FINALLY - Opening day approaches and Aerification rescheduled

I have been getting peppered with questions and comments the last two weeks about the long winter we appear to be having.  I hate to break it to you all, but what we are experiencing is.....wait for it......NORMAL!  The idea that this winter has been hanging on abnormally long (by the way Punxatawny Phil is an idiot) is really just relative to the last 3-4 seasons.

My first 4 years here we never opened in March and usually it was a little dicey at that.  The last 4, however have been a different story.  Early spring rains, early warm-ups, and just general strange weather have had our first tee rocking as soon as St. Patricks Day.  While it may SEEM like things are dragging on, we are actually just "back to normal" so to speak.

That being said, the pins will be back in the greens Thursday afternoon.  We have finally had enough warm weather to put our first cuts on tees, fairways, and greens and get some much needed cleanup completed.  The 2013 season will finally begin!  Also, as a result aerification will move from the scheduled date of April 8th to April 15th to better accommodate some early season golf and get some better growing conditions so we can heal quickly.

The operator (me) view of #18 getting the winter fuzz knocked off.

18 fairway finished.  Finally some green on the golf course.

In the meantime, we have brought a few key staff back from their winter hibernation to tackle some last-minute tree work and clearing projects long overdue.  We had the projects approved years ago but the last 4 seasons early openings have prevented us from getting them done.  Late winter/early spring can be a perfect time to do tree work due to the hard, frozen ground and safety to the tree.   The first major clearing was to remove the "woods" behind 14 green.  This area was just infested with poison ivy, brush, and old piles of leaves from autumn past.  Also, it's always wet and muddy around the area due to the lack of sun, turf, and air movement.  Most important, this area, along with a similar area adjacent to 13 ladies tee were inconsistent with the rest of the property.  "Afterthoughts" at best.

BEFORE

Also this leaner had to come down for safety and for the sake of the turf.

Thick piles of leaves and poison ivy are all that inhabit this area.  

AFTER clearing and "de-brushing" you can see the sunlight and by removing the brush we have "added" some nice trees (unfortunately they are mostly cottonwoods) that were hidden.  We will work to get the stumps and leaves out in order to eventually seed the area.

 Also we have taken a couple of trees down.  Last fall, after a course tour, the grounds committee decided to approve the removal of a couple of prominent trees.  The first would be the sweetgum tree that overhangs #17 green.  There is a clump of three that were planted years ago to hide 18 and the electric lines from view.  Unfortunately they planted the first within 15 feet of the green edge.   Also, as we know, the sweetgum drops somewhere between 1000 and 100,000 of those annoying spiny seed pods or "gum balls".  This may be the worst species of tree you can plant next to a green.  As you can see in the picture below, the tree had grown to overhang in spots.  It was time to go.  Plus, with the size of the other two sweetgums directly behind, we didn't lose any screening of the electrical lines.

Sweetgum limbs hanging over the green edge.

"Gum Balls" on the green and collar.

Remaining trees still hide the electric lines.

 The next tree we tackled was the "lightning oak" next to number 8 green.  It's health had declined over the last couple of years probably due to the lightning that struck it several years back.  Also, it is in a clump of several large trees right next to the green.  The size of these trees has made it more difficult to grow grass on #8 green.  It was time to go, and we plucked the weakest from the herd.

Distorted bark missing from the lightning strike.

With the other trees so close, it won't be missed.

So as of now, we are keeping busy.  After another week of tree work, the crew will be happy the course is open and we can get back to mowing.  Look forward to seeing you all on the course soon!

Tale of two seasons and getting high on the course.

Now that we've moved our clock ahead an hour (and hopefully changed the batteries in our smoke detectors) you can sense a noticeable "twitch" in our membership.  Opening day is certainly getting close, but relative to last year we could be looking at a much later opening date.

The reasons are fairly obvious to most.  Last year by this time we were warm (Upper 60's to near 80 degrees!), green, and the grass was growing quite nicely.  We had already mowed the greens, fairways, and tees once or twice and the turf was ready for play which allowed us to open shortly after St. Patty's Day 2012.  Subsequently, we proceeded to have the best March golf season I've seen since I got here 8 years ago.  Today, one only need step out of the back dining room doors to notice that the surfaces are still soft and the grass is still pretty much brown, dormant, and nowhere near ready to cut.

To put a bit of turf "nerdism" behind it, here are some numbers to help explain.  To help predict the growth of plants many superintendents, landscapers, horticulturists, and scientists use "growing degree days" or "heat units" which are "a measure of heat above a threshold for a day" or even simpler - how much time has the plant had in temperatures that are favorable for growth.  We use this data to predict flowering, growth, chemical applications, insect growth and other things.  So far, in terms of heat units we are 75% behind where we were last year.  Using the heat unit calculation, it would take 15 days of 60-degree highs and 40-degree lows to catch up to where we were last year at this time. As of right now, the forecast isn't anywhere near 60 daytime or above 40 at night in the next few days.

Some may have a tendency to gripe that the course is not open this past weekend with our first nice 50-60 degree temperatures.  Several public facilities were open with carts available.  While this make sense on their end for revenue, it does not for us.  Had we put a full Highland Meadows weekend day with carts on our soft, saturated course, it would likely have made ruts, tracks, mud holes and footprints from tee to green that would be slow to recover and offer substandard conditions for the remainder of the spring.  It is the mission of HMGC to offer outstanding, private club conditions all season long to differentiate ourselves from the daily fee golf courses.  A premature opening would put us behind from day one.

That being said, I fully understand your desires to get out there and enjoy your course as soon as possible.  Rest assured we are watching the conditions daily and will be prepared to pounce when the time is right.

Since we aren't growing and mowing like last year, we have been using our time to get some necessary pre-spring work completed.  This past week we took on the task of pruning our key oak trees.  TIP: It is important to prune oak trees prior to April 1st in our area in order to minimize exposure to Oak Wilt Disease (OWD).  OWD can wipe out an oak tree in short order.  Check out this article in the Toledo Blade to learn more:  Toledo Blade OWD Article Click Here

Some of the most important oak trees on the course are around 8 green and at the start of #16 fairway.  On 8 green the focus was to increase air movement and sunlight in this "over-treed" area and on 16 we wanted to improve the look of the trees as well as increase the window for the tee shot.  These two oaks have grown far into the line of play and made it quite difficult to craft a proper tee shot.  A large "cherry picker" bucket lift was brought in so we could reach the higher limbs.  Since the skeleton crew of two are afraid of heights, I got to be the one in the bucket while they cleaned below.  Don't tell them, but I had a blast and it gave me some unique perspective pictures of the course.  Also, it was just great to shake off a little "shop fever".

The view from the top looking toward the snowy 8 green.  

A lot of large limbs were brought down around number 8.  This will allow more air, sun AND golf balls to get to the green.

16 oak trees BEFORE we trimmed it as viewed from 16 tee.  We all know how difficult it is to get around this thing with a driver.

16 oaks from the tee AFTER we trimmed.  We brought it more out of play and opened up a  little more room to fit a tee shot.

Both the north and south oaks were trimmed to make a symmetrical silhouette.

Just a shot from about 40 feet above 8 green.

A look down 16 fairway at the chickens below.

A nice view of #5 green from above

 Overall a very productive day.  We will be bringing the bucket lift in again for some more pruning in the near future, but getting those crucial oak trees early was key.

Let's hope for some better temperatures soon so we can get out and play some golf!

Let's dig a hole!

As many of you may know, we are currently in the process of exploring new and better options for an irrigation water source for the golf course.  The plan is to dig a "test well" to see if we can tap an underground aquifer with sufficient water for the 15-20 million gallons a season we need.  After quite a bit of leg work this winter securing permission, we finally are clear to dig our well.  After consulting with a well driller and a golf course architect, it was determined the ideal location for the well was near the creek between the driving range fence and number 9 fairway. Not only is it better in terms of tying into our existing mainline, but also offers a slightly better chance for increased availability of water.  Something geological over my head regarding soil and bedrock airspace or something like that.  All that aside, we hope to begin drilling this spring at the latest.

Took a little survey work to get true elevation of the proposed site.

If we wanted to put the well where he is standing, it would have opened a whole new can of worms in the floodplain.  Fortunately we are putting it next to the last driving range pole where his partner is.

For those of you that aren't aware of our well project, I will be happy to fill you in.  We currently draw our irrigation water from 10-mile creek directly into our sprinkler system.  This is very problematic for the following reasons:

1.  As we learned this past summer, the creek flow can become insufficient to water the golf course.  On more than one occasion, we were not able to water fairways or tees due to the lack of creek water.  Water normally provided from the quarry was sequestered for their operation and not available to us.  Ground water is plentiful in our area (for now) and we should be able to find sufficient quantity for our operation.  The question is how much flow we will find and how deep do we have to go to get it.  A recent well dug near flower hospital was estimated to be near 1000 gallons per minute!

2.  The creek water contains a great deal of debris.  We spend quite a bit of time, especially when the creek is at low summer levels, cleaning our sprinklers out as they become clogged.  On numerous occasions we have had greens and tees not water sufficiently due to debris in the lines.  On poa annua greens in the summer, this can be the difference between healthy and completely dormant or even dead grass.  Well water would presumably be much cleaner, consistent, and plentiful.

3.  Our dam.  In order to glean sufficient "head" for our intake, we have to create a small "natural" damn.  This requires we put a large piece of equipment in the creek several times throughout the season to maintain it.  For obvious reasons, this is not only dangerous but the potential for an environmental issue (oil leak in the creek etc...) is dicey at the last.  Also, if they so desired, the Army Corps of engineers could make us stop damming the creek if they found reason.  This would create a very difficult situation and we would have significant issues in irrigating the course. A new well system would remove the danger, unpredictability, and expense of damming the creek.

4.  Our electrical supply is in need of upgrading to meet local codes.

5.  Water temperature.  The cold spring temperatures of our creek water create leaking issues early in the season due to the rubber o-rings in the sprinklers.  You will notice each spring that many sprinkler heads appear to be leaking.  This is due to the cold spring water.  Well water would offer a more constant temperature.  Also, the constantly cool water would help the greens through hot summer days by enabling us to more dramatically drop canopy temps during summer "syringing" cycles.

Overall, the current system is unreliable, tough on our sprinklers, problematic, unsafe, and causes a lot of headaches and labor drains.  Also, the current control system is so old that we can't even buy parts for it anymore.  The club is going to be replacing these systems within the next couple of years regardless of our water source.

There are a couple of downsides that we will have to manage in order to ensure our new water source is usable.  Water quality is unknown at this point as well as sulfur quantity.  Anecdotal evidence would suggest that suitable, "non-stinky" water is available in the area, but you just don't know until you dig.  We will be monitoring and testing to ensure it is suitable.  We will also explore options to treat the water if necessary to overcome some of these downfalls.

Ideally, we would be pumping our water into a holding pond to secure several days of water at once.  Unfortunately, the only place a pond would work in the golf architect's eyes is on the south side of the creek.  This creates a logistic and electrical nightmare as well as increasing the cost of the project by as much as double.  For now, if a simple direct well system works, it is far better than our current system.  If the flow is sufficient to directly supply 1000 gallons per minute to our system, then we are in the clear.  If the flow is extremely low, say less than 250 gallons per minute, then we are going to have to revisit the pond discussion or commit to digging more wells.  I'm hoping we need no more than two to get the job done.

If new wells end up with sufficient water it would be the most important infrastructure update this course has seen in recent history.  It will secure this club for generations and ensure it's ability to sustain the best playing conditions.  If climate trends continue and summers remain hot and/or dry, a good, clean, consistent water source is the most important thing we can have.

As the project begins I will continue with updates and more detailed information.  Please call or email me if you have any questions!

Great to be back from the trade show.  Below are some lovely chaps I met in San Diego.

Seal Beach at La Jolla

Off to the Golf Industry Show

The first week of February is here and as usual, I am off to the Golf Industry Show and Education Conference.  This year it is held in San Diego.  Oh rats, I have to leave 23 degrees and snowing sideways to spend a week in sunny San Diego.  While you are probably feeling sorry for me that I have to be subjected to such a miserable task (and likely a nasty sunburn), I assure you I am dedicated to suffering through it in the name of my profession and our club. :)

All kidding aside, this is one of the best conferences and trade shows in the business.  Hundreds of seminars on everything from business classes, pending government legislation, turf science, social networking and many more alongside the most comprehensive trade show in the golf maintenance industry.  It is a fantastic gathering that really keeps superintendents moving forward as professionals.  It is definitely a benefit to me as a professional AND the club.  If I stop learning, we stop improving.  Also, the networking that happens is invaluable.

If there's one thing I have a really hard time explaining to most members, it's that my profession is a great deal more involved than it looks on the surface.  I've always thought that being a superintendent is the best example of "Jack of all trades-master of none".  Most people like to think it's just all about growing and mowing grass while in reality, that is only about 10% of what I worry about most of the time.  Personnel management, budgeting,  long-range planning, staffing, inventory management, tree and landscape management, facility management, environmental compliance, pesticide management and compliance, and did I mention I don't have a janitor to clean my office and I was the last maintenance employee that had to run to the store for toilet paper?

Anyways, the point is that while I will never claim to be the master of anything, I am required to do a lot of different things well.  Continuing education on such a wide range of topics is essential to help me do this (I guess I am admitting I need all the help I can get ).  While not every superintendent is fortunate enough to have available funds to attend this conference, I am truly thankful that I am able to go......despite having to suffer the sunny, warm, lovely, weather of San Diego.

If you want to explore the kind of things that happen at such a show, click on the link below.

Golf Industry Show Website Click Here

What do we DO in the winter?

Happy New Year to everyone!  After a busy holiday break, the skeleton crew of a grounds staff is back at it.  Every year about this time I write a textbook piece on "what we do" in the winter.  Despite my best efforts to educate every member I talk to, this is STILL the number one question on anyone's mind this time of year (probably cuz they want to know why the hell they are paying grass growers to be on staff when the ground is frozen and buried under snow....can't say as I blame them.).  I absolutely despise repeating myself, but for the sake of any new follower's to my blog or new members to the club, I will again comment on our early winter activities in 2013.

As for the 3-man crew that remains, the objectives in the winter are as follows:

1.  Do EVERYTHING possible to make sure we minimize mid-season breakdowns.  This involves a surprising 'tear down and re-build' of just about every machine that we own.  Generally speaking, we will remove wear parts such as bearings, seals, bushings and switches and replace them as needed to ensure no issues in the heat of the summer.   Depending on the age of the equipment and how bad of a beating it takes, winter service ranges from simple tasks such as oil changes to more involved projects such as splitting tractors in half to repair transmissions.  Also, we will grind, true, and sharpen every single piece of metal that cuts grass.  Fortunately, here at Highland Meadows we have one of the best equipment managers in the area who can do just about anything in-house when it comes to turf equipment. He will guide the other 2 staff members through an in-depth preventative maintenance program that has paid very tangible dividends to our operation.  Since Arthur took over the equipment in 2005, we have experienced fewer breakdowns, better cutting unit performance, fewer hydraulic leaks and several very old pieces of equipment still manage to perform well despite being past their useful life.  This translates to more consistent conditions, less mowing during play, more efficient use of seasonal labor, more time between costly equipment replacement and obviously less dead grass from hydraulic oil or fuel leaks.  Also, during tear-down we can identify and repair problems as we see them in winter instead of having crucial equipment disabled during the golf season.  While not the most fun or exciting work, the winter equipment service saves a lot of headaches and money.

Rough-cutting units have a great deal of moving wear parts.  They are completely disassembled and re-built as needed each season to keep your ball playable in the rough.

You may be used to seeing the unit intact, so here we are tore down to the frame.  The cutting units are then tore down to just parts to inspect and repair anything required.

Fortunately, our experienced staff is capable of fabricating our own parts.  Here, Jason is making some brackets for the rough mower that otherwise would have been expensive and we would have had to pay shipping.

Gear boxes and pulleys removed for service.

A batch of walk-behind greens mowers with the engines removed in preparation for service and grinding.

Cowlings and engines are being removed to clean, grease, and re-seal all drive chains.  Once complete, it will be off to the grinders for a good sharpening.

2.  Re-finish all course accessories.  Once the equipment service is near completion, we will begin to address course accessories.  Tee markers, ball washers, hazard stakes, bunker rakes, benches, cooler houses, yellow rope stakes and just about anything else you see on the course that is man-made is removed from the course, sanded or sand blasted, and refinished.  It's bad enough we have to have all that stuff out there to clutter up the landscape, but it's worse if they all look ugly or in disrepair.

3.  Plow snow - as snow may fall this season, your maintenance staff handles the parking lot and maintenance road plowing.

4.  Shop/Facility improvements - Our facility is very out-dated, undersized, and just plain old.  Each winter we make a series of improvements or repairs to keep in functional and as safe as possible for each year.

5.  Project/Tree work - If the weather and budget allow, we may step out of the shop for a little project now and again.

6. Continuing Education - All of us that remain on staff are credentialed professionals in one way or another.  Maintaining our state pesticide licenses and professional accreditation is very important for our careers.  Also, with new developments in research, techniques, and technology we need to stay abreast of everything going on to best serve HMGC and the community.  We do this by attending education conferences and trade shows throughout the region.

7.  Planning - Reflecting on the previous season and finding ways to improve also takes up a lot of winter.  If we aren't improving, then you should probably fire us all.  The staffing, fertilizing, pesticide, and financial planning all happen this time of year for the upcoming season.

As you can see, we manage to stay pretty darn busy even with the snow on the ground.  Along with all of that, we are still working on digging a well to look for an alternative irrigation water source.  More on that soon.  STAY TUNED!!

Merry Christmas to All

Winter is finally here and despite the Mayan calendar, the world appears to be intact.  Since I probably won't have a blog post until after the new year, I just wanted to take time to thank you all for another great season.  Contributions to the employee end-of-year bonus program were full as usual and my staff received a nice little Christmas bonus.  On behalf of my employees, thanks to all that contributed.

We wish you all the best of times this holiday season, and look forward to seeing you all at the club in 2013. Merry Christmas!

Now I lay me down to sleep.......

With normal winter weather finally coming, it is time to put the greens to bed for the season.  In my eight years here, this is the longest golf season we have ever had.  Fully open and operational in mid March and closing on December 10 is unprecedented.  Having spoken with several members over the past few weeks, even the "die-hards" seem ready to mothball the sticks for a few months or head south for fairer weather.

There are several things we have done this season to help the greens fare well through the winter as well as hopefully come roaring up in the spring.  We started a week or so ago by applying our winter pesticides for control of snow mold followed by a "dormant feed" of simple fertilizer.  The chemicals will hopefully control any snow mold fungi present, but just in case we missed a spot, the fertilizer will make sure that the greens and tees will wake up quite quickly in the spring to "grow out" of any damage.

Finally, after the last few hardy golfers leave the grounds, we apply a moderate topdressing of sand.  The sand will act to protect the crown of the plant from any damage through the winter as well as provide a nice layer to smooth out any surface inconsistencies in the spring.

Don't tell anyone, but topdressing is also effective at keeping the winter golfers from putting on the greens in the offseason.

  Also, the temporary pins have been set in the fairways and approaches for winter play.  If the temperature and mood suit you this winter, feel free to walk the course and hit a few balls to our temporary pins.

As we do every year, winter preventative maintenance has already begun.  Golf carts and utility vehicles are being serviced as we speak, and an entire fleet of equipment awaits a tear-down and re-build.  This work is important to our smooth operation during the golf season and a welcome chance for the staff to get away from the normal grind of daily golf operations.  We use the winter wisely as a time to recharge our batteries for the upcoming busy season and most will use their time off during the Holidays to make up for lost time with family.

As the holidays approach and we move into the new year, occasionally check the grounds department blog.  As interesting things happen I will be sure to post them.  I spend a great deal of time in continuing education and industry related activities (and goose-chasing) during the off-season and always learn a few things worth repeating.  Also keep an eye peeled for staff profiles over the winter.  It will be a great chance to learn more about the employees that have served you for many years.

Thanks for another great season.  Good luck with the Christmas shopping, and we will see you around the club!

The Un-buddy system

Below is a link to this weeks USGA Green Section Record.  In the past, I have posted links to interesting articles and commentary from this site.  Lately, they haven't posted much content that would be of interest to anyone other than a turf nerd like me.

This installment, however, has some great articles with some take home messages for golfers too including an interesting look at single rider golf cart use.  Something I have noticed the last couple of seasons here at Highland is a definite increase in groups that have almost as many riding golf carts as players.  Keep in mind that each extra cart means things to the condition of the course.  Cart traffic creates compaction and general stress to the turf that results in some serious maintenance challenges.

Don't take my word for it, click below -
USGA Green Section Record Click Here!

Tree Cutting Season is upon us!

"As beautiful as trees are, and as fond as you and I are of them, we still must not lose sight of the fact that there is a limited place for them in golf. We must not allow our sentiments to crowd out the real intent of a golf course, that of providing fair playing conditions. If it in any way interferes with a properly played stroke, I think the tree is an unfair hazard and should not be allowed to stand."

- Donald Ross, from Golf Has Never Failed Me

About this time every year I am inspired to sit and write something to the members about tree management.  Most likely because I just removed several of them from the golf course and need to do what I can to defend....errr....explain why.  

Let me start out with one fact that you probably won't believe - I love trees.  There, I said it.  I bloody well love trees.  I am at heart a moderate environmentalist with roots in the Pacific Northwest which is arguably  the "tree-huggiest" of all the "tree-huggiest" places on earth.  You couldn't get me out of the woods as a kid.  Being a child of modest means, vacation was often spent in the trees camping or hiking or fishing or any other activity that involved shorts and wool socks.  This love of the outdoors was one of the major reasons I pursued a career in the green industry in the first place.   I see my job as much as an "environmental manager" as a golf course superintendent.  A "Steward" of the land, if you will.

Now that you realize I am a tofu-nibbling tree hugger, I want you all to know that I don't just drive about the course with my "paint can of death" marking trees for the slaughter to suit my mood that day.  There is a great deal of thought, discussion, and education as to the intent of each removal as well as discussions for possible replacement if deemed appropriate.  Just this past month I took the grounds committee out to each area I wished to remove some trees and made my case in person for each stem.  Once the committee understood my reasoning, they even started coming up with suggestions for further improvements down the road.  In the process, they unanimously approved the removals without hesitation.  A little education goes a long way.

Education is important becaus let's face it - people get very emotionally attached to trees.  They are impressive giants of the landscape that almost instantly bring a sense of nostalgia or imply some sort of inherent wisdom within.  This is a big reason most "city folk" join clubs like ours.  Unfortunately for you sensitive types, trees are just plants.  And just like plants in the landscape, there are some that need pruning, some that need attention, and some just need to be yanked out.   While trees can be beautiful and offer a great aesthetic or environmental benefit,  some are just hard weeds that got too big.

Today, we removed several "hard weeds" for the betterment of aesthetics, playing c0ndition, safety and a long-term improvement of our tree stand.  The top priority was to remove the large oak behind #5 green as seen below.   This is the "sister" tree to the one that fell and damaged the green over the summer.  With many of the trees having fallen around it over the years, this misshapen oak was "hung out to dry" by itself.  My biggest fear was that given the growth habit of the tree and the fact that it had almost no protection it would be prone to falling and damaging the green even worse than it's "sister".  Since it used to be part of a thick stand that has since fallen, mostly due to ash borer, the growth habit was all towards the green, putting almost all of the trees weight right where we don't want it.

Noticably "one sided" tree.  We could have pruned it to relieve the weight, but would have been left with an "upside down feather duster"

The branches hung straight towards the green.

After the oak on #5 was down, we focused our attention to the stand of trees surrounding #3 green.  There are several reasons #3 needed attention.  #1.  This green struggles to stay healthy every year.  Lack of morning sun and air circulation make it difficult to grow quality rough let along a top-performing green.  #2 Several of the trees around the third green are Basswood trees that tend to have poor growth habits in large stands.  Also, basswoods (some people around here call them Lindens-incorrectly I think) are very soft wooded trees that have a tendency to rot and subsequently split when they reach a certain size.  Several of them have fallen during my time here, and I vowed to stay ahead of any potential safety issues.  #3 Several of these basswoods were interfering and competing with more desirable hardwood trees like oak and maples that were lost in the shadow of the "hard weed".

Huge roots and bare ground directly adjacent to the green.

Tough to even have nice rough with so many large trees in the area.

Basswoods tend to like to rot as is seen with the hole in this very large, leaning tree.

Because of the thick stands, the basswoods tend to twist and lean to find sun I presume.  Here an old, rotten basswood is masking and outcompeting a very nice little oak tree.  Hopefully this oak will be here another 200 years.  The basswood would have likely rotted and fallen in the near future if we hadn't removed it - probably wiping out not only the oak tree, but the fence and potentially hit our neighbor's home.

Same species, same habit except leaning toward #3 green.  

A better picture of the basswood leaning towards the oak and the home.

As we suspected, the trees were rotting from the inside out, as they tend to do.  Time to cull the weak!

A new gap for sunlight and air to help the green and the surrounding rough be much healthier.  The two innermost trees in the gap are a lovely little oak on the right and a fairly mature maple on the left that were completely masked by those dangerous basswoods.

As you can see in the last picture, the landscape has changed somewhat dramatically.  We have, however, gained a better growing environment for our green and surrounding rough as well as uncovered two brilliant little hardwood trees that will fill the gap eventually with beautiful, specimen quality plants.  There are more that will be removed over time in this area.

This winter, I will also be looking at options for a professional "tree plan" or inventory of sorts.  This property is at the point where many trees have outgrown their area or never should have been planted in the first place.  I think it is crucial that we continue to improve our stand and even have a sensible plan to re-plant where necessary.  Until we have the time and money to complete our plan, we will continue to remove or plant the "no-brainers".    

I could go on about trees and probably end up with a friggin novel.  For another viewpoint that is likely more thorough, better written, and certainly backed with more knowledge, I encourage you to try the link below for an interesting and certainly more professional viewpoint from the USGA:

http://www.usga.org/course_care/articles/management/trees/Man-s-Friend-or-Golf-s-Enemy-/

Five years ago I was hired to manage this property the best that I could with the member's best interests in mind while applying my 20 years of experience, bachelor's degree, and love of the game.  I feel I have and will always do that to the best of my ability.  Unfortunately, to do that it will occasionally involve cutting old, live, mature trees.  Getting top-quality turf conditions for a demanding membership involves a delicate balance between turf and trees that must be managed with great care.  After reading this, I hope you have a little better understanding of the reasons why we remove a tree.  If you would like more information, don't hesitate to call or email.  If you are the type of person who has to go purchase a new mouse because you just crushed yours in anger looking at the slaughter and tree carnage in front of you, I would encourage you to join the grounds committee and get involved in the process. 

Fall Cleanup

After a windy weekend, it is easy to understand that the course would be quite messy come Monday.  Few people probably appreciate the amount of time and labor we spend just keeping the course playable this time of year.  Here's just a brief snapshot of a typical fall day "behind the scenes" as three crew members battle a pile of leaves on #8.  The fall color is beautiful, but we've got a month of this yet to go.  Ugh.

Good Cliches

I received an email today that brings to mind the "good" cliches we hear from time to time such as "live life to the fullest", "life is short", or  "you only live once".  Naturally, we tend to ignore or dismiss cliches because we've heard them a million times, but every now and then, you realize why.  Today was that day for me.

This past August, we hosted the LPGA Jamie Farr Toledo Classic as we have for the better part of the last 25 years or so.  The last three times we have hosted, our advance (lead) official was Doug Brecht.  Prior to becoming our advance official, Doug had served many years here as a rules official.

As advance official, Doug would show up the week prior to the event and work closely with me as well as tournament staff getting the course staged and ready for the tournament and onslaught of pro-ams that were to come.  As usual, Doug showed up Monday of advance week and we went through our usual tour of the course and chit-chat session which I always enjoyed.  Usually, after some small talk, I would pry some good stories from him about his adventures and travels with the LPGA and PGA tours.  It just so happened that he had worked the men's Open Championship weeks before and he shared some interesting stories with me from his time overseas.

The tournament week was approaching, and things were going along normally other than Doug had lamented about not feeling too well late in advance week.  He thought it may be the flu or fatigue, and like any "tough guy" he continued working anyhow.  Sunday evening before the first day of tournament week, Doug was on the golf course setting the Monday pro-am pins amidst our last few rounds of member play.  When I asked him how he was feeling, all I got out of him was "not worth a shit" and he stomped off to continue setting pin placements.

Monday  morning arrived and the first of two pro-ams was off and running.  I went to the LPGA office trailer to touch base with Doug and the rest of his team, and he seemed to be feeling a little better after a nights sleep.  He told me he was off to the doctor, and that the other official Marty would take care of the Pro-ams.  This was the last time I saw him.

Naturally, when Doug was not back Tuesday and then Wednesday, we were concerned.  The only information we had was that he was waiting for blood test results and still "under the weather".  The tournament went on without him.

Late in the week, the tournament still going on, Doug was admitted to the hospital, unconscious, partly paralyzed, and required a ventilator to breathe.  I was walking around the golf course with the man just days earlier, and suddenly he is on a ventilator.  With no concrete answers from the doctors yet, we were obviously scared.

Once the tournament was over, Doug was still unconscious and was airlifted to a hospital more near his home in Norman, Oklahoma where he was finally diagnosed with "West Nile Meningitis".  This is the most severe "neuroinvasive disease" resulting from West Nile Virus that attacks the nervous system.  West Nile Virus is transmitted by mosquito bites.

Today, I received an email from the LPGA regarding his condition, and it remains poor.  He has seen little to no improvement over the past 3-4 weeks and he remains paralyzed and on a ventilator.  Doctors have been unable to establish a prognosis for Doug.

His wife, who I met here in Toledo, is a golf teaching professional and a delightful person.  She has remained by his side constantly.  She has reduced her workload in order to make the trip from their home to the hospital daily.

As you can imagine, with no improvement or prognosis, the insurance companies are pulling back expenditures to support treatment and Doug's wife is being forced to find "longer term living arrangements".  They are looking for new facilities that will accommodate his condition and hopefully keep recovery efforts moving forward.  Unfortunately, portions of it are coming out-of-pocket.  To help with the cost, a benefit fund has been established at Banc First in Norman, OK.  I will donate some money to help a good man and a great friend of golf.

So today - hug your spouse, play catch with your kids, kiss your dog,  call your gramma and remember that "life is short" and maybe things aren't as bad as they seem.

Green Speed: Please Consider the Following:

This week, I was fortunate to attend a John Deere Equipment "seminar" on the campus of Duke University in Durham, NC.  The "seminar" was interesting and involved testing some prototype equipment as well as touring the production facility there in Raleigh.  As often happens at these type of events, I met another superintendent and blogger and over a couple of beers after dinner one evening, we shared some war stories.  While we were chatting, he was receiving emails on his smart phone concerning a recent blog post he crafted on green speed.  I was interested to see what post had generated so much "buzz" from his membership, and he was kind enough to share.

Below is a link to his post, and it answered several questions about stimp meters, posting daily speed readings,  and general green speed issues quite well, so I thought I would share it with our membership.

Rub of the Green: Green Speed: Please Consider the Following:

Regular rain and cool weather - great for growing all kinds of things -

Finally, September is here and with it seemingly normal weather.  A stretch of humidity, rain and heat has been followed by cooler nights and mild days.  This type of pattern has been GREAT to grow all kinds of things.  Most noticably seed and dollar spot.  Many areas around the course have been slit seeded to repair damage either from the Jamie Farr or the drought (or both!)  and these areas have enjoyed perfect grass-growing conditions.

Please make your best efforts to play these areas as ground under repair and keep carts out as much as possible to give it the best chance of continuing to fill in.  The perfect fall weather and a little fertilizer should have these areas green again in no time. 

The other thing growing like a weed on the course right now is Dollar Spot.  This not-so-friendly fungus has littered our tees with unsightly little white spots.  With the recent rains, it has been difficult to get the sprayer out on the course.  We were at the tail-end of some chemical protection and the perfect conditions caused a little outbreak.  Fortunately, the rain and wind ceased just long enough for us to spray, so we shouldn't see any increase in disease for the near future.  With a little fertilizer and continued diligence, the spots will soon disappear.  Fortunately, dollar spot is more unsightly than super destructive as long as we remain alert.

Fuzzy, white mycelium are very noticable in the morning dew.

Seeing spots?

This "stripe" down the middle of #11 tee is particularly bad.  A small error in our last spray application left the middle of the tee unprotected.  You could imagine what the tees would look like if we didn't spray.

 

 As the fall continues, our small remaining staff will continue to seed, repair, and do whatever necessary to get our course back into great condition before good growing weather subsides.  Once we've done what we can to plant sod and seed, we will focus on our fall cultural program.  Keep your eyes peeled for the deep-tine on fairways in the next couple of weeks.  As usual, we will follow with deep de-thatching.  For those that have been asking, greens aeration will be October 1st.   More details when we get closer.

Messy messy.....

As you may have noticed ever since Jamie Farr wandered off the golf course that the rough has been a wee bit stout of late.  The Farr week rain combined with lovely growing conditions have turned our rough into a lush "cabbage patch".

Best rough we've had all season!!

While it is nice to finally see some green, healthy rough after such a dry, hot summer, it is unfortunate that it came so quick!  As you may have noticed with your own home lawn, it is incredibly tough to keep up with this accelerated growth rate. 

Fortunately, this flush should subside with the shorter days and cooler temps as hopefully the turf will decide to start growing some roots instead of lush topgrowth.  Bear with us as we continue to battle.  There may be some clumps in the rough for awhile, but soon we should be back on top of things. 

Finally, we will also be tackling the remainder of the cleanup post Jamie Farr.  Crosswalks are being punched, and when time allows, we will be out with some sod to repair as much remaining scarring from the summer as we can afford.  #7, #4, #3 among others need some sod especially in the step cuts around greens where poa "gave up the ghost" so to speak.

2012 Jamie Farr is upon us.

I realize that the Jamie Farr has begun, and I hope you will forgive me for not blogging much.  Taking a year off from hosting the event seems to have made things a little more labor intensive this year.  A few new subcontractors to train, new tournament officials, and continuing to recover from the hottest month in recorded history have all kept us really busy here.  Yes, it's finally official, July 2012 was the hottest month EVER!!  Especially in the midwest and plains states.  Check out the article below.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/capital-weather-gang/post/us-has-hottest-month-on-record-in-july-2012-noaa-says/2012/08/08/0fae675c-e169-11e1-98e7-89d659f9c106_blog.html

So far, the course is holding up ok to the early week Jamie Farr traffic.  The one upside to the drought conditions is that our rough is very firm.  The vast amounts of truck, car, and cart traffic has had little negative effect on these areas since they were already baked.  This is probably the first time ever the Jamie Farr traffic and structures actually made the course greener.

The Monday double Pro-Am was a little hard on some of our weaker greens like 3 and 4.  I was trying to figure out why, but in what can be best described as a "DUH" moment, I started counting the amount of people walking on the greens.  Through two full-field shotgun starts, we had 5-somes who each had caddies.  All together, it added up to roughly 400 or so people walking around the golf hole!  The pins remained in those positions for Tuesday practice, adding even more traffic.  Put 400 people in your crappy lawn and see how it looks after 8 hours.  We will nurse these greens as we do normally in hopes of quick recovery. 

Many members have commented on how green and great the fairways look.  "What are you doing special for the Farr?" they like to ask.  The answer is "We don't drive any friggin golf carts on them!"  The lack of cart tracks makes a huge difference in not only the health of the turf, but the general aesthetics and consistent color.  This is one of the major differences between our club and places like Inverness where carts are not allowed except in special circumstances.

Finally,with the exception of some chances of thunderstorms, the forecast looks good.  Milder temperatures are headed our way and should allow for minimal stress to the golf course.  The biggest stress is feeling like a parent letting his teenager throw a HUGE party on the lawn with 70,000 of his closest friends.

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.  

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/