This week and the next few weeks there are a couple of things which I think are important to you and your golf course which can make or break your summer. This weekend we have our first blast of heat and humidity. As everyone has some grasp of the problems this brings in relation to disease pressure increasing, I can only hope that you have had a plan in place for this type of weather in relation to disease management. There are some points however that while I have already touched on them need to be re enforced - opening up your soil profile without huge amounts of disturbance will be crucial for maintaining oxygen in around the rhizosphere and the more oxygen you can get down there right now the better. Empathy is a word I feel is useful for managers who have had some of the vast amounts of precipitation since the start of the year. You have gone from saturation with little heat to high heat and humidity pretty quickly and this is not a nice change. Moving water as much as possible away from the rootzone is a primary concern and again wetting agents will be of use to you regardless of rainfall. Remember - oxygen is crucial right now and the best way to get it into the roots is to open the profile up as much as possible with limited disturbance to play.

Secondly - everyone has had or is getting into member competition times. These can really set up well as long as the climate cooperates. You have worked all year to set up for a great day or weekend and it's nice to receive the compliments for your labor. It is also important to remember the day is about the game of golf and not the golf course itself - promoting faster play, sustainable conditions, quality surfaces and meeting the demand of memberships all come about through effective communication. Tournament set up is not the same as day to day set up due to labor cost, turfgrass management practices and time management - this can be communicated effectively to ensure there is grass on the golf course all through the summer. You can also use the events to showcase your efforts and professionalism and so don't treat them as another headache in the way of maintaining the course - if they are not there - then there is little reason to have the course. Try to keep everything even handed and ensure that your staff knows what to expect ahead of the event - life gets easier.

Finally - as the summer stress hits remember you may not be able to always beat the weather and so keeping a calm head and trying to decompress will be crucial to both you - and your grass!

Click here to view the June 21, 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

Continue reading

This weekend is "Tee It Forward" weekend.  Below are 2 videos talking about why to tee it forward.  This initiative would accomplish two things that inexplicably seem to be lacking amongst the membership - play faster and have more fun.  Leave your ego and give it a try this weekend!

Continue reading

Be sure to double check the schedules for the club this weekend. Fireworks Extravaganza happens on Sunday afternoon!

Continue reading

Extreme might be the best word to describe this week. Precipitation events and non-events have been dominant for our golf courses all over the region this week. The volumes and more importantly the time period that the precipitation fell over have been problematic to say the least. Steady rainfall and dark wet days might be more associated with the Emerald Isle but in actuality 'soft' rains tend to wet the ground much more thoroughly and give the soil profile time to push water through rather than ponding. This week it has been far from 'soft' rain. At Sunshine Course in Lemont on 6/9 - 6/10 we had 0.6" of rain overnight which returned the soil profile to saturation. However as I found out that evening the variations in the regions were dramatic. Reports of 0 to 1.4" across the region came in with drying conditions north of the city turning to trashed bunkers and standing water on the south side. The storms that passed through 6/12-6/13 also had dramatic variations. Unfortunately Joliet had 2" but colleagues up at Makray Memorial had 0.4" and no damage. This leads to large volumes of run off and soil erosion - however from an environmental standpoint turfgrass has proven vital to water filtering and negating soil erosion. Thus it is always important to have your turfgrass in optimal condition at all times.

On the up side it is US Open week and already Merion has been eating them up. One other event coming up for us in the Chicagoland is the Encompass Championship (June 17-23) and if you get the chance go out and support the work at North Shore CC.


Click here to view the June 14, 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

Continue reading

I received several surprised reactions when people learned that carts would be available for golfers today.  This was on the heals of 1.2 inches of rain yesterday evening and last night.  No doubt we missed the brunt of the storms, but the course was in great shape after that amount of rain.  We perform several maintenance practices that may present a short-term disturbance, but the long-term benefits are evident on days like today.

All through the season we are continuously monitoring the course after rains to identify potential areas for drains.  Every spring and fall we try to do 2 or 3 of the worst draining areas.  This spring we completed a drain near 1 tee that would hold water for very long periods of time, which created problems for the carts that drove near there (post here).  We also installed a drain at 8 approach (post here).  This was not a large area, but being so close to the green, it was often in play.  We had other areas in mind for  drains, but the abnormally wet spring has delayed those drainage projects until fall.  Last year we complete 2 large drainage projects-one on 11 fairway, and on at 14 approach-both of these projects provided a noticeable benefit to the playability of the course.

Our fairway topdressing program is continuously displaying its benefits.  As this project continues through the years, the growing sand layer allows for water to better percolate through the surface of the soil.  This topdressing, combined with regular drainage projects provides and excellent playing surface through a wide range of weather conditions.

We always aerate as much as possible.  This creates holes in the soil that allow air and water to better exchange between the soil and air above.  Though the grass may cover the holes on the surface, the channels in the soil last for extended periods of time.

These practices show a very slight disturbance to the playing surface.  But, their long-term benefits far outweigh any inconvenience that may be created.  That is evident on days like today.

Continue reading

Undoubtedly everyone is waiting for this weather to end and that includes us turfgrass managers - or maybe not! This week on my way around the courses, meeting with superintendents it became clearly obvious how competitive Poa annua is, if it has the right conditions. The last ten days have been party time for Poa and while you may be scratching your heads, the continuation of what begun last week is far from your control. Temperatures have been around ideal for Poa with no consistent heat to benefit creeping bentgrass (Agrostis stolonifera L.) growth and this is following a long, wet winter - as I said last week - it's not surprising that it has been a tough start on Poa control this year. The weather data again has pointed toward cool conditions with lower light levels over the last week and it seems that until the middle of next week at least it will not let up. Unfortunately we cannot put up an umbrella and turn on the heaters and so communication with members is a key to management at this time of the year. Once the heat returns - the growth of Poa will go into reverse rapidly and lose density unfortunately. The biodiversity of Poa with annual and perennial biotypes and hundreds of others in between which all have adapted to YOUR golf course in some unique way makes them far more competitive than bentgrass - particularly in this weather.

Click here to view the June 7, 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

Continue reading

Our crop of summer flowers has arrived and we have begun the process of planting them.  We have another delivery coming, but the first one included the majority of plantings.  This first set will be done by the end of the week and includes all of the flowers for the entrance and clubhouse.

The picture above is what the bed around the flagpole looks like today. It is hard to believe what they will look like after a couple of months of growth.  This picture is from a couple of years ago, and shows what you can look forward to.  We will begin a regular schedule of watering and fertilizing in a couple of weeks.  We like to get them in the ground and have a little growth in the soil before we begin to push them.

Continue reading

Without meaning to state the obvious for everyone but it's been a wet one! It is also the end of May and so the 'honeymoon period' may be at an end for yours truly!

As you can see in our data accumulated here at Sunshine Course rainfall has been voluminous and prolonged over the last week. It means you may have run into a range of management problems which will have short term and long term effects on your golf course. As courses vary the impact of the rainfall you may have had will also vary. Drainage, temperature and level of submersion are all issues that will play a role in the health of your turfgrass during periods of high precipitation. Fortunately temperatures have not been excessive recently and this will save any major problems for golf courses in the current period. However if similar conditions arise, combined with increasing water temperatures (50 - 86°F), extended periods of submersion will become a greater problem. Another 2 inches is predicted over the weekend also!

Good aeration practices, drainage and practices aimed at maintaining healthy turf will help managers get through the periods of extended submersion that some locations may be suffering from. The rainfall we have dealt with over the last week is certainly enough to have clay soils at field capacity (45-50% volumetric water content) and some golf greens have been at 30% volumetric water content (VWC) or higher. We have been able to measure this using the recently purchased TDR device which we wrote about last week.

Click here to view the May 31, 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

Continue reading