4 Green Before and After

I thought it was a nice time to show the 4th green from last year to the present. I have had some members actually compliment the fence which I was not expecting. I think the concept of the fence while not ideal was the best solution to getting more sunlight and air movement to the 4th green and keeping golf balls from hitting Green Village Road.

Summer 2011

Spring 2012

Update

We had a great day of maintenance yesterday with the golf course being closed for play. The greens received a sand topdressing followed by a wetting agent and soil fertility spray. The tees also received a wetting agent and the fairways were treated for the prevention of dollar spot. All of this was followed by a fairly strong thunder storm leaving a half inch of rain and debris from the trees all over the course. We will have a rough mower demo from John Deere this week which will complete our demo of rough mowers. It was nice to have the extra production for the past few weeks with the extra mower but this was just a tease asMGC is looking to purchase one of these mowers for the 2013 season. The weather looks like the humidity will leave tonight and Thursday should bring cooler and drier conditions which should help the greens firm up.

Memorial Day

Happy Memorial Day. God Bless America

Course Update

This week was not the greatest week for playing golf in Northern New Jersey with over two inches of rain and mostly cloudy humid conditions but it looks like the unofficial weekend start of the summer will have much better weather. Last season we made changes to our agronomic plan including the removal of trees, drainage improvements, equipment changes, and additional greens aerations for situations just like this week. The tree removals have allowed for more sun and air movement keeping the disease pressure lower and the additional drainage has improved bunker play and general course conditions. The additional greens aeration have given the greens a better chance to move the water from the surface through the soil profile allowing for healthier roots. I must caution that we are nowhere near the percolation rate (rate at which water moves through the soil) on the greens that we should be but we are better then last season. These additional aerations will continue for the foreseeable future. The equipment changes that we have made reduce the severity of stress while mowing greens under wet conditions in addition to using our roller instead of mowers during really wet periods. The weather has made it difficult to get our plant protectant sprays out on the golf course so we are seeing some leaf spot on the fairways but that should be cleaned up with our next spray. I hope everyone comes out and enjoys MGC for this holiday weekend and let's not forget all of our brothers and sisters in the armed forces this weekend.

Rough

We are in our second week of demo rough mowers. This picture shows the larger Toro 4300 that is the demo next to our Toro 3500.

Animal Damage

I found some animal damage of the 3rd green this morning. We will replace it with some turf from the new nursery and be good as new.

Junior Tees

The Junior Tee Markers have been placed on the golf course. Please come out and enjoy the golf course with your children and let them experience the game. These markers are black in color and scorecards are available in the pro shop.

Rain

The course has received just over an inch of rain from today's storm. I took this picture of the 2nd green during the storm today to show how the drainage improvements are working. Heavy rains like today in years past would wash out the bunker in the front of 2 green. This picture shows how we are capturing this water now into a drain and routing away from the green complex.

Course Update

This week was spent mowing turf for the most part. The rough is growing at a good pace now with the warmer night time temperatures and rainfall. The next three weeks we will be demoing rough mowers from three manufactures Toro, Jacobsen, and John Deere. MGC is looking to purchase one of these mowers in the spring of 2013 but we want to see how they handle the rough during the period when the rough is growing the fastest which is now. All of these mowers are larger then what we currently own so our ability to mow the rough more times per week should go up. The greens aeration is healing up much quicker then our April aeration. We continue to spoon feed the greens with small amounts of fertilizer on a weekly basis. I hope to begin grooming the greens back to a smoother surface this coming week although wet conditions can limit our ability to groom. The picture below is from the 5th green on Saturday morning and shows some healthy roots coming from the deep tine holes as well as the the sand channels in the putting surface picture.

USGA May 2012 Update

Slow Recovery From Core Aeration And A Lot Of Divots

By Adam Moeller, agronomist, Northeast Region
May 10, 2012

(Left) Cool air, low soil temperatures and occasional frosts have limited turfgrass growth throughout the Northeast, causing slow recovery from core aeration. (Right) Heavy use of the practice range has resulted in a lot of divots at many facilities. The early usage of the practice range may compromise conditions as the season progresses.

Over the past few weeks of Turfgrass Advisory Service (TAS) visits two consistent themes have been heard at golf courses throughout the Northeast. The first issue is slow recovery from core aeration. Warm, dry weather in March and early April looked promising for rapid recovery from early season core aeration. Unfortunately, the second half of April and beginning of May brought more typical cool air and soil temperatures and several moderate frost events, causing turfgrass growth to slow dramatically. If the turfgrass is not actively growing, recovery from core aeration will be slow. Fertilizing the putting greens prior to or immediately after core aeration helps stimulate growth and recovery but if the soil temperatures remain cool, this cultural practice will not be as effective. Avoid over-fertilizing the putting greens to try to overcome the slow recovery because this will compromise turfgrass root production, carbohydrate (i.e., energy) storage, and eventually lead to excessive shoot growth. Want to avoid slow recovery from core aeration in the future? The answer is not to abandon core aeration because this is one of the most important practices to produce high quality putting surfaces! Instead, core aerate in the spring when air temperatures and turfgrass growth are more consistent, often mid-April through mid-May. Scheduling core aeration is often complicated and each golf course must balance the pros and cons of when is the best time for your facility. To read more about the relationship between aeration how to encourage rapid recovery read the article, Core Cultivation – Timing is Everything.
The second issue commonly heard on TAS visits over the past few weeks is concerns with excessive divots on the practice range and par 3 teeing grounds. The early spring brought a lot of golfers out much earlier than normal, which was an unexpected revenue boost at many facilities. Unfortunately, heavy use of the practice range has brought on a lot of divots. This has also been the case on par 3 teeing grounds. As mentioned above, turfgrass growth has been slow and inconsistent in most parts of the Northeast so divot recovery has been poor. This means that the condition of these teeing grounds may deteriorate as the season progresses. On the practice range, this may require limiting use and increased overseeding and fertility inputs. When using practice range, taking the best possible divot pattern is also recommended. You might want to share the article, Practice Like A Pro, with the players at your course to solicit their help with this problem.
Unfortunately, not even taking divots properly, increased fertility, and frequent tee rotation, can completely overcome the limitations of an undersized, and heavily used practice or par 3 tee. The same can be said with teeing grounds that are heavily shaded. Rebuilding and enlarging teeing grounds and removing trees to increase sunlight exposure should be a high priority for facilities with chronic problems with divots. Two Green Section articles that will be helpful in this regard are Building A New Practice Tee – Super Size It! and Guidelines For Building Great Tees.

Thank You

I wanted to thank all the members and staff at MGC for helping my family through the loss of our father. I thank everyone who came to pay their respects at the funeral home, came to the funeral, for the sympathy cards, the emails, and the phone calls. My family and I are so grateful for the support that you have given us in the past few days.

Update

The thunderstorm brought .80 inches of rain this morning to MGC which is great to help pound the sand in on the greens that we aerated. The practice green is the only green that we did not get finished yesterday and its just to wet right now to aerate so we will finish that one tomorrow. We will be rolling the greens for the second time this afternoon as the soft conditions will allow us to smooth out the greens easier. Our roller is considered a light-weight roller which is great for normal rolling as it creates less damage but its not the best for after aeration situations. A soil spray of nutrients and wetting agents will be applied on Thursday to the greens followed by a foliar application on Friday.