Tree trimming photos

Here are some photos of the tree left of ten fairway after trimming was completed.

Above is the view looking back at the clubhouse from left of ten fairway,

Left is the new view of the same tree from ten tee.




I hope everyone is doing well and enjoying the holidays!!

Tree Trimming Continues

Below is the crew from West Coast Arborists planting trees right of #6.  A total of 47 trees were planted throughout the front nine.  An additional 59 trees will be planted on the back 9 in the next month or so.

Below right is the crew working on the large eucalyptus tree right of number 10 fairway.

Wow! I can't believe it's been two months since the last post.....

As you have noticed we have been busy with our tree trimming and planting project over the past few months.  The front nine trimming is complete and we have begun to install the new trees, 47 total on the front 9, and will continue through next week.  We are on track to begin the back 9 soon.

I will get some pictures posted soon.

See you on the course.

Greens Aerification set for September 10, 2012

Greens aerification has been scheduled for Monday, September 10, 2012.  Play will begin on the tenth tee for golfers beginning play before 9 am.  After 9 play will move to the front nine holes and be played on sand top dressed greens.  

Please remember this is a very important process in order to maintain high turf quality for our putting greens. 

Here are some photos of the dallisgrass removal project that I referenced in last months post.

Left is a picture from number 16 fairway of an area treated three times over the past month.  You are able to see that some of the bermuda grass was not killed and is beginning to become established.





Right is a photo of dallisgrass prior to treatment in front of number 18 green.  The large blades of grass are difficult to cut with our mowing equipment creating poor playing conditions.







This area of number 16 fairway is one of the largest patches of dallisgrass in any of our fairways.  I have begun treatment this week and will treat the area twice more to completely eliminate the weed.

Over the next few weeks we will be aerating the fairways.  The aerification process will help to increase air and water movement into the soil and help improve growing conditions for the fairway turf.

I have received a few questions regarding the small to medium areas in some of the fairways that have been treated with herbicide.  The largest of these areas is about 80 yards from the green on number 18 fairway.  I have been treating these areas of Dallis grass with Roundup QuickPro herbicide in an effort to create better playing conditions.  Once the areas have died out we will plug cup cutter sized plugs of bermuda grass into the bare areas.  I will try and post some photos of the project in the near future.

Solid Tine Aeration

Below is a picture of Andy Rodriguez operating our Toro Procore 648 on the sixteenth green last Wednesday.

We were able to complete the aerification of all greens in five hours.  We utilized .200 inch solid needle tines at 1 inch spacing, each hole is approximately 3 inches deep.

Right is a closeup of the green after aerification but prior to mowing.  We mow the green, as we do any other day, after the aeration process is complete.








Thank you for visiting and I look forward to seeing you out on the course!

Needle tine aerification of greens scheduled for May

We will be aerating the greens next Wednesday with .200 inch needle tines.  Aerification is a mechanical process that creates more air space in the soil and promotes deeper rooting, thus helping the grass plants stay healthy.

I will take some pictures and post them here next week with some more information regarding this process.

We mow directly after we aerate, so you will see little to no affect on the putting surfaces, even on Wednesday.

March Herbicide Application

In an effort to improve playing conditions in the fairways this summer we recently applied a herbicide to control broad-leaf weeds, clover for the most part, in the fairways along with our normal application of crabgrass control product.

Clover can be a concern in golf course turfgrass for at least three reasons. First, during the flowering period bees are attracted to the clover blooms and people playing golf on the turfgrass may be stung. Second, clovers reduce the uniformity of the turfgrass because its texture, color, and growth rate are different from that of grasses. Third, when white clover blooms it can become difficult to locate white golf balls among the flowers.

At left is a photo taken on March 23, 2012 of clover treated with herbicide eight days prior in the twelfth fairway.  Below is a picture of Pineapple weed taken the same day.

By reducing competition for water and nutrients, from weeds such as clover and pineapple weed, the bermuda grass will become more dense and healthy.  These growing conditions will increase turf coverage and produce a higher quality turf for you to play those iron shots into the greens.

Above, in the photo taken today April 16, 2012 you can see that the clover is almost entirely dead and the bermuda grass is beginning to fill in the void.  We should see complete turf coverage in the next  few weeks.

Welcome to the Airways Municipal Golf Course maintenance blog! The intent of this site is to keep you informed with educational information regarding the golf course. The blog will be routinely updated with pictures and information regarding daily maintenance practices on the golf course, projects that we are doing, and answers to common questions that I receive.


If you have any specific topics that you would like to see covered on this site please let me know.  I look forward to seeing you on the course!


Steven P. Showers
Golf Course Superintendent
Airways Municipal Golf Course