Aeration Update

We finished the aeration and topdressing process on the remaining greens yesterday morning. We then started tee and approach aeration completing 9 and 1 tee and 1 approach when I had to divert the crew to mowing due to the surge of growth from the recent rains and warm weather. The rain has shut down aeration for today, Wednesday, so we will concentrate on mowing rough, tees, and approaches before the heavy rains this afternoon shut us down completely. We will continue aeration on the tees and approaches when the weather changes but considering the year we have had who knows when that will be.

More Aeration Pictures

Here are some more aeration pictures

Heavy Topdressing of Sand

Finished Product

Greens Aeration

The crew is working hard on the greens aeration and looks like we will only have #7 and #8 to finish in the morning. The process this year was to deep tine with a 3/4 inch solid tine to a 9 inch dept at a 4inch by 4inch spacing followed by our Toro 648 with 5/8 hollow tine at a 2inch by 2inch spacing. The cores are then shoveled into the carts and hauled to the dump. We then apply our dry sand topdressing and work it into the holes using our brush and tow behind blower. Here are some pictures:

Deep Tine Machine from the Fredco Group

Crew Clearing the cores

#3 green before clean-up

I will post some of the finish pictures tomorrow I have to get back out on the course.

Course Update - September 23

We are trying to get the entire golf course mowed this morning before the rains begin. The golf course is still very wet and the forecast is calling for another 1 to 2 inches. This time of year with the cooler temperatures, shorter days, and lower sun angle the course stay wet much longer then in the summer months.

We will be aerating the greens on Monday using both a contractor to deep tine the greens and our own equipment for traditional core aeration. We will not be able to finish all the greens on Monday so there will be a few holes closed on Tuesday as we finish the clean-up and topdressing. I know how much golfers hate aeration but it is a very important process especially after the year we have had losing so much turf. Once we complete the aeration and topdressing of greens they will receive an application of fertilizer as well as be over seeded with bentgrass.

We will continue aerating other areas of the golf course, tees, approaches, and fairways, once the greens have been completed.

Course Update

The 8th green is fully open now with no ground under repair on the green now that the sod has rooted and we have brought the height of cut down to be equal with the rest of our greens. I will be keeping the pin locations out of the sodded areas for another few weeks until the ball rolls a little better in this area. I have fertilized the greens, tees and fairways this week with a blended fertilizer that is part synthetic and part organic. The product does carry an odor but now that it has all been watered in no odor is present. These fall applications are very important for the turf as we are trying to drive root growth before winter, increase carbohydrate reserves that were depleted during the summer, and aid in the recovery of aerification which will take place the week of September 26th. This aerification will also give us another great opportunity to seed all of the greens that still have bare spots. The annual flowers have been removed from the clubhouse landscape beds and replaced with mums for the fall.

The recent cooler weather signals that fall is around the bend and that means frost. Frost can develop anywhere under 40 degrees at MGC so even if your car or the bank thermometer says its above 32 there still might be frost. Please obey the frost delay signs that will be posted and do not walk on any turf until the ok is given by myself or the pro shop staff. The leaves will also begin to fall in the next few weeks and we will do our best to keep the golf course as clean as possible. The noise ordinance prevents us from using blowers on weekend mornings so by Sunday afternoon the course might be a little messy but we will continue to work as fast as possible cleaning up the leaves.

End of an Era

Greenwood tree removed the Silver Maple from the center of #9 today. The Long Range Committee and myself are working with our architect to develop a plan that will be acceptable to all the members at MGC.

Remember those that are Gone

Going to be a difficult day for many in our area that lost a loved one ten years ago. We will be enjoying the first round of the club championship today but we will never forget what happened ten years ago. In honor of those that died we have put out the American Flags on all the flagsticks today. God Bless America

Course Update - September 8

The rain is still coming down at MGC this morning which is really keeping us from getting the golf course mowed and keeping the bunkers playable. Here are some totals for the past 40 days:

August - 19.95 inches of rain
September 6 - .65 inches of rain
September 7 - 3.25 inches of rain
September 8 - 1.5 inches of rain and still raining



Thursday Morning Radar


The rain has not only put a stop to our mowing but has also delayed Greenwood Trees ability to access the golf course to remove the Silver Maple on #9 as well as the large portion of the oak on #5. It looks as though it will still be to wet on Friday to remove the trees so they should be here on Monday. The crew worked around the clubhouse yesterday weeding the beds and removing the summer annuals in preparation for the Mums next week. We will try and get all the bunker banks mowed today along with the washouts repaired but the weather might dictate otherwise. Thanks for your patience.

Re-post of Email

The following is a re-post of an e-mail that some members never received:

Dear MGC Members,
Below is a message from Jim Schessler and the Board of Governors , regarding news of the damage to the tree on hole #9 from Hurricane Irene.  Enjoy this holiday weekend and all the golf it will bring you.

Hurricane Irene resulted in the loss of approximately one third of the tree in the center of hole # 9. This is in addition to the loss of a major section a few years ago. A thorough inspection of the tree indicates that the remaining portion is essentially hollow and is a safety hazard. Accordingly the remainder of the tree must be removed. We expect that this will be done late next week. Meanwhile we have roped off the area to the right of the tree as a danger area which will be designated as ground under repair.

 In our long range planning we had anticipated this eventuality. We have preliminary plans for the redesign of this hole in the absence of the tree. We will review these plans and the timing of their implementation with an ad hoc expanded Greens Committee representing a cross section of the membership.

Meanwhile, the same committee is finalizing measures required to improve the conditions of the greens and sand bunkers.

Regards,

Madison Golf Club
155 Green Avenue
Madison, NJ  07940

Another tree

We lost a large portion of the Oak tree on the rights side of the 5th hole yesterday. We will have Greenwood tree remove this section of the tree Wednesday while they are here for the Silver Maple on the 9th hole.

Newspaper Article about Irene/Golf Courses

Here is an article from the Star Ledger this morning about how some of the courses in our area were impacted by Irene.

http://www.nj.com/golf/index.ssf/2011/09/golf_courses_across_jersey_nur.html

USGA Update

By Jim Skorulski, Dave Oatis, Adam Moeller, agronomists, Northeast Region
August 31, 2011

A trail of debris is not all that is left as saltwater begins to recede from a coastal Connecticut golf course. The likelihood of damage from the saltwater makes it necessary to plan a leaching and renovation strategy for the flooded areas.

It is hard to believe that recently Hurricane Irene was driving up the Atlantic seaboard and bringing with it hurricane and tropical storm force winds and flooding rains. Add Irene to the list of 2011 maladies that include winter damage, tornadoes, giant hail, and an earthquake tremor. Enough is enough already. I guess most of us should be thankful that Irene lost some of her strength before making landfall and spared us from even worse wind and storm surge damage. However, the large and powerful storm will be remembered most for the catastrophic flooding and damage it has caused throughout the region.
Maintenance staffs have been busy cleaning up downed trees, branches and debris left from the wind and massive flooding, along with washed out bunkers and cart paths, severe erosion and flooded turf areas. Saltwater flooding and, to a lesser extent, salt spray are the major concern for lower lying coastal golf courses. Saltwater flooding is never good, but poses an even greater risk in the summer when the turf is actively growing. The extent of damage is hard to predict and will depend on the weather, turf species and cultivar, duration of the flooding and ability to remove the accumulated salts. Toxic levels of sodium and chloride ions will damage most cool season grasses and especially annual bluegrass. Consider the following points as you plan a clean-up and recovery strategy following the storm’s aftermath.

• Record rainfall totals generated from this storm have caused more extensive flooding and erosion on inland golf courses. The duration of the flooding and temperature will impact the turf survival. Turf under water for several days will probably be ok if the temperatures do not climb too high. Removing silt and other debris left from the flood will be the challenge. Use snow shovels or power broom the silt and debris from greens and use hoses to wash-off as much of remaining soil as possible. Plan on extra cultivation in the flooded areas this fall to remove layers of silt and other fines from the surface.  
• Golf courses that experienced saltwater flooding must anticipate the worst in regards to turf damage. Any rain that occurred after the saltwater receded will be helpful. Begin irrigating the areas as soon as possible. Check the salinity of any irrigation pond that may have been breached. Water with an ECw of 2-3 dS/m (1280ppm-1920ppm total dissolved salt), although not ideal, can still be used to flush salt-affected sites. Water with higher salt concentrations should not be used.
• How much water will it take to remove salts from the upper root zone?   Mike Huck, Irrigation and Turfgrass Services in Dana Point, CA relayed to me that 4 inches of infiltrated water will remove 90 percent if the salt from 4 inches of soil, regardless of the soil texture.  Gypsum can be applied at 10 lbs per 1,000 sq ft while leaching the salt-affected areas. Reapply gypsum at 10 lbs per 1,000 sq ft when the areas can be cultivated.
• Use a salinity meter (see links below) or have a saturated soil test completed to determine if the salinity has been lowered sufficiently for seeding. ECe (electrical conductivity of soil) should be < 4dS/m and preferably < 2 dS/m and an SAR < 6 and preferably < 3 for successful seeding.  Bentgrass cultivars such as Seaside II, Cobra, SR 1020 and Mariner have higher salt tolerances and may be a consideration for flood prone greens and other areas. The perennial ryegrass cultivars Brightstar SLT, Citation II, Citation Fore and Paragon offer higher salt tolerance, Alkaligrass grass can tolerate higher levels of salt and may also be a suitable choice for areas that are more prone to saltwater flooding.   
• The warm blast of tropical air generated from this storm may also carry with it the threat of gray leaf spot disease. I have not yet heard reports of the pathogen in the Northeast, but stay alert for reports of disease activity and for symptoms on perennial ryegrass.

This hurricane will not be remembered so much for its wind, as it will for the widespread flood damage. The clean-up, repair work and regrassing efforts at many Northeast golf courses will be significant. More details regarding the damage and clean-up efforts will be forthcoming as we better understand the extent of damage. Do not hesitate to contact us if we can answer any questions or be of help during the recovery efforts.