Project: Farm Greens Ultradwarf Conversion
Projected Start Date: May 22, 2017
Estimated Completion Date: August 19, 2017
Projected Cost: $367,000 (Grass, Supplies, Equipment and Design Changes)
BACKGROUND
The Farm course underwent an extensive renovation in 2009 at which time the greens were re-established in A1/A4 Bentgrass. During the period between 2010 and 2016 several courses in the surrounding area, as well as a larger portion of the transition zone of the Southeast, have converted from Bentgrass putting surfaces to Ultradwarf Bermuda. Some of the initial concerns with playability and survivability of the warm season grass in this region of the country have proven to be less of a factor than they were thought to be in 2008 when the grassing decision was made on the Farm course.
ISSUE STATEMENT
46.5% of Total rounds played at Greensboro Country Club take place in the four months of June through September (2004-2015 average). Therefore approximately ½ of the total annual rounds played take place during the four months that the Bentgrass putting surface is in its most susceptible condition. Beyond the costs associated with the upfront conversion this is by far the most critical issue that most clubs in our area have examined when considering whether or not to convert.
PROJECT DESCRIPTION
In order to convert the greens from the current Bentgrass surface to an Ultradwarf variety the course would need to be closed for approximately 13 weeks.
Week 1 – Spray out Bentgrass. Begin making contour changes on #5 green.
Week 2 – Prepare surface for sprigs.
Week 3-4 – Sprig Greens
Week 5-12 – Grow-in new sprigs
Week 13 – Open Course
SCOPE
All putting surfaces including the two existing nurseries would be converted to an Ultradwarf variety. The greens would be sprayed out in an effort to kill off the existing Bentgrass. The putting surfaces would then be vertically mown and aggressively aerified. Upon completion of the surface preparation the greens would be fertilized with a pre-plant fertilizer application. They would then be sprigged by a grassing contractor. Once the sprigs are on the ground the grow-in process would begin. The greens will be heavily watered for the first 10-14 days. Once the sprigs have begun to re-green up they would be fertilized on a bi-weekly rate for the next 8 weeks. The greens will be mowed daily once they are established and growing. The mowing heights will generally start out around .20 inches going down weekly until they are at a final opening height between .100 - .125 inches. Halfway through the grow-in process the greens will need to be topdressed weekly to smooth out the surface.
Recontouring – The #5 green currently has contours that will present issues with a firmer and consistently faster Ultradwarf putting surface and will need to be softened. The club has contracted with Golf Designer Billy Fuller (http://www.billyfuller.com) to make the necessary changes. Mr. Fuller will be responsible for drawing up a new design, overseeing bids and new construction to the point sprigs are on the ground.
EXPECTED BENEFITS
· A superior putting surface June-September
· Fewer Ballmarks
· Most dependable putting surface for late spring and summer tournaments and events
· More heat tolerant than Bentgrass
· Less labor devoted to hand watering during the summer months, which can be devoted to other task
· Slightly less overall disease risk (although by no means disease free)
· Cost savings related to removing fans
· Light frequent watering should allow for dryer green surround complexes versus the deep watering cycles demanded by Bentgrass
· Allows for maximized summer usage relating to outings and tournaments resulting in additional revenue opportunities
· The current sloping of the greens should require minimal adjustments and are close to ideal for a firmer, faster putting surface
· The overall cost differentiation between managing Bentgrass greens and Bermuda is expected to be slightly lower although most Superintendents I questioned on this subject say they estimate the costs to be fairly close. The cost for disease treatments and hand watering is generally balanced out with the additional cost of sand, equipment maintenance, additional weekly mowing-grooming and wintertime cover installations-removals.
· Only one significant aerification performed versus three with Bentgrass. As the only significant aerification is limited to just once a year due to a shortened growing season over Bentgrass it is much more aggressive and may take an additional week to recover as compared to Bentgrass. This still results in a net savings of nearly 35 days of non-heavily cultivated putting conditions (63 days versus 28) during the active golfing season. This aerification is usually done in late June or early July and important events can be scheduled 21-28 days out depending on the nature of the event. Small solid tine aerification which is minimally disruptive to the putting surface is performed throughout the summer months to improve water infiltration at the surface, which is impeded by the fine particle sand topdressing program. The fine particle topdressing program is what creates a very firm surface throughout the summer months but it does result in a condition of the surface of the green “sealing off”.
EXPECTED DIS-BENEFITS
· Cost related to establishment, grow-in and course closure.
· Will not tolerate shade. Ultradwarfs require a minimum of 4 hours of direct unfiltered sunlight throughout the peak winter months and 8 hours of sunlight throughout the summer months. Trees will need to be considered for removal on the following holes to meet this minimum:
o Hole 4
o Hole 5
o Hole 6
o Hole 9
o Hole 10
o Hole 13
o Hole 15
· Lower degree of cold tolerance. Greens will need to be covered when low temperatures are expected to drop below 27 degrees. The amount of days the greens are covered in our area will vary each winter but will generally fall into a range of 7- 21 days depending on the severity of the winter. Covering is a labor intensive process but not to the scale of hand watering on Bentgrass. Revenue loss on covered days should be minimal due to cold conditions when demand is already low and due to the secondary outlet at Irving Park.
· Ultradwarfs produce more grain. Grain accumulation requires additional time throughout the week to perform additional cultural tasks such as double mowing, verticutting and topdressing to deliver a highly conditioned putting surface. Most Superintendents at private clubs use the course closure on Mondays to perform these task but based on the schedule of events such as outings, holidays, and tournaments there are times where a 1 - 1 ½ window of mid-day tee times is required on a slow day between Tuesday and Thursday to make up for when a Monday is lost or the growth rate of the grass demands more input.
· More inputs required in the form of sand topdressing. Weekly sand topdressing during the active growing season triples the cost of sand and doubles the maintenance cost related to grinding reels. A minimum of two fulltime mechanics is necessary to keep up with the demands related to managing Ultradwarfs.
· The spring transition months result in a growth spurt that results in lowered green speeds. This period of less than ideal putting conditions generally occurs around the time of March 15 through May 1 and can be similar in nature to lower green speeds on Bentgrass during the months of July-August, in that membership expectations are often difficult to achieve.
SPEED COMPARISON
A generalized comparison of the varying stimpmeter readings throughout the year for Bentgrass versus Bermuda at a random private club in the Piedmont region of NC:
|
Bent
|
Bermuda
|
January
|
10
|
10
|
February
|
10
|
10
|
March
|
10
|
10
|
April
|
11
|
10
|
May
|
11
|
11
|
June
|
10
|
11
|
July
|
9
|
12
|
August
|
9
|
12
|
September
|
10
|
11
|
October
|
12
|
11
|
November
|
11
|
10.5
|
December
|
10.5
|
10.5
|
Average
|
10.3
|
10.8
|
TIME SCALE (Monday, May 22, 2017 – Saturday, August 19, 2017)
Based on the 2017 calendar and the ideal growing window for a Bermudagrass conversion the course would be closed on Monday, May 16 and re-open on Saturday, August 12, 2017. The sprigs would be scheduled to go down in late May-early June allowing for a 9-10 week grow-in period before opening.
RISK
A primary risk of an Ultradwarf conversion would be related to damage sustained from a significantly cold winter, which has proven to be less than once thought due to the turf cover technology being used at courses in the transition zone. This is also no greater and may be less destructive than turf loss to Bentgrass during significantly hot summers.
Disease activity is a secondary risk. All the new Ultradwarfs have shown susceptibility to certain diseases such as Spring Dead Spot, Leaf Spot, Mini Ring and Pythium being the four most destructive diseases on Ultradwarf.
One risk receiving a lot of attention is mutation. The grass receiving the most attention for mutation is the Mini Verde variety. Quail Hollow recently re-grassed their greens, which were established during their first Bentgrass conversion in Mini Verde after only 3 growing years (2014-2016) due to a high number of mutated areas. Some courses that have been established with the Champion variety for 5 or more years are now voicing concerns over very small areas of mutation. When discussing mutation it is important to keep it in perspective. Small areas of mutation are mostly aesthetic in nature. The majority of mature Bentgrass greens all have some form of expressed mutation. Although, firmly established mutation in Bermuda does have a much greater tendency to affect ball roll due to the difference in growth rate and grain on the parental variety versus the mutated strain. The one variety that has shown the greatest degree of resistance to mutation is Tif Eagle.
TREE REMOVALS
Ultradwarf Bermuda(s) is highly sensitive to low levels of sunlight and/or short sunlight duration. The simple rule for sunlight requirements are:
Minimum 4 hours of direct sunlight during winter months
Minimum 6 hours of direct sunlight during the spring and fall months
Minimum 8 hours of direct sunlight during the summer months
New technology combining GPS positioning data integrated into cellular camera 3D apps now makes it possible to go anywhere on your property and see exactly how much sunlight is available on any given day of the year at any location. Using that very same technology we have developed a list of existing trees that would have to be removed to provide for the proper growing requirements at each green site.
Hole #4 – Remove two large hardwoods on the back right of the green. This would add 2 hours of morning sun in the winter months to the existing 3.5 hours.
Hole #5 – Remove 4 large hardwoods from the back right corner of the green to add 2.5 hours of winter sunlight to the existing 3.5 hours.
Hole #6 – Remove two oaks on the right side of the green. One on the green side of the cart path and the other on the #7 ladies tee side of the cart path. Removing these trees would add I hour in the winter and two hours in the summer to the right side of the green.
Hole #7 – Two hardwoods behind the green on the opposite side of the cart path would need to come out to get above the 4 hour threshold on the back of this green.
Hole #9 – The back portion of the green receives only three hours of sunlight during peak winter months. The large Cedar behind the green would need to be removed and by doing so would add 3 more additional hours of sunlight.
Hole #10 – The back of the green only receives 3.5 hours of sunlight. Removing the large Oak immediately behind the green would add an additional 2 hours of sunlight.
Hole #13 – The front of the green only receives 4 hours of sunlight. Removing the large Oak to the front left of the green will add 2 hours additional sunlight.
Hole #15 – The back right side of the green receives 3.5 hours of sunlight. The large Oak immediately behind the green and closest to the path would add 2 additional hours of sunlight.
Total Contract Tree Removals – 14
Additional trees may be subject to future removal.
GRASS OPTIONS
The final decision on which variety of Ultradwarf will be chosen will be decided upon by the spring of 2017.
All the below grasses were developed in the 80’s and began to be established on courses in Florida in the late 90’s. They therefore have a proven track record for courses in the Deep South. As Superintendents began to develop improved management programs for these grasses in comparison to the older Tif Dwarf or 328 variety the putting quality began to improve significantly. As the putting quality improved so did its demand from courses northward. The first notable golf course to convert was East Lake in 2008, where the Tour Championship is held each year. In 2007 East Lake experienced a lot of damage to their Bentgrass greens, which forced them to cancel the Pro-Am and produced very poor quality greens for the tournament. As the Tour Championship is held each year in September the decision was made to convert to Mini Verde in 2008 to much success in the many years that has followed. The success at East Lake over the next several years gradually opened the door for consideration at other private and public facilities even further northward. Starmount Country Club converted their greens to Champion in 2011 after losing their greens in May and was therefore left with no real good option other than to convert to an Ultradwarf. Sedgefield Country Club converted their greens to Champion Bermuda in the summer of 2012 in an effort to provide a better putting surface for the Wyndham Championship held there each year in August. A great many of the earliest courses to convert in transition zone all had significant reasons as to why they chose to move away from Bentgrass. But as those courses produced successful products over the past 4-5 years the conversion to Ultradwarfs began to rapidly take off.
Champion – Champion has shown to be the preferred choice for courses in our area due to its aggressive growth habit, its fine leaf texture and a strong level of marketing and support from its supplier.
· Pros
o Produces fastest rolling speeds of all the Ultradwarf varieties. This has been shown to be as much as 1.5 feet under the same management regime.
o Produces greater root mass than Tif Eagle.
o Produces similar thatch as Tif Eagle.
· Cons
o Slight to moderate risk of mutation. A vegetatively selected mutation.
Tif Eagle – Tif Eagle is the first Ultradwarf variety to come to the market but has not received quite the attention as Champion and Mini Verde due in large part to marketing and roll speed. Tif Eagle is a slightly coarser grass (larger leaf) that demands more input to get the same green speeds as Champion.
· Pros
o No reported mutations. A gamma radiation produced variety that has shown to be very stable.
o Minimal off coloring during the winter months
· Cons
o Higher inputs to maintain fast green speeds
Mini Verde – Mini Verde has demonstrated the most mutations of the three Ultradwarfs, which has significantly affected the number of new courses selecting this grass. Bryan Park converted their greens to Mini Verde in 2013. As mentioned earlier Quail Hollowed re-grassed their greens in 2016 due to excessive mutation on Mini Verde.
· Pros
o Good color and turf density
· Cons
o Numerous reported mutation and management issues. A vegetatively selected mutation.
