tom Morris."

Morris (1821-1908) was greenkeeper and golf professional at the St. Andrews Links Trust Golf Club of St. Andrews, Scotland; a four-time winner of the British Open (1861, ’62, ’64 and ’67); and ranked as one of the top links designers of the 19th century.

Enjoy!

Contents of a new book!

2011-02-08T12:19:00.000-08:00

I received an email the other day that may be of interest to all of you golf fanatics! Within this blog post you will find the table of contents and probably a chapter that has caused you much anguish or discussion with your regular foursome or at home with your wife ;) Read on and enjoy!

Chapter 1 - How to Properly Line Up Your Fourth Putt.
Chapter 2 - How to Hit a Nike From the Rough, When you Hit a Titleist From the Tee.
Chapter 3 - How to Avoid the Water When You Lie 8 in a Bunker.
Chapter 4 - Ho to Get More Distance Off the Shank.
Chapter 5 - When to Give the Marshal the Finger.
Chapter 6 - Using Your Shadow on the Greens to Maximize Earnings.
Chapter 7 - When to Implement Handicap Management.
Chapter 8 - Proper Excuses for Drinking Beer Before 9:00 a.m.
Chapter 9 - How to Rationalize a 6 Hour Round.
Chapter 10 - When Does a Divot Become Classified as Sod.
Chapter 11 - How to Find That Ball That Everyone Else Saw Go into the Water.
Chapter 12 - Why Your Spouse Doesn't Care That You Birdied the 5th.
Chapter 13 - Using Curse Words Creatively to Control Ball Flight.
Chapter 14 - When to Let a Foursome Play Through Your Twosome.
Chapter 15 - How to Relax When You Are Hitting Five Off the Tee.
Chapter 16 - When to Suggest Major Swing Corrections for Your Opponent.
Chapter 17 - God and the Meaning of the Birdie-To-Bogie Three Putt.
Chapter 18 - When to Re-Grip your Ball Retriever (Must Read for Every Golf Course Marshal).
Chapter 19 - Throwing Your Clubs: An Effective Stress-Reducing Technique.
Chapter 20 - Can You Purchase a Better Golf Game?
Chapter 21 - Why Male Golfers Will Pay $7.00 a Beer from the Cart Girl and Give Her a $3 tip, but Will Balk at $4.50 at the 19th Hole and Stiff the Bartender.

This book is available in fine golf stores everywhere and can be located right next to the sleeves of golf balls that refuse to listen and are afraid of the dark. Enjoy your next round!!

"The only thing you should force in a golf swing is the club back into the bag."

~ Byron Nelson, former PGA Tour player

An interesting tib bit of information.

2011-01-28T13:33:00.000-08:00

When I worked at the 2001 US Open players were complaining about some of the pin locations on Saturday, particularly the 18th. Tiger was asked about the fairness of the pins and he answered, "how can they be unfair if everyone is playing to the same hole?"

I have been asked numerous times about fair pin locations and my view is the same as the USGA's with similar guidelines. Please read below about how we try to manage our putting surfaces taking into account pace of play and that not everyone is a PGA Tour player., That being said oftem times the greens in the morning are not nearly as fast as later in the day after they have dried out and an extremely diffult pin can occassionally surface. We do our best to try to minimize these situations, but nobody is perfect because if we were there would be many more pars and birdies out there right ;) Enjoy!

Question: I've played a lot of golf courses and have seen hole locations all over the place. What is the USGA's recommendations regarding hole locations?

Answer: The USGA frequently receives requests for guidelines with respect to selection of hole locations on the putting greens, particularly during competitions. There are no rules regarding hole locations, so there is no such thing as an "illegal" hole location. However, we do have some guidelines.

Many factors affect selection of hole locations. The first and most important is good judgment in deciding what will give fair results. Do not be tricky in locating holes. There should be enough putting green surface between the hole and the front and the sides of the green to accommodate the required shot.

In any case, it generally is recommended that the hole be located at least five paces from any edge of the green. If a bunker is close to the edge, or if the ground slopes away from the edge, the distance should be greater, especially if the shot is more than a pitch.

An area two to three feet in radius around the hole should be as nearly level as possible and of uniform grade. A player above the hole should be able to stop the ball at the hole. Consider the condition of nearby turf, especially taking care to avoid old hole plugs that have not completely healed.

"When he gets the ball into a tough place, that's when he is most relaxed. I think it's because he has so much experience at it."

~Don Christopher, caddy for Jack Lemmon

Golf: It's not just a game

2011-01-25T11:03:00.000-08:00

Click on the link below to see how the golf industry is an important player in our nations (world) economy as well as briefly touching on how golf courses can contribute to environental sustainability.

Golf Course Industry : Golf: It's not just a game

"Eighteen holes of match ply will teach you more about your foe than nineteen years of dealing with him across the desk."
~Grantland Rice, sports columnist

The 90 degree rule - what is it?

2011-01-13T16:53:00.000-08:00

I was in the golf shop the other day and overheard a customer asking one of our assistant pro's about the 90 degree rule. Tom did a fantastic job of explaining to the customer how this rule worked and thought I would take the time right now to explain the rule again.

There is an old joke that goes, "You want to know about the 90 degree rule? Well it's nowhere near that hot so don't worry about it!" This is not exactly the rule that we are talking about.

The 90 degree rule refers to cart traffic. The 90-Degree Rule is something golf courses may put into place when they want to allow the convenience of golf carts but minimize the impact of those carts on the golf course.

When the 90-Degree Rule is in effect, golfers are required to keep carts on the cart path until they are even with a golf ball on the golf course. Only then should the cart leave the path, turning sharply (90 degrees) to drive straight across to the golf ball. After playing the shot, the cart should be driven directly back to the cart path, then remain on the path until pulling even with another ball. In this manner, golfers have the convenience of carts but damage to the course is minimized.

The above picture depicts a golf hole and the location of two golf shots indicated by the #1 and #2 in the black circles. The two lines indicate how the driving style of a cart correctly follow the 90 degree rule (red line) and incorrectly follows the rule thus causing damage to the turf and ultimately poor lies (black line).

The 90-Degree Rule is permanenty in effect at many courses; at others, it will be put into effect following rains or when course conditions warrant. Look for signs near the first tee that might indicate whether the condition is in effect, or ask in the pro shop.

Even when the 90-Degree Rule is not in effect at a course, it's a good practice to follow because it helps maintain a healthier turf.

Frost Damage...not just a myth!

2010-12-29T15:54:00.000-08:00

You may recall the following picture from last year as it indicates how many footprints or steps that a single foursome creates by walking across a single green. Do you remember the answer?

? 240 steps per foursome per green!

Now the title of the post is frost damage and something about not being a myth. A number of weeks ago we experienced some low temperatures here on the Central Coast and some mornings it was even in the upper 20's. BRRR! (We are spoiled here) Frost had set up on the courses and we issued frost delays to help protect the turf. The next few photos show why we ask that golfers remain patient and not step onto the turf while we are experiencing this natural phenomenon.

This is a view of the first tee box at Dairy Creek Golf Course. Do you notice anything unusual? Maybe a different angle will help.

How about now? It nearly looks like a misapplication of herbicide like RoundUp.

A closer look reveals that these are in the shape of footprints and that would be correct. It appears that an individual took a stroll across the frost covered tee to have a look or stretch his/her legs before their round while waiting for the delay to be lifted.

These photos were taken the following morning once the damage was noticable and permanent. Nearly one month later these footprints are still visable and will be until the turf fills in because this damage caused death to these plants by crushing the cell structure inside of the leaf tissue, thus halting photsynthesis and energy production.

As golf course superintendents we realize how important this game is to the golfers and it is our intention to get you onto the course as soon as it is safe. But how damaging would this have been if this were a green? Schedules are important, but sometimes Mother Nature has her own thoughts and we beg you to understand the delays while we wait for warmer temps.

Happy Golfing!

In Memorium

2010-12-21T16:34:00.000-08:00

BILLY MORRIS

With the holidays just around the corner, we ask that you keep the Morris family in your thoughts and prayers. For those who haven't heard, Billy Morris had been ill for the past two months and was recently diagnosed with terminal cancer. Sadly, Billy passed away on December 14th, at home with his family by his side. Billy has been a member of the parks family for 14 years working as a Greenskeeper II at Dairy Creek Golf Course and most recently, Greenskeeper III at Morro Bay Golf Course. Any of you that knew Billy know what a great individual he was and as you can imagine, this is a very difficult time for his family and our staff.

LEE GALLI

We also ask you keep the Galli family in your thoughts and prayers. Lee was another member of the Parks family who lost his battle with cancer October 21. When Lee retired in December 2008 he was an Equipment Mechanic II at Morro Bay Golf Course. Lee worked for County Parks for 12 years. He was a great man with a kind heart. We miss you Lee.

Have fun catching this guy!

2010-12-20T13:34:00.000-08:00

Check our the link found below, as it is truly amazing how much clubhead speed this guy generates!

http://www.golf.com/golf/video/article/0,28224,2023121,00.htm

2010-11-24T17:03:00.000-08:00

CLick on the following link to view a not so far fetched video. I have witnessed the cart dragging stakes and ropes at the private course I managed in Arkansas!

http://www.google.com/ig/adde?moduleurl=http://api.addthis.com/oexchange/0.8/wrap/igoogle%3Furl%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Fenhance.endavomedia.com%252Flink%252F%253Flocationhash%253D8182eeea61f88a964678f13897003ff7%26title%3DRe-release%2Bof%2Ba%2Bclassic%253A%2BGolf%2BCar%2BControl%26description%3D%253Cp%253E%2526nbsp%253BA%2Bholiday%2Bbonus%253A%2BGolf%2BCar%2BControl%252C%2Bthe%2Boriginal%2BRandy%2BWilson%2Bspoof%2Band%2Bthe%2Ball-time%2Bmost-viewed%2Bvideo%2Bon%2BTurfNetTV.%253C%252Fp%253E%26swfurl%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Fadmin.endavomedia.com%252Fembed%252Ftype%253D2%2526hash%253Dc7db0d2cde9a652070eb43b52f667da5%2526exactlocation%253D1%2526mediahash%253D50189c6d23b554afe8abb7441ad1be84%2526basecolor%253D000000%2526fontcolor%253DFFFFFF%2526width%253D320%2526height%253D275%2526aspectratio%253D1%2526autoplay%253D0%26width%3D320%26height%3D275%26screenshot%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Fmedia1.endavomedia.com%252F10505%252Fthumbs%252Fthumb_88118_1.jpg%26ctype%3DFLASH&source=imag

Deep tine aerification...what is that?

2010-10-25T12:20:00.000-07:00

Deep time aerification is a process that we have been utilizing for a number of years at Morro Bay GC and more recently at Chalk Mountain and Dairy Creek. The process of deep tining the greens involves the use of solid tines that are able to penetrate 6-14 inches into the soil. Normal aerification will penetrate 4 inches max. The purpose is still the same to aleviate compaction and increase the pore space in your soils for air and oxygen, thus creating a more aerobic condition for turf roots to "thrive". During years of only going 4" deep you will develop a shelf that is 4" below the turf and this shelf inhibits the turf roots from making their way deeper than 4" because the created compaction over the years; the very thing we are trying to aleviate! So by instituting the practice of deep time aerating are able to penetrate the 4" shelf and drive air and other benficial elements deeper into our greens soil profile.

The process is much more clean than a typical core aerification in the fact that we are not removing any material from soil profile, but rather poking a hole deep into the soil. The result is much less disruption to the surface of the green and a quicker healing process. Have a look at the photos below that were taken this fall at Dairy Creek.

The 5th green at Dairy Creek as the skies are clearing.

The process started around 4 am in the rain.

Here is a closer look at the tines as they slide their way through the turf like a hot knife through butter! You can see all of the water being squeezed out of the soil by the front roller that preceeds these tines. The greens were quite wet at the beginning of the process, but the benefits of this practice were quickly noted as the greens were firm and dry even as the rain continued.

A closer look at the front roller as is pressed the water out of the green!

Ah...the end result minutes after completion. Absolutely no water and ready for the sand. Actually on this day the rain would not let up and we had to postpone the topdressing to the following week to accomodate our tournament schedule. We rolled the greens that afternoon and began mowing the following day. This process actually closed up many of the holes which prevented us from filling the holes with topdressing. Instead of a heavy topdressing we came back a week later and did a medium topdressing to help fill in any depressions that were left from partially healed holes. The putting surfaces healed quickly and the holes are actually still open which can be witnessed when we cut cups and the roots are finding their way through the holes to the bottom! For the most part mission accomplished.

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month

2010-10-22T11:52:00.000-07:00

Now this may not necessarity be a golf related issue, but nearly everyone knows someone that has been effected by this disease through some sort of association whether you know it or not. This is a disease that most victims are not open about their situation and keep it a secret from as many people as possible, but the disease is quite common as you can see by reading the following litereature. I just wanted to add some informational content to help educate about life's issues for a change and maybe it can help someone you know in dealing with this disease. You can find much more information at www.nbcam.org.

Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women in the United States, aside from skin cancer. According to the American Cancer Society (ACS), an estimated 192,370 new cases of invasive breast cancer are expected to be diagnosed among women in the United States this year. An estimated 40,170 women are expected to die from the disease in 2009 alone. Today, there are about 2.5 million breast cancer survivors living in the United States.

If you're worried about developing breast cancer, or if you know someone who has been diagnosed with the disease, one way to deal with your concerns is to get as much information as possible. In this section you'll find important background information about what breast cancer is and how it develops.

Breast cancer is a malignant tumor that grows in one or both of the breasts. Breast cancer usually develops in the ducts or lobules, also known as the milk-producing areas of the breast.

Breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in women (after lung cancer). Although African-American women have a slightly lower incidence of breast cancer after age 40 than Caucasian women, they have a slightly higher incidence rate of breast cancer before age 40. However, African-American women are more likely to die from breast cancer at every age. Breast cancer is much less common in males; by comparison, the disease is about 100 times more common among women. According to the American Cancer Society, an estimated 1,910 new cases of invasive breast cancer are expected to be diagnosed among men in the United States in 2009.

Stages of Breast Cancer
The most common system used to describe the stages of breast cancer is the AJCC/TNM (American Joint Committee on Cancer/Tumor-Nodes-Metastases) system. This system takes into account the tumor size and spread, whether the cancer has spread to lymph nodes, and whether it has spread to distant organs (metastasis).

All of this information is then combined in a process called stage grouping. The stage is expressed as a Roman numeral. After stage 0 (carcinoma in situ), the other stages are I through IV (1-4). Some of the stages are further sub-divided using the letters A, B, and C. In general, the lower the number, the less the cancer has spread. A higher number, such as stage IV (4), means a more advanced cancer.

These are the stages of breast cancer:

Stage 0 - Stage 0 is carcinoma in situ, early stage cancer that is confined to the ducts or the lobules, depending on where it started. It has not gone into the tissues in the breast nor spread to other organs in the body.

Ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS): This is the most common type of noninvasive breast cancer, when abnormal cells are in the lining of a duct. DCIS is also called intraductal carcinoma. DCIS sometimes becomes invasive cancer if not treated.
Lobular carcinoma in situ (LCIS): This condition begins in the milk-making glands but does not go through the wall of the lobules. LCIS seldom becomes invasive cancer; however, having LCIS in one breast increases the risk of cancer for both breasts.

Stage I - Stage I is an early stage of invasive breast cancer. In Stage I, cancer cells have not spread beyond the breast and the tumor is no more than 2 centimeters (three-quarters of an inch) across.
Stage II - Stage II is one of the following:

The tumor in the breast is no more than 2 centimeters (three-quarters of an inch) across. The cancer has spread to the lymph nodes under the arm.
The tumor is between 2 and 5 centimeters (three-quarters of an inch to 2 inches). The cancer may have spread to the lymph nodes under the arm.
The tumor is larger than 5 centimeters (2 inches). The cancer has not spread to the lymph nodes under the arm.

Stage III - Stage III may be a large tumor, but the cancer has not spread beyond the breast and nearby lymph nodes. It is locally advanced cancer.

Stage IIIA - Stage IIIA is one of the following:
- The tumor in the breast is smaller than 5 centimeters (2 inches). The cancer has spread to underarm lymph nodes that are attached to each other or to other structures.
- The tumor is more than 5 centimeters across. The cancer has spread to the underarm lymph nodes.
Stage IIIB - Stage IIIB is one of the following:
- The tumor has grown into the chest wall or the skin of the breast.
- The cancer has spread to lymph nodes behind the breastbone.
- Inflammatory breast cancer is a rare type of Stage IIIB breast cancer. The breast looks red and swollen because cancer cells block the lymph vessels in the skin of the breast.
Stage IIIC - Stage IIIC is a tumor of any size. It has spread in one of the following ways:
- The cancer has spread to the lymph nodes behind the breastbone and under the arm.
- The cancer has spread to the lymph nodes under or above the collarbone.

Stage IV - Stage IV is distant metastatic cancer. The cancer has spread to other parts of the body.
Recurrent cancer - Recurrent cancer is cancer that has come back (recurred) after a period of time when it could not be detected. It may recur locally in the breast or chest wall as another primary cancer, or it may recur in any other part of the body, such as the bone, liver, or lungs, which is generally referred to as metastatic cancer.

Stimp readings

2010-08-16T13:29:00.000-07:00

I have recently been asked a number of questions regarding what the stimp meter is and how it is used. Well, let me share some of the "mystique" about this tool that the USGA uses to measure green speeds.

In 1935, successful amateur golfer Edward Stimpson developed the first version of what would later become known as the stimpmeter. Stimpson's device, basically a straight aluminum rod nearly one yard on length with a "v"-groove running its entire length, created a uniform way to roll a golf ball onto a putting surface at just about the same speed every time. Thus, the further a ball rolled from the end of the device, the faster the speed of the green. A desirable speed for a green measures anywhere from 7 to 12 feet, with championship speeds on the higher end of the scale.

The key to the device is releasing the golf ball at nearly the same height every time. This will ensure that the speed of the ball leaving the Stimpmeter is consistent. To do this, a small notch was added onto one end of the device. By placing the ball in the notch and slowly raising the end closest to the ball, the ball will release at approximately the same angle to the putting surface, i.e. height above the green, every time.

This measurement is performed on flat areas of putting greens. First three balls are rolled in any direction and the average is measured. Then you roll the balls back to your last starting point, measure the distances again and average them. You will then roll the balls perpendicular to you previous two direction and in the same fashion. After you have the average for all 4 directions (12 balls rolled) you will add up the four averages and divide by four to get yet another average, which is then your Stimpmeter measurement.

The Stimpmeter reading has no true useful value to it unless you have a dial indicator implanted into your chest that allows you to change your putting ability with the turn of a dial. The USGA and golf superintendents alike use the Stimpmeter readings as a way to maximize consistency. Our attempt to ensure that the first and 18th greens and each green in between all roll about the same speed. Each golf course should determine what it's "ideal" greens speed or Stimpmeter reading should be based upon budgets, customer expectation, green undulations, environmental factors, and health of the turf. It can often times cost more to maintain quick greens as this means a lower height of cut (well below 1/8th of an inch) although "rolling" greens can produce quick green speeds while increasing height of cut and improving plant health.

If your customers are not used to playing quick greens or if you have severe undulations in your greens your average pace of play on the course may increase, thus decreasing satisfaction. No two golf courses are the same in length or layout. And each of them has a different climate, soil structure, irrigation quality and construction, turf types, plant needs, pests, etc. Some courses even have multiple micro-climates and construction methods on the same 18-holes!

That being said I don't know how often I hear a golfer state that the greens are slow or "Our greens roll about a 12!" These statements are usually followed by another golf stating that the greens are too fast or "Our greens roll 14!" (I feel for the superintendent managing this type of course) My question to golfers asking me about green speeds is typically, "Did the greens roll true?" or "Was the 4th green slower than the 16th?" As long as the greens are consistent from one to the next and they roll "true" then we should all be able to figure them out by say our 2nd or third green, right? Especially since our mechanics and skills are so precise.

I hope that this sheds some light on the Stimpmeter. The next time you are out playing don't worry about if the greens are rolling a 13.5 like the commentators claim about the greens at the prior weekend PGA Tour event. (Often times those statements are not always correct or verified which only perpetuates this curiosity about green speeds) Try to adjust your putting swing to the speed of the practice green and trust yourself on the first few holes. The plight of many superintendents across the Eastern half of our Country at the direction of Green Chairmen or Board of Directors to increase green speeds is proving detrimental when combined with this summers' heat and humidity levels as indicated by the number of courses closing due to turf loss on greens. There is a saying that "speed kills" and this is definitely true in the case of putting green maintenance.

What Can Golf Do For You?

2010-08-13T09:43:00.000-07:00

Have you ever been asked about the game of golf or why so many people spend their time trying to hit a little ball into a hole so far away? Or maybe you've heard, “Golf is not a real sport!” Well next time, educate the individual about the mental aspects of golf and physical endurance that is required to play at a high level or any level for that matter. Not to mention the health, social, aesthetic, and competitive benefits that golf has to offer.

Golf for the Health of it!

One of the best things and a great beneficial by-product of playing the game of golf is the exercise that you will receive. Walking a golf course from hole to hole, and tee to green is approximately 5 miles. There are basically two types of overall exercise categories. Those categories are moderate and vigorous. Golf can be considered as a moderate type of workout activity.

Golfers who walk 36 holes per week will burn approximately 2,900 calories per week! It has bee shown that burning 2,500 calories per week improves your overall health by lowering your risk of heart disease, diabetes, and cancer. A person, who weighs between 150-200 pounds, will burn between 2,000 to 2,700 calories by walking 18-holes of golf. You must burn 3,500 calories to lose one pound of weight. So playing 3 rounds of golf can burn from 1.7 to 2.3 pounds in one week!

A Sport for the Ages

Another benefit of playing golf is the friendships and interactions that are developed on the golf course. Generally, golfers team up in pairs or play their golf game with three other individuals. This foursome provides an excellent opportunity for individuals to interact with each. Golf is possibly the only sport that can bridge generations by allowing a foursome of golfers to include four generations all competing against one another on equal ground via the handicap system. This interaction is usually highlighted through the telling of jokes, the sharing of stories, conducting business, getting to know each other in an informal setting, etc. All of this is conducted in a non-threatening, but competitive environment. This type of interaction will prove to be therapeutic as well as an opportunity to bond with other individuals.

Aesthetically Pleasing

Golf provides you the opportunity to walk on some beautifully manicured properties and take in all of the natural surroundings. On a golf course you can start to really take in the beautiful scenery that surrounds you, plus breathe in the fresh air while having time to think and clear your mind. While playing golf you have the ability to witness all of the beauty that Mother Nature affords us. Wildlife abounds on most golf courses and you can witness the many marvelous creatures as you stroll the fairways in a serene environment while just enjoying the day or deep in thought.

Walking the golf course can give you a chance to start to focus on some of the simple things in life. Golf provides an opportunity to get away from the hustle and bustle of the daily grind. It gives you time to reflect on what is really important. It allows you to shed all of the stress that you may harbor from your workplace or in other stressful environments. Some of the stress could be from work or can even be problems that you're facing at home. Being outside and enjoying the game of golf is an ideal way to relax and recharge.

Even though the game can provide its own challenges you can really reflect on what is important to you. Walking the beautiful green grass, enjoying the surrounding environment, breathing in the fresh air, allows a person to clear the mind.

Competitive Spirit

If you are a competitive person then the game of golf could be for you.Golf is about improving your skills and beating par. The competitive person will always want to add some distance to their tee shots, try to have fewer strokes during a round and always chasing a hole-in-one. The game of golf definitely fulfill the needs of a competitive person. You do not always need an opponent to compete in golf as you can set personal goals for yourself and these goals can be different for each golf course you encounter. The beauty about golf, and maybe the fascination, is that no matter how well you play you always leave shots on the golf course that would have made your score that much better.

Where there is smoke there is fire!

2010-08-09T14:22:00.000-07:00

If you have played Dairy Creek recently you may have noticed the charred ground to the right of #4 or the right of #17. This burned area was not part of our regularly scheduled plans, but rather a surprise happening on a Friday afternoon. The fire began on the 4th hole about 150 yards from the green. The origins are not known, but it has been speculated that it may have been a spark from a club on a rock or possibly a cigarette ember. The wind was blowing quite a bit that afternoon and within minutes the fire spread down the hill-side and back up toward the 4th tee boxes. luckily the fire did not spread laterally very much and continued back up the hill behind the 4th tees on its way to 17. Once it hit #17 the fire ran out of fuel (dry grass) once it butted up against the maintained turf. Irrigation heads were turned on to protect the course and trees along the edge of the rough and Cal Fire and their crew were quick to answer the emergency call. They arrived with the full arsenal of fire trucks, fire crews, a large dozer, and helicopters and airplanes dumping fire retardant. Crews began back burning the blaze to control its path by removing any additional fuel material and overhead aircraft began dumping the retardant materials to knock down the flames. Once the fire was under control crews began walking the area and turning the soil over to extinguish any lingering smoldering plant material as well as operating the dozer to turn over the soil at the perimeter of the burned area in an effort to contain any flames that may have reignited. The crews did a fantastic job and were tireless workers in their full gear on this warm day! Here are a few pictures from the days events. Our hats are off to the fire crews and the amount of time they spent assuring our community that the fires were extinguished. The fire began around 2:30 and crews were still on site until dark! Thank you.

The scene as you entered the drive to the parking lot.

The clarity as you reach the 18th tee box overlooking the 17th hole.

Not exactly crop dusting...but similiar! One of these white Cal Fire trucks was turned pink from this activity. They appreciated the free car wash from our irrigation system near the cart path.

The unsung heroes! These guys were present start to finish and were there until dark or a bit after. Thank you SO much!!

The perimeter clean up to make sure the fire did not spread any farther to the north. They brought this big dozer on sight with a low boy trailer right through the same area you take your golf carts to the parking lot. If you saw the huge ruts in the lawn that weekend this guy was the reason. It was an amazing job by the driver not to do any more damage as I was expecting cracked concrete. My hats off to a job well done!

Women's Golf Clinic at Dairy Creek

2010-06-22T14:24:00.001-07:00

Ladies, if you are looking to increase your enjoyment in the game of golf, if in the past you put your clubs away to persue other interests, or even if you have never played golf before, but were always curious...then head out to Dairy Creek Golf Course on June 30th.

Our golf staff will be hosting a $10 clinic that will include workshops like:
-Ettiquette
-The Benefits of Golf
-Putting
-Short Game (including bunker play)
-Iron Play
-Driving
-child care services (if indicated on registration)
Your entry fee will also include breakfast on top of all of this great information and instruction.

Please go to our website www.centralcoastgolf.com to find more information and registration forms or you can also visit any of our golf shops and ask about siging up for the Women's Golf Clinic! Gather up all of your friends and come spend your morning with us and nature at Dairy Creek June 30th!

Congratualtions Brian Wiggins!

2010-05-26T12:08:00.000-07:00

The San Luis Obispo County Amateur Championship contestants were up against Mother Nature this past weekend. The wind was whipping hard both days, but none the less some great scores were posted and a familiar name was atop the leader board after all of the scores were posted. Congratulations to Brian Wiggins as he posted a score of 145 to claim the title!

Results:

Championship Flight
Brian Wiggins 145
Levi Garcia 146
Jeremy Moreno 149

First Flight (Net)
Bob DeSoto 140
Doug Kerr 142

Second Flight (Net)
George Dodge 148
John LeJeal 148
George was declared the winner after a one hole playoff.

Thanks to all of the contestants for your participation!

San Luis Obispo Men's City Amateur

2010-05-17T15:42:00.000-07:00

Aerification is complete and we are ready for all contenders! The San Luis Obispo County Amateur is this weekend so get your registration forms filled out. The first round of the tournament will be held at Dairy Creek Golf Course in San Luis Obispo and Sunday's final or second round will be held at Chalk Mountain Golf Course in Atascadero. The courses are in great condition and we are expecting some fantastic weather so click on the link below or call Chalk Mountain (805) 466-8848 or Dairy Creek (805) 782-8060 to reserve your spot to try to become the next San Luis Obispo County Amateur Champion!

http://www.dairycreek.com/SLO%20County%20Mens%20Amateur.htm

BUSY, BUSY, BUSY!

2010-04-23T14:45:00.000-07:00

I know that this is no news to any of you in the industry, but what a spring! Spring is typically a busy time of year with all of the pre summer prep with pre-emergent herbicide applications, spring fertlization, aerification, irrigation mobilization and servicing, verticutting, rain delays, preventitive fungicide applications. This list could go on and on, but I degress. Let me shed some light on these topics reltaing to what we have been up to since I have not posted here for nearly 6 weeks.

As I said staff has been busy. At Dairy Creek, we are finally emptying out our storage areas that were full of pre-ordered fertilizers to help produce quality surfaces for the entire course. We applied a product called Polyon that will help feed our fairways, approaches, and immediate roughs with roughly a 1/10th of a pound of nitrogen through September. I have had great results with this product in other areas of the country and we are trying it here as well. This should help us reach our goal of consistency and save money at the same time since we will not have a need to fertilize again until our late fall fertilization. We will be making an application every 6 weeks or so on our tees boxes and green surround roughs. The GREAT thing about all of these fertlizers is that they are slow release fertilizers similar to the newer varieties that your local home and garden stores are beginning to carry. In the golf course industry we have been using these types of fertilizers for years because we want to save money (labor and material) and also because we want to be good stewards of the environment. If we apply products that do not last long and are not completely used up at the end and leave a long term residual we are wasting money and hurting the environment we intend to protect! It is my intent and that of my staffs to protect our water ways, water sources, and the fantastic wildlife that helps make our courses so inviting. I think you would find those sentiments coming from nearly every golf superintendent in the world! Aerification will take place the 4th of May.

Morro Bay just finished an aerification and we are nearly healed. We are in the process of repairing our aerifier so that we can fininsh aerifying the collars and move onto Dairy Creek at the beginning of May as stated above. We verticutt our fairways this spring instead of performing this task in June/July. Our intent was to get ahead of the Kikuyu grass and not to be in the way of the tourists and regular golfers during the peak of the season. We will be using a plant growth regulator this year to help control the thatchiness of this turf species as well in our effort to maintain efficiency. This thatch reduction will hopefully have the ancillary effect of reducing water inputs due to having to water enough to get through the thatch and into the soil where it will have a better result, not to mention that it will eliminate all of those whispy white seed heads that show up late in the day after mowing. We have expanded some of our habitat corridors to increase our wildlife populations. I understand that this may result in a few lost balls! For this I apologize, but we will continue to monitor these areas and make adjustments accordingly with the game of golf and you the golfer in mind. Again we want to exist in harmony with the environment and its inhabitants reaching the goals and missions of the Audubon program in which we are certified.

Chalk Mountain is in great shape as it usually is during the spring, fall, and winter. Not to say that the course is rough during the summer, but with the soils and water we are encountering on that course the summer presents more struggles. So from a turf managers standpoint we don't look bad, but staffs have to work much harder. Chalk is in the process of verticutting greens to remove excess leaf material and thatch in preparation for aerification. The irrigation upgrade has been helping to decrease water usage by improving coverage and efficiency and the course conditions are showing the results of these improvements. Since the renovation, irrigation programs have been tweaked and we will continue to tweak these systems in our attempt to provide consistency to all playing surfaces.

The rains this year have really hampered the amount of play that we have experienced at the three golf courses; however the water has flushed the soils and provided great playing conditions, so grab your bag and head to the course!

"When you get those dudes thinking, they're in trouble"

~Pete Dye, the course architect, on desiging PGA venues

Customer appreciation day

2010-03-14T23:13:00.000-07:00

The event this past Saturday was a complete blast and I thoroughly enjoyed meeting all of the golfers on the 13th tee and on the putting green for the mini golf challenge. Congratulations to Mark Anderson and his closest to the pin accomplishment of 13' 11.75". Mark will be receiving a pass for a month of free golf. I will post more results later next week as well as photos. Here are pictures of the mini course I set up on Friday for the event as well as some other recent photos. Enjoy the fantastic weather we have in our future and I will see you on the golf courses!

Creating the routing. No Nicklaus or Pascuzzo and Pate, but not bad if I say so myself!

Adding the hazards and obstacles!

The masterpiece is complete and ready for Saturday.

The view from the 4th tee box, dogleg right par 3 with a risk/reward opportunity to cut the corner if you dared!

The finishing hole had about 12 feet of break and could barely be stopped in play with a perfect shot, just ask Kent Lauble :) We later decided to add a lateral hazard behind the hole to speed up play for Saturday.

Local residents playing through.

What an absolutely gorgeous morning! This is the view from behind the 17th green at Dairy Creek.

Just after sunrise and ahead of the mowers behind the 13th green at Dairy Creek. Richard, this would be a great picture for your "what hole is this" on your facebook site.

Struttin' their stuff! You can hear these guys all over the course at Dairy Creek and a few at Morro Bay too. Who says golf courses are BAD for the environment?!

Golf Course Etiquette

2010-03-10T14:45:00.000-08:00

I played golf yesterday at Morro Bay, as I occasionally do, to see how the courses are playing and to get feedback from our customers. I was happy with the conditions of the course as far as quality of cut and general aesthetics, although some people mentioned that some of the rough was a bit tall. I agree, but the mower can only cover so much ground in a day and we have had quite a bit of rain recently, so bear with us as we play catch up. The greens were exceptionally good in my opinion and the crews' hard work is paying off. We are using some new methods to control the Poa annua and it's seedheads including rolling 3x per week and topdressing occassionally. The greens have responded very well creating a smooth surface, a few bumps here and there (read on I will address this issue below), firming up quite a bit, and rolling about a 9.25-9.5 on the stimp meter. Yes that is right near 9.5! Now that is not too fast by the standards of the best golfers on flat greens, but on Morro Bay's greens it is nearly too fast. With all of the slope on the greens and the influence of Black Hill and the Pacific Ocean I guarantee it is nearly all that you want to handle and the greens will test the best of putting strokes. The players in my group were putting balls off of the greens and we had the occassional 5 putt. From my perspective that is dangerous as we loose pin positions and potentially increase golfers frustration.

Addressing the bumpiness of the greens...there are so many ball marks that are not being repaired and those that are repaired have not been fixed properly to the point that the repaired marks are dying or being scalped by mowers. It is part of a golfers responsibility to fix your ball mark and I like the adage of fixing at least one more. Yesterday I was fixing probably 20 marks per green and probably could have fixed 20 more, but we had to move to the next tee box. To speed the repair of the damage it is important to properly fix the ball mark. Many times people will use their divot tool and pry the soil up to fill in the depressed area. This does more damage than not fixing the mark at all. The reason is as you pry the turf up the lifting tears the leaves from the roots effectively killing the plant and ultimately leaving a dead brown spot on the green in a week or two. That brown spot will then take at least 2 weeks to heal and fill in on our Poa greens at Morro Bay and maybe longer on a bentgrass green. To properly fix the ball mark you should insert your repair tool into the turf at an angle toward the center of the ball mark. Instead of lifting the turf you should do the opposite and push the outsides of the mark to the center of the mark. Continue this process all of the way around the ball mark until the cinter of the mark has been filled in with good healthy turf. This procedure will allow the ball mark to heal within hours and maintain the true ball roll that we all desire. It is every golfers' responsibility to leave the golf course in better condition than you find it and it truly helps many of those putts around the hole find the bottom of the cup!

Customer Appreciation Event - March 13!!

2010-03-03T16:34:00.000-08:00

If you are a SLO Golf Card holder your membership allows you to take advantage of a spectacular event! AND if you are not a SLO Golf Card holder get out to either Chalk Mountain, Dairy Creek, or Morro Bay golf courses and buy yours by Friday March 12 so that you can get signed up for this appreciation event.

I say event because that is truly what it is...you pay your normal weekend green fee and you compete in a golf tournament with nearly $5,000 worth of prizes and give-a-ways (Month of free golf, clubs, clothing, balls, hats, Hole-in-one prizes etc.), take part in various contests before and after the tournament (i.e. miniature golf course putting contest on the putting green), 6" holes in the greens, some greens with multiple holes, fantastic food, and LOT'S of FUN!!

This event was scheduled for the 27th of February, but the date was changed due to weather concerns and the forecast for the 13th looks like 75 and sunny! Dairy Creek will be the site again this year and the course is looking as green as ever and the greens are rolling well. We had some cancellations due to the date change so you are in luck...grab a friend and join the party for our second Membership Appreciation Event. I look forward to seeing everyone on the 13th.

"Hit it hard, go find it, hit it hard again."

-Arnold Palmer

We're finally off of the paths at Dairy Creek!

2010-02-17T16:18:00.001-08:00

Mother Nature is finally bringing some quality sunshine, warm temperatures, and wind to help dry things out. We were able to get the carts off of the paths yesterday, however there are the occasional cart path only holes and we ask that you really pay attention as you are motoring around as there are still many soggy areas out there. Thanks for your help!!

Our staff has been working hard to get things back into condition after the storms, as we have not been able to get equipment in certain areas to keep things mowed down. They have done a fantastic job! The clover is running rampant across the course and we are working to chemically remove this troublesome ball eater as weather patterns allow for safe effective applications.

If you are not a SLO Golf Card card holder then make sure to buy yours this month and get signed up for our Membership Appreciation event held at Dairy Creek GC February 27th. The event was a big hit last year and we have made improvements to this years format so get signed up and find out what the membership was raving about last year! I will look forward to seeing everyone on the course!

"I never pray to make a putt. I pray to God to help me react good if I miss a putt."

~ Chi Chi Rodriguez

New trees

2010-01-27T15:18:00.000-08:00

Some time ago we had a malfunction with our drip irrigation that supplied water to our trees on the left side of the driving range at Dairy Creek Golf Course. This resulted in the death of a number of Cypress and Redwood trees as we did not realize there was a problem until it was too late and the trees were declining in health. We recently had a number of trees donated by the San Luis Obispo Botanical Gardens for the course and here are some pictures of staff planting these marvelous trees. I would like to thank the Botanical Gardens and please enjoy these photos!

Jack Pot!!!!

Loading up the trees for installation...

Setting the posts...

Tethering the trees and adding the finishing touches!

Morro Bay Damage

2010-01-22T17:09:00.000-08:00

Morro Bay as a whole has faired well from the storms. We have the typical damage to our netting, down branches, scattered debris, and 40-50 of the new small trees that blew over. We expect this kind of damage following high winds.

And then there is the tree damage...

The larger tree damage...
And the SERIOUS tree damage.

Luckily for the golfers and myself we have a tremendous group of guys who work diligently to take care of the mess and put things back in order!

This will be a work in progress for the next couple of weeks, but rest assured that staff strives to have everything cleaned up ASAP!

"The only shots you can be sure of are those you've already hit."

-Byron Nelson, former PGA Tour player

More Dairy Creek Storm Pics

2010-01-22T16:46:00.000-08:00

At the time of my last post the pond levels had risen 44"!! That's right, nearly 4 feet of water has run down all of the hills, through the creeks and into the ponds. We have opened up the sluice gate in the dam to help control the levels of the water. The ponds are back to their original full capacity and water is still moving into the ponds from all directions.For safety sake we will be on the paths for a good while, but we will get you onto the turf as soon as it is safe and not a potential hazard to the conditions of the turf.Any damage that we incur at this time fo the year greatly hinders our ability to provide quality playing conditions during the peak of the season. We appreciate your understanding and patience during this period of saturated soils. Morro Bay golf course will be open for cart traffic and nearly puddle free within hours of ceasing rain events. These sandy soils drain so well it is absolutely amazing!

A lesson about making one from three...

2010-01-20T16:52:00.000-08:00

This is not just giberish, but rather a look at how Dairy Creek Golf Course was designed to retain water and run-off on site. We typically have three ponds on the golf course within the areas of our 1st, 2nd, 7th, 8th, and 9th holes. After this years rain events we now seemingly have one large lake. Thus, making 1 from 3. See for yourself. My thanks to Bob Yetter our Park Ranger III at El Chorro for taking these photos for me.

Standing on the 7th green looking at the 8th green and down 9 fairway.

Standing on the back of 7 green looking down 9 fairway and #1 to the left

"Some of the most interesting holes are those where the best line to the flag is not direct... Every player who does something more than slug a ball, who thinks as he plays, appreciates why greens are built in this way."

- A.W. Tillilnghast, the course architect

Tired of CART PATHS ONLY?

2010-01-20T07:00:00.000-08:00

Many soils in the area are heavy tight clays that do not drain or percolate well. This results in saturated soils after light rains, not to mention the heavy stuff that has been coming down lately.

If you are tired of the "cart path only" restrictions come out to Morro Bay. Our soils here are pure nearly pure sand and the water just runs right through leaving a firm moist turf that rarely puddles. These soils make "cart paths only" a rare occasion. So round up your favorite foursome and come on out, when the rain clouds aren't hanging around we have some pretty spectacular views this time of year. The twilight rounds are graced with some fantastic sunsets!

See you on the course!

"...assistant greenskeeper, about to become the next Master's champion. It's a mirac...it's in the hole!"

- Carl Spackler (Caddie Shack)

The beauty of rain!

2010-01-19T01:05:00.000-08:00

OK, so rainy weather is not conducive to playing golf, but we drastically need it here on the Central Coast. I have only been here for a little over a couple of years and it is crazy that we survive with only 12 - 2o inches of rain annually. I am from the Midwest and I am used to getting that much rain in the month of July!

Besides filling our lakes and ponds across the region, the rain means a great deal to caring for the turf on our courses. Even if you irrigate with great quality fresh water, nothing beats the water provided by mother nature! During your next round of golf following the storms make an effort to notice how healthy the greens and tees look. Those areas on your favorite course that usually look beaten up and stressed will more than likely look green and revived. With the amount of rain that we are expecting the soils that the turf is grown in will receive a good "flushing".

Most newer putting greens and many newer tee boxes are constructed as perched water tables. This means the green is built and then cored out to a depth of 12-18 inches and filled with drainage, a gravel layer, and then sand. This is referred to as a USGA green. California style greens are built the same way but lack the gravel layer. Chalk Mountain Golf Course was actually one of the first golf courses built as a California style green and USGA greens evolved later over time and experimentation. These perched water tables are constructed so that water is held within the sand until the sand reaches saturation. At this point the sand releases the water all at once and the water enters the gravel layer and out the drainage, which in turn creates a vacuum-like situation leaving the sand layer moist with just the right oxygen content for turf and root growth.

Many golf courses are using some stage of effluent water, like Morro Bay, Dairy Creek, and Chalk Mountain. This water source helps us to conserves fresh water usage and actually is filtered as it moves through the soil and is returned into the ground water. These waters are filled with salts and other contaminants that actually can hinder plant growth over time and actually cause death. "Flushing" is a practice superintendents will utilize to help rid the soils of these salts, as the salt ions will attach themselves to ions within the water and actually leach down and through the soil profile allowing other ions like nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium (fertilizer components) to take their place.

The rains we are receiving are helping to clean our soils up and at the same time allowing our root systems to breathe with decreased effort. It is unfortunate to have so many consecutive days of rain keeping the golfers at home or at work, but aside from providing California with a precious resource, our turfs are reaping the benefit as well. Hey we could be living in the upper Midwest hoping that we will be thawed out by May! I hope to see you all out at the courses as things begin to dry out.

Continuing Morro Bay's 4th hole facelift

2010-01-05T17:12:00.000-08:00

We have began moving material to improve and increase the tee box area for the 4th hole at Morro Bay over the last couple of days. Our intention is to level the area making it more conducive to better shots and increase the area available for the blue tee area. In the end the tee will be level from front to back and more uniformly retangular in shape. The slope on the south side of the tee is fairly steep and a bit tricky to mow with our equipment, so the tee will be narrowed so that the south slope of the tee is lessened. Tee boxes will be placed on the front of the tee until we are ready to demo that area and then the tees will be placed on and adjacent tee box on the south of the existing tee box.

We stripped some sod from the tee box to complete our bunker project up by the green and the earth moving has begun using our dump truck to haul soil from our turf maintenance area. There will be a temporary ramp on the cart path leading to the 4th tee until our soil hauling is complete. Sorry for the inconvenience, but it will not last long and should not effect your day on the course.

Here are some pictures as we begin this project.

The cart ramp/dump truck bridge to the 4th tee

Stripping the sod from the 4th tee to complete the sodding of the 4th greenside bunker.

2010 here we come!

2009-12-31T09:15:00.000-08:00

2009 was a year of change and 2010 will continue along the path of change. Pete Jenny our Deputy Director of Parks retired after 19 years at the end of August and our Golf Supervisor of 37 years, Tom Massey, retired in November. With these two exiting stage left and my predecessor, Ray Festa, having retired after 34 years in 2007, our program has lost a significant amount of historical knowledge. With change comes fears of the unknown, but change also brings opportunity! Our new parks director is a former golf superintendent and members of my staff are salivating at the opportunity to put their mark on the program as our next golf supervisor. In the meantime I am getting the chance to be more active on the grounds as our lead green keepers and myself absorb Tom's responsibilities and discuss what we want our future to look like.

We also created the SLO GOLF CARD for 2010 and if you have not checked out the benefits of being a SLO GOLF CARD holder please visit one of our pro shops, or call (805) 782-8060, or go online to http://www.slogolfcard.com/ to find out what you are missing by not being a card holder. Today is the last day to take advantage of a 4th free round with the purchase of your SLO GOLF CARD and our January promotion is "play all three and get one free", so purchase yours today!

During the winter months our grounds staffs evaluate the past year to determine if we can do anything differently to improve upon the golfing experience on the courses. We are continuing to tweak our "new" irrigation system at Chalk Mountain as well as tweaking the system at Morro Bay. We will be doing a few projects at both Morro Bay and Dairy Creek golf courses so stay tuned for those changes. Our main focus this year will be regarding consistency. We want the golfers to experience the same conditions each time out and your input is vital to our ability to achieve our goals. We will be doing periodic surveys on the courses throughout the year so please help by participating in these fact (opinion) finding missions. In addition to changes on the grounds, your ride around the courses at Morro Bay and Dairy Creek will be in brand new golf carts, as well!

We are all excited about 2010 and we hope that you share in that excitement and will help us make 201o a great year! Have a safe and very Happy New Year, CHEERS!

"I couldn't wait for the sun to come up every morning so that I could get out on the course again."

- Ben Hogan

Another ace!

2009-12-28T21:14:00.000-08:00

I was grabbing some lunch at The View, the restaurant at Morro Bay Golf Course, when someone asked if I wanted a drink. Come to find out he had aced the 4th hole earlier in the day and he wanted to celebrate after his round. Dave Hodge was the lucky gentleman's name and he is from Fresno. He was with his buddy and they make this trip each year, but this is the first time in his golfing career that he has been able to record a "1" on his score card. Congratulations Dave and thanks for the drink offer, but maybe next time!

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-25T12:22:00.000-08:00

Christmas is the time for spending time with family and friends. So what better place to spend that time than on the golf course?! After all of the presents are opened and you have your belly full why not head out to the course and bring the family and friends for a friendly little competition with everyone. Santa definitely knows how to relax after a long night of delivering presents to the world.Our staffs at all three course wish you and your families a safe and very Merry Christmas!

Morro Bay sand trap removal

2009-12-22T13:44:00.000-08:00

If you have played Morro Bay Golf Course over the last week and a half you may have been wondering what we are done to the sand trap on the left of #4. Well we are grassing it in as it rarely comes into play and creates work for staff. The good news for the golfer is that a shot to the left of the green will rebound onto the green (this only happens if you have been fixing your ball marks, keeping your carts on the paths when you are supposed to, and posting your scores religiously; Hey the golf gods are watching).

Here are the pictures of the progress and we will see you on the course soon!

The bunker sand is removed and the first load of soil has been added.

Half way there!

Maybe a couple more loads.

Beautiful!

Cutting and rolling the sod utilizing the tee box on #4.

The leveling and enlarging of the 4th tee will be our next project.

Rolling out the sod.

One big puzzle. Once the Kikuyu sod is placed on top, this will look great!

What a shot!

2009-12-17T13:15:00.001-08:00

As I was inspecting the great job our staff is doing with removing the bunker and contouring on Morro Bay GC's fourth hole(stay tuned for pictures), I was lucky enough to witness this hole in 1! Roger Cripe has never played Morro Bay Golf Course, but this shot hopefully has made the course one of his regular stops. Roger and his two buddies were playing the hole from the white tees at 118 yards. It was a gorgeous shot and tracking the whole way. I did not happen to ask what club Roger hit, but it was a beautiful ball flight nice and high, that landed quite softly and one hopped into the hole! I hope this description helps you to visualize your shot and results Roger. You see, the fourth green is elevated above the tee enough that you can not see more than the first 3-4 feet of the green, so Roger did not know his ball was in the hole until my staff and I yelled in excitement. What a great game!

Frost damage.

2009-12-16T08:54:00.000-08:00

Last week we had some substantial frost in the mornings at all three courses and some days the 9th green at Chalk Mountain never thawed throughout the entire day. I posted information about frost delays here on the blog previously and please give that post a once over for more information about the specifics of what frost does to the turf plant.

In this post I ask for your patience as we deal with mother nature in regards to frost. Frost delays are not something we like to impose upon golfers as we understand your desire to get on the course as you all have busy schedules and responsibilities once your round of golf is complete. My staff is also eager to get out and get the day started, but if we are not cautious about what kind of damage traffic, be it by foot or tires, we will all experience the effects for at least 6 months or more. Have a look at these photos taken at Morro Bay last week after a frosty morning.

Notice the gray or off color turf in the form of tire tracks. These tracks were caused by staff doing their routine morning inspections as the frost was beginning to form just before the sun breaks the horizon. These tracks are now more of a brown color and will eventually fill in and regain their green color, but the plant has been weakened and compromised. These plants are having to utilize their carbohydrate reserves to heal themselves as photosynthesis is limited this time of year for Kikuyu grass. Kikuyu grass is a "warm season" turf and requires warmer soil temperatures and longer periods of daylight to remain actively growing, two things we are not currently experiencing.

Now I said that we may see the effects of this damage for up to 6 months, but you know as well as I do that the days begin to lengthen after Dec. 21 and temperatures begin to increase in February if not before. So why the period of 6 months instead of 2-4 months? As I stated the health of the plant has been compromised and theses areas may not be as full as other turf areas surrounding them. This may cause your ball to nestle down in these areas more creating a difficult lie. The other instance that may happen is, since the turf is weak, weeds have an advantage and may out compete this turf and block out the sun from these areas as temperatures rise. These weeds would also cause a difficult lie. Now imagine if these weakened areas of turf were on the greens! Your ball would not roll true and your footprints would be visible for extended periods of time on the greens creating unsightly aesthetics. Take a look at this picture.

This photo shows the actual footsteps from one foursome on an individual green. How would you like to putt through all of those damaged footprints?

I have information posted in each of the pro shops for you to peruse during your next frost delay, so ask the guys in the shop where to find this information. We ask for your patience during these delays and trust that we will get you on the courses as soon as it is safe to do so! Have a cup of coffee, enjoy the surrounding landscapes, and relax because mother nature is in no hurry, but we know that you are as anxious as we are to get things rolling!

"A person will blame all other accidents upon something else, but feels completely responsible for a hole in one." Unknown

Thanks to the Grizzly's!

2009-12-15T10:15:00.000-08:00

No not the species of bear, but rather the young men and women from the Grizzly Youth Academy. We were graced with the help of 5 young men who did a fantastic job assisting us with our renovation of the landscaping surrounding the entrance of Dairy Creek Golf Course. Adrian, Chris, Chris, Daniel, and Edgar helped remove old plant material, invading Bermuda and Kikuyu grass, tore out old stumps, and removed overgrown shrubs. The guys then raked and tilled the areas removing debris so that they could amend the soils and plant some annuals and spread mulch for the upcoming holiday parties that will be held at the facilities. This project is no where near completion, but the Grizzly's provided us a great jump start!

This program is a job shadowing program that provides the cadet's exposure to different organizations and careers. Our primary goal was to get started on our entrance landscaping project, but we did attempt to give the cadets a sample of our duties on the courses by talking about our irrigation pump stations, the different turfs that we grow and the differences between varieties, touring the facilities and discussing operations, and cutting some cups (and then reaping the benefits of our work by putting around a bit). Work hard and play hard!

If you are unfamiliar with the Grizzly Youth Academy, but may be interested in providing these fine youth a place to learn new skills or hone their current ones, please go to

http://www.grizzlyyouthacademy.org. We have experienced excellent results and met some really great individuals and will definitely be participating in this program in the future. The five guys that helped us out will be graduating in December and we would like to say, "thanks again guys and good luck!"

NO NEW FEES!! (well almost)

2009-12-07T16:59:00.000-08:00

We are well aware of the economic situation everyone is experiencing recently and to help give people a recreational outlet during these times we have proposed no increases to green fees for next year and only a moderate increase to cart rental fees. The Board of Supervisors approved our lack of fee increases on Nov. 24th.

During these times of economic woe, it is important to relieve your stress with some form of outlet and what better way than smashing and chasing a little white ball with your friends or family! We have a rate schedule to meet any personal budget and these rates get even better with the purchase of a SLO Golf Card at any of our three courses. With the SLO Golf Card you receive even further reduced rates across the board. If you buy before Dec. 31st you receive an additional free round at the course of your choice. To help promote family togetherness, when you purchase an adult, senior, or volume card, you can purchase a spouse card for an additional $50 and get up to 4 junior cards. So for $185 your whole family can be golf ready for 2010! What a great idea for stocking stuffer's for the young golfers on your Christmas list!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!

I'm back!

2009-11-30T15:33:00.000-08:00

I hope that everyone had a great Thankgiving Holiday and got out to play some golf! I must apologize for the lack of posts recently, but I was busy tending to my family's newest golfer. My wife and I welcomed our new daughter, Julia, to the family on November 15th and I have been out of the office until today as we learned our new schedule.

County Women's Amateur Results

2009-11-09T14:50:00.000-08:00

RESULTS

CHAMPION
SHERI HAUCH
158
NET CHAMPION
KAREN WILSON
145

FIRST FLIGHT
1st Gross
LIZ RADVANSKY [MB]
170
2nd Gross
ANN PAREDES [SLO]
173
3rd Gross
KAY COHEN [SLO]
181
1st Net
REGINA NEEL [ATAS]
146
2nd Net
DANIELLE FURDEN [ATAS]
152
3rd Net
LORIE DAVENPORT [ SLO]
159

SECOND FLIGHT
1st Gross
RHONDA GALYARDT [PASO]
185
2nd Gross
MAXINE LITTLEEJOHN [MB]
188
3rd Gross
MARY BRUGGERMAN [BL L]
190
1st Net
LORRAINE KERR [MB]
156
2nd Net
DEANNA RICHARDS [ L O]
157
3rd Net
NANCY BROWN [MB]
162

THIRD FLIGHT
1st Gross
JOSIE TOLL [SLO]
187
2nd Gross
SUE AN [PASO]
194
3rd Gross
JOANNE KLUCK [MB]
199
4th Gross
LEEANN SMITH [AG]
203
1st Net
RENA DAMBLEY [AVILA]
151
2nd Net
CLAUDIA DIGNAN [SLO]
155
3rd Net
SUSAN NAIL [MB]
159
4th Net
KIM FELGENHAUER
159

FOURTH FLIGHT
1st Gross
MARCIA STANGER [BL L]
214
2nd Gross
DELL WHALEN [BL L]
215
3rd Gross
DENISE KUDLA
221
4th Gross
DIANE WYATT [MB]
223
1st Net
KIMBERLY DOLATA [PASO]
159
2nd Net
JAYNE DONKIN [PASO]166
166
3rd Net
DIAN AXELSON [MB]
167
4th Net
PATRICIA JOY [MB]
168

FIFTH FLIGHT
1st Gross
JACQUELINE SHAW [AG]
226
2nd Gross
LYNNE PRITCHARD [SLO]
228
3rd Gross
ELLIE BROWN [MB]
231
1st Net
CHARLIE BRANDT [AVILA]
157
2nd Net
TANNY KOEPPELL [MB]
162
3rd Net
MARGE MCINTYRE [MB]
166

Storm damage repair

2009-11-06T16:16:00.000-08:00

The netting along the 6th hole took quite a beating from the winds of the storm on October 13-14. Many small holes were ripped open and more concerning to me and my staff was the large hole that was nearly 20 feet high and 15 feet wide. This hole was a particular concern as it Shields the houses from errant golf balls on the right hand side of the fairway. A series of events following the storm (we do not own a lift, public works did not have the equipment available to us in the immediate future due to tree trimming that resulted from the same storm, rental availability, and unsafe windy conditions) prevented our immediate attention to this issue.

Our staff is full of highly skilled individuals that can operate and manipulate various pieces of equipment. In these photos you can see Joe Oles and Morgan Brockman manning the high lift using zip ties to repair all of the openings in the net. These tasks are fun for staff to tackle as it is a change from their normal job duties that they perform on the course.

We are looking into purchasing large areas of netting so that over time we can replace this net in sections. The net has been up for 15-18 years and still repels golf balls quite nicely. However, being a few shots away from the ocean, the salt air has taken its toll. We are looking into adding trees and other deterrents to the course to persuade golfers to attack the 6th hole from a more leftward direction to help protect the houses from any assault.

A Morro Bay Golf Course Icon!

2009-10-29T10:47:00.000-07:00

If you are familiar with the Central Coast of California, when you hear the name Morro Bay, images of fishing boats in the harbor surrounding the "Rock" immediately come to mind.

Although these views are spectacular as seen from the course, this is not the icon of which I am speaking. I am referring to Tom Massey, our golf supervisor for both Morro Bay and Dairy Creek golf courses.

Many of you who play regularly at Morro Bay are familiar with Tom and what he has done for the golf course, but may not be aware of just how much he is attached to Morro Bay GC. Tom has nearly been raised on this course as his father was the head greenskeeper during his childhood and his family lived in the state parks caretakers' home which was located not far from the current turf maintenance facility. Tom learned his trade by watching his father and later his brother who also worked as a greenskeeper for the course. At the age of 17, Tom joined his dad and brother as a seasonal employee for the Department of Parks and Beaches.

Since that time Tom has been been a permanent structure at Morro Bay Golf Course...that is for the next 8 days. Tom Massey will be retiring from his 37 years of service for the County of San Luis Obispo on Nov. 6, 2009. Our staff and community of golfers owe Tom a great deal of gratitude for what he has meant to our golf courses, golf games, and lives over the years! I have only had the luck to have known Tom for a little over two years now, and I must say thanks for making my job easier by providing a stable staff and operation since I have been in my position as Golf Superintendent. I have enjoyed our many laughs, a few beers, the occasional round of golf, and the exchange of knowledge about the history and memories of this fantastic golf facility! I hope the golfers will take the time to congratulate Tom on his retirement and tell him thanks for all that he has done to facilitate their ability to enjoy a round of golf among the fantastic views afforded to us on Black Hill overlooking another Morro Bay icon. "Thanks Tommy and we wish you all the best!"

Cart Traffic and Ettiquette

2009-10-23T17:13:00.000-07:00

While I was at our Parks Commission meeting last Thursday evening I was chatting with members of our golf course advisory board about strange things that golfers do or attempt to do while on the golf course. I told them about one of my experiences as a superintendent at a club in which the following commentary took place.

Me: "Excuse me Mr. Smith, but did you happen to notice the signs, ropes, and stakes on hole #14 directing traffic away from some wet areas in the fairway?" (Mr. Smith was now playing the 17th hole)

Mr. Smith: "No, why do you ask?"

Me: "Because they are missing, but I think that I found them." (I went to the rear of Mr. Smith's golf cart and removed about 25 - 30' of ropes and stakes that were being dragged since he played the 14th hole) "By the way, since we received 4" of rain yesterday we are cart paths only until things dry out. "

The moral to this story is don't let yourself become Mr. Smith, by following proper cart rules and etiquette so that our playing surfaces on our courses are more easily maintained without unnecessary inputs or maintenance. Golf carts have been proven to be one of the most destructive elements to turf conditions as they cause compaction, rutting, and tearing which result in thin turf or instances of total turf loss.

Turf is only as healthy as the soil that it is growing within. The three above elements are caused by individuals not realizing the impacts their actions have on soil conditions. Golf Superintendents hate to use stake and ropes as it creates work for staff because the ropes and stakes need to be moved and reset to mow the turf, not to mention that they break up the beauty of the landscape and clutter up the course. That being said there are few barriers that are as economically efficient at controlling cart traffic.

Thoughtfulness about where you are traveling and would go a long way towards preserving the golf course conditions and minimizing maintenance practices. The next time you are playing golf pay attention to the bare areas just off of the cart paths around tees and greens and I am referring to nearly any golf course. These bare areas are often times unlevel and sunken, which means drainage is an issue, but also that golf carts are being parked with two tires on the path and two tires on the turf. It is best to park all 4 tires on the path and any cart needing to get around can drive around your cart. The 90 degree rule is something that all golf courses promote through signage, but is rarely witnessed on the course throughout the day. The 90 degree rule requires that carts leave the paths at a 90 degree angle to their ball and return to the path at a 90 degree angle to the path. Think about your own cart habits ( now be honest) and I would venture to guess that you hit your shot and immediately drive on a straight line to your ball instead of returning to the path. Pairing up in golf carts is also a large help to reduce costs and maintenance because it simply reduces the amount of tires traversing the course. Not only that, but it aides in the social aspect that golf is known for.

Areas surrounding greens and tees are exceptionally susceptible to cart damage. These areas are smaller and more frequented by all players as compared to fairways. How many rounds of golf do you you hit every fairway? How many rounds of golf do you not tee off or hole out on half of the holes? Greens and tees typically have minimal entrance and exit points and thus have areas of specific traffic flows both foot traffic and cart traffic. Green surrounds receive a lot of play and no one likes to play from bare areas or thin lies any where on the course let alone when you have short sided yourself trying to get close to that pin four paces onto the green.

I just want everyone to think about their own specific golf cart driving habits and try to improve upon them. By being more conscious of how your actions effect your playing conditions and the conditions of golfers to follow maybe the golf gods will smile down upon you during your next round. At least it will reduce the number of times the marshall stops your group or the superintendent contemplates roping off every single hole. If it keeps you out of the ponds I my staff is happy!

I opened my email the Friday morning after my parks meeting and received these pictures from golf course personnel from earlier that week.

This is just a reminder that accidents do happen, but if we are all careful and think about what we are doing many mishaps such as this can be avoided. For more information and videos copy and paste this link to the USGA into your browser and scroll to the bottom of the page. http://www.usga.org/course_care/articles/video/Educational-Video-Clips/

Drive safely and pay attention to cart etiquette!

"Every day you miss playing or practicing is one day longer it takes to be good." - Ben Hogan

Upcoming events and Results

2009-10-14T16:23:00.000-07:00

UPCOMING EVENTS

ATASCADERO CITY MEN'S AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP

This event will be held October 24-25 at Chalk Mountain Golf Course.

The event is a NCGA points event and will be limited to the first 120 players.

Entry deadline is Oct. 16.

Call the pro shop at(805) 466-8848 for more information.

SLO COUNTY WOMEN'S AMATEUR TOURNAMENT

This event will be held November 5-6 at Morro Bay Golf Course.

The field will be limited to 144 players with a maximum GHIN of 40.4.

Entry deadline is Oct. 23.

Register online at: http://www.mbwgolf.org/sloCounty.htm or call (805) 772-3380 or (805) 771-9582 for more information.

RESULTS

MORRO BAY WOMEN GOLF CLUB MONARCH INVITATIONAL

On October 8, 2009 the Morro Bay Women’s Golf Club hosted a full field of women golfers in the annual Monarch Invitational Golf Tournament. Following the tournament, participants attended a luncheon where 41 gift baskets were raffled off by president Nancy Brown. During the tournament, Marti Valley, a member of the San Luis Obispo Country Club, had a hole-in-one on the 8th hole of the Morro Bay Golf Course.

The following is a brief synopsis of the results and congratulations to all of the winners!

The winners of the Partner’s Better Ball Tournament were:
Low Gross over the field: Marion Roberts and Arlene Yost with a score of 70
Low Net Over the Field: Pat Dyer and Laura Hersey with a score of 59.

Other winners were:
Member/Guest
A Flight: Low Gross: Liz Radvansky and Kathy Toth, 71
Low Net: Vicci Messer and Karen Collins, 61
B Flight: Low Gross: Nancy Brown and Nancy Oliveira, 82
Low Net: Kathy Torcaso and Dede Pestrello, 63
C Flight: Low Gross: Bea Anderson and Debbie Vargas, 86
Low Net: Barbara Perrine and Barbara Wilson, 63
D Flight: Low Gross: Rickie Spitzer and Patti Spitzer, 90
Low Net: Jackie Vaughn and Joan Price, 59

Guest/Guest
A Flight: Low Gross Leslie Rodman and Lynette Branch,71,
Low Net Betty Willaman and Marti Valley, 62
B Flight Low Gross Winnie Taylor and Mary Bruggerman, 82,
Low Net Jean Wilson and Virginia Woods, 60
C Flight Low Gross Judith Sweet and Shirl Bailey, 90
Low Net Charlie Brandt and Karen Wilson, 61

Rain on the Central Coast!

2009-10-14T16:06:00.000-07:00

Mother Nature blessed us with the following rain totals:

6.6" Dairy Creek

2.25" Morro Bay

2" Chalk Mountain

The rain total from yesterday covers more than half of our yearly total from last year! Dairy Creek did not sustain any significant damage. There were a few small trees uprooted, the bunkers are washed out and some are still holding water, the ponds are full, and it looks like some of the pond banks to the left of #1 approach is sloughing into the pond.

Morro Bay was ready to play after the rain subsided. You just cannot beat the playability of Kikuyu grass grown on sand after a rain event. The course is dry and ready to tee 'em up! We sustained a little damage to the newly planted trees. Due to the sandy soils and minimal rooting of the new trees, we had a few blow over posts and all.

Chalk Mountain sustained the most damage with down limbs and trees, washed out sand bunkers, and various debris strewn about the course. There was no severe damage that will hinder play, but will require some extra effort to get conditions back to normal.

All staffs will be working diligently to get the courses prepped and mowed for play this weekend. With natural irrigation, aka rain, it is a bit tough at times being able to mow areas due to saturated conditions. Greens are usually ok the next day since they are constructed of sand, followed by tees, fairways, and then roughs last. There may be some added thickness to the roughs over the weekend, but we are working hard to get things mowed out as the soils absorb the water. Sand bunkers take quite a while to get back into shape after a substantial wash out and down trees and limbs require much safety, time, and energy as well. Thanks for your patience as we strive to get conditions back to normal as quickly as we can.

Whew, aerification is COMPLETE!!

2009-10-08T15:04:00.000-07:00

About a month ago we aerified Morro Bay Golf Course and the results are beautiful! The greens are rolling exceptionally true and quite quick.Often times I hear the question, "Why are we aerifying greens just when they are rolling perfectly?" The answer is that they are rolling perfectly because of aerification and if we waited to aerify until the turf is really struggling it is too late and we would need to re-seed at the same time. For an explanation and turf benefits of why we aerify, see my earlier post titled "Arrrgh Aerification!"

This past Monday and Tuesday we aerified the greens at Dairy Creek Golf Course and I can say with confidence that we are expecting them to bounce back within a week to 10 days. The process was completed without mechanical problems or issues with "mother nature". The holes were filled completely and easily, dragged in with our cocoa mat, and watered later that night. Tomorrow they will be fertilized to enhance their ability to fill in the holes as well as give them the nutrition they will need going into the winter months by promoting root growth and carbohydrate storage.

The following pictures better tell the story about the process that our crews go through during this process. We have such a great group of people working hard to produce quality playing conditions for you our customers. Enjoy the back stage look at the process of aerification!

Yes, it is dark outside! This process begins while the early
birds are still dreaming about the worm.

Almost perfect! We prefer the holes are perfectly round and

if youlook closely they are a bit oblong. Adjustments were

made and we "plugged" along.

The necessary evil of scooping plugs.

Thank goodness for technology, this conveyor throws the cores

into the back of the vehicle and we follow again with a scoop

shovel to clean up any debris.

Sand to fill up the holes!

Dragging the sand into the holes with a cocoa mat.

THA' THA' THA' THAT'S ALL FOLKS!

Frost delays can be expected.

2009-10-07T10:06:00.000-07:00

It is that time of the year when we begin to experience the natural phenomenon called "frost". Frost occurs in nature in the same way that your iced beverage sweats on your table or frosty mugs from the freezer are created in preparation for watching your favorite sport event on TV.

Dew is something early morning golfers are familiar with as it covers the turf of the golf course during the first part of the day. Dew is water in the form of droplets that appears on thin, exposed objects in the morning or evening. As the exposed leaf surface cools by releasing its heat, atmospheric moisture condenses at a rate greater than that at which it can evaporate, resulting in the formation of water droplets. When temperatures are low enough, dew takes the form of ice called "frost".

Frost crystalizes on the grass making the plant hard and brittle. In some instances like at Chalk Mountain in the north county, the entire plant can be frozen, as grass plants are made up of about 90 percent water. Walking on frost-covered greens causes the plant to break and cell walls to rupture, thereby losing its ability to function normally. When the membrane is broken, much like an egg, it cannot be put back together.

Golfers who ignore frost delays will not see immediate damage. The proof generally comes 48-72 hours later as the plant leaves turn brown and die. The result is a thinning of the putting surface and a weakening of the plant. The greens in turn become more susceptible to disease and weeds. While it may not appear to be much of an issue if a foursome begins play early on frost-covered greens, consider the number of footprints that may occur on any given hole by one person is approximately 60. Multiply that by four golfers and that is 240 footsteps on a single frost covered green by the first foursome everyday. That is significant damage!

"This picture shows the actual foot print pattern of ONE foursome playing the hole like normal. Multiply this a couple of times and you can see that when the ground is soft <or frozen> it doesn't take long to produce sever irreversible damage to a green."

As golf enthusiasts superintendents, like myself and my staff, do not like to delay play, we are more concerned about turf damage and the quality of conditions for the golfers. Frost also creates a hardship on a golf facility's staff as all course preparations are put to a halt until thawing occurs. Golf carts can cause considerable damage, therefore personnel cannot maneuver around the course to mow, change cup positions, collect range balls, etc.

One technique employed to reduce possible frost damage is to water the greens to knock off the frost. One problem with this technique is the water could then refreeze and take even longer to thaw or the interior cells of the plant may be frozen too. It may also be possible to reroute play to holes where the frost melts more quickly. But regardless of these methods, the best medicine is for all to understand the hows and whys of the delay and in turn gain a greater appreciation for the golf course. Here on the central coast frost is not a huge problem and usually takes no more than 30 minutes for maintenance and play to begin. When I was in Indiana, it was not uncommon for rounds to be halted until 11 am; we are blessed to live here! If you have any concerns it would also be wise to give the course a phone call before heading out to play to see if tee times have been pushed back due to frost.

Get your "NEW" SLOGolf Card!

2009-09-30T09:45:00.000-07:00

Come out to one of our courses or go to www.slogolfcard.com and receive the ability to play 54 different holes of golf on the Central Coast. There are no other memberships that afford you 54 holes of golf for such a GREAT price!

If you purchase your card by Dec. 31, 2009 you will receive an additional free round of golf good for any of the three courses. This is in addition to a free round at each of our courses (3 free rounds!), a guest pass good for 10 guests to play with you at your rate, exclusvie monthly tournaments, specials, and promotions, and of course the most affordable greens fees on the Central Coast!

Sales start October 1st and the card rates are available immediately and continue until Dec. 31, 2010. Don't waste time waiting for other courses to offer a special rate, come get your SLOGolf Card and have the best rate everyday of the week. Visit www.slogolfcard.com and buy your card now!

Student golfer program at Chalk Mountain Golf Course

2009-09-29T13:26:00.000-07:00

Chalk Mountain Golf Course participates in the Life Fitness program hosted by the Atascadero High School. The Life Fitness program is designed to introduce students to sports which are not typically part of the school team sport experience. Golf is a team sport for many schools across the country, however many individuals never become exposed to the game of golf and Chalk Mountain is glad to be able to provide this experience.

Through the program students, mostly juniors and seniors, are taught the basics of golf and career opportunities over the span of 3 weeks. The program starts with putting, chipping, and full swing where the students practice their grip, posture, and swing mechanics. This is followed by a walk through of all of the golf facilities available at Chalk Mountain including pro shop, cart barns, restaurant, and turf maintenance. The next step is getting out onto the course to discuss etiquette, golf course behavior, golf course set up, the areas of the golf course (greens, tees, fairways, bunkers, and roughs), and strategy of playing the game.

The staff and volunteers that are given the opportunity to help with this program truly enjoy being able to give back to the game that has given them so much. Through junior programs we hope to instill the morals and values that can help an individual be successful in life by simulating those difficult experiences on the golf course. Golf is truly one of the greatest sports as YOU are responsible for the situations you will encounter, good or bad, and YOU are responsible for getting your ball out of trouble and assessing penalties or celebrations along the way!

"The great thing about golf is that it's not a fair game. At one point or another it's unfair to everybody. But you know what? There's nothing wrong with having a game that's unfair."

-- Ben Wright, Good Bounces & Bad Lies

San Luis Obispo Men's City Amateur

2009-09-21T15:22:00.000-07:00

The SLO City Amateur Championship was held again at Dairy Creek Golf Course over this past weekend and there was definitely some great golf on display. We would like to congratulate our Champion Brian Wiggins who pulled it out after the 2nd playoff hole of the sudden death playoff. Brian won with a final score of 145. Mike Rockenstein won the 1st Flight (Net Scoring) by shooting a 141 and after winning the first hole of a sudden death playoff. Our 2nd Flight (Net Scoring) winner was Bill Miller with a 133!

Arrrgh! Aerification!

2009-09-16T14:18:00.000-07:00

This process is a necessary evil that is no more enjoyable for maintenance staff's to perform than it is for golfers to play through. Maybe it's not too bad to play through them if you aren't expecting a terrible experience. Consider the fact that PGA Tour legend Tom Watson shot a sizzling record 58 at his then-home course, Kansas City Country Club, just days after the greens had been aerified. Consider also that aerification is merely a short-term disruption that has long-term benefits for the course. When you see them, remember that without those little holes, the greens would eventually die.

Like so many things, the quality of a good putting green is more than skin deep. In fact, the condition of a green has a lot to do with what goes on below the surface. In order to keep grass growing at 1/8-inch you have to have deep, healthy roots. Good roots demand oxygen. In good soil, they get the oxygen from tiny pockets of air trapped between soil and sand particles.
Over time, the traffic from golfers' feet (as well as heavy mowing equipment) tends to compact the soil under the putting green - particularly when the soil contains a lot of clay. When soil becomes compacted, the air pockets on which the roots depend are crushed, and the roots are essentially left gasping for air. Without oxygen, the grass plants will wither and die.

Aerification is a mechanical process that creates more air space in the soil and promotes deeper rooting, thus helping the grass plants stay healthy. In most cases, it's done by removing 1/2-inch cores (those plugs you sometimes see near a green or in fairways). The spaces are then filled with sand "topdressing" that helps the soil retain air space and makes it easier for roots to grow downward.

We typically perform our core aeration in the spring and a deep tine aerification during the fall, but this year we utilized a new service called Dry-Ject in the spring to help minimize the disruption to golfers and we will core aerify this fall. Actually we just completed our fall aerification at Morro Bay this week and the process went very smooth and smooth is now the goal! There will be some sand and bumpiness for the rest of this week with the greens starting to fill in by the weekend and by next weekend they will be back to normal.

During our process we fertilize the greens to help speed up the healing process and also inter-seed the greens with bentgrass to help increase our bentgrass populations on the greens. This is a time and labor intensive process that starts around 3 am and finishes up 11-12 hours later only to come back the next day and start over on the other nine holes!

Irrigation - can't live without 'em, but somtimes you wish you could.

2009-09-11T08:00:00.000-07:00

Irrigation is the heart and circulatory system of a golf course, at least this is true for most areas of the U.S. Scotland and Ireland, the birth place of golf, have the correct conditions in regards to rain, temperature, soil types, and turf types, that many courses can manage without added irrigation systems.

Irrigation systems are a must here on the Central Coast to maintain quality playing conditions. These systems, however, are not fool proof and require contant tweaking and maintenance to ensure even coverage or in some cases regular operation.

A couple of weeks ago staff found that the irrigation on a few holes was not watering properly. Unfortunately this was pointed out by our greens as they began to stress and wilt due to lack of water or uneven distribution. The problem was determined to exist at our 12th hole. This photo shows an extension of pipe staff added to help blow out some debris that was clogging up our irrgation lines and not allowing water to flow to other areas of the course as well as plugging the irrigation heads surrounding the 12th green. What kind of debris you ask?

These rocks were found inside of our irrigation lines in the 12th hole. "Yes, that is a quarter sitting on the rock in the middle of the photo!" The 12th hole is the lowest point of the golf course and evidently this "sediment" had found it's way there over time. We are unsure how these rocks entered the line, but it could have been during the repair of a 10" mainline near our pump station on the 8th hole last winter or a smaller repair involving our booster pump on the 17th hole a couple of months ago. However they got there does not matter, we just need to get them out. We have installed a gate valve in the line below the 12th green to allow staff to flush out the line and rocks periodically. This will also allow us to drain the system when we need to repair areas of the system in the future.

"Start each hole aware that there may be subtle, mysterious or even hidden elements waiting to sabotage your game."

-Robert Trent Jones Jr., golf course architect

Sunrise over Dairy Creek Golf Course from the 17th green...beautiful!

2009-09-10T08:41:00.000-07:00

The beauty that our staff and early morning golfers witness each morning! It is such a peaceful time on the course...the jack-rabbits are running around and the birds are up looking for their morning meals. Mowers humming and the sound of a hammer banging on a cup cutter, breaks up the silence before the sun peaks over the horizon.

The course looks amazing as the sun rises above the hills with the turf glistening as the sunlight reflects off of the morning dew. You'll often hear coyotes or foxes in the distance calling as well as the cadence from Camp San Luis across the famous Highway 1! These are just a handful of the joys of being on or around the course in the early morning...we hope you enjoy the day ahead; we sure will!

2009-09-09T13:11:00.000-07:00

The North Cloisters, Morro Bay, California (PWS)
Updated: 14 min 26 sec ago
59.0 °F
Clear
Humidity:
87%
Dew Point:
55 °F
Wind:
4.0 mph from the WNW

Wind Gust:
4.0 mph
Pressure:
29.93 in (Falling)
Visibility:
10.0 miles

September SLO Golf Card promotion

2009-09-03T16:44:00.000-07:00

Hurry out to the course and get your "Play all three and the 4th is FREE!" card. For the Month of September SLO Golf Card members can pick up one of these cards at any of the three courses and have the card punched as you pay to play each course. Once you have played all three courses the card can then be redeemed for a FREE round at the course of your choice!

Just another reason that makes the SLO Golf Card THE Golf Card on the Central Coast! You are not a member? Ask any of our staff how to join the membership with three golf courses to choose from or go to http://www.slogolfcard.com/ and become a member today!

"They say golf is like life, but don't believe them. It's more complicated than that."
- Gardner Dickinson, former PGA Tour Player

Amazing Dairy Creek Wildlife!

2009-08-24T16:44:00.001-07:00

Enjoy some of the wildlife and scenery from Dairy Creek Golf Course! These are the spectators of our early morning golfers as well as a treat for our staff during the "magic hours" of sunrise. Without further delay....the Animals of Dairy Creek captured by one of our regular golfers Mikeal Culala. (Open this to your full screen as the colors and detail are simply spectacular)

Welcome!

2009-08-21T16:33:00.000-07:00

I would like to take this opportunity to welcome each and every one of you to the SLO County Golf Courses blog. My intent with this blog is to keep everyone up to date with happenings going on around Morro Bay, Chalk Mountain, and Dairy Creek Golf Courses. I would also like this to be an opportunity for any of you who have quesitons that you would like to ask of me to feel free to do so. I will be updating this at least once a week and will hopefully conitinue to develop it and provide more information as we go. Again thanks for taking the time coming by and checking it out. I hope you all will find it as useful as we will.

"Competitive golf is played mainly on a five-and-a-half inch course - the space between your ears." - Bobby Jones