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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Growth Regulators

Sunday, June 24, 2012 Questions

Question:  Why do we use growth regulators on the greens if we are trying to grow grass on them?

Answer:  A growth regulator is a hormone inhibitor.  Growth retardant or regulator is a misnomer.  It restricts the giberillens (hormone that directs carbs towards the production of top growth) in the plant.  This reduces shoot or leaf growth and saves carbohydrates to be used for stress management or root growth.  We use growth regulators to control the direction of the plant growth.  In other words, the plant is still producing the same amount of growth, but with the use of growth regulators we can force the plant to put more energy in root growth and lateral growth.   This reduces the amount of leaf/vertical growth and builds an overall healthier plant.  We continue to promote growth with the use of fertility, and with the aid of the growth regulator we can encourage growth to be in the most beneficial areas (roots and laterally).  Excessive leaf growth can place additional stress on the plant and provide poor putting quality.  We use these products to encourage bentgrass over poa annua as well. 

Have a great day,

Jordan Booth
jbooth@willowoakscc.org

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Tournament Prep

Friday, June 01, 2012 Projects, Questions, Tournaments, USGA Green Section Updates

The golf course has been busy and so has our team.  We are in full preparation mode for next week's Men's Member Guest tournament.  On top of that, we are excited about our course care walk on Monday and our USGA Agronomist Visit on Tuesday.  If you haven't signed up for the event on Monday, it is not too late.  Just let me know by Sunday night. We will start on Monday at 5:30 p.m. at the Pro Shop.  The walk will be focused on the care and etiquette of the golf course from the teeing ground, a bunker, and a putting green.  Divots will be filled during the walk but will not be the main focus.  Overall course care will be the focus as well as fellowship and education.  The event will conclude with a tour of the golf course maintenance facility and dinner on the patio. I am excited to say that over 50 people have already signed up.  Details are located here. 

Stan Zontek, our USGA agronomist will be on sight Tuesday night into Wednesday morning.  We will be meeting with Stan to discuss agronomic practices, turf health, and the golf course as a whole.  His wealth of knowledge and over 40 years of experience are certainly a great help.  It will be great to have him here during tournament prep as he has set up for dozens of US. Opens and countless USGA events.

Those two large events coupled with five shotgun starts next week makes me question my planning but it will all be successful and fun.  The project behind and to the left of #11 green will be completed on Tuesday.  I know that this is a lot of work right around Member/Guest but we are really pushing to finish up the sod portion of the project.  The following Wednesday, June 13, our team will be sprigging the remaining areas between 10 and 12, 11 and 12, and 12 and 14.  Sprigging will create a great stand of turf and is very economical but will take 6-8 weeks to establish.  For this reason, we are trying to accomplish all of this as early as possible.  The longer that the sprigs and sod are on the ground during the growing season (May - September) the healthier stand of turf we will have. 

I received a great question concerning the decision to mow our greens in the winter months with a riding greens mower.  The decision was made to reduce damage to the bermudagrass collars during dormancy.  This is my response to the question.  Thank you for the question and I will continue to try and answer them as they come in.

1      (Q) In the below newsletter, you mention going to triplex mowers during the dormant season. I would think it would be more damaging to the collars since you have very limited space to turn around. Could you please elaborate. 

(A)  The triplex mowers are obviously on tires and these tires will impact far less of the collar than the roller and drive drum on the walk mowers.  We will have to walk mow the cleanups passes and be very careful with mowing directions due to limited space.  This was never an option in the past as the triplexes provided an inferior quality of cut.  The new machines have floating cutting units just like the walk mowers and will work very well.

I know that you know what the machines look like but the attached photos show the rear drive roller or drum of the walk mower vs. the triplex.  This drum and the drive unit and the turning of the walk mower is what causes the damage.  The cutting units of the triplex are obviously raised when the triplex is off of the green so the only thing that is impacting the collar is the tires.  These tires really provide very little damage.  We will have to approach a few greens with great caution (#9) because of design but it should be a great improvement.

*BIG REMINDER:  The golf course will be closed on June 11 and 12 for putting green core aeration.  This process will greatly help the greens survive the stresses of summer.  This will be a disruption to the playing surface but will pay huge dividends for turf health.  These two days will also be dedicated to the installation of fans on the golf course.  Dominion Power was here today to install a pole to the left of #3 for power.  Power will be installed and then an electrician will help us get power to the fans.  Fans will be installed on #1 and #15 on those two days.  These two closed days will be great for sprig prep and to wrap up a few large fertility and pre-emergent herbicide applications to fairways.

The golf course continues to improve.  I am excited that by the end of June, the areas between 10 and 12, 11 and 12, and 12, and 14 tees will be grassed and growing in.  Thank you for your patience while we are making these improvements.  The final large project of the year will be to grass the area to the left of the cart path on #9.  We will be delaying this project until July to give the budget a little break.  The weather has allowed us to complete a lot of great work but we need to be mindful of our fiscal responsibilities.  I will be excited to maintain the golf course for a while. 

Have a great weekend,

Jordan Booth
jbooth@willowoakscc.org

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Irrigation Audit, More Sod Work and a Ton of Mowing

Wednesday, May 09, 2012 Projects, Putting Greens, Questions

Like every week, Monday and Tuesday have been very busy. Monday was our last closed day for maintenance until the day after Memorial day so we wanted to take advantage. The poor areas around greens 1-8 were sodded on Monday and greens were lightly topdressed. Greens also received soil amendments including Phosphorus, Potassium, Magnesium, and Calcium based on soil tests. Yesterday greens were sprayed with a growth regulator which will help reduce top growth and encourage root growth.  This is a typical practice and will help with overall plant health.  Included with the growth regulator was a plant protectant that has a green/blue appearance.  This gives the greens a bit of an unusual 'blue' appearance but after this morning's mow, the greens are back to their normal green color.

This is a picture of sod prep on Monday.  The poor areas are stripped of the old turf.  The areas are then cut down, tilled and re-leveled with fresh topsoil.  Organic fertilizer is applied to the soil and the area is ready for sod.

On Monday, we also performed an irrigation audit of the greens.  Catch cups were placed in a grid across the green and measurements were taken between sprinkler heads to measure how much water was being applied in a given amount of time.  This irrigation audit will provide information and allow us to make any necessary adjustments.  Irrigation is mainly used to water in soil amendments on putting greens. 

The team from Smith Turf and Irrigation was on hand to perform the Irrigation Audit.

Greens irrigation is inherently inefficient due to head spacing and wind.  Sprinkler heads have to surround the green and cannot be properly spaced due to the unusual shape of putting greens.  This is the main reason that hand water greens.  We need to control the root zone moisture in site specific areas.  Hand watering is based on soil moisture content.  This is measured using soil moisture meters which give us volumetric water content % of a given area.  We then use this information to determine if the green needs to be hand watered and where.  This allows for the most control during morning hand watering.  Our goal is to apply enough water to the root zone for the plant to be able to survive the day while keeping the surface firm.  This is a delicate balance which requires a lot of detailed measurements and application of water. 

Soil moisture metes give us vital information used during hand watering.  You can always add but it is difficult to quickly reduce soil moisture.   Proper measurement and informed decisions allow us to apply the right amount of water.

Afternoon syringing allows us to cool the leaf surface of the plant and prevent wilt.  This process is one of the few management tools we have to cool the plant during heat stress.  The goal of syringing is not to apply water to the root zone but to cool the plant and prevent damage to the turf.  To opponents of hand watering and syringing:  Believe me, if we did not have to perform these duties, we would not.  It is very labor intensive and the disruption to play is not something that we enjoy.  If you see me or the staff syringing in the afternoon, please wait to hit shots into the greens.  We are not trying to ruin your round.  We are not applying water, we are cooling the surface to prevent turf damage from heat stress.

Warmer weather is here and with it, a lot of mowing.  Rough is being mowed as we speak and we have already mowed tees, approaches, and fairways twice this week.  The staff is mowing the back nine holes again today.  Fescue has been mowed once and we will start on that again tomorrow.  Processes like mowing, edging cart path, edging bunkers and edging sprinkler heads are good for the course but causes a labor drain on our department.  We are staffed for this but will be getting into maintenance mode earlier than normal this year.  Projects will be restricted to closed days and slower times of the year.  Our biggest project, renovating the tree line between 10 and 12, is still on schedule.  Irrigation and some sod have been installed and grading, drainage, and sod is on schedule for completion by the end of May.  Sprigging in this area will take place during the closed days of June 11 and 12.  We are in the midst of the warmest Spring on record and the golf course shows it.  We were able to do a lot of projects in April that normally would have to wait until May or June.  Rounds are up and we are about 3 weeks ahead of schedule with green up and growth on the course.  I look forward to seeing you on the course.  USA Today: 2012 is USA's warmest year on record, so far.

Have a great day,

Jordan
jbooth@willowoakscc.org

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Green Speeds, Tee Markers, Virginia Tech Research and #12 Drainage

Friday, May 04, 2012 Drainage, Projects, Putting Greens, Questions

Yesterday's blog post sparked some real concerns about greens.  For this, I apologize.  We are all concerned about greens for the same reason.  We care about the golf course and we know that we cannot suffer the same results as last year.  But this year, we should be proud of the greens.  They are in great shape.  Stan, our USGA agronomist has been by and says we should be very pleased.  Our roots are good.  Just yesterday, the turf pathologist from Virginia Tech was on site to prepare for research trials this summer.  He has looked at samples from all over the golf course and our greens.  He has seen zero disease and is impressed with the progress.  The message from Stan and Virginia Tech is the one that I was trying to convey yesterday.  We need to be conservative this year.  Turf health is the number one priority.  Green speed will come and firm, fast greens have been the trend this spring.  When we have heavy rainfall and heat, we will be conservative. 

Speaking of pride, we should be proud of the entire golf course right now.  Outside of the collars, which are bouncing back well, the turf looks great.  Greens are growing a little too well (slow) but tees, fairways and approaches are hands-down the best they have ever been in May, maybe ever.  The bunkers are good, maybe a little firm, but good.  This sand is designed to be firm.  This helps prevent fried egg lies.  The only real eyesore that I see out there right now are the tee markers.

Over the past few year, the tees have not weathered well and the colors are difficult to see from any distance.  This week, in an effort to improve the visibility of the tees and to prolong the life of the tee markers, the centers were painted.  This has proven to be an unpopular decision but will only be temporary.  The tees need to be replaced.  Painting them was a temporary solution to get us through the season.  We are exploring other options and you will see some old markers on the course in the time being. 

Dave McCall, the turf pathologist at Virginia Tech was here yesterday to scout out some areas for turf research.  With the issues last year, Dave has agreed to be on site more often to evaluate the greens.  While he is here, he will be doing some research on fans and their affects on putting green health.  Dave mapped the greens where fans will be installed this year with GPS.  He also drove over the greens to test color, photosynthesis rates, and turf quality.  He will see how fans affect this throughout the growing season.  This will be a great working relationship and we look forward to Dave being on site.  Fan installations are contingent on the city approving our electrical plans.
The most recent drainage project was finished today on #12.  This area has stayed wet and turf quality was compromised in years past.  The staff worked very hard and the quality and speed of this project was good. 

I wanted to address these issues before I left for the day.

Have a great weekend,

Jordan
jbooth@willowoakscc.org

Dave McCall, the turf pathologist at VT, mapping #4 green.

Another picture of Dave GPS mapping the green.  You can see geese flying in the background.  My black lab, Ginny was working that afternoon as well.

The sod is stripped and saved.  This same turf will go back when we are finished.

Irrigation is located and the trench is cut for pipe to be installed.  The pipe will carry water to the drop inlet and the existing drainage.  The trench will consist of gravel, pipe, more gravel and then sand.  These porous materials help water find its way into the pipe.  The trench is tamped and leveled and then the sod is replaced.

It is important to measure and shoot grade multiple times before we install the pipe.  If the water does not drain we will have to be back in this area.

Once the trench is tamped and leveled, the sod goes back for a good finished product.  This area will heal over quickly and help us provide firm, dry conditions.

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Busy, Busy Week of Projects and Maintenance

Thursday, May 03, 2012 Drainage, Projects, Questions

Spring is here and with it, a very busy schedule.  I have been consumed with work and scheduling and have not posted lately.  This post will provide a quick insight into the last week or so.
Last Saturday was the 'Meet me at The Rock' event.  I hope everyone who played received a new ball mark repair tool.  We appreciate the initiative the golf committee has taken in course care and member education.  I enjoyed reconnecting and meeting many of you on Saturday.  Monday was a Mid-Atlantic PGA tournament here at the club.  Some of the best club pros in the region played and competed and our very own Richard White and Patrick Hawkins won the event with a best ball 65.  Congratulations.  So between prepping for those two events and sodding collars 9-18, we have been busy.  The remaining poor areas in collars will be stripped and sodded on Monday, May 7.  We have also taken the opportunity to finish the fescue conversion on the inside of the cart path on #9.  There is also a large project going on on the driving range to construct a new entrance path to the parking areas behind the back range tee and a lot of drainage being installed on #10 and 12.
Two other things that I need to discuss.  First, I would like to apologize to the gentleman who was on the driving range green this morning when the sprinkler heads came on.  This was an error when a command was being keyed into the system.  I apologize and I tried to get up there but you were already gone.
The other is greens speed.  We are currently growing grass like crazy.  It is in an effort to be as healthy as possible.  The greens have received a huge amount of play and this is starting to show on a few practice putting greens.  These greens will be closed for one week at a time beginning on Monday.  This is a practice that the green committee has approved and has been in place in for two years now.  We have limited practice green space and we need to protect these areas.  The greens on the golf course are slower and softer than we have been used to this spring.  First off, we are being very conservative due to the issues last year.  We have a lot of young grass out there and need to be focused on turf health.  Second, we have been wet.  In the last two weeks, we have received over 3.5" of rain.  This causes us to spray fungicides which have to be watered in and the cycle continues.  Our number one concern right now is turf health and with higher temperatures right around the corner, we have to be conservative with mowing and rolling.  This leads to slower speeds.  I know this is not as fun but slow greens are better than poor turf.  Wet conditions have also slowed our mowing efforts but as of today all tees, fairways, and approaches have been mowed and the golf course is really starting to take shape.  Please be patient with green speeds and continue to enjoy the golf course. 

Thanks and have a great weekend,

Jordan Booth
jbooth@willowoakscc.org

Sod that was left over from the collars project has been utilized on #9.  This completes the fescue conversion down the cartpath.  We ran out of sod at the end but this will be completed on Monday.  Our next area of conversion is down the cartpath on #14.

5-3-0, an organic slow release fertilizer has been drop spread around the greens to provide a safe, slow release of Nitrogen to the collars.  The dark color also attracts heat and in turn helps with green up. 

This is the very beginning of a drainage project on #12.  The sod has to be removed before any work can begin.  This is part of the ongoing project between 10 and 12.  Sod continues to move down both sides of that tree line.

This project is renovating the cart parking area for the range tees.  Carts now have one entrance and exit point and this area will be more aesthetic.  Space is limited around the range so please park in this area to avoid traffic congestion or injury.  This project is far from finished but you can start to see the idea. 

Another picture of the range path project.  The fence has been removed and the mulch areas along the road have been grassed.  These areas will be partitioned off with ropes and stakes.

   

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Masters Week, Bud's favorite Day of the Year, and The Elephant in The Room

Tuesday, April 03, 2012 Questions

Masters Week.  The best and worst week of the year.  The tournament is incredible, the fans knowledgeable, and the course is meticulously perfect.  I love the Masters.   I have been lucky enough to walk the golf course during a practice round.  I have seen the perfection and marveled in it on television.  Not a pine needle out of place, azaleas in bloom, greens perfect, and not a single blemish in the fairways.  It takes a lot to get the golf course there but there are also a lot of eyes on it this week.  Instantly, every golf course in the world is compared to an Augusta National Golf Club that is peaking for this one Easter Weekend.  That makes our job a little bit more difficult but pushes us to take our golf course to a new level.  We take pride in the golf course but realize that we are not Augusta National.  Enjoy the Masters, take in the perfection, but please realize the difference between Augusta National and every other golf course in America. 

Today, is the day Bud.  I know you are reading this blog post on your new IPhone or IPad 3 after receiving it via your Twitter handle, @GolfGadgetGuy.  You have asked me this question for the last 4 months.  What about carts?  Well today, Bud, we are 90 degrees.  Every hole, even # 3.  The rain tomorrow night will probably ruin your Thursday but for now, enjoy it.  We will be 90 degrees in the fairways as long as they stay dry.  With this in mind, there will be no more handicapped flags.  Fairways will be accessible to every one or no one.  

This picture illustrates why cart traffic is limited to the cart paths during the winter.  Constant traffic leads to compacted soils and damages the plant during dormancy.  This delays green up and good conditions.

So the golf course looks great.  No weeds, greens recovering well from aeration, the TifSport is green and actively growing.  The tree lines between 10 and 12 and to the left of 9 are shaping up well.  The bunker work this winter is paying off with good bunker conditions.  Carts are allowed off the path about 4 weeks early.  But there is that thing that people are whispering about, starting to worry about, including me.  The TifSport collars around the greens.  Foot and equipment traffic beat these things up every winter while the TifSport is dormant.  The process of putting green aeration is tough on them and the constant topdressing of the greens covers these areas in sand.  The biggest culprit of all is compaction and design.  The areas around the greens are tight and mowers have no where else to turn.  Our staff makes a lot of choices based on collar health including turning mowers on lattice, carpeting around greens during growth inhibitor applications, and constant solid tine aerations to reduce compaction.  We know this is a challenging issue and we are attacking it on multiple levels.  I see a lot of grass out there but some areas will have to be sodded.  We may have to change from walk mowers to triplex mowers in the winter months to prevent damage.  Some design challenges make it very difficult to vary our traffic patterns, not just from equipment but from foot traffic.  I appreciate the concerns and have had multiple people voice them.  Please, I welcome questions and concerns and I hope the next few pictures help explain the issues.  The bottom line is that most of the collars will come in fine.  They will just take longer than the rest of the golf course and some of the highest traffic areas will have to be sodded.  We are working diligently to fix this issue and improve these areas.

TifSport Collars or Aprons are carpeted to prevent chemicals used on greens from affecting turf health.  The same growth inhibitors that work well on bentgrass putting greens will have a negative affect on the TifSport.

There is a lot of green grass in these areas.  It will just take longer to come in due to compaction and traffic.

Our staff turns mowers on lattice to help reduce wear and tear in these areas.  We have experimented with where to place the lattice but large tear dropped shaped turns are the best way to reduce traffic and damage directly around greens.

You can see that the design of #9 green only allows foot traffic from behind the green or directly in front of it.

There is really only one place to turn the mowers here.  The flat 18 inches directly off the green is worn out from mower traffic.

Once again, there really isn't much room to make a wide tear drop turn, like we would like to.  Design affects maintenance and in turn, conditions.  Triplex mowers may be utilized in the winter to prevent this damage.  In the mean time, extra fertility and solid tine aerations are being utilized to improve these areas.

The picture of these great Willow Oak trees represents environmental conditions and green up.  The tree in the middle that is so green is the one in the patio.  My best guess would be that the brick in the patio and the surrounding building heat up quickly which raises soil temperatures.  This causes an earlier green up.  Other stresses such as cart path or competition may lead to a delayed green up in the other two trees.  The point is that things green up based on a number of things including stress, soil temperatures, and micro environments.

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Cart Traffic and an Early Spring

Tuesday, March 27, 2012 Questions

A hot topic of discussion right now is cart traffic on the fairways.  We are getting a lot of questions including; When are we going to be 90 degrees? When will you begin mowing fairways?  Why is the range so much greener than everything else? Why are some tire tracks so much greener than the rest of the golf course? 

To sum up the first few questions, I have this answer.

We usually allow cart traffic on fairways in late April once the fairways have been mowed.  I see no reason to not allow cart traffic if we are putting our large mowers on the fairways.  This morning, I mowed the driving range fairway.  This is a different, more aggressive turf type and was already quite long.  Some of the fairways on the golf course are ready for mowing.  These will be mowed when they are both dry and we do not expect night time lows below 45°F.  This is tough to predict but I think we will be mowing in the afternoons all week.  Once fairways are mowed, cart traffic will be allowed.  We are currently about 3 weeks ahead of schedule with the weather.  I would be surprised if we could not be 90 degrees on most fairways by the end of this week or the beginning of next week.  Not all fairways, but most.  

Q. Why are some tire tracks so much greener than the rest of the golf course?  If they are, why aren't we driving on the fairways all winter.

The width of these tracks proves that they belong to a sprayer and not a golf cart.  We spray in straight lines but maneuvering the sprayer into position lays the turf down as well and increases foliar absorption.

A. The tire tracks that are greener are not cart tire tracks.  They are sprayer tire tracks and the short answer is, we don't really know why they are greener.  When a chemical is applied through a large sprayer, the tires ride over the turf before it is sprayed.  This rolls the turf blades over and in turn the tire tracks absorb more chemical than the upright turf.  That is why we have some discoloration in the tire tracks when certain herbicides are applied.  So the fact that these tire tracks are greener is baffling.  Here is one professor at Virgina Tech explanation of our situation.  

"Usually tires lay down the turf and increase foliar absorption of the product being sprayed.  That usually leads to a little more injury in the tire track than the other areas.  Here is one theory for your green tracks.  Let's say you applied your pre-emergent herbicide and the turf was not 100% dormant.  You would have gotten increased uptake in the tire tracks and that would have stunted or slowed the growth of the bermudagrass in the tire track.  Then a cold snap comes along at some point in Feb or even Jan.  All turf except the stunted tire track would get bit by the cold and that will cause a considerable delay in green up.  Since the tire track was not growing and already stunted, the cold snap did not affect it and no delay in green up.  That's all I got.  This is really weird."

Bottom line, this situation is an anomaly and cart traffic is not encouraged on dormant bermudagrass fairways.  Our pre-emergent herbicides can delay bermudagrass green up but does not affect plant health.  We trade a delayed green up for a lack of weeds on the golf course.  We carefully monitor when these products and others will be applied by tracking soil temperatures and growing degree days.  For pre-emergent herbicides, soil temperature is the most important factor. 

We have had great green up with very little winter kill in fairways so that is the good news.  I am sure that you have noticed some large basketball sized spots of turf in the fairway that have not broken dormancy.  This is known as spring dead spot.  Spring dead spot (SDS) in turf is a disease specific to bermudagrass.  SDS is caused by a soil borne pathogen indigenous to most soils in the southern United States.  Over the course of the winter when the turf is dormant, there are no symptoms evident and everything appears normal. In the spring, as the weather begins to warm, the infected turf is unable to draw upon reserves of water and nutrients to break dormancy. Affected turf may appear to green up as healthy turf would, but it quickly declines as the plant is starved for energy from the clogged vascular tissue.  All of that to tell you this.  We have sprayed a fungicide to help stop the soil pathogen and we will fertilize fairways to begin recovery.  Our soil pH is maintained to help prevent the pathogen but the problem is varying from year to year.  

The TifSport green surrounds were solid tined, limed, and fertilized to encourage green up and growth.

Yesterday, we solid tine aerated the bermudagrass collars and applied lime and fertilizer to these areas.  These areas have a history of being weak and we are trying to give them a good start.  Greens were mowed, topdressed, and sprayed with a season long preventative insecticide.  Mulching of the golf course is wrapping up and our team is busy with irrigation adjustments, golf course conditioning, and early season maintenance.  Greens are being rolled today but will still be very slow, bumpy and sandy while recovering from aeration.  Ryan is spraying broad leaf weeds out of the fescue areas.  Have a great week.

Chuck and his team had to put the assembly line to work in order to mulch a few hard to reach areas.

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Closing out a warm, busy week

Friday, March 16, 2012 Projects, Putting Greens, Questions, Tree Work

TWO QUICK REMINDERS:  

1. The Golf Course is closed for putting green core aeration Monday, March 19 - Wednesday March 21, 2012.  The golf course will re-open Thursday, March 22 at 8:00 a.m.  The range will be open on Tuesday and Wednesday as normal.

2. The Ladies' 18 and 9 hole groups are hosting a divot filling 'party' on Monday March 19th. The ladies will begin to meet at the pro shop at 10:15 a.m. and plan on taking about an hour or two to walk the golf course and fill divots.  Please come out and support these groups and the golf course if you are available.  Monday looks warm with scattered showers and maybe a thunderstorm.

 This is a great video on the benefits of core aeration.

This week has been great for playing golf, growing grass, and finishing some projects.  The golf course has been packed and greens should be rolling well.  It is nice to have so many golfers back on the course.  One issue this time of year is cart traffic on the golf course.  This week has been reasonably dry and we have been able to allow handicapped flag access to most fairways.  The reason that we do not allow 90 degree cart traffic this time of year is to limit stress on the dormant TifSport bermudagrass.  Even though we are starting to break dormancy, the turf is not aggressively growing and cannot recover from the stress of cart traffic.  The golf course is also more saturated this time of year due to a lack of heat, sunlight and plant uptake.  We usually begin allowing carts off of the path towards the end of April, once we start mowing fairways.  If this weather trend holds up, it could be much sooner than that.

The weather has obviously raised air and soil temperatures and in turn, the TifSport bermudagrass tees and fairways have begun to break dormancy.  The older varieties of bermudagrass on the driving range are even further along than on the golf course.  Sun exposure, soil moisture, soil compaction, turf variety, and air temperature all affect where and when the bermudagrass breaks dormancy and begins to grow.  We hope to continue this warm weather trend and see green bermudagrass wall to wall. 

Our staff officially finished all tree work and has a few stumps to finish removing next week while we are closed. You may have noticed a large amount of sand on the front driving range tees this week.  We have aggressively topdressed that tee to help level out the tee and fill in all of the divots from this winter's play.  The tee was then grassed with a seeded variety of bermudagrass.  This seeded variety will be useful when we fill divots and will aid in recovery of this tee.  TifSport can only be propagated from sod, where as T-10 can be propagated from sprigs or sod and this new variety, Riviera can be propagated from seed, sprigs or sod.  It will give us great options in out of play areas and the range.  Speaking of out of play areas, the large are between 12 tees and 14 tees has been tilled, graded and topdressed to prepare a seed bed.  This area will be seeded with Riviera bermudagrass and will allow us to renovate the area for much less cost than sod or sprigs.  A large area to the left of #14 green is also being seeded with Riviera.  These areas have been roped off and marked ground under repair.

This area between 12 and 14 looks rough right now but is ready for seed and a new look this summer.  The slops and cart path edges will be sodded this summer. 

 The blog has now been live for about 12.5 months.  In that time we have received about 16,500 page views and have hopefully increased our level of communication.  Please contact me with any questions about the blog or golf course.  I will be posting a lot of information next week regarding aeration and hope to see you on the course soon. 

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Walk way behind the First Green

Thursday, March 01, 2012 Questions

As many of you have noticed, the walkway behind #1 green had been roped off.  The grass protection mat that was installed last year became a walking hazard once the turf went dormant.  This mat has been removed and other options are being investigated for the upcoming year.  The ropes have now been removed for access to and from the green.  We apologize for this inconvenience and are actively looking for ways to improve this area.
 

The path was roped off to prevent slipping on the grass protection mat while the turf is dormant.  The protection mat and ropes have been removed for access to green.

Divot Boxes have been placed back on the golf course.  Khaki colored sand will be utilized until the turf breaks dormancy and then we will be back to using green sand.  Divot boxes allow access to sand for walking golfers.  They are a great place to refill your sand bottles as well. 

Please fill divots in order to maintain a smooth playing surface and encourage turf growth. 

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Winter Putting Green Appearance

Thursday, February 23, 2012 Questions

I appreciate feedback and questions and every Thursday I will attempt to answer one question.  The question posed this week, "Why do the greens look mottled?"

This time of year, the putting greens have a mottled look with green, blue, tan, and purple colors comprising the grass that makes up the putting surface.  This is representative of the different biotypes (slightly different types of bentgrass) that combine to form our A1/A4 putting greens. A1 or A4 is a variety of bentgrass but still is made up of different biotypes within the varitey.  Each one of these biotypes responds differently to nutrition, water, temperature, and other inputs.  The greens are not growing very fast in the winter and are not a vibrant green color.  Due to the need for less mowing and less nutrition, these different biotypes take different hues of colors around the green spectrum.

This picture of Victor venting #5 green shows the different colors of the different biotypes.  The picture also shows how undisruptive the venting process is.  Greens were mowed, vented, and the rolled today.

The putting surfaces are very healthy and we are very pleased with the progress they have made this winter.  They are accepting balls much better than they were in November, the rooting has greatly improved, and ball roll has been decent for the winter months.  There is no poa annua encroachment, disease or other issues to worry about.  Please remember to judge putting green performance on ball roll and shot acceptance rather than pure cosmetics.  The truth is that the greens always look this way in the winter; there has just been a lot more play this year.  Our goal is a healthy, consistent, true putting surface that challenges the player while remaining fair and fun.

This picture clearly represents the mottled look of the greens.  The roller helps to smooth the surface and promote true ball roll.  Please enjoy the wonderful weather today and tomorrow.  The course is wet but greens are in good shape.

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Fielding a Good Question

Thursday, February 02, 2012 Questions

The question was recently asked "I was on the driving range and was wondering why we don't put sand in the divot areas like we do on the golf course?"  Great question and I hope to provide some good feedback.

We will fill the divots during the winter with our bulk topdresser once the front tee is fully used up.  If we topdress the tee with sand when the turf is dormant, it will leave the tee covered in sand as the grass is not growing and filling in the divots.  Even with the range being overseeded with ryegrass, the divots taken are still removing the dormant bermudagrass.  The dormant bermudagrass will not begin to fill back over divots until mid May.  Reseeding the tee with ryegrass will be an option but will hamper bermudagrass recovery and long term health of the turf.

The bulk topdressing will promote a smoother surface and promote divot recovery once the bermudagrass breaks dormancy.  We could fill every divot individually like we do on the golf course tees but this would be a real drain on time and labor in our off-season with limited staff resources.  The range and golf course have been very busy and all of the divots taken out of the dormant tees make me very thankful that we made the call to keep the back tee closed this winter.   The back tee should be in perfect condition and ready to use while the front and middle tee are healing over divots  in May.  You can help in tee recovery by utilizing the technique demonstrated in this March 2011 blog post, 'Preferred Practice Technique to Maximize Turf Recovery.'

Please continue to ask questions and I will continue to try and answer them.

This is one of our large bulk topdressers at work.  You can see how the sand will fill all of the divots and promote a smooth, uniform surface.

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