Since the grounds staff is
typically the first ones on the golf courses in the morning, we must set up the
golf course as quickly as possible to prepare for the day’s golfers. While we are out there, we can’t help but
think about the last group out from the day before. Imagine what the greens looked like for that
group if even 1 person from each group didn’t repair their ball marks. Sometimes it’s hard to find a line to the cup
without a ball mark in it and that’s a poor product for the afternoon
golfers! These ball marks will always
leave a scar, but fixing them properly will greatly reduce the recovery
time. We’d like to include an excerpt
from the February, 2006 Golf Course
Management… “Proper use of a ball mark repair tool resulted in smaller
scars and better surface quality and required nearly half the recovery time of
an unfixed or improperly fixed ball mark.”
We work hard to keep the golf courses in great shape and we need help
from the golfers to “pay it forward” to the groups that come behind them. Like the old saying goes, “leave it in better
shape that how you found it!”
The Reserve Vineyards and Golf Club Turf Care
Keeping you informed of what's happening on the course and in the Turf Care Department
Wednesday, July 10, 2013
Ball marks are a pet peeve
of many superintendents and golfers around the world. There are different reasons that this is the
case, but we’d like to take a few minutes to express some of the reasons why
they are a pet peeve of ours. First of
all, we’re in the business of creating the best possible course conditions
while operating within a given budget.
When our staff has to spend time repairing ball marks, it is taking away
from other tasks that they could be completing.
To us, it is difficult to justify spending man hours repairing ball
marks that should have been fixed by the golfers that created them. Therefore, when we send a crew out to mow
greens, it takes longer to complete the task because they must walk the entire
green fixing marks prior to mowing.
One last reason the
turfcare department doesn’t like ball marks stems from creating a place for
fungal diseases to incubate. The soil
profile is a living, breathing environment that we as turfgrass managers must
assess, monitor, and modify if necessary.
The extremely low heights at which we mow golf greens coupled with the
high traffic volume these greens are subjected to can create less-than-ideal growing
conditions for turf. With these added
stresses, the ever-present fungal pathogens in the soil are allowed to grow and
thrive if not suppressed. I was out
walking the greens this morning and found a perfect example of fungal mycelium
growing in a ball mark. Fungi are some of the most common turf pathogens and
can create poor playing conditions if left unchecked. Repairing ball marks won’t keep diseases from
infecting turf, but reducing areas where pathogens can survive may limit the
number of infection sites on a golf green.
Tuesday, June 25, 2013
What the heck happened on 15 South?
|
I just stepped in from looking at a catastrophic event that occurred on #15 South green. Our operator was out rolling a clean-up pass on the green with our Smithco roller when a hydraulic hose underneath ruptured. During a clean-up pass, the operator is looking forward, so it is very difficult to notice the oil spraying from the hose onto the turf. Had the operator been making his back-and-forth passes, he likely would have noticed the leak after a single pass. Unfortunately, this was not the case!
Smithco Roller
As superintendents, we often discuss ideas on how to limit
the extent of damage from petroleum products on turf. There has been research conducted on
hydraulic fluid spills and turfgrass, dating back to the late 70s, with little
to no solutions to limit the damage. There
was research that evaluated treatments such as activated charcoal, calcined
clay, and a detergent and water solution.
It was reported that activated charcoal will absorb oil from spills but
will not increase breakdown, resulting in an unsightly, messy black residue
within the damaged turf. Calcined clay had no impact and detergent was the only
treatment found to increase recovery in an overseeding application. However, the detergent actually dispersed the
oil, causing injury over a greater area of the green. So, if the plan is to re-sod the area, using
detergent will only increase the amount of area to be replaced. As a turfgrass manager, it is sometimes
difficult to sit on our hands and do nothing, but that is in fact what needs to
be done to limit the extent of the damage!
It has been
speculated that the primary cause of damage from hydraulic fluid on turf is not
from the oil itself, but from the heat of the fluid when it is at operating
temperature. These temperatures can
range from 160 to 200 degrees Fahrenheit, which is disastrous on actively
growing turf. The next question needs to
be, “What is the best way to fix the damage?”
We have already decided that due to the sheer square feet that are
affected by this spill, re-sodding the green will be our next move. It seems that in most cases, the turf injury is
greatest one week after the spill. So,
by waiting a week to assess the damage, we should be able to decide how much
turf to remove in order to re-sod.
Luckily, we have two nursery greens from which we can harvest sod as
this repair will be a large one! Also by
waiting a week, we can make it through the upcoming hot weather without
worrying about freshly-laid green sod.
Hydraulic oil spills have a disastrous effect on poa annua and
bentgrass golf greens. And without
laying new sod, recovery can take from four weeks to two months or longer. If the leak were small or just a fine line
running across a green, we may be able to utilize a different approach. However, with the long-term health and
playability of the course in mind, we will be spending many hours removing, regarding,
and replacing the sod from #15 green.
Thank You,
Mike Turner, Director of AgronomyMonday, June 24, 2013
Bunker Project Update
We are finally getting to spend a little time working on the bunkers, so we thought it would be a good time to give a quick before and after picture of the first bunker on #1 South....
Bunker before renovation |
Bunker after renovation |
***Note the lack of flashed face and removal of the bunker "nose."
|
Tuesday, June 11, 2013
As I sit down to write
this, the crew is out on the South course aerifying the greens. We are working to break through a layer that
has formed due to our small-tine aerification regimen. We are committed to removing as much thatch
as we can from the green surfaces, while still trying to keep the greens
rolling smooth longer into the fall. We
have been very satisfied with the amount of thatch we have removed from the
greens over the past three seasons, however, this practice is not without a
down side. By punching the greens more
often with a smaller tine, we create a “plow pan,” which is a compacted layer
below the surface where the tines stop on their down-stroke. Our plow pan is approximately 4 inches below
the surface of the greens. We do vary
the length of our tines to try to limit the compacted layer, but unfortunately,
it still forms over time. The process we
are performing on the South today and will be performing on the North next
Tuesday uses tines that are 11inches long and slightly larger than the diameter
of a pencil. (see picture)
These tines penetrate the
greens to approximately 7 inches and “kick” slightly, which leaves a
pencil-sized hole at the surface, but creates an oblong-shaped hole below
ground. This process helps to break channels
through the plow pan in order to allow air and water further into the profile,
which in turn, will create stronger, healthier greens.
As always, if this email
creates any questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to contact me.
Mike Turner,
Director of Agronomy
Friday, January 4, 2013
Winter Weather
We just came in from slogging
around in the slush outside and decided that a Reserve Reminder article was in order. We have been blessed with some great weather
this winter, but have also seen some conditions that would only make a penguin
happy! We have been completely closed or
intermittently closed most of the past week and we figure the golf shop has
been fielding a lot of calls regarding golf course playability. We thought this would be a good opportunity
to discuss some of the factors that determine whether the golf courses will
open for play.
As we’ve stated all along, the
long-term health and playability of the golf courses is the most important
element of our decision making. As I’m
sure you all know; no two days on the golf course are alike. Some days a hard, heavy frost will break
quickly, while other days we can arrive at the golf course, get the crew going,
and then have frost stop us in our tracks.
These variances in weather patterns can also lead to some confusion
regarding the playability of the courses.
For example, two days may be identical as far as temperature and
humidity, but have two entirely different impacts on the golf course. I’ve spent many hours trying to determine why
the results vary and have only decided that Mother Nature is fickle!
With all the subtle differences
aside, ultimately, we must determine whether golfer and/or maintenance traffic
will create negative impacts on the courses.
The main area of our focus is obviously our putting surfaces. We are conservative with our decision making
when there is potential for damage on the greens. We feel that this preemptive approach has
helped create the wonderful putting surfaces we’ve experienced this
season. We’d like to address just a
couple situations that keep the golf courses closed when some feel they should
be available.
The worst scenario from our
standpoint is when the greens are frozen solid in the morning, but begin to
thaw out throughout the day. When the
roots are frozen, but the top of the plant is thawed out, it creates an
opportunity for the leaf blades and thatch to slip under foot, which in turn,
causes “root shear.” Another similar
scenario is when we receive rain after a freeze event. This situation creates a “bath tub effect,”
where the ground is frozen and the rainfall accumulates on the surface until it
has the chance to thaw the soil profile and percolate through the greens. This phenomenon also creates traffic damage
due to the excessive moisture in the soil profile.
As stated earlier, we want to
provide excellent course conditions throughout the entire year. Sometimes we need to make sacrifices in the
short-term to ensure long-term plant health.
As always, if this email has created any questions or comments, please
don’t hesitate to contact me.
Thank You,
Mike Turner, Director of Agronomy
Drainage
Tis the season for
drainage projects!! “There can never be
enough drainage on a golf course,” is a statement we often hear, and this is
the time of year that exacerbates that issue.
We always start the “off” season with grand aspirations of putting in
miles of new drain lines, but Mother Nature and limited man power often keep
those plans in check. Maintaining the
golf courses for day to day play is always our priority, so adding drainage is
something we do when we have the necessary time.
As stated in
previous reminders, we try to focus on areas that are “in play.” Some of the drainage systems we work on
require 3-4 days to complete, while others can be finished in one day. Regardless of the size of the drainage
system, all of these projects will greatly improve playability, both in and out
of season. Currently, on the North, you
will see a lot of work taking place in the collections, while on the South, you
will see a lot of work taking place in the fairways. This will help to dry
these wet areas up in the winter, as well as maintain consistent firmness and
playability throughout the golf season.
Obviously we won’t be able to get to it all, but we will continue to
prioritize and improve the most problematic areas.
I hope that this has
answered any questions you might have.
As always, if you have any concerns, please don’t hesitate to let us
know…….we are always open to your comments.
On behalf of the entire Turf Care department, we hope that you have a
safe and happy New Year!
Regards,
Gabe Hughes
South Golf Course Superintendent
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
From The Desk of Mike Turner:
Tree Removal 2012
Split Trunk Cross-Section |
Split Trunk w/ Rot |
The turfcare department has taken advantage of the less than ideal weather we’ve been experiencing to perform some much needed tree removal. The weather has kept a lot of the golfers at bay so we thought it would be a perfect opportunity to get out into some of the “bark areas” between the holes on the South Course and remove some of the most dangerous trees. All of the trees we’ve removed have been alders that are well past their useful life. Each one selected for removal has either had visual rotting, a precarious lean, or possessed a “widow maker” up in the canopy. These “widow makers” are dead and broken tops either from the tree it is in or from a neighboring tree, and are extremely dangerous. They are unpredictable and could come crashing down at any time. Our plan is to reintroduce some coniferous trees in the areas where a large enough space is created. As always, if this email has created any questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to contact me.
Rot on a Mature Double-Leader |
Thank You,
Mike Turner, Director of Agronomy
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