Naperville Country Club Green Department: winter

Showing posts with label winter. Show all posts

The winter weather extremes are still the talk of Chicago area courses (especially with another blanket of snow today!), and likely will be for several more weeks while courses tend to the recovery process. In this week's CDGA Turf Scouting Report posted yesterday, we learned the NOAA has declared this the coldest winter on record for Chicago. I do not see anybody lining up to dispute that yet! Several resources from several organizations have been produced over the past month regarding winter damage and the accompanying recovery process. This is a result of the widespread winter damage across the upper midwest. Courses from the east coast to Detroit to Chicago to Milwaukee are experiencing varying levels of winter damage. Reports of reseeding greens and fairways are not hard to come by.

Here is a short list of recent publications on winter damage:

CDGA Winter Issues letter
Cool-Season Turf Winter Kill Potential
Winter-Weary Golfers need to be Patient
Recovery Will Be Part of the Preparation for the Season
MSU Ice Damage and Winter Kill bulletin
USGA Webcast: Severe Winter Concerns
MI Ice and Recovery Seminar Summary
Winter kill 2014: What to do now

We have not been immune to winter's wrath. Evidence of the extreme weather is in our fairways. Most obvious to me is the areas that have been damaged are areas that receive a longer duration of shade through the day. This results in a weaker plant that will be less tolerant of weather extremes. These areas also have higher populations of annual bluegrass (poa), which is less tolerant of weather extremes than bentgrass.

This picture clearly shows the the greatest area of damaged turf resides in the portion of the fairway that receives the most shade. These trees are lining the south side of the fairway.

These areas of the fairways that exhibit the greatest level of damage have been over seeded in an attempt to expedite recovery. Expect these areas to be roped off for some time until a decent stand of grass can be established. These areas include spots in 2, 4, 5, 8 and 12 fairway.

The greens and tees on the course have come through the winter very well. The benefits of the recent renovation are evident in these areas. The greens and tees have predominately bentgrass which is showing its winter hardiness. The 7th green is thinner to start the year. It is no coincidence that this green had the longest duration of ice cover through the winter resulting in stresses, even on the bentgrass. We will gauge the necessary recover efforts for this green as grass begins to grow.

The spring will still be progressing slowly. We will not be ramping up our manicuring efforts until the grass begin growing at a reasonable rate. Though the grass is certainly greening up, not much is growing yet. 40s for highs and 20s for lows does not help any. But, it looks like we will be back into the 60s by weeks end!

The primary playing surfaces have been cleaned, bunkers raked, and holes cut. The greens are back in play on Saturday for the 2014 season. Though the calendar says April 5th, the weather has not acquiesced. Early spring conditions prevail on the course. We have also completed our spring aeration, so greens will be sandy, bumpy and slow for the weekend. The key phrase is "in play", not necessarily "in shape" yet. The soil has thawed, the grass has greened and they will safely accept traffic, so get out and satisfy your golf cravings in some sunny weather.

Our greens aeration was originally scheduled for April 7th. However, with the great weather on Monday and Tuesday this week we moved up the aeration to take advantage of the great weather. As usual, growing conditions will dictate how rapidly the holes will heal. With some sun, and warmer soil temperatures, it will not take long.

April 2, 2014

March 27, 2012

It is funny to look at the two weather extremes side-by-side. 2012 was a very mild winter with a very early spring. 2014 is the exact opposite. Warm weather and time will get us to this point. Unfortunately, we can't control either one.

It has been a long time coming, but the course is showing signs of waking from its winter slumber. It has been a slow start and the forecast is not showing signs of breaking that pattern yet. Temperatures in the 50s will be hard to come by over the next couple of weeks. Conditions have only allowed for a short period of time on the golf course to begin cleanup of leaves and branches. We have not set a date for opening the greens yet. We will need a few days of good weather to get on the greens before we can open them. Check back for updates.

Overall, the course has come through the winter well. However, we have been left with evidence of the severity of the weather patterns of the past few months. While the greens and tees are fine, there are some areas in the fairways that look very weathered. These are areas in the shade where snow sat for extended periods, or drainage patterns where ice formed. The recovery of these areas will depend on when warmer temperatures begin to stick around. Here are some photos of the worst areas around the course. Again, they look bad now, but will heal as weather permits.

Slowly but surely we are gradually seeing more grass on the course. A favorable forecast this week looks like that slow and steady melt will continue. With so much snow left to melt, frozen soil and saturated conditions, we cannot speculate yet on a potential opening date for the course. One thing we are expecting - once the course is open, it will be a slow spring.

This picture was taken this morning and show how much is left to melt yet. This picture also shows what we are seeing in spots as the snow does recede. The brownish area of fairway grass in the middle of the picture exhibits signs of grass that has succumbed to the winter weather. We are seeing small areas like this in fairway drainage areas around the course. I suspect more areas will exhibit similar signs as more can be seen. Plugs have been take from these areas to see exactly how much damage has been done.

This is not the first time this type of damage has been observed on the course. This picture was take during the spring of 2010 (blog post here). The brown spots are patches of annual bluegrass, similar to the picture above. Annual bluegrass is more susceptible to winter stresses than the bentgrass. I anticipate seeing several spots around the fairways display this type of damage. If we do find this type of damage once the snow melts, we will take the opportunity to sod and seed bentgrass into these areas. The result however, will be a slow spring start to the season.

These are the only observations we have to this point. We still have several areas covered in ice and snow. None of the tees or greens show any observable damage from the winter. However, 1 green, 5 green and 10 green are still covered in snow. We will have more pictures up this week. I am sure you are just as anxious to see some grass on the course as we are.

The prolonged harsh winter weather has prompted the flow of information regarding implications to playing surfaces this coming spring. Here is and update from the CDGA:

Winter Turfgrass Update

As we hopefully manage to drag our selves out of winter over the next month we will start to see an uncovering of what the snow and ice has left for many of us. Concern has been rising amongst many of you for many reasons as the thaw begins. The depth of snow has varied of course and this is mainly impacted by wind and surfaces in exposed locations such as hillsides, open sites and southern facing areas may be more prone to the thinner layer of snow. The depth of snow has not been of huge concern however - the length of time it has stuck around however is maybe more problematic. The predominant turfgrasses in the region have different tolerances to the time of cover as well as temperature. The other issues are freezing and ice which, have two different effects will become more apparent as we go through the early to mid spring.

Click here to view the Winter Turfgrass Update

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

It appears that the first frost delay will be happening later this week. The first frost is much later this year. We had 5 frost delays in the middle of September last season. As usual, when frost is on the grass, we can not allow traffic on the course.

We have made several posts for the reasons we avoid traffic during frosts. Please refer to these for more detailed information:

Frost for Friday?

Frost

There are examples on several greens throughout the course of damage from traffic over a frozen green. This is why we play to a location in the approach rather than allow traffic on frozen greens. There are many days during the winter when the weather is sunny and warm, but the soil and the portion of the turf canopy closest to the soil is still frozen. The growing point of the grass plant is in this area of the canopy just above the soil surface. Exposure to any type of compression while frozen with damage that portion of the plant. The brown leaf blades on the greens in the shape of a dog's paw(or coyote) show what the damage looks like. This is the same damage that would occur if traffic is allowed on frost covered grass.

Most of the spots on the greens are from a paw prints. However, 10 green has some significant damage from foot prints. Perhaps somebody was playing to the greens in the winter when they should not have been? I do not know.

These areas should grow out, but it will take time.

It may feel like the winter is dragging on, but this spring is much more normal than last year. We continue to watch the weather patterns closely and monitor the course for its progress, but we are not getting any closer to opening the course. It is always interesting looking back at pictures from the previous year. This picture was taken today.

This picture was taken on March 20th last year. At this point we had mowed the greens, tees and fairways multiple times. We were in the middle of an unprecedented 9 straight days of 80 degree weather.

The sleet and freezing rain coming down now is still good for the precipitation, but the freezing temperatures are delaying any progress that can be made towards opening the course.

These two pictures do a good job illustrating the contrast from last year to this year. This pictures was taken on March 14th last year. The soil had thawed, dried and grass was growing very well by that time last year with these soil temperatures.

Compare that with this picture taken today. The surface of the ground is still frozen. I was able to find an old aeration hole to insert the thermometer.

Once the soil thaws, we will wait for any excess moisture to dry which will allow traffic on the surface without creating ruts. After that we will need a few days to get the greens prepped for play after there long winter nap. We do not have a projected opening date set for anything yet. We will keep you updated with any changes as they occur. We are ready for the winter to be over!

It took a while, but winter has finally come. The biggest snow of the season has come and gone and left plenty of opportunities to enjoy the snow. Sledding, snowshoeing, and cross country skiing will be wonderful this week.

Another chance for an early golf season seems to have been blanketed by the snow. A stark contrast from last season. A year ago today was almost 70 degrees! Those warm temperatures continued through March including the unprecedented 8 straight days of 80 degrees that started March 14th. This return of more normal seasonal weather has allowed us time for one more project in the clubhouse.

This last project involves modifying the cabinet in the Member's Grill to accomodate a larger television in the future. This series of cabinets was installed several years ago and has been modified as television technology has changed. This project is just the next progression, for the next television.

We cut our the upper cabinets and will refinish the wall, hide the cable, and put a top on the lower cabinets. Some additional sanding and staining will have it finished.

There has been no weather this winter that has caused any harm to the course, and up to this point, the course is in good shape. However, the wild weather swings over the past week and coming days will expose the course to its highest potential for damage this winter season. This picture was taken on the 25th when we had single digit temperatures (up from negative temperatures on 22nd). This past weekend it started raining on Sunday and we are nearing 2 inches of rain since then.

Even more unusual than 2 inches of rain in January was record high temperatures in the 60s yesterday. This has left the course very wet with some standing water and the ponds are overflowing in the usual areas. Temperatures in the teens are forecasted for tonight and negative temperatures for Thursday night. If we see negative temperatures on Thursday night, that will make a 125 degree round trip in 10 days with 2 inches of rain in the middle. Very unusual and leaves the potential for problems.

This picture shows overflow from the pond on 17 to the 16th fairway. This water, and other areas that are saturated, is what we would like to have more opportunity to drain before temperatures dip below freezing today. Potential damage from this scenario is freeze damage which was addressed in the post: Winter On The Course: Freeze Injury. Please check the linked post, it goes into more detail about freeze injury.

The only areas on the greens and tees that had standing water was the valley on 12 green, which was no surprise. This morning we did remove a strip of sod from the green to better drain the extra standing water before it began to freeze. We laid the sod to the side and will return it to the green later.

This picture shows the removed strip and the water removed from the surface.

These weather patterns have many courses scrambling to remove any water they can. We have done what we can, now we will have to wait and to see what may come of it.

The main objective of our crew members through the winter months is cleaning repairing and refinishing the course products. This included all benches, ball washers, trash cans and tee markers on the tees; the wooden bag stands around the clubhouse, cooler boxes, flag sticks, and cups, etc.

The process involves cleaning the surface, sanding, repairing anything that may be broken and putting on a finish. We paint the ball washers and trash cans to match. We use an oil to refinish the wood products-benches, flag sticks, and some trash cans. We are behind this year with these jobs as a result of the projects that were done in the clubhouse. While our crew is working on the course products, the mechanic is doing the same thing with our equipment. More on this later in the week...

We received at least 8 inches of snow yesterday. The hills are ready for sledding, a cross country ski track is groomed and the ice is ready for skating.

We are not giving up on the ice rink yet. We put down the first grooming layer of the season today. This is nothing more than a light layer applied with a hose and nozzle. We are hoping to do this twice tomorrow. After that, we think it will be ready to skate on.

Here is a quick look at the 10-day forecast. The rink should be ready for this weekend, and we are hoping the rink does not melt too much with the sun and warmer temperatures.

The crew spent this morning cleaning the parking lots and sidewalks of the biggest snow of the season. We received about 5-6". There was wind with the storm that created some deeper drifts. This storm also brought with it the coldest temperatures of the season, with near 0 degree F expected for tonight.

The ice rink will not be ready again this weekend. It is still not frozen through. Once it is frozen through, we will need a day to groom the ice smooth to be ready to skate on. The freeze and thaw and snow, has created a bumpy surface. We are not able to walk across the ice yet. Rain and mid 40s is forecasted for Monday, which could delay us more.

The ceilings in the hallway and fireplace room have been completed. You can watch two short videos of the work on those ceilings on YouTube:

Removing fireplace room ceiling

Replacing fireplace room ceiling

The ceiling in the Pump room is in the process of being torn out.

New drywall will be put up and painted in place of the old tile ceiling.

Watch for updates next week on the ceiling in the Pump room. New heating units will be installed on the roof next week also. The units will be disconnected on Monday. A crane will be here Tuesday to remove the old ones from the roof and put the new ones on.

The unseasonably warm weather we have been experiencing is showing on the course. The color of the grass is holding its green later into the year. The soil temperatures, rain and sun have created some growth of the grass also. On a walk today, the fairways have noticeably grown since our last mowing of the year. It is not hard to find patches in the fairways like this patch in the picture. Of all this talk about unseasonably warm weather, last year at this time we had 50 degree weather and almost an inch of rain. However, we had already received about 8 inches of snow by this time.

This picture shows how green the grass is in the fairways.

The ice rink has been assembled, filled, and is beginning to freeze for the year. We can not speculate yet on when the rink will be ready for use. We just have to play the waiting game at this point.

Our trials and tribulations of our first at-bat with the ice rink last year were well documented.

Ice Rink Is Nearing Completion

Ice Rink Problems

We were much farther through winter before we decided to put one in. Though it was constructed properly, our timing could have been better. A few days after it was constructed the blizzard came through, and the weight of the snow on the partially frozen ice forced water up from underneath creating a slushy mixture which them froze. We were unable to get the surface smooth again.

This year the ice is much farther along that is ever was last year. We still have pockets in the ice that are not frozen and will need more time for the surface to freeze solid. We will then work at putting a smooth coat on the surface to make it ready for skating. Keep checking back for more updates.

We spent this morning removing the first snow from the sidewalks this season. It was not a lot, and with the sun out today, will likely melt off quick. This year doesn't deviate from our usual schedule of 1st-2nd week of Dec. for seeing snow. In 2009 the first snow was Dec. 1st, and 2010 the first snow was Dec. 6th.

Our winter preparation checklist is complete for the year. We are now in the process of beginning our seasonal maintenance on the equipment, starting with a thorough cleaning.

The drainage project on 11 fairway is now complete. A heavy layer of topdressing was applied to the fairway when the project was completed. One objective for the heavy topdressing is to protect the turf through the winter (like was done for the greens). The sod that was laid will not have a chance to root this fall, so any extra protection will help. This fairway was very heavily traffic with our equipment during this project as well. This topdressing will aide the recovery of any weakened plants in the spring. This picture shows a turf blanket down the middle which will remain through the winter. The purpose of the blanket is the same as the heavy topdressing. The blanket just add more protection.

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