Sleeping Beauties

Shaker Members,

The grounds team here at Shaker has been very productive this offseason and below I have highlighted many of the goals we have been able to achieve. Our team currently consists of 6 fulltime employees and 1 part time employee and we have all been working very hard getting ready for this upcoming season.

The team has also started a new blog: (https://shakerturf1913.blogspot.com/) and they will be posting some behind the scenes and informative maintenance practices throughout the year. Please follow the blog and stay up to date with the work being achieved throughout the year. The team takes a lot of pride in the work they do and want to continue to make Shaker Heights Country Club members proud to have the best conditioned golf course in the region.

The removal of leaves at Shaker Heights is always extremely challenging especially with the creek coming into play on almost every hole. We purchased a new Ventrac and Vacuum attachment last season and it has greatly improved the leaf process removal here at the club. We also continue to have a positive relationship with the City of Shaker Maintenance, and they have aided us with some of our collected leaf and debris removal at no expense to the club.

The crew did a great job getting the greens ready for the winter and we were fortunate to have such a mild offseason with higher than average temperatures.

1.       We applied fungicide to greens, tees and fairways to prevent snow mold which worked extremely well with no disease this Spring.

2.       We applied topdressing to greens on two separate occasions prior to the cold temperatures and snowfall.

3.       We cut sod channels in low areas on greens to remove excessive moisture and prevent ice damage.

4.       We installed subsurface drainage to the back right of #8 green and a catch basin in the rough to aide in the removal of excess water.

5.       We applied nitrogen and potassium to the greens in order to help the plant remain hardy throughout the winter.

6.       The height of cut on greens were raised towards the end of last season to provide more leaf tissue. The extra leaf tissue benefited the plant when fungicides were applied to achieve better coverage.

Winter traffic diversion at the club is extremely challenging. Initially we used stakes and ropes to identify greens so that traffic would be alerted to stay off them. We found out after the first snowstorm that was not enough. We had a lot of traffic on greens 10,13,14,15,16, and 17. Our answer to that was to completely fence off those greens with black silt fence, that worked very well, and we had no damage from traffic.     

Paddle Court maintenance and snow removal is also something we have taken over in the offseason. We have really improved the quality of the courts and daily maintenance since taken over this responsibility.

1.      We have repaired all the lights on both courts.

2.      We repaired the key fab button and electric to the door heading to the cart barn.

3.      We repaired all the timers for the propane and the natural gas.

4.      We consistently cleared courts of snow and debris.

5.      We repaired the natural gas heater that has been broken for 3 years.

              Shop Improvements are ongoing but some important tasks we achieved this offseason:

1.      Repaired and installed new posts and panel on #8 side of the grounds building.

2.      Continue to clear debris, level and grade rear of shop using existing materials.

3.      Completed improvements to irrigation and equipment room including re-wiring for additional outlets and lighting

Golf Course Accessories (Ongoing Seasonal Maintenance):

1.   Sand, clean and paint inventory of traffic signs and stakes and hazard stakes.

2.   Sand, paint and repair ball washers and bases.

3.   Repair and paint Water Cooler stands.

4.   Clean and Paint (Plastic-Dip) tee markers.

5.   Clean, repair and construct new traffic blocks and curbs.

Clubhouse and Common Grounds:

1.      The front of clubhouse including the tennis courts have been thoroughly cleaned. 

2.      We removed the overgrown spruce trees by the loading dock and limbed up the Maple tree near the dumpster. This was done to not only improve aesthetics but to also protect the building and the roof.

3.      We installed screening around the electric box and natural gas structures in the front of the clubhouse hiding the unsightly green boxes.

4.      We expanded the bed in the front circle, this will eliminate unirrigated turf and improve aesthetics.

5.      We have edged all paths and beds around the clubhouse and front entrance.

6.      We have designed flower plantings for the Clubhouse and front entrance and have also contacted supplier of material.

7.      We have applied preemergent herbicide to all the beds.

Tree Work:

1.      We acquired a dump trailer for offsite removal of logs which has given us the ability to do most of the tree work inhouse. Prior to having the ability to remove this debris it was costing us $450 per dumpster to have that same material removed. The cost of the dump trailer was $8000 and in just one offseason it has paid for itself and then some. To date we have removed over $10,500 worth of materials.

2.      Late in the season a strong microburst hit the golf course extremely hard and that has added to our already large tree list. We have removed 9 entire trees from that one storm (3 at the shop, 1 at paddle, 1 each on holes 1,12,14,15,17). We have also removed heavy debris on holes 2,3,5,7,14,17. We were also responsible for major debris cleanup along Parkland Road which runs parallel with hole 15.

3.      Stump grinding has already started, and the plan is to have that completed by mid-April.

4.      We have also made a deal with an off-site company that will take all our organic waste at a cost of $200 per year. This is huge for us as we are now able to save money and keep all our organic waste out of our shop area.

Privet screen #9:

1.      We completely stripped the contaminated rough surrounding the 9^th tee and planted turf-type tall fescue.

2.      We shrunk the mulch bed and prepped it for seed.

3.      We removed all plant material from the bed and reused in areas that were better suited for these types of shrubbery.

4.      We transplanted the Dwarf Maple from this bed to the front entrance.

5.      We added 6 yards to the back of the tee.

6.      We planted 100 California Privet along the parking lot which ultimately will become a privacy hedge.

Parkland Privet screening:

1.      We were fortunate to purchase an additional 100 bare root privet shrubs at a discounted rate late last Fall. These shrubs were planted to screen Parkland from the backside of the driving range all the way to #2 Championship tree.

2.      We repaired the gate on the backside of the driving range which allows us access to the road for the city of Shaker to pick up our leaves and small debris.

7 Tee Project:

1.      We shifted the original forward tee to the left, squared it up and aligned the tee to the center of the fairway.

2.      We also built a new forward tee much closer to the fairway to reduce forced carry.

11 Tee Project:

1.      We are using bentgrass acquired from our 7^th tee project to expand existing tees and to add a new tee in the center of this complex. We have also greatly improved all the existing tees on this hole by leveling them and squaring them up which is one of our main global objectives.

18^th Tee Bed Renovation Project:

1.      We removed overgrown shrubs that were in poor health and unsightly.

2.      We reshaped the landscape bed to compliment the existing brick and bench.

3.      Installed low maintenance perennial plants and will supplement with additional plantings when Spring availability allows us.

Miscellaneous:

1.      We used existing inventory of pavers to enhance the water cooler stands and select bench areas.

2.      All equipment has been serviced this off season and I am happy to report all in good working order.

Spring Aerification went extremely well and we were able to take advantage of some great weather over a two-day period. We aerified, verticut and top-dressed all greens, tees and approaches