DIVOT REPAIR ETIQUETTE - ARE YOU DOING IT RIGHT? (OR AT ALL?)

THIS BLOG ENTRY IS FROM THE USGA GREEN SECTION RECORD, April 15, 2011

Repairing Divots - Are You Doing It The Right Way?


by the Green Section Staff


Overfilling does more harm than good.

Q: There seems to be confusion among the membership about how much divot mix should be used to fill fairway divots. Is there a proper amount? (Missouri)



A: The proper amount of divot mix (usually sand or a mixture comprised primarily of sand) is surprisingly small because it should be only the amount needed to replace the soil that was removed. Filling divot level higher than the existing playing surface, i.e. turfgrass canopy, is overfilling. Not only is this a waste of divot mix, but the extra sand will slow turfgrass recovery because seedlings and/or lateral regenerative growth of surrounding vegetation will be scalped by mowers. This leads to the second problem when divots are overfilled because sand particles dull and damage mower blades.



Link to USGA animation on divot etiquette

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No More Stump on #3

On the overnight of June 19/20, 2009 Lake Valley was hit by high winds that uprooted and/or damaged numerous trees, including the very large tree that guarded to opening to #3 green.  This is what we saw in the early morning of June 20th.

Click on pictures for larger version

 In late December of 2009 the remaining trunk was taken down, leaving a very large stump.  The stump was simply so large that it was difficult to determine how to eliminate it.  Having it ground out would be costly as it would require a larger than standard size stump grinder.

Beginning in early winter 2010/2011 the stump was cut down as low as possible.  This was a laborous process as the only way to cut it was by making vertical cuts and then horizontal cuts and taking it out in chunks.  It was almost like dicing a potato, only much bigger.  This was a slow process as well because that section of the tree is murder on saw chains, so there were frequent disruptions while new chains were installed and old chains were sent for resharpening.

Once the stump was cut down as low as possible, the next step was to burn it out.  Using wood that remained from various clean up projects around the course, a fire was started on top of the stump and fed continuously for several days.  The resulting bed of coals burned the stump until only a few root stubs were left above grade.

 On Wednesday, April 13, 2011 Alex put the final touches on this lengthy project when he covered the resulting area with topsoil, creating a small mound to cover any remaining tree remnants.  The area was then sodded with some cool-season grass that was harvested from another area of the golf course.  Here are the results:

click on pictures for larger version

click on picture for larger version

click on picture for larger version

Tree Safety

There are those among us that don't think we should ever cut down a tree, but the pictures you're about to see should help explain one of the reasons why sometimes we have little choice.

This week we took down the large trunked oak tree that was just left of the forward tee on #4.  This tree had been unhealthy for some time, regularly dropping limbs and displaying a number of dead limbs.  We also knew that it was at least partly hollow.  In the photo above this large section of trunk was hollow all the way to the top - at least 20'.

Because of the large size and for our crew's safety, we hired a tree service to drop the tree, and we're glad we did.  Once down we discovered that the tree was mostly hollow.  Any good wind might have been enough to bring the tree down. This tree was dangerous and a potential liability for the club.

Here you can see the remaining stump.  You'll notice that on one side there are places with less than 2" of wood holding the tree together.

There are a number of reasons that we have trimmed and/or removed trees, and will continue to do so.  Some are for agronomic reasons, to aide the health of the turf grass.  Others, like this tree and the two that we removed on #2 this winter, are for safety reasons.  If you have any questions please contact any of the green committee members and they will be happy to discuss with you.