The first changes to the course since the renovation are underway. The "winter" weather has been fantastic and it has allowed us to make great progress. The four new bunkers have taken shape and drainage and finish work is the next step. We will continue to work on these as the weather allows, which appears to be a few more days.
Hole 11
The bunker on hole 11 was the first one shaped. As the bunkers we dug on holes 10 and 11, the soil was moved to hole 2 to create the mound needed for the new bunker there.
Hole 10
The two new bunkers on the right side of hole 10 will provide a dramatic new look. Soil removed from these bunkers was also moved to the new mounding on hole 2.
Hole 2
The new bunker on hole 2 will be on the right side of the approach. The mounding from the bunker that is currently there was extended to create the mounding for the new bunker.
The rough work has been completed. The next step is cutting the edges and installing drainage. This will be accomplished as the weather allows through the winters. We have been fortunate to accomplish this much work in December and will take advantage of any additional weather we receive.
Hole 11
Hole 10
Hole 2
The rough work has been completed. The next step is cutting the edges and installing drainage. This will be accomplished as the weather allows through the winters. We have been fortunate to accomplish this much work in December and will take advantage of any additional weather we receive.
Masked chafers have arrived and presumably the adults are in the process of producing offspring as we speak. The offspring of course will become those lovely grubs that the skunks and raccoons love to dine on while turning the golf course into a plowed field. The drying conditions that are predicted over the holiday weekend may prove to be vital as we have high temperatures in the forecast for early next week. An opportunity exists next week to also see some of the great senior golfers as the Encompass Championship rolls into town - the start of the tournament season here in the area. Venting should have occurred this week as many of us drew breath after all the rainfall and the arrival of drier weather conditions. Etiolation has certainly arrived and managers now have to judge best practices as far as how hard they can push surfaces. The drying conditions and cooler temperatures over the holiday weekend will only serve to put us in a better situation going into some forecasted heat next week. Enjoy the holiday weekend and get ready for a busy month!
Click here to view the July 3, 2015 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
Our other tasks this week will be prepping for the Fireworks Extravaganza on Sunday. Hopefully the current weather forecast holds for those events this weekend.
By Bob Vavrek, agronomist, Central Region
The
entire hillside was seeded to fine fescue. Notice the wispy, sparse
turf in the dry soil that surrounds dense, weedy grasses in a wet spot
caused by a single drain tile that exits an adjacent housing
development.
Many areas of the Central Region have been inundated with heavy
rainfall during the past few weeks. The acute effects of severe flooding
with respect to fatalities and property damage are usually well
documented in the nightly news. The immediate impact of flooding that
occurs on a golf course is obvious because erosion and silt deposits are
seen just as soon as the water recedes. However, some of the
side-effects of heavy rainfall that caused the floods are not so
obvious.
A popular practice at an increasing number of golf facilities is to convert a portion of the maintained rough to tall grass areas. These low input naturalized areas still require annual maintenance, but the ultimate cost of managing a tall grass area will be less than the cost of maintaining a rough that is mowed at least once a week, fertilized, and treated for weeds and insect pests.
Your average golfer prefers a thin, wispy stand of turf in a natural area as well as an opportunity to find an errant shot and, depending on the lie, the opportunity to advance the ball towards the hole. Golfers have been grousing a bit more than usual about dense, unplayable tall grass lately on Course Consulting Service visits, and the weather is mostly to blame for their angst.
The fact is that once the turf is well established, most tall grass areas perform best when they are kept as dry as possible. Fine fescue natural areas are particularly susceptible to the encroachment of coarse, weedy grasses and broadleaf weeds under wet soil conditions. Unfortunately, nothing can be done to keep the recent heavy rainfall out of the tall grass.
On the other hand, an extra effort can be made to keep irrigation off the tall grass areas. Full-circle sprinklers that extend coverage into the natural areas can be switched to part-circle sprinklers, and you may find sprinklers deep in the roughs that can be eliminated. This often occurs in highly visible areas of the course where sprinklers that water tees are located between the tees and nearby tall grass areas. Tees are typically watered frequently throughout the season to accelerate divot recovery, so the tall grass areas near tees are often lush and weedy. Take the time to assess and adjust irrigation coverage during spring and you will reap the double benefit of water savings and the tall grass areas golfers crave.
Source: Bob Vavrek (rvavrek@usga.org)
A popular practice at an increasing number of golf facilities is to convert a portion of the maintained rough to tall grass areas. These low input naturalized areas still require annual maintenance, but the ultimate cost of managing a tall grass area will be less than the cost of maintaining a rough that is mowed at least once a week, fertilized, and treated for weeds and insect pests.
Your average golfer prefers a thin, wispy stand of turf in a natural area as well as an opportunity to find an errant shot and, depending on the lie, the opportunity to advance the ball towards the hole. Golfers have been grousing a bit more than usual about dense, unplayable tall grass lately on Course Consulting Service visits, and the weather is mostly to blame for their angst.
The fact is that once the turf is well established, most tall grass areas perform best when they are kept as dry as possible. Fine fescue natural areas are particularly susceptible to the encroachment of coarse, weedy grasses and broadleaf weeds under wet soil conditions. Unfortunately, nothing can be done to keep the recent heavy rainfall out of the tall grass.
On the other hand, an extra effort can be made to keep irrigation off the tall grass areas. Full-circle sprinklers that extend coverage into the natural areas can be switched to part-circle sprinklers, and you may find sprinklers deep in the roughs that can be eliminated. This often occurs in highly visible areas of the course where sprinklers that water tees are located between the tees and nearby tall grass areas. Tees are typically watered frequently throughout the season to accelerate divot recovery, so the tall grass areas near tees are often lush and weedy. Take the time to assess and adjust irrigation coverage during spring and you will reap the double benefit of water savings and the tall grass areas golfers crave.
Source: Bob Vavrek (rvavrek@usga.org)
| A
week that promised quite a lot became a week that rapidly fell apart
and put rootzones into an awkward situation. The high temperatures
created problems for turf and this combined with reported deluges of
over 1" in under 30 minutes particularly on the southern side of the
city that resulted in some very stressed turfgrass. The heavy damage to
bunkers and undermining of cart paths will require some time for repair
and of course some expense incurred. These intense storms while building
up the monthly rainfall total do absolutely nothing but wreak havoc for
turf managers as far as clean-up is concerned. Further to that the
excess moisture and hot weather will have driven up the chances for
patch disease and root problems developing. The saving grace is two-fold
- night time temperatures stayed below the 70°F mark and there is a
cool down forecast coming - which hopefully will also bring some drying
out of the soil profile.
Regional research meetings took place this week and many of you will be glad or sad to know that the problems with seed head control were not just localized - some sentiment was that the timing seemed to be too early. Damage from winter in the Midwest was not considered anywhere in the realm of last year. Conditions in Iowa were equally extreme early in the week and in certain ways the Chicago area may have been lucky based on some of the rainfall other locations have seen this year to date e.g. Kansas City saw >16" of rain for May - monthly normal is 4". Growth potential models are a collaborative project which will receive attention amongst the group going forward. Finally, for those of you that have forgotten - rounds for research is still ongoing. The money raised really makes a difference going forward and if you want to investigate or bid on the donated rounds please take a look here: http://www.rounds4research.com/ Click here to view the June 12, 2015 Scouting Report As always if you have a question or query please do not hesitate to ask. Ed Nangle PhD Director of Turfgrass Programs Chicago District Golf Association www.cdgaturf.org Follow us on Twitter @TurfResearch |
The initial green shoots of the spring and the golf season are almost upon us. As I write this we are still shaking off winter however with snow still on the ground after a 5" event at the Midwest Golf House. Of bigger importance however, is the impact that winter has had in general on local courses. In comparison to last year the general sentiment is that we are at least 99% better on greens and even tees and fairways are in superior shape. The one caveat is that we haven't gotten clear of winter yet, so one sharp cold snap is still a possibility and it could undo a lot of good work that has occurred so far. In general courses around the state should have become largely snow clear prior to the most recent snow event and certainly some public courses in the Chicago area had opened to help drive revenue. Areas that are a traditional issue such as low spots and heavily shaded greens are not impeccable certainly but in general everyone is happy to date. The other missing issue is the smell - last year we all learned very quickly what the famous 'smell of death' was. The anaerobic conditions created by 2-3" layers of ice were not recreated this year due to a favorable January where by super bowl Sunday, the Sunshine Course was completely clear of snow and any potential ice. The 18 - 22" of snow that fell on that date actually was a huge help for the record cold month of February as it insulated the turf in many ways and prevented any damage. That being the case many have said it's the best that greens have looked coming out of winter in a long time.
Spring can be volatile of course in the region and the hope is for a little rain, a little sun and plenty of warmer days. One issue that has raised some eyebrows has been the disease pressure that occurred this winter. Evidence of both pink and gray snow mold can be seen on tees and in roughs throughout the area. Courses from a budget standpoint locally do not warrant control applications in the rough, so damage there can be expected. In areas where shade plays a role and where snow melt made sites excessively wet, potential for pink snow mold or Microdochium nivale to break through control measures increases. Generally warming temperatures and soils will see grass grow out of the somewhat superficial damage, but it certainly makes for some interesting pictures.
Education this year had a broad focus - with looking at future technology being one area of interest, while bacterial etiolation was still hot on the conference list. As cabin fever hit however the snow finally began to melt and so a majority of superintendents are glad to be back outside and at the grind of massaging grass to provide a smooth putting surface - it's great to be back. It's a big year for Chicago golf with the United States Amateur, The Encompass Championship and The BMW Championship all paying a visit to the city - its going to be busy!
Click here to view the March 27, 2015 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
I said we would be back to seeing grass at the end of the week. Well, we made it!
Monday, 3/9
Friday, 3/13
Most of the snow left on the course resides in the valleys and will likely realize its inevitable melt this weekend. The course is beginning to dry from the abundance of moisture left from the snow. There is still a frost layer on the soil, but it is shrinking daily as well. The amount of ice on the pond is a good gauge for the frost in the soil. When the ice on the pond is gone, the frost in the soil will not be far behind.
The grass on the course looks good to start the season. The spots in the bottom picture are snow mold symptoms. There are several areas, in the rough only, that display these symptoms. They are cosmetic symptoms that the grass will grow out of when the weather allows for growth.
Our plan is to start cleaning the course on Monday. This is the first step in getting the course ready for golf again. We do not have a date for opening greens yet. The course still have some snow, and a frost layer in the greens. Then it will need a few days to dry, and we will need a few more to get the greens ready. We will have all the updates here, on ForeTees and on Twitter. It won't be much longer!
The excess moisture and some of the extremely high humidity that we saw this week lead to further diversity on the disease front. I do not envy anyone trying to grow grass in tropical situations - there must be insane disease pressure - early this week we did get a taste of it, but summer is here so it's to be expected. Many courses are on the precipice of final recovery from what has been a long winter. I will say however spare a thought for managers in Minnesota who experienced something similar last year and dealt with the remnants into the early part of August - so be grateful for little mercies!
Our forecast is for the first three day spell in the 90's back to back to back, so depending on humidity, timing of control applications and how hot it actually will get, it could be a tough start to the week. Fortunately conditions look like cooling off so some relief is on the way. More importantly we can hope to see some bright skies which will help places which have been in fog and heavy cloud all week doing bentgrass no favors.
Click here to view the June 27, 2014 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
-Divot 1 is repaired with soil only.
-Divot 2 is not repaired.
-Divot 3 is replaced.
-Divot 4 is repaired with seed and soil.
Some notes after they have been repaired. The replaced divot (3) is barely noticeable. Divots 1 and 4, though they have been repaired still look like divots. This is why we ask golfers to always replace their divot if possible. It will heal quicker, and looks better after it has been replaced. Now that all (except 2) have been repaired, we have to rely on the course to heal itself.
We will be adding divot bottles in the fairways starting this weekend for members to fill divots if they are not able to replace it. Now that the warmer temperatures are beginning to arrive, and the course will be able to do its part in the recovery process, all three sources of recovery will be in place for the golf season.
And remember, FIND IT! FIX IT! IT RECOVERS QUICKER!
| Hurry
up and wait is about the only way to describe the current situation for
many courses. Frustration has set in with the climate as the cold, wet,
cloudy weather is good for nothing except spending time worrying about
it at the bar. Many superintendents who responded to the recent survey
sent out by CDGA and MAGCS indicated the most consistent reason as to
why they did not have damage was purely down to the fact that they have a
strong creeping bentgrass stand on their putting surfaces. I think they
might even feel a little bit guilty - if not, they certainly are
extremely grateful!
Germination has been slow and while covers will help to warm soils they do very little as far as making an immediate putting surface. Moisture has arrived in a somewhat more consistent manner although there were instances of heavy hail occurring this week in the western suburbs of Chicago. Staying the course and remembering it is somewhat out of your control in regards to climate will help to reign in the frustration somewhat. Take solace in knowing that many people are in the same situation, trying to get back to optimal conditions as soon as reasonably possible and that once soil temperatures get to >55°F consistently we will all feel some relief. Many superintendents understand now what they have and I think the fear of loss has now been overcome with determination to beat the damage with the hope that there is some form of spring prior to the return of summer - roots have begun to make an appearance downward but it doesn't seem like they are sprinting as of yet. Courses have aerified and some are looking close to recovered while others just need some heat. Time is all that is required - which unfortunately is not there in abundance. If the forecast holds for next week with temperatures possibly reaching the 70's and if we are lucky a warm rain then help can be considered to be on the way! Click here to view the May 2, 2014 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 |
| Recovery
is underway in many sites it seems and covers can be seen dotted all
around the city as soil temperatures took another plunge this week. The
forecast currently though seems like 70's are a possibility for many of
us and even the guys on the north shore should benefit from that in the
near to medium term. As I have visited more locations the glorious
inconsistency of who did what and how it worked out has been disarmingly
frustrating. There are some incredible stories of doing nothing and
looking impeccable in a tree lined tight site to doing nothing and
30-50% damage in an open sunny site. Turf managers who broke ice 24
hours after it formed still had some 'perfume' while others who didn't
even let ice form have four greens covered. Some of you would take only
four greens covered, but from the perspective of play it's still causing
some questions, especially as we are into summer golf and scoring.
It is Easter weekend so I hope everyone has an enjoyable period prior to what will be a very active period based on the current weather forecast! Click here to view the April 18, 2014 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 |
Turf Will Need Time To Heal This Season
By Keith Happ, director, North-Central RegionApril 16, 2014
 | |
Golf is played on the surface of a dense stand of grass; however, it is the root mass in the soil that provides the foundation that allows grass to tolerate traffic and environmental stress during the summer months.
Please take the time to watch our webcast that was presented April 17 of this year. It focuses on recovery strategies to help regenerate grass on greens and other areas of the course for golf this season. (Watch the webcast)
