With a Servant’s Heart

Ladies & Gentlemen,

Governor Nathan Deal has offered an opportunity for the Weir Foundation and Scholars (http://www.weir-foundation.org/) to participate in his With a Servant’s Heart initiative on January 10, 2015.  The Governor has taken an interest in the Weir Foundation after the passing of Mack Burgess and sees this as an opportunity to promote the Weir Scholarship opportunity.

With a Servant’s Heart was launched in 2011 as a way for Nathan and Sandra Deal to give back to their supporters and community.  Serving others has been a cornerstone of their lives, and it’s fitting that this is the first in a series of inaugural events.  This statewide service day, in which the Deals partner with organizations in different areas, is an effort to mobilize volunteers and groups and get them involved in their respective communities.  Elected officials will participate across the state in hopes of raising awareness, supplies and funds to help those in need in their local neighborhoods.

The Governor would like the Weir Foundation to head up a golf equipment drive for The First Tee of East Lake.  The items the First Tee is in most need of are ladies clubs, but will appreciate any equipment donations … men’s clubs, shoes, bags, putters, etc.

You can drop off any donations to the St Ives Country Club Maintenance Facility and we will get the items delivered. Thank you in advance!

Kyle Macdonald, Class A , GCS
Georgia GCSA, Board of Director

Azalea Rejuvenation

The grouping of azaleas to the left of 13 green has been pruned back to 6 - 12 inches off the ground. This practice is commonly known as “rejuvenation pruning.” Below, are the reasons why this was the best solution:

1.) Over all, the aesthetics of the azaleas were unattractive and overgrown.

2.) The plot was heavily contaminated with invasive vines. The only option to completely eradicate is hand manual removal of large unwanted plants and herbicide applications. The unwanted plants were not accessible due to the density of the shrubs.

3.) Several factors contributed to the poor design:

a.) Azaleas planted too close to the cart path. The crew and I removed any azalea within 5 feet of the cart path to anticipate future growth.  In order to keep the Azaleas off the cart path they had to be sheared and Azaleas cannot tolerate routine shearing. The prolonged stress will eventually cause the shrub to become unattractive.

b.) Azaleas planted too close together. We selectively removed some azaleas to create two groupings instead of one. This will give the bed more interest and help with future manual weeding occurrences. There will be less shrubbery obstructing weeding.

c.) In hindsight, the variety of Azalea originally chosen was too big for the area it was planted. Instead, an azaleas that grows to three-four feet in height would be ideal. This would allow the observer to see over the top of the azaleas and look upon the green and other areas of the golf course.

I have done this in the past and I am confident this is the right decision. The pruned azaleas should reach two-three feet in height by the end of the first season. We will also be shrinking the size of the bed and creating a cleaner/crisper bed line. See the before and after pictures below!

-Mike Klaskala, Horticultrist / Assistant Superintendent

Painting Turfgrass

On Monday, December 1st, we painted the Driving Range Tee (DRT) for the first time this winter. There will be a 2nd application in 8-10 weeks. The club made the decision skip over-seeding the DRT this will provide optimum growing conditions for the DRT heading into next years golf season. In lieu of over-seeding, we are testing out paints to see how they look and hold up to traffic. So far, I am impressed with the color!  We have a few other paints to test and will finish the range by early next week.  

 Below are some photos we took on Monday. 

 First pass looking towards #1 Tee Box

 First pass looking towards Putting Green

 A view from the outside/upstairs patio

 One of the Target Greens receiving its final pass

This picture is from the Putting Green. The light colored area in the center of the picture is a check plot, this is what the greens would look like if we didn't use pigments/colorants.

Not exactly what I wanted to read today....

Winter is in mid season form despite only being mid November. 

No, it's not "Global anything"  it is weather, climate is different than weather as many of us learned in high school. But it certainly is extreme, and much of the nation will continue going from one extreme to another as we already have the past two months.

Take a look at some model output in the graphics. Keep in mind when I tell you what a model says or show model output it is only model output not my own forecast. MY forecast is always on the radio and at wsbradio.com.

Notice how the same model can change significantly from one run to the next just 6 or 12 hours apart. And there are some 52 different models. Sadly, many entertainment forecasters only use the one they can point to and animate.

Weather forecasts are a moving target, always changing like the traffic. It's not static, weather is constantly on the move. Hence the need to check my forecast frequently for changes in some patterns.

The brief return of above normal temperatures Sunday/Monday may come at the price of heavy rain and storms.

We get a brief break before the Arctic hounds are unleashed again late November or December.

Sinking storm tracks, and a fast growing southern El Nino split flow jet stream coming on quickly gives me the fear that winter mischief is coming back pretty quickly, even in part of the South. 

I don’t know if north jet stream flow will fully lock in totally for the entire winter just yet, (usually even the harshest Winters will see major thaws) but I am concerned that a major Southeast Winter Storm is on the table before we even get to Christmas this season.

I still prefer January and February as number one for highest snow and ice potential, but the way things are going, I think all 3 winter months have a higher than average chance to bring something, even early March. 

Stay tuned and follow me on twitter @MellshMeterWSB and at wsbradio.com and News 955 FM and AM 750 WSB RADIO.

(From http://www.wsbradio.com/weblogs/kirk-mellishs-weather-commentary/)

Tuesday November 18, 2014

We will leave the covers on the greens all day and remove on Wednesday 11/19 for a 12:30 pm Shotgun.

Greens Covering Refresher (November 2015)

 Our guideline on pulling covers over the greens, I will monitor the forecast and communicate with the membership when the time arises. So, please follow the Blog and Twitter!

25 degrees or cooler for two consecutive nights

Soil temps less than 40 degrees

Highs less than 40 degrees. 

As always when dealing with Mother Nature there will need to be some flexibility.

September's Data

AVERAGE HIGH	AVERAGE LOW	TOTAL PRECIPITATION		AVERAGE AM SOIL TEMP	AVERAGE PM SOIL TEMP	AVERAGE GREEN SPEED
83	66	5.925		66	90	12.4

October 2014 Update

It has been a busy summer, which is a good thing, unfortunately I fell behind on keeping the Blog up to date with Course Happenings! The temperatures are beginning to fall and the grass is to slowing down, so I can use some of my time updating the Blog and keeping membership informed on any Golf Course news.

Kevin Dunn, Assistant Superintendent, was promoted to Golf Course Superintendent in Boca Raton. This was a great advancement and well deserved. His replacement is Tyler Trzaska from Rivermont Golf and Country Club. Tyler has been on property for two months and is exceeding expectations. We are working on a Blog entry introducing Tyler to the St Ives and ValleyCrest Family (coming soon).

Eddie Melendez, Landscape Superintendent, was promoted to Branch Operations Manager for Brickman Landscape. Eddie had been on property 5 years and did tremendous work for St Ives and ValleyCrest. We are excited for his big promotion and wish him the best of luck. We are currently looking for someone to step in and fill the void he left.

You might have noticed that the annual flower installation is under way. It is that time of year to plant your Pansies, Violas, Cabbage and Kale. Once the temperatures fall a little more, we will install the tulip bulbs for the March Flower show!  The trick now is to deter the deer and rabbits from eating the flowers for dinner.

Next Blog... 

Why do we topdress greens every week?! 

Divot Recovery....

 Above is the proper way to use the driving range tee while warming up or practicing.

 

Assistant Pro Todd Runkel taking some divots on #16 fairway. 

Each of the smaller stripes (right side of picture) were 6 shots and the bigger area (left side of picture)was a total of 12 shots. Let's have an experiment and see which area heals faster. My money is on the 2 line of 6 shots. 

Cold snap in July??

We should have know, as soon as, we aerified the greens this summer the temperatures would dive into a cold snap. Over the past four days, we have seen two not break 80 degrees (Sunday and Monday). That is unheard of for July in Atlanta. The greens are 15 days removed from aerification and despite the weather are recovering nicely. They look about 80% recovered and should be getting back into shape within the next week. Did you know that from Feb through June of 2014 the average daily green speed has been 11.88?

15 Days after Aerification 

June's Records

Date		High	Low	Precipitation (in)	Irrigation Depth	AM Soil Temp	PM Soil Temp	Speed
6/1/2014		80	67			58	83	11.25
6/2/2014		80	58		0.1	58	89	11.25
6/3/2014		86	62		0.1	61	94	11.8
6/4/2014		89	66		0.25	66	98	12.75
6/5/2014		89	68	0.25		70	96	13.25
6/6/2014		86	64			65	93	13.5
6/7/2014		90	65	0.25		66	102	13.9
6/8/2014		87	64			66	96	11.25
6/9/2014		91	65	0.05	0.25	66	97
6/10/2014		92	64	0.6		65	97	10.5
6/11/2014		82	65	0.025	0.1	66	89	11.3
6/12/2014		83	63			64	91	11.25
6/13/2014		84	64			64	93	11.25
6/14/2014		88	61		0.1	62	99	11
6/15/2014		89	65	0.17		65	100	11
6/16/2014		93	68		0.15	70	102	11.75
6/17/2014		92	67		0.1	69	101	11.75
6/18/2014		92	68		0.25	69	102	12.25
6/19/2014		95	68			68	105	11.3
6/20/2014		94	67			67	103	12.3
6/21/2014		92	70		0.1	71	102	11.5
6/22/2014		93	66		0.4	66	102	12.2
6/23/2014		88	67		0.3	68	93	12.25
6/24/2014		87	67			67	94	topdress/vcut .05
6/25/2014		90	67			67	101	12.2
6/26/2014		89	67			68	97	11.5
6/27/2014		89	68			68	97	11.83
6/28/2014		86	69			70	95	12.25
6/29/2014		89	68	0.05	0.25	68	100	11.75
6/30/2014		85	68	0.05		68	92	topdress/vcut .1
		AVERAGE HIGH	AVERAGE LOW	TOTAL PRECIPITATION	TOTAL H20 MINS	AVERAGE AM SOIL TEMP	AVERAGE PM SOIL TEMP	AVERAGE SPEED
		88	66	1.445	2.45	66	97	11.9