A New Begining

It has been a long time since updating my blog due to my real time information being posted on twitter. As we begin our green renovation tomorrow I will once again be posting regularly with pictures and information as to what is taking place during the re-grassing process.

Hopefully I am able to effectively document our little project beginning in 15 hours.

A Look At Our Operation

A couple of weeks ago we shot a video that is being done for the club's website that shows my staff in action as well as explaining our current green renovation project.

This video gives great information about our operation in addition to explaining the detailed steps involved in the renovation process of the putting green. These steps are explained and also insight is given as to why we are trying to eliminate Poa Annua from our greens. 

 The company that is doing our video production is called Oswego Creative and they do great work check them out Here

The Seed Is Down

Tuesday Afternoon we were able to get the putting green seeded after a long process of rootzone preparation. Numerous soil amendments and pre-plant fertilizers were incorporated into the rootzone mix prior to any seed going down.

The green was seeded with T-1 Bentgrass  and if all goes according to plan and the weather cooperates we should see germination in five days.

T-1 Being Seeded

First Watering Of New Seed

Breaking The Cycle

Over the years we have had many construction and or renovation projects on the golf course and the one thing we have always been short on was time.  In the past things have always been forced into a small time frame that best meets the needs for the course to be playable at all times. We are an extremely busy private Country Club that does more rounds in a year than some of our surrounding public golf courses. This high demand for golf has pushed us into a corner in some of our past projects that did not turn out as well as they should have.

This cycle is now being broken and the culture of the club needs to follow as well.  With our latest project of re-grassing the putting green we are approaching this with a much different view than before.  We will be doing things on a time schedule that best fits the agronomic health of the turf, not a golf schedule of events to be ready for.

This can be best described by what is taking place with the fumigation process at the putting green. The normal fumigation timeline takes between 7-10 days to complete based on soil temperatures. After closely monitoring the soil temperatures we could have ended the fumigation on the seventh day, but I decided with everything that is at stake with the success of this project the fumigation was allowed to go for another day and a half.  This decision was based on what will allow us to have the most success with this project moving forward. If it means extending the fumigation timeline and delaying the eventual re-seeding of the putting green than so be it. We all want this re-grassing to be a success, so why should we not set ourself up for success rather than failure.

Today wewill begin the re-grading of the green in preparation of the seeding process. We will be using the pea gravel layer below the mix as our guide for the final grade above.  If all goes according to plan we should be able to have the green with a final grade on it by tomorrow and seed will be sown immediately following.

The weather forecast looks good for at least the next week, so germination should be achieved beginning five days from planting. Exciting times are just ahead of us, I hope you enjoy watching the grass grow as much as I will.

A Mulligan

We are now in the final stretch of the fumigation process on the practice putting green. Last week we began the renovation of the putting green as another piece of the puzzle to move down the road of re-grassing all of the greens on the golf course.

The renovation of the green occurs in a multi step process that each has to occur in a specific order in to achieve the desired goal. Right now it appears that with all of the water running on the green that we have already seeded the green and are on our way back. This is not the case, we are actually using the water as a part of the fumigation process. The water helps trap the fumigant in the sand by acting as a seal on the surface thereby allowing the weed seeds to be successfully killed off in the rootzone mix. This process last between 7 to 10 days depending on the soil temperatures. After that has occurred the gas needs to blow off for a couple days before it is safe to re-seed the green. It is in this time that we will be working on the final surface grading and prep before we can seed the new T-1 Bentgrass.

Currently I am anticipating new seed going down on Friday the 17th weather and final grading dependent. Below are a few photos that show the highlights of the renovation process.

Sod Cutting Of The Green

Removal Of Sod

Tilling The Rootzone

Applying The Fumigant

Connect The Dots

Some of you might have noticed the white dots that are located around the putting green and are wondering what they are. These dots are identifying the original edge of the putting green that has shrunk in over time. Beginning next Monday August 6th we will be renovating the putting green and begin a re-grassing protocol. This will be identical to what was done to the north chipping green last summer with exceptional results. The point of this renovation is to eliminate the Poa Annua from the green and establish a pure Bentgrass putting surface that will provide an example of what we can have in the future. The green will be closed for the remainder of the season to allow for a re-establishment from seed using a new "super" Bentgrass called T-1. This new variety has a tremendous density which naturally keeps out Poa in addition to providing a consistently smooth fast putting surface. During the time that the putting green is being renovated the north chipping green will become the temporary practice putting green. This will give you a chance to begin to see and feel how this new grass performs. I will be documenting this renovation process here, so check back in frequently to watch the new green come back to life.

Laying The Ground Work

Last week we had a site visit from the USGA Northwest Region Agronomist Derf Soller. This visit was attended by several Green Committee and Board Members  and served as a great informational gathering golf course tour.

The objective of this visit was to evaluate the overall condition of the golf course and our greens specifically  and to help with  future re-grassing protocols.  We are currently looking at re-grassing greens on the entire golf course at some point in the future.

Based off the success we had last season with a test green found at the practice facility we will once again be doing another green at the practice facility.  Starting August 6th we will be closing the putting green and begin a renovation and re-grassing of this green. 

Check out this post from last year showing the growing in process of the North Chipping Green. Click Here

At First Look

With a little over three weeks of snow cover on the golf course, today I took my first peek under the snow to see how things are doing. The area of greatest concern is always the greens and as of right now they look great. The snow is more than one foot deep and is all still powder which allows for great air and light movement to the turf below.

All turf managers biggest fear is the formation of a lasting ice layer under the snow which will over time suffocate and eventually kill the turf. Poa Annua is the most vulnerable to this problem and fortunately for us our Poa populations are not terribly high. Damage to Poa can occur in as little at 14 days whereas Bentgrass can withstand prolonged cover of more than 30 days with out problem.

The snow is still very light and powdery with a thin crust on top which is actually holding the snow cover in place against the strong winter winds. Another side benefit from using fencing to keep the elk of the greens has been the fact that the snow on the greens has been untouched. All of it remains light and fluff and not packed down by foot traffic which also can lead to ice formation.

The seven day forecast looks to be warm with high winds, so a great potential for significant snow melt exist. We will be closely monitoring the melting and take any necessary actions to protect the greens from ice forming. This could include complete to partial snow removal and making sure no excess water freezes on the greens surface.

There is no off season when it comes to managing turf, the only thing that changes are the situations that create a different set of  problems for turf loss.

The Birth Of A Green

In an earlier post I mentioned a grow in taking place on our North Chipping Green, well the grow in is complete in just 42 days!  We have shifted the maintenance of this green from a grow in to being included in the normal daily maintenance of the other established greens on the golf course. This includes daily mowing, grooming, fertility, irrigation and topdressing. 

You all have heard the old saying it's like watching paint dry or grass grow.  Well now you can actually watch this take place. I documented the grow in process by taking a daily picture of the green to show how things change from day to day.

Enjoy the video.

Growing In

The re-grassing of the North Chipping Green is coming along nicely.  It has been three weeks to the day since the initial seeding and it almost looks like a green again.

The north chipping green was stripped of sod earlier in the year to use for repairs made to the other greens on the course after some winter damage occurred. We were forced to use the chipping green as a nursery because our old nursery green was abandoned due to a previous construction project.  Later this summer we will be reestablishing a new nursery green so that we will have grass available in the future.

The north chipping green was seeded with two improved Bentgrass varieties, The green was split in half as a side by side test of the two different varieties. One side of the green was seeded with A-4 and the other T-1. These grasses will be evaluated for future overseeding into the existing greens based on the their performance on the chipping green.  Initially the T-1 is out establishing the A-4, but time will be the true determining factor as to which grass performs best under our difficult growing conditions.

Germination 6 Days From Initial Seeding

T-1 21 Days After Initial Seeding

A-4 21 Days After Initial Seeding