The second post in this series will give a very brief overview of what soils are made of and how those parts interact with water.  We can build from this in the future posts that will be more specific about each area of the golf course.  The preferred soil for providing a high quality playing surface has a large amount of air space for roots and water to move through the soil.

Soil consists of sand, silt and clay particles along with an organic component.  The fractions of sand, silt and clay in a soil determine its suitability for providing a high quality playing surface.  This figure on the right is one of the first diagrams that is learned in a soils class.  When the fractions of each soil particle in a given soil have been identified, you can use this diagram to classify the soil.

Sand particles are larger than silt particles which are larger than clay particles.  The larger the particle, the more air space between the particles.  If you have a bowl in your kitchen and fill it with oranges, there will be large empty spaces in the bowl between the oranges.  If you fill that bowl with grapes, the empty spaces between the grapes will be much smaller compared to those that the oranges create.  The larger the particle, the larger the air space between the particles.  It is much easier for water and roots to move through a larger air space in the soil.  So, there is a larger air space between sand particles than there is air space between silt particles, which has a larger air space than between clay particles.  This is why soils that are higher in clay are much slower to drain.

The other component of the soil that was mentioned earlier is organic matter.  In the turfgrass soil, this organic matter comes from dead tissue from the grass plant (because there are no trees nearby, right).  This organic matter has a high capacity to hold water.  As a result, water is slow to move through organic matter because of its ability to hold the water as it attempts to pass.

It is not accident that this string of posts comes in conjunction with the beginning of our aeration this fall.  The following posts will be more detailed about the specific areas of the course, and why we do the maintenance practices that we do.

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This will be the first of a series of posts that will discuss water in soils.  We talk all the time about the importance of controlling moisture in the growing environment of the turf.  However, we have not given the same amount of attention to moisture in the soil.  The soil is what the plant grows in.  The soil is how the plant receives the water and nutrients that it needs to sustain an appropriate playing surface.  The soil is not a topic that regularly floats around the Member's Grill after a round either. Just because it is not something that is seen by the golfer does not mean its importance can be discounted.  So, naturally, the relationship between soil and water has a great impact on the quality of the playing surface that the golfer does see.

Aside from mowing, most of what we do is an effort to influence soil properties.  Fertilization, aeration, topdressing, vertical mowing, etc. are all done to provide a favorable impact to the soil over the long-term.  "Long-term" is the key phrase in the last sentence.  These practices do not have an immediate impact on the quality of the playing surface.  As these are performed on a regular basis and begin to compound across a longer time horizon, the benefits outweigh the short-term disruption that may result.  The reason these practices need to be done on a regular basis is a function of the continuously growing grass.  Grass needs to grow to recover from wear and stress of all forms.  As a result of the continuously growing grass, these practices can never be skipped.

At the core, these practices are done to influence how the water moves into the soil and through the soil.  In these posts I will attempt to address how moisture in the soil impacts the long-term health and playability of the greens, tees, and fairways.  Maintenance practices on our greens and tees are very similar, but differ from what we do on the fairways.  However, the goal of these practices is the same across all surfaces - provide a firm uniform playing surface.

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Our fall aeration gets kicked off next week when we start with the greens on Tuesday September 3rd.  There will be a regular flow of aeration happening through the fall on all surfaces.  Greens will be first; tees, fairways, approaches and roughs will all be done with different methods on a regular interval throughout the fall.  We are mindful of the golf schedule when we schedule these type of practices.  However they are necessary, and long-term benefits certainly outweigh any short-term disruption of the surface.  I intend to have other posts that address aeration and its goals in more detail this week.

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Regardless of which weather forecast you monitor, it will be hot over the next 7 days.  Some show temps being hotter than others, but they all show no rain-which is the most important part for us.  Being able to control how much moisture is in the soil and on the surface is terribly important through these stretches.  Most of the forecasts are showing lower humidities which is good.  With this stretch comes the usual warnings of the potential for the adjustment of maintenance practices that will favor turf health while the surfaces experience temperatures that are beyond its normal adaptability.

The end of the 10 day forecast shows the potential for temperatures to be back in the mid 50s by middle of next week.  I have read some forecasters who are predicting upper 40s after Labor Day with potential for frost by mid September!

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Its come and gone!! The date that many of you look towards as being the start of the end of another season. August 15th passed without so much as a whimper and hopefully that does not come back to bite us in September. This week was somewhat hectic from the standpoint of traveling to the world class Hancock Center at Michigan State University to see the fine research they are working on there and I will discuss later. The other interesting event this week was the involvement that some of us had with potential future industry leaders. In an excellent initiative I have to give credit to the First Tee for their partnership with John Deere and the creation of the experience 'Careers on Course'. This week we had 24 young people who had little background in any facet of the turfgrass and golf industry interact with superintendents, clubhouse managers, golf pro's and general managers at the Golf House and Cog Hill CC. Their intrigue in the positions and opportunities that the golf industry as a whole affords them was refreshing and despite the doom and gloom about student numbers and turfgrass programs, potential to attract and educate people into the industry is there if these programs continue down the road.

How you handle the end of season cultural practices will help you recover for what should have been a busy golfing summer. Managers have said they have been very busy play wise and it does seem in weather like this that should be the case. Therefore getting the greens aerified is going to be on many peoples minds, however hopefully you have a set date and this has been fixed earlier in the year - don't let it float and get caught out!

Click here to view the August 16, 2013 Scouting Report.

As always if you have a question or query please do not hesitate to ask and you can call or email.

Ed Nangle PhD
Director of Turfgrass Programs
Chicago District Golf Association
www.cdgaturf.org
Follow us on Twitter @TurfResearch

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Green speeds are the topic of the moment - surprisingly! This week we have been relatively dry and not too hot with the exception of Wednesday. It has meant that the golf courses have started to really dry out and for green speeds this usually means good things. Dry and firm always means fast surfaces, and many golfers tend to appreciate this. The issue that we run into is - how far can we let turf go before turf health is negatively impacted resulting in turf death and bare patches with weed infestations. The balancing act has not just occurred this year or last, it's an annual issue. Reducing mowing heights helps speeds but so does double cutting at the traditional higher height - the issue is that, trying to be consistent with a greens surface is nigh on impossible unless you have no trees, every green is virtually flat and facing the same direction toward the sun and has proper grasses, drainage and wear is evenly dissipated across the greens surface - this does not happen. I always think the best analogy to mowing height is this - if you continuously cut the top of your little finger off for 20 years every day, how do you think it would look and more importantly how healthy would it be. Greens are inherently unhealthy and vary dramatically from hole to hole, from undulations particularly in 100 year old greens that were designed for balls to roll 8-9ft, to heavily shaded sites where grasses elongate and stay wet for extended periods of time ruining cutting quality, to southern facing slopes that get hot by 11am in the morning and turn into concrete by 2pm. The dry conditions this week allowed many of you consistency in your surfaces which had been a battle all summer as far as I have seen.

As a turfgrass manager you need to know these differences and many of you are on top of this, it does mean however you have the hotspot holes which frustrate you annually and tend to lead to head scratching and lost sleep. Keeping things simple and creating a base to build on is always important, getting oxygen into the soil, sufficient nutrients, properly and consistently timing cultural practices are all going to benefit turf health. The more you have these lined up - the more you may be able to push it without plunging of the cliff.

Click here to view the August 9, 2013 Scouting Report.

As always if you have a question or query please do not hesitate to ask and you can call or email.

Ed Nangle PhD
Director of Turfgrass Programs
Chicago District Golf Association
www.cdgaturf.org
Follow us on Twitter @TurfResearch

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Well, I think I deserve some credit for bringing the best weather in four years - I can't do much more to make life easier on the 1st of August! These last two weeks have been fantastic for turf and for golf and anyone that had an issue should be starting to see some serious recovery. As always this can change so continue to expect the unexpected! The date August 15th has been mentioned many times and it is now less than two weeks away with good weather forecast for at least 10 of those days. In many places I suspect grass should be basically jumping out of the ground!

To that end, while no one has made any comments about the roughs, they have been very healthy this year and so the push will continue to keep them under control. Financially they are costly from a labor and equipment standpoint. In many golf clubs the roughs will cause some discomfort for managers, the season opens and roughs are growing very well, this leads to complaints about the rough being too thick. Managers understand that the push of growth early will recede and with heat building, many rough areas will thin out and be in trouble later in the summer. Fertilization in the spring is common to try and combat this - and hopefully a slow release fertilizer is the only source of nutrition at that time. The issue however is playability, and so huge consideration must be given to turf health, balancing speed of play, difficulty and fairness of the golf course. However, this year, the climate has meant that your growth did not slow dramatically and roughs have stayed thick and very healthy. If you don't believe the complaints, walk the course, it always teaches you more than riding, also play it - you like the members will find the spots for sure. Communication with the members and architect are key to solving the problem long term.

Click here to view the August 2, 2013 Scouting Report.

As always if you have a question or query please do not hesitate to ask and you can call or email.

Ed Nangle PhD
Director of Turfgrass Programs
Chicago District Golf Association
www.cdgaturf.org
Follow us on Twitter @TurfResearch

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