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.