Things to expect over the next few months.

With the hottest two months of the year approaching we would like to remind everyone of a few things you might notice on the golf course. When we get into a period where we haven’t had any rain for over two weeks you will notice some browning on parts of fairways and roughs. This is due to shale close to the surface which heats up the roots from underneath. These areas get extra attention and receive more water to make sure we don’t lose any turf. The high humidity during the summer months makes some areas on tees become puffy in the thatch layer. These areas are usually seen on tee boxes that aren’t used as much (i.e. Gold and Green tee boxes). The tee boxes that are used more receive more foot traffic which helps firm them up and not get puffy. Summer patch in the intermediate cut and roughs can show up toward the end of July. We have added a spray which was talked about previously to help reduce the severity of it. When we talk about summer stress these are the things we are referring to.

Area on #1 forward tee that scalped and heated up due to excess thatch  

#7 fairway is a prime example of where we don't have much soil and the roots heat up from underneath. 

We have also applied some traction paint to the walk bridges. If  this paint shows to be durable it will help up decide if this is the best product to apply to the center of the cart bridges for walkers.

Thank you in advance for understanding how big of an impact the weather plays a role in what we decide to do every day on the golf course. When we get consistent temperatures in the 90’s we may reduce the amount of mowing and rolling we are doing weekly to help reduce the stress on the greens.

Last but certainly not least please remember to help maintain your golf course by fixing ball marks, filling divots and raking bunkers! Have a great summer from the Piedmont Maintenance Department!

Sixteen Days of Rain and Counting

Well we were in need of rain three weeks ago, now we can all agree we have had enough after 16 straight days of  precipitation. This many days without sunshine and having wet conditions has some affect on the turf.

The greens on holes 1,2 and 16 have small sections that are high traffic areas from walking on and off the green. These particular areas wear down easier in wet conditions.  We have used a tool to put some small holes in these areas to help get the water off the surface and help them dry out. We have added some seed to a couple of the worst areas. Once we get some sunshine and dry weather these areas will start to recover. Please do your best to try to avoid these areas when walking on and off the greens so they can recover faster.  You will noticed we also added a rope line to help keep everyone from walking in the same spot.

Left side of  #1 green 

Left side of # 2 green

Red Thread

In the roughs you might notice some grass that is red and thin looking. This is called Red Thread Disease. This will very rarely actually kill the grass, it just turns red and the affected area will get thin. This disease becomes active when we have a lot of humidity in the air for multiple days in a row. This is not something to be concerned about on the golf course, once we get some sunshine and dry days the grass will grow out of the disease. 

  

Red Thread on #9

PoaCure

So far we are seeing great results from the Spring trial of PoaCure. The 3rd application was made yesterday and the last application will be made in two weeks. The wet weather has actually accelerated the root uptake of the chemical into the Poa plant, which can kill the Poa Annua quicker. We will be fertilizing the trial area to help push the Bentgrass to over take the Poa voids and any seeding will be done during the June aerification. Thank you for your patience during this trial.   

PoaCure on #4, The bentgrass is green and the Poa is Yellowish brown.

Overall the golf course has recovered nicely from aerification. We still have some projects that will continue through May. For example we will be doing another bunker audit for sand depths and weeds in all bunkers The rains can move the sand off slopes and produces weeds on edges of bunkers. Hopefully next week will be drier so we can get a good dry cut on all surfaces. Thank you for remembering to fix your ballmarks and divots.

Spring is Here!

Spring Projects

• This spring you will see many different small projects going on throughout the golf course. We have completed installing new irrigation on #11 gold tee and #17 green tee. On #4 we have changed the irrigation heads out so they throw a shorter distance and more accurately on to the gold tee box. 
• Over the last two weeks we have been sodding along side cart paths in high traffic areas. 
• We have also started putting wood chips down on walk paths and around cedar trees. We will be mulching the rest of the areas with black mulch over the next few weeks. 
• Throughout April we will be checking sand depths in all bunkers and adding sand where needed. 

New This Year

• This year we will be mowing some of the native areas more often then previous years. This will be done to areas that seem to attract a lot of golf balls. For example in between holes 1&9, 2&8 and 10&18 will be kept around 6 to 8 inches throughout the year. A few other areas will also be maintained the same. This will help a few different things, controlling weeds, play-ability and pace of play. It will still frame the holes and keep the aesthetic look desired for the golf course.  
• If you have seen it already, we will be using green divot mix this year on the golf course. This sand does not have seed in it for multiple reasons. Mainly the seed will germinate in the divot bins on the course and on the golf carts. Another factor is during the summer months the seed will not germinate due to the lack of water. The divot will recover quicker from lateral growth of the Bentgrass.
• In terms of equipment capital we have been approved for a new rough mower to add to our fleet. This will give us the ability to keep up with rough and mow it twice a week during the growing months. We will also have the ability to mow only in the mornings during hot summer days, which will help with heat stress and summer patch in the roughs.  Hopefully you will be seeing the new mower out on the golf course before the end of April. 

Below are some pictures of the irrigation projects. Please do not drive on the newly sodded areas while they become established when leaving or coming back to the cart path. We will have a PoaCure update in the spring turf talk sent out via email. Thank you in advance for helping take care of the golf course by fixing your ball marks and replacing/ filling your divots.

#17 forward tees

#17 forward tees

#11 gold tee

Winter 2015-16

We hope that everyone had a safe and happy holiday season. We hope you have took advantage of the last few months now that it looks like winter has arrived after an unseasonably warm November and December. We have a number of projects in store for this winter and into the spring before the 2016 season begins.

Our projects include:

Adding irrigation to #4 gold, #11 gold, and #17 forward tees

• This project will allow us to combat summer heat and drought stress through the season.  These tee boxes currently have poor irrigation coverage.  Adjusting the irrigation heads and moving the placement of them should help us control our water usage, and allow us to keep the tees healthy during the heat of summer.  The new placement will allow us to use water more efficiently on a regular basis.
• Drainage along cart path edges
• We have had some issues in the past with our cart path drainage.  The asphalt has eroded in certain low areas and has allowed for puddling and cracking after rain storms.  We plan on adding drains to a few select spots. The majority of the puddling can be reduced by removing soil and lowering  the edge of the grass line. This should allow the water to move freely from the cart path and into the roughs to properly drain.
• Bunker sand audit 
• Adding and moving sand in the bunkers that need it will improve playability.  
• We have already sodded the areas where our sand pro machine enters and exits the fairways bunkers, and re-cut the lip of those areas as well. This is caused because of the Fazio designed, deep bunkers which the bunker rake might only have one enter/exit point.

Before

After

• Other projects include:
• Refurbishing tee markers
• Refurbishing tee box benches
• Refurbishing water cooler houses
• Rebuilding the small bird houses
• #3 gold tee box tree removal
• Removing the mulch bed behind #6 green and adding native grass  
• Mowing native areas

Poa Cure Demonstration

As most everyone knows every April we battle Annual Bluegrass (Poa) thriving in the spring conditions on greens, especially number four. We have had much discussion regarding the best solution to this problem for the club.

Most recently we had discussions of digging it up, which would entail stripping the top several inches of turf and root zone. We would then have to add new greens construction sand and re-seed the green. The major downsides are the green complex would be closed from mid August to April the following year. The agronomic practices and how the green plays would be different from the rest of the golf course for a couple of seasons while it matures.

Before we get to that, there is another option we have initiated. There is a product in trial right now called PoaCure. It is not available for sale in the United States yet, but we have been lucky enough to get selected for a demonstration trial. After recently seeing the results other clubs are getting we feel this could be a game-changer.

Here's how it works: we sprayed two applications of the product this fall on the front half of the green. Then in the spring we will spray 4 applications on the back half of the green, overlapping the middle section. The spring treatments require more applications because the Poa is actively growing. The Poa that has been sprayed this fall on the front half of the green has gone off color (picture below). We won’t see it disappear on the front half of the green until the spring when the Bentgrass is actively growing. The results of PoaCure at other golf courses are showing reduction and elimination of the Poa on the greens. A research professor will be monitoring our green through the process.

The long-term outlook for the PoaCure is both curative (gets rid of the Poa we have) and preventative (work it into the annual spray program so the Poa stays out) throughout the entire course once it becomes available for purchase. In the short-term we are optimistic it will be the solution to #4. The results so far are promising!

Notice the spots turning yellowish-white on the left side and no color difference on the right side. The Poa turning yellowish-white is the PoaCure slowly killing the plant. 

Summer Stress

This summer was difficult for cool season grasses in the Mid Atlantic area. With over nine inches of rain in the month of June, the roots didn't have to move deep into the soil to find water, since it was available close to the surface. This means they didn't have the depth or structure like they normally would, which showed when it was hot and dry in July. With the weak root structure the stress is noticed on areas of fairways that have rock close to the surface which heats the plant from below and wilts.

This also allowed the disease Summer Patch to become a big issue in the Bluegrass intermediate cut and the rough. This is a disease we preventatively treat for in the early spring, which we did the same this year as to prior years. The weather conditions this year were ideal for Summer Patch to develop even with the preventative treatments. Once the disease is present their are no curative fungicides to control Summer Patch. The only cultural control for Summer patch is allow the plant to grow out of it by raising mowing heights. From mid July to the end of August we didn't mow Intermediates for this reason. Below are a few pictures showing when the disease first became active as well as after we raised the mowing height to help put less stress on the plant.

This fall we will be seeding Ryegrass into the intermediates around the greens because it is not susceptible to Summer patch. We are also doing some sodding in the roughs with Tall Fescue where the Summer Patch was the worst. Any large clumpy areas in the roughs will be areified and seeded with Tall Fescue.  The Kentucky Bluegrass always bounces back and fills in from Summer Patch during the cooler growing months. This means it will still be present and susceptible to it but the Ryegrass and Tall Fescue will decrease the amount of area affected by it.
Here is a link to a great article going more in depth about Summer patch. https://www.extension.purdue.edu/extmedia/bp/bp-115-w.pdf

Number 15 on July 24th

Number 15 on August 31st

To Replace Divots or Not to Replace Divots?

Every golf course usually has a preference weather they would like you to fill your divot or replace it. This varies from course to course because of different grasses or even different climates. Here at Piedmont we ask you to replace your divots if it is still in one piece and when temperatures are cooler(spring, fall, winter). If the divot is shattered into a bunch of small pieces and or during the warmer months of June, July and August we ask you to fill it with sand. During the warmer months the divot will usually die due to heat and lack of water. Where as during the cooler months the divot can recover and root back into the ground which would have quicker recovery then filling it with sand. If you walk and don't have sand with you we ask you always replace your divot. Attached are a couple videos from the USGA about fixing divots and ball marks. Thank you for all your efforts in helping maintain your golf course.



Fixing Divots

Fixing Ball Marks