Member-Guest ...

What a great weekend. Other than the 1.25 inches of rain that washed out and flooded the bunkers Thursday night, everything went as well as I could have hoped. I think the course played and presented well. I also think Eric, Rob, Vaughn, Lynn, and the team put on a great event. I'm already looking forward to next year.

Looking good ...

Still looking good! Waiting for the good word from the Gov.

Mowing! And pond clean up ...

Warm weather upon more warm weather. That has been the theme of this winter for sure.

Things are rolling right along. Everything except the greens have been mowed. We plan to mow them tomorrow ( Monday ) morning.

We are still strategically removing trees. Concentrating on those that are shading putting greens or that are dead and or dangerous.

We have continued to work on overall course clean up and details. Last week, we tackled the ponds near #12 East and #6 West. This was a lot of work as they had gotten overgrown and we were removing what we cut down from the area. I think the work will be noticeable.

It seems like a few of you are out enjoying this beautiful Sunday. Hopefully you enjoy your day!

Pics of the pond clean up below ...

Another one ...

Looks like a great stretch of weather coming! In preparation for that, we blew out all the green side bunkers on the West course yesterday. We also mulched the areas around the bunkers that had the most leaves. Today we are going to reset cups, check tee markers, and hopefully rake green side bunkers on the West if they aren't frozen.

We took a big tree down from between eight and nine East this week. Had obviously been dead for sometime and was in pretty bad shape. We completed the clean up other than the stump grinding.

Hopefully you can get out and enjoy the course over the next week!

Pond clean up!

We've had a pretty standard 10 days or so in the agro department. We are on our third mow of the high grass areas, which I'm really happy with. I was afraid we would have snow cover or terrible weather for weeks or a month and not much make progress. However we have had a good winter of working weather and we have accomplished a lot.

The last few days we knocked out the pond edge next to the tee on #1 West and behind the wedding area. This area is very visible and had gotten out of control. No longer! Still some work to do around the edge, as some of those small bushes and trees are frozen into the ice. But overall, a much cleaner, neater look.

One to two inches of rain today! Not great for the turf. When we thaw out after a few very cold days like we had early this week, things are sloppy. When we thaw out and get an inch or two of rain, things are very sloppy and easily damaged. 

Have a good weekend!

Pictures of the pond, before top, after bottom. Notice in the first picture, you can't even see most of the split rail fence "before". 

Bad plugs!?!?

While talking to various folks the last few weeks I've stated that we are working to fix the bad plugs or bad cup plugs on the greens. A few people have asked what I meant. So let me explain ...

The "cup plug" is the turf and soil pulled out of the green in a cylinder shape by the cup cutter. After pulling out that cylinder of turf and soil you place the cup in the hole that is left and use a "cup setter" to push the cup down into place. The cup setter also smooths the edges and eliminates any "crown" around the cup. You than take that cylinder of dirt that we now know as the plug, and place it into the hole the cup came out of. Generally, it should fit pretty close to perfect. Perfect being level with the surface of the green and having no gap around the edge.

On occasion, the plug doesn't fit exactly perfect and we have to fix it. To fix it you pop the turf or top part of the plug off and either add or remove soil to get the plug level. There is some artistry involved here. It is a skill you only perfect by practice which makes a good cup guy invaluable.

In the picture below there are six bad plugs, which is unacceptable in such a small area. The red circles, are plugs that are too low. The purple circles, are plugs that are too high. The best case scenario with a high plug is a cup sized bump in the green and the worst case is a dead "scalped" plug. Scalping is when the mower cuts off all the leaf tissue leaving only the crown of the plant or worse, dirt. The plugs that end up too low create a slight depression in the green. In my opinion, a low plug is better than a high plug. Generally the grass will grow up and either fix or mask the poorly done job. A high plug, especially a scalped one, dies. "If it's low it grows, if it's high it dies" is what I was once told when I was an aspiring greenskeeper. That being said, the result should end up as close to perfect as possible.

( the white stuff is just spray foamer )

A close look at a low plug ...

A close look at a high plug that is scalped slightly on the right side ... 

With all that being said, we will reassess who our cup changers are going forward, coach them up, and raise the expectations. The area around the cup is the one area that 99% of the players will see. It needs to look sharp. 

Snow today! Apparently. There are few things prettier than a golf course covered in a fresh blanket of snow. 

Frost damage ...

While walking a few holes with the morning members last week we discussed whether frost delays were a real issue. We also discussed whether the damage differs based on conditions and time of year. I gave them my opinion that October, November, and early December frost delays are more crucial.

I told them to take a look at the area along Hamilton Road, where we had removed the old split rail fence. We were doing this as a "frost job", or a job we would work on during frost delays.

We are about 10 to 14 days out from a few mornings in which we had a heavy frost and had worked on the fence. The damage appears pretty significant, at least aesthetically and isn't growing out anytime soon.

First picture you can clearly see the tracks made by the carts and machines. Second picture shows an area with no traffic versus one that had traffic.

Some information on frost delays:

USGA: 5 Things to Know About Frost Delays

USGA: Frost Delays

USGA: What Is So Important About Staying Off Frost

More bunker progress!

Some more pictures of bunker detail and overall green complex clean up.

#1 Green complex after ... 

#10 Greenside bunker before and after ... 

#10 and 11 Green complexes after ... 

Welcome!

Welcome to the Royce Brook Golf Club Agronomy Department blog. It is odd, writing this knowing I'm speaking to no one. Will that change? Who knows. But in my short three weeks here at Royce Brook I've seen as much if not more member and guest engagement than I've seen in 17 years as a Superintendent or Assistant Superintendent.  I think we do an interesting job as Golf Course Superintendents and so far it seems there is plenty of interest from our guest. I thought this would be a fun way to share what we are doing on the course as well as give those of you interested in golf course maintenance some added insight. I think you will find that I'm pretty available on property, especially to those who play here often, but this will serve as an extra avenue to get information out about the whys, hows and whens of the RBGCAD and maybe, if you ask nicely ( lol ), answer some questions. This will also act as an another form of documentation for myself moving forward. 

Since my arrival we have tried to catch up on the detail work that was being overlooked. In particular, we have made a conscious effort to spend more time and energy on bunker complexes, especially around the greens. I think we are making progress and a few of the members have given us positive feedback about it. 

Bunker rakes ... we are in the process of removing any broke, bent, or otherwise damaged bunker rakes. So if you end up in a bunker with limited or no rakes, there is a reason. At this point in the season it doesn't make sense to put new rakes out. 

What a beautiful place Royce Brook is. I'm sure I don't have to tell anyone that plays here that. I'm happy and thankful for the opportunity at RB!  

Be on the lookout for the two Bald Eagles frequenting the area around the cell tower!

Some recent pictures ...

#1 post bunker clean up:

#11 post bunker clean up: