My kid's pediatrician asked me the other day, "What do you do in the winter at the golf course?" Kind of caught me off guard with the question, just because I wasn't expecting to talk turf while taking my kid to the doctor. The answer slid out after a moment of brief hesitation. But then I started thinking how much I get asked this question come Fall, in different forms. "Y'all staying busy out there?", "Too cold to be working today right?"' "What are y'all doing today?", "There can't be much to do over there in the Winter?" and many other forms of the same question.
Well, it's the week of Thanksgiving and I'm currently on vacation with my family at the beach and I still can't stop working. I am taking a break from creating my budget for 2015 right now. That is one of my big tasks for the month of November. This also involves the process of early ordering chemicals for 2015, which means that I have to have an agronomic plan in place for 2015 by this point. I'm not going to go too deep into what I, personally, have to get done.
I will come up with ideas of things that I would like to change all year long. Hopefully when I have that idea I have my trusty voice recorder with me so I can make a "note to self" and remind myself later. Some of the things that we work on are carry over jobs that are just too big for our staff to complete in one season. We also have repeat jobs that we have to do the same at a certain time every winter.
I will try to outline the jobs that we will be doing this season excluding keeping up the golf course, which does not stop getting done,
Single Season Jobs
tree work
debris removal
opening up the traffic areas on #6
building new tees on #11 and #17
converting the monument Tee signs into flush in ground tee signs
fixing the maintenance shop ceiling
cut back the bradford pears in the parking lots
relocate and identify the correct teeing areas from the score card
adding new heat to pump station
Carry over jobs
clearing out the riverbank on #8, 16, 17, 18
rebuilding bunkers
repair poor sections of cart path
Repeat jobs
spray roundup and pre emergent on entire course
repaint all tee markers on course
repaint all hazard markers on course
repaint all OB stakes on course
leaf removal in late fall/early winter
re seal wood products out on course benches, cooler stands, trash cans
reorganize the maintenance yard area
clean out and re insulate bird houses huts and nesting areas
working on repairing faulty wiring in the irrigation system
repainting the pump station
I know that I am missing a few in there but even with the amount of repeat jobs we have a lot to accomplish in an off season with a limited staff, not to mention working on the interior of the club house when it needs attention. And I know that I will come up with more stuff that I want to complete because I do suffer from my eyes being bigger than my stomach frequently.
With all of that said, that's what we will be doing this winter.
Showing posts with label Agronomy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Agronomy. Show all posts
Sunday, November 23, 2014
Thursday, October 30, 2014
Winter is around the corner
We have now had a couple of light frosts so far this month even though our temps have been awesome so far. But, those light frosts are a sign of things to come. I am hearing forecasters predicting weather patterns that mimic last winter. We all remember the trouble that we had with the tees and fairways this spring, and we don't want a repeat of that scenario next year.
One of the things that I will be doing is reducing the amount of cart traffic that we will be allowing on the turf during dormant periods. We may even see some of the holes get restricted back to cart path only if the weather patterns get bad. I encourage some of our members to partner up on personal carts to decrease the amount of cart wear during the winter months. I know its nice having everything in your cart where you want it but may be pile in with your playing partner once in a while to help the course be better in the spring.
As you know, Hole #9 is now cart path only all of the time. I have had people comment to me lately "did you over seed that hole". The fairway on #9 looks so much better and greener because of the reduction in cart traffic, so the proof in in the pudding so to speak.
We have also fertilized much heavier in some of the areas that were hit hard last winter. The height of cut is currently up to 3/4" on the fairways and tees. 3/4" is our normal HOC in the fall. I just made sure that we got to it a little sooner this year. Both of these issues should help our chances of getting through the winter in a bad season.
In the end I have learned that it is my job to understand what Mother Nature is throwing at me and know how to react to the conditions. I cannot change the weather I can only react to it.
Just remember when it seems like its dry in the winter but its still "Path Only" that I am trying to protect the turf better than I did last year.
One of the things that I will be doing is reducing the amount of cart traffic that we will be allowing on the turf during dormant periods. We may even see some of the holes get restricted back to cart path only if the weather patterns get bad. I encourage some of our members to partner up on personal carts to decrease the amount of cart wear during the winter months. I know its nice having everything in your cart where you want it but may be pile in with your playing partner once in a while to help the course be better in the spring.
As you know, Hole #9 is now cart path only all of the time. I have had people comment to me lately "did you over seed that hole". The fairway on #9 looks so much better and greener because of the reduction in cart traffic, so the proof in in the pudding so to speak.
We have also fertilized much heavier in some of the areas that were hit hard last winter. The height of cut is currently up to 3/4" on the fairways and tees. 3/4" is our normal HOC in the fall. I just made sure that we got to it a little sooner this year. Both of these issues should help our chances of getting through the winter in a bad season.
In the end I have learned that it is my job to understand what Mother Nature is throwing at me and know how to react to the conditions. I cannot change the weather I can only react to it.
Just remember when it seems like its dry in the winter but its still "Path Only" that I am trying to protect the turf better than I did last year.
Wednesday, August 20, 2014
Fairway Recovery 2014
It's been quite a while since I put anything on the blog. I have been busy with many different facets of the golf course the last two months.
The last post I had was dedicated to the fairway damage from Winter Kill. We tried seeding the fairways with Bermuda grass. That was a big dud. As soon as we finished seeding it rained for like a week and a half. All of the low areas that were damaged from holding too much moisture continued to hold too much moisture. My best guess is that the seed was either covered by debris and couldn't find the light of day, or it simply rotted in place. After that experiment failed we decided to aerify a couple of the fairways and push the cored to the bad areas and use that vegetation to regrow the areas. This was a successful method, very labor intensive but successful. We had our worst fairway on #3 that had no grass on the front half of it, so aerifying was not an option. We started cutting sod in house from rough areas that were going to be converted to native this fall. This was even more labor intensive but at the same time productive. In August we ran out of time and labor for cutting sod in house so we got 6 pallets of Bermuda for the biggest areas on #3 fairway. Finally today we are laying the last few small spots on #3 to finish it up. I am glad that the weather has been as cool as it has been this season. The greens have been easier to maintain in this weather so that we could focus more on the fairways.
I think that one good thing has come from the Winter Kill. We have seen what Hole #9 looks like when it has no cart traffic. We actually have rough on the inside of the dog leg. We have decided to keep the hole cart path only for the long haul to protect the character of the hole.
I know I've said it before and I'll say it again. I hope never to go this long again without posting on this forum.
The last post I had was dedicated to the fairway damage from Winter Kill. We tried seeding the fairways with Bermuda grass. That was a big dud. As soon as we finished seeding it rained for like a week and a half. All of the low areas that were damaged from holding too much moisture continued to hold too much moisture. My best guess is that the seed was either covered by debris and couldn't find the light of day, or it simply rotted in place. After that experiment failed we decided to aerify a couple of the fairways and push the cored to the bad areas and use that vegetation to regrow the areas. This was a successful method, very labor intensive but successful. We had our worst fairway on #3 that had no grass on the front half of it, so aerifying was not an option. We started cutting sod in house from rough areas that were going to be converted to native this fall. This was even more labor intensive but at the same time productive. In August we ran out of time and labor for cutting sod in house so we got 6 pallets of Bermuda for the biggest areas on #3 fairway. Finally today we are laying the last few small spots on #3 to finish it up. I am glad that the weather has been as cool as it has been this season. The greens have been easier to maintain in this weather so that we could focus more on the fairways.
I think that one good thing has come from the Winter Kill. We have seen what Hole #9 looks like when it has no cart traffic. We actually have rough on the inside of the dog leg. We have decided to keep the hole cart path only for the long haul to protect the character of the hole.
I know I've said it before and I'll say it again. I hope never to go this long again without posting on this forum.
Friday, April 18, 2014
Bermuda Damage
As a golf course superintendent every season brings new challenges, and that is one of the primary reasons why I love my job. I always have a new challenge to face. No two seasons are alike. It can be too hot, too cold, too dry. too wet, too cloudy, too sunny, too windy, too stagnant, too humid or not humid enough. Mother Nature gives us all kinds of battles to fight.
Well we had an extraordinary battle this winter. Remember the Polar Vortexes? The way we went into the winter with the Bermuda turf I would never imagined that we would have had a problem coming out. But, unfortunately we are having a problem. We have some areas that are struggling to survive. This mornings 29 degree frosty start is not the best way to help them climb out of dormancy. I say climb because I'm not exactly sure how deep the grass is coming from under the soil. I have checked a lot of areas on the course and I am still finding good roots in the soil, they are not all good but there are good roots out there. I'm sure in some cases its 3" deep to find a good rhizome. Most of our damage appears to be in the tightly mown areas, Tees,,Fairways and Collars. It may just take some time for us to see some green grass poking its head through but I know that there are some areas on thees that received excessive wear this winter that the turf will have to be replaced.
This post is going to be littered with pictures to show specific areas that I am concerned about. I guess that I will start with an example of what a Fairway should look like right now.
#13. This Fairway (Large Par 3 Approach) faces South and has a pretty good soil medium for our course. It has been responding pretty well to the warmer weather that we have had. Oh, and it is supposed to get no cart traffic.
#1. This is just an example picture of the effects that traffic can have on dormant Bermuda turf. You can clearly see a distinction where carts are allowed and where they are not.
#3. This Fairway is probably the worst one that we have. It is pretty flat, but it has rock within 8" of the turf. Rock holds and radiates heat and cold. It is kind of like having a large ice cube in a soft drink, it helps keep it cold.
#4. This Fairway slopes North. That is not the easiest way to green up. The canopy on this fairway has always been thin and provides little insulation to the soil.
#6 During our first warm up of late winter I started to see some green coming out in this fairway but it cooled off again I'm hoping that that did not hurt it too bad. This hole has a solid clay hard packed soil base. and just as #4 is, the cart path is routed to the wrong side of the hole and forces the carts to use the fairway as the path of travel.
#8. The Tees on this hole have been used as a temporary teeing area this winter due to the construction project behind #1 Green. They are small and have simply been over worked.
#9. We need to put more drainage on this Fairway. The landing area of this fairway is actually a bowl. Whenever we get a big rain the area turns into a pond for a short while. The drainage that we have will remove the surface water relatively quickly, but the soil will stay saturated for quite some time in this area.
#9 Tee. This Tee is in between 2 mountains so to speak so It gets at least 4 hours less light than a normal area of the course. It is also very narrow so the traffic is concentrated into a small area.
#10. The first Fairway has a lot of the same problems that #3 does with shallow rocks in areas of the fairway.
#16. This Fairway is tree lined and the soil medium is an old gravel drive in movie theater parking lot, so it is really tough to get a good fairway on this hole. The turf is always thinner on this fairway with the shade and soil problems.
#17. The Tees on this hole are tiny. I have no Idea why they are so small. They do not resemble any other teeing surface on the golf course. They simply got over worked through the winter.
I have decided on a firm plan of action for this problem, I am still in the wait and see mode. I am going to give them a couple more weeks to respond and if they do try to fertilize them out of their current state. We did use Ronstar as a pre emegent herbicide this Winter, so if we do need to sprig into or sod areas the chemical will allow rooting of the new turf.
Hopefully the cold winter and the isolated conditions of these areas have just slowed down the Bermuda and not completely killed it off.
After going out and pulling some profiles in the damaged areas I am confident that most of these areas in the fairways will come back. I was seeing some good rhizomes remaining in the soil. I am able to tie the problem directly to soil composition, Winter weather patterns and cart traffic stress. I will be a little more aggressive with Cart Path Only restrictions in the near future. Please remember I do this for the betterment of the course not to piss you off.
Well we had an extraordinary battle this winter. Remember the Polar Vortexes? The way we went into the winter with the Bermuda turf I would never imagined that we would have had a problem coming out. But, unfortunately we are having a problem. We have some areas that are struggling to survive. This mornings 29 degree frosty start is not the best way to help them climb out of dormancy. I say climb because I'm not exactly sure how deep the grass is coming from under the soil. I have checked a lot of areas on the course and I am still finding good roots in the soil, they are not all good but there are good roots out there. I'm sure in some cases its 3" deep to find a good rhizome. Most of our damage appears to be in the tightly mown areas, Tees,,Fairways and Collars. It may just take some time for us to see some green grass poking its head through but I know that there are some areas on thees that received excessive wear this winter that the turf will have to be replaced.
This post is going to be littered with pictures to show specific areas that I am concerned about. I guess that I will start with an example of what a Fairway should look like right now.
#13. This Fairway (Large Par 3 Approach) faces South and has a pretty good soil medium for our course. It has been responding pretty well to the warmer weather that we have had. Oh, and it is supposed to get no cart traffic.
#1. This is just an example picture of the effects that traffic can have on dormant Bermuda turf. You can clearly see a distinction where carts are allowed and where they are not.
#3. This Fairway is probably the worst one that we have. It is pretty flat, but it has rock within 8" of the turf. Rock holds and radiates heat and cold. It is kind of like having a large ice cube in a soft drink, it helps keep it cold.
#4. This Fairway slopes North. That is not the easiest way to green up. The canopy on this fairway has always been thin and provides little insulation to the soil.
#6 During our first warm up of late winter I started to see some green coming out in this fairway but it cooled off again I'm hoping that that did not hurt it too bad. This hole has a solid clay hard packed soil base. and just as #4 is, the cart path is routed to the wrong side of the hole and forces the carts to use the fairway as the path of travel.
#8. The Tees on this hole have been used as a temporary teeing area this winter due to the construction project behind #1 Green. They are small and have simply been over worked.
#9. We need to put more drainage on this Fairway. The landing area of this fairway is actually a bowl. Whenever we get a big rain the area turns into a pond for a short while. The drainage that we have will remove the surface water relatively quickly, but the soil will stay saturated for quite some time in this area.
#9 Tee. This Tee is in between 2 mountains so to speak so It gets at least 4 hours less light than a normal area of the course. It is also very narrow so the traffic is concentrated into a small area.
#10. The first Fairway has a lot of the same problems that #3 does with shallow rocks in areas of the fairway.
#16. This Fairway is tree lined and the soil medium is an old gravel drive in movie theater parking lot, so it is really tough to get a good fairway on this hole. The turf is always thinner on this fairway with the shade and soil problems.
#17. The Tees on this hole are tiny. I have no Idea why they are so small. They do not resemble any other teeing surface on the golf course. They simply got over worked through the winter.
I have decided on a firm plan of action for this problem, I am still in the wait and see mode. I am going to give them a couple more weeks to respond and if they do try to fertilize them out of their current state. We did use Ronstar as a pre emegent herbicide this Winter, so if we do need to sprig into or sod areas the chemical will allow rooting of the new turf.
Hopefully the cold winter and the isolated conditions of these areas have just slowed down the Bermuda and not completely killed it off.
After going out and pulling some profiles in the damaged areas I am confident that most of these areas in the fairways will come back. I was seeing some good rhizomes remaining in the soil. I am able to tie the problem directly to soil composition, Winter weather patterns and cart traffic stress. I will be a little more aggressive with Cart Path Only restrictions in the near future. Please remember I do this for the betterment of the course not to piss you off.
Thursday, March 20, 2014
Another Aerification Article
Yep, We aerified the greens again. I was trying to think of a different way to communicate this topic because I'm sure that I've beaten it like a drum in past posts.
My staff and I have aerified, cleaned off cores, picked up cores, sanded, fertilized twice, brushed, and watered all day long. This was my 13th time aerifying the greens here at IHGC. The 27th time for my career. Over that time period it gets pretty difficult to change your methods. However, I did change some of the chemical and fertilizer methods that I used to hold true to. I won't bore you with the details, but the generalities are, something to make the greens more firm and more fertilizers of different varieties.
Normally on Aerification day we are still plugging away (literally) at the greens until 5:30 or 6:00 PM and wouldn't finish topdressing and dragging until noon on day 2. But, my staff was clocking out at 4 PM because everything had gone so smoothly. Still not exactly sure where the reduction in time came from but I like it.
I will be posting a video of the process on my youtube channel before too long so that you can better see the whole process in action.
We punched 4.6 million holes in the greens. That's just shy of 250,000 holes per green on average.
My staff and I have aerified, cleaned off cores, picked up cores, sanded, fertilized twice, brushed, and watered all day long. This was my 13th time aerifying the greens here at IHGC. The 27th time for my career. Over that time period it gets pretty difficult to change your methods. However, I did change some of the chemical and fertilizer methods that I used to hold true to. I won't bore you with the details, but the generalities are, something to make the greens more firm and more fertilizers of different varieties.
Normally on Aerification day we are still plugging away (literally) at the greens until 5:30 or 6:00 PM and wouldn't finish topdressing and dragging until noon on day 2. But, my staff was clocking out at 4 PM because everything had gone so smoothly. Still not exactly sure where the reduction in time came from but I like it.
I will be posting a video of the process on my youtube channel before too long so that you can better see the whole process in action.
We punched 4.6 million holes in the greens. That's just shy of 250,000 holes per green on average.
Monday, January 20, 2014
Roundup Application
Some of you may have noticed the blue/green dye around the greens and in the club grounds. This is a dye indicator that shows where our chemical application was made with the spray hawk bordering the greens. We used the dye this year to try to make us more efficient this winter. When we spray with the standard spray rigs we use foam marker to show where we have gone. 20 min later the foam is gone and no one knows that we were ever there. The Spray Hawk device does not have a foam marker there fore we cannot see where we sprayed chemical very well. We added the dye this year to reduce overlapping of chemical and missed areas in between passes. I think that it really made the operation much more smooth. The operators doing the spraying loved it. I am still not loving the color left behind but I am a fan of the process being more efficient.
Coincidentally, If you do have a yard that is Bermudagrass or are looking to start the process of cleaning up the weeds in your yard now is the time to make that roundup application. You have through February to finish this task.
Coincidentally, If you do have a yard that is Bermudagrass or are looking to start the process of cleaning up the weeds in your yard now is the time to make that roundup application. You have through February to finish this task.
Tuesday, October 15, 2013
Fall Aerification
Not to sound hokey but "It's that time of year again". Aerification. We have completed the aerification of the greens and they have recovered for 2 weeks now and they are looking great. I went on vacation for one week and they have almost healed completely. I am terrifically thrilled at their progress this season. We have had some great weather since poking holes, 80's in the day and 60's at night. I have created another "flip book video" from my trail camera to observe the process on #4 for the last 2 weeks. I was hoping to get a better comparison of aerified greens to healed greens, but that didn't translate as well as I had hoped. most of the physical processes were recorded and are subtitled in the video. some of the processed were missed such as fertilization and watering. But, please remember that a lot of hard work goes into this process.
Here's the "Flip Book"
I hope that you can see the progress as well as I can. Again this is still a new process of documenting these types of events, and I learn something new about it every time I try.
Here's the "Flip Book"
I hope that you can see the progress as well as I can. Again this is still a new process of documenting these types of events, and I learn something new about it every time I try.
Friday, June 28, 2013
What a difference a year makes
Well, Summer's here again and the temperatures are starting to heat up. Yesterday was our hottest temp so far this year at 94 degrees. I know it sounds hot. Just remember where we were one year ago. We were just starting the heat wave of 2013, we were getting ready to see temperatures we had never experienced before in this region (19 degrees warmer than yesterday) and we were in the 6th week of a drought.
Last year we were so busy with the drought and the fairways and the tees were in such poor shape that we did not aerify either one of them. Shortly after the heat wave we got a massive amount of rain for a few days. the fairways and tees turned out to be great through the end of the season. Well we have had an ample amount of rainfall this season (no droughts here), and the temperatures have been moderate. So we have gotten to perform some cultural practices that we couldn't do last year. We have completed the fairway aerification plan and we are in the process of wrapping up the tee box aerification plan.
Our tee box aerification plan is almost identical to our fairway aerification plan with the exception of the machine that we use to pull plugs and the hole size.
Our tee plan we use 5/8" tines on a 2.5" spacing. Fortunately, our tees for the most part were constructed with a sand cap. This means that when we pull the plugs and let them dry for a few minutes, when we hit them with a metal drag mat the sand breaks off of the plant and works back in to the surface. This leaves only the leftover plant material to deal with. we simply take a turbine blower and push the leftover vegetation into the roughs. A little bit of water and were done. Below is a short video of Spencer running the aerifier on #16 Tees.
Our Fairway plan is slightly different, same process (core, drag, blow). We use an old fairway aerifier that we pull with a tractor. the holes are 1" on a 6" spacing. The soils in our fairways are clay. so they have to have some moisture in them to be able to break up with a drag mat. We have to wait until the day after a rain event so that the clay is not rock hard when it comes out of the ground. After they are out of the ground we drag them and blow off the vegetation. I kind of like our old fairway aerifier in our heavy clay soils. the way it works the tine goes in the soil at about a 10 degree angle and it comes out at the reverse 10 degree angle, so it has to fracture the areas around it due to its movement below the surface. So the effected area in the soil would be closer to 2.5".
I know that everyone hates the dreaded "A" word. but it really does make us have a better playing surface in the long run, and who knows, maybe one day we will get to backfill the holes in the fairways with sand.
Last year we were so busy with the drought and the fairways and the tees were in such poor shape that we did not aerify either one of them. Shortly after the heat wave we got a massive amount of rain for a few days. the fairways and tees turned out to be great through the end of the season. Well we have had an ample amount of rainfall this season (no droughts here), and the temperatures have been moderate. So we have gotten to perform some cultural practices that we couldn't do last year. We have completed the fairway aerification plan and we are in the process of wrapping up the tee box aerification plan.
Our tee box aerification plan is almost identical to our fairway aerification plan with the exception of the machine that we use to pull plugs and the hole size.
Our tee plan we use 5/8" tines on a 2.5" spacing. Fortunately, our tees for the most part were constructed with a sand cap. This means that when we pull the plugs and let them dry for a few minutes, when we hit them with a metal drag mat the sand breaks off of the plant and works back in to the surface. This leaves only the leftover plant material to deal with. we simply take a turbine blower and push the leftover vegetation into the roughs. A little bit of water and were done. Below is a short video of Spencer running the aerifier on #16 Tees.
Our Fairway plan is slightly different, same process (core, drag, blow). We use an old fairway aerifier that we pull with a tractor. the holes are 1" on a 6" spacing. The soils in our fairways are clay. so they have to have some moisture in them to be able to break up with a drag mat. We have to wait until the day after a rain event so that the clay is not rock hard when it comes out of the ground. After they are out of the ground we drag them and blow off the vegetation. I kind of like our old fairway aerifier in our heavy clay soils. the way it works the tine goes in the soil at about a 10 degree angle and it comes out at the reverse 10 degree angle, so it has to fracture the areas around it due to its movement below the surface. So the effected area in the soil would be closer to 2.5".
I know that everyone hates the dreaded "A" word. but it really does make us have a better playing surface in the long run, and who knows, maybe one day we will get to backfill the holes in the fairways with sand.
Tuesday, August 14, 2012
USGA Visit
As you have read in my last post our greens are not in good shape. I explained the reasons for the decline in the last post also. I recently had an Regional Agronomist, Chris Hartwiger, from the USGA visit our course to help us through this issue. I received his findings over the weekend. Here They Are.
Opening Statement
On behalf of the USGA Green Section, it was a pleasure to return to Indian Hills to discuss the golf course maintenance program. This was my first visit to the course in many years and I was interested to be brought up to date on what is happening at the course. The major focus of this visit was the current Condition of the putting greens as well as future options.
This USGA Turf Advisory Service visit consisted of a tour of the golf course in which numerous topics were discussed. The main topics of discussion will be reviewed in the report. Please do not hesitate to contact me with any questions or comments after viewing this report.
Putting Greens
Observations
It was a pleasure to visit Indian Hills to discuss the care of the course. The maintenance staff does an excellent job of developing a maintenance program that balances the agronomic needs of the turf with the expectations of the golfer.
While the report summarizes the main topics of discussion during the tour of the course from a practical standpoint, it is impossible to detail every suggestion and observation offered. Therefore, the Green Section agronomists encourage those who play to join us on the visit.
Besides providing a service free of bias from affiliation with any product or manufacturer, the USGA Green Section is the largest supporter of turfgrass research in the world. this research effort is critical to ensure the future of the game of golf and the industry of turfgrass maintenance. The thrust of this research is to provide superior turfgrasses that play better and are easier to maintain while insuring golf courses remain positive influences on the environment. Your club's membership in the USGA and support of the Green Section makes this research effort possible.
Thank you for your support of the Turfgrass Advisory Service. Please do not hesitate to call my office should you have any questions concerning this report, the research efforts of the USGA, or any matter regarding the maintenance of your course.
Sincerely,
Chris Hartwiger
USGA Green Section
We have already put some of these suggestions in place and bugun the healing process. Unfortunately it will take time and patience to fully heal from this years damage. Thank you for your paitence and continued support.
Opening Statement
On behalf of the USGA Green Section, it was a pleasure to return to Indian Hills to discuss the golf course maintenance program. This was my first visit to the course in many years and I was interested to be brought up to date on what is happening at the course. The major focus of this visit was the current Condition of the putting greens as well as future options.
This USGA Turf Advisory Service visit consisted of a tour of the golf course in which numerous topics were discussed. The main topics of discussion will be reviewed in the report. Please do not hesitate to contact me with any questions or comments after viewing this report.
Putting Greens
Observations
- During the month of July, the putting greens experienced a rapid loss of bentgrass due to summer bentgrass decline. The same summer bentgrass decline has occurred at numerous golf courses in mid Tennessee and northern Alabama over the last three weeks. The catalyst for the decline was heavy and frequent rainfall accompanied by 90 degree plus temperatures. At Indian Hills the conditions were simply too much for the turf and the grass was overwhelmed.
- We discussed recovery strategies for this August and Fall to restore the bentgrass greens to good health.
- Future life support tools to promote better summer survival were reviewed.
- Most of the greens will recover with cooler nighttime temperatures, fertilization, Some areas will need help with seed sod or plugs.
- At the time of the visit, it appeared the rapid decline of the bentgrass had stopped. There were signs of some green leaf tissue emerging through the weak areas.
- As soon as the weather breaks, implement a grow-in fertility program. The Andersons Contec products would be good options. They can be put down in rates as low as 1/4 lb N per 1000sq. ft. with good uniformity. They also dissolve readily with irrigation which reduces any burn potential. Select one of the products that such as the 19-0-15 that has appreciable quantities of potassium given the recent heavy rains you have received. A possible protocol for you is to apply 1/4 lb of N from a contec every week on the greens needing to be grown in. As, the weather cools the rates can be increased to 1/2 lb N per week.
- Vent the greens again as soon as possible to improve gas and water exchange through the rootzone. Now would be a good time to use one of the heavy hitter fungicides such as Insignia or Heritage.
- I would not core aerate the putting greens this fall with 1/2 inch of 5/8 inch tines. The grass is too weak and likely will be some significant damage done to the greens. Instead consider using either hollow 1/4 inch or 3/8 inch tines sometime in late September to mid- October when the putting greens have recovered. This will help to open them up a little bit and allow a maximum flow of oxygen into the rootzone.
It was a pleasure to visit Indian Hills to discuss the care of the course. The maintenance staff does an excellent job of developing a maintenance program that balances the agronomic needs of the turf with the expectations of the golfer.
While the report summarizes the main topics of discussion during the tour of the course from a practical standpoint, it is impossible to detail every suggestion and observation offered. Therefore, the Green Section agronomists encourage those who play to join us on the visit.
Besides providing a service free of bias from affiliation with any product or manufacturer, the USGA Green Section is the largest supporter of turfgrass research in the world. this research effort is critical to ensure the future of the game of golf and the industry of turfgrass maintenance. The thrust of this research is to provide superior turfgrasses that play better and are easier to maintain while insuring golf courses remain positive influences on the environment. Your club's membership in the USGA and support of the Green Section makes this research effort possible.
Thank you for your support of the Turfgrass Advisory Service. Please do not hesitate to call my office should you have any questions concerning this report, the research efforts of the USGA, or any matter regarding the maintenance of your course.
Sincerely,
Chris Hartwiger
USGA Green Section
We have already put some of these suggestions in place and bugun the healing process. Unfortunately it will take time and patience to fully heal from this years damage. Thank you for your paitence and continued support.
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Frost Delay
We are at that time of year where the temperatures will reach below the freezing mark frequently overnight. When this happens we will typically have a frost on the ground, or a frozen playing surface as a result. On these days we will have to delay play for a few hours to allow the frost to burn off or the playing surface to thaw.
We do this for one reason, to protect the turf. When the plant is in a thawed state traffic will cause the leaf blade to lay over. When the plant is in a frozen state traffic will injure of break the frozen leaf blade causing death to the plant. This is the reason that we have to restrict play from the Greens and Over seeded areas during frost or freeze conditions.
Also to the homeowners on the course, we are close to the Christmas break for schools and I know that a lot of the children like to play on the course during the day, especially in the snow. Please remember that these delays apply to everyone not just the golfers. If you have children that want to play on the course, please remind them to stay away from the greens complexes.
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