Waiting for the leaves to fall.

An opportunity to add sprinkler heads to a pair of tee's at the Tri City was the order of the day.  Sprinkler heads were salvaged from a course undergoing renovation and the pipe and fittings were in inventory.

The back half of this tee was always dry and especially noticeable during this years drought.  The weather men in Wausau mentioned they had 2.4 inches of rain last month and give or take 1.2" below normal.  At Bull's Eye some 45 miles to the south as the crow flies received a paltry 1.5" of precipitation for the month.

And as long as we had the rented trencher in our hands we took this opportunity to do some badly needed "root pruning."  Surface feeder roots of trees began invading tee box surfaces robbing the turf of moisture and nutrient.  Similar work is badly needed along fairways and is the principle reason a root pruning machine remains on my top ten "needs" list.

Severed roots.  Trees and turf make uncomfortable bedfellows.

Notice how dry the soil is.

After the trench has been backfilled and seeded.  There will be some settling of the soil that will be addressed sometime down the road.

_Mk

Back in Play

It's been since June and the first day of fall is upon us that we finally was able to install and activate the decorative fountain in #8 pond.  When we first installed it in early June (it was not needed due to all the rains we received) the electrical connection on the power wire lead needed to be replaced.  Once this repair was completed by us in house, the fountain failed to work when powered on.  It was sent to the factory for inspection and repairs were it was determined the "upper unit" failed but the motor was in good working order.  We are fortunate that repair parts were available as this unit is an antique and no longer made.

Gunch Removal Progress update:

You will notice we cleaned the entire woods line between #14 and #17 fairways.  Once  we got started it just didn't look right any place we tried to terminate.  It is our plans to clean up the area left of #16 ladies tee and the overgrown mess of pines to the east of that same tee box.  These projects have been on my to do list too long.

Taking advantage of the warm weather and bonus seed available for our use, we inter-seeded weak (due to shade and tree root competition) bunker banks.  These were aerified first to remediate compacted soils caused by golf cart and maintenance equipment.  Please consider all roped off areas as "Ground Under Repair" and take a free drop at the closest point of relief.

Where Credits Due

On one of the only cool day of the past week your grounds crew set out to improve the air circulation around the struggling fourteenth green by removing the "gunch" and liming up low hanging branches as far as we could reach. The guys, curious to the nature of the word "gunch," tried looking the word up in the dictionary and could not find it but did find it listed as a term used in golf.

 It appears to be working.  The air was always still and hot as a sauna.  The alternative would have meant installing expensive fans that aren't cheap to run.  (BTW, we intend to remove several trees later this fall after the course is closed in order to improve the levels of light reaching the ground.)

To stay out of the hot sun a couple of your grounds crew replaced the brick pads near the main entrance of the club house.  The side pictured below was tricky to install as the sidewalks and curbing rose or fell in three different directions.

I think it looks nice and does dress the area up and it is safer by far to walk on.

Recently I was asked what the big green X's stood for marking several trees around the course.  Want the answer?  Look to the heavens.

The tree is dead.  It is much easier to locate and remove the dead from the stand after the leaves have fallen from the living. _Mk

Pythium Spp.

The Stubborn High Pressure system stalled in the Midwest has pumped tropical air and heat (the dampest/warmest air of the summer,) into our area the past several days has created an environment perfect for Pythium development.  This disease is capable of killing turf in a matter of hours.  Spreads like wildfire under foot, mowers and on golf cart wheels.  This disease develops rapidly when dew points are in the upper 60's and 70's like we've experienced here lately.  Some grasses are more susceptible than others.  The disease has the appearance of a bread mold and for that reason it sometimes goes by the name "Cottony Blight." The disease pictured above came from the Fescue seed evaluation plots that are constantly damp due to frequent irrigation needed to germinate seedlings for establishment.  The perfect scenario for this disease development.  I haven't detected Pythium on the course yet, but I'm certain it is lurking beneath in the turfs canopy on our lower holes in shaded areas that stay moist later into the day.  As a side note; I last detected this disease on your course in 1986, my first year here as your new Golf Course Superintendent.  _Mk

Old Habits Never Die

 

 

"Old Habits Never Die," such as the marking of dead and or dying trees on the golf course. The Black/Red Oaks pictured above were killed by the persistent and opportunistic Oak Wilt Fungus.  The fungus multiplies in the vascular bundles of the trees clogging the arteries preventing the uptake of water and nutrients. White Oaks "tolerate" fungal attack barely.  Wood County is classified as a hot spot for this disease.  The fungus is spread by the wind and invades the trees through open wounds caused by storm damage or saw cuts at the wrong time of the year. (April through October.) The fungus can be moved into new areas in firewood.  It is recommended that firewood piles be covered using plastic tarps to minimize the fungal spread by wind.

 

The marking of trees to be removed by us in the "off season" has become habitual to us.  "The Dead Tree Rolls" tally as of 8/16/2013 is:  (Who needs Imprelis?)

 

Bull's Eye

• 39 Oaks
• 10 Pine

Tri City

• 16 Oaks
• 15 Pine

Doing the math, that makes 55 Oaks and 25 Pines that need to be removed after the leaves finish falling and the grass stops growing this fall.  Tree removal is done in house by us usually beginning in November until the time snow becomes too deep to move about the course. _Mk

 



Too Wet, Too Dry

The recent below normal weather pattern we've been experiencing had me thinking.  When was the last time I turned off the irrigation system?  It's been awhile. 

With the cool weather the course has been holding together nicely. We've taken advantage of the weather to complete some badly needed aerification and inter-seeding projects, something you typically would not dare to do in early August.  Our cool season grasses are enjoying it and so am I.  This is something we couldn't say last year. 

Back in June the farmers were concerned about getting their crops in the field yet today my home lawn is getting a little bit crispy and even with watering only needs to be cut every other week.  On the course I could see that the pond is a full six inches lower than full.  Rocks normally in the water are now standing on a dry shoreline.

My irrigation records told the story.  July 9th was the last time we've received rainfall greater than a quarter of an inch.  Any rains we've seen since then that approach a quarter of an inch came in short 5 minute bursts that runoff the property before benefiting us or come at us sideways as they did the night of the wind that felled the oak tree on 16 green.  I'm not complaining but we could use a good soaker.

Speaking of #8 pond.  The fountain is broken and in the shop for repairs.  I'm hoping it is returned to us shortly as the weeds continue to bloom in the stagnant water.

Dodged Bullet: No more!

I was beginning to wonder if this would be the year we escaped storm damage.  The high winds that tore through the area at Midnight Wednesday put and end to that thought.  Our on course weather station recorded a wind speed of 36 MPH and a paltry .22" of an inch of rain.  A quick tour of the course suggested light damage overall.  Tops of few trees missing, a limb here a stick there.  I've witnessed worse and reminded myself of the wind storm of 2001 when we lost over three hundred tree. Some of that damage you can still see today if you know were to look.

Then I turned the dogleg on #16 and found myself muttering "Oh Crap."  The largest black oak on the course was now laying directly on the green.  This didn't really surprise me as this tree had been in decline and hollow for as long as I've been here.  With the passing of nearly every strong storm I could count on finding at least one major limb waiting to be cut up.  Here's a few photo's.

 

 

Damage to the putting surface is being repaired by seeding, topdressing and the larger scarred sections will be "plugged" with sod taken from our nursery.  This will be an ongoing process.

 

 

 

WHAT A DIFFERENCE A YEAR MAKES!

 

 I looked at my soil temperatures on August 2, 2013 around 2 PM and found them to be 68 and 69 degrees at 2 and 4 inch depths.  Last year during the drought, they were over 85 degrees.  The irrigation water we pull from the river was over 90 degrees last year, it's cool to the touch coming from the wash rack hoses this year.  I'm enjoying the fall like summer we've seen to date and the turf is much happier too.  _Mk