Wing Point Superintendent Update: April 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.

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Been a while...

Sorry to all my loyal followers! The tail end of the irrigation project resulted in a lack of blogging. In other words...a lot of hours at work! We are 95% done. The irrigation install has been complete for 2 weeks, but clean up is still getting done. We've ran the system 3 times with very few issues, which have already been resolved by the contractor. On that note, I must say that it was an absolute pleasure to work with James Milroy and his staff. Dealing with a second generation irrigator really paid off. James will turn 40 this week, he's been installing irrigation since before he was a teenager working for his father. Wing Point is just the most recent on his long resume of golf courses he's installed irrigation. Some of those courses include Seattle GC, Overlake GCC, Meridian Valley GCC, Chambers Bay GC, The Plateau Club, all of the Bandon Dunes golf courses, etc., etc., etc. We finished 5 weeks early after starting 2 weeks late, we are under budget, and my life is back to normal again!

The remaining areas left over from construction will be seeded this week. The bunker on #10 will be sodded this week, then sand added in a few weeks. The 5th tee will open for play next week. The 14th and 13th tees will be a few weeks out.

It's been a long winter that started with turf loss on greens. In our industry, they say the 2 most stressful things for a superintedent in his/her career are turf loss on greens, or going through an irrigation installation. I made it through both in the last 6 months. Our greens are back to normal with the exception of the thin turf conditions on #10, and we now have a state of the art irrigation system that should last for decades to come.

Saturday, April 10, 2010

Greens and fairway aeration

The new process is quickly showing us how much better it is. We mowed today! I watched a few putts rolling and they seemed pretty good for just 2 days after aereating. I'm excited to see how long it takes for them to be back to normal. #10 is really close to opening. My plan is to open it on Monday, April 19th. We will aggressivley verticut it this coming week and topdress it with sand again. It will still have thin areas, but I believe they will fill in over the next month with our usual spring green up. We will be fixing any bare areas from the winter turf loss during that week as well by cutting them out and replacing the area with turf from the chipping green. I think we will likely see the greens completely back to normal in about 2 weeks time.

We will be trying to finish all the fairways, tees and aprons this week. Milroy will be finishing up the irrigation as well. Some fairways are still too wet in areas, so we're hoping the rain subsides so we can finish the aeration we started last month.

Friday, April 9, 2010

Greens aeration is complete

Mother Nature gave one back to us yesterday and we were able to finish all the greens easily. The new process looks really good at this point! We still have about 2/3 of the fairways, tees and aprons to aerate and are waiting for things to dry back up to finish those off. We only have half of #12 fairway, and all of #10, 13 and 14 fairways left to finish the irrigation. They will likely be done next Thursday, then the following week we will spend on cleanup, testing and tweaking. We're almost there!

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

A few updates

Aeration

The greens have been aerated...for the most part. We had a surprise delivery of the Kiln Dried sand on Monday. The delivery was called off last Wednesday due to the forecast this week, unfortunately the message never got to dispatch! I was by myself shaping the new bunker on #10 Monday morning when my mechanic called me and said the sand was here...I thought he was kidding with me since he knew we weren't expecting it. He does that sometimes when he knows I'm stressed to lighten my mood. This time he wasn't kidding and it didn't lower my stress level! I had NO plans on aerating since last Wednesday when I called off the order. Oh well...

So, we decided to accept the delivery, all be it reluctantly. The weather was OK Monday so we decided to drop everything we were doing and just go for it...we got 1 1/2 greens done and then it started raining. Tuesday was cloudy and there was severe weather 2 blocks north of the golf course all the way to Hansville, but we got lucky and stayed dry. We finished 6 greens. Today was suppose to be 56 degrees and sunny...NOT!!!! We got all the greens we wanted to do excpet #11 and #13. It started raining about 2 o'clock and wasn't letting up, so we had to quit.

The shady greens that don't accumulate thatch through the winter, #4, 10 and 15 were going to be done differently anyway. So, we got almost all of them done. We'll finish the rest when the rain stops. The new process we are doing is very slow and my personality certainly doesn't fit it's tedious nature, but the end result should be much better with a much faster recovery time. Stay tuned on that...

The process:

Aerate with 1/2" diameter tines spaced 2"x1.5" apart. The traditional method was 5/8" diameter spaced 2"x2" apart. More holes closer together + smaller holes = same amount of material removed, but more potential for holes closing if driven on before sanding.
We never drive a vehicle over holes that have not been filled with sand.
All sand (Kiln Dried which has zero moisture content) is worked into the holes by using the backside of a wide rake, nothing else.
No vehicle is driven over the newly aerated turf until all holes are filled.
Double verticut at 1/8" depth to create more area for sand to settle into the turf canopy.
Drag a cocoa fiber mat over the green to brush the sand into the canopy.
Allow Mother Nature to water the sand in, or handwater the green to achieve the same effect.

The result??? No excess sand left on the green to be "worked in" for the following 3-4 days. I am hoping the process will equate to a healthier root zone (more holes) and a smoother/faster recovery (smaller holes + less excess sand).

Irrigation

Milroy has finished all of #17, 18, 11 and #12 tee. If the weather isn't too bad tomorrow, they will finish #12. That will leave #13 tee and fairway, #14 fairway, and #10 fairway. They should be done by next Thursday. That will only leave some cleanup and a couple of days of tests and fixing issues.

Thursday, April 1, 2010

What is actually left to do on the irrigation?

We are getting close! The light is glimmering at the end of the tunnel. We only have these areas left to install sprinklers...

#10 fairway
All of #11
#12 tee and fairway
#13 tee and fairway
#14 tee and fairway
All of #17
#18 tee and half the fairway

I am pretty sure Milroy will be completely wrapped up and gone on April 22nd. We should all be thankful for a strong El Nino season. Even with a 2 week delay to the start, we will finish 1 month ahead of schedule thanks to good weather in February and March. We will still be cleaning up on our end for about 2 weeks following Milroy's departure. Let's hope for warmer weather ahead so the seeded areas can germinate quickly and we can enjoy an unblemmished course by Memorial Day.

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