2017!

Welcome to the 2017 Golf Season.
We had a warm winter and it looks like the cold is going to hang around a little longer. We have an open house on March 16th from 4:00-6:00 PM to anyone in Troy that is interested.

We are also aerifying the Greens and Fairways on March 29th and 30th. In the event of rain or muddy/wet ground, the makeup date will be on April 6th and 7th. In the event the fairways are just to wet to do, we will post-pone the aerification of them to the fall. Please be aware that if this is the case, due to compaction and wear and tear, the fairways may thin out in the heat of the summer. We will do our best to keep the turf lush however, without sufficient aerification, growing conditions will difficult to maintain. We cannot control the weather but we will do everything we can to complete the aerification if conditions allow. 

2016

We have opened for the 2016 season.

The Miami Valley had a mild winter and it was nice to see a change from the brutally cold winters in the past few years.

The course has and is in the middle of a few projects from this winter.
We have a land bridge off of #17 men's tee. This bridge is not finished yet as this winter didn't provide the weather we needed to finish it before the new year. After the new year it was too wet to continue. We ask that you please stay off of it for the mean time.

We also started renovation on #9 bunkers. The sand was pushed up before during the late fall/early winter and again, due to the wet, mild conditions, we were unable to have it completed for opening day.
Both the bridge and the bunkers are our main priority as soon as weather allows us to finish them.

Miami Shores is also pleased to announce that we are a select few in the country to join Operation Pollinator. This is an environmental effort to conserve honey bee populations that are declining in numbers rapidly. The wildflower area that we installed has shown significant populations of honeybees back to the golf course. Throughout the year we are going to add another wildflower area near the pond (in between #13 and #15). One culprit to bee decline is availability to food. Between spraying yards, golf course pest control, and other environmental factors, bees are on the decline and without bee's we could see a rise in produce prices at the grocery due to shortages of pollinators. We have also switched a grub control chemical from one that is toxic to bees to a more bee friendly product. According to the EPA, this chemical is less toxic than caffeine in coffee or fluoride in toothpaste.

Miami Shores also joined the Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary Program for Golf. The ACSP is an award winning education and certification program that helps golf courses protect our environment and preserve the natural heritage of the game of golf. By helping people enhance the valuable natural areas and wildlife habitats that golf courses provide, improve efficiency, and minimize potentially harmful impacts of golf operations, the program serves an important environmental role worldwide.

Back to School

Summer is winding down, kids are back in school, and football has started. That usually means a decline in golf. With these events kicking back in, the golf course usually has wide open tee times in the afternoon making for a great round with great weather!

Next week we will be aerating the tees. This shouldn't alter play and should be healed fairly quickly.

We have the County Tournament coming up on September 12th and 13th with Miami Shores kicking the tournament off on Saturday the 12th and finishing up at Homestead Golf Course in Tipp City on the 13th. Good luck to all who are competing.

On September 14th in the afternoon, starts our greens aeration. The back nine will be open all day and then on the 15th, we will be doing the back 9 starting in the morning with the front open all day. Aeration is a necessary operation to keep greens from being compacted and allows air exchange to the roots which is critical as well.

As always if you have questions or concerns feel free to stop by the office down at the maintenance barn and talk with me or the turf staff.

Ryan

Half way through!

We are almost at the halfway mark for the year and we have been busy on the grounds.

The bunker renovation was completed a few weeks and all the bunkers have white bunker sand that is sure to eat a ball. It took many extra hours to complete this job in the amended time frame but we got it done. Thanks to all the crew's hard work to make sure this project was completed. To the left is one of the bunkers from drain to finished product.

The turf is growing so quickly, it is difficult to keep up. We are currently mowing at an early spring schedule when the turf is coming out of dormancy and going through a flush of growth. Normally, we have backed the frequency of mowing down by this time to match the growth rates. Disease is a constant threat as well. Thankfully, due to the savings throughout the past few seasons, we will not have a shortage of chemicals to combat the pests.

 

We have also started another project on the grounds. We are in the process of replacing our irrigation well head. The current one is upwards of 50 years old and worn out. The new one should last just as long as the old one before needed replaced again. Please be mindful of the large hole near the maintenance barn until the work is completed.

As always if you have any questions, I have an open door policy. I will make myself available to any of those that would like to discuss golf course business. 

Ryan Leach, Superintendent.

Welcome to the 2015 season at MSGC

Welcome to the 2015 year at MSGC!

We have a lot of updates for everyone, so hold on tight!

MSGC purchased a new fairway mower this year to complete the fairway equipment rotation. The old one that was replace had over 5000 hours on it which is the equivalent to 300,000 miles! It was a piece that was desperately needed and we are grateful to get it.

Our bunker project came to an abrupt halt when we had to stop work in December and the plant was not processing sand in these cold temperatures. When the weather breaks, we will continue to finish these bunker renovations. At this time there is no time frame on when these will be completed.

MSGC has tuned, fixed, rebuilt, sharpened, and maintained the equipment this winter for the upcoming year. It is always a large task to do these jobs but the savings is monumental. Doing these maintenance practices in house versus sending them out is a savings of hundreds to thousands of dollars. We could not be happier with the staff diving into these intricate machines without prior experience or knowledge. It takes dedication to learn the ins and outs of these units. A few pieces of equipment did need to go out as we could not fix them to the standards they need to be.

We have a few surprises for the patrons this year. I won't go any further with that but we would like feedback on the changes.

As for this years pest control, it is extensive. I have implemented plans to apply pre-emergent weed control to the entire course. This is change from previous years as we have never applied pre-emergent weed control to the rough. Added applications to the tees and fairways have been implemented. This is in major part to shopping for best prices on products and saving copious amounts of money so we can better use spray programs on the course. MSGC staff will also be making an extra grub control application as 2014 showed us our weaknesses in the fall grub flush.

As the year goes on we are planning to change any old irrigation heads with new more efficient heads, permanently mounting ball washers into small concrete pads to prevent theft, finishing the bunker renovations, prune trees when time permits, put fresh gravel down where needed, etc.

On that note, we will be closing the cart path on top of the levee to #14 green. The trees have undermined it along with ground burrowing animals. It is safer and more economical to put the path along the left side of the hole at the bottom of the levee.

As always we would like feedback, comments, and questions. You can email me at ryan.leach@troyohio.gov or call us at 937-339-4078.

We are doing a few projects on the golf course.
Bunker renovations is the big one.
We are stripping the old sand out and digging straight down until we hit gravel (pit run). Once we hit gravel, we know that the water will flow freely to the water table. After the drain is dug, we fill it with stone so the water can easily drain. After that, we compact the clay in the bunker to insure there will be no erosion. Finally, we add sand to USGA standard depths. Doing renovations this time of year allows the sand to settle over winter and if we need to apply more in the spring we can do so.

We are also going to spray the rough this coming year for weed control. It is something that we normally do not do but many requests have prompted us to do so. I will update after the new year with the procedure for that.

We want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year and thank you for playing golf at Miami Shores Golf Course!

Wrapping up the year; Part 1

It has been a quick growing year and it's time to wrap it up.

The posts have been lacking due to my mind being elsewhere on the course. I enjoy updating everyone on the courses events however, I was focused on large changes on the course.

The summer came and went in no time. Some could say there was no summer.
Abundant rain, cool temperatures, and good growing weather, made the course look great. The weeds were not a factor in the playing areas but the rough was a nightmare. Dandelions, clover, and crabgrass were numerous in these areas.
We normally do not treat these areas as they are large and cost significant amounts of money to maintain however, this coming year we will be applying a pre-emergent for over 95 broad leaf weeds including dandelions. Please keep in mind, as large as our infestation is, it will take a few years to get the weeds below our acceptable threshold. Weed seeds are very persistent and can stay dormant for years to centuries. It has been found in Egypt that wheat seeds over 2000 years old still germinated when planted in good soil.

Crabgrass will more than likely be an issue in the rough again. If we have left over pre-emergent, we will apply it to the heavy playing areas in the rough. It costs roughly, $55-65 per acre and to spray 70-75 acres is a large expense with minimal response. Sure, we will get some control but without a proper fertility program and abundant mowing schedules, it will be a waste of money and man power to try to control this weed. Also, with thinning turf, no irrigation, and no plans to slit seed; crabgrass is at least green in the summer. It is certainly not the mentality we wish to have but the alternative is simply not an option at this moment.

Disease was not an issue this year as weather decided to stay calm with little to moderate temperature swings. I did a fraction of the spraying than in normal years. A tee and fairway spray program will be implemented in 2015 due to chemical savings and left over from this year.

I will update again before Christmas with a few announcements about some projects we are doing.