THE TIMES THEY ARE A-CHANGIN’…BACK

Our signature hole #6, at the UMGC, has gone through an expansion project that increased the area of the upper shelf by 40%. This green expansion is a key element to changes that have been seen on the course in recent years.  We are fortunate, at the UMGC, to have such a rich historical record of the golf course that dates back to 1931. The project reclaims a large area that would have been included in the original 1931 MacKenzie design of #6 green. 

The row of pines and shrubbery that were a later addition to the course were removed and sodded over with fescue. The entire redesign of the top of #6 is a call back to the great architect’s plan and philosophy. MacKenzie made a career switch to golf course architecture from medicine. He thought of golf as a social game that was good for people’s health. Our hope is that this project will help open up the course to the camaraderie among players that is so inherent in the great game of golf. 

Hole #6 is one of the many projects included in the UMGC's Master Plan. Other future plans include the removal of declining and dead trees, transplanting of existing trees and planting of new trees. As well as, green expansions and green restorations. The UMGC's Master Plan is a multi-year plan that intends to create a more enjoyable golf course while respecting the course's history and tradition. Come play the UMGC in the spring of 2014 and let us know what you think.

#6 Green before ground is broken on project

Amending the soil in preparation for bentgrass sod 

Dean Noworyta limbing a spruce before felling it

All areas almost ready for sod!

Mark Richards preping the transition edge from existing green to new sod

Grading the area to be sodded

Greg Wnuk seaming the bentgrass sod

 Rolling the finished product

Completed project!

A Tale of Two Courses

The month of September is a welcomed time at the UMGC. The crew can breathe a little easier knowing that the shorter days and falling temperatures relieve stress on the turf. The grass grows a little slower and the risk of turf disease lessens. It is also the month that football and varsity golf starts. Our wolverines hit the links and take the field at the big house and we, here at the course, do our part to support them in every way.  

Football Saturdays reveal the dualistic nature of the UMGC in the fall. Friday, the course is the number 8 college course in the nation according to Golfweek. Saturday, the course is a top-ten college football tailgating destination with a few thousand parked cars and around ten thousand football fans. 

By Sunday at 10 am we are back to the number 8 college course in the country. The whole process is timed and executed to a tee by the grounds crew at the course.  

It could be likened to having a gigantic blowout bash while your parents are on vacation and then having their house cleaned up and spotless by the time they get back the next morning—6-8 times a year. The only difference is that we aren’t misbehaving by hosting tailgaters—quite the opposite-- we are happily providing a place for our beloved football fans to celebrate the tradition of Michigan Football.

Check out our YouTube video and watch the golf course transform during the Under the Lights weekend.

The Team... The Team... The Team!

One of the most important objectives at the University of Michigan Golf Course is to help the golf teams win championships. This spring, renowned golf course architect and Alister McKenzie expert Mike Devries designed and built a McKenzie style putting green for the Men's and Women's golf teams at the Weisfeld Family Golf Center. The University of Michigan Alum Devries has designed several great courses in Michigan such as Kingsley Club, Greywalls, Pilgrim's Run and Mines Golf Course. He has also overseen a restoration at another Alister McKenzie gem, Meadow Club in Fairfax, California.

The green has a flat upper shelf that is designed for straight putting practice and a challenging lower shelf which allows for heavy breaking putts and downhill practice.

The University of Michigan Golf Course maintenance crew made the final touches. They were responsible for sodding the banks around the green and growing in the green surface. With great weather and a great crew, the teams will be putting on their new green in no time.

Check out the pictures!

Winter Warriors

I’ve been working on golf courses for 27 years.  Every winter, without fail, I am asked the same question when I tell some people what I do for a living: “what do you do in the winter?”  If I were not in this industry I would have trouble imagining what is done on a snow and ice covered huge plot of land.  After all, no one in Michigan is mowing their lawn or planting flower beds during those cold months

Following are some examples of the off-season work that is paramount to the success of a golf course…

Mechanic, Dave Yeager, is hard at work overhauling the entire fleet of equipment.  He has quite the winter work load.  Over one hundred machines get overhauled and tuned up from December 1^st to the beginning of April.  Dave prides himself as a problem solver… he often, in the winter, implements new ideas and techniques to increase the effectiveness and efficiency of daily work at the UMGC.

Arborists, Dean Noworyta and Steve LeDuc, are sawing away.   Every winter, there are many trees on the course that demand attention.  Some have run their life course, some have diseases, some need dead growth pruning, some are overgrown and their root systems are compromising the integrity of our original 1930 greens.  The trees that require work are identified throughout the growing season, the information is compiled and a master plan is set in place before the winter even hits.   It seems like a brutal job but the project is perfectly suited for the winter: frozen turf is beneficial because it allows the use of large equipment and the felling of large trees (without destroying playing surfaces.)  Also, if anyone has ever been a lumberjack before, you know that you sweat no matter the temperature and work up quite the appetite (lumberjacks are known to burn up to 5000 calories a day). 

Snow crew leader, Mark Richards, is in charge of snow removal for the athletic campus.  The golf course is used throughout the winter in different capacities… as a parking lot for games at Crisler Arena and as a space for meetings and events.  It is also the new home of Event Management.  The safety of our guests and employees is of the upmost importance to the department.  That being said, snow removal is a consistent responsibility that requires a lot of man power every week during the winter.   

At the UMGC we have hundreds of golf carts—but none more important than the maintenance fleet.  They take a beating every year hauling equipment and materials, pulling trailers and driving over rough terrain.  On average, they get 3500 miles put on them every summer.  They need body work and paint every winter. 

The Weisfeld Family Practice Center is one of the newest buildings on athletic campus.  It houses the university Men’s and Women’s golf teams and is available to them year round for training purposes.  Every morning, Greenskeeper Steve Plunkett, maintains the facility.  This includes brushing, cleaning and rolling the artificial turf in the indoor putting/chipping bay and making sure that the student athletes can train in perfect conditions throughout the whole facility.

Just as the arrival of spring provides us with a growing season and golfers, the winter brings with it the uninterrupted time and project management that enables our course to be one of the leaders and best!  Our winter warriors, clad in thermal wear and safety harnesses, smeared in mechanics grease prove that the staff at the UMGC is always at home and working hard no matter what season it is.

A Mechanic's Best Friend; The Digital Height of Cut Gauge

If you ask any golf course mechanic they will tell you that this trusty tool is worth its weight in gold. It's called the Digital Height of Cut Gauge. It aids in adjusting the height of cut of reel mowers by one-one thousandth of an inch. That's one quarter the thickness of a piece of paper!

We use Toro reel mowers at the University of Michigan Golf Course to mow our Greens, Tees, Fairways, Approaches and Collars. The height of cut is adjusted throughout the golf season for many different reasons: climate conditions, time of year, type of play (tournaments or daily play), or to simply improve the overall health of the turf.

To give you an idea, a residential mower used for home lawns is normally set at a height of 2.5 inches. Our greens are mowed between 0.090-0.130 of an inch and our tees, fairways and approaches are mowed between 0.400-0.600 of an inch.

Several times a week we check and adjust the height of cut of our mowers. We do this to ensure consistency from mower to mower and to create the best possible playing conditions for our golfers. If you ever see us out on the golf course feel free to ask, "What's the height of cut?"

Cart Signs and Benches

Check out our new cart signs and benches! They are made in house by our multitalented groundskeepers. The best part is that they are produced at a fraction of the cost of what they would cost to outsource.

Please let us know what you think.

Welcome to the University of Michigan Golf Course Blog

Welcome to the first installment of the University of Michigan Golf Course blog. I have identified a need for communicating the physical state of the course to all of the many people that show great interest in our beautiful golf course. My goal is to inform and educate the golfing community on the maintenance philosophy and the work that is done to the course on a day-to-day basis. This blog will help people understand why and how the maintenance of the UMGC dictates playability, esthetics, green speed and other course-related details.

Thanks for the readership and support, GO BLUE!

Sincerely,
Scott Rockov
Superintendent
P.S. Questions, comments, things you want to know about the UMGC… contact me at: sarockov@umich.edu