High Winds

Today the high winds have taken their toll on some of our Elk fencing that is protecting the greens.  Every day we are checking to make sure the fencing is still up and undamaged by the wind or wildlife.  Most of the time when repairs are needed they are relatively quick and easy to do. 

Generally the area of failure comes from the rope rubbing against steel poles causing the rope to break. We have been installing sleeves made out of old hose to help reduce the friction on the rope in these wear areas.  The fence installation has been an ongoing experiment and we are continuing to find out better ways of securing the fencing material to the post.

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

Over Due

Currently the greens are sorely in need of being topdressed. Throughout the season we have faithfully topdressed them every two weeks, but due to recent tournaments and holidays we will have missed the last two scheduled topdressings.

These missed applications have resulted in a visual and slight playability reduction in the greens surface. When looking at the surface of the greens it is not hard to find old ball marks that have not been repaired properly. These frequent topdressing help fill in these imperfections with sand and help maintain a smooth ball roll.

The next opportunity we will have to topdress will be on September 13th and at that time we will be applying the sand a little heavier than normal to try and make up for the missed applications.

Scalping

A couple of weeks ago when the weather began to heat up we had a flush of growth throughout the golf course. This occurred even with the use of growth regulation products.

The flush of growth helped us with some final recovery in the rough areas, but hurt us on a couple of the greens. The greens that were effected were some of our more contoured greens in which the mowers began scalping the turf. The scalping took place due to the fact that the turf got puffy from the excess growth and when the mower when over it scalping occurred.

On the greens which the scalping took place recovery has already begun and the good news is that the scalping does not effect the putting quality of the greens it is more of an aesthetic issue than anything else.

Real Greens

The time has come to put the pins back in the greens and open them up for play. For each of the last fourteen years we have utilized temporary greens during the winter months of December thru February. The total potential rounds that are affected by the use of temporaries is less than 100, so the impact of this decision is low.

This decision was made to do everything possible to protect and allow the greens to be highly playable early in the season. Utilizing temporary greens has been one of the best things that can be done to help achieve these goals. Perhaps one of the most important benefits from temporary greens is the edge that is given us over Poa Annua encroachment. Poa is a winter annual and can still be active throughout the winter months when all other cool season grasses are dormant. The wear and tear of play during times in which zero recovery of the desired turf species can take place creates openings for the Poa to become established.

Below are the links for two great articles from the USGA that detail the benefits of the use of temporary greens during the winter months.

http://www.usga.org/turf/regional_updates/regional_reports/northeast/12-16-2008.html


http://www.usga.org/turf/articles/other/winter_play/politics_religion_winter_play.html