Course Update

I topdressed the greens with sand on Monday with the anticipation of rain which we received last night and this morning. The winter is a great time to continue to dilute our thatch layer with sand without having to worry about play. These topdressings will help firm the surface as well as reduce our organic layer on the surface of our greens. The main goal of aeration and topdressing at Madison is to allow the greens to drain faster after rain events, keep a drier soil profile which translates into cooler roots that can breath, increase the firmness of the greens, and keep the ball rolling smooth on the playing surface.

The following picture was taken on the back of the 3rd green and was the only ice I could find on the greens. This area stays shaded from the pine trees behind the green and is a great visual example of why we struggle with this green throughout the season. The deep tine aeration holes from December are still visible and allowing water to drain off the surface during snow melt and rain events which is crucial to avoiding additional ice build-up. Unfortunately goose droppings are also present and are removed as many times as possible during the winter months.

3rd Green Ice - February 25th

USGA Update

The days are getting longer, and although you may not be ready yet, the 2013 season is just around the corner. Who knows what surprises it will bring? Another round of extremes, perhaps? To put things in perspective, two years ago at this time many courses in the region were encased in ice, and concerns over the possibility of winter injury were rampant. Indeed, there were a lot of winter injured greens that year, but thankfully temperatures moderated a bit in late winter and widespread catastrophic damage was avoided. We were just one or two more freeze/thaw cycles away from major damage on many courses, so it could have been much worse. Moving to the opposite end of the spectrum, at this time last year many courses were beginning to mow grass. Temperatures were so mild that turf growth was initiated more than a month early, and pest development occurred on a similar timetable. The grass never stopped growing, so it was an exceptionally long season.
Thus far, it has been a good winter for facilities in most of the Northeast. There are always a few concerns regarding winter injury, but temperatures have been consistently colder this year, and cold temperatures foster hope that nematodes and insect populations may be naturally held in check. One certainly hopes so.
Even with cold temperatures, it will not take adult annual bluegrass weevils long to become active once warmer temperatures arrive. Therefore, now is the time to fine tune control strategies and prepare to install pitfall traps. Annual bluegrass weevils remain the biggest insect challenge for turfgrass managers in this region, and staying on top of their development and migration is key to their control. They seem to get moving earlier every year, so start looking before you actually expect to see them.
It is impossible to predict what we will encounter this year, so now is the time to relax, plan and take advantage of remaining winter educational opportunities. Best of luck for a successful 2013 season and, as always, give us a call if we can help you and your facility.

Easy Updates

I have heard from a few members that they do not have time to check the blog to look for updates and I have struggled with a solution. I have found the answer. On the right side of the blog add your email to the box and every update of the blog will be emailed to you. I hope this makes it easier to follow the maintenance activities on the golf course.

GCSAA Education Conference and the Golf Industry Show

I attended the GCSAA Education Conference and the Golf Industry Show last week in San Diego, California. I attended two 8 hour seminars Greens Aerification and Water Management by the Numbers as well as Plant Growth Regulators for Fine Turf. I attended the trade show on Wednesday but due to the storm NEMO I had to leave a day early on Thursday cutting my trade show time in half.

The seminars I attended relate to our particular golf course in a few ways. I have been focused on removing 20 percent of the surface of the greens through aeration each season since we had the damage on our greens two years ago. This seminar focused on new techniques and technology to remove more surface area with less aerations. Some of these procedures are very expensive and might not apply to MGC but I did take home useful information that will continue to promote healthy, firm, and true playing surfaces. Water management was involved in this seminar as well focusing on watering by the numbers given on the TDR 300 moisture meter and not watering based on evapotranspiration allowing for firmer greens, deeper root systems, and the ability to deal with mother nature’s watering practices more efficiently.

I find throughout the growing season fluctuations in the speed of growth on the playing surfaces change dramatically in different weather conditions even with frequent applications of growth regulators. I made a decision to switch the kind of growth regulators I use on the course for the 2013 season and this seminar allowed me to fine tune how I will apply this new program taking the peaks and valleys out of the growth curve allowing for more consistent playing conditions.

The trade show floor was a busy day for me as I was meeting with different company representatives concerning fertilizers, chemicals, and equipment advancements that have been recently released. I was able to speak first hand with scientists that developed the programs that we implement at MGC on a weekly basis as well as other superintendents use of certain products. The equipment manufactures were all in attendance so I was able to compare different equipment choices for upcoming purchases in one place.

I would like to thank the Madison Board of Governors for my attendance to this year’s show and for furthering my education. I look forward to applying this knowledge on the golf course this coming season.