Winter

Looking Backward Down 5 Fwy
(all the tracks are from the wildlife)

I'm pretty sure winter is here. If the cold temperatures and snow weren't enough the large number of geese flying south this week confirmed it. I tried to record the flocks and all the honking but none of the videos or stills were able to satisfactorily convey the event. All you heard in the video was my clothes rubbing together and the geese are all but specks in the still photos.

Keep snowing. Right now 9" (23cm) on the ground and flurries in the forecast. Up to this point, all things considered, barring the unforeseen, and God willing and the creek don't rise, etc., etc. (you can probably sense my restrained approach) the winter has set up to be far better than last year. A quick course check has revealed unfrozen surfaces on the sunny greens and some slight slush in low area on certain fairways which probably doesn't mean a whole lot this early in the season. At the very least we have some insulation against any cold snaps that come our way. At the very, worst conditions for disease (very near zero and some surface moisture) are present.

Equipment Maintenance

This is the time of year when we tear down the equipment and try to get it back into shape for the next season. One of biggest tasks is reel grinding.

Grinding Room

Over the season the edges of the reels and bedknives wear and become dull or damaged. We can do some stop-gap measures on the larger reels throughout the regular season but ultimately the reels need to be sharpened. Reels have to be removed from the machines and are given a once over looking for worn bearing, seals, or general wear and tear. Before sharpening any deficiency must fixed. Each reel is ground on a specialized piece of equipment that sharpens all the blades at once by spinning the reel while a sharpening stone travels back and forth across the reel.

Sparks from Fairway Reel Being Ground
(You can't tell from the pictures but both the
stone and reel are spinning at the same time)

Aside from the reels, the bedknives also have to be ground. The way a reel works is similar to scissors. Grass blades pass between the rotating reel and the stationary bedknife and are sliced in a motion similar to a pair of scissors cutting paper. With both cutting edges freshly sharpened the reel is put back together and re-installed on the mower ready for next season.

Bedknife and Bedknife Grinder

If possible, major mechanical repairs are usually delayed until the off-season. During the summer the mechanics time is often occupied by routine equipment maintenance as well as other tasks thrust upon him "out of left field". In the past the mechanic had to crawl around on the concrete floor and attempt to dismantle and fix equipment while lying on his back. A couple years ago we had a season where only half of the dollar amount budgeted for equipment repair was spend ; a seldom occurring and never repeated event. We used that surplus to purchase an hoist for the shop.

Rough mower getting the
once over on the shop hoist

With exception of our tractor all equipment pieces can fit on the hoist. Aside from saving the mechanics back, this "tool" has allowed for less down time since repairs are faster as well as allowing for more extensive inspections which can catch problems before they get too damaging and costly.

Some of what we do in the Fall.

I ran into a golfer the other day who seemed to be left with the impression that as soon as the golfing was done we were out of work. I guess my postings aren't making the impact with as many people as I had hoped.

This has been a great fall with a general trend of colder temperatures and limited rain (only 12mm for October). Combined, these circumstances will give the turf lots of cues to get ready for winter. I should give a little update on where we stand in general. All the preventative sprays on the greens, fairways, tees, and green surrounds are completed. All the "beetle trees" have been cut and stacked and the wildlife fences around the greens are up. The planted trees susceptible to wildlife damage have been protected (see "Typical Fall Work", Nov. 2009) as well as having a slight pruning (not the best time but getting around in winter is a pain!). We took advantage of the protracted fall to perform a little extra aerating and dormant overseeding on the driving range. We aerated the range in 3 directions, overseeded and then dragged the cores and seed into the the holes and low spots. The hope is to increase the turf density which will make it easier to pick the balls with the range picker.

At present there is only 3 staff working (me, the assistant, and the mechanic). We still have to take the tarps out of storage and lay them out where they belong. I'll do another post dedicated to tarping the greens and will give more information at that time. There are still a few loose ends from this year to clean up out on the course but nothing substantial. Ultimately, the work moves indoor and is mostly related to record keeping, equipment maintenance, reviewing and planning, and monitoring conditions. Actually, each one of those tasks deserves its own post so I won't go into too much detail other than to say that even though golf is finished we still manage to fill our days with cleaning up from this season and getting ready for next.