an informative and educational tool to highlight the work done to maintain all of what is Mink Meadows, an association with a beach and semi-private golf club on martha's vineyard, mass
We often hear the axiom that practice makes perfect. Mink Meadows Pond tends to be the first water to freeze in Tisbury so last night our fire department came out to practice some cold water/ice break rescue drills. This profession is in a tough position. We all hope we never need them but if we do it is nice to know they are proficient at every facet of their job. For them it literally could be the difference between life and death. They cut a hole in the ice with a chain saw so a "victim" could be submerged in the ice. I was shocked that only and inch of ice was holing these grown men but the ice was cracking/groaning and letting us all know it was under strain. I remembered having a discussion with our Chief many years ago about the thickness for safe use and posting. After mentioning it to him he reiterated his opinion "There is NO Safe Ice in Tisbury, if you want safe ice go to the Arena." Sage advice.
corner of the parking lot
heading out with pontoon
"victim" in the water
Next morning
see the crack behind the triangle?
I grew up skating on ponds and playing what the Canadians call shinny. We simply called it pond hockey. I clearly remember chasing a stray puck to the edge once and my foot went right through. It was scary and unpleasant to have a wet leg for the remainder of the day. Luckily that was the only issue. I can guarantee you we did not have a good plan or any equipment such as a rope to deal with a whole scale submersion. This was long before the days of cell phones. How did we ever survive? In 23 Winters I have only skated on this pond once or twice. Maybe my risk taking days are behind me? It is good to know the Tisbury Fire Department is practicing their skills and I hope that is the only time I see them on the pond.
EDIT: Bill in the pro-shop printed this for me off the Farmers Almanac.
I walked the course today to simply look things over. It occurred to me how invasive these black pines are on the property. Many years ago we had an issue where first time players would hit to 5 green while playing 4. There was no view of the green from the tee because of an old 150 shrub that became a large tree. There were a lot of trees to the right of 4 approach so it was easy to see how you would play to the flag and green in your line of site. our solutions were to grow the tall grass to the left of the 5th green and plant a mature evergreen just outside the tree line to give 4 better definition. It helped. Then a bunch of pines started colonizing around the planted evergreen so we left them. Over the years we removed the pines to the right of the 4th approach which added visibility but removing the old 150 cedar really made a big difference. Now you have a clear site line to the 4th green from the 4th tee. So what about the left side now? The lone tree planted is still there but it is being choked out by the invasion of the black pines. This seemed like a good idea early on, but now I am not so sure.
blocks the view of 5 green
used to be able to drive behind these
Tallest tree was planted
I went on to Google Earth and emailed myself a few pictures to illustrate. Did you know you can do that? It's easy. Simply click the timeline button and then scroll backwards. You can email any image to yourself. I then found a collage maker Fotojet and imported each image into a preset collage. The dates are 1995 - 2001 - 2018. I then used a program called Skitch to add the dates and labels.
google earth images
I used the same procedure to create one for the third hole minus the Skitch and labels. It took a big storm to remove all these trees but I did not hear one single complaint about the improvements to that hole. Isn't that interesting? If I proposed removing 40 trees to make an improvement to a hole people would go mental but if a storm does it, then it is OK. These back pines are invasive and have taken over. In less than 20 years they have swallowed up a large planted evergreen. If not managed they will swallow up the entire property.
3 before and after
We have let some pines survive in the tree line between 6 tees and 5 fairway. We lost several trees in that area and they provide a valuable screen to the 6th tees. How long will it be before someone questions whether that was a good idea?
In the last post I talked about the as-built map of the original irrigation system and what a treasure map it seems to be. Pure gold. Maybe it is more of a Rosetta Stone pointing us in the right direction to look for more discoveries. I have had so many questions over 23 years about that old system, the odd layout, the story of the 7th hole. Below are a couple of pictures of what we believe to be the 18 hole routing from Wayne Stiles. His Last. It hangs in the clubhouse. Each hole has two numbers, one is circled. The key reads "circle original 9 built 1936, plain number is what it will become after second 9 is built in 1937", which obviously never happened. Hole #16 is a 400 yd par 4 dogleg left. Exactly what and where I assumed the original 7th hole was. Hole #7 a 185 par 3 using the same green complex. Both are the location discussed in the last post shown on the map labeled "Water Mains & Tree lines". So you can see why I always thought the green was moved from 8 to its current location. The physical evidence of the ground features sure make it seem that it was there. The question now is for how long? On this routing plan there is a yellow line showing that par 3 fwy. The tee location is about where the current 7 green is located. Similar to the location of the "15th" on this map only opposite direction. The remnants on the ground clearly show a green complex but the new as-built proves that the location was abandoned by December 12, 1938. I always assumed 7 green was much newer say the 1950's. Several things disprove this theory: the as-built map and the aerial photographs posted on Twitter that I was tagged in.
Picture of the corner of 6,7 8 on same map.
South east corner close up of 1939 aerial
The other major discovery was the term "fire valve" used all over this as-built. The engineer who is designing the new irrigation system planted a seed saying maybe original owner (Bigelow) was planning a development. I replied that has never been mentioned in our history. Houses came in the 60's as a way to save the course from development. I remembered I had some old maps still in my office so I rolled one out that was never labeled. It is vintage blue paper and shows a similar 18 hole routing to the one hanging in the clubhouse (the white lines) and clearly shows house lots. Then someone, presumably Stiles, used yellow chalk? to draw yet another alternate routing with house lots. The bell went off. Proof as to why the damn main line was put in so deep (6 feet in most places and 3 where it is in the water table). It always felt like a municipal water system but I never heard anything about houses under the Bigelow regime. I had seen this map a few times but it never clicked what it was until I had the irrigation as-built and followed this train of thought. The map is not named or signed but is clearly vintage. Is it simply Proof positive that Robert Bigelow was at least thinking about housing. Enough so that he installed the irrigation system to double as a water supply system year round.
18 hole routing's with house lots
It sheds some light on the odd rectangular routing that we have and the depth of main line irrigation. It there any way to prove this is Stiles work? Is this just doodles of a landscape architect turned golf course architect? We may never know but it has been fun learning more about our history which all started by the chance gift of the original irrigation as-built.
This map was delivered to us last week from Antone "Tony" Lima, the grandson and namesake of the Superintendent in the 60's-80's. It is an as-built of the original irrigation system. The first I have ever seen. There is a bit of the "where have you been all my life" feeling. Since we are designing a potential new system it seems a weird twist of fate to finally get my hands on this one. 80 years ago today is the date of this map. Unfortunately it is in really tough shape. We will try to have a copy made but I do not have high hopes. I have taken some pictures of it and will do more in the near future. One major discovery is the location of the 7th hole. You see, all the other maps I have seen show the 7th as a dog leg left par 4 with the green in the location of the forward tee on 8.
"Water Supply System Dec 12 1938"
7 in it's current location
1938 July "Water Mains & Tree Lines"
I have showed tons of people the remnants of what sure look to be a green complex with bunkers. Even the architects I have shown agree it sure seems like it. So was it roughed out only? Seeded and then moved? No one has ever been able to tell me they remember the green anywhere other than where it is now and this new map sure as heck proves it was, as of Dec 1938 at least. But what about the features on the ground on 8? The mystery of the 7th continues.
Below are a couple of pictures of the pond off the parking lot. One is looking East at sunset and it looks more like a sunrise with the water on fire. the other is today with a skim of ice holding the dusting of snow we received. It did not settle on the grass and we had a golfer enjoy the day. Winter on Martha's Vineyard
There have been a few new looks on the property. After some discussion about the proper way to take relief from the fence on 4 we decided to remove it. The original plan was to have the bunker be a waste area and the right side be a playable naturalized area. Well the bunker was constructed more as a traditional bunker and never had the "waste" feel in spite of all our attempts to firm up the sand. "Playable" naturalized area is a misnomer, a unicorn, the holy grail of tall grass. Instead they become ball magnets that slow down play. If we allow carts to the right of the bunker it will become worn to dirt in no time so that will be an issue as to how we keep them from doing that. A fence may go back up over to the right. For now the plan is to allow that area to continue to be tall grass but it may get irrigated and maintained as rough in the future. It looks interesting without the fence. After much deliberation I thought of an area to use some of the removed fence and installed it on the edge of the road and the pollinator habitat area to the right of #2. I will remove the logs used to keep cars off the course.
re-purposed fence from 4 on the outside corner of 2
New look 4th hole
new look 4th hole
Another new look is on the final mowing of the fairways. I decided to try some contour mowing just for kicks. This is simply starting on one edge of the fairway and following that same contour throughout the rest of the fairway. It makes for some interesting patterns on a few holes.
Well another month has gone by since the last post. The weather continues to be a dominate force in our lives. We have not had a typical Martha's Vineyard Fall. It was unseasonably warm after a cold and rainy spell then really cold. It seems to rain every weekend and now it is November already. We managed to get the greens aerated and topdressed for the first time all season but even that took two days. Aerating was disrupted by a Tornado warning and a blast of tropical rain. The greens have healed nicely and we mowed them for the first time today.
The collage below shows some collar/fairway expansions. The approach on two had narrowed down to a skinny little neck and screamed to be widened. Three needed it as well since we did all that construction this Spring so it received a bit of re-sculpting. Then I was simply on a roll and did some on 4 and 5 for good measure. They were aerated, seeded, topdressed and should take shape before the growing season wraps up.
approach/fairway re-shaping
The morning was shaping up to be a decent one with a few storms predicted. I figured we would not be able to apply sand due to the chance for rain. Then a tornado warning and a blast of rain really put a scare into the day. Luckily it went by with nothing more than rain.
close call
Mid week the weather cooperated and tossed in a couple of perfect Fall days. I ventured off to the Cape for a match play tourney finals and returned to this glorious sunset.
never gets old
The end of the week brought more rain and some heavy winds but today is another beautiful Fall day. It seems the weather roller coaster of 2018 continues. You have to pick your days and enjoy it while we can. Winter is just around the corner and most forecasts have been for a cold one.
I often get asked why are you aerating, the turf was perfect? The answer is simple: how do you think it got to be perfect? Worrying about how the greens will putt for a few days is short view thinking. Every tournament you see on TV has spent many months if not years preparing the course for a weeks worth of play. Think about that for a minute. Extra aerifications, rebuilding of tees, bunkers etc all in preparation for a weeks worth of play. You might be thinking OK Matt but that's for Professionals. Right but grass is grass. It needs certain things to be healthy.
The long view is that as we get into the fall and better growing weather it is important to give the turf the stuff it needs to recover from summer. We are growing cool season grasses. That means it is under a lot of stress when the weather is closer to warm season locations. A good example of the difference is crabgrass is a warm season plant and loves a summer like this one. One of the things we can do to help turf recover is poke holes in the ground to relieve compaction and give the roots a void to grow into. Turf is not unlike any other growing plant it needs a strong root system to be healthy and aerification is our best method to promoting a healthy root system.
If we did not have to aerate we certainly would not go through the arduous task just to upset golfers and get complaints. It is a necessary part to having healthy turf.
We did a small tine aeration on greens this week. Some greens came out a bit bumpy but they will smooth out soon. We will do bigger holes with a heavy topdressing in October. We will begin doing tees and collars next week assuming the weather cooperates.
So as you play the course over the next few weeks, or any course for that matter, don't get caught up in the short view of how the turf might be playing but instead think about how good that turf will be after the process.
That was one of the most brutal stretches of weather we have all seen here on MV. Dog days for sure. I have heard more times than I can remember "we never needed air conditioning on MV" or "we only get a few days of really hot weather". That stretch broke all time records for Providence, RI. It was unbearably humid for roughly 6 weeks straight. We may not have had peak high temps but it was really hot and just unpleasant for man, or beast and especially cool season turf. The disease pressure was through the roof and we saw active fungus many times. The picture below shows the tee which is sprayed conventionally holding up nicely. The rough at the beginning of the fairway which gets sprayed with the Bioject (natural bacteria that we brew and spray instead of synthetic fungicides) also doing well. And in between a swath of unprotected rough that looks as if it has an inch of snow on it. The white mycelium of the Dollar Spot fungus means it is active and spreading. After the mycelium goes away it leaves a bleached lesion on the leaf. if enough damage is done the grass will take on a tan hue. hopefully that will be the end of that weather and we can continue into cooler nights and the turf can begin to recover from all the damage. Maybe we can all turn off our air conditioners too.
active disease
Disease lesions
Speaking of damage. Our salt water intrusion was high again this summer and it shows by how slimy the soils are. Think of a pile of ice melt spilled on the driveway or the salt in your shaker. The salt builds up and then pulls moisture out of the air keeping the surface moist and soft. This means it is easier to take a divot and in some areas the turf will simply peel up from any aggressive cart traffic. Please use caution with carts and try to avoid excessive turning and driving around until we can flush the salts from the surface. I will apply a gypsum application which will help with the flush.
Small Tire skid
Large Tire skid
cart damage 8 fairway
The fairways may be soft making it easy to take divots. I can handle a few extra divots there. What tests my patience at the end of a tough summer is divots on greens. There is simply no reason to take a divot on a green. We had three in about a weeks time. Same person? There is no way of knowing who the culprit is unless someone tells us. Obviously they suck at putting and have anger management issues or simply have no clue how to play the game. I often say the etiquette of the game is gone. These episodes only reinforce that thinking. If you play with someone who does this please tell them how bad it is and let us know who they are so we can reinforce the message.
divot 5 green
divot 6 green
With the change to our schedule moving the club championship to september we lose the ability to do our normal greens aerification the day after Labor Day. We will however try to do a needle tine aerification a couple of times this fall. We may even vertical mow and topdress the greens so keep an eye on the schedule for some minor disruptions to the tee sheet over the next few weeks.
Let's start at the beginning. In 2010 the US open was at Pebble Beach. The USGA decided to use the venue to start a conversation about water. They did this by shutting it off at this iconic seaside course. The result was an off-color HD camera defying event that had everyone talking. For us it was a conversation about the types of grasses we have on our greens. The answer is a mix of the original South German Bents (Creeping Bentgrass) we were seeded to, a few others that had been sprinkled in over the years, and lots of perennial bio types of annual bluegrass (Poa Annua). For a deep dive into Seed So which is better? Well that depends who you ask. Oakmont CC loves their Poa and who could argue with the conditions we have seen there over the years? By and large creeping bent is considered a better grass for a variety of reasons: it uses less water, is more disease and heat tolerant, has better roots. With summers here getting hotter and more humid I suggested we try and favor Bent. This began the journey of our shift in how we water greens and even fertilize them, but that is more recent. We went from basically daily watering to essentially weekly. Deep and infrequent favors bentgrass and its ability to put down deep roots. This gives it the competitive edge over poa especially in the heat of the summer. Other changes in the program were to step up the chemical regulation of growth. Again, slowing the poa so the bent could out compete. My goal was a slow transition that would not effect ball roll or the overall appearance of the greens. The poster child was number 2. This green had the most poa at approximately 80%. The picture below shows vandalism in 2002. We stripped the damaged sod and replaced with sod from the nursery. The ring of bentgrass was clearly visible in a mostly poa green for many years. Today you cannot find it if you tried. The last picture, in the collage, is recent showing where I seeded the remaining poa areas and topdressed with white sand. Easily a complete swap in percentages. Most of the other greens simply converted over without anyone noticing.
2 green from mostly poa to mostly bent
The other way we have helped the conversion is to toss a few cup cutter plugs from the nursery into the larger patches of poa. The nursery was constructed from aerifier plugs so it would match the existing greens but also seeded with bent. The dry conditions of the nursery favored bent and so there is not much poa left. These plugs would then spread to increase our bent population.
2 green this winter showing some plug work
The areas of poa left on two green have not been happy all year. My guess is the reduced fertility this year is really stressing it to the max. It looks awful on two and also back in the nursery where I moved some plugs back in January. I decided it was time to start seeding these areas. The pictures below show some seeded areas on 2 and 3 greens.
seeding process. straight sand and sprayed area
After a conversation with a friend who used to make his own dyed sand I decided to try it. I mixed up a batch and spread it on some plywood to dry. Even dried the surface still had a crust making it look wet. It was a paste when I spread it out. Reminded me of the paste glue we used in kindergarten only green.
dying sand
It has become standard fair to cut cups and have the entire plug stay together. In the past during the hot summer months the roots would shrink and the plugs would break apart into pancakes. I was reminded of this recently when I swapped out a few more plugs from the nursery to number 2. The difference in rooting depth of the two grasses is real and evident in the pictures below. Notice the roots hanging below the bent plug which is at least twice the depth of the poa plug.
regular greens plug vs straight poa plug
2 green poa plugs looking weak in nursery
There have been side effects to this new program. The poa has been a bit off color for years. Thank-you for not getting fixated on color. If I could change the culture in America that grass always has to have the deep green you see in fertilizer commercials I would. The surrounds took a beating for years. It needs more water than we had been giving it and went dormant for many years. We have figured out a solution, albeit not a great long term one, and we have improved them in the last couple of years. Lastly, another big change is with more bent grass walking has become noticeable. Or maybe better put shuffling has become an issue. Anyone dragging their feet really stands up the bent grass leaving the green a mine field to put on. That is an entire blog post itself i will save for the future.
No matter how well you prepare or how obvious it may be that the time is getting near, it is never easy to say good bye. Lambert was my second dog while here at Mink and he had big paws to fill since Thumper made quite an impression. Bert held his own and proved to be quite a character himself. Some of you may remember Thumper but may not be aware of the odd coincidence that he and Bert shared the same Birthday. When I filled out the adoption papers, Bert was a rescue who came into our lives at 7 months old, I noticed something odd about the date. I thought it was a niece/nephew or a cousins birthday that I should know. It was not until Cheryl came home and saw the date and could not even finish the sentence that it hit me. How strange. We always felt he had a bit of Thumper's ghost in him. Leave it to my wife to remember that we lost Thumps in July as well. Too much coincidence for me.
Both just shy of their 11th birthdays. Two great dogs who could not have been better ambassadors for me and Mink Meadows.
Bert as a puppy
Bert had a tough life living in a 10 x 10 fence kennel for his first 6 months. Then spent a month in the shelter. He developed what is called kennel syndrome. He had to learn to entertain himself so he started with his water dish. He used to tip it over and play with it. His affinity for plastic coffee cans was a site to see. I never had to clip his nails since he wore them down on the gravel paths kicking things around.
Bert loved to play golf. He almost sunk a few putts rolling whatever he had with him at the cup as we putted out. He would find a rock early and play with that for 9 holes. Often dropping it in the cart by your feet so you would throw it for him. As he got older he enjoyed riding in the cart more. He would take up the entire seat when it was vacated. Annoying for sure but many members would jump at the chance for one more annoying round. I know I would.
Frank Cecelio and Bert
He loved it when we would repair irrigation breaks. He would stare at every shovel full as it came out of the ground looking for a rock to play with. Often he would throw it back in the hole at us so we would have to throw it for him. The repairs were made more enjoyable being entertained by him.
Some of you knew Bert had a girlfriend. The owners started walking their pup by the gate of the shop twice a day. Soon they asked if they could take Bert with them. The dogs bonded and Cheryl and I gained new human friends. They were gone most winters which left Bert to hold a vigil on the deck waiting for his girl Ella to return and come walking by.
A regular event
Bert and Ella
Bert loved his stoop. He would sit there for hours refusing to come to work with me. Content to wait for Ella or simply to keep an eye on things from above. He would run down the stairs however, when one of his favorite members showed up often with a treat for him.
Favorite spot
He truly was happiest at the beach. That was Thumper's Ghost for sure. Two peas in a pod. The difference being Bert had abandonment issues and only left me to walk to Ella's and bound through the doggy door. Of the 4 dogs at the house Bert is still the only one to embrace the doggy door. This video was in the last few weeks. He did not have the ability to play for long with his stick but he sure enjoyed trying.
We visited my sister once in VT and he would attack all of her dog Scout's toys. His favorite was actually a stuffed animal and not a dog toy. She and her husband were so taken by his aggressive affection for Santa Bear they gave him to Bert. He remained a favorite snuggle and shake toy. We buried him with Santa Bear and his favorite blue ball. He is out at the Linden Tree with Thumper.
Bert and Santa Bear
I dragged Bert out to hose the dew on his last day and we were greeted on 1 with a small buck
He used to love to chase the hose since I took him out that first day we brought him home.
