Greens Aeration

 The Benefits

• Relieves soil compaction – compaction occurs due to golfer and equipment traffic especially when the greens are being rolled four times a week to maintain speed.
• Controls Thatch – thatch forms an impermeable layer that water and nutrients will not penetrate and this is also the area where disease spores and insects live.
• Improves water infiltration – by decreasing thatch and providing room for air to start penetrating into the soil.
• Increases soil oxygen levels – by improving infiltration of water – water pulls the oxygen into the soil.
• Vent Greens - during the summer methane gas builds up in the soil and aerifying vents these gasses.
• Enhances fertilizer and pesticide applications – by making them easier for the roots to uptake the products.
• Provides a site for new grass plants to grow.
• Disease Control - enhanced disease control on recently aerated areas due to the increased overall health of the plant reducing the number of pesticide applications needed.
• Dilute soil - removing aeration cores on greens and applying sand topdressing to fill the aeration holes helps to dilute the soil based greens and keeps the column open extending the ability of air and water to penetrate.

The Process　

• The greens are aerated and the cores removed.
• The greens are brushed and remaining debris is blown off.
• Topdress the greens with sand.
• Bentgrass seed is spread over the green and brushed into the holes.
• Cut the green to remove excess material.
• Roll the green to smooth the surface.

Cores being removed

The TimingWhy do most golf clubs aerify the greens at the end of August?

The grass plant is actively growing so will recover within days.
The sand dries faster in the drier weather.
This is the perfect time of year to over seed, with cool nights and warm days germination will happen quickly, the poa annua is weak from summer stress so new seedlings have time to strengthen before the winter.
The students are back to school by Labor Day leaving us with a smaller crew, the cleanup will be quick and less disruptive in August.

Three days after aeration and holes are filling in. The weather was perfect for aeration and the cleanup went smooth. Green speeds will take a few more days to speed up.

Bunker on #15

 Sod has been installed and sand placed in the middle of the bunker. As soon as the sod starts to root and we can remove the board edging we will have the bunker back in play.

Bunker on #15

 This is the fairway bunker on #15 before we got started.

 All the bunker sand was removed due to the contamination over the years. We also lowered the back side of the bunker to increase your site lines while you are playing out if it.

 The soil that the bunker was originally constructed with was very sandy. It was removed and good topsoil was installed.

 This is the new shape after everything was regraded.

 Bunker boards were installed to define the grassed area from the sand area.

Already to be sodded.

New Tee

The reconstructed tee on #1 is now open for play. Late last fall we realigned the tee to point to the middle of the fairway, enlarged it to increase playing surface, and resurfaced it for a consistent playing area.

Over the past few months we have fertilized, hand topdressed (above picture), aerated and cut this tee to help the sod become strong enough to handle the day to day wear of a golf tee. Over the next month we may take it out of play for a few days to give it a rest to ensure it stays strong and healthy.

Lightning Strike

One of our large Pine trees on the 8th hole got struck by lightning. Some bark from this tree flew as far as 100 feet. There is a larger crack all the way from top to bottom in the tree now, so due to it being severely compromised it will need to be removed.

Hazardous Tree Removed

This tree was between the tees on 5 and 18. During the storm the strong winds caused this crack in the trees trunk.

Tree was also straight standing before the winds. Due to the fact that it was compromised and it became a hazard we removed it before the course was opened after the storm.

At a closer look after the tree was taken down you can see that there was a large rotten area in the middle of this tree.

Tree Clean Up

On Wednesday the 8th of June we had a storm which included high winds and rain come through the golf course. During this time we lost 12 trees and the hydro lines to our maintenance shop were damaged.

We had to close the golf course for the morning on Thursday to remove trees from roadways and cart paths. Also hydro had to inspect our lines and make sure it was safe to work around the downed lines.

Clean up will continue this week. We have removed anything that is close to the playing areas and trees that were compromised due to the strong winds.

Meet the Staff

Paul Rudling - Seasonal High School Student

This will be Paul's 5th season at the Briars. He is currently in grade 12 and is off to Queens University in the fall and will be studying Engineering.

Andrea Lowes - Part Time Seasonal

Andrea is married to Sean and they have four children - Scarlett, Halsey, Eliza, and Hannah. They live here in Sutton and Andrea also works at Cedar Lane Lodge. This is her 2nd season at the Briars.

Daniel Hutchinson - Seasonal High School Student

Daniel is currently in grade 12 at Our Lady of the Lake in Keswick. This is Daniels first season at the Briars

Friday

 Friday is a busy day on the golf course. We are preparing the course for the weekend and finishing up some jobs from earlier in the week. We start the morning looking after all the jobs in the middle of the playing area.

 Two staff to cut Fairways.

 One staff to cut Rough.

 One staff to cut the surrounds around greens and tees.

 One staff to cut greens.

 One staff to cut approaches and large tees.

 Two staff to clean and rake bunkers.

One staff to set up the course for the day and one to cut collars and small tees.

Also first thing in the morning one staff filled divots on the tees and one staff does some course clean up and trimming. Our mechanic does a tour of the golf course to check on all the equipment while they are in operation. After these morning jobs are done there are many tidy up jobs to be done. Example - picking up clippings from fairways, watering seed and soil areas, fill water coolers, maintain gardens...

Pond Restoration

This is before and after pictures of the second smaller pond on #5. We raised the overflow so that the pond will hold more water. It only took one rainy day to raise the level by 2 feet.

Meet the Staff

Ian McDonald - Co-op Student

Ian is a turf student at Seneca College and he has completed first year. This will be Ian's fourth season at the Briars and he has also worked at Taboo Golf Course as the assistant mechanic.

 Frank Cairns - Seasonal Full-time

Frank worked at Shawneeki Golf Club for three years until the middle of last season when he began working at the Briars. He has been an avid golfer for 35+ years and lives locally in Pefferlaw.

Kelly Setter - Summer Student

This is Kelly's 2nd season at the Briars. She is going into her 5th year at U of T in the Visual Arts Program and is a Varsity Hockey player for the University.

Seed and Soil

The areas on the course that have been seeded and soiled are starting to grow nicely. The wet weather has helped keep the seed bed moist without much extra hand watering. These areas will be back in play soon.

Meet the Staff

Patrick Greenman - Assistant Superintendent

I am married to Sheri and have two children Alyssa and Brady. I have worked at The Briars Golf Club for a year. Previously I worked at the Raven at Lora Bay and Oakdale Golf and Country Club. I graduated from the Golf Course Technician Program at Seneca Collage in 1999.

Carlos Ponce - Mechanic

Carlos was born in Panama and moved to Canada as a teenager. He has worked at The Briars Golf Club since 2003, married to Anna and has two children Carlos Alexander and Chantel Marie. Prior to The Briars Carlos worked at Donalda Golf and Country Club.

 

#2 Bunker

 The green side bunker on #2 was reconstructed late last fall. We removed all the old sand and rebuilt the bottom of the bunker. It was sodded last fall and we have waited for it to dry this spring to put on the finishing touches. Sand has been added and the bunker is now in play.

Seed / Soil

 Its nice to see the sun out, the course is finally getting a chance to dry up and the grass is starting to grow more. Most of the damage from the grubs/skunks has been cleaned up. In the areas beside fairways and by the practice tee we have put seed and soil and they have been marked as ground under repair. It will take some time for these areas to fill in so try to stay off them while you're on the course. The damaged areas around the greens and bunkers will be sodded when sod becomes available.

Grub Damage

 This damage is caused by pests such as raccoons, skunks and birds. They are after the grubs that are in the soil under the turfgrass. The grubs feed on the roots of the turfgrass which in turn makes it easier for the pests to pull the grass back to get at the grubs. There are many areas around the golf course that are infested and we see more damaged areas daily. Control of the grubs is all about the timing of your application. The grubs will be actively feeding in the early to mid summer so for best control products will be applied at that time.