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.

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

The Invaision

I was fortunate to be asked to contribute to an article that deals with Poa Annua management  in Golf Course Industry Magazine. The article is running in it's current addition check it out here http://www.golfcourseindustry.com/gci0312-fighting-poa-annua.aspx

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.

Winter Setup

Now that it is December we have gone to our winter golf course setup. This includes restricting carts to the paths and the use of temporary greens for the next three months.

We do all that we can to protect the golf course durring the winter months so that less outsides stresses are put on the turf.  This is key to having the course come out of winter in better condition and giving it a head start for the next growing season.

During the winter months the turf is unable to recover from divots, ball marks and wear caused by foot and cart traffic. Once the turf begins thinning out from these stresses the opportunity for Poa Annua invasion is significantly increased. Currently we dedicate a lot of resources to mange the Poa populations and by us not taking these extra precautions we would not have the same efficacy of control.  

More Is Better

Now that the greens have begun to actively grow, the areas in which Poa Annua was lost to Crown Hydration are easily identifiable. We are fortunate to have relatively small populations of Poa on our twenty five year old greens.  This has resulted in small circular areas of damaged turf that can be more quickly re-established than larger sprawling areas of  turf loss.

Aside from increased fertility levels and the use of PGR's to promote  increased tillering many of these spots have been overseeded with Bentgrass. Full scale broadcasting of seed has taken place throughout the greens with even more specific work being done to the small spots.  The seed that was broadcasted was spiked into the soil surface to increase soil to seed contact which is vital for germination.  On top of that a divot mix that included Bentgrass seed was also applied to these thin areas to further improve the germination likelihood.  This sand mixture also serves another purpose in keeping the green surface smooth because some of these dead Poa areas are slightly sunken below the turf line.

As existing Bentgrass moves laterally and germination of new seed occurs the putting surfaces will still roll true even though adequate turf might not exist.

Close Up Of Dead Poa With Bent In The Middle

Sand And Seed Mixture Applied To The Voids

A New Beginning

The damage that was incurred throughout the course from the March snow storms is being methodically repaired.  The fairway areas that were damaged are being overseeded during aerification which will help establish the proper turfgrass species in these problematic areas.

The greens are being overseeded as well to encourage new Bentgrass growth in some of the newly created voids from the dead Poa Annua.  Not all of the Poa is totally dead and some regrowth is occurring which will help with the overall recovery of the turf.  Ideally the Poa will stay inactive and the Bentgrass seed will germinated and allow new seedling to become established.

Most of the greens have minor damage on them with the exception of the greens on #4 and #10.  Rather than fight a long re-establishment period on the tenth green, I decided to bite the bullet and re-sod the entire green. Although not ideal this is the best thing that can be done to get the green back in play as quickly as possible. The green will be mowed at a higher height of cut for several weeks before being slowly brought down to match the other greens.  Throughout the years the green will receive additional care such as increased fertility topdressing and aerification all to help with the elimination of seams and help with establishment.

The Tenth Green Ready For New Sod

Sod Going Down

Back In Play The Next Day