Bentgrass has left the building...

The day started out just like any other day this spring, as we mowed and rolled Greens, mowed Approaches, raked Bunkers, and did our Course Set-up for the day. We reminded all of our staff that today would be the last day that we mow green Bentgrass at Windermere Golf Club. Here is a picture of Olegario rolling #11 Green and Cirilo mowing the Approach in the background.

As we finished our AM assignments, the wind began to pick up and we were beginning to wonder if the gust were going to be too strong for us to spray the Greens without having any herbicide drift into the Collar or Approach. We decided that it is always windy at Windermere and we would have to use a large sheet of plywood as a wind breaker. The sheet of plywood was slightly cumbersome in the wind but it did its job.

Our process to spray Greens out was debated amongst the management staff and we sought advice from other Superintendents from all across Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama and South Carolina. The process that we thought was our best course of action for both quality and efficiency was to ride spray the centers of the Greens, but be sure to stop and start within the dotted blue lines. The dotted blue lines represent the original Greens cavity and will be the edge of our new Mini Verde Greens. Here is a photo of the dotted blue line on #17, you will notice that the Green will be expanding out approximately 18".

When we spray greens or any area on the course we typically have only one person making the application. Today we decided that with us wanting to make sure that we sprayed within the lines, we added a second person to this process. The second staff members sole responsibility was to remind the driver to start and stop the application inside the Greens new edge. Here is a picture of Israel driving the sprayer and Kellan ensuring that we color inside the lines on #15.

Finally to create a smooth contour along the blue dotted line, we used a piece of equipment called a Sprayhawk. The Sprayhawk allows one to spray in areas that are not meant to have a ride sprayer in. This a time consuming job, yet this is where we make sure that we maintain a smooth line and completely cover the area. We use a blue dye indicator in these applications so that we can ensure quality coverage, one will notice the darker color in the areas that we Sprayhawked as this gives our staff a guarantee that we achieved 100% coverage. Here is Tim Murdock our Second Assistant Superintendent using the Sprayhawk and Olegario handling the hose for him.

We will not be mowing or rolling Greens tomorrow as we want to allow the plant every opportunity to uptake the herbicide. We will be rolling and mowing again, starting on Friday. Thank you again for checking on the status of the Windermere Turf Department and our progress in the maintenance of the course and grounds.