July Verticutting Complete

After the rain delay last week, we got the previously scheduled verticutting of fairways and approaches completed yesterday.  As I stated a few blogs ago, players are able to see that this cultural technique can improve your ball placement in the fairways.  Below are some pictures of the end result.

The seasonally cooler temperatures and 3.4" of rain last week were a welcomed break to another grueling Texas summer. The only area of turf on the golf course that is showing any signs of detriment is the greens.  The greens showed signs of stress this past weekend with what were relatively moderate temperatures, for July in Texas.  The reason bentgrass did so, even though it is not grown in its desired climate, is it has in most hot and dry times here the ability to harden off.  When it has times of cooler temperatures for 3 or 4 days it has the inherit trait to revert back to its genetic code and become more susceptible to higher temps.

We can confidently speak to this point since we use moisture meters.  Areas that were showing signs of heat stress were well above their normal threshold.  The great thing about moisture sensors is that it puts a number to the visual sign.  It is factual, not a guess.  I feel based on my commentary that the signs of stress you see on the greens is superficial.  I expect the few, small areas to heal quite quickly and no longer be visible. It is quite an unusual phenomena that I have been witnessing for the past 8 years and wanted to share some of my experiences with the membership.

Verticutting in Fairways

Heat stress on Greens. 

Putting Green Closure at Practice Area

This was a post from last summer.  I have heard some chatter as to why we close the putting green during the summer stress.  I thought this was a good reminder.  Please read below.  They say a picture is worth a thousand words so......the bottom picture was from 2011.  I think it is a place we don't want to go back to.

I know some of you are wondering why a green that looks perfectly healthy would be closed to play. Well we are trying to be proactive in minimizing the stress level to that green this summer. Once plants show the signs of stress, it is typically too late for them to recover fully. So when dealing with plant health it is better to be on the proactive side of management then the curative side.

The facts are this green is purely undersized to be the main putting green for our club. If its role was to only hit a few practice putts and then head out to the course it would be fine. However it's current usage is such where golfers will spend much longer sessions on it. Thereby increasing traffic stress to levels that the green cannot handle in the summer months. In a perfect world the 10,000 square foot green would be at the practice area and the 3,500 square foot green would be at the clubhouse. Our world is not perfect. I would ask our membership to bear that thought in mind throughout the year. As I stated earlier even though turf might not show symptoms of a problem doesn't mean it is not under stress from a problem.

Deep Tine Discoveries

While we were going doing our monthly venting of our greens, we made a discovery. The first green we have started on for the last 4 years, the practice putting green at the practice facility, had a little surprise for us.  A loud crash and bang; out of the ground came a large piece of metal.  It had obviously been buried since construction of the green some 10 plus years ago.  Pretty amazing!  The metal was folded over itself and was not in great shape. We have plans to deep tine this coming Monday July 1st.

Aerifiying High traffic Areas

This past Monday we spent time aerifying high-traffic areas. These areas receive a lot of cart traffic and not only have turf health implications but also play ability issues.  We made it around all 18 and cleaned it up ready for play on Tuesday.  In the picture below, you can see the aerifier operating on #7 fairway and rough.  We started this program last year if you recall.  I think we have seen a lot of benefits from doing this program monthly through the growing season.  The course received 0.3" of rain Monday afternoon.  The rain slowed down the clean up process; however at this point any rain is a great thing!

                                

Verticutting Really Starting to Pay Off

I know the main complaint out of our membership over the last few years has been tight lies in the fairways. I also know that this year I have heard many positive comments on the fairways providing the lies that everyone has been looking for. This has mainly been due to the aggressive verticutting program we have implemented over the last few years. 

When I took over four years ago, our height of cut in the fairways was .450". Today our height of cut is .600".  That is just a shade over an 1/8 of an inch. Not to much change really, right?  The real game changer in the lies in our fairways has been the verticutting. 

Previously we had not changed mowing directions as we should have. This got the Bermuda grass to grow in one direction and "run" along the ground as opposed to grow upright. With the use of the discs of the verticutting machine, that stops that growth habit of the Bermuda.   

Now with changing the mowing direction and our vertical mowing we are changing the way our balls lie in our Bermuda fairways. This is a process we will not be backing off of either. We are seeing the positive results so now it becomes part of our maintenance routine.  We have on the calendar to complete another aggressive verticutting in the second week of July. Please be prepared for the fairways to again react very favorably to this process. 

The irrigation does work at the chipping area.

One of the items I implemented several years ago when I took over as the Golf Course Superintendent was overseeding the chipping area in the winter. I noticed over the years that this area in particular gets a lot of use and has no way for divot recovery during that time period. The solution was easy, overseed. Now it is summer and we need to get rid of the rye grass overseed. There are really two ways to accomplish this. One way is to remove it by spraying a herbicide, which we do on our tee boxes. This works extremely well but has one downside. The material sometimes has a potential to "move" once applied. It has the ability to move off target areas and into non-target areas through irrigation or rain events. The herbicides we use have a selectivity for cool season grasses like Bentgrass or Ryegrass. Bermuda is tolerant of these herbicides and therefore unaffected by them. For these reasons we use a slightly different approach in the chipping area. We use the environmental stress approach. So the drought stress that is evident right now in the chipping area is due to the fact that we are attempting to remove out the ryegrass from the Bermuda.

Greens Aerification.....Healing Nicely

Monday we completed our May greens aerification. We affected 6% total surface area of our greens surface. I know it might seem like quite a bit more to the eye, but simple math tells the story. I would anticipate healing to be very quick this time around as summer approaches and plants shift to a more shoot growth this time of year. The weather has been perfect for the the greens to heal. These cool mornings and moderate high temperatures is just what we need for a speedy recovery.

I got a lot of positive feedback on course conditions at our men's member/guest tournament this weekend. The greens played fast and firm. Remember, it is processes like this aerification that allow the turf care team to provide those excellent conditions at those times.

Pitch Marks on Greens

I hear a lot about ballmarks being left on greens from the membership.  Sometimes golfers either don't repair their ball mark properly or in some cases at all.  On my morning inspection of the course this past Monday, I was alarmed by the amount of nonrepaired ballmarks I saw.  This was a day after only member play was on the course.  Therefore I thought it was appropriate to give everyone a reminder of how to properly repair a ballmark on a green.  I hope the article and diagrams I pulled from the GCSAA website offer a reminder to the importance of how and why to properly fix a ball mark.

Repairing ballmarks

Ball marks, the indentations caused when a ball lands sharply on a soft green, have been ruining good putts since the days of Old Tom Morris.

Unrepaired ball marks take two to three weeks to properly heal, leaving behind unsightly, uneven putting surfaces. On the other hand, a repaired ball mark only takes half that time to heal.

Beginner or pro, it is your responsibility as a golfer to fix your own marks. If you're truly a steward of the game, you'll fix any others you see while your partners are putting. There's really not much to it, but there are a few guidelines you should follow when making these repairs.

The right way to fix a ball mark

---

Step 1:
Use a pronged ball mark
repair tool, knife,
key or tee.

---

Step 2:
Insert the repair tool at the
edges of the mark; not the
middle of the depression.

---

Step 3:
Bring the edges together
with a gentle twisting motion,
but don't lift the center. Try not to
tear the grass.

 Several ballmarks left around the pin on #7 green Monday morning.

Step 4:
Smooth the surface with
a club or your foot. Repeat
steps until the surface is one
you would want to putt over.

---

Bunker Maintenance Complete

We finished our spring bunker maintenance on Monday. We are now on to other spring projects. We have begun to sod cart path ends that tend to become very week during the dormant months. We are also changing the grass type under the infamous tree on #2 fairway. This is the same zoysia cultivar that has done so well for us under the trees in #16 and 18 fairways.

Weeds are still being addressed and sprayed at this time. You can easily discern weeds that have been sprayed with the blue tracker dye we use. This dye is solely for the purpose of aiding the person spraying as to the targets they have already hit.

Spring Bunker Maintenance

The Turf Care Staff has been working on bunkers this past week. These hazards on the golf course always seem to be a hot button for many members and it is our goal to make them as playable and consistent as possible. We move sand around to the appropriate places within the bunkers. We have spent time repairing matting and tacking it back down where needed. Finally the staff adds a light coating of new sand to the bunkers.

You can see in the pictures below the steps of the process from beginning to the finished product. We have gotten through hole number 10 this week and should have this work completed by this coming Monday.

Greens Aerification Complete

Monday we aerified greens with half inch tines. These are the exact same size we used last March and May aerifications. The forecast looks fantastic over the next couple of weeks to really be some great growing weather to aid in a speedy recovery.

Please don't be discouraged about coming out and enjoying the course while we are healing from this very important cultural event. We used the right amount sand to ensure a smooth playable surface. In addition, the sand gives the turf a growing medium to aid in a faster recovery.

The course received 1" of rain with the storm that moved through Sunday night. A welcomed sight to another dry year so far.

Spring Fertilizer Application

We mowed all playing surfaces last week In an attempt to remove dormant winter growth. This will help get us ready for this the season's growth. We applied fertilizer to the golf course to help with spring green up. It is an organic fertilizer that will offer a long duration of availability to the turf as it breaks dormancy.

One of our main concerns this year was breaking dormancy too early. This year we had a spring green up in late January when the plants used a lot of store carbohydrates that the plant has been storing in the root system from this past fall. The recent cold-weather has definitely set the Bermuda back a few more weeks from where it was in January therefore these carbohydrates were lost and wasted essentially wasted. This fertilizer application should provide a good nutrient source for the turf as it begins to break its winter dormancy period.

Windy Week

The winds have been tremendous this week. Monday the winds where sustained at 30 mph with the highest gust reaching a staggering 63 mph. Luckily the golf course survived the event virtually unscathed. A few dead trees fell on the property that were well off the beaten path. We will have those cleaned up by the end of the day tomorrow.

We have had a few hours in the mornings were winds have not been to strong when we have had the opportunity to get our spring preemergent out. We should, if the winds cooperate the next two days, finish by the end of the week.

We are poised for our annual spring scalping of Bermuda for this coming Monday. I will keep you up to date on our progress. We always follow that process with our spring fertilization.

Below is the down tree on # 2.

Weed Control

With the recent warm weather not only are the rounds of golf up but so are the winter weeds. We have been actively going after them the last several weeks with post emergent control. We did apply our fall pre-emergent, however, sometimes you will get a few seeds to still germinate.

I included some pictures below that some of you may recognize. One is of a herbicide application tool that is a stick we can fill with whatever we need at the time to "dob" weeds with the circumference of about a nickel. The other picture is of where we have used this tool on the course. These areas can be found around the greens. This is because we use a nonselective herbicide around the greens. Most selective herbicides, which remove cool season grasses from warm season grasses, have a tendency to move and could run out onto the greens where they would also kill the greens. Therefore, we use this technique around the greens.

One more item I would like to discuss about the use of the herbicides is the amount of time that we need to wait to actually see them working. Most selective herbicides inhibit some growth function in the plant which then causes the plant to die. Therefore, these products need to be metabolized in the plant and then given time to perform their function. Given the fluctuation of cool weather and warm weather throughout the winter months here in Texas, we sometimes need to wait for the material to be completely metabolized into the plant. This can take up to several weeks depending on the weather.

Annual Tree Trimming

Thursday we started pruning trees. Over the last few years we have made our way through the entire golf course pruning. This year we are revisiting areas we trimmed the first year. We pruned trees down the right hand side of #6 fairway. We trimmed along the cart path on # 7 and to the left of the fairway. Some other holes we will be going to next week will be numbers 9, 10, 11, and 12.

I would like to clear that we are currently not removing any trees. We are only lifting up canopies for two reasons. The first to help promote better air flow for healthier turf. This is something I know many of you have heard from me before. The second reason for some of our pruning cuts is to help with playability and shot making. A good example of this you can check out this weekend is the tree by the bunkers in # 7 fairway. Hopefully the pruning there will allow for a bail out shot underneath that tree.

Rain Has Come Again!

We have received 4 1/2" in the last 24 hours here at the course.  This is a very welcomed event!  Hopefully this rain will find its way to our rivers and lakes for the coming summer.  I know that this is not a drought buster rainfall, but a few more like this one before the summer we will be in a lot better shape.  This is our first truly measurable rain fall since September.  In the last week we have gotten around 5" at the course.

Monday's Projects

Today we spent the morning finishing the sod transplanting on the berm at the front of the clubhouse entrance. We took this sod from our newly constructed vegetable garden space. This area of the berm was contaminated with bermuda that should be buffalo.

We spent time on our greens today completing several processes. We deep tined all putting surfaces today. We core aerified with 3/8" tines in low areas that hold surface water and sodded areas from this past fall. The core aerification in the low areas will help reduce the impact of the surface drainage. The recently sodded areas will benefit as an aid to survival through next summer's stress.

Pictured below is # 17 green and an example of one of these low areas.

Cimarron Hills Vegetable Garden

We have begun work prepping an area adjacent to the kitchen to start a vegetable garden.  We should have the majority of the prep work done today.  We will have our first young plants going in in the middle of March.  Our horticulturalist, Shannon, has made the seed selections and will be starting the seeds indoors here at the Turf Care Facility.  This will truly be home grown vegetables from our property!  Chef Ryan will be able to utilize these high quality vegetables in his creations.  This is a new feature for the club and we have high expectations, in the Turf Care Team, this will be very successful and beneficial for our club.