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.