April Showers Bring May Flowers

parrot pitcher plant

Our native pitcher plant bog is really putting on a show right now!  When the native habitat was first described in this area it was said that you could walk from New Orleans to Pensacola and never leave a pitcher plant bog.  What a beautiful sight this must of been.  The unique habitat surrounding our property is associated with the long leaf pine forest.  The long leaf pine forest used to be over 90 million acres running along the gulf coast from near New Orleans  through Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Georgia and eventually ending in the Carolinas.  Now sadly it is reported that only 3% of the original forest still remains while only 1% is managed properly with frequent prescribed burning.  The long leaf pine evolved to become the dominant tree in the forest through fire.  The long pine can survive fire when many other plants may not.  All of these unique plants have taken on the same characteristic and depend on fire to give them a competitive advantage over other plants!

candy root

Mix of various native flowers.

yellow pitcher plant

bog button

parrot pitcher plant

orchidacea sp

parrot pitcher plant

View of hole 18 looking toward green and clubhouse

Ethan's Eigh Month Internship Experience

I first met Tyler McCool after I started at Mississippi State in fall of 2011 when he was assigned to be my “Turf Buddy”, an idea proposed by legendary professor Dr. Barry Stewart that paired new students with upperclassmen to help introduce them to the turfgrass management world. I met Stephen Miles while working the 2013 USGA Mid-Amateur Championship at the Country Club of Birmingham, and later met Jeremy Stevens at the 2013 Mississippi Turfgrass Association social event in Starkville. As faith would have it I ended up working under all of them during the summer and fall of 2015 while on my eight month internship at The Preserve Golf Club. 

 

 

I interviewed with Stephen during the MTA Internship Interview Extravaganza during November of 2014. A few weeks later a phone call by Stephen let me know I was a wanted man. Getting the chance to work at The Preserve put me in an elite group of MSU greats that include Alex Marshall, Keair Edwards, and The Preserve’s own Tyler McCool. Living in the Biloxi area for eight months was also a big selling point on my internship decision. I moved to the coast on May 16th and began work on May 18th.

 

My Preserve experience got off to a rocky start when I forgot my Social Security card to use as a form of identification to go with my pre-hire paperwork, and also, due to a still unknown injury to my big toe, I was barely able to walk. The week progressively got better as the swelling in my toe steadily decreased. The first few weeks at The Preserve was a lot of grunt work: walk mowing greens, raking bunkers, flymowing, buffalo blowing, and I’m pretty sure I pushed a fertilizer spreader about 800 miles. As the summer went on I had the opportunity to operate more and more equipment: tractors, triplex, fairway mowers, etc. I found a strong interest in mowing the step-cut and back lawn once or twice a week ;however, the older model triplex did not come with a cup holder, so I had to make one with cardboard and duct tape. By the end of the summer I had operated every piece of golf course maintenance equipment.

 

For a short time my internship settled into an uninteresting weekly routine of mowing, spraying greens, and topdressing. Around the second week of September we began preparing for a busy couple of weeks in October with the coming of Golfweek writers, a golf course photographer, and the Deep South Turf Expo golf outing. I was assigned to help re-sod a struggling tee-box known to hold water and have shade issues when I suggested the idea of just renovating it entirely. A small discussion by the people in charge later and we began ripping up the old sod. I got to experience firsthand all the steps to tee-box renovation, which was a great experience for me. In addition to this project, I had the opportunity to do things like collect soil samples for testing, aerification, fertilization, pesticide application, and irrigation repair. There were also days where I was left in charge to make the schedule and run the crew, which was a good management experience. I also became the last Preserve intern to ever be tortured via Nemacure application. In addition, I got hands-on experience working with the Precision Air system under our greens.

 

 

 

Working at The Preserve was a hard but fun learning experience. I believe having fun at work is the main component to work satisfaction, even if having fun is just joking about the idiotic things your coworkers do or say. I can honestly say that the crew members at The Preserve are the absolute best crew I have ever worked with. Not only was I able to learn under the direction of Tyler, Jeremy, and Stephen, but I learned valuable lessons from easygoing spray tech and set-up expert Keith, hole digging and sod laying specialist Enano, the top rated hoseman in the nation Pipi, and even more from the rest of the crew.   

 

Now that my internship is over I will return to Starkville to work on my Master's degree in Turf Management. I look forward to keeping in touch with my former coworkers, and I want to thank Stephen, Jeremy, and Tyler for giving me the opportunity to complete my internship at The Preserve.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 

 

Written by Ethan Flournoy

 

 

 



Ethan Flounory; from Slocomb, Alabama; is currently doing an eight month internship here at The Preserve Golf Club. Before majoring in Agronomy at Mississippi State University he began his golf course maintenance career at Highland Oaks in Dothan, Alabama. While attending MSU Ethan has worked at the MSU Turf Research Farm in Starkville, MS and The Country Club of Birmingham in Birmingham, AL. Ethan plans to receive his bachelors degree in Agronomy with an emphasis in Golf and Sports Turf Management in December after the completion of his internship. He plans to begin working toward his masters degree in Turf Grass Physiology in January 2016. We look forward to working with and helping Ethan grow his turfgrass knowledge while he is here.

The L.A.W.S. of Nature and Spring Updates, 2015

This has been the first spring in which we are breaking in our new greens and bunkers!  The greens have performed wonderfully!  Their performance has improved steadily from week to week with the return of good growing conditions.   The warm weather has allowed our staff to regularly groom, manicure and grow our new Tifeagle greens to achieve a more dense and smooth surface that a fully mature ultradwarf putting green provides. For the first time in our nearly 10 year history I can honestly say our golf course is thriving in most all aspects of conditioning and playability. In order for bermudagrass to provide consistent championship quality playing conditions to our members and guests, we must manage under four basic L.A.W.S. of nature. These L.A.W.S. govern that we must have:

Light in high abundance and quality.

Air in an adequate supply in the soil and an abundance of movement along the surface.

Water of high quality and in the right quantity. 

Soil of high quality that supplies the right amounts of water, air and drainage. 

We have focused on improving these basic elements with our renovation projects over the last year and are now beginning to see the results. 

This spring you've probably noticed a few areas of poor coverage that we normally do not have around the course. These areas can be attributed to one or a combination of a few things listed below:

- New sod from last year's renovation that was not fully established going into the winter;

- Pre-emergent burn from a non-uniform application;

- Traffic from construction/cart traffic;

- Shade.

All of these areas are filling in now that summer is rapidly approaching. One of the most sensitive areas on the course is the severely shaded areas in 9 approach and along the left side of the hole. This area does not have adequate light and water from the competition of the large oak trees while the approach tends to stay wet due to low light during the winter. These factors add up to an area that is constantly under stress year round. So please do your part to help our team keep our goal of 100% turf coverage and keep your cart out of the sensitive areas. This saves our club a considerable amount of time and money by reducing the odds of needing to purchase sod for this area in the future. 

One last trend that has happened three times since we reopened is golfers taking divots out of our greens. 

This is very poor etiquette and is very concerning. We want to do everything we can to protect our beautiful greens so please do not hit your ball from these areas out of frustration. If your ball does come to rest on a green requiring a wedge shot to another hole please simply take a drop. If you see anyone doing this or notice it done on a green as you play please report it to our pro shop immediately. 

Thanks and I hope to see you on the course soon!

Winter 2015

We have continued working hard on the course during the off season.  During this time of year bermudagrass growth has slowed significantly so we can spend time on special projects that improve the playability of our facility over the long term in a meaningfull way.  This winter we have:

• Installed a new paver path behind 14 tee box and new pads at all of our cooler locations.

• Installed drainage to historically wet approaches on hole 8, 11, and 18.

• Click here for photos of project on 18 approach.
• Click here for photos of project on 11 approach.

• Added new shrubs for separation from 1 tee and the driving range.
• Planted native grasses in new berms from our recent renovation project
• Began a green pigment program on our fairways and tees.

Renovation 2014 a Success!

It has been a very busy summer here at The Preserve and we are excited to be near the end of our renovation!  I could not be more proud of our Agronomy Team.  These guys and gals worked 1000's of additional hours this past summer successfully growing in our new putting surfaces, installing several 1,000 feet of new drain lines, topdressing the course with over 8,000 tons of sand and the list goes on and on.  All this while still keeping up with regular maintenance practices around the rest of the course. Their dedication to the task at hand was crucial in making this project a success and I greatly appreciate all the work they have done.

Agronomy Team Renovation 2014

During this renovation our Agronomy Team, Jerry Pate Design and TDI Golf collaborated to correct several issues related to the infrastructure of our putting greens by completely rebuilding them from the ground up.  The turfgrass variety chosen for our putting surface is Tifeagle and for our collars Tifgrand.  As of October 1st our oldest greens (1,2,4,5 and 10-18) will be 83 days old, our 2nd set of greens (6-9 and putting green) will be 63 days old and 3 green will be 42 days old.  The first and second set of greens that were planted have comparable green speeds already and this will only improve with age.  Green 3 is only 42 days old so it will be slower compared to the rest of the course but what an awesome job our team did to get this green ready for play with the opening of the course.  Our team will pay close attention to 3 green since it will require more frequent water applications through the fall due it's young age.  During this time there may be times our staff needs to water the putting surface during the day.  If you come to a green and a team member is watering with the flag pulled please wait patiently while he finishes the water application.  It will only take a few moments and it is imperative that they have the right of way to ensure our new greens have a healthy transition into the winter months.

3 Green ready for play!

While working on our putting surfaces we took the opportunity to replace the degraded lining system and sand in our bunkers.  The old fabric liner was replaced with Capillary Concrete and a new sand called Gangle was installed.  The combination of these two products will provide a more consistent playing experience for those who prefer to play their ball from our hazards.  All major construction has been completed on the bunkers but our team is still making there way around the course checking and finalizing the sand depths for ideal playability.  Other projects completed include laser leveling of all tee boxes, enlarging several tees on holes 1 and 2, re-decking the bridge on hole 12 and building a new bulkhead for 3 green. 

You may notice recently sodded areas around the course that were part of the final punch list our contractor completed at the end of the project this past week.  Please try not to drive your cart in these areas and play your ball as ground under repair if it comes to rest on the new sod.

I hope you enjoy the new golfing experience here at The Preserve and welcome back!

Greens Mix Production

 Agromax began blending our greens mix today!  This officially kicks off our project and I am praying for continued dry weather during the blending process.  A 90/5/5 blend of sand/peat/zeolite was selected for our site.

Tree Line Restoration Winter 2014

This past winter we selected trees for removal that were casting shade on our bermudagrass putting surfaces.  During this process we also surveyed all trees and shrubs that were growing in our tree lines making note of their species, light requirement, current size, annual growth rate, mature height/width and expected lifespan so that we could manage these areas to reach their full potential for long term sustainability.  With this information we selected the highest quality specimen trees to remain while removing fast growing weak wooded trash trees with a short lifespan like Water Oak (quercus nigra) and Sweetgum (liquidamber styracifolia).  Small tree saplings were also removed that were spaced to tightly and growing into the larger specimen trees.  These immature trees weaken the structural integrity of our selected specimen trees by forcing abnormal growth angles as the tree reaches for light in competion with other plants.  These abnormal growth angles exposes the tree to an increased risk failure under high wind events that frequently occur in our area. The removal of the smaller tree saplings allow for the larger specimen trees to grow stronger for a longer lifespan while becoming more visible so that it's individual beauty may be appreciated at our facility for years to come.  Once the selected trees were removed shrubs were evaluated for their value and contribution for seperation and beauty to our landscape.  Any shrub that was deemed low quality or could not perform based on site specific circumstances were removed and a mix of native shrubbery and grasses were transplanted along with the installation of nursery grown plants in areas where immediate screening was necessary.

We must manage our landscape as it matures and grows because since man settled this area he has gotten in the way of Mother Nature's management plan.  Mother Nature, if given time, will eventually select the strongest specimen plant for us by thinning the forest through catastrophic wind events that frequent our area.  By managing our forest now we minimize damage and clean up cost in the future and provide a much more consistently sustainable habitat.

Looking from 5 tee to 7 fairway

View from 5 tee to 7 green

View from 9 green

New Irrigation Well Installation Completion.

This week we completed our new irrigation well installation and it is now up and running. This current well is pulling around 300 gallons per minute.  This is half the amount of water our old well could provide. We will monitor the aquafier for the next few weeks with the hope that it will be able to support another well in the future. 

What does this mean for our facility and why is it important?  It is important because "as your water so goes your soil". This is a greatly improved water source that will have a very positive effect on plant health and course conditioning for years to come. The new water will have improved water infiltration while eliminating the toxic ion sodium as a hazard for our facility. This results in improved soil/water infiltration, less disease and improved rooting for our turfgrass ecosystem.  Plants thrive when their need for four basic elements are met. Good water, good soil, adequate air and light. If any of these elements are lacking a reduction in plant health will occur. With this new source we have positively impacted 2 (water and soil) of the four elements.  Below is a highlighted comparison of test results from our old irrigation source versus our new. 

Old Water Source

New Water Source

Native Plant Establishment at 3 Tee

This week we have been very busy working along 3 tee box reestablishing native grasses and shrubs where trees have been removed.  These trees were negatively impacting number 2 green and were selected for removal based on recommendations from our Arborcom shade study earlier in the year.

We planted a mix of various grasses that include bluestem, broomsedge, muhly grass along with clusters wild blueberry, yaupon and groundsell shrubs. This area will provide beautiful seasonal colors throughout the year along with an abundance of food for wildlife. 

New Well Water Line and Electrical Conduit Installation

This past week we installed our new water line and electrical conduit for our new irrigation well that has been drilled behind 6 green.  The electrical was installed from our pump station and the water was connected into our junction box near 6 tee box.