Christmas Wishes

Yesterday, we held our annual shop Christmas party, and as usual, many of our long-time summer employees joined the full-time crew, plus Rick and Matt from the pro shop, for a great lunch.  After today, we'll all be using our saved vacation time and returning on January 3.  This time of year is important for all of us to recharge our batteries and spend time with the family and friends that occasionally get neglected during the golf season.

On behalf of the entire greens and grounds crew: Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and Go Badgers and Packers!

See you in 2012! 

Course Aerials: 1950 & 1955

Continuing the series of aerial pictures, the 1950 image that was previously posted is above, and the photo from 1955 is below.  With the exception of the bunkering around 5 green, I couldn't pick out a lot of changes on the golf course.  However, it looks as if a road no longer ran through the course's center by 1955 and a lot of houses were constructed along 3 fairway.  Between 1940 and 1960, Madison's population exploded from 67,447 to 126,706 people, and the city began to engulf the course. 

Tree Work

What a strange start to the "winter" that we've had in southern Wisconsin.  Sure, winter doesn't officially start until December 21, but in recent years, we've had significant early December snowfalls that made it feel very winter-like.  It's hard to imagine that Christmas is only 11 days away, and I, for one, hope that it's a white Christmas.  With the lack of white stuff, we've been able to get around the course with relative ease (save for a couple of significant rain events), and as such, our tree trimming and removal list has been shrinking rapidly in recent weeks.  From our perspective, it's great to get this work done now because it's much more difficult to find time during the growing season for this kind of work.  Plus, the trees clean-up much more easily when they are leafless.  Much of our work has been focused on removing large ash trees that were safety hazards and/or overcrowded.  For more information on our recent tree management activities, the January Divot will have a more detailed article.  Below are a couple of examples of trees that we've taken down recently.

This summer, I took the random picture above and noticed that two large ash trees between 13 and 17 block quite a bit of the view to the lake from the clubhouse.  This week, one of the trees was removed, and as you can see from the picture below, a significant portion of the lake is now visible.

A large portion of the removed tree broke off 2-3 years ago, and the wound was rotting and making the tree a safety hazard.  Thus, regardless of view, its removal was necessary.

Last week, another large ash tree by 5 green was removed.  The base of this tree had a significant amount of rot, as well.

When the tree fell, it split apart where it was rotting.

Before (above) and after (below) the tree near the right side of the bunker was removed.

The Golf Course: 1937-1950

Above is the 1937 aerial photo that was previously posted, and below is the 1950 photo, which is the next in the series that I obtained.  There aren't a lot of changes that I could pick out, but when you consider that this was the World War II era, that's not unexpected.  There appear to be a few bunker additions at 2 green, 4 green, 6 fairway, 10 fairway, 12 green, 12/13 fairway, and 14 green.  As you can see, a road still dissected the course in 1950, and the members probably still didn't hit very many punch shots from the trees. 

Green Covers

With a steady dose of winter weather in the forecast, the decision was made to close the greens for the year.  It was great to see that a number of you were able to take advantage of the unseasonably warm weather that surrounded Thanksgiving by getting in one last round for the season.  Now, reality has set in, and with a forecasted high temperature of 42 degrees, today is supposed to be the warmest day for the foreseeable future.  As was noted in an email to the members, the golf course was open for 235 days, or 64% of the year, (not counting an occasional rain day) in 2011.

On Monday, we took advantage of the nice, calm conditions to prepare the greens for winter.  As has been done for many, many years, a heavy layer of sand topdressing was applied to all of the greens, except 11 and 17 (more on that in a bit).  Not only does the sand improve the overall soil profile, but it also helps to prevent winter injury by protecting the plants from desiccation.  In response to the winter injury that the greens have received in recent years, 11 and 17 greens were covered with specially-designed, impermeable white plastic covers that are called GreenJacket covers.  Through our own research and in consultation with USGA agronomist Bob Vavrek and Maple Bluff's superintendent Tom Harrison, these covers were chosen among the many options that exist.  Essentially, they are supposed to eliminate injury by keeping ice off of the greens, and as you may remember, ice can kill turf by either rupturing the plants' growing points or by suffocation.  To promote air exchange when the covers are layered in snow or ice, we will force in air using our backpack blowers on a weekly basis.  It's our hope that we have an ice-free winter, but if we don't, these covers should keep these two particularly-susceptible (read: nearly 100% Poa annua) greens as healthy as possible.

Below are a couple of pictures of the covering process:

First, a thin layer of insulating foam was laid onto the greens and secured with sod staples.  Since snow will be less likely to stick to the slippery surface of the covers, this foam will help in times of extreme cold.



Next, the custom-sized impermeable covers were spread out and stretched as tightly as possible.



Finally, the covers were secured with long spikes that were spaced 2' apart on the north and west sides and 4' apart on the south and east sides and with 9-12 vacuum preventers in the scattered throughout the center of the covers. 



1937 to 2000

This past winter, I spent an afternoon in the Robinson Map Library on the UW-Madison campus.  The library has a massive collection of aerial photographs (among other things) that are categorized by location and available for scanning and downloading.  While there, it was my objective to locate as many aerials of Blackhawk over the years, and I ended up finding eleven images that span from 1937 to 2000.  Over the next few months, I'll post these images, and I hope that you'll find them to be as interesting as I have.

The image above is from 1937, and it's safe to say that there are a few less trees then than there are now.  Many of the large oaks are still near 2/11 tees, 14/15, and 18 tee.  We suspect that the large trees that are behind 8 green were elm trees.  As you will see, these trees disappear between 1968 and 1976, during the height of the dutch elm disease plight.  It's also interesting to note the road the runs through the middle of the course and the amount of bunkers that surround 5 green.  Below, I've added the 2000 picture as a comparison.

Winter Preparations

If there was any doubt that winter's just around the corner, the weather that we've been experiencing yesterday and today has certainly eliminated it.  Looking at the picture below, it's hard to imagine that we could've golfed in shorts on Monday.  It's also apparent that many of the still-green linden trees are unaware that they should be losing their leaves.

Yesterday, we soaked up (literally) the driving rain/snow and 30 mph winds by winterizing our irrigation system.  As you may remember from previous posts, a large air compressor is hooked into the system, and the water is forced from the irrigation pipes when we turn the sprinklers on.  Each sprinkler is run four times throughout the course of the day to ensure that they system is as water-free as possible.  Although it wasn't exactly a terrific day to spend outside, it's nice to have the job completed.

This morning, we also took advantage of a calm Lake Mendota to take out the plastic pipes that feed our irrigation system.  Next week, we hope to remove the cast-iron pipes that extend from the pumphouse to the plastic pipes, but this job requires a barge mounted with a crane (the same type of boat that moves around boat lifts and docks) because the metal pipes are extremely heavy and dangerous to manuever.  

The plastic pipes are out of the lake and ready for winter storage.

Still remaining on our pre-winter checklist are: remove the remaining course equipment, make the snow mold fungicide applications, sand topdress the greens, put new covers on two of the greens, and install rope and/or snow fence around certain greens and tees.  Right now, we're hoping to spray the snow mold applications on Monday and Tuesday of next week, as these days look relatively dry and calm.  Between the heavy rains, late-falling leaves, and seemingly-constant winds, we haven't had any ideal spray days, and knowing that Wisconsin's weather can change in an instant makes us just a little nervous that we haven't been able to spray yet.  But, we'll get it done one way or another.  

A Slow Fall

Our camera battery has yet to show up, but if you would, picture a green blanketed in oak leaves.  It's been a strange year for leaf fall, and there are still a lot of leaves hanging onto the oaks, maples, and lindens on the course.  After an early wave of leaf fall from the honey locusts, ashes, and some oaks, there was a considerable lull that made it relatively easy to keep the course very playable.  However, times are a-changing, and despite our best efforts, the leaf rule for lost balls will be in full effect for the remainder of the year.  From our perspective, we'd prefer to have the vast majority of the leaves on the ground and mulched going into winter, but that's not looking very likely this year.

With the cold and occasionally frosty mornings that we've been experiencing, our "winter" equipment maintenance has begun.  Our mechanic, Dave, and his team are working on cleaning and repairing the utility carts that get everyone around the course during the summer.  These carts are completed first and then stored in the cart barn by the pro shop for the winter; this opens up space and makes it much easier to move equipment around in the shop.  If you've been on the course recently, you've probably noticed that all of the benches and some of the garbage cans and ballwashers have been taken in.  This year, the benches are receiving a fresh coat of stain, and they are nearly finished already.  On a yearly basis, the ballwashers are completely disassembled for a number of reasons: 1) to assess any parts that need to be replaced, 2) for easier storage, and 3) so that the metal components can be more easily handled when they are washed, polished, and touched-up with paint.

Next week, we will be winterizing the irrigation system by forcing water out with compressed air.  The 0.9" of rain that we received this week was very well-timed and will allow us to blowout the irrigation system with confidence that the soil has enough moisture to sustain the turf plants.  Soon, we will be applying our snow mold fungicides, topdressing the greens with a heavy layer of sand, and covering two greens with some new, added protection that will be detailed in a later post.

Until then, it looks like another nice (albeit breezy) weekend to get out on the course, and if you do make it out, bring a healthy supply of golf balls to combat those pesky leaves.  

Project Days

From our perspective, one of the many nice things about fall is that the change in weather allows us to complete a number of projects around the course.  Last fall, you may remember that we installed drainage in 3 approach, and even though it was a relatively dry year, it seemed to make a dramatic difference during the heavier rains that we did receive.  This year, the main project was the releveling of the north side of 16 back tee.

Over the past year-and-a-half, we noticed that this half of the tee was beginning to drop off towards the lake, and it was making for some occassionally uneven stances.  This week, the sod on that half of the tee and tee bank were removed.  The sod from the bank was discarded, and the tee sod was carefully rolled up and moved in an orderly fashion.  Next, thin plywood boards were anchored into the ground to show the contour of the teeing surface.  After that, a significant amount of soil was added and compacted to the tee bank to raise it to the height of the surrounding steel girders, and once that was mostly done, sand was added to the teeing surface to make it level.  Finally, the tee sod was carefully laid back into place, the plywood was removed, more soil was added to the bank, and new sod was laid on the bank.  Because the renovated half of the tee is very soft, the entire tee will be closed for the remainder of the year.

If you make it out to the course to enjoy the pleasant weather this weekend, you may also notice that several other projects have been completed, including:

• A drainage basin was added to the right side of 3 men's tee.  During wetter weather, a puddle would form in this area, and because it's a high-traffic area, it was an unsightly inconvenience.  With the new drain and sod, it should no longer be an issue.
• A drainage basin was also added to the back of 3 green.  Despite having part-circle irrigation heads that we turn off as much as possible on the back of this green, the small bank area between the green and the out-of-bounds line never seemed to dry out and was starting to really deteriorate.  Thus, the existing sod/mud was removed and replaced with shade-tolerant tall fescue sod, and a small catch basin was installed in the lowest point.
• New sod was added to a portion of the bank that's left of 9 green.  Due to mowing and being steep and dry, this area was also becoming more and more unsightly.  Although it didn't truly affect play because of it's steepness, it just wasn't very nice to look at.
• There must be some sort of seismic activity between the cart path and 10 tee because the soil in this area just doesn't want to stay smooth.  After repairing the area 3 years ago, small dips were once again forming.  So, sod was stripped off, the soil was once again leveled, and new sod was laid down.
• Sod was also added to the back right of 11 green, where sharply turning carts and mowers had created a small patch of soil.
• Some of the tall fescue sod was patched into a small barren area just off of the south side of 15 fairway.
• A drainage basin will be added by the flagstone that's along the cart path by 6 men's tee.  During the summer, irrigation water from 9 tee, the range tee, and 6 tee all run down the cart path and pool in this particular area.  Without fail, carts drive thru the puddle, and it gets a little messy.  Again, the drain should alleviate this problem.
• Lastly, if we have enough sod, we will renovate a small, shoddy-looking spot that's to the north of 14 bunker.

Between the aforementioned projects, leaf cleanup, and beginning some equipment maintenance, it's been a busy week at the shop.  Unfortunately, our digital camera decided to stop working, so I was unable to take any pictures of the projects.

Have a great weekend, and we hope that you're able to enjoy the next few nice, less windy days on the course.

Fall Work

Although the temperatures have been unseasonably warm recently, fall is in full effect on the course.  Maybe it's just me, but the leaves seem to be falling earlier and much more heavily than normal.  Much of our efforts over the past two weeks have been focused on leaf management.  We spend a significant amount of time blowing and chopping the leaves to keep the course as playable as it can possibly be.  Often times, despite our best efforts, the leaves still win on windy days.  Golf ball retailers are almost certainly big proponents of deciduous trees, but at least someone's happy about the situation.

The oak trees that line 14 and 15 are some of the messiest culprits on the course, but they do look pretty nice.

At this time of the year, the turf plants have already shifted their focus from producing above-ground growth to reforming their root systems that were lost in the summer heat.  Accordingly, the daily mowing requirements have decreased substantially, and when you consider all of the leaves that we have to deal with, that's certainly a good thing.

This is also the time of the year when we're able to have adequately fast greens without even trying.  Until top growth ceases later in fall, we'll alternate mowing and rolling on a daily basis.  We've also bumped up the height of the greens to allow them to get as healthy as possible before winter arrives.  Of course, this is a relative term as the greens are being mown at 0.156".

We certainly hope that you've enjoyed the recent stretch of warm weather by playing a few rounds.  If the long-term forecast holds up, it appears as if fall might be back.   

Old Oak Update



If you have extraordinarily good vision and/or a large computer monitor, you can see that the base of the tree measured just a touch over 4.5'.

Based on our best effort to count very tightly-packed growth rings, the old oak was 140 years old.  In other words, the tree began growing in 1871, and Mr. Rath shared the following about the tree's birth year:

"1871 was the year of the great Peshtigo fire, the worst recorded forest fire in North American history. The the Civil War had ended 6 years earlier. There were 37 states and the population of Madison was just over 9,000. More importantly, it would be another 17 years before the first permanent golf club in the USA would be formed in Yonkers, New York. That is a long time ago." 



Oak Removal

Ron, from Wolfe Tree Services, cuts part of the massive base of the tree amid the remains of the oak.

Today, we said goodbye to a very large oak tree.  In the summer of 2004, a very powerful lightning strike occurred on the right side of 17 fairway, near 18 tee.  The strike ended up travelling through the defunct metal irrigation pipes, blew a nice-sized hole in the ground, caused an irrigation leak where the old metal pipes met a section of the modern plastic pipes, blew doors off of the nearby irrigation satellites, and sent a surge of electricity all the way back to our shop.  And, at the heart of the strike was the oak tree that was removed today.  For a number of years, the tree showed minimal damage and was holding up quite nicely.  However, over the past two years, the tree began to produce more and more dead wood, and it had become an imminent safety hazard.  Despite our occassional disdain for trees, we're never happy to see one of the stately oaks that populates the property removed.  It's safe to say that we'll be counting its rings.  

Mission Complete

With a little assist from Mother Nature, the fairway aerification is in the books for the year.  The mostly sunny and breezy days that we had from Sunday-Tuesday allowed the cores to dry very nicely, and the lack of dew on Monday night helped us to wrap things up yesterday evening.  Below is a photographic journey through our fairway aerification process:

First, Chris used the smaller, walking aerifier to go around the sprinkler heads, yardage plaques, and pea-gravel-filled slit trenches on the fairways.  By doing this, we're able to do a much more precise job in these areas, and the operators of the larger aerifiers don't have to worry about getting too close to these hazards.

Next, the large, tow-behind aerifiers pull cores on the remainder of the fairway.  We have three of these units.  However, two of them were occassionally pulling up turf due to small differences in the machines and less-than-optimal rooting to anchor the plants.  Because of this, the machines were closely monitored and occassionally restricted.  Ideally, all three machines would have been running, but the incovenience of running a restricted fleet is a whole lot better than having a bunch of ripped-up turf.

Once the cores have dried completely, they are chopped up with our stable of four Jacobsen Turfcats that are outfitted with flail mowers.  Despite being a bit aged, the machines held up extremely well, even in Monday's heat.  As you might be able to see, it's an extremely dusty job, and each of the operators is outfitted with a respirator mask, goggles, and ear protection.

After the cores have been chopped once, Chad uses a heavy chain drag to move some of the soil back into the holes and to separate the soil from the undesirable thatch.  The Turfcats then chop the remaining cores once more, and Chad drags them a second time.

Following the chopping and dragging, all that remains is a little bit of soil and some thatch.  Much of the soil falls into the holes as it's blown, and the thatch is sent to the rough to be raked up.  As they go, the operators also clean the soil from the irrigation heads and yardage plaques.

When the blowing ends, the water begins flying.  Not only does the water keep the turf alive after it's been tortured for two days, but it also drives some of the remaining soil into the ground.

And that's where the photo diary ends.  But, it certainly doesn't mean that that's the end of aerification.  Once the fairways have dried, they are overseeded with creeping bentgrass, drug with a lighter-duty metal mat to further break-up any soil on the turf surface, and finally, they are mown.  

Lastly, any areas of turf that were ripped up are resodded, minorly-damaged areas are filled with divot mix, and the junior tees are put back in the fairways. 

The 'A' Word

Let's just get the bad news out of the way...  If you look at the club's golf calendar, you'll notice that the annual fairway aerification (the dreaded 'A' word) is scheduled to begin this Sunday afternoon.  This weekend, the course will definitely be wetter than normal. The coming wetness is needed to not only allow us to pull the deepest cores, but the fairways need to survive without water until aerification is complete.  Additionally, the extra water now will help them heal as quickly as is possible.  Most have been through this routine before and will hopefully agree that it's all a necessary evil. 

If everything goes as planned, nine holes should be open on Wednesday and the other nine on Thursday.  However, this timing can be altered by two factors:  the weather and equipment breakdowns (of the lack thereof).  Right now, the weather looks nearly perfect.  Besides a very small chance for a shower or two on Tuesday, Sunday and Monday are forecasted to be ideal.  After the cores are pulled from the ground, they must dry before we can chop them up, drag them in, and blow the remaining thatch of off the fairways.  Accordingly, the drying process is the biggest hold-up.  With heavy dew and a lot of shade, the southern halves of the fairways take a while to dry.  Sunny, warmish days with a little bit of wind are the best that we can hope for, and Sunday and Monday appear to be just that.  But, we all know that forecasts and reality don't always align.




The difficult-to-see brown cores around the 150 yard plaque on 2 fairway are a sampling of what's to come.

 For the past month or so, we have been getting a jump start on the process by aerifying some of the shadiest spots on 2, 6, and 15.  We pick the cores up from these areas and fill the holes with sand in order to minimize some of the mess that aerifying inevitably results in.  Today, we did the same around some sprinkler heads.  To allow for more precision than the big machines that do the bulk of the fairway aerifying are capable of, we aerify around each of the fairway irrigation heads and yardage plaques with a smaller machine.  And, by starting on it today, we'll have a jump start on the big machines on Sunday.  As the week progresses, I'm going to do my best to document the process that we use for aerifiying.

At the same time, we will also be doing some minor aerification on the greens.  Most will be aerified with a small-diameter solid tine that doesn't pull any soil to the surface, but a few of the greens that have the poorest soil profile with be core aerified with a small-diameter hollow tine that does pull some soil from the green.  After rolling and mowing, these small holes will be hardly noticeable by Wednesday, but they will allow the plants to send their roots down more easily.  With the heat (and associated root loss) that we had in July and August, this will provide a much-needed boost to the plants' health as we approach the end of the season.  Besides providing channels for root growth, aerifying reduces thatch through physical elimination during core processing and by incorporating oxygen that thatch-degrading microbes thrive on.  By keeping thatch in check and by encouraging root growth, this entire process pays off during summers like the one that we've had.

With the fantastic weather that we've been experiencing (albeit that two days around the Badgers' trouncing of UNLV), we were able to complete a few small projects before half of our crew departed for teaching high school and attending college.  The most notable improvement took place to the back of 8 championship tee.  Over the past two years, the bank had started eroding and something had to be done.

As you can see from the above pictures, we built a wall with treated railroad ties, back-filled the prior drop-off with soil, and added sod to complete the project.  Finally, a couple of invasive shrubs were removed and the trees were trimmed.  Even though the teeing surface is the same size as it was, it certainly feels much bigger now. Although it was a relatively small project, we think that it's a much-needed improvement.  Since we needed some bluegrass sod for this project, we ordered a little extra to finally complete the juniper removal by number 1 forward tee and to replace the worn-out area between the bunker and cart path by 4 green.

As the days get shorter and the leaves begin to show a tinge of color, fall is inevitably on its way.  The golf event calendar is nearly blank, but there will be plenty of great golf to be played after we complete the dreaded 'A' word.  It's almost hard to imagine that things are showing signs of winding down, but with a long, hot summer in the rear-view mirror and a dwindling crew on staff, the change is welcome one on our end.

Lasting Effects

We've had some picture-perfect days this week, and the view from the clubhouse to Lake Mendota never gets old.

Stepping into the 58-degree outside air this morning, it was hard to imagine that it was a little over 20 days ago that our daily highs nearly topped 100.  Needless to say, we're very glad to be in the midst of a "normal" stretch of 80 degree days and 60 degree nights.  While it may seem as if the effects of the extreme weather that we experienced from mid-July through early August should be gone, they unfortunately aren't.

In this profession, it's often said that the only thing that grass does quickly is die, and as I chronicled in previous posts, our turf lost a tremendous amount of its rooting depth during the heat.  And, while the current weather will encourage more root growth, deep roots won't return overnight.  Sunny days with low humidity and even just a little bit of wind can really dry out the upper layer of the soil profile, and without any substantial roots, we'll continue to keep an eye out for wilting turf.  Accordingly, just because the weather has broken, we won't necessarily be able to back off on watering the course, and it may not play with the firmness that some desire until the roots return.

Also, some of you may have noticed that the greens that suffered from winter damage this year are starting to look a little less than ideal.  It appears as if the cumulative effects of a cold spring followed by a hot summer are becoming apparent on 3, 6, 14, and 16 greens.  Although we certainly were glad to have creeping bentgrass fill-in the majority of these areas, the juvenile plants did not have very much time to establish themselves before they were thrown in the fire of the summer heat.  As the picture below illustrates, the undamaged, healthy plugs that we transplanted from the chipping green to number 14 are a vibrant shade of green, but the young bentgrass plants are thinning.



The dark-green circles of transplanted turf are starting to stand-out amongst the weakened juvenile plants.

  We are optimistic that the favorable nighttime temperatures, forecasted rainfall (crossing our fingers), and fertilizer that we applied this week will quell the thinning turf.  Otherwise, short of fast forwarding to fall, there's not a whole lot that can be done, but we will be babying these areas as much as possible.

With the slight respite from the craziness that Mother Nature has provided, we were able to remove some trees this week.  Two linden trees between 3 and 4 were taken down; one had a very large crack that made it an imminent safety hazard and the other was removed to allow for some sunlight to penetrate the thick canopy.  Next year, we might actually be able to grow some grass in this newly-lit area.  Ash trees to the left of 14 fairway and to the back of 10 green were also taken down.  These less-desirable trees were beginning to significantly affect several younger shagbark hickories, and their removal will allow the shagbarks to develop very nicely.  Finally, a large, out-of-play silver maple was removed from the back right of 16 green.  This tree cast significant shade on the putting surface for much of the day and has been a major contributing factor to the winter injury that the back-half of the green has had in recent years.  Once the stump is gone, we are tentatively planning on installing a perennial landscape bed with a walking path that will act as a shortcut to 17 tee in this area.  All-in-all, we believe that it will be an aesthetic improvement that should greatly improve the health of 16 green.

Lastly, many more invasive species (box elders, mulberries, and buckthorns) were removed in the wooded area that's between the lift and the cart path by 9 green and that entire area sure has seen a makeover this summer.

It's been another trying summer, but the light is at the end of the tunnel.  Soon, the leaves will be falling in earnest, and Camp Randall will be filled with 80,000 red-clad crazies.  Then, the turf (and its caretakers) will hopefully be able to breathe a sigh of relief.

It Rained (Finally)!

While this may not be the best picture in the world, the one-inch rainfall that we received on July 27 was worth documenting.

After a significant amount of complaining by the author, Mother Nature has finally provided us with some much-needed rainfall, and now, it probably won't stop.  Since yesterday morning, the golf course has received 1.25" of rain and counting.  The forecast is calling for scattered rain throughout the day and potentially heavy rain tonight.  It seems as if our storm dodging is done for the meantime, but after not receiving significant rain since June 19, I suppose that we are due.

If you've been on the course recently, you'll hopefully agree that we came through the extended heat spell in relatively good shape.  From July 16-26, the average high temperature was just a shade above 90 degrees.  And, if you read my previous post, the cool-season grasses that we maintain aren't particularly fond of such temperatures.  During several afternoons, the soil temperature at a 2" depth was also above 90 degrees.  So, while the turf may not appear to be stressed to the casual observer, there are some signs of physiological stress on the course.  The above-average temperatures that we experienced resulted in significant die-back of the roots, and the most-affected plants are Poa annua and the juvenile creeping bentgrass plants that filled-in many of the areas that received winter damage. 

The juvenile creeping bentgrass on greens 3 and 6 seem to be the most affected.  Not only did these greens receive winter injury due to their shaded location, but they are almost completely blocked from receiving the predominately westerly and southerly summer winds.  And, just as the wind cools us on hot days, it also cools the turfgrass.  Because of this, many courses in the the southern and eastern U.S. install fans near the greens to keep them cool.

All-in-all, the hard work of our crew has kept the course in fine shape, considering the circumstances.  In particular, a lot of credit goes to Omar and Randy, who have joined Chad and I in chasing wilting turf.  Without complaint, they spent some long afternoons dragging hoses around the course.

Besides battling the weather, not a whole lot else is new.  And, now that the rain has finally arrived, my wishes for 70-degree weather will begin in earnest.   



Heat Advisory

It's been a great week on the golf course.  We were able to apply a light rate of fertilizer to the fairways and now have 99% of the course sprayed for Japanese beetles.  Additionally, the weather was very mild, and the turf and maintenance crew enjoyed the cooler temperatures.  Considering that we've only received 0.5" of rain over the past 25 days, the course is looking and playing very nicely.  As such, here's a picture that I took today of the 8th hole...

...and considering that it's the middle of July, everything looks pretty darn good.

Now, onto the bad news...

If you've been paying attention to the weather forecast, you're well aware that the next 10 days, and hopefully not more, are going to be downright HOT.  After today, the lowest high temperature in the 10-day forecast is 87 degrees and that's for next Sunday.  Besides extreme daytime temperatures, the mercury is only going to fall into the high 60s to mid 70s during the nighttime hours.  As you can probably imagine, it's going to be a very stressful time for the turf, as there will be no respite from super-optimal temperatures.  With these temperatures, the plants will not be photosynthesizing, and because the plants are constantly respiring, such an extended spell of hot weather has the potential to use all of the energy that the plants have stored. This is indirect temperature kill, and besides having healthy plants going into the stress period (which we do), there isn't a lot that can be done to prevent it from happening.  Plants can also suffer from direct temperature kill when the leaf temperatures reach 100-130 degrees, and when the air temperatures are 90+ degrees, the green leaves (white grass would be nice) can easily get to this temperature on sunny days by absorbing the sunlight.

Aside from applying the proper plant protectants, which we are doing tomorrow and Monday, water management is the key to get through these times with the least amount of damage possible.  Although it may be tempting to water like crazy, this can actually do more harm than good during extreme heat.  Water holds heat much more easily than air, and saturated soils would bake the plants.  However, we have to make sure that there's enough water to allow for both transpirational cooling and respiration.  There's no doubt that it's a tricky balance, and we will be doing plenty of hand watering to provide the most optimal soil moisture that we can.  Additionally, there's a good chance that we will be briefly running irrigation heads on the fairways during the early afternoon hours.  This technique is called "syringing", and it can prevent direct high temperature kill by cooling the plants by as much as ten degrees.  So, if you have to dodge some sprinklers next week, just know that the turf appreciates it.

Continuing our defensive approach, we will limit mowing of greens, tees, and fairways as much as possible, and they will be mown as early in the morning as is possible.  Additionally, the greens may be a little bit slower until the heat and humidity subside.  We will be slightly raising the mowing heights on the greens to alleviate a little bit of stress and to prevent them from scalping, as the greens get "puffy" from the humidity.  And, finally, we may restrict cart traffic to the rough only during the afternoon heat.  As the picture below illustrates, stressed turf and carts don't get along very well...

Carts can damage stressed turf, as is evident on the right side of number 7.  Hundreds of these in the fairways wouldn't be a pretty sight.

Well, that's a lot of doom and gloom for one post.  Although we learned a long time ago that we can't control the weather, you can be assured that we're making very calculated decisions and will be busting our humps to keep the course as healthy as possible.

Dry and Busy

It's been a few weeks since I've had the time to post, and you can be assured that it isn't because I've been vacationing.  As you can probably imagine, we've been a little on the busy side over the past few weeks.  Between the 4th of July fireworks, several big events, and an extended dry spell, the shop has been abuzz with activity, and the irrigation system (and our entire crew) has been working overtime.

As has been the case for much of the summer, the brunt of the severe storms that passed through the area this morning missed the golf course.  We did end up receiving 0.25" of much-needed rain.  This was the first measurable rainfall at the course since it rained 0.25" on June 21, and since May 25, only 3.25" has fallen.  During the same stretch last year, it rained 11", and we feel as if a happy medium is in order for 2012.

The 7:00 am sky looked very ominous this morning.

With this rain, the mosquitoes might become more prevalent.  During the fireworks on the 4th, a couple of the oodles of spectators offered reminders on many of the fairways that bug spray burns turf.  So, if you need to apply some mosquito repellent to yourself, please so do on a cart path or in the rough.  Otherwise, there will be a lot of green footprints surrounded by yellow turf on the course.

Besides the burns from both bug spray and fireworks, we're happy with how the course has been holding up.  In order to keep the course as fast and firm as possible, we run the irrigation system as little as possible overnight and spend a significant amount of time handwatering dry spots on greens, tees, and fairways.  Although it is time consuming and labor intensive, handwatering allows us to target the areas that need water the most.

Between routine maintenance and time spent watering, we haven't had very much extra time to devote to special projects over the past few weeks.  The only exception to this is that both the bathroom by 2 green and one of the cold storage buildings at the shop were repainted.  Both buildings were in sore need of a little TLC, and the fresh coat of paint did wonders.

Over the next few day, we'll be taking advantage of the brief weather break to continue a couple of tasks: spraying for Japanese beetles and aerifying tees.  We'll also be fertilizing the fairways, and we might even have time for a few small projects before the 90s return.

As difficult as the weather has made our jobs, it sure has been great for getting in a few rounds.  And, if you're like us, you'll enjoy the next three days of moderate weather before the furnace turns back on for the weekend.

Dodging Bullets

In more way than one, this week has been full of near misses.  Although the weather has been dreary and not very conducive for golfing, we've actually lucked out with the rain.  On Tuesday, many parts of Madison were hit hard by the south-to-north moving thunderstorms, and the National Weather Service's official rainfall total was 1.36" for that day.  At the golf course, we only received 0.25".  So, while it certainly is wet out there, our normal maintenance has been largely unaffected, and the course is doing quite well.  It's spells like these that we're especially grateful to have well-drained soils, rolling topography, and cultural practices (especially the dreaded annual aerification) that keep the course surprisingly playable in times of wet weather.

Last night, we also apparently dodged another bullet when someone pulled a u-turn near the 16th green.  Had they decided to travel another 15 yards to the north, we would've had one ripped-up green on our hands.  With the course sitting between two heavily-travelled corridors of vehicle and pedestrian traffic, vandalism is an ever-present threat that we simply hope will never happen on a large scale.

In between dodging (the word of the post) rain drops, we were also able to complete a few small projects on the course, and I'll let the following pictures do the talking for these...

The perennial garden by the putting green has really filled-in over the last two years.  Yesterday, it was decluttered so that there is now some semblance of organization to the plantings.  Also, we added a bird bath, and I have to say that the birds will have quite the view when they're getting cleaned-up. 

The overgrown junipers that lined the left side of number 1 forward tee were removed this week.  Beneath them, we found a very nice rock wall (and a few golf balls from errant tee shots).  When we get an order of sod, we'll complete the transformation.



Course Happenings

With the arrival of our complete summer crew (who were profiled in the last Divot), the action has really been picking up on the golf course.  We've begun and finished several projects over the past couple of weeks, and if you've been on the course recently, I'm sure that you've noticed some of them.

The most striking change has been the transformation of the small wooded area between 9 green and 1 tee.  Over the years, the oaks, along with a black locust, that dominate the upper canopy of this area had become lost amongst a tangle of mulberries, honeysuckles, and buckthorns.  With the exception of a large mulberry that remains, we cleared the invasive understory plants, and I believe that it's a dramatic improvement. 

The before and after pictures really illustrate the changes between 9 green and 1 tee. 

Along with the invasive species removal, we've also stopped mowing the hillside and sprayed the weeds growing on it.  Over time, it should be a great looking native area, and we hope that you also like the change.

Last week, nine trees were planted around the course.  Shagbark hickories, red maples, and crabapples were the selected species for this planting.  Of special note is the shagbark hickory that was planted between 12 and 13 fairways (near 12 green).  This tree was donated by the Tilsen family in memory of Mr. Tilsen's father, Cy.  We certainly appreciate the donation and are sure that Cy's tree will be knocking down many errant shots in the years to come.

Our resident tree expert, Howard Kulke (on the left) and Angel Ramirez in the midst of planting the Tilsen memorial tree.

Yesterday, the repainting of one of our cold storage buildings and the bathroom by 2 green began.  The first step in the process was to waterblast the loose paint and debris from the surfaces, and if you're near the bathroom, you'll see that there was a lot of loose paint.  For the meantime, the bathroom looks even worse than normal and only one side is open.  Next week, it will be repainted (weather permitting) and fully opened.  The job has been contracted out to a company that specializes in painting metal buildings, which is why we aren't painting it immediately.  When it's done, it will look a whole lot better than the green paint that had seen much better days.

Finally, if you've been on the range lately, you may have noticed that the chipping green is covered in white dots.  These dots separate the different treatments of a trial that's being conducted by Dr. Jim Kerns (turfgrass pathologist) and Paul Koch (doctoral student and turfgrass diagnostician) of UW-Madison.  Once they share more details of the project, I'll be sure to pass them along.  Nearly every year, we host a UW-Madison turfgrass research trial, and the partnership that we have with the university is most definitely mutually beneficial.

First Week of June

 It certainly was a busy week on the golf course.  Although Memorial Day offered the golf course maintenance staff an afternoon free of work, the lost time made the remainder of the week a little crazy.  Besides the normal weekly mowing and course upkeep, we were also able to get some special projects completed this week.  As many of you have noticed, all of the annual flowers were installed on Tuesday through Thursday.  As I had alluded to in the May Divot, the flower beds will most definitely have a different look this year, and we believe that the much more intricate designs will be well-received.

On Tuesday, five pallets of sod also arrived, and we used it to improve a number of areas on the course.  Most of the sod was laid where a large silver maple was removed on the left side of 10 green.  This tree, and the extensive amount of cart traffic that traveled on both of its sides, made it impossible to maintain a stand of turf that would allow for fair shots.  Last week, on the same day that the aforementioned silver maple was removed, a large poplar that was between 11 and 12 was also taken down.  The poplar had a very large crack that made the tree a tremendous safety concern.  Getting back to the sod, we also spruced up the cart path surrounds by 13 green, 17 tee, and 18 tee, and in my opinion, this work has made the paths look almost like new.

As part of our Audubon environmental initiative, we've also recently created a few no-mow areas on the course.  These areas are located to the right of 3 forward tee, on either side of the cart path by 9 green, and on the left side of 16.  These areas were sprayed with a herbicide to kill the unsightly weeds, and we expect them to evolved over time.  The area by 9 green will take a new look when we remove the invasive buckthorn, honeysuckle, and box elder plants that have taken over the wooded areas on both sides of the cart path.  We removed some of the invasives a few weeks ago, but a broken chipper prevented us from getting very far.  In time, it is our hope that this area will take on the look of an oak savanna.

Today, we replaced some of the damaged turf areas near the center of 7 green with plugs from the back right perimeter of the green.  Hopefully, these will be the last of the plugs.  Although they are unsightly and occasionally slightly bumpy, the plugs that we installed in 7, 8, and 14 green have greatly enhanced recovery during the chilly spring (more on that later).  Due to the number of plugs that we knew would have to be done, we took the majority of them from the chipping green.  Unfortunately, the many different colors and compositions of creeping bentgrass and Poa annua that populate our greens make these plugs stand out, but they will blend in over time.  If you look at the ugly plugs that line much of the chipping green, we hope that you'll agree that the mismatched plugs on 7, 8, and 14 look a whole lot better than the alternative.

Returning to talk of the frigid spring (ironically on a 90+ degree day), Chad and I received an email from Dr. Doug Soldat, who's a Soil Science professor at UW-Madison.  His email contained the graphs that I've copied below, and the data that was collected at the Arlington, WI agricultural research station really illustrates the the growing degree day lag that's been discussed in prior posts.  Of course, after today's heat, I'm just about ready for some cooler weather...

Please note that the graphs will only show up when using the Firefox browser, and they'll be a red "x" in Internet Explorer.  Sorry for the inconvenience, but I'm not tech savvy enough to correct the problem.

Although they may be difficult to read, these graphs show the normal growing degree units (the solid blue line), along with years that have had significant deviations (both high and low) over the past 30 years.  2011 is represented by the black dashed line.