4-25-14

The spring is trying to arrive but it still hasn't quite made it here yet. The temperatures have been below average for the last few weeks and it looks like they will remain so for the next few weeks too. It is hard to believe it is nearly May and the leaves still are not on the trees. As I mentioned in the last post, there is only so much a turf manager can do, after which point it is up to Mother Nature to help out. Aeration recovery depends on a multitude of things; while I can provide food and water, I can't easily control the temperature. I discussed last year the optimum soil temperature for bentgrass growth is 64-75F. Normally by now it would be close to this, as evidenced by the warm spell earlier in the month. It is interesting to see that the most rapid green-up and growth occurred that week; while since then growth has slowed up as the average soil temperatures have dropped. 

   

The graph above from our soil sensors show that the average soil temperatures were well above 60F from around April 9th, but started dropping after the cold returned around the 15th. The current averages are in the low/mid 50Fs, so while the plants are growing, they are not growing as rapidly as they would if the soil temperatures were optimum.

An interesting observation is the pattern of recovery on the greens. The vertidrain (deep tine) holes from last fall are showing the quickest recovery and the deepest rooting. In the picture above the green dots (in the direction noted by the black lines) are the vertidrain channels from last year. The light colored (red lined) rows are from the spring aeration. The picture highlights the long term importance of aeration for rooting and overall plant health. 

The greens were rolled this week one last time with the asphalt roller (below). They are smooth as they were brushed again after the big roller and they have been rolled daily since then. We mowed on Thursday to clean the surface. Mowing frequency from here will depend on growth as currently it is very slow. Saying that, the recovery over the last eight days has been satisfactory considering the less than ideal weather. 

Now that aeration is out of the way, the crew are back finishing up the remaining items, prepping the course for the season. The bunkers were edged and next week the plan is to make sure the sand is even in them. 

Vertidraining (deep tining) the fairways has gone well and the back nine was completed this week. This procedure is most beneficial when the soil is drier so the rain next week may delay getting the front nine completed by next weekend.  

We have fixed the issue with the bridge on 7 and are currently working on the bridge by 18 tee (below), which should be completed next week.

 Lastly the irrigation pond is full and back to it's former glory!

 As ever, if you have any questions: alan@ledgerockgolf.com 

The wait is on!

Now that Spring aeration is behind us for 2014, I figured an update and what to expect over the next week or so is in order. Even with the delays during the week, we were able to finish all the aeration by Thursday evening. The crew, as always, pulled together to ensure all the aeration and clean-up was completed while we were closed. The only item left is to topdress tees, which is something we can get done early next week as it does not take long. 

15 green after topdressing and brooming

The greens were wet from Tuesday's rain so the conditions, while not perfect, were good enough to proceed. We had some bridging of the holes. This happens when the the soil being removed is wet and it sticks to the top of the aeration hole. It is frustrating as it prevents the topdressing from entering the holes. The brooming usually loosens it up and helps a lot of the sand fall into the hole. We use a 1 ton asphalt roller on the greens to smooth them once we are finished brooming and the vibrating from it helps make the rest of the sand work its way in. Until this happens the topdressing can look heavy in spots. We plan to use the big roller one more time and once it is finished we will brush the greens again. This will move any excess sand around, fill any open holes and smooth the surface. At this point the growth will be at a point where it also helps stand the grass up more through the sand.

Some heavier pockets of sand that will be removed after the final rolling

We had to delay a fertilization last week as we didn't have irrigation to water it in, but it was applied yesterday. We also added fertilizer/soil amendments to the soil before we topdress; this also helps recovery while providing food for the turf for the summer stress. 

Rooting looks good

A cross section of the greens currently. The current and last topdressing can be seen near the surface along with a deep tine hole (light sand)  from last year. The roots in the light sand are more prolific showing how well aeration works.

We are irrigating the greens regularly and will be for most of next week to help speed up the recovery. This results in some extra wetness around the greens so I apologize for the softness while they heal.

Next week the greens will be fertilized more to speed up the recovery. We will roll with the asphalt roller one more time, before switching to the regular greens rollers. We will mow once the grass is fully through the sand and the mowing frequency will increase as growth allows. At this point rolling and mowing will be done when it's dry as I explained here last year. Once there is enough grass showing we will apply Dewcure; this prevents dew from forming, meaning we can perform our tasks and not worry about picking sand up. Dewcure only works on the turf so applying it when there is a lot of sand is a waste. 

Mother Nature controls the remaining aspects of recovery, namely temperature and rainfall.  The forecast looks decent and the soil temperatures, while not ideal, are currently pretty good. If things go as planned, recovery will also!

The irrigation pond has been refilling and should be close to being full by Monday. The electronics in the irrigation satellites have been acting up since we fired it up. They are turning on heads that shouldn't be on, not turning off heads and in some cases not working at all. For example, 5 tee seemed to be running fine this morning but ended up running for 2 hours. John has had a long week firing the system up and trouble shooting the electronics. We have new parts on order so hopefully as soon as they come in, all the issues we are having should be resolved. 

As always, if you have any questions please let me know: alan@ledgerockgolf.com

Spring?

Spring allegedly arrived last weekend, although the picture above taken this morning would have us believe otherwise. Men's Opening Day was on Saturday and the first of the GAP matches were played on Sunday with beautiful weather both days. It was hard to believe that three weeks prior the course still had snow on it. After a long winter, the full crew started back on the 7th which meant we were able to get the course fully up to shape for the weekend's events. Prior to that, were catching up on the winter work that couldn't be done due to the snow over. The bunker washouts were fixed, the fescues mowed, brush areas cleaned up and debris from around the course removed. 

Brush and fescues mowed and cleaned up

As I mentioned last time, the course came through the winter really well, with minimal damage, so the clean up didn't take a long time. Once the snow finally thawed, we were able to see how much snow mold infection we had and thankfully it was less than expected. The perfect spot of pink snow mold pictured below was on 2 green, showing that the fungicide had started to loose its efficacy due to the long period of snow cover. Thankfully the snow had gone so it could be treated and a few spots like this are nothing to worry about. 

One of the other things you see after prolonged snow cover are tracks in the turf created by voles; the picture below shows some damage on 15 fairway. It usually grows out once the turf starts actively growing. This is a nice article if you're interested in finding out more about voles.

The turf grew a little under the insulation of the snow cover but the growth was minimal and over four months. The initial mowing cleaning the brown leaves off the plants but since the turf was not actively growing, regular mowing was not needed. As the temperatures rose, the turf responded; by the weekend they were growing nicely and we were back mowing and rolling on a regular schedule. 

An interesting side note was that 4 green had the most snow and the longest snow cover. By being insulated longer, it was amazing how much greener it was than the surrounding greens.

We aerated the back tee at the Driving Range, seeded, topdressed, fertilized and covered it. The covers insulate the turf and speed up the seed germination so the tee will be fully healed my the end of the month. At that time we will move back from the front tee and renovate it on a closed Tuesday in May. 

The Range tee topdressed and waiting to be covered

The only other damage around the course was the asphalt by some bridges collapsed. This was caused by the soil eroding by the bridge bulkhead and eventually washing out the soil under the asphalt. The bridge on 7 was the worst and has been repaired but a few others are showing signs of sinking and will be fixed over the next few weeks.

Due to the prolonged winter we are approximately three weeks behind with most of our maintenance, although the associated lack of growth helped us catch up as regular maintenance like mowing was not necessary. Spring aeration is scheduled for this week and so far it has not been without it's challenges. The irrigation pond sprung a leak over the winter. The ice moved the riser pipe so it started to leak. The water also managed to get behind the liner where it is attached to the riser. This eroded the soil under the liner and the liner tore, creating a bigger leak. It has been repaired and is refilling. 

The damaged overflow/riser pipe

The hole in the liner

Repairing the liner after the riser was repaired and the soil backfilled

The one good point of the pond being drained was we were able to check and clean the wet-well intake pipe

Due to the lack of water from the pond leak and the warm dry weather on Monday,  I decided to start aerating the tees first; the aeration process is very abrasive to the turf so there was potential for damage.  We lost Tuesday due to the rain and then arrived to a snow covered property on Wednesday morning.  

Aerating Tees on Monday

Cleaning up the cores on tees

The snow slowly melted so we were able to start the greens late Wednesday morning as thankfully the soil was not frozen.

Normally we start aerating the fairways once they are thawed and clear of snow; usually by the middle of March. The long winter has meant that we lost that opportunity and due to rain events since the snow melted they have remained too wet to pull cores properly. The weather is too much of a gamble to ensure that they will all be done by May 1st, so the plan is to solid tine them and make up for the missed aeration by modifying the fall fairway aeration. The solid tine aeration will not effect play much so if it takes a little longer it will not be a major inconvenience.

The warm days last week really got the turf growing and the course has greened up nicely, which is finally showing that winter is (almost) behind us. Now all is left is for the trees to bloom and it'll finally feel like spring.