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.