Venting....just a little.

I'd call it a perfect storm, primed for massive failure!  We've just weathered an unbelievable eight day stretch of rainy weather.  You know by now we were unable to prepare putting surfaces for the on coming stress of summer when aerification was cancelled due to excessively high winds, very dry air and temperatures in the mid 90's.  Toss in the fact that our golf course has been subjected to the abuse that comes with five golf outings in seven days suffice it to say our putting greens are a little stressed at the moment.  With all this rain, we would normally cancel most mowing operations until playing surfaces were dry enough to support people and equipment to reduce the stress on turfgrass plants, but not this time around.  And if that wasn't enough, one very cold and wet spring greatly compromised root development and placed us behind the eight ball heading into summer. 

Turfgrass 101 teaches you that turf roots need oxygen to develop and grow. Persistent wet periods has filled soil pore space with water challenging root development in hugely negative fashion.  Plant roots when submerged in water will die back to crown.  Shortened root systems are of little value in keeping the plant alive when the temperature's soar into the 90's and summer like weather returns.

To mitigate the soils loss of oxygen we will be "venting" our greens with solid bayonet tines as early as next week.  These tines are slightly more aggressive than the "needle tines" I've used in the past.  Tine breakage and cost favor bayonet tines over needle tines.  The holes are small enough to not effect ball roll and the process will not require course closure.  Some lifting and tearing of turf is anticipated however greens will be rolled immediately after venting to insure you are getting a smooth putt.  We will be completing as many holes per day as play permits and will take as many days as required to complete the project.  Once done depending on weather conditions and how much stress the greens are under we may decided to "vent"on a monthly basis.  (As no soil core is removed this type of aerification does not reduce organic matter in the soil profile and is not a substitute for hollow tine cultivation.)

Boink

An Empty Parking Lot.

Shop windows covered up.

Cars parked in the woods.

It can only mean one thing!

Equipment Demo Days.

With our shop only 272 yards from the tee we've had windows shattered by the flat bellies that can hit the ball a country mile.

Better Late than Never?

As I was mowing the eighth green this morning I noticed not one but two flocks of geese flying north! It's the fourteenth of June for Pete's sake!

Speaking of better late than never, tomorrow June 15th, 2011 will be the latest arrival of a crew member bringing my crew size to full capacity! Then one day later I loose one for sixteen days as he works for Dick Clark Productions staging paint ball tournaments around the country. We continue to limp by.

Speaking of timing, we applied Japanese Beetle controls to all fairways, roughs, tees and green banks Monday and Tuesday of this week. This is the second most expensive pesticide application we make each season. Second only to our snow mold application.  The timing of this application is made now, not to control this years adults, but to control the grubs that will come as a result of the egg laid by this years hatch.  Control of next seasons grubs is necessary to mitigate turf damage caused by skunks, opossums, raccoons digging for a tasty meal.

 

.268!!!

"Point two-six-eight!" (.268")  That was the value of evapotranspiration (ET) in moisture lost Wednesday June 1st, 2011.  That is the highest value I can remember to have ever been recorded by our on course weather station.  We lost better than a quarter of an inch of moisture.  I have seen higher recorded values reported by the UW Ag station in Hancock Wisconsin but not here on the course.  The winds were a steady 15 MPH with gusts over 30 MPH.
And what a week it was with air temperatures topping 90 degrees today and I remind you it was one week ago that we had frost the Friday the start of Memorial Day Weekend.  No wonder nothing wants to grow.

Speaking of "not growing."  The cold wet spring has greatly impacted recovery on our winter damaged putting green surfaces.  Those damaged areas have been interseeded for the second time on June 2nd.  While progress isn't as quick as I would like I would like to point out progress is being made.

"Bullet Holes" filled with bentgrass waiting to "pop!"

Even the worse looking sod is showing signs of recovery.



Everything starts with one!  One small leaf blade emerging off the tip of the screw driver found in the barest of areas.

 Damaged fairway sections have been double seeded for the second time this year as well.  We'll keep pounding the seed and fertilizer every two weeks until we declare recovery is complete.

Remember Greens Aerification starts Monday June 6th.  Looks like the weather is cooperating albeit a little on the warm side.  Severely damaged greens will not be aerified as I know they would not hold up to the mechanical activity losing large sections of mat in the process.  _Mk.

Spooky Reminders

Several pieces of debris from last Sunday's tornado were found scattered about the course.  Splinters of wood had to be removed from greens before mowing.  The twisters path was a mere 6.3 miles south of the course.  Thankfully the golf course was spared 60-70 mph winds this time around.

Speaking of reminders, greens will be aerified on Monday June 5th and Tuesday June 6th weather permitting.  Wednesday June 8th will serve as a rain date.  Although we plan on keeping nine holes open for play each day, you might consider using the several reciprocal courses available to you.  _Mk

Saving $$$$$

This year we've turned to "contour mowing" of fairways to save on fuel costs.  (Not my favorite pattern.  See blog background photo.)  Your greens and grounds staff talked me out the "shadow cut"  (half light/half dark) do to the stress it places on approaches and fairway starts.  (Too much wheel damage caused when turning.)  Also, there was too much travel time spent traveling long distances just to pick up a five foot section here and there when completing a fairway section.

In watching your dues dollar, we are saving three hours per week in fuel costs.  While not a great sum, a hundred dollars here and a hundred dollars there adds up over time.

And speaking of saving budget dollars, we've held rough mowing to once per week during this golf season.   (Of course our cold spring temperatures have depressed turfgrass growth year to date.) We've set out intent on accomplishing this feat since 2007 but have buckled under golfers complaint of slow play, lost balls and difficulty hitting from this turf condition.  Savings here adds up into the thousands.  We'll see how long this lasts.

Finally, speaking of savings, your equipment manager Tim Johnson decided against replacing an air cushioned seat compressor, the size of two "D" cell batteries costing over $1,000 with that of a manual air induction air valve system that we'll have to monitor manually.   Trust me, if you didn't have back troubles before, come out and try mowing for eight hours seated on this unforgiving brick and tell me if you think that this seat wasn't a good idea in the first place. (If turf equipment manufacturers cannot sell their new products, they make up margins through selling parts to captive markets of loyal owners needing those parts to keep their aging turfgrass fleet alive.)  With fuel prices over $4/ gallon, we will be saving the "Green Section budget 14.6 hours per week in mowing cost. _Mk

Old New's

By now you have noticed that fairway aerification has been completed.  Just for the record, we managed to knock off 20 Acres of fairway turf in just two days.  We barrowed two GA-60's from Lake Arrowhead that allowed us to pull off this feat.  In the past with fewer machines we would have been luck to do this work in four days.  I swear if I had one or two more dragmats, workman to pull them and operators to drive them AND if it wasn't Friday, I believe I could have knocked off the 20 acres in one day. The only downfall was the soggy seventeenth fairway and rainfall that prevented complete core cleanup there.  This fairway needs to be rebuilt at a considerable capital cost.

Speaking of drainage, I called in a contractor to "Hydroblast" the drainage line that connects the drainage from little lake on #11.  What we found was a break in the drain tile on #16.  This line was "cut" in 1994 during the irrigation system istallation!  It took several rainy months for the problem to literally surface.  I'll write more about this when the area finally dries up and allows us to move in to correct and repair the drain line.

I spent Monday and Tuesday in Las Vegas, Nevada assisting the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America (GCSAA) planning the 2012 Golf Industry Show by serving on the Conference Logistics Committee.  I know, I know, it was a dirty thankless job, but someone had to do it.  BTW, didn't gamble so I didn't lose any money either, but did drop significant money on a fancy night out on the town.  Took in the show "The Blue Man Group" which was awesome.  I'll never be able to look at white PVC irrigation pipe the same way again with out the urge to "beat on it" with a stick! _Mk