Animal Damage

The location of TPC Stonebrae in the Hayward Hills can best be described as unique, and with that brings its own challenges. One challenge from a maintenance standpoint that we deal with on a regular basis here is animal damage, more so than any other course I have seen. Most of the damage ranges from the high gopher population to wild turkeys running through bunkers, or every once in a while a few deer tracks on a green. On rare occasions we will find damage from wild pigs.The photos below I took this morning on #9 green, it shows damage on the back left part of the green from a wild pig. We do have a specialist that is called whenever there are any pig damage related issues, so we can be proactive and help prevent any future occurrences.



This is a majority of the damage. The area was mended with a divot repair tool to ensure it would not affect playability.



Spring Greens Aerification

Spring Aerification is a chance for use to help relieve the greens from all the stress endured during the fall and winter, which ensures we will have healthy greens going into the summer. Aerification helps remove all the built up organic matter which gives the  roots a chance to breath, increasing air movement and infiltration.  At TPC Stonebrae our greens aerification process involves a number of steps which are shown in the photos below.



This photo shows first three process of greens aerification at the practice center. First all the head are flagged so they are visable for operaters running the aerifiers. Secondly once the heads are marked the aerifiers proceed to aerate the area. Then after the area has been aerified snow shovels are used to push the plugs into piles off the green, where they can then be picked up using scoop shovels and a John Deere Pro Gator.



After the plugs have been cleaned the green is brushed with a greens groomer. This process helps to clean the surface and stands up the leaf blades, so sand will easily fill the holes.

After being brushed the remaning debris are blow off the greens surface using a buffalo blower.

Since we removed a lot of surface area of the green, they are then handwatered to prevent any stress which could slow the recovery process.

Now the greens are ready for sand. This photo shows both the topdresser and the method used to fill the holes. Once the sand is on the green, blowers are then used to moved the sand across the green, while filling the holes in the process. It's a fast and effecient process.

This is a photo of the green after the  holes are filled with sand.

After the holes are filled the greens are then double rolled to help smooth the surface.

Then the greens are ready for the ammendments. The Following ammendments were applied using push spreaders( Earth works 5-4-5, Potassium Sulfate, and Cal-CM-Plus).

The ammendments are then watered  in, which helps break them down so they are readily available to the plant.