Feeling grateful!

Without exception, we have all heard the many adjectives used to describe 2020--some of which aren't fit to print.  As with everything else in 2020, when trying to maintain the golf course, we often had to quickly change and adapt to whatever was thrown at us.  

Credit for any success we had this year belongs to the team that continued to work through these uncertain times.  Their positive attitude, and "get it done" mentality never wavered, and provided stability we all could use.  So, as we prepare to close the books on 2020, we say thank you to these hardworking individuals!  

Finally feeling like winter

 After a virtually snowless winter last year, it was nice to see the course covered in a coating of white this past week.   With close to 300 rounds the prior weekend--a crazy number for mid-December--the course is ready for a break from the action.  

In addition to the Clubhouse, the Grounds team clears snow from the several sidewalks where golf course property adjoins the street.  This includes the areas behind #10 green, #1 green, #8 green, #7 green, #5 tee, and #14 green.

Our snow blower typically makes this an effortless process, however the temperature fluctuations during the storm led to a layer of ice forming, which created some challenging conditions when it was time to do our clean up. For the most part, the snow blower was just gliding across the top of it, so a good bit of handwork was required to chip the ice away.

The snow also had some of the woodland creatures looking for shelter.  One cute youngster was spotted seeking refuge in the shrubs behind the Clubhouse.

Of course it could just be that we got some extremely realistic Holiday decorations this year...

Solid Tining Fairways

 We are continuing to make holes this fall, now using solid tines on the fairways.  This practice provides several benefits.  The heavy duty machine has a slight "kick" to it, which purposefully causes some heaving of the ground as the tine enters and exits.  This fracturing of the soil increases pore space and decreases compaction caused by traffic, thereby allowing for better water infiltration, more oxygen in the root zone, and ultimately, improved rooting.

We follow up the solid tining with a roller to smooth the surface.  The aerifier we acquired this year is able to go deeper than our previous machine, and it heaved-up a surprisingly large rock on #4 fairway this past week.  

When you discover something like this, a few thoughts come to mind:

• You never know what you'll hit when you stick a shovel in the ground.
• A plant's appearance is typically dictated by what is happening below ground--however there may be minor exceptions to this rule.
• Maybe we really could grow grass on a sidewalk...

Coring Collars

 For the past few years, we've been trying to increase the frequency of collar aerification beyond the two times per year when the greens are aerified.  Collars tend to accumulate sand both from topdressing as well as from bunkers.  This can lead to "sand dams" or "collar dams" where water is no longer able to freely surface drain off the green.

We start by making a single pass with our aerifier:

The next step is to use one of our core harvesters to collect the plugs:

This is then followed by blowing off any remaining debris:

Lastly, we roll the collar:

Unlike when we aerify the greens, we are not filling the holes with sand, instead leaving them open.  Again, one of the goals of this process is to actually lower the collar a tad, so removing material and then rolling helps to accomplish this. We decided to do this process on Thursday and Friday based on the weekend forecast.  While rain isn't great for golf, it does a nice job of washing off any sand.  

A better blowout...

We always use a fairly large compressor to purge water from the 20+ miles of pipe on the golf course each fall, but the past two years the rental company sent us one which is the size of a small bus--a massive 1,600 CFM compressor.  Using this to blow out the entrance island pop-up sprinklers definitely seems a bit excessive.

Even with this huge machine, the blowout went very smoothly this year, thanks in part to an off-season purchase of a 2" pressure regulating valve (shown below).  In the past, our efforts to regulate the pressure manually, by opening and closing valves, was at best, hit or miss.  We would often have pressure spikes which can put unnecessary stress on the system's pipe and fittings, and typically resulted in launching a few sprinklers into low Earth orbit.

The regulating valve is installed in-line between the compressor's discharge hose and the pump station.  While it might not look all that impressive, this valve is a fairly expensive piece of hardware.  However, from what we saw this week, it was well worth the investment.

One other concern when moving this much air is heat buildup.  There have been many times when the compressor discharge hose actually got hot enough to burn the turf it was resting on--and temperatures like that aren't going to help the 30 year old piping we have in the ground.  A few years ago, we came up with a simple way to dissipate the heat and lower the temperature of the air.  

We install one length of 2" discharge hose going from the compressor to the irrigation pond, then have the air travel through a 20' section of 2" iron pipe which is in the cool water, before heading back to the pressure regulating valve, and the tie-in at the pump station.  As water transfers heat much more efficiently than air (think how bone-chillingly cold jumping into a 60 degree pool feels compared to walking outside when the temperature is a pleasant 60 degrees) this quick time in the pond has made a significant difference in the temperature of the air entering the irrigation system.

While the date may vary somewhat from year to year, blowing out the irrigation system is definitely an indication that the season is nearing its end.  We now have a chance to catch our breath as we start preparations for the upcoming golf season.  Certainly, after all of the challenges of 2020, a quick breather is appreciated.

A needed makeover

The steps to #15 Palmer tee had seen better days, and were in need of repair.  However, these stairs were constructed using 8" X 8"s and 3/4" rebar--made to last until the dinosaurs return.  So we decided against a complete tear down and rebuild.  

Instead, we filled some of the voids in the timbers, then capped them with new decking, and replaced the matting:

This gives them a nice, clean look, and should keep them in good shape for several years to come. 

That is some fine fescue...

People often refer to Fine Fescue as if it's a single type of grass.  However, Fine Fescue actually encompasses several different species and subspecies including:  

• Hard Fescue
• Chewings Fescue
• Sheep Fescue
• Slender Creeping Red Fescue
• Strong Creeping Red Fescue

As with any grass, each of these has its strengths and weaknesses--while one may have good shade tolerance, it may have poor heat, drought or wear tolerance.  Additionally, there are differences in the density of these species.  

To be kind, all of this turf could be labeled as "finicky" when speaking in broad terms.  Surviving the temperature and precipitation extremes in our region just isn't easy.  We have seen it get both too thick (think, lost ball), and too thin (as in, dead) for many  reasons.  When you combine the grasses' susceptibility to abiotic stresses, along with weed pressure, disease and insect susceptibility, these areas are anything but low maintenance.

In recent years, we've renovated some areas (such as on #8, 13, and 16) using sod, with pretty good results.  The sod is a combination of 1/3 Hard, 1/3 Chewings, and 1/3 Creeping Red Fescue.  

However, Hard Fescue alone has rated very well in many of the categories these Fine Fescue grasses have been tested for.  Therefore, this fall, we opted to seed a handful of areas with straight Hard Fescue.  Thus far, the results are encouraging as the seed germinated quickly and looks like it will be in good shape to make it through the winter (if we ever have one). 

While this area to the right of #13 might not appear to be a super dense stand of turf, it's likely as thick as we'd want, since lost balls aren't the goal of these naturalized areas.  With a little patience, this will be looking good next spring.

Great weather?

 This past week's mild weather was, to say the least, quite unusual for our region.  The end of October usually brings us crisp, cool conditions, with low humidity.  While many players may have enjoyed being able to continue wearing shorts, the daily prolonged fog was certainly a challenge for anyone teeing off before noon.

There's a fairway out there somewhere...

So, what's the downside to this weather from a grass-growing perspective?  Well, typically by the end of October most of the turf diseases we treat for are no longer an issue.  However, the mild nighttime temperatures and constant leaf moisture are conducive to the development of Dollar Spot disease.  While widespread damage is unlikely, as turf growth slows now, any pitting from the disease may linger.

Dollar Spot has remained active due to warm, wet conditions.

We may finish October with only a single frost event, and are still seeing insect activity.  We really need some cold temperatures to put the bugs to bed for the year.

Still seeing plenty of insect activity on the greens.

This weather has also put a "damp-er" on our rough aerification.  When we pull plugs, we expect them to dry, not become wetter from all of the moisture in the air.  

Certainly none of these things could be labeled as devastating, but it once again shows that weather is our ruler.  While we may start with a good game plan, the need to make game time changes will always exist.

Holes in the Rough

 The Master Plan's bunker design reduces the bunker square footage by approximately 50%.  Therefore, areas which used to be sand are now turf--either native area, or primary rough.  While the sod used in these locations has initially done well, the lack of nutrient holding capacity in the sandy soil beneath is now leading to thinning of the turf.

In order to address this issue, we decided to introduce some organic matter into these areas.  We began this process by applying a heavy layer of compost with our topdresser.   (You can tell right away this is good stuff just by the smell!)

After placing the compost, we follow up with the aerifier, then allow the plugs to dry.  Next, a steel mat is used to break up the plugs, and drag the compost down into the holes.  As a final step, the remaining thatch is blown off.

With (hopefully) no cart traffic in these areas, we will be able to continue this process throughout the fall.  We purchased 60 cubic yards of the compost material, so you'll be able to enjoy the sweet smell of farmland for some time to come.

Keep in mind that the need to amend golf course soils is hardly new.  This brief USGA historical article discussing early issues at Pinehurst is noteworthy:

Poor Soils at Pinehurst

Making hay while the sun shines...

 With the golf course closed for close to six weeks in the spring, it would have been hard to imagine that increased traffic would be a major problem.  However, it looks like 2020 may go down as a record breaking year for rounds, many of which were played by single riders.  The "pinch points" coming off tee cart paths and approaching greens, where all cart traffic funnels, really gets clobbered by this.

While the days aren't really getting shorter (they do still have 24 hours in them, after all), the amount of daylight is decreasing each day, and the nights are definitely getting cooler.  This time of year is perfect for aerifying some of our high traffic areas, as there is much less environmental turf stress than a couple of months ago.

What we will typically do is aerify approximately half of a high traffic area, then rope it off for two to three weeks, giving it time to recover.  At that point, we'll  return to this same spot, to aerify the other half and allow traffic to resume on the area aerified earlier.

However, the window of opportunity to complete this work will be closing soon.  By the time we reach the end of October, the odds of having seed established prior to winter aren't great.  So if you see additional, ropes, signs, and flags directing you around the course for a few more weeks, don't be surprised.

Back to Basics: Ball Mark Repair

 Unfortunately, we continue to see a good number of unrepaired ball marks on the greens, or ball marks which were not properly repaired.   The graphic below gives step by step directions for how to properly repair a ball mark:

Further instruction can be found by watching this brief USGA video:
USGA Course Care Ball Mark Repair

Please keep in mind that if you're using a golf cart, there is a good chance that you won't be walking past your ball mark as you enter the green.  A good habit to get into is first walking to your ball mark and repairing it, then walk to your ball.  

If you have any questions, please feel free to ask a member of the Pro Shop staff.  Your help in keeping the greens smooth, will be appreciated by all who play behind you!

How to achieve "Ludicrous Speed"

We have just completed the Men's Member-Guest event, and received many nice comments regarding the condition of the golf course overall, and the greens in particular.  While the greens have been rolling well for a few weeks now, we geared up the maintenance practices last week as the tournament neared. 

One of the first things we did to the greens was give them a good grooming using our verticut units set flush with ground level.  This process takes any grass that is growing horizontally and neatly nips it.  

We followed this up with a mowing (or two), which removed all of the material the verticutting units had generated.

Next came a dusting of sand, with approximately 200 pounds per green being applied.  The sand fills any voids in the turf, creating a smoother putting surface.

We then gave the sprinklers two spins to knock the sand off the leaf and move it down into the canopy.

We also sprayed the greens, applying another good dose of growth regulator.  

During the week, the greens' height of cut was lowered by just a hair--five thousandths of an inch--so maybe the thickness of two hairs.

In addition to a whole lot of mowing, there was plenty of rolling during the week.

The end result of all of this work were some pretty slick surfaces.  It is definitely nice to be past the summer heat and back to a time when we can push the greens without much concern.

An early haircut

 After the past six months, many of us could use a good haircut, and we can include the course's native areas in this list as well.  While we typically we wait until October to begin the process of mowing, the summer's weather has many of these areas out of control.  

We did a spring mowing, and came into the summer with good weed control, however between July and August we had close to 16" of rain.  Combine this with the summer's heat, and we had prime conditions for grass and weed growth--and lost balls.

In addition to the mowing, we have also gotten back on addressing any weeds, and are using a number of different selective herbicides to target the sedges, undesirable grasses, and broadleaf weeds.  As we often say, you can call these native areas, Fescue, or low-mow, but you definitely can't call them low maintenance.

Feeling the burn...

 When we come upon some brown turf, it's time to do a bit of detective work to determine the cause.  After all, there are many ways to kill grass on a golf course (disease, insects, mechanical stress,  too much water, not enough water, pesticide misapplication, gas spill, hydraulic leak, and of course, Great Blue Heron droppings).    The picture below was taken on #6 fairway a couple of weeks ago:

You really didn't need to be Hercule Poirot to figure this one out.  However, we are still left with one unanswered question--sunscreen or insect repellent?

Yes, either of those products may have caused this injury.  So, while protecting yourself is important, please apply these products when you're standing on a cart path or other non-turf surface.

Finally finished

 We completed fairway aerification this past week.  In an ideal world, we could get everything done during the few days we are closed, but Mother Nature rarely provides us with perfect aerifying weather this time of year.  Between rain events either the day prior to, or the day of planned aerification, we only had one nice, low humidity day to work on 34 acres of fairways.

The thatch-picking wagon train on #9.

Because of this, we had to complete the process on #9 and #15 on days we were open.  Working around play obviously makes things a bit more challenging, but we all ate some dust and dirt and got it done.

#15--the final fairway.

We often joke that the actual aerification could be completed in a single day, however the processing of plugs and cleanup is what really takes a whole lot more time.  The last fairway we aerified was #15 on Thursday, which was another hot day, peaking at 92 degrees--definitely hot enough to stress both man and turf!  

Coming in the next morning and seeing the turf looking happy was great, and is proof that the extra time we put into this process is well worthwhile.

Clean and green on Friday morning.

Other tasks tend to get put on the back burner during our August aerification, so it's nice to have this labor-intensive activity out of the way.

Gentle Giants

 Without fail, at least once each summer we get a call from someone reporting Hornets in a bunker.  More often than not, what we find are not Hornet Wasps, but Cicada Killer Wasps.  And while these large wasps may look somewhat terrifying, they are not out to hurt you.

The Cicada Killer is a burrowing wasp, and it seems that they find a sandy bunker face to be quite appealing.  You would really need to be aggressive towards them to see them reciprocate, and turn aggressive.  So,  if humans have little to fear from Cicada Killers, who should be worried?

Yes, it's the Cicada that needs to look over its shoulder to make sure the Cicada Killer isn't closing in on it.  The female Cicada Killer will sting a Cicada, stunning it, then walk/drag/fly/glide the huge Cicada back to its burrow where it lays an egg.  If interested, you can read a bit more about Cicadas and Cicada Killer Wasps here:  https://www.cicadamania.com/cicadas/10-facts-about-cicada-killer-wasps/

A word of caution:  We do occasionally encounter other wasps, such as Yellow Jackets or Bald-Faced Hornets on the golf course--both of which absolutely can be aggressive towards intruders--so don't assume that everything is a friendly Cicada Killer!

Cleanup in Aisle 10

 When it comes time to aerify the greens, tees and fairways each August, we always pay close attention to the weather forecast.  Last Monday was a little nerve-racking as we tackled the greens during 90 degree heat, but both plant and man survived the stress.

The blowers were humming during Monday's greens aerification.

As we then looked to Tuesday's forecast, with only a slight chance of an isolated shower, it seemed like a perfect day to start punching fairways.

Things were going well, until a random, isolated shower popped up and parked itself over the golf course shortly after noon Tuesday.  We didn't see it coming, and had #10 fairway completely opened up with plugs from one end to the other.  After watching this turn into a river of mud, we headed home for the day, muttering that we might be better off relying on a Ouija board for a more accurate weather prediction.

Not a pretty picture on Tuesday afternoon.

The story continued on Wednesday, which was once again hot and humid, with little drying occurring.  We cleaned #10 as best we could, but truth be told, we were still left with a muddy mess. 

"Mud ball" would be an appropriate name after our cleanup Wednesday morning.

So, what could possibly help this situation?  Would you believe the answer was:  More rain.  Yes, just as they had done 24 hours prior, the skies opened up, and we got an additional inch plus of rain on Wednesday afternoon.  However, this time, all of that water washed the mud off the turf.

Another heavy thunderstorm helped clean #10.

We often say that aerification is never the same twice.  Changes in temperature, humidity, cloud cover--and rainfall--can certainly make the process interesting, and sometimes frustrating...

The high lows...

When talking with someone about how hot it is outside, most of us focus more on the daytime high temperatures, and aren't quite as concerned about the nights, when we can crawl into bed with our A/C keeping us cool.  Plants aren't so fortunate.

Last week we discussed how hot July was--during the day--but a case could be made that the nighttime temperatures hurt the turf just as much as the daytime temperatures did.  A good example of this can be seen on July 24 and 25, where the daytime highs for the two days net to average with historical numbers.  However, the low temperatures on both nights were five degrees above average (71 versus 66).

In looking at the numbers for the entire month of July, we see that 87% of the daily low temperatures were at or above the average.  As a whole, the month was 4.3 degrees hotter at night than "normal."  The plants just aren't catching a break during these periods, when soils are hot around the clock.  

The graph below is from one of our soil sensors buried in #16 fairway, and shows the daily peaks and valleys of the soil heating and (sort of) cooling.  Throughout the entirety of July, there wasn't a moment when the root zone was below 70 degrees.

Some folks may be saying to themselves, "During both the day and night in July, you're only talking about four degrees above average--what's the big deal?"  

Well, think of it this way:  If your ideal temperature is, for example, 72 degrees inside your home, and you're told that you will have to deal with it being 92 degrees for a month or more, you definitely wouldn't be a happy camper.  Now, what if we say it's going to be 96 degrees for that month in your house--that four degree difference might not seem so tiny any more.  

The point is, the hotter day and night temperatures aren't taking place during ideal growing conditions, but during what are already very stressful times for cool-season turf.  An extra four degrees both day and night for more than a month, can easily be enough for plants to "raise the white flag."

As we get into August, the low temperatures are continuing the trend of being warmer than average.  Of course, eventually (perhaps in October) it will cool off enough that we will see new root growth.  However, there is no doubt that we will be adding this summer's weather to the many things we would have passed on during the crazy year of 2020.

What a month...

July is the hottest month of the year, and always takes some toll on the turf.  This past month was even more extreme, with temperatures running at, or above average on 84% of the days.  As we close the books on July, 2020, we finished close to four degrees hotter than normal each day.

Additionally, as you can see below, overall we had plenty of rain during July.  However, as is common during the summer months, rainfall is inconsistent, and when it comes, it is often way too much all at once.  

The other bummer from the turf's perspective was that the nights were very warm, meaning the soil temperatures remained high.  Hot soils and heavy rain do not go well together.  When you add in other factors such as cart traffic, foot traffic, and insect damage, we are now seeing turf wilt in areas with plenty of moisture.

We grow grass in a region known as "the transition zone."  People often (half) joke that this is a climate where it's too hot for cool-season turf, and too cold for warm-season turf to do well.  With the root loss cool-season grasses experience during the summer, there is little margin for error even on a normal year.

Lastly, if the summers feel as if they are hotter than when you were young, it's not your imagination.  Overall, the temperatures have increased close to three degrees in the past 50 years.

Regardless of the cause, this long-term trend has led to golf courses in the Mid-Atlantic looking at all options in order to maintain quality turf during the dog days.  This includes improved drainage, cooling systems, and increased use of Bermudagrass.  

It feels as if we are limping to the finish line.  August can certainly be a mixed bag of weather, and we are hoping that it isn't as brutal as last month.