Category — Golf Course Notes

H T Page, Maintenance Director

Aerification is finally finished.  The greens recovered nicely and are putting true again.  We have verticut and topdressed the greens once and plan to add an extra cutting and topdressing this year.  This will help keep the putting surface more consistent and rolling true.  We dare not push them too far when the weather warms in July and August.  Last year was an excellent turf grass growing year.  We missed the extended periods of ninety plus degree weather that is detrimental to the health of the golf course grasses.  The temperatures also remained bearable after wet weather.  Very hot weather after rain typically kills more turf than droughts.

Wet weather reduces speed by softening the greens and encouraging growth.  Have you noticed how the grass greens up after it rains?  The pollutants in the air are washed to the surface and some of the pollutants are fertilizer-like compounds.  Some nitrogen is also moved to the soil from the air above.

Please continue to observe and obey the posted cart rules.  Several areas have new sod installed and carts may damage these areas.  We hope you enjoy the course this spring before the hot weather arrives.  Some of the best playing conditions during the year are right now.

By: H T Page, Maintenance Director

I do not need to tell you about this Winter.  Everyone knows it snowed.  Then it snowed some more.  Last month I discussed the tree damage on the course.  Well, that damage is practically invisible now thanks to the hard working maintenance staff.  As soon as the snow melted on any area, the crew was right there cleaning up the mess by cutting, chipping, hauling the large pieces away and raking up the small debris.  The course was covered with small sticks in areas where no major tree damage occurred. Thanks to them the non-snow covered areas were very playable on opening day.

We also removed more trees on holes two and eleven to improve playability.  I have not discussed this before but even the Winter brings disease problems to the turf.  A cool weather disease call pink snow mold can be detrimental to non-treated turf.  We normally spray the greens during mid winter but this year proved to be a challenge.  Read played his cards right and sprayed the greens during a brief no-snow day during January.   The photo is of an untreated area of bent grass turf that was severely damaged.  This could have been our greens if fungicides were not applied especially during the extremely long period of snow cover.

A sample untreated area of bent grass turf that was damaged by pink snow mold.

By: H T Page, Maintenance Director

I write this in February. Everything is white.   Everything!  At least the roads are relatively clear and we should all have electricity throughout the night, maybe.   The maintenance staff is just itching to get out onto the course and do some work that doesn’t involve a snow shovel or chain saw to clean up ice damaged trees.    I’m sure you are anxious to play a round of golf or two.  We have started several projects this winter but the weather has not cooperated to allow us to complete them.  According to meteorologist Robin Reed, November, December, and January were the wettest three months on record, but we could have told him that.

So far:

75 trees have been removed to improve the course playability and turf conditions.   Several more are on the list.

34 dead trees were removed.

18 trees on the course were lost to snow and ice and over 50 along The Waterfront roadsides.

We did extensive under-brushing on holes 11, 12, 13, and 15 in the dogleg.

The winter freeze thaw cycle naturally loosens the soil and relieves compaction but also causes the turf to be more susceptible to damage from play.  The greens are affected by this cycle more so than other areas.  They are constructed of sand and therefore freeze more quickly.  The surface also thaws more quickly and becomes soft and spongy.  This condition improves as the surface becomes more compacted over time.  Each time the green freezes, the cycle starts all over again.  The greens will be back to normal as the weather warms and grass growth begins.

By: H T Page, Maintenance Director

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas.  The maintenance staff wishes to thank everyone for participating in the employee gift program.  Your gifts are greatly appreciated.

We are keeping busy as usual with services and repair work on the maintenance equipment and golf course accessories.  Each piece of equipment is gone over with a  fine-tooth comb and any problems are repaired.  The cutting units are most critical and must be totally serviced and sharpened each year to ensure proper cutting on the course during the growing season.  Especially greens units which cut at just over 1/8th of an inch.  The slightest imperfection will cause mowing problems later in the season.  Hydraulic hoses are thoroughly checked for wear and damage but each year several still manage to break.

Please obey the cart rules especially during the winter.  Also, repairing ball marks and replacing divots is very important.  The grass is not growing and will not heal until spring.

By: H T Page, Maintenance Director

We are well into our fall poa annua control program on the course. The once lush, green fairways are becoming speckled with poa damage. These areas appear as stunted patches that become discolored then eventually die, if we are lucky. Some of the poa survives the treatments, especially the perennial types. The success of the treatments depends on several variables. Cold and wet weather improves the effectiveness of the applied products. That’s why we must be very careful in low shaded areas with our applications. The product rates are reduced or not applied to these areas. We do not want to harm the desirable turf too severely.

The control product also has some growth regulation properties on the poa. Notice there are much less seed head problems on the course as compared to other courses. We know that total poa eradication is impossible at this time. We just hope to slow down the invasion. Several new promising control products are in the experimental stages now. Maybe, in a couple of years they will be available for use on the course.