New Holes Update May 25th

The start of May was a very busy time, as all of you know the Aurora group booked the course for 4 days straight. It is a very good revenue generator for the course, the group was fantastic. They had an exceptional time and we received a ton of great comments and feedback from them about the course, proshop and resturant, well done everyone.

Its a very hectic week for the turfcare department, we are off the course finished cutting pins, greens, fairways and bunkers raked for their 8:30am shotgun. Basically we made it work by doubling up equipment and man power for morning jobs. For example, we would send out two greens mowers and they would only  cut 9 greens and have just enough time to finish before the shotgun. Hats off to the crew for making it happen!

So you are probably asking what did we do in the afternoon since we were not on the course? We focused on getting a large amount of work done on the new holes to get them closer to completion.

Basically all the heights of cut (HOC) are in rotation with the rest of the course with the exception of the greens, for example the fairway is getting cut with the same mower used on the rest of the course  and so on for all mowers. Ken and I have been really pleased with the response we have been seeing from the turf with the fertility and cultural practices we have implemented, especially the greens.

T1 Bentgrass #8 Green

T1 bent grass has good resistance to dollar spot, which you typically see in our region. We have all the right environmental conditions favourable for this particular disease to develop in the warm summer months. It has a very rich green colour and retains good ground coverage under some very tough growing conditions. Also, divots heal rapidly from ball marks and boasts an exceptional putting surface.

New 9

New tee decks on 8

I will just breifly sum up what stage each hole is in with respects to the work we have done. New 9 is pretty much plmubed in with the exception of the massive washout that occured last fall after seeding. Its been topdressed filled and seeding once again. It will fill in quickly especially with the  temperatures we have been getting over the past couple weeks, ideal for seed germination and establishment. Also, detailing work has been done with designating shape to the fairway and defining rough cut from the surrounds and native fescue areas.

New 8 has been the hole which has received the most attention as of late. Its had more landscaping work done to it with the water feature being the centre of focus. Landscape fabric and a small portion of pond liner was added. We were fortunate enough to borrow the wineries mini excavator for a couple days to complete the rock work in the "stream" portion of the water feature.

Placing rock

Rock Island landscaping

Topsoil was added to the subgrade behind the green and back right portion of the hole complex, using a topdreser to spread material and then bladed using a tractor. We've observed germination occurring at a fast rate in this area.  The pictures below were taken approximately 7 days apart,  as you can see there is a noticeable amount of growth in this area. Shouldn't be long till we start to see a dense healthy stand of turfgrass. There was also a few minor washouts that have been filled in and seeded.

Seeded May 12th

May 20th

To conclude, we are still in the process of construction and grow-in and we ask you to stay off the holes and that means no carts, walking or hit your club from new 9 to old 9. The White O.B. markers are clearly staked and the drop zone is painted regularly.

Franz Unterberger

Assistant Superintendent

BASc. Horticulture Majoring in Golf Course Management

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Bunker Update May 5th

The Nk Mip turfcare team has been diligently working on greenside bunkers to get them ready for the remainder of the season. You could say that maintaining bunkers are the achilles heal of most maintenance departments in the golf industry. They require an extensive amount of labor, time and effort to retain their aesthetical appeal and playing conditions.

We allocate two laborers Monday to Friday for 4 hours with one personnel on weekends for 5 hours to give you an idea of the time already spent on bunker maintenance. The shift consists of strictly raking the material with a Toro sand pro machine to loosen up material and groom them for play.

Along with retaining those playable conditions, we emphasis the aesthetics of our golf course are kept at a high standard here at Nk’ Mip. In the picture below you are able to see the grass and invasive weed hanging over the bunker edge and notice the sand has worked its way up to the lip.

This past week we have been improving the visual representation of green side bunkers by edging and moving material to areas with little or no sand. The process begins with removing material around bunker using a simple edging tool to create and flat vertical surface.  In some spots we had to edge over a foot out of the bunker due to extensive growth.

Edging Bunker

Material Removal

In the picture below you can really see the visual difference of a renovated edge and an untreated edge.  The next process involves a probe to measure sand depths to move material to those areas with no sand such as steeper bunker faces, using a John Deer trap rake. This particular trap rake is very versatile piece of equipment when rebuilding bunkers. It is equipped with a blade and belly blade to move large amounts of material. You may have seen it being used for construction on the new greens and tees. 

Finished vs. Unfinished Edge

Moving Material

This before and after picture illustrates a bunker that has been completely renovated on hole #13.  The edge is clearly defined, clean and increases the visual aspect of the hole. Doesn’t that make you want to play out of them?!

Before Renovation

After Renovation

We hope to complete all the bunkers within the coming weeks, but again the allocation of manpower is limited but be patient! In addition there are a few tips you can do to help us, always enter a bunker from the lower end. Barreling into a steep bunker face moves material to the bottom of the trap, in turn maintenance must happen more regularly. Also, keep in mind that you are maintaining the hazard for the groups behind you so please take the time to rake your footprints.

The approach this year is to focus on keeping greenside bunker sand tilled and continuously softened with fairway bunkers to be firmer and let you pick the ball out of the sand easier. Hope you are all enjoying the conditions provided by the turfcare team as we strive to enhance your experience on the golf course. On that note bring on the heat!

Franz Unterberger

Assistant Superintendent

BASc. Horticulture Majoring in Golf Course Management