The Dog Days of Summer!

The summer of 2010 has been really unkind to all in the green industry!  The number of days with above 90 degree temperatures has surpassed any year I can remember as a Superintendent or Assistant.  I feel that we have done a good job of combating all the stresses that have accompanied the sweltering heat, but we are not out of the woods yet.  I am posting an article from the Wall Street Journal that depicts just how bad courses have taken a hit from the Dog Days of this summer:


The Ugly Summer of 2010







Brutal heat has greenkeepers fighting to save their courses from ruin


· By JOHN PAUL NEWPORT


The sustained record-breaking heat across much of the U.S. this summer, combined with high humidity and occasional heavy rain, is killing the greens on many golf courses. A handful of high-profile courses have already had to close, and if the heat continues, others are likely to follow. Golfers themselves deserve part of the blame for insisting that putting surfaces be mown short and fast even in weather conditions in which such practices are almost certain to ruin them.

Huntingdon Valley Country Club outside Philadelphia, which dates from 1897, shut two of its three nines two weeks ago because of serious turf disease caused by the hot, wet weather. The Philadelphia area in July had 17 days of 90-degree-plus weather, six more than average, mixed with flooding thunderstorms of up to 4 inches.

Members at the Golf Club at Cuscowilla, east of Atlanta, received letters this week that the club's highly regarded Ben Crenshaw-Bill Coore course would be closed for eight to 10 weeks so that the wilted greens can be completely replanted. The Ansley Golf Club broke similar news to members about the club's in-town Atlanta course. "The continued, excessive heat and humidity have put our greens into a critical situation and the possibility of saving many of them is remote," said a letter from the grounds-committee chairman. Even Winged Foot in Mamaroneck, N.Y., the site of five U.S. Opens, is having serious weather-related problems with its turf.

The U.S. Golf Association last week issued a special "turf-loss advisory" to courses in the Mid-Atlantic states, urgently advising greenkeepers to institute "defensive maintenance and management programs" until the weather crisis ends. Most of the danger is to greens planted in creeping bentgrass and annual bluegrass (also known as poa annua).

"Physiologically, these are cool-season grasses that do very well when the air temperature is 60 to 75 degrees," said Clark Throssell, director of research for the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America. "They can cope with a few days of 90-degree weather every summer, but when that kind of heat lasts for days at a time, they have extreme difficulty."

Temperatures for weather reports are measured in the shade, but greens baking in the midday sun can reach 120 or 130 degrees. When grass spends too much time in soil that hot, it starts to thin out, turn yellow and wither. Most bentgrass strains will collapse entirely with prolonged exposure to 106-degree soil. The grass doesn't go dormant—it dies.

Grass does have a mechanism to cool itself. It's called evapotranspiration and is analogous to perspiration. The roots draw up water from the soil and it evaporates through the plant's leaves, dissipating heat. But when greens are scalped to a quarter-inch, an eighth of an inch and even shorter, the leaf surface available for transpiration declines.
Prolonged heat causes other problems. One is that root systems shrink, sometimes to within a half-inch of the surface, reducing the amount of water drawn up to the top. Humidity and heavy rain make things even worse. Humidity retards evaporation, while soggy soil stays hot longer than dry soil does. Puddles and saturated soil also create barriers that prevent needed oxygen from getting to the roots.

Even when the combination of these factors doesn't kill bentgrass and poa annua greens outright, it weakens the turf significantly and renders greens more susceptible to fungus and disease.
Bermuda grass, by contrast, thrives in temperatures in the 80s and 90s but cannot survive cold winters. That makes Bermuda the logical choice for courses in the Deep South. High-prestige clubs in the so-called transition zone, which includes parts of Georgia, the Carolinas, Tennessee, Texas and the Midwest, have long put a premium on having bentgrass greens because of Bermuda's historic liabilities as a putting surface. Bermuda greens were coarser, bumpier and had problems with excessive "grain," caused by the bristly blades growing in one direction (generally toward the setting sun) instead of vertically and thus unduly influencing the speed and direction of putts. Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas, claims to be the first course south of the Mason-Dixon line to install bentgrass greens, in 1936. Hundreds of clubs have followed since.

But they pay the price, even in years with less brutal summers than this one. Colonial, for instance, has five or six fans around every green, stirring up 25-mile-per-hour breezes around the clock to help keep the greens cool. The club in summer has four full-time employees who do nothing but hand-water the hot spots on the greens every day. "Keeping the greens alive till that first cool spell in September is all we hope for," said the club's head pro, Dow Finsterwald Jr.
When hot weather hits bentgrass courses, course superintendents also raise mowing heights. That yields more leaf surface and improves evapotranspiration but can slow down putts by a foot or more on the Stimpmeter, which measures green speed. "Better slow grass than no grass" is a mantra among greenkeepers, but the pressure from golfers to keep the greens rolling fast is relentless.

During the hot summer of 2007, ground crews at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta, home of the PGA Tour's Tour Championship, tried every trick in the book to keep the club's bentgrass greens healthy. They hand-watered each green every 30 minutes during the hottest days, just enough to cool off the grass blades but not enough to add moisture to the soil. They ran fans and cut the greens with walk-behind mowers rather than heavy triplex riding machines, to reduce stress.
But nothing did much good. "It's such a helpless feeling. You watch the greens turn yellow and you know they're going to collapse, but there's just nothing more you can do," said Ralph Kepple, East Lake's superintendent.

For the 2008 season, East Lake replanted its greens in one of the new "ultra dwarf" strains of Bermuda that are hard for most golfers to distinguish from bentgrass, in terms of performance. The club is pleased with the decision, Mr. Kepple said—especially this summer.  Augusta National, the home of the Masters 90 miles east of Atlanta, is in an area that is often 10 degrees hotter in the summer, but it easily maintains bentgrass greens. The main reason: The course is closed for play in the summer. That's a luxury very few courses can even consider.


I hope that this article was informative and helps you understand the science behind the battle every course Superintendent is facing this summer.  I hope it also gives you a greater appreciation for the work and knowledge that goes into maintaining putting greens.


Shannon
—

#13 Tee Update...

Greetings,

As all of you have seen, the new Tee at #13 has been sodded and will be ready for play soon.  Last Monday, we laid approximately 5100 square feet of Zoysia sod on the surface.  I anticipate that 4th of July weekend will be the first opportunity to play the hole from the new position.  We cut the new cart path and today we are adding rock.  Next week, we will take out the old cart path and resod the fairway where the cart path crossed.  This step in the process will depend on the Tee being ready for play next weekend.  Lot work should be finished the week after the fourth of July, weather pending.  In all, I am happy with the way the process has unfolded.

Yesterday, we aerated greens with a small diameter tine to help with gas exchange in the soil profile.  With the temperatures being so high, heat indexes above 100 degrees, and the abundant rainfall last week, this process was greatly needed for the health of the turf.  I am sorry for any inconvenience that we might have caused you in trying to play your round yesterday.  I know that the traffic on the back nine must have made your rounds slow and the heat more unbearable.  I hope that everyone understands that we are not closed on Mondays, a luxury fully private clubs have, to perform these types of cultural practices.  In closing, I hope everyone stays cool and it looks like relief from the heat will come next week!

Shannon 

Ballmarks, Ballmarks, Ballmarks!!

Greetings,

It seems that over the last couple of weeks the weather has been really unsettled.  Due to a southern flow of warm, humid, and moist air, we have been hit by several pop up thunderstorms.  These rain events, along with the high humidity, have caused the putting surfaces to be softer than normally managed.  So with the course conditions being a little on the soft side,  I thought I would take the opportunity to broach the subject of ballmarks! 

Within, the USGA Rules of Golf, there is a list for "Core Golf Etiquette" that is ingrained into the very essence of the game:

1. Safety: Be aware of other players. Never take an action that could endanger anyone.  Example: Hitting range balls off of #1 tee in the direction of the driving range.
2. Consideration of other players
3. Pace of Play
4. Course Conditions: The book states "DO EVERYTHING YOU CAN TO LEAVE THE COURSE CONDITIONS THE WAY YOU FOUND THEM!!

Ballmarks- "Make effort to repair any marks made on the putting surface"

As my first mentor, Don Cross, C.G.C.S. of Skokie Country Club, stated in his Blog, "If you are truly a steward of the game, you will repair any ballmarks you see!"

There is a right way and a wrong way to fix a ballmark!  I have witnessed many of you fixing your ballmarks like a rabid bird looking for earthworms.  Take your time and follow the steps in this USGA video:

http://www.usga.org/turf/articles/video/repairingballmarks.html

Here is an interesting fact from the Golf Course Superintendent's Association:
1. A properly repaired ball mark heals completely in 2-3 days, while an unrepaired ball mark takes 15-20 days to heal properly.

I know that everyone is going to blame the amount of ballmarks on the green fee players, but the problem is not all a result of their play.  I am just asking that everyone repair the ballmarks they make, and fix any others you might see.  After all, you are just being a good steward of the game!

Shannon

Three Months of Projects!

Greetings,


It has been a long time since I posted a blog on the course! It has been a very busy last 3 months, and I hope that this post will bring everyone up to date on the activities on the course, or perhaps answer any questions that you have not been able to ask me.

As of two weeks ago, we finally became fully staffed in the maintenance department. We have ten employees this year, which makes us down in numbers from previous years. We have been working diligently to try to catch up on work that was not completed due to untimely rain events in the early Spring. Here is an overview of the activities that have been accomplished since my last post:

Greens
The greens have came along really well this Spring. If you remember from one of my last posts, we were spraying a mixture of growth regulators to attempt to stop the annual bluegrass from setting seedheads. We applied this mixture every 2 weeks from March 1st till the first week in May. In short, I feel that we did an excellent job of controlling the onset of seedheads from the bluegrass. I never really saw seedhead production greater than 5 percent during our applications. With this success, we will be applying this mixture for Springs to come.

Aeration
In April, we aerated the greens with a 1/2 inch solid tine. The greens were grown back in and putting true in a very short period. We will be aerating the greens each month with 3/16" needle tines. These tines will not disrupt playability, allowing us to keep water moving away from the surface and the rootzone oxygenated. The rootzone remaining oxygenated is key for the survival of the bentgrass during the summer months. When oxygen levels fall, carbon dioxide will replace oxygen as the dominant gas in the rootzone. Once this happens, roots that are heat stressed begin to further shrink and are unable to supply the bentgrass plants with proper food and water for survival.
Plant protectant Applications to Greens
We will be applying plant protectants on a weekly basis. One week we will apply any nutritional packages with a growth regulator. The following week we will apply a mixture of fungicides and a herbicide to control crabgrass and goosegrass.
Mowing of Greens
We have been walkmowing the greens daily for the past several weeks. We are also topdressing the greens with a light coating of sand each week to keep the surfaces smooth and pore spaces open in the thatch layer for water and air movement. We will also begin to light weight roll greens three days a week. I feel that this is a very important cultural practice that allows the greens to stay smooth, true, and quick!

Tees and Fairways
The warm season turfs have been slow to grow as of late. Inconsistent temperatures and the effects of winter are still visible. To combat these environmental factors, we aerated the fairways and applied a granular fertilizer last week to get things jumping. The food, air, and water have them growing quite well right now. We will begin our growth regulation program on the fairways next week and continue through the summer. After this application, expect the warm season turf to get tight and fast! When temperatures get warmer they will begin to fill in the few thin areas we have. The tees are in great shape and have been fertilized. An insecticide has been applied to help with grubs and we are on a regular growth regulation program. The growth regulation is providing nice tight growth.

Roughs
The roughs are being cut at a higher height of cut than in previous years. After the inland hurricane last year, there was some difficulty lost on some holes. Since the tree lost, we decided to raise the height by 1/2 inch to make the course a little more demanding. The rough is cut two times per week. We have made an application of fertilizer and sprayed the weeds.

Projects
We have been working on several projects on the golf course.  These projects include resodding 5000 square feet of the driving range, sodding winter damaged areas in the collars, relocating #13 Tee, and finishing the lot expansion off of hole #13.

• Sod work: We resodded the center of the driving range and have started to complete areas on the collars.  The cause of the turf on the driving range not making it through the winter was due to late season traffic (State Championship), and a very cold winter.  The tee was resodded with zoysia and should have better winter hardiness.  The collars are being sodded with zoysia.  We have completed three of the seven areas that need to be resurfaced.  My hope is to resod a strip of zoysia around each green to help keep bermuda from encroaching into the greens, and keep the integrity of the greens shape.

• #13 Tee:  As you all have seen the tee is being relocated for the lot expansion along hole #13.  The tee has been rough graded and a sand/soil mix has been applied to the top for the finish grade.  As of yesterday, we have relocated the irrigation to accommodate the new tee.  We will finish grade and sod this week.  It will take a couple of weeks for the sod to root and become playable.  I think that the hole will be a much better hole with the tee being realigned.  The hole will be a true dogleg now, with a risk/reward option on the tee shot.

• The Lots:  Lots 1,2,3 have been shaped.  The addition of a tile in the winter diversion ditch is all that remains.  Lots 4,5,6 have to be graded.  Once this is done the lots will have electric ran.  I anticipate the lots will be ready for sale at the end of the month, weather pending.

• Bridge at #8 Green:  We replaced the bridge at #8 Green.  The bridge began to collapse last year because a metal pipe was used to divert the water under the bridge.  The pipe over the years oxidized into nothing, thus collapsing the concrete bridge.  We excavated out the old concrete and pipe, added a plastic pipe, formed and repoured a much better bridge.  The new bridge will be standing for many generations to come. 

• Overflow Pipe Replacement at Condos: The overflow at the lake at the condos was replaced because the original pipe that controls the water level in the lake had rusted and broke.  The pipe again was made of metal, and was replaced with a pipe made of fiberglass and concrete.  We had to complete this job in a timely manner because some of the homeowners geothermal heating cores were exposed due to water loss.  The new engineering of the pipe will last forever.

 

I hope that this post shows all the work that we have been accomplishing, along with maintaining the golf course.  I am going to make a conscious effort to keep the blog updated on a weekly basis.  I hope all of you are enjoying the golfing season, and if there are any questions feel free to talk to me on the course.

Shannon

Is Spring Around the Corner?

The cabin fever is at an all time high in the maintenance department. January and February offered us time to finish up the items on our winter maintenance list and remodel the shop office, bathroom, and irrigation storage. We as a group are definitely ready for temperatures to start rising and the birds to start chirping.

With the temperatures next week being in the 40's, I thought that I would take the time to let everyone know about some upcoming maintenance activities that might affect your round. Today, we cut greens for the first time since January 19th. This should allow you to have smoother surfaces to putt on. I would like everyone to understand that we have actually had a winter this year, and cutting the greens when the underlying soil is frozen or the temperatures are too low is not an option. Secondly, the interruption in play will be from spraying.

We will start our Spring spraying schedule on the greens tomorrow Saturday, February 27th. We will be applying Proxy/Primo to the greens for seedhead suppression on the Poa Annua. Proxy and Primo are growth regulators. Proxy (Ethephon) promotes ethylene production from leaves, which inhibits cell elongation, but promotes leaf senescence (more leaves per plant). Proxy also controls seedhead development in Poa Annua. Primo is a Type II plant growth regulator that blocks the biosynthesis of gibberellin, which is needed for plant cells to elongate. Primo makes the turf more dense, more stress tolerant, and greener in color. The combination of these two products makes the Spring putting surfaces tighter, quicker, and more uniform by controlling the growth and seedhead production of the Poa.

We will also be spraying Roundup and Barricade on the dormant warm season turf to accomplish two tasks. The Roundup (Glyphosate) will take care of any winter annuals (Poa) that germinated last fall. Since the warm season turf is dormant, the nonselevtive herbicide will not negatively affect the turf. The Barricade (Prodiamine) is a preemergent herbicide that will take care of the summer annuals that will germinate in April. The summer annuals that can be invasive and an eyesore are Crabgrass and Goosegrass. This spray mix allows the tees, collars, and fairways to stay both pure and aesthetically beautiful during the golf season. When we start applying this tank mix next week, the tees will be closed one day (Monday). You will need to hit from the tee blocks that are located adjacent to the tee surface. The following day (Tuesday) we will close the back 9, as we will be spraying these fairways. After the back 9 is complete, we will reopen these holes and close the front 9. The day after the front 9 is complete (Wednesday), we will then spray all collars on the course, starting on the back and then finishing on the front. You will get to play all 18 this day.

I hope that this brought you up to date. The Pro Shop will be able to communicate what is going on with the process each day next week.

Thanks,
Shannon

Winter Concerns of a Golf Course Superintendent...........

I was under the weather this weekend, and currently still am. This is why the post I promised, is just now getting published on the blog. I am going to post two articles that give a better understanding to what can occur with too much winter play on the playing surfaces. My intent is that these articles explain why I do not want cart traffic on the dormant fairways, and how too much winter play on the greens leads to untrue surfaces in the Spring. Thanks for stopping by!

Shannon

Politics Religion and Winter Play on GreensBy James T. Snow
Director, Northeastern Region, USGA Green Section
Reprinted from the USGA Green Section Record
1987 November/December Vol 25(6): 1-4

It is common knowledge that three topics are simply too controversial for polite conversation, and should never be brought up at social functions: politics, religion and winter play on greens. Not familiar with the last? If not, then you apparently haven't spent much time at northern golf courses during late fall and early winter.

Few subjects raise such an emotional response from golf course superintendents and golfers alike. Golfers can become irate at actions restricting their access to regular greens during late fall, winter, and early spring, while superintendents are just as unyielding in their view that play should be kept off the greens at those times.

Who's right?

As with most topics of this nature, qualifications have to be tacked on to any firm answer. It is safe to say, however, that winter play can only harm the greens, and in many instances it has a significantly negative impact on the health and playability of the turf during the following golf season.



Repercussions of Winter Play

It is not hard to understand why many golfers are sometimes skeptical about claims concerning the negative effects of winter play, because to them the turf on greens that have been played throughout the winter usually appears the same as the turf on greens that have been closed. The effects of winter traffic, however, need not be obvious and dramatic to have significant and long-lasting repercussions.

Direct wear injury
Thinning of the turf due to direct wear injury is an obvious and important result of winter traffic. Unlike during the growing season, when turf is able to regenerate new leaves and stems to replace injured tissue daily, winter weather completely halts turf growth; the grass is continually thinned throughout the winter in direct proportion to the amount of traffic. This thinning of the turf canopy can, and often does, encourage the establishment of such weeds as Poa annua, crabgrass, goosegrass, moss, algae, pearlwort, spurge, and other weed pests during the spring and summer. True enough, weeds can indeed be a problem on greens that aren't subjected to winter play, but winter traffic causes them to be just that much more abundant and difficult to control.

Soil compaction
Soil compaction is a more subtle and perhaps more important consequence of winter traffic. Because of the cold winter temperatures and lack of active turf growth, the loss of excess soil moisture through evaporation and transpiration is greatly reduced. In addition, frozen sub-surface soils may completely block the movement of excess moisture through the soil profile. During the summer, a very heavy rainfall often creates soil conditions that warrant closing the course for a day or two until the excess moisture is eliminated by the way of evaporation, transpiration, and downward percolation through the soil profile. Because these moisture losses are often non-functional during the winter, saturated soil conditions can persist for weeks or longer. Yet the golfers who can appreciate the need to close the course during the summer are sometimes completely unsympathetic to the same conditions and concerns during the winter.

The effects of soil compaction on the health and playability of the turf are insidious at any time, but because wet soils are especially prone to compaction, the likelihood of traffic causing the collapse of good soil structure is of constant concern during the winter. As soil particles are compacted and pushed closer and closer together, the pore space that facilitates drainage and root growth during summer is gradually lost. As the season finally commences, golfers often complain the these compacted greens are hard. From an agronomic standpoint, turf begins the season in a weakened state, predisposed to a host of summer problems. In addition to the potential for weed encroachment, the turf on greens played during winter tends to wilt more readily during hot weather, and often is more susceptible to a wide array of primary and secondary disease organisms.

Effects on playability
With the loss of turf density from direct wear injury and the loss of turf vigor caused by soil compaction, greens played during winter tend to be hard, slow, and bumpy, and they are slower to develop during the spring, compared to greens that are not subjected to winter traffic. Footprinting is often a problem, and golfers tend to complain about the lack of trueness even after several topdressings in the spring. Finally, the effects of compaction on the health of the turf can last to a certain extent for much of the season, making it difficult or impossible to keep the greens as closely cut and intensively groomed as some golfers might desire.

Many winter golfers have heard these arguments before and have dismissed them as being ravings of overprotective golf course superintendents and turfgrass scientists. A favorite response is, "I pay plenty to play golf at this club, and I'm going to use the regular greens during the winter. That's why we pay the superintendent - to fix up the greens in time for spring. Besides, the Let-'Em-Play-Anytime Golf Course down the street lets them play through the winter, and they don't lose any grass during the summer. Anyway, we only have a few groups that play much during the winter. How much damage can we do?"



Factors to consider

On the surface, these comments seem quite valid; after all, everything is a matter of degree. But many factors should be taken into account in developing a logical policy on winter play.

Anticipated traffic
If a single round of golf were played on the course during the winter, most would agree that the potential for serious damage would be nil. Same for ten rounds? How about 100, 500 or 1,000? If the weather is mild and there is little snow, how many more rounds will it add? Where do you draw the line?

Soil type
Winter golfers argue that sand-based greens drain well and don't compact, making them very suitable for winter play at any time. While it is true that sand-based greens don't suffer from compaction to the extent that older soil-based greens might, it is also true that direct-wear injury is likely to be more severe on sand greens. Turf density can be greatly compromised, and weed encroachment can be a real concern. It is also true that most golf courses in the North do not have good sand-based greens. Obviously, courses with older soil-based greens are especially vulnerable to both types of winter injury.

Specific weather conditions
Though traffic on dormant turf will indeed cause some injury, the weather and soil conditions at the time of play will dictate the type and extent of the damage. Traffic on dry, unfrozen soil will cause the least damage, but this condition is rare during the winter. Frozen soil can cause significant wear injury but little soil compaction. Play on wet, unfrozen soil can result in significant soil compaction but less wear injury. Play on a thawing soil(wet on the surface, frozen below) can result in severe soil compaction and wear injury, and should be avoided. Finally, frosted turf is extremely susceptible to direct injury, and play should never be allowed.

Grass species
Do you have bentgrass greens and want to keep them? Then don't allow winter play. Thinned turf and compacted soil is just what Poa annua is looking for in the spring.

Cultural maintenance programs
Winter golfers argue that a good golf course superintendent should be able to fix damage done during the winter by aerifying, topdressing, overseeding, fertilizing, and irrigating during the early spring. If weed encroachment is a problem, then he should apply herbicides to kill the weeds, and pre-emergent herbicides to prevent the crabgrass and goosegrass from developing. However, 1) it would be a rare case where intensive spring work would completely compensate for the wear injury and soil compaction resulting from winter play,2) chemicals applied to control crabgrass and other weeds have a negative effect on the root growth and the overall heath of the turf during the summer, 3) golfers despise the intensive aerification and topdressing required during the early spring, since most of them return after a winter layoff and find their greens ripped up and in poor playing condition for weeks or more, and 4)all of the work to renovate the greens takes more money for labor and materials and comes at the expense of ither spring course preparation activities. History of winter injury
The effects of winter play can exacerbate the injury from other types of winter problems, including desiccation, winter diseases, and low-temperature kill (ice damage). Winter play, therefore, should be avoided if the course regularly suffers from other forms of winter injury.

Previous weed problems
Courses that have previously experienced and are concerned about weed problems such as crabgrass, goosegrass, spurge, moss, algae and Poa annua would do themselves a favor by avoiding winter play on the regular greens.

Recent stress problems
Winter play is best not allowed on greens that have experienced the loss of turf or extreme weakness during the previous year or years caused by heat stress, secondary disease problems such as anthracnose or summer patch, nematodes or other summer stress problems. Greens like these probably would suffer even greater problems if they were burdened with the vigor-inhibiting effects of winter play.

Trees
Greens close to large trees that suffer from shade, air circulation problems, and tree root competition should not be forced to endure the complicating effects of winter play. Compared to turf growing in clear areas, greens growing in locations like these usually respond very slowly in the spring, and they tend to be weak during the summer. Many greens on the older, mature courses in the North can be grouped in this category.

Standards for play
One of the most important questions to ask in contemplating whether or not to use the regular greens in winter concerns what the golfers want from the greens during the regular season. If they want top-quality turf from spring through fall, involving very close, frequent mowing, double mowing, frequent verticutting, lean fertilization, minimal irrigation, or other stress-inducing practices, then it is best to avoid winter play. If the golfers don't mind higher cutting heights, slower speeds, and greater inconsistency, then winter golf was made for them. Some bias in that statement? Perhaps, but too many golfers want to trample their dormant greens during the winter months and then enjoy U.S. Open conditions from April through November. There are still some things money can't buy.



Some Alternatives

Given that this article won't end the use of the regular greens during winter on all golf courses, a look at some of the alternatives might prove useful in establishing a winter policy.
Use temporary greens. Many golf courses avoid winter injury by establishing temporary greens on the fairway approach area to the existing greens. Often these areas are aerified and topdressed several times during the fall, and the cutting height is lowered to produce a reasonable putting surface for the winter. Sure it's more fun to hit to the regular greens, but isn't it worth sacrificing a little bit during the winter to keep the greens in good condition for spring, summer, and fall? The best policy is to close the greens when growth ceases in the fall, and open them in the spring only when growth resumes and the soil has dried enough to resist compaction.
Design a winter course. This should be especially appealing to the addicts who simply can't get enough. Many clubs play their course backwards, going from green to tee end of the fairway. Others use their imaginations and design holes in a cross-country style crossing roughs and water hazards that might rarely be seen or appreciated when golfers play the regular course. Temporary greens can be established on existing fairways or roughs, near fairway bunkers, water hazards, or groupings of trees. The possibilities are limitless.
Establish temporary greens, but use them only when conditions are not appropriate for using the regular greens. This is a bad policy, because conditions can go from fair to terrible in just a few hours. For example, greens that are frozen in the morning sun can thaw as temperatures rise during the day. If play is allowed on the regular greens in the morning, at what point should it switch to temporary greens? Who will decide? Will gofers already on the course be notified of the change? Obviously, the logistics of this policy are difficult, and the likelihood of damage to the greens is great.
Use the regular greens during the winter, but close the course on days when the potential for damage is great. This policy has the same flaws as the one above. In some ways it's even worse, because the days when the greens should be closed, when temperatures rise above freezing and the putting surfaces become thawed, are the same days that most winter golfers want to be on the course. Superintendents can come under great pressure from club officials to keep the course open, despite their great misgivings, and sometimes they are simply overruled.
Play the greens throughout the winter, regardless of the conditions. Because the alternatives require difficult decisions and complicated logistics, many golf courses opt for this worst-choice policy. For the reasons we've outlined, these golf courses are just asking for problems.
Close the course for the winter. From the standpoint of having the greens, tees, and fairways in the best possible condition fir the spring, this is certainly the best policy. There is no doubt that winter play on the tees and fairways can thin the turf and compact the soil just as it can on the greens. However, golfers don't putt on the tees and fairways during the summer, and most don't mind some cultivation and overseeding on these areas during spring. Nevertheless, many courses establish temporary tees for the winter, or sacrifice small portions of the regular tees for winter use if play is expected to be moderate to heavy. If the club decides to keep the course open, whether or not the regular greens are used, gofers should be asked to wear shoes without spikes or cleats whenever possible, and riding carts should be restricted to paths, if they're allowed at all.
Winter play can do an inordinate amount of damage to the health and playability of the greens in relation to the number of rounds. Every golf course considering winter play should question whether or not it is worth the risk of damaging the greens and affecting their playability for a significant period of the regular seasonably allowing a relatively small percentage of the club's golfers to use them at that time. In the view of most golf course superintendents, turfgrass scientists, and agronomists, it is not. Unfortunately, even the considered opinion of the experts is unlikely to separate winter play from politics and religion as a topic of controversy among golfers.


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TURF TIP
11/19/2007
Winterkill in warm-season turfgrasses
Winterkill in warm-season grasses is highly variable and difficult to study by scientists. Because of this, our understanding of winterkill is based on science as well as practical experience and observation. Since winterkill in warm-season grasses can be affected by genetics, temperature extremes, and management factors, an endless combination of these factors can interact to cause highly variable damage. Any one of these factors may cause significant winterkill, but a combination of many of these factors will certainly increase the chances of winterkill. Factors contributing to winterkill of zoysia and/or bermudagrass include:

Temperature extremes: Most winter damage on bermudagrass occurs between 18 to 23F, while damage to zoysiagrass occurs at lower temps near 12F. Duration of cold temperature and timing of the cold will also affect survival. Since Indiana is on the northern edge of adaptation for warm-season grasses, low temperatures are usually an annual problem.`
Excess winter traffic: Cart, foot, or mower traffic can crush frozen or dormant crowns causing death. Traffic can also cause compaction, reducing soil oxygen and weakening the plant and thus increasing winterkill. This is why winter traffic should be avoided on warm-season fairways, tees, and athletic fields.
Genetics: Zoysiagrass is more winter tolerant than bermudagrass and within each species, cultivars exhibit a wide range of winter tolerance. Quickstand, Midlawn, Vamont, and Riviera are the most winter-tolerant bermudagrasses, while Meyer and Zenith are the most winter-tolerant zoysiagrasses. Our very recent zoysia data suggest genetically high levels of glucose, proline and dehydrin-like polypeptides improve winter-tolerance.
Overseeded ryegrass to maintain winter color will out-compete warm season grasses during cooler weather and enhances winterkill. Overseeding temporary winter turf into dormant bermudgrass should be avoided if possible.
Age of warm-season grass: Usually zoysiagrass or bermudagrassare are most susceptible to winterkill in the first winter after establishment because they have not maximizes stolon or rhizome formation, and these structures are key in winter survival.
Excess water/poor drainage can cause direct damage to crowns by freezing and thus killing the crowns. Plus too much water can reduce soil oxygen as mentioned previously.
Excess thatch can elevate the crown and since thatch is not as insulating as soil, the crown in thatch is exposed to colder temperatures compared to that in minimal thatch areas.
Dry soils/exposed windy areas can lead to dehydrated crowns causing winterkill. Snow cover or winter covers may help alleviate winterkill where practical.
Mowing height: Higher mowing heights tend to lower winterkill because of increased carbohydrate storage. Higher mowing heights going into winter are also thought to provide structural protection of crowns as well as potentially insulating the crowns.
Shaded areas tend to have the most winterkill because of overall lower temperatures, reduced photosynthesis and thus carbohydrate storage going into winter, and also competition from roots when the shade is caused by trees.

Zac Reicher, Professor/Turfgrass Extension Specialist

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Send corrections, suggestions, and comments to biehlj@purdue.edu

More Winter Weather!

As I write this, the area is under a winter storm watch.  The course will obviously be closed Friday, January 29th, with the projected snow accumulation being 5 to 7 inches.  I will keep everyone updated on the course conditions until the course is reopen.  Additionally, I am going to give a detailed look into the concerns with winter weather, as it pertains to the turfgrass environment, in a post that will be available to read this weekend.  I hope that this post informs you about my concerns regarding winter play on the playing surfaces.  Thanks for stopping by and I hope that the snow does not keep golf at bay for long.

Shannon

Course Closed Today!

I hate to announce this, but the course will be closed today Sunday, January 24th.  When I inspected the course this morning, it was very wet, with casual water in most fairways and a on a few greens.  There are more showers in the area, that will add addition moisture to the already saturated playing surfaces.  The rain will most likely be out of the area by early afternoon, but conditions will not favor play.  I hope that all of you understand that a few rounds played will not help the turf.

Anyways, I am sorry and I hope all of you enjoy the NFL Title Games today.  Stop by next week for an update on the tee relocation at Hole #13.

Shannon

Grinding, Grinding, Grinding!

We are now in the grinding stage of our winter maintenance program.  Grinding is the beginning of a season long, highly intense relationship with the reel mowers.  John is grinding our 32 reels and adding new bedknives to each unit to insure that we start the season with tightly mowed playing surfaces.  He also is replacing any damaged roller and reel bearings that he runs across.

Reel mowers are used on our greens, tees, and fairways.  They offer two advantages for maintaining fine turf, and that is an exact height of cut and the best quality of cut possible.  The reel mower uses a reel and a bedknife to work its magic.  The bedknife sits below the reel and pushes against the turf, standing it up in a vertical position.  It then acts as one half of a scissor.  The reel then rotates across the edge of the bedknife, acting as the second half of the scissor.  The reel blades then gather the cut turf and discharges the clippings.  The cutting rate of each mower is different.  This rate is dependent on the diameter and number of blades in the reel, the RPM of the reel, and the forward travel speed of the mower.  The greens mowers have 11 blade reels and the cutting height is set at .115 of an inch.  The fairway and tee mowers have 7 blades on the reel and are set at a 1/2 inch.  The difference is that the 11 blade reels have a more precise cut, and cannot deal with the volume of grass that the bigger 7 blade reels can.

Anyways, the process of grinding the reels goes like this:

1. Inspect all bearings

2. Take off bedbar

3. Take off bedknife

4. Add new bedknife or grind old (depending on wear, new ones are added two times a year on greens mowers and one time a year on tee and fairway mowers)

5. Spin and relief grind reels

6. Reassemble reel and bedknife

7. Set height of cut/reel to bedknife adjustment

Spin-grinding is used because it forms a near perfect cylinder.  The relief grind is done after the spin-grinding is complete.  The relief grind is a grind along the back side of the reel, producing a very thin landing area between reel and bedknife.  This allows the reel/bedknife adjustment to be at near zero clearance (the gap is .001 to .002 of an inch).  The relief also allows the reel unit to operate with a less horsepower to drive the reels.  The reliefs grinds final benefit is that it allows us to use a compound to true up the surface of the bedknife (backlapping), thus achieving a longer life of sharpness.  The compound is added to the reels with a paint brush.  The reels are then ran backwards towards the bedknife.  The compound trues up the face of the knife.  During the season, the mowers are set after every use.  Setting the mower requires checking the height of cut and the reel to bedknife adjustment.  We use paper to make sure the reel is cutting clean during this process.  We typically regrind all units in July because once the reel and bedknife get so much wear, backlapping will not resharpen the surfaces.  Between the two seasonal grinds, we backlap the reels on a weekly basis. 

I hope that all of you have had a chance to play golf during the few days that have been nice.  I hope we have more golfing weather, to break the cabin fever. 

Thanks,

Shannon

 

So, What do you guys do in the winter?

Everyone that works in the golf course management industry has been asked the question, What do you guys do in the winter?  If I had a dollar for everytime I have been asked this question, I would not have to work anymore.  I think it is important for the golfer to understand that the golfing season does not begin with the onset of Spring, but with the beginning of winter.  The winter months are when we are doing all the ground work to make the next golfing season a success.  I thought that I would share with you what is done during this critical time of the year, and dispell the myth that there is a long vacation for my staff and I during the winter months.

In October and November, we get the course ready to put to bed for the winter.  This includes cleaning up all leaf debris, and applying the last of the fungicide/fertilizer applications to the greens.  After Thanksgiving, we then go to work inside.  The following is a list of the activites that we will accomplish over the next two and a half months:

1. Servicing the golf cart fleet (60 total): This includes changing oil, filters, fueling, greasing the clutch, airing up or replacing tires, replacing sandholders, scorecard holders, roof drains, and fixing anything major such as the clutch and rear end

2. Winterizing the irrigation system

3. Winterizing the course restrooms

4. Refinishing and Painting: Tees, Ballwashers, Cups, Flags, Benches, Trashcan enclosures, Birdhouses

5. Servicing all machinery: Check antifreeze, Change oil/filters, Hydraulic oil/filters, Grease all fittings (some mowers have 60 fittings to grease), Number of units to service: Mowers (14 total), Sprayer, Tractors (4 total), Maintenance golf carts (7 total), Topdresser

6. Overhauling any of these machines that have major problems (engine or hydraulic) from the previous seasons use

7. Grinding all reels/new bedknives: (32 total)

8. Ordering and planning all pesticide/fertilizer/Plant growth regulator applications for the new year

9. Developing the maintenance budget (operating and capital expenditures)

This is the typical list of items we are in charge of during the winter months.  The items that are completed in these months, insures that the next golfing season is a success for both you the golfer and the maintenance staff at COGC.  The next post will cover grinding of the reel mowers and how critical it is for turfgrass health.

Shannon

Update: Why the Course is Closed?

The snow has melted, but there is still no golf?  This is the question that I am sure that all of you have asked yourself, so I am going to answer the why.  Though the snow has melted, the playing surfaces have only thawed to about 2 to 3 inches.  There are other golf courses in the area that are open, and I want to explain why?  Hickory Ridge and Franklin County have greens that probably are thawed.  Hickory Ridge has 18 greens and Franklin County has 9 greens that are comprised of predominately sand particles in the rootzone.  Sand rootzones tend to drain water and thaw more quickly than the modified push up or soil greens that we have at Crab Orchard.  Our greens have a fair amount of silt and clay.  These soil constituents help the profile hold more water than a rootzone made of 100% sand.  If we remember, we had a large amount of rain in December, and the greens froze due to sub normal temperatures after this rain event.  The water from these previous rains, plus the water from the melting snow, have made the greens very wet.  Earlier, I stated that our greens have thawed about 3 inches.  Under the thawed layer, the surface is still frozen, and there is no place for the extra water from the thaw to go.  The extra water is making each and every step on the greens bring significant amounts of water to the surface.  This is especially true on Green #5.  This green has no drainage and an adjacent underground drainage line that has collapsed.  This situation is allowing the green to be so saturated that the cup is completely full of water.  This situation is why when the course opens, there is a possibility that the course will be limited to nine holes.  So, you can imagine the frozen layer being like a concrete surface and the thawed layer being like a wet piece of bread.  The traffic from footsteps on the greens would be compacting the thawed layer and shearing the root length of the bentgrass.  It is important to remember that as a golfer walks across a green, the amount he weighs is distributed in # per square inch of his shoe size.  I weigh 226#, so that is 226 # per square inch of each of my foot steps.

This is why we as Superintendents, often have to make play calls that are beneficial for the turf, but not for the membership.  I have posted a link below that I feel will explain in detail by a USGA agronomist, why winter play is of a critical nature when talking about the health of the turf in the following growing season.

By Adam Moeller, Agronomist
December 16, 2008Many golfers will argue that winter play has virtually no impact on putting green health and that greens should be available for use throughout the year. This is an argument that superintendents and course officials often face this time of year as the pressure builds to keep the greens open. Putting green damage from traffic stress may occur when frost is present, and often results in tee time delays in the autumn/spring. Traffic on frozen greens has less potential for significant permanent damage (i.e. compaction, severe foot rutting), but it is important to remember that turf thinning is common because recovery at this time of year is unlikely, so damage is cumulative until growth resumes in the spring. If frozen greens thaw during the day, however, golfer traffic may cause shearing of the upper profile (the thawed layer) from the still frozen soil below, which could severely compromise turf health and future playability. As such, closing the greens on days when thawing is possible is recommended. Unfortunately, the moderate temperatures needed for thawing frozen greens are enticing for winter play by golfers, which obviously compounds the pressure to keep the greens open. This leaves us at a crossroad. Do what's best for the turf or what's best for the golfers? The answer is undeniably do what is best for the turf!

If winter play is a controversial topic at your facility I urge you to ask the following question. What is the purpose of winter play? I doubt golfers want to compromise turf health or future playability. Instead, winter play allows golfers to work on their swing, get outdoors, and stay active and exercise. It is nearly impossible for the maintenance staff to prepare the course, much less the greens, to a high quality level with smooth, consistent surfaces during the winter months, which most golfers (hopefully) understand. That being said, it is unlikely that golfers are trying to shoot their low round of the year or fine tune their putting stroke. In the Northeast, scores are not posted for handicap purposes in the winter. Therefore, well planned temporary greens can accommodate equal playability for golfers while providing them all of the previously mentioned benefits. More importantly, temporary greens virtually eliminate the potential for traffic stress on the putting greens, so eliminating winter traffic on greens leaves them in better shape for the prime season when conditions count most.

The argument for closing the greens during the winter months is the same for every course in the Northeast. The decision is ultimately up to superintendent and course officials. Nonetheless, ask yourself the following question. What is the purpose of winter play at our course and can we accommodate those golfers without compromising putting green health and future playability with temporary greens? My hope is the answer is YES!

Northeast Region Green Section- Dave Oatis, Director doatis@usga.org ; Adam Moeller, Agronomist amoeller@usga.org ; Jim Skorulski, Senior Agronomist jskorulski@usga.org .

Thanks and I hope you have a better understanding of why we can't allow play during certain times of the winter, and how it will affect the turf quality in the Spring of the year!  Again, if there are any questions, put a comment in the comment box below.

Shannon

Remodeling the Bluebird and Purple Martin houses

In the wake of the storm on May 8th of 2009, we lost several bluebird and martin houses on the course.  With Spring approaching, we have begun to rebuild these homes to insure we have a population of these valuable birds on the course.

The bluebird houses were completely destroyed, so we have rebuilt 13 houses for the birds to have shelter for reproducing.  The Eastern Bluebird's population declined from about 1800-1980.  The reason for the population decline of this songbird was due to unsuitable nesting sites for the birds to reproduce.  The decline in nesting sites was due to urbanization and competition for the remaining nesting sites with sparrows and starlings.  The houses that we and others build are helping this species make a comeback.  The houses will be placed in wide open areas along wood lines and natural areas.  These locations will allow the birds to be able to hunt insects and spiders for food.  We will also feed the birds mill worms to lessen the burden of hunting, thus increasing the clutches ability to survive and reproduce.  Once the bluebirds find the new houses here at the course, they will produce two clutches of juveniles.  I hope that we are able to keep a sound record on the number of juveniles we are able to harvest.  Their nest is built by the female and is made primarily of twigs and pine needles.  The females lay their eggs (usually 3 to 7) from early April to mid August.  The female incubates the eggs, and it usually takes about 14 days after they are laid before they hatch.  This process is of course temperature dependent. 

The Purple Martin houses have been fixed, but need new poles installed to elevate the houses to their requirement of 12 feet.  Purple Martins are the largest member of the swallow family.  These birds spend the non-breeding season in Brazil and then migrate to North America to reproduce.  The scouts typically arrive around mid-March to scope out a place to nest.  Our houses are located around the pond at #10.  This location provides a wide open area, close to water, and is near no trees that are taller than the Martin houses.  This is what you are looking for if you want to put a Martin house on your property.  The pond and overflow ditch are ideal areas for insects to culminate.  This is the food source for the Martins.  These birds are a natural way of controlling mosquitoes.  I have yet to be bit by a mosquito while at work.  Like the bluebird, Martins are in competition with sparrows and starlings.  I have witnessed some really good bird fights between these three species.  Like the bluebird, Purple Martins are also monogamous.  The male and female both build the nest and the female will lay 2 to 7 eggs.  The female then incubates the eggs and the juveniles will hatch about 15 days after they are laid.  The fledgling stage of these birds is around 30 days.  After this stage, the young birds still depend on their parents for food for an additional two weeks.

I hope you enjoyed the post and if you have any questions on how to build or where to put one of these houses on your own property, feel free to contact me.

Shannon

The first snow has fallen!

The first snow of the year has fallen! The total precipitation for this event was small, but with the temperatures being so low, I do not think it will be leaving any time soon.

I thought that with this event, I would talk about how the turf prepares itself for winter and why some winter weather actually has positive effects on the dormant turfgrass environment. During the fall, the warm and cool season grasses go through a process called hardening.  Hardening allows the turf plant to become adjusted to the cold temperatures of winter.  This process is brought on in the fall when a certain critical temperature is reached.  This critical temperature is different for the different turf types on the course.  The zoysia and bermuda grasses start to go through hardening in September, as a response to the change in temperature and photoperiod.  The bentgrass on the other hand will start to harden itself by the same factors, but usually during the late part of October.  As the plant starts to harden off for winter, it increases its sugar content, alters its cell membrane, and experiences a change in gene expression.  This is why the bentgrass on the putting surfaces will lack uniformity in color and the warm season grasses turn straw color.  Snow cover insulates the turfgrass plants from the damaging effects of low temperature and dry north winds, by keeping the the soil surface several degrees higher than the air temperature.  Snow allows oxygen to pass through and reach the plants, thus letting the turf still respire in its state of dormancy.  As the snow melts and the ground thaws, the water will give the soil profile added moisture to combat the winter dessication that occurs from the north winds.

I hope you all see that the natural mechanisms of the turfgrass plant and snow provide mother natures way of insulating and protecting the turf until spring arrives.

Shannon