Three Closed days for Fairway Aeration and Topdressing

Monday, July 16, 2012 Fertility, Projects, Putting Greens, Tree Work

Well the last month or so has been a whirlwind per our typical Richmond summer.  A typical summer to me means to expect anything and everything.  Between a drought, a heat wave and now frequent severe storms, we have been living a little on edge to say the least.  The sprigs have loved the heat and the rest of the golf course has handled the weather decently.  Not great, not bad.  Greens 3, 4, 10, and 13 were core aerated today to help speed the recovery of stressed, thin turf on the edges of these greens.  Very small tines (.25") were used.  Soil moisture and high heat combined to stress these areas but to date, no disease has been present.  We take these situations very seriously and are doing everything possible to protect the new putting surfaces.  The greens are recovering and the past week of good weather has helped tremendously.  Tomorrow and Wednesday look to be scorching hot again but at least the course is closed.  The weather forecast after Wednesday looks very favorable.  A few new cultural practices will be implemented this fall and next spring to help these areas drain better and dry out faster.  This will help prevent stress in the future.  We look forward to cooler temperatures when we can again provide better putting conditions.  In the short run, we will remain conservative.    

Kevin core aerated a few greens this morning that are showing signs of stress.   This process will help the greens dry out and speed recovery.

This large Willow Oak on #12 suffered a huge lightning strike last night.  Large segments of bark were as far as 60 feet from this tree.  Unfortunately, we will most likely lose this tree.  This will be the third tree in a vicinity of about 50 yards that has been lost to lightning during my tenure.

The damage from the strike spirals around the tree starting about 25 feet above the base.

The next few days, our team will focus on projects including sod between 12 and 14, sod to the left of #9, the edging of all irrigation components and bunkers, and fairway topdressing and solid tine aeration.  The tees, fairways, and green surrounds are being solid tined while the collars are being core aerated for the second time this year.  Topdressing is applied before the solid tine and after the core aeration.  These surfaces will all be fertilized following these cultural practices.  While these areas looked great, these practices will allow them to continue to thrive in the future.

550 tons of sand have been brought in to topdress fairways, tees, approaches, and collars. 

Harmon Turf Services performs the solid tine aeration of tees, fairways, and approaches.  Our team core aerates the collars and does all of the topdressing.

Have a great day,

Jordan Booth
jbooth@willowoakscc.org

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Rain Totals or Lack Thereof and Sprigging

Monday, June 25, 2012 Fertility, Projects, Putting Greens, Questions

It has been a dry spell for the golf course with variable temperatures.  If we don't get rain today, I don't see any promising rain chances until next Sunday.  The golf course is showing signs of this mini-drought.  Areas around trees, ridges or knobs in fairways, and the fescue is all showing signs of drought stress.  You will see our staff hand watering these specific areas on tees and fairways and around trees to prevent damage to the turf and trees.  If you see a staff member hand watering or syringing greens, please do not hit your shot in their direction.  We are not trying to delay play or ruin your experience, we are protecting the turf.  The quarry is in decent shape and we are being judicious with our water.  Greens followed by fairways and then tees are the top priorities and our watering practices will be based on this priority.  

The sprig preparation will be completed today.  Trees have all been mulched and the ground has been prepared for sprigs.  Pre-emergent herbicide, fertility and soil amendments will be applied this afternoon ahead of sprigging tomorrow.   Once sprigs are installed, this area will receive a lot of water and fertility to grow in.  Even in this drought situation, our best decision is to sprig as any thunderstorm could wash away all of our prep work.  We have more than enough water to grow these sprigs in and maintain the golf course.  

This large area between 11 and 12 has been tilled, cleaned, graded and is almost ready for sprigs. 

The mulch bed installations between 10 and 12 show you what this area will look like with grass.  Irrigation components and cart path edges were sodded.   Sprigging is about 1/7 of the cost of sod per acre.  These areas should fill in over the next 8-12 weeks.

The hill to the left of #10 green has been mulched and English Ivy will be planted to provide a ground cover.  Do not hit your ball left on 10 but if you do there will be a lot more turf there by summer's end.

If you have played the golf course, you may have noticed a few blemishes or bruised turf around the greens.  Our team and the Green Committee are all aware of these areas most notably on a few edges of greens.  These are a result of the core aeration and topdressing program that took place two weeks ago.  The edges get bruised because they receive the most traffic and mechanical wear during the aeration/topdressing process.  The greens and the edges are recovering well from aeration.  We see the bruising in the spring and fall but recovery is much faster.  During the cooler months, we are able to provide more nitrogen to the plants to hasten recovery.  We simply cannot do that right now.  This heat (predicted to be near 100 on Friday and Saturday) will cause nitrogen applications to have a negative affect and burn the turf.  I actually sprayed these bruised areas this morning to aid in recovery with small amounts of a variety of nutrients.  This process, known as spoon feeding, is very safe and provides small amounts of foliar absorbed nutrients to allow the plants to recover.  We will continue to nurse these edges back to health. 

We are getting to that time of year of angst and bad memories.   We have sent in multiple samples and I sent another sample on Thursday to test for root pythium.  So far, we have seen no disease and I will hear back about this test by tomorrow.  My true belief is that the greens need to continue to heal in from the aeration process (Today marks 14 days since the greens on the bottom 9 were aerated.)  Both to heal over the holes and to heal from the mechanical traffic.  The overall benefit of this aeration will far outweigh the blemishes we are currently witnessing.  

Speaking of negative side affects, we will be applying fertilizer and pre-emergent herbicides in the next few weeks.  We have seen tire tracking with these products in the past.  When a tractor or sprayer drives over the turf, it lays those grass blades over.  This exposes more of the plant's stomata, which are on the side of the leaf blade, and increases plant uptake.  Stoma, the singular form of stomata, is Greek for "mouth."  Stomata are small openings in the plant's skin.  Each stoma is bordered by two guard cells that control the size of the opening, based on factors like atmospheric conditions and light levels.  These openings control transpiration, gas exchange during photosynthesis and foliar nutrient or chemical uptake.  In the case of some products, this can burn the tip of the plant.  Recovery is quick but I want to communicate this point before we see it.  Our TifSport is very susceptible to this problem. 

I am very excited to get this large project finished between 10 tee and 14 tees.  The long term benefit of this project will be outstanding.  It might just be me, but I have noticed a lot more repaired ball marks and filled divots.  It is wonderful to see such pride being taken in course care.  As always, I look forward to seeing you on the course.

Have a great day,

Jordan Booth
jbooth@willowoakscc.org

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Fans, Collars, and Golf Course Projects

Tuesday, May 15, 2012 Fertility, Projects

If you have played the golf course since Tuesday afternoon, you have noticed the large, gas powered fan mounted on a trailer behind #1 Green.  This fan will be used all over the golf course as necessary.  It is being used on #1 because that is perennially, our weakest green and receives poor air movement. It is currently in use while we wait on approval from the city inspector for electrical permitting.  Once this is approved, the permanent fans will be installed on holes 1, 4, and 15.  This large, portable fan will be used as needed.  This fan is louder than the electric fans but very similar in size.  There is a small, electric fan at the on deck putting green.  This fan is much smaller than the ones on the golf course but so is that green.

The collars have been sodded and we are aggressively growing them in.  The sod on holes 9-18 has been mowed and fertilized twice.  The sod on 1-8 was just installed last Monday and has been fertilized once.  The sod will knit in quickly and provide a better playing surface directly around greens. 

As always, we are busy with many course projects.  The area to the right of #14 was prepped for sod today as was the tree line to the left of #10 fairway.  Both of these areas will be sodded tomorrow.  The staff has started the install of the hardscaping around the water coolers and ballwashers.  This will take some time and will be accomplished between other large projects.  We dodged most of the rainstorms yesterday and the golf course is really quite dry.  If we continue to dodge the rain, the course will be very enjoyable this weekend.

The cooler stations will vary in size, depending on location but this one on 13 will be 6'x8'.  Sal and Victor are excavating down 8 inches to establish a base of gravel.  This will be tamped and leveled and the hardscaping will be installed on top.

Edgar, Ergidio, and Rene prepping for sod to the right of #14 fairway.  This is a much needed improvement.

Edgar and Ruben prepping for sod to the left of #10 fairway.  The majority of the sod along #10 will be completed tomorrow.  Please play the entire area between the cartpath on 12 and the fairway on 10 Ground Under Repair.

Have a great day,

Jordan
jbooth@willowoakscc.org

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Great rainfall followed by Sod Work and a Save the Date

Wednesday, April 25, 2012 Drainage, Fertility, Projects, Putting Greens

This Monday, we were scheduled to lay sod around the greens where the collars are weak.  Our plans were changed when the golf course and the sod farm received 2 inches of rain.  This rain was very beneficial and really helped the golf course but delayed the sod until Tuesday.  On Monday we cleaned up from the storm, core aerated collars, and prepped for sod around the clubhouse putting green and the driving range practice green.  Come to think of it, we also spiked greens, and applied 3 different soil amendments based on soil tests. Greens were sprayed on Tuesday due to the heavy rainfall on Sunday.  Samples were sent to Virginia Tech's plant pathology lab to check for the presence of any disease.  Our preventative fungicide program is strong but we will be double and triple checking everything.
The sod around the driving range practice green was not as bad as the shaping of the soil around the driving range green.  Removing all of the sod allowed us to re-shape this green tie-in.  After we sodded around the clubhouse putter and the driving range putter, our team started to lay sod between 10 and 12.  This will be an ongoing project with drainage and grading taking place but we anticipate having the sod laid for this project by the first week of June.  Any sprigging in this area will be completed on June 11-12 when the golf course is closed for maintenance. 

Another truck of sod arrived today (~10,000ft2) and our staff fixed the collars around 18, 9, 12, 10 and 11.  We also installed drainage behind #9 green, replaced fescue on #1 with TifSport and laid sod between 10 and 12.  The collars on 13-17 will be repaired tomorrow.  This seems to be a lot of sod in the collars but I assure you that the collars are in good shape compared to years past.  We have no other winter kill on the golf course and after next week, all sod installed on the golf course will be in new improvement areas.
This week we look forward to the Meet me at the Rock tournament.  The Green and Golf Committees will be represented and really addressing course care.  Please remember to fix ball marks, fill divots, rake bunkers and be aware of your cart traffic.  Please respect the etiquette of this great game and leave the course better than you found it.  Our staff will be mowing all surfaces in anticipation of the event.
The next big course care event that we are looking forward to will be on Monday, June 4 from 5:30 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.  The event will be a course care walk through and golf course maintenance open house.  We will be walking the top 9 holes of the golf course and filling divots, enjoying some camaraderie, touring our maintenance facility, and hopefully learning more about what our staff does day in and day out to ready the golf course.  Dinner, beer, soda, and water will be provided at no charge.  I will have much more information about this event in a future post but please mark your calendars.

Hopefully these pictures and video will paint how busy and successful of a week it has been so far.

Mowing and installing sod around the clubhouse putting green on Tuesday morning.

Prepping for sod by shaping green surround and adding topsoil. 

Spraying greens following heavy rainfall.  Samples were sent off to Virginia Tech to analyze our greens for any disease presence. 

Greens were spiked following rainfall to allow for surface to dry as well as gas and oxygen exchange.

Sod was installed around the Driving Range green on Tuesday morning.

Collars were core aerated on Monday to relieve compaction and encourage healthy growing conditions.

The course was wet and we had to push some water off of fairways on Monday.  2 inches of rain over 24 hours will do that.  It is a true testament to the renovation that we are able to be 90 degrees on 85% of the golf course today.

More fescue was removed and replaced with TifSport on #1.  This extended the entrance to this fairway.

Soil amendments were applied on Monday to adjust fertility levels in the greens.

Drainage was installed behind #9 green.  This area is shaded and poor soils do not allow for proper drainage.

The sod was lifted and the trenches were filled with rock, pipe and sand.  You can see that our team is also finishing sodding around the green.

Ruben is adding sand and organic fertilizer to this finished drainage project.  Sod was replaced following leveling of the trenches.

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Environmental Efforts and our Nutrient Management Plan

Wednesday, October 27, 2010 Environmental Efforts, Fertility

This year we created a Nutrient Management Plan (NMP) to help guide our fertility use and lower our impact on the environment and the Chesapeake Watershed in particular. Nutrient management planning is defined by the USDA as, “Managing the amount, source, placement, form and timing of the application of nutrients and soil amendments.”  Through the VT Extension service and a state grant, our NMP was completed by a certified planner for free.  A few of the steps that we took to become better stewards of our NMP were the more frequent use of organic fertilizers as well as fertilizer extenders and enhancers.  The organic products are all natural and provide a safe, efficient fertilizer source while also raising the organic matter in our soils.  Organic fertilizers naturally breakdown in the soil for a slow feed which reduces runoff as well as provide a constant boost of growth for our turf.  Better soils means better turf and more natural products will help reduce our footprint.  We have borrowed the fertility extender and enhancement products from our farming neighbors in agronomy.  These products have been reducing fertility inputs and runoff into bodies of water while increasing yields in farming for some time.  We utilized the fertility extension and enhancement products this year to provide great growing conditions while reducing the use of both Nitrogen and Phosphorus by 65%.  With our Nutrient Management Plan and these products we have been able to save money, improve turf quality, and reduce our environmental impact. 

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Improved Putting Green Chemical Applications

Wednesday, October 27, 2010 Fertility, Putting Greens

I wanted to take this opportunity to talk about one of the many ways that we have lowered our environmental impact and improved our chemical applications this year.   We have started applying pesticides manually through a practice of walk spraying greens.   This process is very efficient and precise.  Our new greens spraying program has allowed us to spray greens in multiple directions, reduce compaction and tire marks on greens, and reduce our pesticide use by 19.3%!  As seen in the picture above, we wear a lot of personal protective equipment when applying these products.  That is due to the fact that we are in direct contact with these products during application.  Once applied, these products are very safe and environmentally friendly.

While fertilizers and pesticides are necessary to grow and promote healthy turf, our precise use and extra efforts have saved money, lowered our impact, and improved our product.  Thank you for supporting us in this cause and we will continue to work towards a healthy, enjoyable, and environmentally friendly golf course.  
Please visit our Glossary of Employed Agronomic Practices page to read more.

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