New Equipment Manager - Hector Velazquez Jr.

It's with great pleasure that I announce our new Equipment Manager, Hector Velazquez Jr.  Hector comes to us from Thorntree Country Club in DeSoto, Texas where he is currently the Golf Course Equipment Manager.  Hector has 13 years of experience as an Equipment Manager at golf clubs around the U.S. and is well respected by his peers.  In his spare time, Hector produces videos for turfnet.com about equipment maintenance, new products, and helpful tips for other Superintendents and Equipment Managers around the globe to use and share ideas.  We're very excited to welcome Hector to the team at Walnut Creek CC and look forward to working with him for years to come!

To learn more about Hector and watch his videos on equipment maintenance , please visit his website at:    www.hectorsshop.com

Course Closing for Winter

With the upcoming weather forecast, the courses will be closed for the winter starting Sunday, December 2nd. With that said, don't forget to take advantage of the Black Friday sales at Lathwell's Golf Shop today and remember that the clubhouse will remain open for the holiday events and dining!

Off Season Projects Begin

Late fall and winter are great times to make improvements to the courses that will have a big impact on members enjoyment of the facility for the next season.  This week we began our first of four new quick-coupler installations around greens on the West course.  “Quick-couplers” or “QC’s” are hand operated valves that allow our staff to connect a hose to the irrigation system quickly and water select areas like greens. 

Trenching lines for new pipe

New QC installations are often very easy to do and can be done by one person even during the growing season, but the West course is a little different.  

The current irrigation on the West course is referred to as a “block system”.  In the block system, many of the irrigation pipes that are pressurized with water all the time are located in the rough, far from the greens, tees, and fairways.  Branching off of the pressurized pipe is a herringbone of smaller pipes that have irrigation heads connected to them.  The only thing stopping the irrigation heads from running all the time is one electronic valve between the pressurized pipe and the heads.  So if you want to turn on one head, you may actually have to turn on three or four at the same time depending on how it’s set up.  So, for example, if there is an area in a fairway where a QC is needed, we can’t just connect into the pipe in the fairway.  If we did, the only time water would be available at the QC would be when the valve is open and the irrigation heads are running.  With that said, new irrigation lines have to be put in the ground starting at the pressurized lines by themselves.  A big process to do, but one that our staff is tackling well.

The pipe is together and ready to be put in

When it comes to watering greens properly, hand watering is often used so the greens don’t receive too much or too little irrigation water.  Greens with too much or too little water have big problems both with health of the turf and playability for the golfer.  Having QC’s closer to greens allows our staff to move around the course swiftly and with less disruption to play during the day while also doing what’s best for the turfgrass by syringing or watering.

These installations are being done in-house at very little cost.  Yesterday we completed the installation of the new pipe by #1 West green and are on track to have our second run of pipe competed this afternoon by #7 West green.  I’m very proud of the hard work our staff is putting in to complete these great updates.

Laying the sod back down right behind it for less disruption

Late Season Range Tee Recovery

Yesterday the staff at WCCC did range maintenance that will greatly improve the conditions for Spring golf.  The range tees were aerified, seeded, treated for potential disease, and tarped for late season germination and divot recovery.  These tarps will be left on until we cover select greens to promote as much divot recovery as possible before winter.  The permeable tarps help increase the temperature underneath which produces a little extra growth during a time when the plant is otherwise shutting down.

Frosty Mornings

Well November is here and so are the frosty mornings.  As many are aware, any traffic on frozen turf will injure it and likely even kill it.  We've put signs out on the putting greens to ensure everyone stays off the frozen turf and have been staying in close communication both with the golf shop staff and starter to get golf going as soon as it's safe.  The weather outlook for the next few days is similar in that the frost potential is high.  Feel free to reference this USGA article for an explanation on the effects of traffic on frozen turfgrass : USGA Frost Article

Dave Stiegler, Equipment Manager at WCCC – Retiring

Dave is hard at work grinding reels at WCCC

While we're sad to see Dave leave the family here at Walnut Creek Country Club, we wish Dave the best as he leaves us for retirement.  Dave Stiegler has been with Walnut Creek CC for 19 years and has spent the past 12 years as the Equipment Manager.  He has played an integral role in keeping the course looking beautiful with maintaining the large fleet of equipment used to manicure the property.  His years of service here are greatly appreciated and we hope he enjoys every day of his much deserved retirement! Dave’s last day is November 16^th, so please feel free to stop by and wish him well.  Thanks for all the hard work, Dave!

Blowing Out Irrigation

Watering turf is done for the season.  Today we began to clear out all of the water from the irrigation lines and it will continue into tomorrow afternoon.  This process needs to be done thoroughly to ensure pipes and sprinkler heads do not burst over the winter months as the ground freezes!  Cold rainy afternoons like today and tomorrow are a great time to clear the system as there is far less member play.  For those who bare the cold weather to get a few last rounds in, we apologize for any inconvenience this may cause because of the noise or occasional mist that may blow your way.

Range Closing November 4th

WCCC Practice Range

The practice range will be closing for the season Sunday, November 4th.  The golf course will remain open weather permitting.  Although cold, the courses are playing well.  We hope you enjoyed the 2012 season and look forward to seeing you on the course!

Getting ready for play: 8 and 9 South

As we near the end of fall this year we're working hard to ensure 8 and 9 south play great next season.  The holes are looking nice and I anticipate they will play very well next year.  The grounds crew has been working on smoothing the greens while also working out grain that developed while growing them in.  During aerification, these greens were punched twice to remove thatch (dead plant material) accumulation and smooth out the surface.

Hand Brooming and Mowing 9 South Green

Now that 8 and 9 south greens have healed in, we've done a few other cultural practices that help smooth the putting surface, increase future greens speeds, and help them become great greens.  One practice we have done is hand brooming greens.  You may think it sounds funny, but it's a great practice to lift leaf blades of the plant that are laying down and to cut them at the proper height.  Following brooming, topdressing sand is applied to the green to fill in any gaps in turf while also smoothing the surface.  Plant leaf tissue that lays down on a putting surface is commonly referred to as grain.  When grain is removed, the putting surface will be much more true and more consistent green speeds can be expected.

Rolling 8 South With a 2,171 lb Street Roller

Following brooming and topdressing greens we rolled them with a street roller which helped smooth out imperfections in the green.  These imperfections likely originated from the greens mix blowing around before seed germination due to wind.  Currently the greens are looking fantastic and should be outstanding for next year!

Native Mowing

This week we are beginning the mowing of our native areas.  Mowing these in the fall each year helps control over-growth of woody vegetation and other weeds which tend to take over these areas when not managed properly.  Cutting down the woody vegetation also allows for better growth of the fescue in the spring and a cleaner appeal with better playability for the golfer.