Snowy Egret Along Path #4

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This egret let me get close enough to snap its picture.  Egrets and herons hunt rodents in the naturalized zones and help naturally reduce the damaging effects of burrowing animals.

"Beeing" Kind To The Environment

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Check out the new enclosure for the honeybees in the black walnut tree on Hole #2.  This new enclosure allows us to temporarily close the bees inside and protect people during events.  This hive is estimated to have a population of  around 30,000 bees.  Bees are critical to agriculture and ultimately our entire food supply.  So we're trying to do all we can to protect them.  This enclosure goes a long way to help.

We held the annual Stanford Invitational Cross Country Meet this past weekend on the golf course.  We had approximately 3,500 runners plus their support groups in attendance.  This bee hive on Hole #2 had the organizers worried about bee stings and attacks.  We wanted to find some method to protect the honeybees while still being able to run the races.  We turned to local beekeeper Art Hall for a solution.  Art came up with a screening method that included a wooden door.

We basically closed the bees inside while they were roosting (evening) then re-opened the door once the races were complete (late afternoon.)  This worked well as bees should not be enclosed too long, as they need to forage for moisture to stay hydrated.

Now that the Cross Country event is complete, the hive door will remain open.  This will allow the normally docile bees go about their business. Bees are mostly interested in flowers and pollen; not humans.  But in the event that a ball ends up next to the tree and hive, the Rules of Golf do allow a free drop away from a hazardous situation like a bee hive.

Here are a few photos from this year's Cross Country event.  The event went very well.  Stanford took the team titles in both the Men's and Women's Collegiate Divisions, and most importantly, no bee stings or incidents were reported!

Please Help With Ball Mark Repair!

The ball marks are ridiculously bad these days, and I'm asking for your help!

Please do an excellent job immediately fixing your ball marks. For the turf to heal, ball marks must be repaired immediately. It is also important to take your time and make a good repair.  When finished, the repair should look all green (no brown) and like nothing ever happened in that spot.

Would you be happy to putt over the ball marks pictured below?  These were obviously either ignored or repaired incorrectly.  In this state, they will take a month or longer to heal.

If everybody does their part, the greens will look and putt much, much better!  Etiquette is showing respect for other players, and leaving the course even better than you find it.  Let's all help in making the Stanford golf experience the best it can be!

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Big Oak Splits Along #6 Fairway

On Sunday 9/8, the big Coast Live Oak guarding the left side of #6 fairway split apart.  Many recognize it as the tree with a bluebird box on the side.  The entire left side of the tree came crashing down.  The event was a bit puzzling because there was no decay inside the trunk.  Fortunately no one was nearby. But the photos below show just how much potential energy is stored well above ground.

One of Our Beautiful Oaks

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There are thousands of trees on the Stanford Golf Course, and this is a beauty along #5.  It is a Coast Live Oak Quercus agrifolia, recently trimmed by Arborwell.  Its age is estimated at 120 years.

Drill Seeding Weak Areas in Fairways

We've started drill seeding some of the weak areas in the fairways with perennial rye grass.  Most of the weak areas had high populations of Poa annua which burned out with the long days and high temperatures of early July.  Poa is a winter annual and goes into stress when environmental conditions become extreme. This year the combination of early July heat and the lack of rainfall (salt buildup in the soil) have pushed the Poa to its limit.  

Perennial rye grass is a more drought and traffic tolerant turf.  It is also darker green and stripes wonderfully during mowing.  It germinates and establishes quickly, so it is an ideal grass for over-seeding.  

Please excuse any mess, as the drill seeding machine kicks up some slight debris as it slices through the turf.  We'll also being doing some daytime spot watering, so watch for an occasional sprinkler or two running.  Hopefully if all goes well, we'll be looking at much better fairways going into the 2013-14 academic year!

Effects Of Heat Stress on Turf

In the past week, we had our longest days of the year and temperatures above 90 degrees F for six straight days.  The peak day had a temperature of 101.7 degrees.  Since the course is made up of predominately cool season varieties of turf, there were many areas of heat stressed turf. Most of those occurred on south facing slopes or in high cart traffic areas.  Areas of predominately Poa annua were the most severely effected.

Below are some examples of areas that took a beating in the hot weather:

Luckily, the hot weather has passed and we are working to bring the stressed areas back.  Unfortunately, it will take a few weeks to get things all the way back to normal.