Understanding Frost And The Reason For Delays

"Frost occurs when temperatures approach 32 degrees, freezing the dew upon the plant surface and more importantly, the water that is present inside the plants’ cells. The expanding pressure of the freezing water inside the cell stretches the cell membrane, and subsequently the membrane loses all of its elasticity and resiliency that enable it to withstand outside forces such as foot traffic, etc.  In this state, the membrane cannot absorb impact or stretch and re-conform to pressure, so it breaks, causing the cell fluid to leak after thawing, killing the cell completely. If enough cells are affected, the whole turf plant will die, and if enough plants are affected, large areas of turf, whether it is greens, tees, fairways, or rough, can be killed.

An easy way to understand this phenomenon is to imagine a water balloon. The balloon skin is elastic, flexible, and can easily supply generous “give” to forces exerted upon it. But when the balloon is frozen, the skin is stretched by the expansion of water as it turns to ice, and it becomes thin, rigid, and brittle, unable to flex against outside pressures. Its only “give” is to break

By delaying play until the frost is gone and the temperatures moderate, we give time to allow the plant cells to thaw and the cell membranes to regain their original elastic qualities that enable them to withstand traffic."  We are well into the time of the year where nightly temperatures often result in large scale frost throughout the courses so on those chilly mornings please call the Pro Shop to see how frost might affect your tee time.

Aug 12 - Farm Range Re-Opens This Week

FARM RANGE
The Farm range was closed for repairs on July 13 and sprigs hit the ground on July 15.  We are now in week four and as we originally hoped we will be opening the range on Friday of this week on a limited basis as follows:

Monday                                     Closed all Day

Tuesday to Friday                   Open at 7:30 am               Closed at 6:00 pm

Saturday and Sunday             Open at 7:00 am               Closed from 11:00 to 12:30 (for Handpicking)

                                                          

Saturday and Sunday              Reopens at 12:30             Closed at 6:00 pm

The above schedule has shorter operating hours included to allow for staff to hand pick the range. Once conditions improve and the range firms up enough to operate the mechanical ball picker the range schedule will return to its normal operating hours.  We understand this is a highly valued facility by many of the members and we appreciate your understanding as we continue in our efforts to return this part of the club back to a fully operational status.

Farm Range 7-14-15

Farm Range 8-12-15

FARM COURSE

The GCM team at the Farm continue to make repairs to small areas throughout the course.  While the Farm fared well in the Zoysia fairways, the amount of damage in the Bermuda roughs was almost identical to the size of damage incurred in the roughs on the Irving Park course.  The primary difference between the timing of repairs was a very busy tournament schedule on the Farm course that did not allow us the opportunity to keep the same pace as we executed on the Irving Park course.  Our original plan to have these repairs finished by the end of August is still our goal.  With the vast majority of our seasonal staff having already left for college the remaining year round staff still has a lot to do but I have the utmost confidence they will put in the extra effort to make the final repairs before our Club Championship on August 29-30.

Repair Work #13

Repair Work #14

Repair Work #15

IRVING PARK

The Irving Park course has come a long way from when we first started making repairs back in the month of May.  We continue to try and grow in the last few areas of sprigs that have been slow to recovery (mostly in shady areas).  In additon to pushing sprigs the IP staff also has a small amount of sod work left on the table to get to before the Club Championship.

Irving Park #13

And before you know it the aerification season will be back upon us:

Greens Aerification Irving Park

August 31 - September 1

This aerification will be especially important this year as we deferred the June aerification on greens due to extremely hot weather and a huge workload related to winterkill repairs.

7-20 Sprigs on the Range and Presidents Cup Nearly Here

Sprigging the Farm Range

Day 1 - 2 (7/13 - 7/14)

The first two days were spent heavily aerifying the damaged areas where the new sprigs would be planted.  The entire site was also fertilized with a high rate of starter fertilizer

Day 3  (7/15)

Sprigs were hand planted on the Farm range on Wednesday, July 15.  The process started with the delivery of the sprigs at 5:00 A.M.  The dump Truck that brought the sprigs had a mechanical failure, so for the first three hours the sprigs were off loaded via our backhoe reaching into the truck and pushing the sprigs out the back a little at a time.  But by 8:00 our Mechanic, Wayne Vernon, had helped the driver fix the hydraulics and the load finally hit the ground.  Much like on the Irving Park course the sprigs were manually loaded onto carts where the crew of 30 plus guys drove to the damaged areas and spread them out evenly across the ground.  Once the sprigs were on the ground two guys came behind with tractors and cut the sprigs into the ground.  Once the sprigs were cut into the ground two more guys topdressed the planted sprigs with a moderate level of organic compost. The last step of the process included irrigating the entire site to the point of saturation.  Despite the slow start to the day, the crew did an excellent job and the process of planting the sprigs couldn't have went much better.

Innovative Unloading

Hand Planting Sprigs

Cutting, Rolling and Topdressing

Brooks Running the Water

Day 4 - 14 (7/16 - 7/26)

The first week and a half will be spent keeping the newly planted sprigs saturated, which will allow them to sprout new roots into the wet and softened soil.  As the roots begin to develop the amount of water required to keep the plant alive will lessen a little bit everyday.

Saturated Sprigs

Day 15 (7/27)

By this point the sprigs should be firmly established and the amount of daily watering should be down to a limited amount of watering just a few times a day.  Day 15 is the first chance we will have to get back onto the site and fertilize everything for the second time.

Day 22 (8/3)
By now we should be watering just at night and this will be the approximate day where we put out our third fertilizer application.

Day 29 (8/10)
This should be the day we put out our fourth and final fertilizer application.  If all goes well we will have the driving range reopened by this date on a shortened and structured schedule to allow the range staff enough time to hand pick the balls off the range.

Presidents Cup

The Presidents Cup begins on Friday night with a new nine hole Par 3 Tournament on the Irving Park course.  Saturday's first official round will be held on the Irving Park course.  It seems like a long time ago when the sprigs were planted on this course but 5 weeks really isn't that long when it comes to growing sprigs.  With that said, we are very pleased with the establishment rate of the sprigs on the Irving Park course.  While numerous areas are still very visible there are also areas that are now far enough along you would never know they were sprigged just a little over a month ago.

Irving Park #4  (7-20-15)

Sunday's final round will be held on the Farm course that just hosted a very successful Carolinas Am.  While we continue to make repairs to several areas in the rough the vast majority of the in-play areas of the course are in very good condition and should make for some very good playing conditions.

Farm #12  (7-20-15)

7/9 - Irving Park Reopens Limited Number of Holes and The Farm Plays Host to the Carolinas Am

Irving Park
The Irving Park course reopened 13 holes today.  Five holes (7-9 and 14-15) still need a little more work and time to grow.  Based on what we are seeing today we fully expect to open the entire course by next weekend (7/18).  Outside of a small amount of sod work in thin areas in select fairways that were sprigged the bulk of the sod work at Irving Park has been completed.

#1 - Late May

#1 Early July

Farm Course
The Farm course watched the first round of golfers go out today for their chance to be recognized as the best amateur golfer in both North Carolina and South Carolina for 2015.  The Carolinas Am is the flagship amateur tournament conducted by the Carolinas Golf Association and the field is composed of the leading leading amateurs in both states.  While the Farm course is not up to the high expectations of a normal year, this is in no way a normal year.  In conversations with Jack Nance, CGA Executive Director, the CGA is very happy with their decision to bring this event to GCC's Farm course and very lucky as well with their timing.  While there is still work that needs to be accomplished, the Farm course with it's Zoysia fairways and tees has resulted in conditions well above average compared to other courses in our region within the Carolinas.

Hope Still Exist for All 157 Competitors

#3 Farm - Practice Round

Farm Range
The Farm driving Range will be closing on July 13 to allow for sprigging on the landing area and chipping fairway.  The club will be sending out more details related to this closing in the next few days.

Farm Range

Lightning
Last week a small storm blew through the Farm course and struck a very large pine tree located directly behind the scoreboard to the right of 18 green.  Just one week later and who knows what could of happened? This is just a simple reminder of how dangerous lightning can be on the golf course.  The club has invested in a lightning detection system, which in addition to the detector located at the clubhouse includes three sirens located throughout the golf course.  When the siren goes off golfers are required to immediately quit play and return to the clubhouse or the nearest shelter.  In a recent study by the National Weather Service there were 8 golfer deaths by lightning over the past six years.  While 8 deaths over a six year period may surprise some the mere fact still exist that lightning can and does kill people.  While golf accounted for 8 deaths, all other listed outdoor sports accounted for 119 additional deaths, so the next time you hear one of our sirens go off don't think twice about calling it quits.

Lightning Strike From Top to Bottom

Bark Blown Off From Lightning Strike

Irving Park Sprigs 6-29-15 (Day 10)

We are now 10 days into the sprigging process and here is what we are seeing.  For the most part the first seven days were as good as we could have expected.  We got good quality sprigs and put them down in timely fashion.  Soil conditions were very good at planting time due to two days of heavy aerification prior to planting.  Softened soils made it easier for the sprigs to be cut into the ground and easier to water to penetrate the soil once the sprigs were cut into the ground.  The final day of planting we received .7 inches of rain and have received an addition 1.6 inches of rain since then.

Day 6 #15

Today we are beginning the drying out process ahead of schedule.  With a slightly dryer surface we are beginning to roll all the sprigged areas in an effort to improve the quality of our first mowing, which we expect to take place towards the middle part of the week.  We will begin mowing at a height of 1 inch and will lower that slightly every  3-4 days.

Day 10 #15 Being Rolled

Once the fairways are all mown we will then begin to fertilize everything with a quick release Nitrogen source, which will be thoroughly watered in immediately following the application.  This process of reducing mowing heights and weekly fertilization will continue until we are down to our standard mowing height and all the areas are fully covered.

Some areas will naturally grow-in quicker than others.  Some areas that take poorly will eventually be sodded once we determine whether or not they will fill in on their own.  We are seeing some areas that were either to thinly planted, washed during recent rains or have been too droughty to establish that will require small amounts of sod.

The simple fact we have had a good take on the sprigs thus far leads me to believe we will be able to get at least part of the course open in the three week period discussed prior to closing the course and we should have a fairly good playing surface after six weeks, which is a pretty good turn around for our region.

Sprigs Down and Establishing

Current Update 6/23/2015
After two long days of preparing damaged areas for new sprigs and two long days of planting sprigs we have finally gotten to the grow-in phase.  The team that worked on the actual planting of the sprigs was a combined effort of both the golf course maintenance staff and the golf operations staff and everyone did a phenomenal job for what can only be described as extremely hard and dirty work under very hot conditions. Speaking of hot, the weather thus far has been near ideal for sprigging with daily highs well into the nineties and a few timely rain showers.  The first two weeks of the grow-in phase will primarily consist of keeping all the sprigged areas at or near the saturation point 24/7. Each and everyday will be spent making sure all the areas are kept in a near flooded state.  This is accomplished by running small irrigation cycles every hour of the day. As we go through the process and the sprigs begin to develop new roots the frequency between cycles will be slowly decreased.  If all goes well the sprigs will develop a sufficient amount of roots by the third week of the grow-in that we will be able to begin to dry the course out to the point we can once again start mowing everything. The mowing phase of sprigging is also very difficult to watch.  As the course is saturated throughout the first two weeks of the process it is very difficult to mow areas in close proximity to the sprigged areas. With the heat, the water and all the fertilizer the unaffected (non-planted) areas near the sprigs will grow to very tall heights in between mowing cycles.  Therefore, once we do begin to mow non-sprigged areas we will have to raise mowing heights to prevent majoring scalping and there will still be certain areas that will remain wet and as such tracking from mowers is all but impossible to avoid.  We will begin mowing the actual sprigged areas, most of which are in the fairway, at a height of 1 inch.  We will begin mowing these areas sometime in the 3-4 week timezone depending on their level of root establishment. It will take another 2-4 weeks before the new growth will allow mowing heights to be returned to more suitable playing levels.  If all goes well we would expect to see a much more presentable course by the first week of August.

Sprigs Day 1

Sprigs #13 Day 5

Sprigs #1 Day 6

When Will the Course Open and What Should Members Expect to See
Just six days into the process it is still too early to set a re-opening date.  The date will be predicated on how well the sprigs are progressing and whether or not the course will be playable.  Playable for this purpose would mean that golfers can retrieve their balls from the sprigged areas and will have a reasonable area to take relief. We expect to make a decision on how and when the course will be opened by the second week of July and will communicate our decision to the membership in a prompt fashion once such a decision is made.

Greens Aerification
The abnormally hot weather has been great to try and establish nearly 9 acres of new Bermuda sprigs but the cool season Bentgrass greens have begun to show signs of stress.  As a precautionary measure we decided not to core aerify the greens at Irving Park as was originally scheduled.  Core aerification of Bentgrass greens during extremely hot spells like the one we are currently entrenched in will do more damage than good.  Removing the cores from the greens and topdressing with large amounts of sand would result in a lot of unnecessary abrasion and stress, which could hasten the onset of decline. As such, the decision was made to just solid tine aerify the greens and defer any topdressing treatments until we see a cooling off period.  As this hot spell is much earlier than normal for our region we have also raised the mowing heights on the greens at both courses, which will result in a slower green speed.  We will continue to monitor weather conditions as they relate to the greens and will make the proper adjustments if we see the current temperature trend change in either direction.

1/2 inch solid tine aerification

1/2 inch solid tine closeup

Sprig Week at Irving Park

Sprigs
The week to install sprigs on the Irving Park course has finally arrived. As of today, Monday, June 15, the course is officially closed.  Monday and Tuesday will be used to try and prepare all the damaged areas for sprig planting through cultivation and proper irrigation.  The first step was to fertilize all the damaged areas with a good starter fertilizer, which has a high phosphorus analysis that will help with initial root growth. The next step will be to aggressively aerify each of the damaged areas. Depending on soil conditions some of the areas will be aerified as much as 4 or 5 times.  Once the areas are loosened with the aerifiers they are watered to prevent them from drying out too much. The last step, just prior to sprigging will be to apply the proper rate of weed control to keep these highly cultivated areas from being over taken with summer weeds such as Crabgrass and Goosegrass. This application will take place Tuesday afternoon and will be the last item to go onto these areas before sprigs are placed on the ground.

The actual sprigs are scheduled to go out Wednesday and Thursday.  We plan to sprig approximately 1,000 bushels/acre.  All our sprigs will be placed by hand.  In addition to our Irving Park staff we will be using numerous outside golf shop staff as well as staff provided by an outside contractor.  All in all, we plan to have 35 people available on Wednesday and Thursday to spread and plant the sprigs.

Once the sprigs are spread we will go behind and cut them in with a set of disks and a roller.  Sprigs above ground can survive if kept saturated but the sprigs that do best are definitely the ones that get pinched into the soil.  The final step is to turn on the water and keep it turned on for several weeks. We will plan to back the water off these areas once the sprigs begin to show new leaf growth and set new roots.  We expect the saturated phase of the sprigging process to last a minimum of three weeks.

Damaged Area Pre-Prep

Beginning Aerification

Multiple Aerifications

Keeping Aerified Areas Moist

Hand Spreading Sprigs

Sodding
Just because we are sprigging doesn't mean we have stopped making repairs via sod installation.  We have another truckload of sod scheduled for delivery Tuesday morning to make additional repairs to the #5 and #7 green complexes at Irving Park.  We also have a truckload scheduled for delivery on Wednesday morning to the Farm course for repairs to holes 11-15.

Sod Prep #7 Irving Park

Sod Prep #5 Irving park

The Work Doesn't Stop There
While the course is closed for repairs we will remove a large Oak tree to the left of #1 white tee at Irving Park.  We have struggled for numerous years with turf quality in this area and this year the shade damage was very significant.  As we will be required to repair this area with a significant amount of sod we felt it is was prudent to remove the tree prior to making these repairs.

Dead Turf and Tree Removal Left #1 Tee Irving Park

And Lastly, how about this weather?  I guess all the Superintendents around here said a few prayers for warmer weather and it has definitely been answered.  The hot spell is definitely a welcome trend but as both our courses have Bentgrass greens 95-100 degree weather for an extended period of time in Mid-June is quite the conundrum.  But no one likes to hear people whine so we will just suck it up, keep working and do the best we can.  Such is the life of a Golf Course Employee or so it seems as of late!