USGA - Northeast October Update

Leaf Debris Management, Frost Delays And White Grub Damage

By Adam Moeller, agronomist, Northeast Region
October 15, 2013

Leaf debris management is a major undertaking at golf courses each fall, even with specialized equipment. The labor costs involved with leaf debris management is often underestimated.

Golf in October at Northeastern courses is great. Fall colors, cooler weather, and less humidity are a great contrast from the hot, stifling heat of July and August. The fall colors and cooler weather come at a price unfortunately: 1) leaf debris management and 2) frost delays.

It’s a simple ratio; as the number of trees increase on a golf course, the more leaf debris management is required each fall. At most facilities in the Northeast, a large part of the workday is spent managing leaves on the golf course this time of year. Many courses move leaves on primary playing areas and they are mulched or collected as time permits. That said, it is not uncommon for courses to utilize blowers, mowers, and vacuums for the entire day, only to repeat the same process for several weeks until all of the leaves are down. The labor inputs required to manage leaves in the fall is significant, which becomes even more challenging because most facilities have scaled back seasonal employee hours to save costs. The Green Section Record article The Hidden Cost of Trees is a great resource because it discusses the necessary costs associated with trees on golf courses. Trees can be great features on golf courses, but there are extra costs associated with them so that good golf conditions can be maintained.

Frost Delays 

Frost delays are just starting to occur at golf courses throughout the Northeast as nighttime temperatures decline. Frost delays are frustrating for golfers, but the damage a few players, or worst yet the mowing equipment, can cause is far more concerning. The brief article and video Frost Delays is a good education material for golfers if questions arise. Trees that block morning sun will create longer frost delays because of their shade pattern, so removals or pruning may be the best long term solution. 

Course Update

The fall weather is here in full effect with cool nights and warm days. MGC has purchased a Toro Triflex greens mower coupled with a set of true-surface verticutting units. The purpose behind this investment is the ability to verticut the playing surfaces, enable us to dry mow the greens in the afternoons, and provide a back-up greens mower to our primary units. The verticutting is the most exciting because we have not had the ability to do this process in the past. Verticutting is the process in which blades vertically cut into the turf stranding up the longer blades of grass that are lying down. These longer blades of turf are then cut providing a more upright growth pattern thus increasing density. What does all that mean, denser putting surfaces that provide smoother and more consistent playing surfaces. Along with all the benefits can be negatives if we are too aggressive during periods of slow growth like we are seeing currently. The greens have been verticut twice and dry mowed twice last week and the results were there this weekend. The plan will be to verticut this week again and do some dry mowing as conditions permit. The long term forecast seems to be leaning towards colder temperatures late next week putting the brakes on the verticutting process. We have the new machine dialed in and will be able to get going immediately in the beginning of next season.

Course Update

The greens are about 85% healed from the aeration following the club championship. I understand that the healing process is taking some time which is expected considering how aggressive we were in removing organic matter over 11% of the green surface. I hope to report the success of this style of aeration following our ISTRC test results later this fall. The greens have been fertilized on a regular basis since aeration and the growth regulating chemicals have been removed from our spray program to allow for better recovery. The fairways were core-aerated by an outside contractor on Monday with great success. The thin areas on the fairways were overseeded with bentgrass and topdressed with sand. All of the fairways had granular organic soil amendments added to them in accordance with our soil tests. As the turf growth slows with the shorter days the grounds crew will begin to focus on leaves, acorn removal and pine needle clean-up as the fall season is arriving. The fall display at the clubhouse has been planted and is starting to bloom. The senior club championship is this weekend, so good luck to all those competing.

2 fairway aeration

5 fairway aeration

Core Clean-Up 6 fairway