Covid Practice Plans (Green Building -- please tell me I'm not nuts!)

[justasgood]

18 hours ago, DShepley said:

It was really fun.  We had 3 two man teams and rotated picking where to tee off from and which pin to play to, (longest from 70 yards, shortest from greenside bunker).  My partner and I were down 2 on the last hole of the $10 per man game, and the leaders picked a ridiculous shot from behind the green beside the mailbox, (basically punch it under / over the bench, or flop it off of a downhill / sidehill lie over the pine tree).  They figured everyone would make bogey....well....I got stupid lucky with the flop shot and one hopped it into the hole for a 1 and what turned out to be the win!  So fun!  For reference, in the photo below, the tee shot was from the other side of the driveway on the downslope of the ditch just short of the long grass.  My neighbours must wonder what goes through the heads of 40 something year old golf fans.....

A little "Home" field advantage....

[Barfolomew]

On 5/28/2021 at 6:16 PM, Nels55 said:

Hey Barf, speaking of Country Clubs just a couple of days ago I got invited to play this crummy snobatorium!

 

 

That's friggin hilarious Nels!! 

 

But that's OK.... I'm my own best friend!

[DShepley]

Beautiful night for a fresh double cut and some 'Putts and Pints'!  Sure could  use some rain though....

A tasty Hazy IPA to get started

Some 5 footers...(please disregard that I am still wearing my grounds crew attire and keep in mind the camera adds like.....30lbs so....)

 

And next thing you know...."Word to your moms, I came to drop bombs...." 

 

[Ty_Webb]

Outstanding on all counts - do you have a stimpmeter and if so what is it running? If not, what would you estimate? All three putts looked like they rolled smoothly - very impressive stuff.

[DShepley]

40 minutes ago, Ty_Webb said:

Outstanding on all counts - do you have a stimpmeter and if so what is it running? If not, what would you estimate? All three putts looked like they rolled smoothly - very impressive stuff.

Thanks, I'm really happy with it so far though I am due for more topdressing, (I had a minor panic that I may have contaminated my top dressing sand with pasture grass so I have cold feet at the moment).  A friend of mine made me a makeshift stimpmeter but I think I'll bite the bullet and just order a real one.  I haven't tested for a couple weeks, but I had some friends over and I cut and rolled, and it measured 9.  The rolling added about a foot of speed.  Last night I didn't roll but just double cut it and it was a bit slower, I would guess around 8 - 8.5 but I didn't measure, (my makeshift stimpmeter is a bit cumbersome).  What I have come to realize is that until you own a stimpmeter, knowing what a green runs at is kind of useless.....and by that I mean, lots of people throw out numbers, but truth is that 9 feet is a lot faster than the greens at the clubs I play at, (semi-private rural clubs).  I would guess, (I haven't measured), that the clubs I play at run around 7 yet there are people at one of them who may tell you that they run at 10....(FALSE!)....10 is REALLY fast and I'm betting that most people who play golf outside of private clubs haven't seen those speeds ever and would be out there all day! 

 

Now...I like fast greens, I think they build a better stroke once you are used to them and I find it easier to adjust to slow greens than I do to adjust to fast greens. It's all relative in me calling my green fast, (it is compared to where I play), but I think I am happy with the speed it's at now and most times will practice on it after just double cutting.  When I have my buddies over, I'll likely double cut and roll to show it off.

[Ty_Webb]

16 minutes ago, DShepley said:

Thanks, I'm really happy with it so far though I am due for more topdressing, (I had a minor panic that I may have contaminated my top dressing sand with pasture grass so I have cold feet at the moment).  A friend of mine made me a makeshift stimpmeter but I think I'll bite the bullet and just order a real one.  I haven't tested for a couple weeks, but I had some friends over and I cut and rolled, and it measured 9.  The rolling added about a foot of speed.  Last night I didn't roll but just double cut it and it was a bit slower, I would guess around 8 - 8.5 but I didn't measure, (my makeshift stimpmeter is a bit cumbersome).  What I have come to realize is that until you own a stimpmeter, knowing what a green runs at is kind of useless.....and by that I mean, lots of people throw out numbers, but truth is that 9 feet is a lot faster than the greens at the clubs I play at, (semi-private rural clubs).  I would guess, (I haven't measured), that the clubs I play at run around 7 yet there are people at one of them who may tell you that they run at 10....(FALSE!)....10 is REALLY fast and I'm betting that most people who play golf outside of private clubs haven't seen those speeds ever and would be out there all day! 

 

Now...I like fast greens, I think they build a better stroke once you are used to them and I find it easier to adjust to slow greens than I do to adjust to fast greens. It's all relative in me calling my green fast, (it is compared to where I play), but I think I am happy with the speed it's at now and most times will practice on it after just double cutting.  When I have my buddies over, I'll likely double cut and roll to show it off.

 

You should get a perfect putter - it's on the expensive end, but it does stimpmeter readings and it's really useful for learning about starting lines and the relationship between speed and line (full disclosure - I don't have one - this is based on some youtube videos I saw). 

 

Agreed on the speed thing. I've played a few times on some insanely fast greens. One time I played at Winged Foot. I put three balls down on the putting green, paused for a moment to take in everything around me. Looked down at the balls to figure out where I was going to putt to and they weren't there. I looked around and they'd wandered off about 15 feet away. That was quite eye opening! They were probably 12 at the time.

Edited June 11, 2021 by Ty_Webb

[DShepley]

Put down a light top dressing today and swept it in.  Just watching the sky now and the clouds with their empty promises of rain.

 

 

 

Edited June 13, 2021 by DShepley

[Chip Duffer]

I wish the greens at the club I now play most often had greens that looked as nice as yours. 

 

A true thing of Beauty!

[DShepley]

12 hours ago, Chip Duffer said:

I wish the greens at the club I now play most often had greens that looked as nice as yours. 

 

A true thing of Beauty!

Thanks.  The benefit I have is that I only have to keep 1200 square feet in good condition.  I can't imagine trying to keep tabs on 19 of them!  Now....if we could only just get some rain....

[betarhoalphadelta]

55 minutes ago, DShepley said:

Thanks.  The benefit I have is that I only have to keep 1200 square feet in good condition.  I can't imagine trying to keep tabs on 19 of them!  Now....if we could only just get some rain....

 

Your putting green is as many square feet as my house lol...

[DShepley]

4 hours ago, betarhoalphadelta said:

 

Your putting green is as many square feet as my house lol...

Yeah.....I can't brew beer on it though so......

[DShepley]

Fresh stripes, (albeit a little crooked...), and new hole locations.  We finally got a little rain, but only about 3/10" but I'm happy for that much at least.  It looks like we may get a bit more this coming week.  I have been having difficulty getting the hole plug to extract from my hole cutter so this time around I took the plugs out in two pieces and it worked much better.  It also gave me a chance to see how much moisture was in the plug.  It wasn't bad, and my roots were through the bottom of the 4" plug but I would be happier if that 4" level was more moist.  Perhaps a decent rain in the next few days will help.

[berndgeurts]

3 minutes ago, DShepley said:

Fresh stripes, (albeit a little crooked...), and new hole locations.  We finally got a little rain, but only about 3/10" but I'm happy for that much at least.  It looks like we may get a bit more this coming week.  I have been having difficulty getting the hole plug to extract from my hole cutter so this time around I took the plugs out in two pieces and it worked much better.  It also gave me a chance to see how much moisture was in the plug.  It wasn't bad, and my roots were through the bottom of the 4" plug but I would be happier if that 4" level was more moist.  Perhaps a decent rain in the next few days will help.

Aah the crooked stripes of @DShepley. Your green is in great sheep (pun intended).

Did you already had flags made with your awesome clublogo? 

[DShepley]

1 hour ago, berndgeurts said:

Aah the crooked stripes of @DShepley. Your green is in great sheep (pun intended).

Did you already had flags made with your awesome clublogo? 

Thanks. I have not had flags made but think I will order some vinyl stickers with my logo to put on the metal hole markers.

[MattC555]

Looking great!  I can't imagine the time and effort that has going into getting it to this level.  Truly impressive.

 

[Tupperwolf]

Bumping the best thread on WRX 🙂

[dcrocketman]

[DShepley]

A little chip around tonight. The green is looking great after a few days of rain.

 

[Tupperwolf]

Looks AMAZING!  Must be so rewarding to get such a great product out of all of the work you've put in!

[DShepley]

Just now, Tupperwolf said:

Looks AMAZING!  Must be so rewarding to get such a great product out of all of the work you've put in!

Thanks.  It's pretty awesome to be able to get good quality practice in at home.

[Lock170]

What height are you cutting at now? Are you rolling with the greensmower with the blades off?

[DShepley]

Just now, Lock170 said:

What height are you cutting at now? Are you rolling with the greensmower with the blades off?

I'm cutting around 0.125" and when I roll, I just use the mower with the reel off.  I say 'around' 0.125 because I don't have the fancy dial to measure my cut height, (they are a tad spendy), but rather use a flat bar with a threaded machine screw and measure the height by eye off of a ruler.

[DShepley]

Happy for the rain lately and the cooler temperatures for the coming few days.  Disease pressure has been pretty low though I do see some hint of what may be dollar spot, (very minor), so I will react accordingly as well as apply some nitrogen via Urea spray hopefully after I get the rest of the lawn cut tonight. (I'm hoping the clouds in the picture are all talk....).  My short game and putting are seeing the benefit of this gem but the rest of my game is a bit of a mess right now.

 

[Ty_Webb]

Looking so good! 

[Chip Duffer]

I just looked back at the first page and remember following this project from the beginning. It has turned into a magical addition to your beautiful property. Amazing that it was less than 15 months ago when you first cut the shape of the green into the yard.

 

 

[DShepley]

1 minute ago, Chip Duffer said:

I just looked back at the first page and remember following this project from the beginning. It has turned into a magical addition to your beautiful property. Amazing that it was less than 15 months ago when you first cut the shape of the green into the yard.

 

 

Thanks! It never gets old, I still drive super slow into the driveway so I can admire it each time!  My chipping and pitching has seen a bit of a resurgence. The rest of my swing on the other hand is trashy....but things could be worse. If only I had room for a driving range.....

[Chip Duffer]

5 minutes ago, DShepley said:

Thanks! It never gets old, I still drive super slow into the driveway so I can admire it each time!  My chipping and pitching has seen a bit of a resurgence. The rest of my swing on the other hand is trashy....but things could be worse. If only I had room for a driving range.....

I love that you mentioned driving super slow to admire it. I would do exactly that. I can only imagine the pride and satisfaction you have in your creation.

 

That green on that lovely property is like a trophy on the mantle of a beautiful home. 

[dugue4]

Just read the whole thread and it has me wanting to do it.  Now to figure out how to get 2 mowers for under 500 bucks…

[betarhoalphadelta]

1 minute ago, dugue4 said:

Just read the whole thread and it has me wanting to do it.  Now to figure out how to get 2 mowers for under 500 bucks…

 

Yeah, I get ya... I'm just trying to figure out how to get an appropriate property here in Southern California for under $4M... 😉 

 

[dugue4]

27 minutes ago, betarhoalphadelta said:

 

Yeah, I get ya... I'm just trying to figure out how to get an appropriate property here in Southern California for under $4M... 😉 

 

….your weather is nice. 😁

Edited July 24, 2021 by dugue4