Drainage!

June was a wet month for Wakonda. We received a total of 9.5 inches of rain with 5.5 inches on June 8 & 9.  It has been a wet beginning to the 2011 season- we have received more than 20 inches of rain since April 1st.

We are taking advantage of the drier weather this week by tackling a drainage project on holes 12 & 13.  

Jaret Vasey operates our trencher on the left side of 12 fairway.

Intern Jason Conrad is prepping a trench for pipe.

The process is labor intensive but will have a tremendous impact in playability.  Other areas we would like to install additional drain pipe include fairways 3, 5, and 8.  Hopefully we will have weather favorable for drainage work so we can address theses areas before turf health declines.

The type of drainage we are installing is a corrective measure for excess ground water and is not necessarily part of the drainage master plan which was completed last fall by Turf Drainage Co.  This consultant focused primarily on upgrades which would better handle surface runoff from surrounding areas during major rain events.

Junior Days are Here!

We were pleased to host a visit from Wakonda's Junior golfers this morning.  John Temme spent time with the kids and showed them our maintenance building and our fleet of mowers.  He also gave a lesson on taking care of the golf course- filling divots, fixing ball marks, etc.

Golf Pro Aaron Krueger gets hands- on with a walking greens mower.

You will see Juniors on the golf course on Tuesday and Thursday mornings throughout the summer.

Cart Restrictions

The view from our shop as a large storm cloud rolls through Thursday morning.

Thursday into Friday we experienced several waves of thunderstorms which dumped over 5.5 inches of rain at Wakonda Club.  We were forced to restrict carts these days but were allowing carts to be used in the "rough only" by Friday afternoon.  When we make golf cart rulings it is not without careful consideration or without cause.  We give every golfer the benefit of the doubt- that everyone will obey the ruling and respect the golf course.  We want you to enjoy the course as much as possible- this is what motivates us. 

To clarify: a ruling of "rough only" means that a golf cart should never contact the fairway turf.  In addition, it is recommended that carts be driven at least 10 feet from the fairway and not in the first cut of rough.  This turf is mowed at a lower height and is therefore less tolerant of traffic stress.  Reference April, 2010 posting "Off the Beaten Path."

 In addition to cart restrictions we utilize ropes to keep traffic from areas of concern where carts will have deleterious effects on the turf.  As you can see below sometimes rules and ropes are ignored.

This area is in the bottom of the approach on #3.  If the ropes were not enough the ruling for this particular day was "rough only"

Tire damage from a golf cart on #11 fairway- not a favorable lie- again the damage was done on a "rough only" day.

The good news from this situation is that the forecasted weather has temperatures in the 70's and not in the 90's.  The affected areas pictured above should recover in a couple weeks.  However, when ambient air temperatures approach 100 degrees and soil temperatures rise into the 90's the areas depicted above would likely die. 

Monitoring Our Nest Boxes

As you may have recently noticed, all ten of our newly constructed, bird nesting boxes have been strategically placed throughout the course property. Our birdhouses were placed in a variety of locations to see which ones are most successful. To help keep the nest dry, each birdhouse faces southeast, away from the prevailing winds. 

It is very important to monitor these nesting boxes on a regular basis to help ensure nesting success; therefore, we would like to include the membership with this project. We are seeking a small group of interested people to check the houses every week or two.  If you would be interested in helping us out, please contact superintendent John Temme.

Another Blazer Days!

#17 with shadows falling about 8:30 Friday evening.

We were blessed with fantastic weather for Blazer Days 2011.  The grounds staff are always excited to prepare the course for this event.  We put forth our best effort to ensure that the course is as close to perfect as we can achieve.  Our entire staff worked over 50 hours last week despite only working 3 hours on Memorial Day.  Crew members worked a continual shift from 5AM until 8PM on Thursday and worked a split shift on Friday to allow the tournament to be played.  With cooperation from Mother Nature we were able to maintain green speeds between 11 and 12 feet.  We received numerous complements and got the impression that a good time was enjoyed by all participants.

One of our crew members mows #7 approach- almost sunset.

Dewar's and Divots

We would like to extend a quick "Thank you" to the numerous families and individuals who participated in the fairway divot filling last night. Due to the excellent weather conditions, we had a great turn-out, with approximately 40 individuals helping fill divots. All fairway divots on the front nine were filled, along with the divots on the old nine approach. This night saves our grounds staff numerous hours of work and allows us to focus our efforts on other parts of the course. We look forward to another Dewar's and Divots later on this season.

Water Quality Management

As part of our continued environmental efforts, we recently conducted water tests to check the quality of our water bodies. Protecting the health and integrity of our water bodies is an essential component of showing our commitment to environmental stewardship. Our main goal for this water test was to determine exactly how much nitrate was leaching into our water bodies.

For this water test, two water samples were taken. The first sample was collected by 10 tee complex, to determine the water quality at the top of the watershed. The second sample was taken at the bottom of the watershed near the Hubbel property line. These sites were chosen to check the quality of water coming onto and leaving the course.

Water testing process

After completing  the chemical analysis, we began to evaluate our results. The United States Environmental Protection Agency has set 10ppm as the maximum value allowed for clean, safe drinking water and groundwater. Both water samples had a nitrate level of 2ppm, which is well below federal regulations. Another positive is that no extra nitrates were deposited into the water than were already present in the top of the watershed. One reason for this is the taller grass surrounding all of our water bodies. This tall grass acts as a buffer and helps us reduce chemical runoff. We will continue to monitor our water quality monthly and pursue a more environmentally friendly golf course.