March Greens Aeration

Despite the cool, sometimes cloudy, conditions over the past few days, the agronomy staff worked diligently to complete the March greens aeration on schedule.  Over the years, I've detailed the core aeration process on this blog, so I won't go into too much detail but the following pictures should shed some light on a few of the major steps required.  As with all core aerations, the sand-filled holes will be evident for about 7-10 days before they completely heal in.  During this time, the agronomy staff will be mowing and rolling the greens to maintain the highest quality putting surfaces possible.  We thank you for your patience and understanding during this time.  If you have any further questions, feel free to contact me.

Soil cores are removed from greens

Cores are pushed to the collar and removed

Once cores are cleaned off, USGA topdressing sand is applied

After sand is incorporated into holes, excess sand is blown off greens

Green is then rolled smooth and watered in

Grass Fire Danger

After an incident that occured on #1 fairway yesterday afternoon, I thought I would take an opportunity to remind all members and guests that while the Bermuda is dormant, there continues to be a high risk of grass fire.  The agronomy staff would ask that caution be used when disposing of cigarettes and cigars on the golf course.  The picture to the right shows how quickly fire can spread.  Thankfully the staff reacted quickly and was able to use the irrigation system to extinguish the fire.

Cart Path Repair

Removing old cart path

Starting last Thursday March 14th, staff began the process of repairing a section of cart path near #12 tee complex.  Anyone who has played golf out here recently knows this area was in need of attention and we are pleased to be able to get this fixed before the busy golf season starts.  The old cart path was removed with a mini-excavator and the soil beneath was leveled.  Once we had the area graded, we installed the wood forms and the gravel base.  Today, the new concrete was installed and finish textured with a soft broom.  This area should be ready for cart traffic in a few days.  The area has been marked to divert cart traffic around the area to the west.  We would appreciate everyone take caution through this area.  Next week, staff will remove the forms, backfill soil along the edges, and install sod.  

Cart path ready for concrete

New cart path poured and finished

Metal Recycling Update

The metal recycling project I posted about back in early February has been completed.  After recycling almost 30 tons of metal, we cleared out all remaining vegetation and checked our grade.  Ag base was then spread around to keep the area from becoming muddy or overgrown.  The picture on the right shows the area all finished with equipment in it's rightful place.  The main reason we took on this project was to get all these tractors and implements out of the main parking lot to create more space for staff members and guests to park their vehicles.  Now we have a functional side lot for equipment, and much more parking for our seasonal staff and vendors.

Golf Course Restrooms

You can definitely tell spring is here.  Warmer weather is becoming more common and golfers are starting to fill the tee sheet.  The turf staff felt that now would be as good a time as any to officially open the restrooms on #7 tee box.  As you may recall, these restrooms are closed each winter so that the pipes to not freeze.  If any deep freezes are forecast, we may have to momentarily close down the restrooms, but they will remain open otherwise.  Thanks for your patience during the off-season.

Greens Aeration

On March 18^th & 19th, the agronomy staff will busy core aerating greens.  Aeration is the best way for us to improve turf health and playing conditions.  Turf health is improved by reducing compaction from foot traffic, increasing root oxygen levels, and improving drainage.  Improving the drainage will positively affect the playing conditions by providing a firmer, smoother putting surface.

Monday the front nine will be closed so we can finish the process as efficiently as possible.  Tuesday the front nine will be back open and the back nine will be closed.  All 18 holes will be back open on Wednesday.  We appreciate your patience and understanding during this process.  If you have any questions regarding this project, feel free to contact me at the phone number below.  Thanks!

            

GPS Mapping

Today, with the help of the Jeff Bain at the City of Owasso Engineering Department, we began GPS mapping the irrigation system.  The ability to accurately, and quickly, locate valves, electrical wire splices, sprinkler heads, etc. is critical when troubleshooting a problem with the system.  Currently we are using 20 year old, hand drawn, maps that are not to scale.  Accurate irrigation as-builts are critical to the proper repair and maintenance of golf course irrigation and drainage infrastructure.  Over the next few weeks, Jeff will be out on the course mapping as much as he can.  We plan on mapping every component of the irrigation system including: fittings, pipe size, and  pipe length.  Once we have the irrigation system complete, we will move on to the drainage system which includes: drain basins, pipe size, pipe length, green and bunker flush outs, and drain outlets.  Once all the data points are collected, they will be labeled and can then be overlayed onto GIS aerial images (similar to Google Earth).  We can then print maps, or use tablets, to dependably locate infrastructure items no matter if they are buried, or grown over.  I cannot thank Jeff enough for his efforts and the time he is donating for this project.  Just another example of city departments lending a hand to make the whole city better.   

  

  

Annual Bluegrass Control in Bermuda

Annual Bluegrass, or Poa, is considered one of the most invasive weeds golf course superintendents must deal with each year.  It can prove to be extremely difficult to remove from any turf species.  This plant seeds profusely and it can seemingly breakthrough even the best defenses.  Over the past six years, we've taken a very aggressive stance with our Poa control in all maintained Bermuda.  Each winter, all  Bermuda is treated with pre-emergent, and post-emergent herbicides to eradicate this weed.  Even with accurate application methods and perfect timing, we could only achieve 85-90% success, requiring some further applications to completely remove the weed.

In the fall of 2010, we tried a new pre-emergent product called Specticle.  We've been using this new product each spring since then with fantastic results.  This new chemistry has the ability to not only control a wide range of weeds before emergence, but can control juvenile Poa plants that have emerged just before the product is applied.  The ability of this product to control Poa after emergence allows the agronomy staff to move on the next task, instead of having to spray the area again with different products.
The picture to the right shows an effected Annual Bluegrass plant that emerged before the Specticle application.  It took a few weeks for the symptoms to appear, but this plant has been killed.  The effectiveness of this new chemistry has allowed the agronomy staff to keep the tees, fairways, and rough weed free.  This has improved the overall health of the Bermuda by reducing competition of the weeds for sunlight, water, and nutrients.  If we get some quality rainfall this spring, we expect to have fantastic playing conditions.

Spring Weed Control

Spring is almost upon us and I wanted to take a minute to remind everyone that if they haven't yet treated their lawns with pre-emergent herbicides, now is the time.  Successful crabgrass control can be achieved if products are applied up to mid-April.  A mild spring most likely will bring on broadleaf weeds, such as dandelion, much sooner than normal.  In order to be successful with pre-emergent herbicides, it is better to be a week early than a day late.
As the name implies, these products are meant to only be effective if the soil is treated before emergence.  Once a plant has emerged, these types of products are rendered ineffective.  If you do have some breakthrough of weeds after your pre-emergent herbicide application, look for weed control products at your local lawn and garden store that do not contain Glyphosate, or Diquat in them.  These two products will kill Bermuda that isn't dormant (brown).  Most product labels with these two chemicals will say "Weed & Grass Killer" in the product name.  Carefully read the product labels to be sure that what you apply to your lawn does not have these chemicals in the ingredients, unless you intend to kill the Bermuda as well.
As always, if you have any questions regarding pre-emergent applications, or any general lawn care advice, feel free to contact me.

Visitors

Bailey Ranch contains 7 ponds throughout the property which totals approximately 25 acres.  These bodies of water are frequently used as stop-overs for migratory birds travelling either north or south.  Today a hundred or so Canada geese stopped by to rest before continuing on their journey.  Although we spent a lot of our time in late spring keeping the resident geese off of our playing surfaces, migratory geese seem more easily agitated and don't stick around very long.  These geese will likely keep to themselves and stay in the pond while golfers are on the course.  Once we get into spring, some of the geese will want to hang around and and become "residents" to raise some goslings.  When this happens, the staff will step up efforts to encourage the geese off property so we avoid turf damage, and unnecessary costs due to clean up goose debris.

Although Canada geese are our most frequent visitor, we do see numerous other species of birds at various times of the year such as: coots, egrets, gulls, blue heron, and hawks.  Ducks are our resident waterfowl and happen to be my personal favorite.  They tend to stay in the water most of the time, and do not have a taste for bentgrass.   We have several varieties throughout the year such as: mallard, gadwall, and redheads.

Metal Recycling

Over the past 20 years, the maintenance department has been slowly building up a large amount of scrap metal and old equipment behind, and to the south of the shop.  These mowers and carts have been surplused and all usable parts have been harvested.  Last winter we began loading these old mowers and carts into a bin for recycling.  This year we will complete the project and likely surpass the total amount recycled last year.  Once we have all the old equipment and trash out of the yard, we will box blade the area and bring in fresh gravel.  This yard will be a perfect place to store tractor implements, trailers, and anything else we don't want taking up precious space in our parking lot.

Winter Greens Rolling

One of the best tools superintendents have to maintain firm, smooth putting greens is a dedicated roller.  This unit can be used after, or instead of, mowing to keep greens speeds consistent throughout the year.  During the winter time, this roller is especially useful.  The greens typically do not grow that fast, so mowing is very infrequent.  Typical Oklahoma winters, frosty mornings followed by warm afternoons, tend to cause the greens to freeze and thaw each day.  This can leave them somewhat soft and prone to footprints.  The roller is used to iron out the footprints and imperfections.  I think that most people think that greens rollers compact the soil.  This machine is considered a lightweight roller that doesn't compact the soil, it merely smooths the surface.  The picture below shows the clear benefit of this process.  The left side has been rolled and the right side has not.  As you can see, the roller can have a huge impact on putting conditions.

86th St. Update

86th st. has been open for a few weeks now and crews are putting the finishing touches on the project.  There is still some sod work to complete but for the most part, the project is done.  I couldn't be happier with the finished product.  The higher elevation of the road allows better visibility of the course when driving by, and the grading and sod work that was done along the course has turned out great.  It will be much easier to mow and is already much nicer than the swampy areas we had before.  This was a huge improvement for the golf course and the city.

Preventative Maintenance

Every year I get the question " so what do you do all winter?".  Well, there are a lot of tasks that must be done prior to the start of the growing season.  One of the most important, and time consuming, is preventative maintenance on our equipment fleet.  Each winter our equipment manager, Mitchell, must pain stakingly go through each piece of equipment and check for anything that isn't up to spec.  All reels and blades must be sharpened, bearings replaced, oil changed, flush radiators, replace worn hydraulic hoses, etc. 
Mitchell started this process back in November, at the end of the growing season, and will finish sometime in late February.  When he is finished everything will be ready to go for another golf season.  His attention to detail, and thoroughness, will pay off during the growing season with fewer breakdowns and increased productivity.

Spring Preemergent Application

                                   

The golf season is just around the corner and will be here before we know it.  This realization always hits me when we begin spraying our spring preemergent application on tees, fairways and rough.  We had a productive first few days, 16 acres, but have been derailed by rain today and possibly tomorrow.  This is common when spraying this time of year, so that's why we start this early in the season.  Someone much wiser than me once told me that when it comes to preemergent herbicides: "You'd rather be a couple of weeks early than a day late."  This is true because of the way in which preemergent herbicides work.  Once the product is applied and watered in, it forms a barrier at the soil surface.  As a new seedling emerges and  breaks through the surface, the herbicide kicks in an kills the plant.  Preemergent herbicides have little to no effect once target weeds have emerged. 

As we work on this project over the next few weeks, periodically you'll notice foam laying around the course.  The foam is dispensed by our spray unit and it tells us where we've been and where we still need to apply product.  I know the foam can be distracting and make it difficult to find your ball, but this method improves accuracy and thus improves the ability of the herbicide to keep the golf course clean from weeds.  You might also notice red paint lines, these are used by the agronomy staff to mark where we ran out of product and once reloaded, where we need to start back up.

Assuming we have more weather delays this month, we will likely be spraying most of January.  Once complete, we will be ready to go for the 2013 golf season!  

Winter cart traffic

As winter presses on, and we remain busy, I've stared noticing more cart traffic patterns around the course.  So I thought I would take a moment to discuss the importance of following some general cart rules.  I know your eyes are rolling back, and you're thinking, I don't want to have rules while I golf, but if these few simple guidelines will improve course conditions.  dormant Bermuda cannot recover from wintr cart traffic and excessive amounts can lead to compacted soil and a thin spots come spring.  Extra work is required of the agronomy staff to remedy the compaction and improve the playability of the turf. 
Please keep carts on paths at all tee boxes, green complexes, and all par 3s.  The staff also has numerous signs, wood barriers, and roped areas throughout the course meant to guide the traffic and spread it around.  Please look out for the roped areas and observe all signage around the course. 
We appreciate your support with this and are looking forward to a great 2013 season. 

86th St. Widening Project

After several months of construction and road closures, I'm happy to announce that 86th St. North is now open from Main St. to Mingo.  Members and guests can access the clubhouse from the east on 86th  and do not need to use  the detour anymore.  Although the road is open to traffic, it is only two lanes and the outer lanes are still closed.  There still is a lot of sidewalk and shoulder work still to be completed so please be cautious of construction crews in the area.  Thank you.

Tree Work

With the onset of some colder weather, the agronomy staff has taken a break from daily course set up to work on some trees.  Although we do not have a lot of trees on the course, we typically spend a few weeks every winter cleaning willows out of creek banks, and thinning out miscellaneous thick spots along property lines.  Occasionally we have to remove a tree or two that are too close to greens and are creating poor growing conditions for the Bentgrass.  We will be spending some time this week clearing out underbrush in an overgrown area right of #3 tee box.    

#10 Bunker Renovation

The agronomy staff just completed the renovation of #10 bunker this afternoon.  This bunker was beginning to hold water during irrigation cycles and after rain events.  This is caused by silt and other contaminates incorporating into the bunker sand and working their way down on top of the drainage pipe.  Once this layer gets thick enough it can either clog the inside of the pipe, or create a layer between the bottom of the sand and the drainage. This layer can stop the water from entering the drainage.
We started the project mid day Tuesday and wrapped up just minutes ago.  The staff did a fantastic job keeping on schedule despite having to deal with incoming golf balls and stopping work while golfers were on the green.  The drainage improvements and fresh sand will allow this bunker to meet expectations for years to come.  Please keep in mind that this bunker will be a little softer than the others until it has a chance to firm up.  Enjoy!

Day 1: removing the contaminated sand and drainage material

Once all the sand and drainage is out, we assess current
drainage and change as necessary

Day 2: drainage improvements are made.  These trenches are dug by hand
and carefully measured to grade

Day 3: drainage pipe and pea gravel are added to the new trenches

Day 4: after 30 tons of fresh sand, the finished product, open and ready for play

Frost Delays

This morning was our first official frost delay, so I thought I should take this opportunity to remind our members and guests why we must delay golf.
Frost occurs when clear, cold nights allow the turf plant to cool down more than the surrounding atmosphere.  This causes condensation that freezes on the leaf blade.  When the leaf is frozen, any foot traffic or mowing, will cause severe damage.  One foursome of golfers on a green that has frost, can leave behind hundreds of footprints of brown, dead turf.  Once the sun rises, and the temperature starts climbing, it doesn't take long for the frost to lift.  Even though we, the agronomy department, know that it is an inconvenience to hold up morning play, we also know how important it is to protect the greens from preventable damage.  Your cooperation during this off-season, will allow us to maintain the best possible putting surfaces.  As always, if you have any further questions, just let us know.  Thank you.

Bermuda contamination

Over the past week or so, you've probably noticed the brown areas on #1, #5, and #8 greens.  These areas contain Bermuda grass that was sprayed with herbicide prior to removal.  We use herbicide to be sure that the entire Bermuda plant is dead (esp. the rhizomes).  Rhizomes are underground stems that spread laterally and contain growth points where new roots and shoots can be created.  If we miss any of these rhizomes during removal, we will have more Bermuda contamination to remove next year.
So, why go through all the trouble to remove it from the greens?  Common Bermuda spreads quickly and has a very coarse texture.  Over time, these areas will continue to get larger, thereby compromising the quality of the putting surface.
The staff did a great job stripping off  the old sod and then excavating down below the Bermuda roots to be sure all plant material has been removed.  Once this was complete, the holes were back filled with new root zone mix containing 90% sand and 10% peat.  After the mix was blended with the original root zone, and tamped down firm, the sod was carefully laid down.  Once the sod was down, the pads were tamped smooth and all seams were topdressed.
The largest portion of work was completed this past Tuesday, while we were closed.  The last few remaining areas are very small and will be wrapped up next Tuesday.  Once this green is done, we still have a few other greens we need to finish.

Irrigation additions

One of the few benefits of a historic drought has been the identification of the maintained areas that do not get good coverage from the irrigation system.  Some areas are along the perimeter of the course and we utilize mobile sprinkler heads to apply sufficient irrigation for these areas.  However, there are a few areas that have been on my list that are great candidates for adding new sprinkler heads.  We decided to address a few of them this morning.  The first area we looked at was north of the forward tees on #1.  This area always gets very dry during the summer.  Since it is on the very first hole, we wanted the area to be as visually pleasing as possible.  The second area we added a sprinkler head was on #6.  The area west of the 100 yard marker has always been thin, and dry during the summer.  We've noticed that a large percentage of golfers hit their approach shots from this area so keeping this area covered with healthy turf will really help the playability of the hole.  This happens to also be the area that has the most concentrated cart traffic from golfers and maintenance staff.  I believe that having sprinklers in these areas will definitely improve the playability of these holes as well as their aesthetics.

Greens Aeration Recovery

It's been a week since we started the fall greens aeration project and we are very pleased with the recovery so far.  It usually takes about 7-10 days for the holes to completely fill in and we seem to be right on track.  The weather over the past four days was cloudy, cool, with periodic rain.  This moist, cool weather provided the turf with a low stress environment to recover from all the stress from earlier in the week.  This week looks to be sunny but still cool.  I am excited for the greens to finish healing in and we should be in great shape for the week end.

Construction Update

The construction crew has started to remove the bridge on 86th St this morning.  They said they hope to have the new bridge constructed and have the northern two lanes ready for traffic within the next 30-45 days.  

Fall Greens Aeration

It's Wednesday morning and now that all 18 holes are back open, I thought I would revisit the aeration project that the agronomy staff just completed.  Core aeration is a common practice in the spring and fall for all golf courses with Bentgrass greens.  This process is the single most effective way to physically remove excess organic matter from the soil profile, while also improving: soil oxygen, reducing compaction, and improving drainage.  Although this process is fairly disruptive to the putting surface, the agronomy staff works very hard to ensure that putting quality is affected for as little time as possible.  Usually within 7 days, the greens are back to normal and the average person wouldn't even be able to tell we had done anything.  I've written about all the various steps in previous posts, so I won't go into great detail but I have included a few pictures to outline the steps involved with the project.

Greens are dethatched two different directions, then mowed

Soil cores are removed with aerator

Topdressing sand is applied after holes are punched and cores removed

Brushing sand into holes

Lastly, greens are rolled smooth and excess sand is removed

Course green up

#14 August

It's been a little over a week since the 2" of rain and the course has responded very nicely.  The tees, fairways and surrounds have all filled in very quickly.  Except for a few non-irrigated areas, the rough has come back better than expected.  We have taken the additional water in our ponds and have started to water the course so we can keep the green up going.  It looks like we might get some more rain on Friday but we'll wait and see.

#17 September

Road Project

Although unrelated to agronomy, or course conditions, the road widening project that started this week does have an impact on the golf course operation.  Members, and guests, that wish to play must now go to 96th st. north and come down Mingo road to access the golf course.  This may be an inconvenience but the road improvements are long over due.  The agronomy department is excited for this project for several reasons: the road we take to work will be much nicer than before; the road will be twice as wide so we can except semi-truck deliveries easier; and the grading work, and sod, that will go down on either side of the road will fix the low areas that trap water and are difficult to mow.