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.