Kinloch Golf Club Enhancement Project - Week 3 Update

Friday, July 5th, Kinloch Golf Club, in conjunction with Landscapes Unlimited, began our summer-long, facility enhancement project. As we travel through the project, please check in for weekly blog posts which will update our progress. 

Thanks for all of your support as we are very excited about this project and the product we will offer this coming fall!!! 

This is the 3rd Week Update!! Progress continues to be incredible!!

We have continued our herbicide program over the past week. Just this morning we completed our 3rd application of non-selective herbicides. Our intent is to apply another application in 2 weeks and if we are satisfied with the results, we will begin stripping the dead material on August 19th. 

The bunker project has moved along at an incredible pace. As of this post, all of our existing bunkers have been de-sanded and the gravel layer installed. Over 2/3 of the gravel has been sprayed with the Better Billy Polymer and 9 holes worth of bunkers has the new SF 35 bunker sand installed. 

In addition to our rough, any Bermuda that we have seen in our fairways has been treated 3 times with non-selective herbicides. 

Aside from the work on the golf course, the training center changes daily. It has been very exciting watching that building transform. It is going to be an incredible amenity once finished! 

Friday, July 5th, Kinloch Golf Club, in conjunction with Landscapes Unlimited, began our summer-long, facility enhancement project. As we travel through the project, please check in for weekly blog posts which will update our progress. 

Thanks for all of your support as we are very excited about this project and the product we will offer this coming fall!!! 

So we are now 2 weeks into our project and the progress has been incredible!! 

In the last 14 days, we have applied 2 applications of non-selective herbicide to over 25 acres of contaminated rough. We will continue this program for the next 4 weeks. 

The training center project continues on an excellent pace!! And the work is terrific!!

All of our sand traps have been de-sanded and the drainage checked for performance. In addition, nearly half of the bunkers have gravel installed and over 1/3 of the bunkers have been sprayed with the Better Billy Polymer. 

And once again... our greens are just relaxing :) 

Kinloch Golf Club Enhancements 2019 - Week #1

Friday, July 5th, Kinloch Golf Club, in conjunction with Landscapes Unlimited, began our summer-long, facility enhancement project. As we travel through the project, please check in for weekly blog posts which will update our progress. 

Thanks for all of your support as we are very excited about this project and the product we will offer this coming fall!!! 

Day 1 - divot filling operation. We have filled or will fill every divot on the property as the time that we are closed provides a great opportunity to restore many of the divots across the playing surfaces. 

This past Friday our maintenance team applied non-selective herbicide to acres of unwanted grasses growing in our rough. These applications will continue on 2 week intervals through mid-August. 

On Monday, our contractor, Landscapes Unlimited, began excavating the sand from our bunkers. Once the bunkers are cleaned, they will install a gravel layer, the Better Billy polymer and brand new sand. 

 

 

In addition to the on-course improvements, the training center enhancements continue!!!

 And in the meantime... our putting surfaces are enjoying their vacation:) 

Mid-Winter Update

 At the conclusion of 2018, we established several major objectives for the winter months of 2019:

1. Course-Wide Aeration 
2. Drainage 
3. Chemical/Fertility Planning 
4. Irrigation Audits 
5. Fairway Basin Leveling 
6. Creek Bank Restoration 
7. Wood-Line Thinning 

These objectives, although a central focus of our off-season efforts, do not entail everything that we must complete before April 1st. In addition to the list above, we will (or have already): cleaned-up all of the fallen leaves throughout the property, install several new landscape features, build new walkpaths, dormant fertilize the rough, complete miscellaneous sod projects, refurbish equipment, restore our outside furniture and bunker rakes, re-paint our tee markers, organize our shop and adjacent yard, order staff uniforms, compile a list of necessary play supplies, hire and train new staff, map contaminated rough, prepare for our upcoming renovation, and maintain the golf course on days when our members can play.

In a nutshell, we have been extremely busy and productive. And that drumbeat will go on throughout the rest of February and March.

In this blog post, while I'd like to cover everything that we have accomplished, I will focus on a few  of our key initiatives.

1. Course Wide Aeration 

Just after the new year, we began core aerating all of our maintained turf, less the greens. Due to our upcoming closure this summer, we decided to defer our typical March aeration. We did this to give our membership an extended spring with no disruption to the putting surfaces. Although I am comfortable deferring the greens' aeration, I felt that we must core aerate our fairways, tees and primary rough.

So, on days where we could get after it, we have pulled a 1/2" core on 2" centers to a depth of 2.5". We have completed 75% of the closely mowed turf and 40% of our primary rough. We are aerating the bentgrass with our 648's and our rough with John Deere Aercore 2000's. For our fairways and tees, the cores have been swept with our Toro Pro-Sweeps and top-dressed with 1000 pounds of sand per 1000 square feet. Once the sand has been applied, we have used our sweep-n-fill(s) to clean the fairways. Following the sweepers, we have rolled each fairway and tee with our Salsco fairway roller. All in all, the process has been very smooth with minimal collateral damage.

As for the rough, once the core has been pulled, we have drug the debris in several directions. Once the aeration is complete, we will apply some spring fertility and bulk gypsum. At our current pace, all aeration should be completed by the 15th of March and we will turn our attention to daily conditions.

2. Drainage Projects 

2018 definitely identified areas that are not draining well enough to support healthy turf. So we have identified multiple areas that need additional drainage. To date, we have installed drainage in #8 fairway, #4 walk-path and #5 tee complex. Additional drainage will be added to holes 1,2,3 and 15. 

3. Walk Path Construction 

We have constructed a new walk path from the 1st green to the 2nd tee. We think this path will be more functional and beautiful. We have completed the structure, but will be installing some defining landscape features as well. 

The off-season of 2018 has been extremely productive. Our biggest goal in 2019 is to host an absolutely stellar spring golf season. With the golf course closing in early July, we are excited to present our members and guests with 3-4 months of great conditions with little to no disruptions. The work we are doing now will lay the foundation to achieve that goal. 

In closing, I must thank our team!! These guys have been relentless working odd-hours and long-weekends. Aside from the long hours, they have been extremely flexible and highly efficient, all while maintaining the best attitudes. Our assistants, Mike Nowicki, Adam Sauls and Blake Heinz have been outstanding leading our team. And Terry Kennedy, our equipment manager, has been unreal in keeping the equipment operating while focusing on his preparations for 2019. Kinloch Golf Club is lucky to have these guys!! 

We look forward to warm, dry weather soon!