Hazardous Tree Management - Arbutus Tree #5

As part of our hazardous tree management program, we monitor all trees on the property and assign levels of safety concern to trees that may need attention. The arbutus tree on #5 has been on this list for some time but due to the fact that it is leaning away from where players would be, it has been left alone. It's time has come though as the rot inside the tree has become too much. 

Providing a professional opinion on the tree from a golf perspective, Alex Hay of Lobb and Partners Golf Course Architects (the firm retained to consult on all Golf BC properties) had the following comments:

Unfortunately from time to time on golf courses we have to consider tree removal, not only for the playability of the course itself, but also for the health of other trees and the vegetation around them. Tree removal is never a decision we take lightly.  

 On a recent walk around as part of our golf course review, the Arbutus tree on the left side of the 5^th hole came into question. The tree was of poor health becoming a safety concern, and had also become big enough to impose itself on the playing line. Removing the tree has freed up space slightly to the left and will allow us to plant Oak trees that will frame the hole better, whilst protecting the 6^th hole from errant 5^th hole tee shots. The improved playing corridor will give those golfers, that hit the ball with left to right shape, a better chance of finding the fairway from the tee. 

As mentioned above, we will replant 3 trees slightly to the left of the current arbutus location. These trees will be planted this fall to allow for easier establishment. The removal of the arbutus will allow us to use the left half of the 5th tee that has been avoided due to the tree being in the tee line. 

Before

After

It is more notable in person, but the oak tree that was behind the arbutus still provides good protection / screen from drives headed left while not penalizing a left to right ball flight drive that will easily land in play on #5 fairway.

Olympic View's Unique Bunker Maintenance Program

 

In an effort to elevate our bunker maintenance program at Olympic View for the 2022 season, we have employed some non traditional tactics. Typically, bunkers are not an enjoyed part of golf course maintenance. They are labour intensive, always in need of attention and generally just not as fun as growing and maintaining turfgrass. As year round Team Members move to more skilled and experience required tasks during the season, often bunkers can be left to new Team Members that may not have the attention to detail or skills to consistently turn out exceptional bunker quality.

While raking some sand around may seem like a simple task, there is actually a fair bit to it:

• maintain sand shape as related to bunker floor shape
• moving sand to fill washouts or high play areas
• keeping weeds at bay
• different raking techniques for different sand moistures
• repairing damaged bunker liner
• topping up sand as required
• trimming turf areas and edges around bunkers where large mowers can not reach

Rake Technique

Over the past two seasons we have been using the "Aussie method" of raking bunkers. This features smooth side walls and tooth raked floor. This technique not only provides a nice aesthetic appeal, it also helps to reduce golf ball plugging in the more compact faces and helps to roll the ball down into the more playable floor of the bunker. This also affords us some efficiency as we do not need to rake the sides of the bunker every day. We generally rake the the sides completely only twice per week and can simply touch up used bunker face sections throughout the week.

Getting it Done

As mentioned above, despite the skills and experience required to provide nice bunkers, the task often gets left to inexperienced Team Members during the playing season. Enter the "2022 OV Bunker Draft"! We made a list off all of our bunkers and "drafted" them for ownership between 5 of our core Team Members including myself. 

OV Grounds Team members on Bunker Draft day in February

The goal of this program is to put our best Team Members on the task, hopefully producing the best possible results. Each of us also "owns" our bunkers, learns the specific maintenance each bunker needs and keeps up on small maintenance items like weeding and shaping that can become much bigger tasks if left unchecked. We also get a little healthy competition within the Team regarding who has the best looking bunkers on the course. 

Draft Board in Progress

For general raking days, Team Members will take a rake with them on whatever task they may be doing on the course and simply pick up their 5-6 bunkers as they complete their morning task. This is a great added efficiency for us as opposed to sending a separate Team Member around the course just to rake bunkers. Currently each Team Member rakes their bunker every day they are at work. This means we rake all bunkers a minimum of 5x/week. In addition, we often add an extra Team Member on weekends that will rake all bunkers, taking our rake frequency to 6-7 days/week.

Of course we only rake these bunkers once per day and with how busy the course is, our bunkers can see a lot of traffic. We have ensured that there are an appropriate amount of bunker rakes on the course and raking a bunker as you leave it will only make the course better for the player behind you. We appreciate the help!

Power Carts Off Paths

New Cart Guidance Posts

As the weather finally starts to warm and the course is drying out, we will be allowing carts off paths as of today. Please expect that if we see significant rains (potentially Sun/Mon) we may go back to paths temporarily. 

We have added the black/gold posts on the course to indicate when you should leave the path after the tee, and when you should return to the path before the green. There are some additional notifications that will come through the GPS screen to help guide you as well. If you leave the path before, or return after the posts, you may pass through the GPS lock out area and have to reverse out.

Thank you for you assistance in managing the wear & tear on our busy course.

 

Spring Greens Aeration? Not this time.

 It's that time of year again. The sun comes out, the grass starts to green up and even grow a little bit! Golfers and golf course maintenance teams alike get excited for the coming season. 

We've been fortunate to receive numerous comments lately on how nicely the greens are rolling and we most definitely appreciate the good feedback! Usually around now is when the disappointment comes for golfers though. The Grounds Team rolls out the aerator, punches holes, perhaps removes cores and dumps a bunch of sand on the greens. In effect taking the good momentum we had going and placing it on the shelf for a few weeks. 

This year we are happy to report that we will be able to avoid this disappointment. There will be no major greens aeration this spring - lets keep these greens rolling nice! As much as we know this may be appreciated, I am sure the questions are quick to follow - how we are able to do this and will this create problems down the road? The short answer is no, not in the immediate future. For a longer answer let's dig into some science.

In late January of 2021 and 2022, we took core samples across numerous greens on the course with the goal of collecting both a baseline organic matter level, and also the change, or lack thereof, in organic matter percentage over last season. 

(A little sidebar on what is organic matter for those who may be wondering. Organic matter in a putting green is both the living and dead/decaying leaf and root tissue. During growth, the plant sheds old tissue and creates new. While organic matter has benefits in our sand based root zone including holding moisture, nutrients and creating resiliency, too much of a good thing can be bad. Excessive levels of organic matter can make greens spongy, soft, more susceptible to disease and a whole host of other undesirable putting green characteristics. Let's avoid those ok? Practices like aeration and topdressing are used to keep organic matter at acceptable levels.)

Back to the testing. We took 5 samples from each green and cut the cores in 2 cm increments. The like depths are grouped together and sent off to a lab in Ohio where they measure the dried sample weight, place the sample in an oven and burn all the organic matter to ash. The weight is again measured and the difference can be calculated to the percentage of organic matter that was in the sample. 

While this is not a new testing technique, it has become more adopted by turfgrass managers around the globe, especially the ones that enjoy science and numbers like myself. While we have three depths of measurement, the 0-2cm measurement is the important one. This is where the golf ball meets and interacts with the turfgrass surface, where the rubber meets the road you could say.

Image courtesy Dr. Micah Woods, Asian Turfgrass Center, Thailand.

Great, so we have some numbers, next question. What's the magic number? Well, there isn't really one. Here is where the science of green keeping blends with the art. The art is how are the greens playing? How do they receive a ball? What does the ball mark look like? Are you seeing scalping from mowers? Holding excessive moisture? We observe these and other indicators throughout the year, pair those observations with our organic matter numbers and then design a greens maintenance program to increase, decrease or perhaps just maintain organic matter levels. Based on the information we have tested for and observed over the past year, at this time we do not need to aerate greens. We are content with the current organic matter levels.

To avoid rambling on too long, I'm going to break this into two or three posts to further delve into what is involved in greens maintenance programs designed to increase, decrease or maintain organic matter levels. 

To close off today though, I will answer one last question. Does this mean we will never have to aerate greens again? No, I'm not going to say that. We will continue to learn the greens at Olympic View, monitor how they play, test organic matter levels and make calculated decisions with the goal of having optimum playing conditions for as many days per year as possible.

Irrigation System Upgrades

Many of you may have seen the expansive hole dug on #11 over the past week. This project is a continuation of the ongoing irrigation isolation valve replacement program here at Olympic View. 

Isolation valves allow us to turn off the water to sections of the golf course to perform necessary repairs. The original valves installed are over 30 years old on what would usually be a 20 year lifespan. When these valves fail, we can either not shut water off to an area to perform repairs or, if they fail closed, we can not get irrigation water to certain areas. We aim to replace 9 valves this season which will take us to 70% of all valves being replaced over the past 5 years. 

On #11 we replaced 3 valves which feed #11 tee, #11 green and half of #10. This required a substantial hole as you can see in the image below of the old valves / piping.

The replacement valves are a significant upgrade and will provide a functional lifespan of over 50 years! They are also installed with higher quality ductile iron fittings as opposed to glued PVC fittings. We were able to eliminate some noticeable bows in the piping with the new install. This was the main reason the hole became so large.  

You can expect any further holes this season to much smaller as the remaining valves are only one valve per hole. Due to supply chain issues the majority of the valves are 14-16 weeks away which will lead us to installing them in the fall.

Thank you for your patience on the course as we continue to upgrade our infrastructure with the goal of providing improved course conditions.

Why are the Greens Still Closed?

 

#12 with a light dusting of snow Monday morning

While most of us I'm sure were hoping that the nice weather in early February was set to continue, these hopes were quickly dashed with cold temperatures and snow this week. These low temperatures have frozen our playing surfaces but we expect to start to thaw out in the coming days. 

This is one of the most vulnerable times for turf damage from traffic. Please see this excellent short video from the USGA Green Section regarding root shear.

USGA Root Shear Video

As we start to thaw from the top down, the Grounds Team will be checking to ensure that we are completely thawed at each green, before opening the green to play. Greens that have less sun exposure will of course take longer to thaw.

We appreciate your patience and understanding as we bring the course back to fully open status over the next few days. 

Olympic View Grounds February 2022 - Superintendent Introduction / Blog Revival

 

Well it has been just over a year now since I started my new role as Superintendent at Olympic View Golf Club. The Olympic View Grounds Team would like to start this second season off right by reviving the Olympic View Grounds blog that has been dormant since the summer of 2019. As it has been in the past, once again it will be an excellent avenue to provide information directly to members and guests from the Olympic View Grounds Department. 

Our goal is to provide a monthly post, but there will be a couple extras in the next few months as we have some items to catch up on. In order to have content to consistently produce, you should expect a wide range of topics in this blog that will include, but not necessarily limited to the following:

• New Information

• Timely updates on new course features and upcoming / on-going projects

• Course Playability & Etiquette related to Grounds

• fixing ball marks / pin placements

• Grounds Agronomic Decisions & Explanations

• course closures / frost delays

• Grounds Agronomic Practices

• Why we aerate, top dress, roll etc

• Irrigation & Drainage Systems

• Operation, maintenance & installations

• The Grounds Team

• Introductions to key members of our team

• Information on various procedures, and challenges we face in preparing the course each day

#13 Green July 2021

Before we get too deep into all the fun stuff above though, I would like to provide some background information on myself. 

Growing up as one of three sons of a Golf Course Superintendent, my two younger brothers and I were essentially raised on the golf course. My father, Dave Creamer, was most notably the Superintendent at Crown Isle Golf Resort in Courtenay from its construction in 1991 through 2005. I held many roles here, the first being a rock picker prior to fairway seeding in 1991 and the last being Assistant Superintendent 2001-2003. My passion for the industry was born here and I completed a Diploma in Turf Management from Kwantlen Polytechnic University in 2000 fresh out of high school.

The other main stop in my career was 15 years at Victoria Golf Club. Again I worked my way through the ranks here and was most recently the Assistant Superintendent for 9 seasons. I was fortunate to be intricately involved with numerous construction projects during my time at VGC. These projects provided continuous experience for me in project planning, budgeting and execution as well as the opportunity to work alongside world class architects, irrigation consultants and drainage engineers. I look forward to applying this skill set to future projects here at Olympic View Golf Club. 

Alongside my construction experience, I also have a track record of providing exceptional playing conditions. As an Assistant Superintendent I have hosted numerous national events including the 2016 PGA Championship of Canada and the 2018 Canadian Mid Amateur, both at Victoria Golf Club. I was also fortunate to be selected as a member of the volunteer agronomy team for the 2015 US Open at Chambers Bay. Preparing a course alongside 150 other team members for a major golf championship will always be a highlight in my career.

Chambers Bay - 2015 US Open

I am very involved in numerous turfgrass associations across the country. I was the first Assistant Superintendent to be President of the Vancouver Island Golf Course Superintendents Association in 2019 and have been a conference speaker on multiple occasions for the provincial and national Superintendent associations. I am well regarded by my peers in the industry and enjoy the benefits of an extensive network of professionals for which to consult.

In 2017 I was selected as the inaugural Assistant Superintendent of the Year, by the Canadian Golf Superintendents Association (CGSA) and in 2018 was nominated to the Turf & Rec magazine Top 10 Under 40 list. Also on this list was past Olympic View Superintendent and current Director of Grounds for Golf BC, Brett Finlayson.

To cap off my professional accomplishments, I completed my Bachelor of Science in Turfgrass from Penn State University in the spring of 2021. I currently maintain my Accredited Golf Course Superintendent status through the CGSA and constantly seek to increase knowledge in my chosen profession.

On the personal side, my wife Tina is a retired internationally accomplished kick boxer who is now a personal trainer and co-owns a gym in downtown Victoria. Our son Hunter will be 8 this summer and you will no doubt see him alongside me working the occasional morning and or playing alongside me on the course. Away from the course I enjoy the outdoors through hunting, fishing, hiking and camping and generally enjoy any opportunity to be outside of cell phone coverage.

So I know now what you are probably thinking, “Well this guy can certainly write a lot about himself, but why wasn’t ‘X’ better last season!!” Well heat domes, droughts, atmospheric rivers and pandemic challenges aside, a golf course is a living, breathing entity and it takes time to learn and understand the course. Myself and new Assistant Superintendent Josh Edgar had a lot to take in last season and have spent the winter re-grouping and building new plans for 2022. We can assure you that the best is yet to come for our tenure here and we look forward to communicating those steps as we progress through the year in this blog. Josh, myself and the entire Olympic View Grounds Team have nothing but eager anticipation and excitement for the 2022 season and look forward to enjoying Olympic View Golf Club with you this year!

T-Jay Creamer BSc, AGS

Golf Course Superintendent

Olympic View Golf Club