Seed, Seed, More SEED

 

With these great spring temperatures and rain, we've had good success with our seeding to bridge the gap between what was done last fall and where we need to be for opening the course to play.  

Unfortunately, much of the seed that was planted late in the fall and dormant seeded in the winter was either washed away by the heavy rains or frozen off shortly after germination with the incredibly low temps we got a couple months ago. 

In response to this, we have seeded over 4000 lbs of tall fescue in the rough, one 4-foot pass at a time. We also have been using our hydro-mulch unit to cover seed on steep slopes and tough to establish areas. Though the weeds are also taking advantage of the rain and temperatures, we are confident we can have things cleaned up in time for golf. Spring seeding is an adventure.

I want to take a moment to shout out our small, but incredible crew here at Swope. It is clear that everyone has a clear goal in mind and is working their tails off to make it happen. I know it has been a lot to ask of these guys, but every one of them has absolutely risen to the occasion. 

Antonio, Julio, Alex, Carlos, Ulises, Bill, Sam, and MJ-- Hats off to you!

Behind the Scenes this Winter

 If you've ever had the pleasure of purchasing golf course fixtures, you will know that the cost can get unreasonable very quickly. With a finite budget for the renovation at Swope, we wanted to put every dollar possible into making the course incredible. To offset some cost of the fixtures and furnishings, we have taken on the project of building as many as we can in-house.

We started with a stack of plastic wood composite to match furnishings we've purchased

The stack is processed into individual components 

Here is a sneak peak at the tee markers 

Small trash cans for every hole

Overall, we still have work to do on everything we want to make for the course as well as growing in the course and getting it ready for play this summer. My hope is that everyone is even half as excited as we are here to roll out this reconstructed piece of history!

 

Ready to welcome back GOLF

Though we don't have a solid timeline of the official reopening of Swope Memorial, we do know that it will be very exciting when it happens. As of now, we are shooting for early July and if weather continues to be favorable, this seems to be an attainable goal. 

If you have not had the chance, I encourage you to visit the Swope Memorial Youtube page to see videos of all the construction that has taken place on the course. 

 https://www.youtube.com/@swopememorialgc9587

With the heavy equipment gone, the detail work has been the focus of our crew here at the course. The amount we would like to do before the opening seems daunting, but our number one motivation here is to provide the best possible product we can for our golfers when those gates swing open.

We look forward to seeing you this summer!

Wet, Wet, Dry, Wet

I hope you all are enjoying May as much as we are at Swope Memorial. While you wait for our reopening we do encourage you to support our other Kansas City facilities including Shoal Creek, Hodge Park, Minor Park, Heart of America, Adams Pointe, Winterstone, and Sycamore Ridge. As the title of this blog suggests May has been a very wet month for us here at Swope. We start and end this month with lower than average temperatures as well as ample rainfall. This has been a blessing to us as we currently have our irrigation system down for the renovation. This has also allowed us to continue our sodding of new fairways edges discussed in our previous blog.

Widening of old #7 new #3 Fairway

Transporting Sod from #12 to new #3

New Sod on #3

While the majority of the month has been wet we did experience a dry spell towards the middle of the month that tested our ability to keep our new sod hydrated without active irrigation. Our staff came up with several ingenious ways to water this sod, including converting our spray rig typically used for chemical applications into a watering unit. We were also able to convert an old 1250 gallon water tank typically used by the city for snow melt applications into a hydraulic pump supplied watering rig.

Converted Spray Rig at direct filling station from Fire Hydrant

Renovation Update and In House Projects

As you all know Swope is under a very extensive renovation. While this process in underway by Mid America Golf Construction there are many in-house projects we have our Maintenance team tackling. One of our primary focus points from the past several months has been to reshape fairway lines as well as repairing any low or high areas in fairways that struggle to maintain quality turf grass. This process involves stripping any existing turf, leveling the new areas, and finally laying zoysia sod back into the area. One major cost savings during this process has been the use of existing zoysia on the course to replenish these new fairway edges.

Closing Time

 And just like that the 2024 golf season has come to an end. This year has been one to remember for many reasons. During the heat of the season it always seems like the summer is never ending but as we sit here at the beginning of a new year I look back and wonder where did the time really go. It seems like just last month we were taking off teebox covers and opening the course back fully after a long cold winter.

We as a staff are very excited about the changes to come as we begin the renovation process. One bittersweet change however will be the lack of patrons we will see on a day to day basis. Many of these interactions are reminders of why we work so hard to make Swope the best it can be. As we close this chapter in the history of Swope Memorial we would like to share some or our favorite memories from this year pictured below.

Superintendent Josh Linn Venting Greens

View from #14 green during a morning Spray

Removing trees from area between 5/6/9

A look back at #14 green and Fairway

Construction of new Pole Barn December 2024

Delivery of New Progator and Topdresser

Shop Renovation 2024

Face Lift

 During the month of November we were able to do a much needed facelift to the Swope Memorial Maintenance Facility. Phase one of this project consisted of rearranging the inside of our shop as well as demolishing the outdated workbench to make room for a updated streamlined workbench/tool storage combination. 

Along with the new organization strategy we were also able to paint the inside of the shop. Our new three teared color scheme allows for the mitigation of multiple problems we faced with the last paint job of the shop. Thus allowing for a much brighter and cleaner look when it was all said and done.

Out with the Old in With the New

                                                         

There is nothing quite like the feeling of climbing into the brand new car you have worked so hard for. The fresh smell of leather hits your nose as you take a seat onto a soft yet firm drivers seat. You grip the wheel with excitement as you que up your favorite playlist. You reverse out of your drive as you head to your 8am tee time with hopes of shooting your best round to date. All is right with the world.

This feeling you are imagining however is about only half the joy as we experienced this month as our Brand new equipment has started to arrive. Swope as well as the other city of Kansas City golf facilities have  put together a equipment package to update many of our aging pieces and fill in any gapes in equipment that will be required to maintain the course in years to come. Some of you I'm sure have noticed some of these new pieces this month that include a new John Deere ProGator and Top Dresser. We also received our new Toro Sidewinder for mowing rough including tee and green banks. Our Superintendent Josh has been especially fond of our new John Deere 4066R Tractor which replaces one of our oldest pieces of equipment.

Velocity

As we draw closer the the end of the 2024 golf season and start of the Swope Renovation there have been several pre-emptive steps taken to insure the success of upcoming projects. An issue we have tackled in the month of September is beginning to eradicate any poa-annua from our rough. This is a crucial process that we had to insure happened before the renovation of our greens and tee complexes as to prevent any contamination from the rough onto newly seeded areas.

To eradicate the poa-annua in our rough we implemented multiple applications of Velocity(Bispyribac-sodium) in late August/September. You will see in the images below how effective it was at taking out any existing Poa and leaving room for our new rough seed to germinate and thrive.

Once the Poa has been suppressed we were then able to seed into the soil with new cultivars of seed that will help increase not only the playability but the overall health and longevity of our rough at Swope Memorial.    

                                                            

New Nursery

 As we draw closer and closer to the start of the Renovation at Swope Memorial there are several inhouse projects that we are breaking ground on. This month was crucial in timing out the expansion of the existing bentgrass nursery. Currently our bentrgass nursery to the left of 12 fairway was roughly 1200sqft. This is considered small and would not be appropriate for the amount of bentgrass we will have post renovation. We therefor expanded the nursery to now be over 3600sqft.

 

During this process we removed existing turf and material surrounded the the existing green. We then created new drainage lines to properly move water across the entirety of the new nursery.

 Additionally we added a new layer of sand/peatmoss mixture to give the new seed a solid foundation to grow into. Lastly we laid pre-plant amendments to properly feet the seed that was soon to follow.

                                                                                    

 As you will see the bentrgass has already begun to germinate and is looking great!

                                                                                

Hospice Care

 The dog days of summer are officially here at Swope Memorial. With highs reaching into the hundreds and overnight low's barely dipping into the 70's if not low 80's its a miracle any turf can survive these Midwest summers. With the weather patterns we have experienced in late July its not a matter of if the turf will start to die its a matter of how slowly it will happen. Our jobs as Superintendents becomes similar to a hospice nurse during these times. Creating the best possible environment to keep the turf comfortable to prevent unnecessary death.

 As a golfer this will present itself to you as seeing more maintenance staff watering greens during the day. Greens moisture levels become even more important during a heat wave because of the anatomy of our Bentgrass/ Poa greens. Bentgrass is less susceptible to the heat but still needs constant monitoring because of its longer root zone allowing for it to reach down and collect moisture at lower soil depths. Poa on the other hand has an extremely shallow root zone only allowing it to collect water at the top 2 inches of soil. This inability to collect water is why you will see our maintenance crew doing constant moisture checks on the greens to insure we lose as little Poa as possible. You may also notice slightly longer rough and fairways to give the turf a chance to protect itself. And as always stricter cart traffic rules that stave off rough death from over traffic.

Gas Exchange

What are you all doing to the greens today? This question seems to be asked a hundred times a season between our members, staff, and once a year players alike. As superintendents green's health is always on the forefront of our minds. Luckily with continued innovations in the turf management industry we have a plethora of tools in our toolbox to manage not only turf health but playability as well

Many of you this week likely saw our Turf Team venting the greens before play on Monday and Tuesday. Now what does venting do and why is that important? Our venting process as Swope this week involved using "pencil" tines to penetrate roughly the top 4 inches of our greens. Each hole is spaced out 3 inches from the previous and this is continues over the whole green. Now why is this important? Venting is crucial for gas exchange to happen for the plant. Without venting soils can become to compacted to allow proper gas exchange and will also affect water retention.

Why Vent?-  Along with the health benefits of venting the greens there is also a huge benefit in the playability of the greens after a vent versus a full aerification as we do in the spring and fall. After venting we are able to roll the greens and add a light layer of top-dress sand. This combinations is very non aggressive and keeps the greens much smoother than after a normal aerifications.

The Best is Yet to come

 What an interesting month May proved to be here at Swope. Once again Missouri weather will keep you on your toes. May brought us some unfortunately unexpected high temps, but also blessed us with an exceedingly large amount of rain and thunderstorms. 

 

One perk of the job here at Swope is it should never be boring and monotonous. One day you can be dealing with keeping greens alive during scorching temps, and the next you can be pumping out bunkers from a torrential rain fall. May brought the best of both worlds to us and a little more.

During May we also got to lay zoyzia sod on many of the tee boxes that struggle each year. You will notice new sod on number's 5,6,7,11,12,16 tee boxes. This has become a yearly occurrence due to the number of rounds played at Swope each season. With rumors of a renovation this will be an issue we plan to tackle head on to create both the best playing conditions as well a sustainable management practice.

Spring Swing

 Spring is in full swing here at Swope. With increased rainfall and rising temperatures Swope is turning as lush and green as ever. As many of you will have noticed our rough and greens surrounds are extremely healthy allowing for a thick stand of turf. As mentioned in the previous blog our areas on green that were affected by our harsh winter are also making a full recovery. 

The zoyzia issues we are facing from the increased rounds per year as well as our harsh winter are being addressed as well. The month of May will see many of our zoyzia tee's re-soded as well as low areas in our fairways that tend to hold water. Swope will be re-soding roughly 15,000 square feet of zoyzia this spring with the hope as always of improving the players experience. 

Along with on-course improvements a large step has been taken in the appearance of the the grounds surrounding the historic Clubhouse. You will notice we have moved to using black mulch in the beds as well as planting an exorbitant amount of flowers in said beds.