Winter work

With snow completely covering the golf course and falling outside as I type this post, our winter work is well underway. We have begun the process of servicing our equipment and will continue to do so throughout the winter to ensure we get every piece of equipment checked. In addition to the equipment, course accessories have been getting some attention. Currently all the benches that go on the golf course were cleaned, sanded and received a fresh coat of stain to make them look like new again.

Greens covers

The grounds staff completed the installation of all five greens covers yesterday (11/21) and the timing could not have been any better. This is the third winter that #11 and #17 green will be covered, the second winter for #3 green, and this fall we added covers to #8 and #14.



Applying cover to #3 green Thursday (11/21)



Snow on the course the following morning (11/22)





In addition, the golf course will be closed to play this weekend and greens will lkely remain closed until spring.

November Update

The month of November has been a busy one for the grounds staff. So far we have accomplished a number of tasks in order to prepare for winter.

On Thursday (11/7) the grounds staff removed the large Ash tree located next to #3 mens tee. This tree was selected for removal for many reasons; first, being an Ash tree it was only a matter of time before it would become infested with Emerald Ash Borer. Second, the removal of this tree will help get more sun on #2 green, especially in the winter. Third, #3 tee would frequently dry out in that back corner so the removal of this tree should help with moisture management. In addition, Honey Locusts located behind #10 green and #11 green were removed as well. The removal of these trees should help increase light and air flow and promote healthier turf in the surrounding area.

Last Tuesday and Wednesday (11/12-13) the irrigation system was winterized as were the restrooms on the golf course. The irrigation system needs to be cleared of water using compressed air so the water does not freeze in the pipes over winter.

On Friday (11/15) snow mold protection was applied to greens, tees, and fairways. Snow mold is a winter disease caused by cold-loving fungal species. Snow mold is unique because it can attack the grass plant at low temperatures. If left untreated, this disease could have a devastating effect on these turf areas.

All of these tasks will help prepare the golf course for winter.

Take a little off the top

Today we began the process of cutting back all the perennial ornamentals on the golf course. Work was completed on the beds around the clubhouse and some of the areas on the course with the rest of the beds to be finished in the near future. The recent string of frosty nights have pretty much put an end to the aesthetic beauty of these plants for the year. It is necessary to remove the dead tissue once a year so the beds do not appear messy and overgrown. Perennials can be cut back in either the spring or fall and consists of simply cutting the plants about one or two inches above ground level.

Notice anything missing?

With the end of the golf season approacing, the grounds staff has begun removing course accessories from the golf course. The drinking fountains located at the bathrooms on #6 were disconnected last week to prevent water from freezing in the lines and causing damage. In addition, the water coolers and tee signs were brought in and put away for the winter. The next item to be brought in will most likely be ballwashers. Ballwashers need to be brought in before the liquid inside freezes as this would cause them to crack. Along with course accessories, most of the hitting mats on the driving range tee were brought in and the remainder will be taken in Friday in conjunction with the closing of the range for the season. These tasks are completed once we get caught up blowing and mulching leaves and periodic mowing. All of this work is to prepare the golf course for winter and make sure we are not surprised when the first snow comes. The next few weeks will be busy as we will be blowing out the irrigation system, applying snow mold protection, and preparing to cover greens just to name a few things. Lets hope the weather in November cooperates and we are able to complete everything without any problems.

First frost

Monday morning (10/14) we had the first frost of the fall season. Overnight low temperatures were down in the low 30's and skies were clear which is a combination that will almost always result in frost. However, having temperatures around or below freezing does not neccessarily mean frost will develop. Heavy cloud cover can trap heat given off by living organisms and keep the ground warm enough to avoid frost. Conversely, air temperatures can be in the mid to upper 40's and frost can still develop if skies are clear overnight and there is no wind.

It is important to stay off the turf when frost is present. Frost occurs when the water in the turfs cells freeze. Traffic on this turf can cause the ice to rupture the cells resulting in turf injury.

Greens Topdressing

On Tuesday (9/3) the staff completed topdressing of all 20 greens on the golf course. The practice of sand topdressing has benefits for the player as well as the superintendent. For the player, the benefits of topdressing are that the greens will be smoother, firmer and hold shots better. For the superintendent, the benefit aside from smoother and firmer surfaces is the sand will help minimize the production of thatch, which is the layer of organic matter located just below the turf surface.

The process involves spreading a thin layer of sand over the putting surface. The sand must then be allowed to dry sufficently on the surface before it can be rolled off the turf down to the base of the plant. Once the greens are rolled, most of the sand is cleared from the greens and the remainder gets watered in using overnight irrigation. The greens are mowed and rolled the next day to clean up any remaining sand and the result is a smooth, firmer putting surface.

Introduction...

As the new Assistant Superintendent, I wanted to take a moment to introduce myself. My name is Pat Bastron and I come to Blackhawk following Assistant stints at clubs in Peoria Illinois and the North Shore of Chicago. I am incredibly excited to join Chad and the entire staff at Blackhawk. As a 2009 graduate of UW-Madison, the opportunity to return to Madison and become part of the Blackhawk Country Club team is indescribable.

I began working on a golf course in 2001 at age 15 for my father who was a Superintendent at Glen Flora Country Club in Waukegan Illinois for 24 years. I learned the basics of turf management at Glen Flora all through high school until 2006. In 2007 I completed my first internship at Old Elm Club in Highland Park Illinois. At Old Elm I continued to perfect the skills I had learned and gain experience in new areas. Then in 2008 I had the exciting opportunity to intern at Interlachen Country Club in Edina Minnesota which hosted the Women’s U.S. Open that summer. Having the chance to be a part of a major Championship was very exhilarating! My final internship in 2009 took place at Conway Farms Golf Club in Lake Forest Illinois. Conway Farms hosted the Western Amateur Championship in 2009 and will host the PGA Tour’s BMW Championship this September. As I mentioned earlier, following graduation from UW-Madison I took a position as Assistant Superintendent at Mt. Hawley Country Club in Peoria Illinois. Working in Central Illinois offered some unique opportunities and challenges that helped shape my career in turf management. After two seasons at Mt. Hawley, I took a position as Assistant Superintendent at Sunset Ridge Country Club in Northfield Illinois. I feel my diverse work experience has well prepared me for the challenges and rewards that Blackhawk Country club offers.

On a more personal note, I am an avid golfer with a 12 handicap. I enjoy bowling, fishing, hunting and watching Badger sports. Also, I have an identical twin brother named Phil. I look forward to meeting each one of you around the golf course and please be patient with me as I begin learning everyone’s names. Once again I wanted to say how excited I am to join the staff at Blackhawk Country Club, and look forward to finishing this golf season strong.

Pat Bastron

The Heat is On

As much as we wish that 90+ degree weather with pea soup humidity would've stayed away this year, we knew that it would arrive at some point.  Thankfully, the weather is forecasted to break with the passage of cold front on Friday night.  Thus far, the course has been holding up quite well, and we've only had to do relatively minor afternoon hand-watering touchups.  Now, we just have to survive the next few days.

This hot, humid weather with persistent dew has been perfect for disease development, and we've seen dollar spot activity in the rough, cosmetic brown patch towards the back of 15 and 17 greens, and the ever-deadly pythium on a very few isolated fairway areas.  Yesterday, plant protectants were applied to all greens, tee, and fairways, and you will most likely not ever notice the diseases that popped up on Tuesday night.  In our minds, just a little bit of disease development means that we are timing our plant protectant applications appropriately and not wasting very expensive products.

Aside from normal maintenance, which has been keeping us very busy, we haven't undertaken any noteworthy products over the past few weeks.  However, the reshaping and sodding project that we completed earlier in the year by 18 green has established and matured very nicely.

For the first time this year, we've had to run the automatic irrigation system for more than three consecutive nights, and despite the moisture that is need to get the turf through this tough stretch of weather, the course has remained quite firm and fast.

In completely unrelated news, some may have noticed that we have a duck nesting at the base of hackberry tree that is to the left of hole 2.  While she doesn't seem to mind the occasional visitor, please be respectful of her nest and eggs.

As we've been telling our employees, be safe in the heat and drink more water than you think you need.

Overcompensating

Someone (Mother Nature) has been overcompensating for something (the 2012 drought) this year.

A dark and very wet 7th fairway from this morning.


After last year, I vowed to not complain about rain, but it is starting to get a little ridiculous.  From April through June of 2012, we received 6.82" of rain (and only 0.35" in June) and pumped 9.5 million gallons of water through the irrigation system.  Fast forward one year... 20.47" of rain has fallen and only 1.4 millons gallons (mostly to water-in products) has been pumped.  With rain falling as I type and more in the forecast, we have officially topped 8" for the month of June.

As I had mentioned in the last post, we are lucky to have such a well draining course that doesn't have a waterway running through it.  However, the constantly saturated soils do present concerns for turf health.  Prior to the monsoons starting last week, we were actually seeing some areas in the rough drying out and these areas are those that stay the wettest the longest.  When roots can't access oxygen, they quite simply shrink towards the drier surface and that is precisely what happened.  Hopefully, the soils will drain well enough that this doesn't happen on a widespread basis to the fine turf areas, but it's a distinct possibility that could make it a difficult summer.  Luckily, it hasn't gotten as warm as was forecasted because nothing hurts roots more than boiling in waterlogged soils, and for now, we'll hope for the best.

In other news, we completed the sodding project by 18 last week and pleased with the results.  All of the rain has provided a strong test to the water diversion that was a part of this project, and we will have to make a few minor tweaks to get it functioning as we would like.  Until the roots establish and the rains stop, we will keep the sand bags in place, but they will hopefully be gone by next week.

The back left bunker on 18 is still washing out a little bit, but not nearly as badly as it has in the past.

Given the rains, we feel fortunate to have gotten the Pitch In for the Patio fundraiser and the TaylorMade Invitational completed over the past two days, and from what we've heard, both were well received.  Now, we have our fingers crossed for some dry days.



All About 18

It's hard to imagine two years that have started differently than 2012 and 2013.  By this time last year, we were probably already handwatering frequently and I was likely using portable sprinklers in the rough.  Not to jinx ourselves, but we have yet to water the course this June and have maybe run two full-course irrigation programs this year.  Despite all of the rain, the course has been holding up quite nicely, and it's times like these that we are thankful to have a course that drains so well.  Of course, luck plays a role with the weather, and we dodged some downpours on Saturday evening that hit areas south of Madison with an inch of rain.

As of last week, we were fully-staffed for the year, and in spite of having more new employees than normal, it looks as if we should have another great crew this year.  With all of the extra bodies, we are able to do more than just mow grass (which we've been doing a lot of) and some of the detail work that's tough to find time for in the spring is now getting done.  Plus, we're able to tackle some projects.

Two weeks ago, we removed eight arborvitaes that separated the 18th green from the 13th tee.  These trees unfairly punished slightly mis-hit tee shots on 18 and they also covered up some great views.  I think that the view from hole 18 down 13 is now one of the best on the course, and the picture below captures just that.

Tomorrow, thirteen pallets of sod will be arriving to complete the transformation on both ends of the 18th hole.  We will be leveling the ground with the cart paths that were paved by 18 tee last fall and by 18 green a few weeks ago.  Sod will also be laid in the area where the arborvitaes were removed, and the area to the left of 18 green will be receiving a more dramatic makeover that will improve it aesthetically and functionally.

It's no great secret the the back left bunker on 18 washes out frequently, and the main culprit causing this is water from the parking lot and service drive the rushes down the banks and into the bunker.  To impede the cascading water, we will be raising the backside lip of this bunker and lowering the valley behind both leftside bunkers to encourage the water to run towards the cart path.  We're pretty excited to not have to pump/fix this bunker after every minor rainfall, and it will subsequently play much more fairly, too.

One of the other more noticeable changes on the course is the straw matting that is between the ninth green and first tee (pictured below).  After removing invasive shrubs from this area two years ago, it has been our intention to improve this area further.  This year, we hired an ecological firm to plant a savanna prairie mix in this barren spot, and once the plants germinate and mature, we think that it will be a great looking addition to the course.

Otherwise, the annual flowers have been planted, and the fairways have received their annual granular fertilizer application.  It's hard to believe that in a few weeks, we will be celebrating the 4th of July and beginning our Japanese beetle grub preventative applications.  It's amazing how time flies when Mother Nature provides moderate temperatures and ample rainfall; let's hope that she keeps up the good work.

(Grass) Growing Pains

Maybe it was the late opening or maybe it's that the grass is still growing like crazy, but the start to the 2013 golf season has been exceptionally busy.  It's almost as if we've been squeezing six weeks of work into a three-week timeframe, but we are glad that reinforcements (in the form of summer employees) have begun arriving.  Overall, we are very happy with the course conditions, and we'll be even happier when the last of the winter damage finally heals in.  Last week, we expedited the recovery process by transplanting healthy plugs from the chipping green into some of the more concentrated areas of injury.  The good news is that the affected spots have been largely filling in with creeping bentgrass, which should help in future winters.

Otherwise, the big news of the spring has been the decommisioning of the hillside lift that has been transporting golfers from the 9th green to the 10th tee for decades.  To say that this saga has been a nightmare for Chad and me would be an understatement, and although there will be no lift in the immediate future, we are at least relieved to be moving forward.  We are going to act as quickly as possible to remove the exisiting lift and to get the old track line paved.

Last week, you may have noticed that we removed a couple of trees.  The old shagbark hickory that has affected many shots on the right side of hole four had been rapidly declining over the past few years, and this year, it only had two branches that were still alive.  We will be planting two trees--a maple and an oak--in its place.  The other tree that we took down was a medium-sized ash tree between holes 12 and 13.  This ash tree had very quickly developed a large split and was an imminent safety hazard.  Our resident nurseryman, Howard, has selected an elm as the replacement tree for this site.

Speaking of trees, we occassionally discuss the competing impacts that they have on the health of our turf, and nowhere is this more true than on our ninth green.  We will oftentimes find small tree roots when moving the hole location on this green, but the root (pictured below) that Omar discovered while repairing the back left sprinkler takes the grand prize to date.

Aside from the morning shade issues and the shelf of rocks that the ninth green is built on, these tree roots are one of the reasons why this green is our most finicky.  Two trees to the left of the green are on the chopping block, and we hope to have them removed in the near future.

It looks as if it's going to be a tumultuous week of weather, and 0.85" of rain has already fallen this morning.  But, we hope that you are able to dodge the rain clouds and get some golf in this week.  It's hard to believe that June is just a few days away...
  

 

Busy Weeks

The past two weeks have been a blur, but we've been able to accomplish a lot on the golf course.  This week's accomplishments include fertilizing the greens and tees and aerifying the fairways, and on this cold, rainy day, we can exhale.

Fairway aerification went very well, and the delayed spring actually helped us out tremendously.  Without leaves on the trees, the aerification cores that were pulled on the back 9 dried relatively quickly and evenly, and we were able to grind them up with very little soil left behind.  Usually, the tree leaves keep the cores on the south sides from fully drying and that was not the case this year.  We were also fairly fortunate to dodge the showers on Monday, and the dry, windy conditions made for perfect core grinding and blowing.  The front 9 fairways were solid-tine aerified for the first time ever, and because this process doesn't bring up any soil, it's almost hard to tell that anything was done to them.  Next year, our plans are to solid tine the back 9 and hollow tine the front 9.

In the coming weeks, we will use small diameter, solid tines to aerify the greens.  We used these once or twice during the season last year, and after rolling the greens, you will hardly notice that that we did anything.  This year, our normal greens core aerification is scheduled to begin on September 29.

Last week, the hillside between holes 14 and 15 dried out enough that we were able to remove the enormous oak tree that toppled over earlier this spring.  Almost all of this tree's major roots were rotten, and the inside of the first three feet of the trunk also had a two-foot diameter section of decay.  From our best estimation (the rings were rather close together), the tree was 130 years old.

With the warmer weather, the greens that suffered winter damage are healing by the day, and we are happy with the progress that they are making.  We will continue to monitor them and take any action necessary to get them fully-healed as quickly as possibly.  Chad dusted off the slit seeder this week and dropped bentgrass seed in the fairway areas that suffered winter injury and these areas will disappear as the soil temperatures allow the already-present Poa annua seeds and newly-added bentgrass seeds to germinate.  Chad also seeded any thin rough areas this week.

All told, it has been a very productive few weeks, and before long, our summer seasonal workers will begin filtering in and the real chaos will begin.

Cold April Showers

If the old adage proves true, we're in store for an abundance of May flowers.  It's no secret that all of Wisconsin has been stuck in a cold, wet weather pattern, and the remainder of this week unfortunately looks no different.  After three nice days, we're in store for a few more inches of rain.  Not counting today's precipitation, the area has officially received 3.97" of rain in April, and the average rainfall for the entire month is 3.4".  It looks as if we're on track to double the monthly normal average.  As far as temperatures go, the average temperature of March was 26.6 degrees (34 is normal), and to this point in April the average has been 39.8 degrees (43.8 is the to-date normal).  All of the aforementioned data has added up to a soggy golf course and turf that is in no hurry to grow very actively. 

However, the course has been officially opened for the year, and it was nice to see a fair amount of golfers enjoying yesterday's beautiful afternoon.  The April 16 opening tied for the third latest opening on record (since 1973) and was exactly two weeks after the average opening date of April 2.

Although it has been a difficult spring to get a lot accomplished on the course, the course is slowly coming together.  With the exception of the wooded area between holes 14 & 15, the entire course has been raked, and we have been working on picking up the many piles.  All greens and fairways 1-10 have been mowed, and we also dimpled, seeded, and topdressed the greens that suffered from some winter injury.

As many have probably seen, a very large oak tree on the right side of hole 14 fell last week, and it ripped off a few adjacent limbs on the way down.  Unbeknownst to us, this tree was rotting away belowground, and it happened to fall in an area that has made cleanup impossible to this point.  With the slope and wetness of the downed tree's location, we will have to wait until conditions dry before we can get our heavy equipment to it.



My small frame provides scale for the very old, very large, uprooted oak tree.

As the weather allows, course supplies will continue to filter from the shop to the course, and we will begin tackling the remaining normal spring projects that are needed to get the course up to par.  Hopefully, the weather will start to cooperate and that the golf season will get in full swing before too long.

Winter Wrap-up

Now that the snow and ice have melted in most places, we have a pretty good idea on how the rollercoaster winter of 2013 treated the golf course, and for the most part, the news is good.  The vast majority of the putting greens have little to no damage, but there are a few that will likely have some winter injury.  However, even though it has been relatively warm over the past week, we won't know for sure until the turf starts actively growing.  Some of the Poa annua looks off-color and dinged, but when we inspect the lower portions of the plants, the newly-forming leaves look quite healthy.

Eight green appears to have suffered the most injury, and it is likely that some if it (20%) will be dead.   This green suffers from poor drainage and what does drain goes directly towards the large evergreen that shades it to the south.  Thus, the melted water refreezes in shaded areas that comprise the middle and back left quadrant of the green.  Otherwise, the greens that concern us at this point are on holes 10, 13, and 15.  While this isn't great news, we are happy to report that it doesn't appear as if temporary greens will be necessary on any hole, and the damage is not nearly as extensive as it has been in the past.  That being said, we will do everything possible to get them 100% healthy as quickly as Mother Nature allows.

Today, we removed the covers from 3, 11, and 17 greens, and they did their jobs.  Despite the extreme shade that each of these greens receive, the covers/foam kept the ice from damaging the turf.  Periodically throughout the winter, we would also use backpack blowers to stimulate air exchange under the covers.  All in all, we are very happy with how the covers performed this year.

The rest of the course appears to be relatively unscathed from the winter's wrath.  Even the areas by 3 green and 6/7 fairways that had very large, unintended ponds on them fared quite well.  We like to think that the pumping that we did on hole 3 helped the cause, and even though we'll never know if it made a difference, it certainly didn't hurt.

What appears to be the biggest casualty of winter is the koi population in the pond.  Three years ago, someone discarded a couple of unwanted koi, and in the time since, our couple of fish turned into a few hundred.  Combine that large population with a small pond with a maximum depth of 5 feet, and what you get are a lot of dead koi.  Once the pond thaws, we will have the unenviable task of getting them out before they stink up the place.

Despite a very wet and sloppy course, we have been carefully working our way around the property this week to take down the snow fence that wasn't iced in and to rake the billion of sticks that came down over winter into piles to be collected later.  To some extent, we rake under every one of the trees, but some (oaks and ashes) are definitely messier than others.  By the end of today, most of the front nine will be raked.  We will probably start cleaning the back nine next week, but because the majority of this nine lies on a north-facing slope, it thaws much more slowly than the southern-facing front nine.

At this point in the update, you're probably wondering when the course is going to be opening.  There are two basic parameters that need to be met before the course can safely open:  frost-free soil and actively-growing turf.  Without these, it's a muddy mess as it is right now.  Our best guess is that the course won't open before April 15, but with high temperatures forecasted to be pretty consistently in the 50s over the next few days, conditions could improve rapidly, especially if this weekend's potential rain drives the frost from the ground.  Rest assured that we will have the course open as soon as possible and that we are as anxious to get the golf season underway as you are.  As updates regarding the course condition and/or opening develop, we will be sure to keep you informed.

Snow Removal

This week, the decision was made to remove snow from the greens.  Since early February, they had been encapsulated in ice, and we were getting close to the 60-day threshold under which Poa annua can generally survive under ice.  The snow depth varied across the course and even on different spots on the same green, but it was generally 8" deep.  The back of number two green had 2' of snowcover thanks to the bowl that it sits in.

We found anywhere from 1-6" of ice on the greens, which was more than we were expecting.  However, now that the snow is gone, the ice has softened, and they are melting quite quickly.  Greens 1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 9, and 10 (those that receive more of the southerly sunlight) are mostly or completely exposed, and although it's still too early to say for sure, we like what we see. 

A few greens have a faint hint of the distinctive odor that accompanies winterkill, and of the more exposed greens, 7, 8, and 10 are the most likely to have some damage.  Luckily, it looks nothing like the winterkill that we've seen in recent years.  We will have a better idea about the status of the rest of the greens once more snow and ice melts, but until they start actively growing, the best that we can do is make educated guesses.

Today, we walked to each green to make sure that the water was draining off of the surfaces, and where it wasn't, channels were cut to allow the meltwater to flow.

Below are some pictures of the snow removal process.

We almost lost Omar in the drift on 2 green.



Getting started on the putting green.  After the first pass, it seems as if it will take hours to clear the green, but most were completed in 45 minutes.

The putting green before...

...during...

...and after snow removal.  They would have made nice ice skating rinks.

Even on a relatively cool, cloudy Wednesday, much of 5 green melted between 8 am (above) and 2:30 pm (below).  This green was cleared of snow on Monday.

Heat Wave Approaching

Finally, a hint of spring is in the forecast.  Temperatures are predicted to climb (?) into the 40s by Wednesday, and we might even make it to 50 on Saturday.  Thus far in March, we've only hit 40 degrees once, and the average high temperature has been 32 degrees; quite the polar opposite from last year.  Between the snow and ice that is on the ground and a frost depth of 18", there is a substantial amount of thawing that has to take place before the course can open, but the light is at least at the end of the tunnel. 

As has been mentioned in prior posts, the greens are covered by 1-2" of ice.  To accelerate their melting, we will be blowing snow from the greens this week.

The snowblowers are ready to get to work on the greens.

We've taken samples from 1, 6, and 8 greens to assess any potential winter damage, and it this point, it looks as if we may have some injury.  The samples from 6 look and smell great, but the samples from 1 and 8 are just OK.  The bad samples are nothing like they have been in years where we've had a lot of winterkill, but at this point, we're not expecting the greens to be perfect.  However, it really is hard to say for sure since this is based on two 4" diameter plugs that represent 0.00002% of the total putting surface.  We should have a better idea on winter's wrath by early next week.

Last Friday, we completed the major tree trimming projects that were slated for the winter.  Most notably, the black walnut tree limbs that were overhanging the left side of 16 green were cut back.  Not only will they no longer punish slightly mishit shots, but the relatively large nuts won't land on the green (or us) come autumn.  A silver maple that was crowding three nearby trees between holes 3 and 4 was also trimmed, and aside from helping the adjacent trees, the extra sunlight will also promote the rough in this area.

Our scheduled winter maintenance went extremely well this year, and with the extended winter, we were able to complete a few special projects around the shop, as well.  Now, we are gearing up to get on the course/rake all of the sticks that fell over the past few months.

Winter Melt Version 3.0

An inch of rain over the weekend has once again created some impressive ponds on the low areas of the course.  Dave, the mechanic of 40 years, commented this morning that he has never seen so much water on holes 6 and 7.  This is the third significant rainfall event this winter, and despite all of the rain, the course is still snow covered.  From Friday to today, the snow depth on 6 green went from 13" to 8", and the forecast isn't calling for melting temperatures until Friday.  Below are some pictures of the course from this morning.  Enjoy (?).

The pond by 6 and 7 (above and below) is bigger than it was in February, and it was the biggest that we had ever seen in February.  The forward tee on 6 is nearly an island tee, and you would have a 200 yard carry to reach the fairway as it is now.

This babbling brook connects the (wanted) pond on 5 to the (unwanted) pond shown above.

The water by 3 green and 4 tee didn't fit in one picture (above and below).

Alright spring, we're ready for your arrival.

Old Tractor, New Home

Yesterday, the oldest piece of equipment that we own went to a new home and got another lease on life.  Back in the day, the 1958 Toro General was used for everything from pulling gang mowers to cutting cups, but for the past 25 years, it has been sitting idle in our shop.  Although it was taking up storage space, it was just too cool to send to the scrap heap, and we were always hopeful that it would end up in the hands of someone who would refurbish it.  Well, that's exactly what happened.

At the Wisconsin Golf Course Superintendents Association's Spring Business Meeting, Chad was talking to Michael Lee, and somehow, the old General was brought up.  Michael, who is the manager of golf course maintenance for the Kohler Company, grew up near Blackhawk and worked on the crew for 5 years.  He actually used the General when he worked here, and to make a long story short, his nostalgia has gotten General a new home.

Chris Zugel (superintendent) and Joe Sell (assistant superintendent) from Whistling Straits picked up the tractor, and Joe is already working on getting it started.  Eventually, I suspect that it will look and run like new, and they have every intention of actually putting it to use.  Who knows, maybe it will even make an appearance on TV when the Straits course hosts the 2015 PGA Championship.

Here are a few pictures from yesterday:

Our 1958 Toro General was loaded up (above) for the trip to Kohler, where its accommodations look significantly more comfortable than they were here (below).

March Madness

What a difference a year makes.  Last year on this date, we were only two days away from a high temperature of 65 degrees and ten days from opening the course.  Now, we are awaiting another winter storm that is forecasted to dump 6-10" of snow on top of the 7" that we received last week.  Although we are ready to get to work on the course, we are hoping that this is a sign that 2013 will be a little less extreme than 2012.  Normally, the course opens in the first week of April, and since 1973, the opening dates have ranged from March 7 (2000) to April 22 (1993).  In the meantime, work continues inside and out.

Last week's snow made it a little more difficult than normal, but we were able to get around the course well enough to remove four trees: a dead maple between 1 & 10, an ash tree between 2 & 11, a silver maple right of 11 that had split 3 years ago, and a declining beech tree at the beginning right of 12 fairway.  What resulted from this tree removal was a large pile of wood...

If you drove down Lake Mendota Drive, you may have also noticed that the village removed three ash trees that were adjacent to the course.  Municipalities all over southern Wisconsin are implementing plans to deal with the emerald ash borer, and we have been bracing for its arrival for many years.  Currently, we only have 47 susceptible ash trees on the course (64 have been cut down), and the vast majority of the remaining ashes have an insignificant effect on how the course plays or are small, easily-removed trees.

Otherwise, we have filled out our staff for the coming year, and there will be a few more new faces than normal.  Two of the four new employees are college students with prior landscaping experience and one is a high school senior who will be enrolling in the Golf Enterprise Management Program at UW-Stout.  It is always nice to be able to hire seasonal employees with prior applicable experience and/or interest in the profession.

Stay safe in tomorrow's storm, and cross your fingers (and toes) that this is the last major snow event of the winter.   

Strange Sights

The rollercoaster weather pattern has continued this week, and after reaching a high of 45 degrees two days ago, the windchill dipped to -8 degrees last night.  The precipitation throughout the winter has been above normal and that's a good thing when considering the vast amount of soil moisture that was depleted during the 2012 drought.  The days are getting noticably longer, and I, for one, am getting antsy for the arrival of spring.  Last year at this time, temperatures were already consistently in the 40s, and the course was unknowingly three weeks away from opening.  That doesn't look to be the case this year, but you just never know.

The standing water that was pictured in the previous post allowed for an unusual sight...someone ice skating on the 7th fairway.  A picture of this gentleman skating on the course was also featured on the local news.

No offense to him, but we hope that this individual doesn't have the opportunity to ice skate on the 7th fairway in years to come.

Due to the relatively deep pond that had formed in front of 3 green, we also dusted off the trash pump in an effort to remove the free water from this area.  The drain tiles that we installed in this area were still thawed out, and by sticking the pump intake into the catch basin, we were able to move most of the water to the rough area between 4 tee and 4 fairway.

Unfortunately, there was nowhere to move the water that settled on the beginning of 7 fairway, and we have already ordered bentgrass seed in the event that this area doesn't survive the winter (although it still may).

In other news, Chad and I have been busy interviewing candidates to fill our summer crew.  Four employees from last year have graduated college and moved on and that means that we have a few more openings than normal.  But, we've had a lot of people apply and are confident that we will have another great group of employees this summer.

Dave, Omar, Angel, and Chris have nearly completed the maintenance on the many mowers that are needed to groom the course, and they will soon be moving on miscellaneous pieces of equipment that also need attention.  If time/weather allows, we are hoping to tackle a few minor shop projects before the course opens for the year.

An Icy Situation

When 0.6" of rain falls on a foot of snow that's covering frozen ground, you get this...

The pond on hole 5 is so full that it's nearly touching the green.  Water ran from the valley below 2 and 11 tees, across the cart path, and into the pond.

Hole 7 now has a winding, frozen river down much of the fairway.

The water from 5 pond ran across the range towards holes 6 and 7 to form a very large water feature.

The newly-formed pond in front of 6 tee is quite impressive (above and below).

Since my last post, the unwanted pond in front of the third green is now nearly up to the green's edge and is probably three-feet deep.

As you can see, we're not dealing with an ideal situation and even the rough has ice under the remaining snow.  You'd be hard-pressed to find an area without ice accumulation, and as has been discussed in prior posts, turf and ice don't always get along.  The good news is that the ice has formed late enough in the season that we aren't yet worried about it dying due to suffocation/anoxia.  With Poa annua, we start to worry about anoxia after 45 continuous days of ice cover, and at this point in the season, this is unlikely (but certainly possible).  Thus, as long as the turf didn't suffer crown hydration injury (which is instantaneous death), we are optimistic about the health of our greens to this point.  And, although crown hydration may have occurred, we don't think that is has to this point.

The previously-pictured areas of deep standing/frozen water do concern us.  We suspect that these areas will suffer damage, but it's impossible to say to what extent they will be injured.  Although the ponds that formed are the largest that we've ever seen on the course, the sloping topography of the course limited the amount of areas that collected this runoff water.

At this point, there is nothing that we can do to alleviate the situation, but if the ice cover remains on the greens for the 45-day threshold, we will considering removing it.  While the situation may look and sound ominous, we are holding out hope and are at least grateful that this didn't happen in early January.

Winter Update

To say that it's been a wacky weather week would be an understatement.  The recent storm system was ushered in by thunderstorms on Monday night, and the rain continued on and off throughout Tuesday.  All told, we ended up with 1.8" of rain (which is ironically equal to or greater than the rainfall that we received in the months of June, August, and September).  Due to the frost that formed the week prior from the frigid temperatures and bare soil, much of the rain ran off and/or settled in low spots.  As the pictures below show, a significant amount of water collected in the normal areas (in front of 3 green and across the beginning of 6 and 7 fairways).

Luckily, the rain tapered off prior to the temperatures dropping below freezing and much of this water did eventually work its way into the ground.  However, some water/ice remains in these areas (especially on hole 3), and time will tell if any damage results.

As far as the greens are concerned, they seem to have cleared off and drained quite well.  There is some ice on limited areas on a few of the greens (2, 6, 7), but to this point, the ice is not the clear, hard type that restricts air exchange.  Thus, while all of these temperature and precipitation fluctuations are less than ideal, we are fairly optimistic and quite certain that things could have been a lot worse.

After reaching a high of 54 degrees two days ago, tonight's forecasted low is -10 degrees.  I imagine that this cold snap will firm up the layer of slush that is below the 6+ inches of snow that is currently covering the course.

As I had written about in the last issue of The Divot, the potential for snow mold development remains high due to a moist turf surface and likely plant protectant degradation.  But, there isn't anything that we can do about it at this point, and we will diligently scout for it when spring arrives.

In lighter news, the crew took advantage of the snow-free ground last week by cleaning up the large limbs that were damaged by the December blizzard.  In the end, four truckloads of wood chips (which is quite a bit) were collected from the downed branches.  We also removed the large hawthorn tree between 7 green and 8 tee because nearly every main branch broke or split under the weight of that heavy snow.

While it was a rather unsettling week in the turf world, the course is covered in a pristine white, and we are thankful that it wasn't as bad as it could have been.  As the picture below shows, the previously-pictured water feature that formed on hole 7 at least looks a lot friendlier under the snow.

Number Crunching

I've said it before, but in my opinion, properly irrigating the course is the most difficult and most important task that we tackle throughout the season.  When making irrigation decisions, we essentially try to balance plant health with playability and the two are often competing forces.  Add in the ever-unpredictable weather, and it becomes even more challenging.  I think that most turf managers would agree that irrigation is a combination of science and art.

In the past, it may have been more art than science, and irrigation decisions were often based on cutting into the soil to essentially feel the moisture.  This feel method, coupled with observing the turf and checking the forecast, was much of the basis for irrigation scheduling, and experienced turf managers became very, very good at it.  To some degree, I believe that you still have to incorporate these "old school" methods to irrigate properly, but over the years, scientific tools to evaluate soil moisture have become much more common.  These tools provide specific numbers to make the most well-informed decisions that we can.  At Blackhawk, we've owned a soil moisture probe for about four years, but until 2012, we quite frankly didn't use it as often as we should have.

On 34 days from June 6-August 7, nine soil moisture readings were taken and recorded on each green.  These readings were almost always taken between 8 and 9 am, and they were used to identify areas that likely needed supplemental irrigation in order to make it through the day.  As a baseline, any areas that were below 20% volumetric water content were hand watered in the morning to get them to that level.  While this didn't eliminate the need for hand watering dry spots during the afternoon (thanks to the Poa annua roots that melted in the heat), these readings did reduce it and are one of the reasons why the greens did so well throughout this extremely hot and dry summer.  Besides aiding us this past summer, the readings that we collected will help us to improve the course in 2013 and beyond. 

As you can probably imagine, irrigation systems are far from perfect (circular rotation set in a square pattern), and greater than 80% distribution uniformity (DU) is considered excellent for overhead irrigation.  To compensate for differences in shade and slope, each of our irrigation heads have a percentage adjustment on them to deliver the appropriate amount of water.  In the end, it is our goal to have consistent soil moisture levels across on each individual green and across the greens as a whole.  This winter, I entered the 5,508 soil moisture readings that were recorded in 2012 and did a quick and dirty analysis of the numbers to see how we did.

Across the course (using every data point), we achieved 83% soil moisture DU.  The DU of individual greens ranged from 82-92% and averaged 87%.  Given the many microclimates that the course has and the severe slopes that are present on many greens, I would say that we did pretty well, but we've also identified several areas that we can make improvements on.  Although it may take a few years of data collection and adjustments, I see no reason why we can't get above 90% across the board.  Since the soil moisture of greens plays a tremendous role in determining the speed and firmness of greens, these adjustments will greatly benefit you, the golfer.

Hidden Breaks

One of the many benefits to the thorough breakdown and cleaning of the equipment during the winter is that small problems can be detected and corrected prior to becoming big problems.  This week, Omar noticed that one fairway mower had an inconspicuously-cracked bracket that holds together engine components.  Since we have three of the same mowers, the brackets on the other two mowers were also checked, and sure enough, they were all broken in the same spot.  Rather than these cracks leading to more costly repairs, they will be easily fixed.  By remedying such minor issues, these very expensive pieces of equipment stay operational much longer than they might otherwise.

This week, Dave and Chris began sharpening the fairway mower reels and bedknives, which are the two components that create the scissors-like action that is necessary to mow turf at the low heights-of-cut that can be found on the course's greens, tees, and fairways.  Over the course of the next few weeks, many cutting units will pass through the sharpening grinders, and they will be reassembled and made ready to go for the coming golf season. 

(Note:  I had intended on including a few shop pictures here, but the blog editor isn't allowing this at the moment; darn technology.)

On a personal note, I have nearly finished repainting ~140 tee blocks that needed attention this year.  Next up will be the tee signs (Pin in Front, etc) and other signs that are used to mark the course.

Of course, the other major topic of the week (for us, at least) is the snow that is melting due to warm temperatures and rain.  Although it's forecasted to be above freezing until sometime tomorrow morning, it looks as if the vast majority of the golf course will remain snow covered.  And, because there is basically no frost in the ground right now, most of what has melted has soaked into the ground.  Considering the alternative (ice formation), this is very good news for our ever-fragile Poa annua plants.  Frigid temperatures are set to return next week and that's just fine for us and for the turf.

Happy New Year, Unhappy Trees

After an extended break due to saved vacation time, our full-time crew of six returned to the shop today, and the wrenches will be flying until spring.  We hope that the holidays treated you well and that 2013 brings happiness and prosperity.

Prior to Christmas, the big story around here was the blizzard that dumped 15+ inches of heavy snow on the area.  As you can probably imagine, many evergreens didn't appreciate this storm, and we will have some damage to clean-up once we can more easily get around the course.  The large white pines that mostly populate holes 6-9 lost quite a few limbs and many arborvitaes have splayed under the weight of the snow.



Damaged white pines between 4 and 6 fairways (above) and arborvitaes by 18 green (below).

From a turf standpoint, the snow is just fine, as long as it doesn't repeatedly melt and refreeze.  And, when it does melt, it will help replenish some of the soil moisture that was lost during the 2012 drought.

Winter sports enthusiasts have been taking full advantage of the abundant snow cover, and I'm not sure that I've ever seen so many sled and cross country ski tracks on the course.



As the above picture illustrates, the sledders have been out in full force on hole 1, and they slick track that they have created isn't for amateurs.  In my opinion, if it's going to be cold, we might as well have snow.  So, get out and enjoy it while it's here.