Naperville Country Club Green Department: carts

Showing posts with label carts. Show all posts

The major capital project of the off season has been the addition of the cart path on hole 9. The gravel base has been in and we have been waiting on the availability of asphalt to take the next step. Well this week may be it. The contractor will be out tomorrow to do a finish grade and rolling to prep the surface for asphalt. Our hope is that asphalt will follow on Thursday.

This corner of cart path on hole 13 will be receiving a touch up with the installation of asphalt at the same time. This area of red gravel is prone to washouts during heavy rains. Capping this short area, up to the front tee on 13, will make it easier to manage. A curb is planned for this area as well to manage traffic onto the fairway. Naturally, new sod will be installed to make a fresh edge.

Along with the post from yesterday, the USGA has been releasing a series of videos "fore the golfer" regarding course etiquette. Here is a video regarding course etiquette with the golf cart.

Most of the crew started back to work last Monday, and a few more began work yesterday. It is nice to have the crew back and try to get into a routine for the season. With the weather still stuck in February, we are trying to get some projects done while mowing is not even on our to do list yet. The first project was the installation of drainage at 1 tee. The area between the end of the cart path and the fairway regularly held water much longer after a rain than other areas on the course. With the amount of traffic through this area, it regularly created issues with where to rout traffic. This was completed at the end of last week. This area should gradually get better through the year.

Other projects are on the horizon and a few have been started this week. We have removed a declining tree and removed some over grown and old bushes. Other projects will include a refreshing (but no significant changes) of the clubhouse landscaping and some more drainage.

Slowly, things are coming along on the course. We have done a first mowing on the fairway and approaches. Greens were mowed again today for the second time. The bunkers have been cleaned and one raking has been done. It will take a few rounds raking the bunkers to get the sand in shape. Rakes are in the bunkers now, so be sure to rake your tracks for the golfers behind you. Tee markers are out on the course now as well.

We do not have a start date yet for the carts or the driving range tee. We are waiting for the grass to start growing so it may recover from traffic and divots before we start to injure it. We will plan on having the halfway house open next weekend. Most of the crew was back this week. A few more will start next week. The weather forecast does not look too promising next week either. If mother nature ever decides to cooperate we will be ready to go!

The persistent warm and dry weather this year is beginning to show in the usual areas of cart traffic wear. The constant traffic on these areas and the resulting soil compaction leads to a shallower root system and a weaker plant. We have ropes placed to control cart traffic in these areas, but the golfer can help us by dispersing traffic patterns as they move around the course.

These two pictures show the traffic patterns of the carts on the course. It is evident in the top picture how concentrated the traffic is between the bunkers on 9 fairway. The weak turf in this area is a function of the cart traffic. The picture on the left shows the usual traffic pattern down the middle of the 8th fairway. Next time you are on the 8th fairway, look at the turf in the middle of the fairway and compare it to the turf on the left half of the fairway. As much as I want to believe the weaker turf in the middle is a result of relentless play from the middle of the fairway, my observations lead me to believe that cart traffic may be the offender. The turf on the left half is in much better condition due to the lack of traffic. Helping the turf in the middle is as simple as make a conscious effort to drive on the left half rather than the middle.

This picture illustrates how we are able to move the traffic patterns with the ropes. Even with the ropes up, we would still like golfer to try and disperse traffic from the usual pattern.

Areas where carts leave the cart path are notorious for traffic wear. If you see an area like this, and there is no rope, try to drive a little farther on the cart path before you make your way to the fairway. This will help these areas until we are able to change the ropes in that spot.

Last week the crew began adding to the line of arborvitaes that were planted last fall. This was an unplanned project for this year, but after the city made repairs to a sewer line near Chicago Ave. (Work On Cart Path Near 1 Green), the club had the opportunity to work with the city to repair this area.

One arborvitae will go to replace one that was broken during the winter months, after being the victim of a car sliding off the road and through the fence. The rest will continue the line along the fence towards 2 tee.

This will be a time consuming process to plant these. The confines of the location prevent the use of bigger equipment, so hand digging is the only method available. We hope to have this work done by the end of this week. While this is being done, the cart path to 2 tee is closed to allow room for the crew to work. Carts can drive along the path in the rough to get to 2 tee.

Before the snow came we were able to make more progress on the cart path near the 8th green and 9th tee. The area was fully excavated and the soil was piled in the dump.

Here is a picture of the base layer of stone being added. Though I don't have a picture, the addition of this layer of stone was completed.

We will not do any further work on this path until spring. At that time we will pack done the base layer and add the red gravel to the top.

Today we began the installation of a cart path left of the 8th green. This path will allow us more opportunity to direct carts through the area and keep the turf in better condition during the summer.

We have started by excavating about 6 inches of soil. After the soil is removed, a stone base layer will be put down and compacted. We will wait until spring to add the red gravel to the top and finish the path.

This week we worked at installing a drain near the back tee box on 8. For a while now you may have noticed that water stands in this area and a spot just off of the cart path stays wet. The problem at this spot arises from the way the cart path sits. This area is the low spot in the cart path coming from 7 tee and a short stretch the other direction along 8 tee. Water from the irrigation cycles would run down the cart path from both directions and collect in this area. Also, there is a gravel blanket under the asphalt that moves water to the low area also.

The way to fix it is to install a drain at the edge of the cart path to collect the water. A trench was dug to move the water to the catch basin to the left side of 7 green. We hope this drain will also remove some excess water that collects in the low area to the left of 7 green.

Rather that install a small drain at the edge, a large area was dug out to act as the drain.

The area was filled with drainage gravel and decorative stones were laid over the drain.

Here is an update on a few things you may have noticed around the course.

We have put in a stone pad with a gravel base for the beverage station at 4 tee. We were having problems with the water from the irrigation cycles running down the cart path a gathering at the low spot on the path. The low spot happened to be right where the beverage station sat. A drain was installed as well to remove the excess water.

Lines have been painted on the grass in 4 locations on the course to mark irrigation and drainage lines for the installation of a few trees this coming Monday. The red flags in the ground mark the proposed locations of the trees.

Our fairway nursery is coming along well after being reseeded. It has been mowed once and will probably be put on a regular mowing schedule next week.

The rain we received Sunday afternoon and evening have left several wet spots on the course. Though the course is not wet enough(currently) to prevent cart traffic, some caution is still need when driving on the course.

When the course becomes too wet, and cart traffic is restricted, the goal is to prevent damage caused by tire rutting and skidding. This type of damage can take weeks to recover or require sodding.

We have set several ropes throughout the course to help identify wet areas. Avoiding the ropes will help prevent possible rutting of the soil. Other things you can do to avoid damaging the turf are to be mindful of the location of drains in fairways, as these areas hold water for a longer period of time. Walking to a ball in these areas rather that driving will help to prevent damage.

Avoid attempting to drive on steep slopes while the course is wet.

Avoid driving through areas that are heavily shaded by trees. The turf in these areas is not thick enough to handle traffic when the soil is wet.

The weather looks like it may continue to rain off and on this week, so the course will likely have wet spots the remainder of the week.

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