Early February Update

It has been a while since I posted my last blog entry. I guess it is a sign that we are deeply entrenched in our busy golfing season. Wow, are our members using the course! Rounds are up again from last year which means there are plenty of people out enjoying the course. Of course we have had an almost perfect winter so far, and that makes it hard to stay in the house. The warm weather we have been enjoying has helped the course hold up well to all of the cart and foot traffic. While the turf is not growing anything like it does in the summer it sure looks a lot better than when it is off color from cold weather!
I mentioned that the weather has been almost perfect. For me to label it as perfect we would need to have some rain in the mix. Since November we have only received 1" of rain, which is down from an average of 4.9". While we have been able to keep things looking good by irrigating the plants and turf, we are witnessing the dropping water table in the appearance of our lakes. This subject was brought up at the most recent Green Committee meeting, so this would be a good time to write about Stonebridge's lake system.

While the lakes serve a purpose to enhance the looks of the golf course and residential areas of the community, and also as a wildlife habitat, their main purpose it to hold storm water within the property. It is only released off the property when lake levels reach an engineered elevation.

This is a look inside one of our outfall structures. When the water reaches the bottom of the triangular opening it starts to exit the property. At Stonebridge the water outfalls into our wetland areas. As the lake levels get higher more water is released since the triangular opening gets larger the higher the lake level gets. There is a backside of this structure that is not pictured. It is a large opening covered by a metal grate. If the water ever gets to a set point above the triangular opening it spills over a baffle into another section. If the amount of water overwhelms the structure it runs out of the grate. If we ever see that we are having a flood!
We have the ability to refill our irrigation reservoirs through the use of two wells. We are permitted to use these wells to replace irrigation water that we draw out of the reservoirs on a 1 to 1 ratio. We are not allowed to use these wells to fill the lakes for aesthetic purposes.

As you can see, the lake on #13 looks higher than the others. This is a reservoir that is recharged. The other one is on hole number twelve. One of the challenges we have in filling these reservoirs is that we are basically de-watering the area around the wells. Since our reservoirs are not lined the water tries to equalize itself with the ground water table. This is where we are pumping the water to recharge the reservoirs from. So it is like a circle that we try to stay ahead of. We pump the water from the ground into the reservoir. The water leaks back into the water table, and we pump it back in. During this time of year we have to be careful not to pump water out of the lakes faster than we can recharge. This is another wrinkle that makes the job interesting!
On a final note about the lakes: I have heard comments that the lakes are lower now than they have ever been; even more than during the 2008 drought. I suspect that this is not the case, but we are seeing the effects of a wet summer that kept the lakes full, and many times over the control elevation. The high water would have killed the grass growing around the lakes up to a higher point than normal. I believe what we are seeing is not lower lake levels, only the perception of lower lakes since the grass line is higher up the bank. I think the following picture can illustrate this.

While the lake level does look low because there is a bare area between the water and the grass, the lakes are close to their normal average level. This is evident by the location of the aquatic plants. Many of the littoral plants are still in the water, or at the water line. As the lakes drop these plants will be more exposed and out of the water. While we have a while before we get any substantial rains that will raise the lake levels closer to control elevation, we can be confidant that they will come. In the mean time take advantage of the fact that it will be easier to find your balls if you go in that direction!


We continue to search for ways to improve the situation we are having with the perimeters of some of the greens. Our latest efforts are getting more technical. We have added 2 new tools to our toolbox in an attempt to resolve this issue. We have converted our tow behind blower to blow air into the drainage system of the greens. We have made an adaptor to fit over the blower nozzle that fits a 4” solid drain pipe. This pipe is connected to a drain clean-out, and the rest of the drain system outlets are capped. This creates a closed system that allows us to blow air into the green. This helps to get air into  the soil and helps to oxygenate compacted areas.

The blower has been connected to the greens drain system with an adaptor made from an old Igloo cooler. Air is forced through the drain pipe, through the gravel layer, and into the soil.
We have also purchased a meter that instantly measures the volumetric water content of the soil.

This portable meter works in conjunction with the Turf Guard Sensors buried in 3 of our greens. This allows us to identify the point at which we can dry the green before the turf starts to wilt.

We have shut the overhead sprinklers off and are drying the interiors of the greens while hand watering the perimeters as needed as indicated by the meter. This has been a difficult task without this tool, and having solid data indicating when to water is allowing us to manage irrigation with the most efficiency possible. Not only will this help us to manage the stressed perimeter areas, the greens will be drier and firmer creating a better putting surface.
I hope you enjoy reading this blog as much as I enjoywriting it. Managing a property such as Stonebridge is a challenge, that is a joy to show up to work for. My goal is to share our successes and challenges, so that our members are up to date on all that is happening in the Grounds Maintenance Department. Enjoy this almost perfect weather, and all that one of the best communities in the area has to offer!


Alan Bakos, CGCS
Director of Grounds