Wing Point Superintendent Update: February 2010

Welcome Wing Point Members

This blog is intended to keep the members at Wing Point up to date on the course conditions, the challenges we face with weather, the day to day update on projects, and hopefully add some insight to your overall golf experience. The blog will be updated as much as possible. Information on things that may impact your golf experience such as sanding or aeration will be posted as well. Take time to read one of the polls on the side of the page. The results will help us make decisions on course maintenance practices and give us feedback on what you, the members are thinking.

Thursday, February 25, 2010

Sprinklers have been installed!

Today we were able to install 20 sprinklers as a "warm up" for the contractors crew going into next week. The heads were put in around #4 tee and #8 green area. We also had the mainline up and running under full pressure with no leaks. Milroy will be installing sprinklers next week on holes 4-8. The process is very non invasive and recovery time should be very short.

We are extremely pleased with the progression of the greens conditions. #10 is still pretty bad so we will overseed it tomorrow. I think we've seen about as much recovery as possible from the native Poa, so it's time to incorporate some other variety to fill in the voids until the Poa can fully take over again which should be sometime in June.

Monday, February 22, 2010

Some cleanup begins

I started spreading out all of the mounds of dirt left behind from the ditches. I should be done today, just ahead of the rain! We will rock pick the dirt, top it off with a dusting of sand, and then seed all the areas. The mainline is still really rough and will remain that way for a bit longer. Many of the ditches were backfilled with mud which is still settling out. I began rough shaping the 5th tee complex and we hope to get started on it this week. A bunker has been shaped on the right side of the 10th fairway. This should look fanatstic from the tee and clubhouse as well as tighten the landing area for the long hitters.

Saturday, February 20, 2010

Check this statistic out from KOMO Weather

Updated Friday 1:00 p.m.

...it is shaping up to be the first official sunny weekend in Seattle since Aug. 1-2!* (* -- we were really close on Dec. 26/27, with 27th rating a '4' in cloud cover, which is one point over sunny. An official sunny day is 0-3 tenths cloud cover, partly sunny is 4-7 and cloudy is 8-10. The 26th was a 0, meaning totally clear.)

The temperature that weekend in August? 90 and 89 (coming off that massive end-of-July heat wave). So this should be a bit more comfortable.

It's also way overdue -- did you know the "best" day in January rated a '7' on the cloudy scale?

WOW!

Friday, February 19, 2010

Updates

Well, we've been pretty busy with lots of drainage projects. The irrigation is going great. Monday will be the final day of the mainline installation. We will probably start installing sprinkler heads sometime next week. Our own greens crew has been hard at work installing drainage in some of the really wet and hard to get to areas. We rented a mini excavator for 2 weeks and were able to do work on #4, 5, 8 (curtain drain in front of the green to eliminate puddling), #10 (3 curtains drain behind the green to eliminate puddling), #11 and 14. Many of the other areas that still remain will be done with our own trencher. We hope to install drainage on #1, 2, 17 and 18 in a few weeks if those holes continue to dry up enough to do the work.

The large pine tree by the right side of the Clubhouse was heavily pruned in hopes of getting more sunlight to the putting green. We talked about removing it, but there is an unsightly light pole amongst the limbs and if removed it, we felt it would be quite ugly. The tree looks much cleanier, however sunlight penetration was not improved at all by the pruning. Unfortunately the tree shades much of the putting green through the morning hours and results in weaker turf.

The greens are looking really good. Still some thin areas on a few greens that sufffer from heavy shade problems. #10 is looking better as well. I will snap a photo tomorrow and post it for comparison to how it looked 45 days ago.

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Just in case you don't go outside this week, here's the sun.

Thursday, February 11, 2010

Moving right along...and the greens are open for play!!!!!

Milroy is cruising right along with the mainline installation. We are 75% complete on the mainline. The weather is looking pretty wet over the next week, so we may stop running mainline and start pulling the lateral lines and setting sprinkler heads. During periods of wet weather, there is far less disruption and mud from running laterals as opposed to the mainline. Most laterals are "plowed" underground with minimal surface disruption.

We've also installed 3000 feet of drain lines over the past 2 weeks. Most of #7 fairway, the really wet area between the #4 tee and start of the fairway, the swail in the #4 fairway, #5 fairway along the left, and the new nursery green we are building to the left of the ladies tee on #11. We plan on putting in about 7000 more feet of drain lines over the next 6 weeks. Other areas will be the beginning of #1 fairway, most of the #2 fairway, #18 fairway, #17 fairway, a few spots on #13 and 14 fairways, and parts of #11 around the green and as you walk from the tee to the green. This is quite ambitious, but we think we'll have the time to get it done.

We are opening every green except the 10th green on Friday the 12th. I feel the greens are definately in a good growing state right now. We've had very good weather to go along with all of our cultural practices we performed. Many greens still have thin areas, however they are no longer too weak to hold up to foot traffic. We are back to mowing nearly every day, which tells us the plant is strong and healthy again. We have seen daily improvement even with mower traffic on them, so I feel it's OK to open them. We will not be using pin numbers until after we aerate in April. I want the staff to be in full control of steering golfers away from the injured areas when setting the pins. If we use numbers, then we will be handcuffed to areas we would not want the pin to be in.

I want to thank everyone for their patience and understanding. The 10th green was hit very hard and we have massive turf loss. We will continue to promote as much Poa annua to return before we decide to overseed with a different variety of grass.

Saturday, February 6, 2010

Aerating a few greens this week....

We will be selectively aerating the greens that are still out of play this week. Some will only have portions done in spots where the turf is still thin and weak while a few of them will have the entire green done again. This will be the 3rd time these greens have been aerated since January 1st and is a big reason for their fast recovery. The worst greens, #10, 15 and 16 will have the plugs verticut back into the turf in the hopes that the organic matter and potential seed bank in the soil will help aid the Poa annua to germintae in the thin areas. We will be topdressing all of the greens with a light application on Thursday. Light verticutting and topdressing promotes new growth and offsets the "scum layer" that develops from the dead grass blades after winterkill.

Thursday, February 4, 2010

Updates and pictures

The greens are doing very well. Next week looks like even better weather than the last 3 weeks! ArborCom started the tree/shade analysis on the 4th green today. Many trees are numbered for GPS to input into the computer program. The analysis and recommendations will be made on Tuesday evening to both the board of Wing Point Community and Wing Point GCC in order to come to a resolution on the shade problems.

Above are a few pictures of some recent work being done.

The top picture is my Assistant Peder Rauen aerating the greens with 3/8" solid tines spaced 1.5" apart to help the greens recover from the winter blues...it's done wonders for the greens. This was the second time we've done this since January 1st.
The middle picture is our own crew trenching drain lines on the 7th fairway. We installed about 1500 feet of 4" drain line from the start of the fairway to the 100 yard marker.
The bottom picture is Milroy Golf Systems installing the irrigation mainline on #2. They have installed the mainline on 2/3 of the course in just 3 weeks! I am very impressed by their efficiency.

A must read article!

TREES - THE BIGGEST PROBLEM OF GOLF COURSE TURF

James T. Snow

USGA Green Section

Far Hills, NJ

Trees clearly are important assets on most golf courses in the northern sections of the United States,

providing a great deal of beauty and strategic interest and serving a variety of other important functions.

On the other hand, the effects of trees are a major cause of poor quality turf on parts of many courses.

In some cases, trees have come to overwhelm the courses from both an agronomic and playability

standpoint, causing widespread turf problems and imposing restrictions on the strategic intent of the

original golf course architect.

While it could easily be argued that trees are not the biggest (most important) turf problem on many

courses, there can be no denying that they are the biggest (size) problem on most courses. On a few

courses they are both. In essence, the negative impact of trees on turf quality can be summarized as

follows (play considerations aside):

- Shade

- Poor air circulation

- Tree root competition

- Interfering limbs and branches

SHADE

The effect of shade is an important cause of turf weakness or failure on many types of areas. The

combination of shade and traffic, though, can be deadly. Turfgrass plants need light to photosynthesize

and produce food for growth and regeneration. When light levels are inadequate for too long a period,

carbohydrate reserves are depleted and the turf becomes too weak to quickly recover from traffic injury.

There also is good evidence that shade predisposes the turf to ceratin diseases that would not be a problem

were the turf located in full sun. The effects of shade are especially noticeable on greens and tees, where

foot and mower traffic is concentrated on relatively small areas, and in roughs where cart traffic is quite

heavy.

The lack of direct sunlight on a turf area also prolongs the drying out period after rainfall or

irrigation, leading to greater disease activity and greater soil compaction. Not surprisingly, Pna annua

follows closely on the heels of these problems, bringing with it another set of difficulties.

86 GOLF TURF MANAGEMENT I

The wholesale clear-cutting of trees from around a green or tee is usually not necessary to overcome

a shade problem. Instead, begin by removing selected canopy and understory trees to increase sunlight

intensity. Trees on the southeast, south and southwest sides of the turf area should be the first to be

removed. If this work does not resolve the problem to your satisfaction, then try thinning the canopy in

some of the remaining trees to further increase light intensity. The removal of more trees may be required

in some instances. Continue this removal and thinning process until healthy, wear resistant turf is restored.

POOR AIR CIRCULATION

Another of the consequences of too many trees in close proximity to important play areas on a golf

course is poor air circulation. It usually is quite easy to determine which greens or tees are suffering from

this problem; just tour the course on a hot, muggy day and note the areas where you feel the most

uncomfortable. The temperature of the air is often significantly higher in these areas, and a breeze to

relieve high humidity symptoms is usually lacking as well. Also, soil temperature and moisture levels

tend to remain higher for a longer period of time relative to other areas, due to the lack of good conditions

for drying.

As a result of these factors, disease activity, heat stress and soil compaction effects are common on

turf growing in such an environment. Again, £illl annua often takes over in these areas, performing poorly

during periods of stress.

A key to resolving air circulation problems is to open passageways for air to move through the area.

Oftentimes, the removal of shrubs and understory trees is enough to significantly improve the situation.

A general thinning of the canopies of some of the remaining trees also can be of great benefit. The

removal of some of the larger trees, especially those that block prevailing winds, can prove helpful if

previous effects fail.

Though shade and air circulation problems tend to go hand-in-hand, this is not always the case.

Some greens, for example, receive full sunlight throughout the day, yet suffer greatly from poor air

movement. This is particularly true on poorly drained soils. The message, then, is not to rely on shade

as a symptom of poor air circulation, but to look for the problem based on its own merit.

TREE ROOT COMPETITION

One of the great hidden dangers of trees on golf courses concerns the effects of their roots on nearby

turf. Like turf, trees absorb water and nutrients through their roots to sustain life and promote growth.

And like turf, the tree roots that are active and functional are those located in the well aerified soils in the

upper few inches of the profile. Thus, turfgrass roots and tree roots are very often in direct competition

for available water and nutrients, and usually the turf areas suffer greatly during periods of stressful

weather.

A good method of reducing or eliminating tree root competition is to mechanically prune the tree

roots so they no longer compete with turf roots in the area where problems are being encountered. Greens

and tees are the important play areas where root pruning is most often done, but pruning along the edges

of fairways and near the tree lines in the roughs is becoming much more common as golf cart use

increases. As suggested earlier, the combination of tree effects and heavy traffic can be deadly; thus the

need to root prune in the roughs.

Mechanical tree root pruning can be accomplished by several means. The most common method is

to cut a 2-foot deep trench at a convenient site between the trees and the turf area of concern. For best

effect, several layers of tar paper, sheet metal or some other barrier should be place vertically along the

wall of the trench prior to backfilling to discourage new tree roots from encroaching too quickly.

Nevertheless, root pruning usually must be repeated every few years, as the tree roots eventually manage

to find their way through or under the barrier.

Other methods involve the use of vibratory plows, stump grinders, or blade attachments to backhoes

to cut a narrow slice in the soil that severs tree roots and temporarily benefits the turf. However, this

practice must be done every year or two because a physical barrier cannot be installed.

SNOW 87

Unfortunately, many turf managers are not fully aware of the extent to which tree roots can affect

the turf, often blaming disease, insects, traffic or some other common problem for what is largely tree root

competition. A common response to a recommendation to root prune trees is a blank stare and a few

non-committal mumbles about how they might give it a try if they have a chance. However, the word

about the successes of those who have tried it is getting around, and more and more golf courses are

adopting root pruning as an important annual practice in needed areas.

TREEI~MBINTERFERENCE

It might at first seem hard to imagine how tree limbs that interfere with a golf shot would cause

agronomic problems for the grounds crew, but that is exactly what happens on golf tees. Trees planted

years ago off the right front side of a tee, for example, eventually grow to the extent that their limbs

interfere with a tee shot from the right side. Golfers will instinctively compensate for this interference

by hitting most of their tee shots from the left side of the tee. As a result, the right side receives less and

less play, while the left side is eventually subjected to most of the traffic. It is not uncommon in these

instances to see the right side develop thatch problems and the left side become consistently thin, weak,

and dominated by Pna annua or crabgrass.

There is a simple solution to this problem, involving the pruning back of interfering tree limbs or the

removal of trees that are hopelessly in the way. However, because trees grow slowly, most golfers don't

realize what is happening to their teeing area until interference becomes extreme. Even then, they are

often reluctant to spend the money to prune or remove trees unless the situation becomes desperate.

Instead, they usually ask the golf course superintendent to put forth a bit more effort to keep the tee in

better condition. Obviously, tree work is the best solution.

SUMMARY

Trees can greatly affect the quality of turf on a golf course by the shade they cast, the air circulation

they block, and the roots they produce. In addition, they can reduce the useable area on a tee by 30% -

50% or more by producing limbs that interfere with playoff one or both sides of the tee. The best

means of preventing these problems is to use care when planting trees on a course. For established trees,

a good program of tree removal or branch thinning can increase sunlight penetration and air circulation

to a great degree, and interfering limbs can be removed as needed to allow full use of tees. Finally,

careful attention should be paid to root pruning around greens, tees, and other important turf areas where

tree roots obviously are having a negative impact.

The effects of trees can be a significant extra stress at a time when the turf is already under great

stress due to heavy traffic, difficult weather conditions, and many other factors. By giving careful

consideration to the concerns noted above, it should be possible to improve the health and playability of

the turf on any course where trees are an integral part of the scene.

Wing Point Superintendent Update