Irrigation system update 1-20-17

Well the first part of 2017 has not been kind to us between the rock and the rain.  Last night we got 1.5" of rainfall onto an already saturated golf course.  The last 8 months have truly been feast or famine with regards to precipitation. 
On the plus side we are officially making the flip from front nine to the back nine for golf play tomorrow.  Unfortunately, we are forecast to get 0.5" of rainfall both days this weekend.  On the negative side we will be primarily Cart Path Only for the next 2 months.
We started piping on the front nine this week.  We have run into some rock on #8, as expected, and it has slowed the main line progress a little.  On the flip side the heads and lateral lines have been installed on #8 and most of #9.  The 2nd 10" main line that goes by the practice green got stalled by a big rock that we were not expecting.
In the positive column we have the completed wet well which looks like a small rock mountain.  I am hoping to pour a pad on it next week.  That's just one step closer to installing the, still unnamed, pump station. 
Also, we got the first and largest road bore completed yesterday.  It is the main trunk line, 12", from the pump station to #13.  We have 4 more to complete. 
We changed some of the concrete entrances and exits to roadways.  They used to be a 45 degree curb and gutter to cart path.  Now they are a more gentle transition from road to path and vice versa.  Also, we have been repairing some areas of the path that were really bad in the past. 

The Color of the Greens

You may have noticed some "mood swings" in the color of the greens this winter.  They have lost a lot of their color and all of a sudden they will be back to the nice green color that we all like to see.

During these colder weather patterns and low daylight periods the bentgrass can actually get close to a dormancy period if nothing is done to keep it active.  Over the last few weeks we have had horrible weather for our area.  It has been exceptionally cold and wet.  If it is wet than that means that there was probably overcast conditions.  Which means that the greens can't get the proper amount of sunlight that they need on days with limited windows of sunlight.  when these conditions occur we will start to lose color. 

We get the bounce back by applying a fertilizer combination.  Typically I will apply a nitrogen based fertilizer with iron.  The nitrogen gets the plant up and moving a bit.  The iron is responsible for giving the nice green color back to the plant. 

So, if you notice the greens starting to dull in appearance, just wait a bit I'm sure they will be green again before you know it.

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.

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.

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

1. 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. 
2. We discussed recovery strategies for this August and Fall to restore the bentgrass greens to good health. 
3. Future life support tools to promote better summer survival were reviewed.

Recommendations

1. Most of the greens will recover with cooler nighttime temperatures, fertilization, Some areas will need help with seed sod or plugs.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. 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.

Conclusion
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.

Current State of the Greens

I haven't created a post on here in quite some time.  Primarily because I have been so consumed with the course this summer.  I don't know a P.C. term to describe our greens condition right now, but it's definitely not "immaculate".  We have endured a lot of different weather patterns this season; Early spring, Late frost, 90+ degrees for 2/3 of May, Heat that hasn't stopped all summer, Record breaking heat wave, Drought conditions, One of the wettest July's in a long time, massive amounts of rain fall in a short period of time.  All of these conditions turned into my worst nightmare. 
We were doing great through June into the first of July.  I recall checking root depths on the 5th of July and having a solid 4" of root mass.  Remember the 11 day stretch of 100-113 degree days.  We were good through that period, sure we had a few stress areas but we were okay.  Remember the massive amounts of rain that we got right behind the heat wave.  I think it was about 5" over a week.  Well, the 5" of rain was our downfall.  I was checking root depths shortly after the rains and we had about 1.5" of root mass.  It is a misnomer that greens only look bad when they are in need of water.  When they receive too much water they go through a process called "wet wilt".  You may remember they turned yellow and then thinned out, that was the wet wilt in process.  The plants essentially drowned.  Once the yellowing presented itself I immediately aerified the greens to get some oxygen in the soil.  Turned out, too little too late.  We had better weather patterns for the next 2 weeks.  This weekend we got hammered with 2.5" of rain.  I had our greens aerified again Monday.  But I fear it's, too little too late again. 
Hopefully, most of the damaged areas we will be able to "push" really hard with fertilizer to get them to fill back in.  There are some areas that we will have to reseed; #4, #8, #12, PG.  This will be a long process of regaining turf.  I am doing everything that I can to keep you playing on the correct playing surface.  I am hoping that the greens do not get any worse, because we may be looking at temporary greens if they do.  hopefully we can push through the remainder of the year get them back playable for next year. 
Please understand that it pains me terribly to have to work on something that reflects poorly on myself.

Frost Delays

Unfortunatly, the cold weather is uppon us, and the number of days with good weather for golfing are diminishing rappidly. We have had great weather to this point though. we have had an unseasonably warm October so far. We are expecting a hard frost this weekend. I wanted to get some information out to our golfers to let you know that I don't allow you to play golf in the frost for good reasons. I thought I'd let an outside source do the talking this time. So here's an article from the GCSAA (Golf Course Superintendents Association of America) about Frost Delays.


How can a footprint be a killer?

When it's a footprint made on a putting surface that's covered with frost. It's hard to believe that simply walking across a golf green covered with frost can cause so much damage, but the proof will be there in a few days as the turfgrass dies and leaves a trail of brown footprints. That's why most courses will delay starting times until the frost has melted. And it's also why golfers who appreciate a quality putting surface will be patient during frost delays.

Why does frost cause problems?

Greens are fragile. The putting surface, or green, is an extremely fragile environment that must be managed carefully and professionally. Remember that every green is a collection of millions of individual grass plants, each of which is a delicate living thing. Obviously, Mother Nature never meant for these plants to be maintained at 3/16 or even 1/8 of an inch for prolonged periods. This stress makes greens constantly vulnerable to attacks from insects, disease, heat, drought, cold -- and frost.

Frost is essentially frozen dew. It can form when the temperature (or wind chill) is near or below the freezing point. The ice crystals that form on the outside of the plant can also harden or even freeze the cell structure of the plant. When frosted, the normally resilient plant cells become brittle and are easily crushed. When the cell membranes are damaged, the plant loses its ability to function normally. It's not much different than cracking an egg. Once the shell is broken, you can't put it back together.

The proof is in the prints

Although you won't see any immediate damage if you walk on frosted turf, the proof will emerge within 48 to 72 hours as the leaves die and turn brown. And, since just one foursome can leave several hundred footprints on each green, the damage can be very extensive.

Thanks for understanding

The damage isn't just unsightly -- putting quality will also be reduced until repairs are made. Those repairs are expensive and, in some cases, the green may have to be kept out of play for days or weeks until the new turfgrass is established. A short delay while the frost melts can preserve the quality of the greens, prevent needless repairs and may even save you a few strokes the next time you play.