Spring Transition - It's Not Always Perfect but So Far So Good this Year

Coming Out of Dormancy

The Bermuda and Zoysia are trying their best to come out of dormancy, but the ups and downs of the weather pattern typical to the spring don't make this a consistent transition period.  This week we are experiencing high 80's and next week they are projecting a low of 32.  Last week in an email we discussed the growth surge of the Ultradwarf greens at the Farm, which we hope that we are now on the tall end of the lusher than normal growth slowing down green speeds.  With all the new growth on the short cut areas of tees and fairways we are now going out with our first mow of the season.  This is the lowest we will cut these areas all season and the first few times out will result in a lot of excessive growth mown from the surface left over from the higher heights we went into the fall season last year. The before and after can sometimes be dramatic but with the proper weather the green surface will quickly return in a few short days.

Problematic winterkill which we are always concerned with after a long winter does not appear that it will be a significant issue this year despite the well below normal temperatures in the month of January.

Also, the spring flowering trees and shrubs such as Cherries, Dogwoods, Pears and other trees are nearly in their full flowering stage.  Some of the earlier flowering shrubs such the Forsythias are on their way out but will soon be followed by the Azaleas.

Shaving off the Winter Canopy

Dogwoods and Redbuds in Bloom

 

Farm Tennis/Swim Entrance

!6 Irving Park

Spring Mulch

Each spring each course applies around 600 yards of shredded hardwood mulch on both courses.  This a a very labor-intensive job but the aesthetic and cultural returns are well worth the effort.  We will follow this up in May with over 3,000 bales of pine straw applied to the courses underneath pine trees and other areas where pine straw is more conducive.

Staff Hard at Work Spreading Mulch

Golf Course Maintenance Etiquette from the USGA

Golf Carts

Carts help golfers get around the course, but they can also cause damage – especially when people don’t follow a course’s cart rules. Cart policies can change daily, so make sure to ask about them before teeing off. There are a lot of reasons why a course may not want you driving in certain areas – some issues are obvious and some may not be. Wet or newly grassed areas surrounded by cart signs should clearly be avoided, but tire ruts show up in these spots more often than they should. Courses may also want you to avoid extremely dry areas, or they may ask you to stay on the path in late fall or winter when grass is hardly growing and can’t handle traffic. 

No two courses are exactly alike, so the rules will vary. Follow any ropes, stakes or directional signs – they are there for a reason. Avoid turf areas that appear thin, weak or wet. Try to spread out when driving through high-traffic areas and keep all four tires on the path as much as possible. Don’t drive through naturalized areas, don’t get too adventurous on steep slopes, and don’t get too close to tees or greens. Beyond these basics, erring on the side of caution is always a good approach.

 

Repairing Divots

Taking a divot is part of the game but the scars should be carefully repaired. The goal is to leave a smooth surface and encourage the grass to heal. In general, if a divot is mostly intact, replace it and tamp down with your foot to smooth it out and restore contact between the roots and the soil. If there are gaps around the replaced divot, fill those with divot mix to help the grass fill in and create a smooth surface for playing. Some courses may prefer that you use mix rather than trying to replace divots. This could be because the grasses on that course tend to explode into pieces after a shot rather than forming a nice divot that is likely to heal. Sometimes the environment or weather isn’t conducive to replaced divots healing so it’s better to fill the hole with mix.

There are many factors that influence divot recovery, which is why policies can vary. The bottom line is to leave places where you take a divot as smooth as possible for the next player and to encourage recovery. If you can refrain from taking divots on your practice swings and avoid hitting practice shots on the course, that helps decrease the total number of divots that need to heal. Another good habit is to fill your divot and one more.

Replacing intact divots or filling the hole with sand helps the damage heal faster and leaves a smooth playing surface for others.

 

Ball Marks

While fairly small, a ball mark can leave a lasting impact on a putting surface if it is not repaired. Unrepaired ball marks disrupt surface smoothness, and the negative impact can last for weeks. The proper repair technique has several key points to consider. Start by using any pointed tool, including a golf tee. Insert the tool behind the ball mark and gently push toward the center, then work around the edges of the mark gently pressing the turf back in toward the middle. Don’t lift or twist the turf because that can damage the roots. Once you have worked the turf back into place with the repair tool, gently tamp the area with your putter to smooth the surface. While you have your ball mark repair tool handy, see if you can repair one or two more marks that may have been missed.

 

Bunker Raking (GCC Rake Placement Guidelines Rakes In May - Oct / Rakes Out Nov - April)

After hitting a bunker shot, try to leave the sand as smooth, or smoother than when you found it. Knowing the basics of bunker raking and putting in a little effort is all it takes. Enter the bunker from the low side and try to bring a rake with you so you don’t have to search for one after hitting your shot. Use the rake to smooth and level any disturbances you create in the sand. As you exit the bunker, avoid pulling a clump of sand up against the edge as this can damage the grass and create awkward lies for other players.

Follow the course’s policy on where to put the rake when you’re done. If they don’t have a specific policy, the USGA recommends placing them outside bunkers and away from where they are likely to interfere with play. Before exiting the bunker, knock any sand off your shoes to keep it from winding up on greens or fairways where it can disrupt play and potentially damage mowing equipment.

Keeping Staff Safe

The maintenance staff does their best to take care of the course while avoiding play, but there are times when golf and maintenance will cross paths – especially with how busy courses have been. When you encounter staff, always ensure they see you before hitting in their direction. They may be focused on their task or unable to hear you yell “fore” at first, so give an extra shout or wave if you aren’t sure they noticed you. After the staff responds, be patient while they move out of the way.

 

Going the Extra Mile

Beyond the basics, here are a few other things you can do during your next round to leave the golf course better than you found it.

Pick up broken tees and discard them in waste containers to keep them from cluttering the course and damaging mowers.

If a garbage can is full, hold on to your trash rather than piling it high for wind and birds to disperse across the course.

Do not leave cigars or cigarette butts on playing surfaces and keep those sunflower seeds off the greens.

Ropes and stakes are there for a reason, so walk through designated openings and not over or on top of the rope, which will loosen and pull the stakes over.

It is the maintenance staff’s job to care for the course, but golfers need to do their part as well. During your next round, set a good example by using the tips in this article and encourage others to make the effort as well. No matter how long you have been playing or what your handicap is, taking care of the course makes you a great golfer! 

Spring is Right Around the Corner

With spring right around the corner, it is time to start shifting away from our winter related tasks to more turf related jobs in an effort to prepare everything for spring.  A big part of that program for our Bentgrass greens at Irving Park begins with aerification.

"WHY AERIFY?" CORE AERATION is one of the “dirty” words of golf course maintenance. With a busy golf season of around eight months in our area of the world, many would question the necessity of disrupting play each year in the spring and the fall on Bentgrass greens.

An important purpose behind core aerification is the removal of unwanted organic matter, allowing improved growing conditions for the roots. With a healthier root system heading into the golf season, the grass plant is better able to withstand the stress of traffic. Aeration also relieves compaction, promotes air exchange and helps with water infiltration.

How much aerification is enough?

There is no specific rule of thumb for what percentage of surface area should be impacted each year. It would be safe to say however that it would be difficult to “over aerify” if plant health was the only factor. The USGA suggests that 15-20% of the surface should be aerified each year. Our program of a 3/8” tine in late winter, a 1/2” tine in late spring and early fall comes very close to achieving the USGA objective of 20% annual surface removal.

3/8"tine on a 2.5 " spacing

How long after aerification before the greens are back to normal?

With cooperative weather, the healing process will take 28 days in late winter and 21 days in spring and fall to return the greens to optimal putting condition. Extra fertilizer and water are applied at this time to expedite recovery."  Smaller tines are used in late winter to speed the recovery during what is typically a slower growing time of the year.

Weed Control

Springtime is also the time of year where the turfgrass is treated with preventative summer weed control products.  Ideally these treatments are applied beginning in late February with a completion date of no later than March 15.  The timing of these treatments is primarily dependent upon soil temperatures with certain summer weeds such as Crabgrass germinating when soil temperatures approach 60 degrees.  Between the two courses we treat over 200 acres of turf each spring and depending on weather conditions these treatments can take anywhere between 2-3 weeks from start to finish.

Winter Damage Update

While we expect a certain amount damage on the warm season turfgrass each year coming out of winter, some years can certainly be worse than others.  While we did experience a very cold month of January it does appear this year won't be witness to any widespread turf loss.  The Farm ultradwarf greens appear to be very healthy as we are currently mowing them several times a week and getting more clippings than normal for this time of the year.  My biggest concern coming out of January was more so in the fairways and roughs where growing conditions such as compaction, shade and poor drainage make the turf more susceptible to winter extremes.  After exploring several of these areas prone to damage we are seeing a good amount of healthy white live stolons, which is a very good indicator that the turf will be fine once it breaks dormancy.  While we still have several more weeks before we are in the clear things are looking good for a normal spring transition.

White/Tan Succulent Healthy Stolon from Shady/Wet Area Prone to Winterkill

Cold Air Heading Our Way

 January Cold

Artic Blast and Polar Vortex are two terms most people have come to associate with really cold air and forecasters say that one such system is heading our way.  One weather news outlet described it as "This will likely be the most significant cold we have seen in years and the pattern of below and well below temperatures are expected to remain in the area for a good portion of January".  With this type of long-range forecast and bold headlines we decided to minimize our chances for any type of cold related damage on the Farm greens by shutting down early and applying a thick blanket of pine straw on the greens before installing our protective covers. By first spreading pine straw on a putting surface and then covering it, we create an air gap between the cover and the putting green surface.  The air gap provides significantly more protection from damage that might otherwise occur with lengthy cold weather events. Pine straw is not that expensive because we reuse the pine straw around the course in areas we would of had to pine straw anyway, but it is very laborious and closes the course down a few days longer than just putting down covers due to the installation, removal and relocation of the straw, therefore it is only used in what we perceive to be high risk weather situations.

Pine straw installed before installing the covers 

Winter Work

Despite late fall and winter being described as our off-season the staff has plenty to keep them busy before we begin cranking up for the next growing season.  A large portion of the late fall and early winter months are spent blowing and sweeping up leaves.  The Irving Park course is especially difficult as there are no wooded areas to hide them.  With the new Greensboro no pickup leaf policy I am sure a lot of people can now appreciate the fact we have over a 100 acres of leaves to blow into piles, load onto trucks and haul to one of the local landfills.

One of nearly 100 trucks of leaves hauled away every year

Vacuuming leaves is a daily task

Each year during the non-growing season we spend ample time cleaning, repainting and refurbishing the equipment and the golf course accessories on each course.  This works perfectly with all those really cold or rainy days where it is not conducive to go outside and work.   This year we're having to do some significant work to the Farm irrigation pump station.  Two of the main pumps and one motor are in the process of being pulled and replaced.  We replaced the third pump last year, so once this work is completed, we should be in pretty good shape going forward on what is effectively a 30-year-old pump station.

One of the main pumps being removed for replacement

The Christmas season is now over but not forgotten.  On behalf of all the GCC employees I would like to send out a special thanks to members for their gracious giving that went out to all the employees in the form of a year-end bonus.  The member donations that make this possible are greatly appreciated at this time of the year and goes along ways to defining the commitment the members have for our hard working and dedicated staff.  So, a Big Thanks is in Order!

August Course Update

 Recent Rains

Both courses have experienced significant rainfall over the past three weeks with a total of more than 14 inches of rain.  With that much moisture course conditions have not been quite up to par.  The health of the Irving Park Bentgrass greens has diminished throughout this time frame, going from a nearly perfect root system to a very weak root system and some corresponding thinning of the surface canopy in just a matter of a few weeks.  Throughout this same time period precautions were taken, such as pencil tine aerification of the greens, to allow for improved surface drainage and more surface aeration.  Mowing heights have also been raised from .110 to .130 in inches.  With these conditions also comes a spike in disease activity resulting in an above normal amount of disease treatment applications. This week's more moderate temperatures, especially nighttime temperatures, should provide some very needed relief. With that said, the greens will be fine going forward with a few bruises here and there, but green speeds will be slightly below normal for the remaining part of August.as we continue to manage these delicate playing surfaces

Bentgrass Thinning from Over Moisture and Disease Commonly referred to as Bentgrass Summer Decline

Pencil Tine Aerification

Ponds

 One of the positive aspects of all the rainfall has been to recharge all our ponds on the Farm course.  The pond on #4 was significantly lowered earlier this year to make repairs.  Those repairs were made in late June and the recent tropical depression quickly refilled the pond, All the other ponds were also down significantly as well due to irrigation usage in June and early July, but all ponds on the course are now once again completely full.

Bunkers

The bunkers have also taken a beating with all the recent rains.  The Farm bunkers were built in a way to minimize sand washing down the faces during heavy rains, but the washing we experienced during the tropical depression was some of the worst we've seen since their reconstruction in 2009.  The Irving Park bunkers have always been subject to washing during heavy rain events.  We estimate they have an average of 10-12 bad washing events per year.  Each time these bunkers wash the sand becomes more and more contaminated.  Also, each time they wash it takes approximately 50 manhours to get them back to where they are re-playable.  It doesn't take a rocket scientist to quickly see how many man hours we have spent over these past two decades fixing washouts on these bunkers and how helpless we are in protecting the quality of the sand during heavy rain events.  Thursday's tropical depression had the entire staff working on Friday in an effort to get them playable on Saturday only to come in Saturday morning to bunkers that were washed even worse due to the rate at which the rain came down Friday night.

Poor Drainage due to poor sand quality

Guardrails

A new set of guardrails was installed in late June on the Farm course on hole #4.  Guardrails were also proposed on the Irving Park course on hole #16 at the tee box, but meetings with the Greensboro DOT resulted in that set of rails not being approved within the city's right of way, which closely borders the tee box itself.

Farm Ultradwarf Spring Flush and Spillway Repair

 

FARM GREENS SPRING FLUSH EARLIER THAN NORMAL

It's only early March and due to the recent moderate weather we have been experiencing, the Ultradrawf greens on the Farm course are now coming out of dormancy.  This is 2-3 weeks earlier than we see in a normal year.  In the images below you will see on the first one taken late last week where some new growth is showing up where the leaves are light green.  The darker green grass is the older leaves with green pigment.  One week later you can see where the new growth is nearly 100%.  The bottom picture is a green after a mowing showing stripes.  Bermudagrass greens are a little different from Bentgrass.  Typically, when you see stripes on Bermuda greens it means the leaves are growing and laying over and rarely ever will you see a Bermuda green that shows stripes and has fast green speeds.  Many know by now, but the spring flush regardless of when it occurs is a time of very rapid growth and a succulent leaf tissue.  During this phase we attempt to account for this growth spurt with additional mowings, lowered mowing heights and chemical growth regulation.  Despite our efforts it is nearly impossible to maintain green speeds to our typical standards.  We also have to be careful not to over stimulate or overwork the grass because we still have another 4 weeks where we can experience freezing temperatures.  In the event we do experience freezing temperatures you may see us covering greens at a higher temperature threshold than you would expect during the heart of the winter seasonal.  Right now, the plant is using up a lot of its stored energy from the fall to come out of dormancy.  If they experience too harsh of temperatures and are forced back into dormancy, they will be much slower to come out the second time.  With all that said golfers can expect slower roll speeds on the greens for the next few weeks or more depending on the weather cycle over the next 4 weeks.

3/1/24 Light Green New Growth

3/8 100% New Growth

Striped Greens from New Growth 

Farm Lake #4/#8

During one of the heavy rains we experienced in January, the riser cap on the spillway vault structure was damaged.  The damage affected the top 20 inches of the structure, which has resulted in the lake level being down by that same 20-inch height.  We are currently getting bids on repairing the top of the structure to get it back to full pond level.  Until this work is completed the lake level will remain lower than normal.

Winter 2024 Update

January 18, 2024 Course Update

To date the winter of 2024 could be defined as wetter than normal with near normal temperatures.  With that said, this week we are experiencing our first real bought of cold artic air with temperatures forecasted to be below 15 degrees for several nights this week.  

Farm Ultradwarf Covers

Thus far we have only covered two times, but the cold air this week had us working overtime on Sunday and Monday to not only pull covers, but we decided to add some extra protection by adding a layer of pine straw beneath the covers.  Based on the current forecast we expect to pull covers and remove straw next Monday and Tuesday (1/22-1/23) and have the course reopened by Wednesday, January 24.  As we have done in the past when we have used pine straw, the straw will be pushed off the greens to the sides and we will relocate the straw to our landscape beds over the next few weeks.  We pine straw these areas each year in late winter and early spring, so there is no additional cost for the straw itself, but there is a lot of extra work that goes into this process.

Shaking the Straw

Hydrating the Green

Pulling the Covers

Finished Product

Too Much Rain

The rains have been constant and as of late they have been heavy.  We recently had 2 inches of rain followed by three inches the very next week.  The forecast next week, once it warms up, is for 6 consecutive days of rain.  Above normal rains like the ones we've been experiencing make not only for soggy playing conditions, but they create a lot of extra work for the staff in the way of picking up sticks and debris and working on washed out bunkers.  The bunkers on the Irving Park course have always been prone to washing in heavy rain events and a lot of work goes into fixing them up and making them playable again.  When bunkers at Irving Park wash the staff has to go out and shovel off the silt and organic layer, which you never get all of because some mixes with the sand as it is washing.  Once the sand is cleaned off it must then be pushed and shoveled back to the edges and large rakes are needed to smooth the slopes.  The faces will need to be packed firmly to prevent plugged lies.  Lastly, raking and smoothing the bottom is never easy after all the shoveling and gouging that occurs to move the sand back to the edges.  The Farm bunkers have a newer style of construction that helps to minimize washout and more importantly prevents the subsoil from eroding into the bunker sand.  We occasionally get complaints on the quality of the bunker sand at Irving Park but after 24 years of washouts with no subbase protection the quality of the sand eventually deteriorates to what we see in the bunkers today despite our best-case efforts over the past many years.

Righthand Bunker on 6 Erosion and Contamination After Rainstorm

Front Bunker on 6 After Recent Rainstorm

Tennis Court Improvements

There have been numerous improvements to the Irving Park tennis facility over the past year including new fencing, wind screens, adding a new patio area and a significant amount of landscaping to the pickleball court area are just a few of the things worth mentioning.  The latest improvement included making repairs to the brick walkway between the upper and lower courts as well as adding access to the pickleball courts by adding a new set of steps.

New Access Steps

Tree Work

The winter is also a time where we do a lot of tree work.  This year we will remove nearly 20 trees that are all dying, already dead or present a safety risk to the golfers.  A good example of a safety risk was the split tree we removed last summer on #8 at Irving Park.  That tree generated a huge crack after a moderate windstorm and posed a huge risk to golfers due to its immense size.  Another similar tree was recently removed on #6 at the Farm course, which had a large amount of lean, was dead at the base and had a large crack forming in the main trunk.

Dead at the Base with a Strong Lean

#6 Farm Tree Removal Short of Green

Indoor Work

On cold and rainy days, which we have a lot of throughout the winter months, the staff has plenty to do inside.  The number of course accessories definitely adds up on any given golf course and each year all those accessories such as, tee markers, water cooler housing, trash cans, and hazard stakes all have to be gone through and refurbished for the new year.  So, there is a lot of sanding, painting and woodwork that goes on behind the scenes each year to keep everything looking new.

Sanding Tee Markers

Benches and Hazard Stakes

Water Cooler Housing