The greens aeration has not been going as smoothly as I had hoped. Wouldn't you know it, during one of the driest summers on record, the day before I aerify the greens we almost 2" of rain, with more forecast for the first half of the week. Thankfully the weather men got it wrong again, but that is little comfort considering the problems we have been encountering.
There have been two main problems with the aeration thus far. First, the rain on Sunday soaked my topdressing pile and added just enough moisture to the greens to make it very difficult to clean up the cores following the aeration. Thankfully the rain that was forecast for Monday and Tuesday never arrived and we were able to get the holes punched, the cores cleaned up, and the greens top dressed. Unfortunately it has been a challenge to get the holes filled as the sand is very difficult to move across the surface and into the holes unless it is perfectly dry. Eventually we will get the holes filled in and before long they will be smooth and firm and ready for fall golf.
The second issue that we have faced is the equipment that we rely on to complete the process. Last week we took the aerifier out to make sure it was running properly. It was not. In fact it blew a gear and was leaking oil. After some not so quick repairs we had the machine running again, but the spacing cable was not working. We examined the situation and realized that an adjustment we had made last winter rendered the spacing cable useless and we would have to adjust the hole spacing with the foot pedal. Never again. Most of the greens turned out fairly well, but after a routine breakdown, the machine did not operate as smoothly. The last few greens that were aerified suffered some damage due to improper hole spacing. Instead of creating nice round holes, the machine tore the turf leaving oblong holes that are very difficult to fill. The worst greens are 3, 8 and the practice green. It will take some extra attention and a lot of TLC, but I am confident that in time we will not be able to tell the difference.
The holes that were top dressed on Monday (1, 2, 6, 9) received a heavy layer of damp sand that was very slow to dry. The forecast for that night was for scattered showers which forced me to brush the greens a bit too early. The sand at the surface seemed dry enough to work, but the soil was moist enough to prevent the topdressing from pouring into the holes. The sand bridged across the holes and now, it will be very difficult to get them filled. We will continue working on this until we are confident that the sand has filled the holes and not just covered them.
The remaining holes have been filling nicely, but it is very difficult to get the sand in between the holes to move which makes the rest of the process very challenging. We will continue to brush and verticut the greens until the holes are filled, which works best with bright sun and dry winds. Thankfully they should arrive later in the week. I will be applying a variety of fertilizers tomorrow that will speed up the recovery, and I hope to have the greens mowed sometime over the weekend. If all goes well, and I have no reason to believe it will, the greens should make significant progress over the next week to ten days and be ready for the Labor Day weekend.
I apologize for the inconvenience, but I assure you that no one at Suffield C.C. is more frustrated with this process right now than I am, and I promise that we will do everything in our power to get the greens back in pristine condition as soon as possible.
Showing posts with label course conditions. Show all posts
Showing posts with label course conditions. Show all posts
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Sunday, July 11, 2010
Riding the Heat Wave
The heat wave of the last ten days has been challenging to say the least. It has revealed the strengths and shortcomings of our cultural programs and the limitations imposed by the heavy soils found throughout the property.
The prolonged drought that provided the firm, fast conditions we have been enjoying all season has limited our ability to irrigate the fairways and rough, and much of the course is starting to burn out. The heavy soil that is found throughout the property is very difficult to re-wet once it dries out. Over the past few weeks I have been very conservative with my irrigation applications in an effort to provide firm conditions and operate in an environmentally responsible manner. Had I known we would be facing an extended stretch of 90+ degree weather I surely would have been more liberal with the water. There are a variety of issues facing the golf course that I thought I would share so that you would understand why the course looks and plays the way it does. It will also help you understand just how difficult it is to cope with these extreme conditions.
The first thing you see as you enter the club is the back tee on the second hole. The new tees on 1 and 2 were built using soil dug out of the pond on the first hole, and were capped with a layer of sand. The irrigation coverage on these tees is less than ideal with a variety of heads providing water to make sure the tee surface is covered. Under normal conditions these tees perform rather well and require slightly more attention than the original tees on the rest of the course. On Monday July 5th I was touring the course providing irrigation to areas that were showing signs of stress. When I left the course late in the afternoon these tees were in good shape. When I came in on Tuesday morning half of the back tee was black, and the turf had gone dormant. Once the extreme heat passes we will be able to determine the extent of the damage and develop a recovery plan that will include aeration, fertilizer, and a lot of TLC with a hose. I expect much of the turf to recover this fall and the rest will be top-dressed and seeded
The fairways are extremely difficult to manage during periods of extended heat and drought. The heavy soils and thick thatch layer make the turf very prone to Summer Patch, a fungus that attacks the roots of certain grass species. Chemical control of this fungus is extremely expensive so we try to manage the disease with proper fertility, effective irrigation, and cultural practices. The weakest link of this strategy is our lack of a fairway aerifier. Our fairways should be aerified 2-3 times each year based on the nature of our soils and turf species, but we are only able to complete the process once since we have to hire a contractor each year. We should see some recovery once we get some natural precipitation and the extreme heat passes.
The greens are holding up very nicely due to the management programs we have employed over the past few years. The bentgrass is thriving in the heat and has a noticeable competitive advantage over the weaker Poa annua. This is due in large part to the growth regulator we have been using. Under normal conditions the Poa annua would be regulated more than the bentgrass that dominates our putting surfaces. The addition of the extreme heat and humidity has the weaker grass on the verge of collapse while the more reliable bentgrass is performing beautifully. We will be scaling back our management programs to allow the Poa annua to survive the next few weeks until the weather allows us to resume our efforts to eradicate the weaker grass in favor of the more resilient creeping bentgrass.
Looking forward the most pressing issue is the lack of natural precipitation. As of Saturday Clay Creek no longer flows into Muddy Brook. If we do not receive natural precipitation to recharge the groundwater reserve that supplies the brook we will be forced to stop watering much of the golf course. I expect to stop watering rough this week, followed by certain areas of the fairways, and then tees. This would leave landing areas in fairways and greens as the only areas receiving irrigation. The key thing to remember as the course starts to brown out is that most of the grass is going dormant. The weaker grasses will die leaving only the more resilient turf grasses to thrive in the fall when the mild weather returns. This actually helps us in our efforts to convert our greens and fairways to creeping bentgrass which will allow us to reduce our reliance on chemicals to control insects and diseases and reduce the amount of water we must apply in the form of irrigation. The best news is that the course is playing very well, if you like firm fairways and greens, and it is much easier to play out of the rough.
We will keep you informed as we are forced to modify our management programs throughout the rest of the season. Hopefully we will get some rain and the temperatures will remain in the 80’s for a while so we can recover from the extreme weather of last two weeks. If you have any questions or concerns about the golf course please feel free to reach out to the members of the Grounds Committee and we will address them at our next meeting.
The prolonged drought that provided the firm, fast conditions we have been enjoying all season has limited our ability to irrigate the fairways and rough, and much of the course is starting to burn out. The heavy soil that is found throughout the property is very difficult to re-wet once it dries out. Over the past few weeks I have been very conservative with my irrigation applications in an effort to provide firm conditions and operate in an environmentally responsible manner. Had I known we would be facing an extended stretch of 90+ degree weather I surely would have been more liberal with the water. There are a variety of issues facing the golf course that I thought I would share so that you would understand why the course looks and plays the way it does. It will also help you understand just how difficult it is to cope with these extreme conditions.
The first thing you see as you enter the club is the back tee on the second hole. The new tees on 1 and 2 were built using soil dug out of the pond on the first hole, and were capped with a layer of sand. The irrigation coverage on these tees is less than ideal with a variety of heads providing water to make sure the tee surface is covered. Under normal conditions these tees perform rather well and require slightly more attention than the original tees on the rest of the course. On Monday July 5th I was touring the course providing irrigation to areas that were showing signs of stress. When I left the course late in the afternoon these tees were in good shape. When I came in on Tuesday morning half of the back tee was black, and the turf had gone dormant. Once the extreme heat passes we will be able to determine the extent of the damage and develop a recovery plan that will include aeration, fertilizer, and a lot of TLC with a hose. I expect much of the turf to recover this fall and the rest will be top-dressed and seeded
The fairways are extremely difficult to manage during periods of extended heat and drought. The heavy soils and thick thatch layer make the turf very prone to Summer Patch, a fungus that attacks the roots of certain grass species. Chemical control of this fungus is extremely expensive so we try to manage the disease with proper fertility, effective irrigation, and cultural practices. The weakest link of this strategy is our lack of a fairway aerifier. Our fairways should be aerified 2-3 times each year based on the nature of our soils and turf species, but we are only able to complete the process once since we have to hire a contractor each year. We should see some recovery once we get some natural precipitation and the extreme heat passes.
The greens are holding up very nicely due to the management programs we have employed over the past few years. The bentgrass is thriving in the heat and has a noticeable competitive advantage over the weaker Poa annua. This is due in large part to the growth regulator we have been using. Under normal conditions the Poa annua would be regulated more than the bentgrass that dominates our putting surfaces. The addition of the extreme heat and humidity has the weaker grass on the verge of collapse while the more reliable bentgrass is performing beautifully. We will be scaling back our management programs to allow the Poa annua to survive the next few weeks until the weather allows us to resume our efforts to eradicate the weaker grass in favor of the more resilient creeping bentgrass.
Looking forward the most pressing issue is the lack of natural precipitation. As of Saturday Clay Creek no longer flows into Muddy Brook. If we do not receive natural precipitation to recharge the groundwater reserve that supplies the brook we will be forced to stop watering much of the golf course. I expect to stop watering rough this week, followed by certain areas of the fairways, and then tees. This would leave landing areas in fairways and greens as the only areas receiving irrigation. The key thing to remember as the course starts to brown out is that most of the grass is going dormant. The weaker grasses will die leaving only the more resilient turf grasses to thrive in the fall when the mild weather returns. This actually helps us in our efforts to convert our greens and fairways to creeping bentgrass which will allow us to reduce our reliance on chemicals to control insects and diseases and reduce the amount of water we must apply in the form of irrigation. The best news is that the course is playing very well, if you like firm fairways and greens, and it is much easier to play out of the rough.
We will keep you informed as we are forced to modify our management programs throughout the rest of the season. Hopefully we will get some rain and the temperatures will remain in the 80’s for a while so we can recover from the extreme weather of last two weeks. If you have any questions or concerns about the golf course please feel free to reach out to the members of the Grounds Committee and we will address them at our next meeting.
Saturday, April 3, 2010
Full steam ahead
The warm weather this spring has the golf course in good playing condition weeks ahead of schedule. The greens have been mowed a few times and I am receiving comments that they are in the best shape in years considering it is the first week in April. The warm weather has helped dry the golf course from over 4.5” of rain that soaked the area earlier this week. There are still a number of wet areas throughout the course, but I am definitely surprised that we are able to have carts this early in the season, and so soon after such a major storm.
The greens have been mowed a few times and are firming up nicely. Over the next few weeks we will gradually lower the cutting height of the mowers, and as the turf continues to break dormancy the playability of the greens will improve with respect to smoothness and speed. This process is determined by the temperature of the soil. The important thing to remember is that soil temperature is influenced by the overnight lows as much as the daytime highs. This means that the temperature below the surface changes very slowly this time of year. I assure you that we will be watching very closely to determine when we can be more aggressive working to improve the condition of the greens. Based on what I have seen over the last few weeks along with the lessons learned over the last few years, I expect that the greens will be in excellent condition this year.
As you get out to play your first few rounds of golf, you will find remnants of some winter projects yet to be completed. The brush in the driving range and along the 5th fairway should be cleaned up next week. We have been reluctant to rent the chipper in fear that we could not tow it around the golf course without causing extensive damage. There are a number of stumps that will be ground and filled as time allows. While they are definitely unsightly, most of them are not in play and therefore are not a top priority. I hope to have them cleaned up by the end of the month.
There are detailed explanations of our winter projects in previous blog entries. I encourage you to review them, especially “If a tree falls on a golf course…” For those that would like to stay informed you can sign up as a follower. This will allow you to post your opinion at the end of each entry, as well as be notified whenever another follower does the same. Thank you for stopping by, and we hope to see you on the golf course soon.
The greens have been mowed a few times and are firming up nicely. Over the next few weeks we will gradually lower the cutting height of the mowers, and as the turf continues to break dormancy the playability of the greens will improve with respect to smoothness and speed. This process is determined by the temperature of the soil. The important thing to remember is that soil temperature is influenced by the overnight lows as much as the daytime highs. This means that the temperature below the surface changes very slowly this time of year. I assure you that we will be watching very closely to determine when we can be more aggressive working to improve the condition of the greens. Based on what I have seen over the last few weeks along with the lessons learned over the last few years, I expect that the greens will be in excellent condition this year.
As you get out to play your first few rounds of golf, you will find remnants of some winter projects yet to be completed. The brush in the driving range and along the 5th fairway should be cleaned up next week. We have been reluctant to rent the chipper in fear that we could not tow it around the golf course without causing extensive damage. There are a number of stumps that will be ground and filled as time allows. While they are definitely unsightly, most of them are not in play and therefore are not a top priority. I hope to have them cleaned up by the end of the month.
There are detailed explanations of our winter projects in previous blog entries. I encourage you to review them, especially “If a tree falls on a golf course…” For those that would like to stay informed you can sign up as a follower. This will allow you to post your opinion at the end of each entry, as well as be notified whenever another follower does the same. Thank you for stopping by, and we hope to see you on the golf course soon.
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