THE COUNTRY CLUB AT LOCH LLOYD GOLF COURSE MAINTENANCE UPDATE SUMMER 2020
I would like to thank you for taking the time to read this second edition of my report. Summer is upon us and golf is in full swing, during a time which, to say the least, has been unpredictable. The Golf Course Maintenance team appreciates all of the kind support that we have received lately related to course conditions, storm aftermath cleanup and the overall hard work of the team. As mentioned in last quarter’s report, we receive many questions on a daily basis from golfers, home owners, guests and associates. Some of these questions voice concerns and others are simply seeking information to become educated on a situation or variable within our operation. If you ever feel that we have not successfully answered your question or solved a situation, please reach out by email, text or phone so that we may address your concerns. As many of you have noticed, the Golf Course Maintenance team has been working tireless hours these past several months. I hope you’ll recognize their efforts and the tremendous impact they make on a daily basis to improve the property and provide the best possible experience for you and your guests. I look forward to seeing you around the course, the Club and the community.
Jeff Steen
Director of Golf Course Maintenance jeffs@lochlloyd.com
The GCM team pictured is down several bodies in 2020 compared to this time last year. This is a hard-working group that takes tremendous pride in what they do. 2
TOPDRESSING Sand topdressing is one of the most important cultural practices for producing quality putting surfaces. Despite this fact, some courses only apply sand during aeration or infrequently during the golf season to avoid disrupting golfers and dulling mower blades and bedknives. The consequences of an inadequate topdressing program may not be observed immediately, but eventually there will be significant negative impacts on playability and turf health. Some benefits of topdressing include:
Improved smoothness Thatch dilution Improved turf recovery Increased firmness Improved root zone
Here at Loch Lloyd we have committed to a weekly greens topdressing program. Every Monday we apply a total of six tons of sand to the greens. To date this year, we have applied 150 tons of sand on the greens during our weekly topdressing and aerification events! To apply the sand, we use either the 1550 topdresser (pictured above) or a drop topdresser for heavier applications. We will continue all topdressing cultural practices to maintain the quality in the turf surfaces.
2020 SECOND QUARTER WEATHER STATS
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Agustin Cabrera has overseen the Clubhouse landscaping for the past four years. He enjoys all aspects of landscape maintenance and the beauty it brings to the Club.
Matias Vazquez has been a groundskeeper at The Country Club at Loch Lloyd for three years. Matias tells us that his favorite part about work is mowing the greens.
His hobbies include cooking and chiropractic work. Agustin is married to Maria Eugenia and has two daughters and one son. He is also blessed with nine grandchildren!
When not working at the Club, Matias loves soccer and plays every chance he gets. He enjoys spending time with his wife, Claudia, and their daughter, Natalie.
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“As a member, what are a few things we can do to help maintain the integrity of our beautiful golf course?” The top two ways you can help our golf course remain in the best condition possible are: 1) follow cart path rules and 2) repair ballmarks. Following the guidelines below and on the next page will help mitigate any unnecessary damage to the course. This is your course so whether it’s cart traffic control or fixing ballmarks, please hold yourself and others accountable and work together to keep it in the best possible condition. These simple guidelines will make such a difference. Thank you. NO ONE LIKES CART TRACKS. By following cart path rules, you can help keep our course beautiful and track-free. We ask that you please scatter and stay on the fairways when you leave the path and follow the cart directional signage as you exit the hole. We anticipate keeping carts on paths for holes #3 and #18 as well as all par 3s for the foreseeable future.
X
Do Not Enter
Enter Here
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Scatter Carts/ Remain in Fairway
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Exit Fairway at Cart Signs NOTE: #3, #18 and all par 3s remain cart path only 5
WHO WANTS TO SEE DENTS AND DINGS? Repairing your ballmark takes only seconds and makes a huge difference in how the golf course looks. Please see the diagram below for four easy steps to ballmark repair.
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Harold Horton has been with the GCM team for just over two years. A hard worker and contributor to the operation as a “jack-of-all-trades” associate. Whether it’s mowing grass or working on a project, Harold is the go-to guy that will make it happen. It is a real a pleasure working alongside Harold and having him as a part of the Loch Lloyd team!
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A few of the recent and upcoming initiatives within our operation:
BUNKERS While bunker maintenance continues to be an ongoing daily project for our team, a major bunker initiative over the next several weeks will improve playability.
Respecting Our Neighbors The recreation being enjoyed on the Sechrest Nine during this time has been great to see! We’ve had walkers, joggers, parents pushing strollers and folks enjoying each other’s company.
LANDSCAPING New plantings may be seen at the first tee and annuals have been planted around the Clubhouse.
NATIVE AREAS The GCM team continues to be aggressive in the ongoing native enhancement program.
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Many of you may have seen the grasses around the Sechrest Nine tee complexes and perimeter areas growing and taking on a more natural look. I’ve been asked why this is happening. We have allowed these areas to grow so we can manage our labor hours with the amount of mowing required. The natural look and walking paths created have been well received. Thank you for your feedback.
At the time of writing this, we were in the middle of a good stretch of warm weather. With a long summer still ahead, this is the time that we are pleased with our diligence during the past several months as we prepared the turf grasses for the impending challenges that lay ahead. Our number one goal will be to provide consistent playing conditions for the remainder of the season while diligently protecting the turf health. The biggest goal for the GCM team this summer is to work hard to bring the fairways back to full strength prior to them going back into dormancy. The Zoysia turf struggled in 2019 (as you may recall) and even the sod installed last year to remedy those struggles continues to be a challenge in 2020. We have attempted several times, dating back to last month in May, to start replacing the weak areas; however, pending storms and other variables kept us from receiving material direct from the sod farms. By the time this report is published, we will have repaired the worst of the areas as new Zoysia turf arrived the week of June 22nd. You may still see a lot of thin spider web looking areas after the sod work is completed as we will be aggressively encouraging the existing turf to fill in the thin areas vs. stripping and re-sodding. The existing grasses will be much stronger long term than that of the new, young turf delivered in the form of sod. Please remember that the fairways are still considered young and juvenile. It takes years (and a little luck with a few mild winters) to have a strong, healthy stand of Zoysia turf.
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Attention to detail is ongoing and takes time. It sometimes changes a culture within the work environment. Here are just a few of the details being taken care of by our hard-working team on a regular basis. Plus … some insight to projects earmarked for 2020. PATHWAYS Establish and maintain informal walking paths to improve our member/guest experience. GREENS “STEP-CUT” One question we’ve been asked multiple times lately is, “Why are the greens edges so much better this year vs. last year?” We call this area our “step-cut,” but it also includes our clean-up passes on the greens. I’d like to use the entire putting surface of #15 green to answer this question. Acting as my turfgrass barometer (and from what I have been told), #15 green has a history of struggling agronomically. In 2019, we struggled with this green at first … it was thin of turf, in poor quality and in overall bad shape. However, walking onto #15 by the end of June 2020, you’d have a hard time telling the putting surface apart from any others on the course. We know that we still have a long season ahead but the answer to #15’s 2020 success is the reason we “step-cut.” AGGRESSIVE AGRONOMIC PROGRAMS We have implemented an aggressive agronomic program for 2020 that consists of: Weekly topdressing (see page #3 for details) Additional plant health applications that are site specific Timely applications of plant growth regulators and wetting agents Additional rolling of greens while managing height of cut during stressful times Plus a few other “tricks” we have up our sleeves!
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As mentioned in my first quarterly report of 2020, I want to extend an open invitation to please stop by the maintenance yard and offices, meet the team and see behind the scenes. Whether you ask your questions, express your comments or share your concerns, I’m encouraging an open line of communication. Otherwise, it will be like the telephone game of talking through a tin can phone. I cannot respond to what I do not know.
Communication is important, but results matter more. The Golf Course Maintenance team has been working hard to provide great conditions for you throughout the remainder of the golfing season!
Jeff Steen
Director of Golf Course Maintenance jeffs@lochlloyd.com
The Whummle July 22nd-25th 11
16750 Country Club Drive Village of Loch Lloyd, MO 64012 816.322.1022 www.lochlloyd.com