Wednesday, July 25

Getting the greens back on track

Without question, the most frequent comment from members during the last couple of weeks was in regards to the amount of grass that appears on the greens surface.  Overall, players weren't necessarily unhappy with the roll or speed, just that they looked "shaggy".  Well, I'm here to tell you, you are right!  And trust me, it's a good thing.

With the drought stress, heat stress, traffic stress, and long days we have experienced during the last three weeks or so, we have implemented practices designed to maximize the health of the greens.  As I've commented numerous times, when you are growing grass at 1/8th of an inch (especially if it's Poa), it doesn't hold up well in extreme weather conditions.  To "nurse" the greens through the hottest, driest, most stressful period on record, it was necessary to "back off" our usual regimen of practices and suffer less than our desired green speed.  It also didn't help that the hot weather really makes what bentgrass (not Poa) we have on the greens grow like gangbusters.  Ultimately, the thriving bentgrass has been noticably encroaching into the weakened Poa which is great.  Anytime we can increase the population of bentgrass on the surface it is a really good thing.

Now, with the immediate forecast looking a lot closer to "normal" (whatever that is now), days beginning to shorten, and we get closer to September, we can get back to carefully working on providing a higher quality putting surface and "push" the greens just a little.  Perhaps more of a "nudge" than a push, but we want them faster just as much as you do.

Yesterday, we put the grooved rollers back on the greensmowers, and tomorrow, will be very slightly decreasing our height of cut gradually down to our normal daily height.  We will add a double cut or two into the rotation along with rolling after we mow 3-5 times per week depending, of course, on whether or not the greens decide to "push back".  Should the greens remain healthy, we may do a very light "groom" with the vertical groomers on our greensmowers.  This will stand the turf up, "groom" the canopy and provide a smoother, quicker surface.

Now keep in mind, it is still July and the potential for more stressful weather is quite high.  We are by no means out of the woods yet.  Should the greens begin to suffer, we will be augmenting practices as necessary to protect our greens.  September will bring ideal conditions.  In the meantime, we are trying to give you the best performing surfaces we can.

Now I realize the timing is a little suspicious, what with the Jamie Farr starting in little more than a week, but I assure you I am NOT doing this for them.  I would be doing this regardless for our members and guests.  Now cross your fingers and hope for good grass-growing weather.  

Tuesday, July 24

Skip It!

I ran across this article from the USGA this morning regarding mowing and rolling practices and stressful summer weather.  It outlines a practice we have used quite often this summer during the record temperatures. 

Managing greens that are predominantly Poa annua makes for a difficult task when the weather is as hot and traffic is as high as this year.  We are doing our best to create acceptable conditions without jeapordizing the long-term health of the putting surfaces.

Check out the article below.


http://www.usga.org/course_care/regional_updates/regional_reports/northcentral/Skip-It---July-2012/

Wednesday, July 11

Catch-up

There has been much to talk about on the maintenance side of the club over the last couple of weeks.  Record heat, storms, fence, have all added up to a lot of busy bees down here.  While spending my time nursing the course through the last couple of weeks, I haven't had much time to blog, so I will try to play catch-up.

As you all know, the storms that rumbled quickly through our area late last week left a lovely mess.  #5 green was the victim of a large oak tree as was #16 tee.  We have been hard at work to repair and patch that green to get it in the most playable shape possible for the remainder of the summer season.  With such a large impact, there were "dimples" in the green up to 6 inches deep as well as one large limb that poked a hole 3 feet deep into the green profile.  We will continue to patch, roll, and sand the affected portion of the green to get it smooth.  It will take time, but eventually I expect a good recovery.

This oak was about 80 or so feet tall and alive.
Just what you want to see in your green!


Jeff couldn't reach the bottom of the hole the limb poked into the green

Some of the more superficial damage.

Tools of the trade - oyster knife, steel pipe, and a pitchfork did a good bit of the surface lifting.  Hex plugs and cups did most of the rest

One of the other aspects of the storm is that it dropped around a half-inch of rain in about 10 minutes.  While this didn't seem like much, it did more harm than good.  Most of it puddled and collected in lower areas of the fairways.  The extra water in the soil combined with cart traffic and the next three days of 100+ degree heat basically "cooked" the Poa annua roots in those spots.  This has resulted in some "burnt out" areas in the fairways mostly in high-cart-traffic and drain areas where the water collected.  "Burnt out" is not really appropriate since these areas did not suffer from dryness at all!!! This is a great example of traffic stress, extreme heat, drainage issues, Poa annua, and soil type can all combine to cause serious turf health problems.   Many people think these areas have "checked out" due to the drought conditions this summer when the opposite is true.  Too much water and traffic had weakened these areas to where they couldn't survive the record heat we have had.  You will also notice that the majority of these areas are where cart traffic tends to be quite "funnelled". 

3 fairway in front of the ladies tee where so many carts tend to drive.

These areas are unsightly, but in this example there is some bentgrass surrounding that will hopefully take over.

#1 approach on the right.  The exact point where most carts drive despite our signs and ropes.  A curious note on this picture is the green "lines" of turf that did survive in our verticut channels (that's why we do it!!!).  The patches that survived are either bentgrass or ryegrass.

Another cart traffic/shade area on the approach to #3 green.  The ryegrass in the step cut and bentgrass survived well while the Poa annua is either dormant or severely stunted.  It is important to note these areas were never dry during the heat wave.
Finally, the other project you may have noticed is the cart bridge on #18.  As many of you noticed, the bridge deck had become quite wobbly and unstable.  Years of floods combined with traffic and pure age had taken their toll on the wooden deck and required it be replaced.  We did the work in-house and used much sturdier treated lumber that should last for some time.  I'm pretty sure you could drive a Sherman tank across the thing now.  We are also trying to smooth out the uneven concrete approaches for a softer transition from wood to cart path.

We use a chainsaw to remove the end boards and then pop the deck straight off.

This wooden center beam was no longer supporting the center of the deck, thus the "flapping wings"effect when driving across.

Rot.  It happens.

The rusty beams were scraped and painted with rustproof primer and high-quality paint.

New deck boards being placed.

The thicker deck boards left us perfectly level with the northern concrete approach but a little below the southern approach.  A little concrete hacking and grinding was necessary.  We will rent another machine to soften further.

Getting the edge just right with a little "persuasion".
Update:  The fence on Erie St. is mostly complete.  Contractors will be back on-site to finish installing the service gate opening mechanism and the security fence down the hill within the next week or so.  The recent storm and heat wave have prevented us from seeding around the fence for the time being, but we will get something down here very shorty.  Bear with us as we try to get the golf course back together from all the recent trouble.