Snow

The snow has hit many of the trees at MGC very hard. Mostly branches that we can manage ourselves but a few will require the professionals. Once the snow melts we get the course cleaned up as quick as possible.
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Is it really October

Putting Green at 11am in October
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Great Video

A really great video showing what goes into a day of maintenance on a golf course.

http://vimeo.com/27697294

ISTRC Testing

We have received the results from the ISTRC testing that we completed on the 6th green back in September before we aerated the greens. This test is a benchmark that shows us what is going on in the soil including infiltration rate, air porosity, bulk density, organic content amongst others that shows us how the greens need to be cultivated in the future as well as showing the progress that we are making with the health of the greens. The following is part of the report that show how the 6th green compares to a properly functioning USGA green. We are very far from where we need to be but this report will help determine the agronomic path that will create healthy greens.

Grooming

Now that the greens have healed for the most part from aeration the turf needs a good grooming to stand up the longer grass blades and cut them all to uniform height. This practice helps sunlight penetrate the canopy of the turf increasing density of the turf. The groomers are located in front of the cutting reel on the walking greens mower units. The following pictures show how this achieved.

Position of Groomer in front of Reel

Interesting shot of the putting surface and mower blade

Moisture

TDR 300

In the past week I have purchased a TDR 300 which is a soil moisture meter. This is a newer piece of technology that allows us to check how much water content is in the soil at any particular time without having to take a soil sample or cut a hole location.

Throughout the growing season the most important decision that I make is how much water should be applied to the golf course in particular the green surfaces. The goal is to have enough moisture for the plant to survive but not excessive moisture leading to soft conditions that are not conducive to playability, disease management, or health of the root zone. The TDR 300 allows me to set a particular number that determines timing and quantity of water applied to the greens. This number requires a learning process to determine what number provides enough moisture to support the plant without wilting. Each green will be different especially #3,#6, and #9 which are USGA greens. Our number also will vary from other courses so comparisons are not helpful.

The following graph shows two dates on which the greens were sampled. The sampling process is an average of 9 random locations sampled on each green. The first sample date of 10/13/11 was following just under a half inch rain event, giving me a number representing the greens under wet conditions. It is important to note that this was a rain event and not an irrigation event thus giving us an even distribution of water taking out the inefficiency of our irrigation system. The second sampling was taken 5 days later after sunny and windy conditions.

The graph shows in numerical fashion my concerns about the greens remaining very wet after rain events. What has surprised me the most is that our USGA greens 3,6, and 9 are some of the worst at moving water away from the surface. #8 is no surprise at this time of year that the water content has almost not changed at all over 5 days. This information will continue to be developed and interpreted to determine our irrigation, topdressing, tree removal, and aeration practices for the future. I hope I have not bored you to death with moisture information but this is very important to the success of MGC's playing surfaces.

Tree Removal

The Borough of Madison is removing a large Oak behind the 9th tee this morning. This tree has been in poor health for a long time, a safety concern and sustained damage from the recent storms. This is one tree that needed to go and it didn't cost MGC a dime.
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Madison Eagle Article

MADISON - Over the past few weeks members at the Madison Golf Club participated in the Club Championship, and the final matches were concluded Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 24 and 25. The weather behaved far better than was predicted, and on Sunday the finals took place in sunlight and warm temperatures.

For the men, there were four separate flights, including the Championship Flight, the “A” Flight, the “B” Flight, and a Seniors Flight. For the women’s division, there were flights for 18-hole golfers and 9-hole golfers. All in all, a total of 29 golfers participated in the Club Championship.
The Championship Flight played the first 18 holes of the 36-hole final match Sept. 24, with Jack Egan competing against Fred Wynne for top honors. This year the tournament was managed as one event, and all the final matches were held Sept. 25. Competing in the “A” Flight finals were James Kennedy against George Hayman, a past club champion, and in the “B” Flight Michael Galant played against Rex Parkinson. The Senior Flight found Joseph Verbaro challenging Sandy Batten in the finals.
In the women’s 18-hole division, Nancy Stepanian and Karen Parkinson played one another in the final competition. In the 9-hole division, it was Amy Ball playing against Mary Zingone.
Many members were present to cheer on the contestants for both the men’s and women’s championships. Afterward, there was a catered reception and an awards ceremony inside the main room of the new clubhouse, where Tournament Chairman Robert Leamer and Woman’s Division President Alice Schedlbauer presided.

Playing An Extra Hole:
Three of the men’s final matches went to the 19th hole, and the women’s 9-hole final also went to an extra hole. There was some excellent golf played and the course was in fabulous condition, even minus the ancient silver oak tree on the 9th hole that was badly damaged during Hurricane Irene and had to be removed. During one of his club championship matches on Sept. 17, John Gallagher, a past club champion, made a hole-in-one on the 145 yard hole No. 8 with a 9-iron. At the time, he was playing with Jack Egan, Jack Megargel and Matt Kunish.

In the final results for the men, in the Championship Flight, Jack Egan was the finalist and Fred Wynne won the Club Championship on the 19th hole. In the “A” Flight George Hayman was the finalist and James Kennedy took the title, 1-up after 19. In the “B” Flight, Michael Galant was the finalist and Rex Parkinson the champion, 2 and 1. In the Seniors Flight, the finalist was Sandy Batten as Joseph Verbaro Jr. took the championship, 1-up after 19 holes.

In the Women’s Division, for 18-hole golfers, Karen Parkinson was the finalist and Nancy Stepanian took the championship, 1-up. For the 9-hole golfers, Mary Zingone was the finalist as the championship went to Amy Ball, 1-up after 10 holes.

Junior Golfers
On Sept. 11, the Madison Golf Club’s junior golfers played their club championship, with four 18-hole players competing. Alex Chin, whose family are new members this year, emerged as the junior club champion after defeating runner-up Sean Casey. Finishing third was Christopher Manning, followed by Brendan Dore in fourth. The junior players carried their own bags and walked the course during the competition. Several parents, members and golf shop staff were spectators and officiated.
Each of the club champions will have a name plate added to the Club Championship plaques that hang on the winners’ wall near the locker rooms in the new clubhouse.

October Update

Please don't be scared the large orange thing in the sky is the sun which most of us have forgotten about since the middle of September. The next 5 or 6 days look like great weather, almost summer like by the weekend, which will help the course to dry out and really get the turf growing which will help fill in the aeration holes. The greens, tees, collars, and approaches are finished being aerated as well as Fairways 1,2,3,4 and 9. The fairways take a long time due to the fact that we are using our greens aerator to aerate the fairways. This is not the ideal situation but MGC does not own a fairway aerator and the budget didn't allow for contract work this year on the fairways. The long stretch of wet weather has produced more worm casts (mud) on the fairways then I have ever seen at MGC. These worm casts while a real problem for the golfer also cause problems for the grounds staff namely dull mowers. The dry weather should help the worm cast situation although it will remain noticable for the next few weeks as the turf grows through the casts. We are also mowing down the tall grass between #8 and #9. This is a yearly process that allows us to keep these areas under control and give us the ability to spray an herbicide that will remove all the weeds from these areas.

Mowing Tall Grass on #9