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.

Spring has sprung

We have started mowing, mowing, and more mowing. The turf is growing quickly and thick.

We have applied our crabgrass pre-emergent, seed head suppression, and multiple applications of fertilizer. Here in the next week, we will be attacking the broad leaf weeds and Dandelions.

This month we have had 5.9 inches of rain at the course and it has kicked the growing season in gear.

The greens were  aerified on April 18th. Wehrkamp Enterprises Inc. did a great job with the annual deep tine to a depth of 8" and bi annual core harvest to a depth of 4-5". We applied our topdressing sand and the greens are healing nicely.

I will be posting speeds of greens starting in the second week of May and those speeds will be located on the bulletin board at the pro shop. The goal is to maintain a speed of 7-9 throughout the year.

The restroom behind #13 tee is open and available for use at anytime during the operating hours.

As of April 28, we have a few clutches of Canadian Goose goslings roaming the turf near the pond. They are a sight to see and fun to watch.

The bunkers are being worked on a few a week to get sand back to the depths they should be. Please be patient as this takes time and a lot of man hours to complete.

Our irrigation will be getting worked on in the days to come. Please be mindful of the technicians working on the gray irrigation boxes as safety is a priority. The flood we had on December 23 did significant damage and there is quite a bit of work that needs to be done to repair the system to working order.

Enjoy the course and as always, we are available for discussion in the maintenance barn about concerns or improvements.

Ryan Leach, GCSAA
Groundskeeper

 

Fore The Golfer: Why Bunkers Are Not Consistent

This is a great video about bunkers and bunker quality. We try our very best to give the golfers the best playing conditions in bunkers however, there are times that we cannot get to them and the USGA does a great job explaining why.

Gearing up for the 2014 Season

This year we have some high expectations.

Not only are we trying to keep the turf at a high quality level but also making sure that the littlest of items are not overlooked.

We have noticed that the cups are not always in the best locations. I specifically mean the cups might be on an angle or near a plug. We generally cut cups before sunrise everyday before play begins. Even with the best lights, our efforts are not always fruitful. This year we are going to attempt to cut the cups in the twilight part of the morning. If this does not seem to work out, we will have to find other means of cutting them i.e. more lights to mount on the equipment. 

After inspection of the greens, there does not seem to be any winter kill. The definite answer will be when the greens come out of dormancy and start growing. When a layer of ice sits on top of the greens, they can become anoxic, which means lack of oxygen. The greens can subsequently have winter kill. Snow sitting on top of greens does not produce the same kind of damage unless they are covered for a long period of time. As a matter of fact, snow insulates the greens from the bitter cold and in the long run can help get them through the types of winters like this one. 

On another note, we received a new piece of equipment this year. It is a John Deere 7500 Fairway mower. Our oldest fairway mower in the fleet was 15 years old and worn out. 

Again we are looking forward to a great season and we encourage you to hit them long and straight!

New Year 2014

MSGC Turf Staff has been working hard this winter doing multiple things around the course

1. Cut down 35 trees
1. Limb, Log, and Haul Debris
2. Grind Stumps
3. Grade out Stump Holes
2. Clean up the flood debris
3. Renovate the right bunker on #10
4. Renovate #14 Bunker to Grass Bunker
5. Maintenance of equipment
6. Renovate Benches
7. Flower Bed Renovation
8. Equipment Purchases

With a four man crew year round, this winter has been very busy.

The trees were mostly Ash trees that were infected with Emerald Ash Borer. Those trees were deemed a safety hazard and had to come down. We are planning to incorporate ornamental grasses in key locations where trees have been eliminated to maintain playing standards.

We also had some flood damage from Decembers flood. We have picked up most of that debris and are waiting for snow to melt to pick up the tiny drift garbage.

The right side of #10 bunker had been closed for most of the 2013 season. It will be renovated with white sand and a new drain. We plan on doing a few more if we can get to them in a timely manner.

The back bunker on #14 is getting renovated to a grass bunker. We feel that the bunker is not in play very often, and it can be a maintenance nightmare.

Equipment maintenance is always a winter project. We have spent the better part of a month making sure the equipment will be ready and top notch for the 2014 season. With an older fleet, fine tune maintenance practices are essential to keep the fleet at its best.

Benches around the course have been deteriorating and been vandalized throughout the years. We are staining 12 benches with a cedar stain. We are rebuilding 6 (to see how they look) with a composite redwood that will resist vandalism and degradation from the weather. We look to do the rest of the benches this way if the composite works well. 

The flower bed near the restaurant is being renovated to meet maintenance needs. Ornamental grasses will take the place of the removed Taxis bushes.

We are also getting a new fairway mower this year. It will greatly improve the quality of cut on the fairways and keep them looking great.

As always feel free to email, call, or visit us with questions, comments, or concerns.

Winter Work

As all the leaves are down and decomposing, we can focus on our winter work before the new year. We are doing a few things around the course these coming weeks.

1. Flower bed renovation behind the clubhouse restaurant.
1. Tearing out 3 Taxis bushes, narrowing the bed, and planting ornamental grasses
2. Tearing down the shelter at #11 tee
1. It is rotting and is too low to get carts under for shelter to begin with.
3. Starting the renovation on the right side bunker of #10
1. That bunker has been shut down the last half of the year due to degradation of sand and clay.
4. Cutting some 35 ash trees that are going to be dangerous to play near in the 2014 season.
1. Emerald Ash Borer is the culprit. 
1. For more information see: http://www.emeraldashborer.info/#sthash.Cd2G2Yk1.dpbs

There are other jobs that need done but these are the major projects.

The turf has quit growing and is dormant. We will be applying our dormant fertilizer during our warm spell this week. The dormant fertilizer feeds the roots so the turf will overwinter better and come back with a healthy stand of turf immediately when the temps turn in the spring.

We hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving Holiday and stays warm this winter. The signs nature has given us leans towards a rough winter.

Leaves, Leaves, and More Leaves

We are chopping leaves everyday. The turf has slowed down in terms of growth and we are mowing as needed. It seems as though the trees don't quite want to give the leaves up this season as they are hanging on longer than usual. The leaves are chopping nicely and you should have no problem finding the ball in the playing areas. 

We will be starting renovation on the ride side bunker of #10 soon and all the little things to get the course winterized. 

Season Wrap Up

This year has been a pretty good year in terms of weather and maintenance on the course. We had cooler temperatures than last year and precipitation on a regular basis.

The turf maintained well with exceptions to the back of #16 green. Our disease pressure was steady but with a preventative program, little disease was present.

We did have some issues around the course throughout the year.
One of the issues was our irrigation system. The pump needed repaired and our control boxes located throughout the course were temperamental at times. The box between #'s 15 and 16 fairway was the worst. It did not want to irrigate when it was scheduled to and unfortunately it took most of the season for a repair man to come out and diagnose it.
Another issue was equipment breakdowns. We had a lot of break downs this season and with a four man crew it was difficult at times to keep up. The crew stepped up and did their best to keep things running.
The last and biggest issue is bunkers. Our bunkers are degrading more and more each year and we are renovating as many as we can in a given year.

We have a lot of work to do around the course such as flower bed renovations, deconstruction on a shelter, equipment maintenance, bunker renovation, pruning, and the cutting of approximately 35 Ash trees around the course.

As always if you have any question, you can find us on the course or email me at ryan.leach@troyohio.gov

Its been a busy summer

We have had rain for the past 18 days straight. It looks like the hot weather is just around the corner.
We also had repair work done on the irrigation system as the pump and pump motor decided to fall to the bottom of the well. They are wrapping up the well today with a cleaning to make sure the water is clean and free of obstructions.
The course is looking good. The disease pressure is very high but the applications of low rate fungicides at as a preventative approach has worked wonders.
There was very little damage from the storms last night and the clean up will be swift.
As always, if there are any questions, you can email me or come find me on the course.

The course is in great shape

First, I must apologize for not posting recently. As most of the patrons know, we are mowing, mowing, and mowing some more. On top of that, we had six pieces of equipment go down in a two day period. It proceeded to take a few weeks to get the parts in to fix it so at that time the course was looking pretty bad. However, we have got the course in great playing shape and would encourage anyone that wants to play a fairly priced and well maintained course should not hesitate to come out for a round!

I have been busy spraying all over the course for multiple things. As the growing degree days progress, new rosettes of weeds start coming up. I am out there at least once a week trying to knock these down with our broad leaf herbicide mix of 2,4-D; mecoprop-p; dicamba; triclopyr; and clopyralid. This mix will knock down mostly every broad leaf weed out there. I also put down our annual bluegrass seed head suppression mix. I must say, using the growing degree day model from Michigan State University worked very well (link here). I got it down and saw no seed heads for the first two weeks. After that control period, I saw only 5-10% seed head development. That did not meet my threshold for a second application so I let them run their course. Also I have been diligent on a preventative practice of fungicide application. By using a lower rate more frequently, the control is stretched out over the entire season rather than using a moderate to heavy rate every 14 to 20 days. Call me crazy but I have noticed the control rate of the fungicides don't really meet the 14 to 20 interval period for the curative rates of application. It seems to me that they are very effective for 10-12 days then it looks as though the pathogen starts to rear its ugly head by the 14 day mark. I firmly believe that if I use lower rates within the 10 day or interval the label suggests, I will not allow the pathogens to even start to develop.

We are also in the process of mowing the natural areas for the first time this year. When the seed heads on the turf starts to develop (usually around the 1' mark) we come in and cut them down to around six inches. This keeps the natural areas looking good and weed free. This also allows to keep the natural areas, "natural". I will not have to spray them and risk endangering the fauna in those areas. .

We are also rolling on a scheduled basis and maintaining an acceptable speed designated by the committee. 

The bunkers are being spun everyday and the white bunkers are being hand raked every two to three days. The old bunkers really need spun out everyday because the sand is older and degrading. The new sand stays fluffed up at the intervals we do them in, making them a tough hazard to play from. 

There has been some minor irrigation work and that is typical and will be a common occurrence as heads and piping are temperamental at times.

If anyone has any questions, feel free to come visit me in the maintenance shop, on the course, or call the office phone and I will be glad to help or explain anything you may ask.  

Spraying, Vandalism, and Aerification

It has been awhile since the last post and a lot has happened on the course. The season is in full swing and we are mowing everyday.

 On April 7 we aerified and deep tined the greens. The deep tines went to almost 10 inches and we pulled cores to about four inches. The healing process is always quick this time of year however, we have a broom that does not do as well as the broom previously used in the past. The better broom was borrowed and did an excellent job on filling the holes and getting the excess sand off the greens. The old broom still fills the holes in but it is inefficient and causes significant bruising. Additionally, the green's mower has to pick up the sand as it mows. That process is slow and hard on the equipment. We are actually mowing lower than our normal height. The aerifying height is 3/32" and the normal height is 1/8". The reason it is "fuzzy or scruffy" is a direct result of the poor broom that we have. The green's mower has to pick up the sand before it can effectively mow the turf. We are mowing the greens every chance we can but the greens must be dry. When the sand is mostly picked up, the mower will naturally start mowing the turf and then we will switch back to the normal height and the greens will be as good as new. Please be patient; it will pay off. Forcing the issue will make it worse.

We are also doing a lot of spraying this time of year. I am controlling the broad-leaf's now,applying pre-emergence, spraying preventative fungicides, sprayed for seed head control, and the weekly fertilizer application.

We had a unusual and serious vandalism incident as well. The spruces on the corner of #13 were cut to head level. There were four trees that the vandalism occurred on. Personally, I think it ruined the hole. Those trees are meant to block the view of the green and someone decided to take it upon themselves to cut the limbs off. Keep in mind, any alterations done by any individual aside from the employees will be considered vandalism and the authorities will be called. If there is an issue then take it to me or Ken. We can decide or take it to the green's committee to decide. Never take any action upon yourselves or there will be consequences. I was very upset when I came across this because we are always available for comment or discussion.

With all that being said, we hope the course is meeting all the patron's standards and will continue to do our best to provide an excellent golf course.

Tree removal

Trees removed this year.

The red dots indicate the trees taken out this year.
The light green dots are planned trees to take out this year.
They are mainly ash trees that have been infested by Emerald Ash Borer.
There is a certainty that this map will be more colorful as the year goes on. The trees are always a surprise. We are also planning to plant a few this year. If you would like to see a blown up picture of this, click the picture.

Spring is knocking on the door.

It has been some months since I last posted on the course's blog but I have some updates.

This winter we repaired our equipment and did the normal maintenance. We sharpened the reels and got them adjusted and prepped for this season. We will be getting two new, much needed, pieces of equipment this year. A Ventrac and a Gator. These pieces are a must with the older equipment that we have and will provide a cushion if something very serious were to happen to that older equipment.

We also saved up to $1000 by renovating the tee markers. The sun fades and the irrigation water stains the markers and I decided to clean them and then shoot them with enamel and a clear coat. We will see how they hold up to the elements this year.

We have taken down a number of trees this year as well. The EAB (Emerald Ash Borer) has got a hold of dozens of Ash trees and unfortunately they have to come down. They will eventually die and they are a severe safety risk to the patrons if they stay up. The biggest ones that were taken down were the two on the right of #3 they were 50+ years old and it is a shame that they had to come down. They made that hole difficult to reach if you hit into the right side of the rough. We also cut down a Maple tree on the right side of #8 tee that was dying of Verticillium Wilt. 

Also, we will be finishing up a few other projects on the course before it opens on March 1. We put some posts and rope fence up behind #10 green. I have tried to guide patrons away from the natural area and towards the path to #11 tee. Unfortunately, I have noticed many patrons driving and pushing their bags through the natural area. Those areas are not designed for traffic and meant to be as native as possible. It was necessary to put a small physical barrier to stop the traffic. This fence is not an out of bounds and does not change the rules for that hole. It is just a fence to keep patrons out. For those of you who have followed it, thank you very much for your cooperation.

A few bunkers are being renovated this year as well. The two bunkers on #18 are being renovated and the left side of #4 as well. These bunkers will have French drains and white sand will be installed. We are trying to complete a few bunkers a year until they are all renovated. We finished edging the bunkers last week and are moving sand back on the edges before the season starts; weather permitting. 

We look forward to the course opening and hope all the members and patrons will have a great year with low scores! 

Winding down to winter

As we get closer and closer to closing for the season (60 days or so) we have a lot to do to get things buttoned up. We have sprayed our clover and broad leaf weeds for seeding preparations. We then proceed to slice seed in about 4000 lbs of seed in the fairways and fertilized them. There are always a few places where the weeds are stubborn but with time and dedication we will eradicate those pesky plants.

(Slice seeding and verticutting #7)

We are applying granular fertilizers to the greens as foliar is not as effective or even needed. The outside restrooms have been closed for the season however, the maintenance barn restroom is open and the portable restroom on #5 tee is open as well. We will be winterizing the irrigation system within the next few weeks and we will be renovating #18 right, greenside bunker.