Course Notes, 4/7/18

While the calendar says Spring, Mother Nature has had other plans for us at Elcona.  Although this weather has not been very conducive for golf, the staff and I have enjoyed working on other projects around the property so that when the weather turns for the better, we can turn our focus more onto the 2018 golf season.

When conditions have allowed, we have mowed and maintained on the golf course.  All fine playing surfaces have been mowed at least one time.  They just haven't had temperatures to grow since!  One of the ways we have maintained putting surfaces during these times of very low growth is by rolling. If you have ever wondered why we roll greens, the USGA has produced a nice short video on that very subject.  You may view it here. 

The picture on the right shows an area of desiccation injury on 18 that I am monitoring.  Desiccation is a drying out of leaf blades and occurs most often on open semi-dormant turf exposed to windy, low humidity conditions. Think of this as when we get chapped lips in the winter.  There is new green tissue coming from these plants, so I am fairly confident that the turf will grow through its injury (when warmer weather comes), but have pulled a couple of plugs to make sure my assessment is correct.  The right front of #9 has a bit of desiccation injury as well. 

The timing also came for our first seedhead suppression application.  As great as Poa annua is as a putting surface, one drawback is its annual seedhead production.  Poa annua is a winter annual, meaning it germinates in the fall, overwinters, and produces seeds in the spring for its next generation.  Think of Poa as backwards from an annual flower you would plant in your landscape.

Using a temperature based schedule, three total applications of growth regulator will be applied to suppress, not eliminate, these seedheads from impacting ball roll.  As the picture to the left shows, I left 6 areas on the course untreated, as a check plot, to assess the success of this year's applications. These plots are located on the large Practice Green, 1, 3, 10, 13, and 16 and marked with white dots.  I utilize these areas to gauge the effectiveness of this year's treatments and encourage you to keep an eye on them as well as you are out and about on the golf course. 

The bulk of our time has been spent on the poolside hardscaping project.  The terrain of the area has kept us on our toes thinking of the best way to store materials close while getting them down a 12 foot high embankment.  The key process to build a wall, as you can imagine, is installing and compacting a level base layer of stone utilizing a plate compactor.  Precise measurements are taken with some surveyor's tools to ensure the wall is at the correct depth compared to other features in the area.  After the base is installed, stone is laid one at a time and leveled and plumbed. 


Please enjoy some of the pictures I have taken throughout the process.  I will continue to keep you updated on its process.  If you have any questions, please email me at ryan@elconacc.com.  I am more than willing to answer or find more information for you.  Have a great day, wish for Spring to finally arrive, and I hope to see you out on the golf course!

Ryan

Grades are marked for stone layer

5th grade math at its finest!

Greg Stump compacting stone layer

Finished base layer

The process of laying the first course

The old staircase transformed

Tis the Season!

Golf shop entrance tulips

Spring finally sprung here in the last month, so apologies for the delay between blog posts.  The staff and I have been quite busy preparing beds, bunkers, and turf into the in-season shape that they are accustomed to.  Seeding and sodding of areas left from our winter tree work should be wrapped up next week.  One large item we accomplished is Elcona's renewal application to be one of 6 Certified Golf Course Sanctuaries in the state of Indiana.  I am quite proud of the club's accomplishments within the last two years, from helping care for the Seed to Feed garden, to planting wildflower areas for increased pollinator habitat, to being smarter users of water and inputs to maintain the golf course.  We should hear in July if Audubon International agrees with my sentiments, and I will keep you posted.

Harold Marner on 16 aerifying

Steve Ott in the snow on 16

 Our staff completed aerification earlier this month, in less than ideal Spring Break weather.  I tell people time and time again how lucky I have to have such dedicated staff members.  A special thank you to Steve Ott and Harold Marner for sitting on the tractors for a couple of quite testy days outside.

Check plot on #13

Close up of seed heads

 Finally, I am sure you have noticed that the "Seeding Season" is here for the Poa that composes the majority of turf on the greens. As great as Poa annua is as a putting surface, one drawback is its annual seedhead production.  Poa annua is a winter annual, meaning it germinates in the fall, overwinters, and produces seeds in the spring for its next generation.  Think of Poa as a backwards annual flower you would plant in your landscape. 

Poa seedhead production

Plywood used to create check plot on #1

Using a temperature based schedule, we have applied three applications of growth regulator to suppress, not eliminate, these seedheads from impacting ball roll.  As the first picture to the left shows, I left 5 areas on the course untreated, as a check plot, to assess the success of this year's applications.  All of the checkplots show we have had a reasonable amount of success in limiting the amount of seeds impacting play.  SInce the process is not perfect, we try to further reduce their impact with topdressing applications and additional rolling.

If you are interested, the check plots on located on the large practice green, #1, #10, and #13 green.  If you have any questions, please contact me at ryan@elconacc.com.  Thanks, and have a great week!

Ryan

Course and Terrace Update, 5/9/15

With the spectacular color provided by the Kousa dogwoods and Crabapple trees and the increased presence of Mallards, white tail deer and turkey, the golf course truly has sprung to life over the last couple of weeks.  The rain and warmer than normal weather has jump started the rough, where we will begin our growth regulator applications within the next couple of days in an attempt to keep playability as consistent as possible.

Poa seedheads

Brush attachment on our mowers

As great as Poa annua is as a putting surface, one drawback is its annual seedhead production.  Poa annua is a winter annual, meaning it germinates in the fall, overwinters, and produces seeds in the spring for its next generation.  Think of Poa as a backwards annual flower you would plant in your landscape.

This time of year, we apply three applications of a growth regulator to suppress and "reduce" (not eliminate) the production of seedheads.  Our check plots out on the golf course have shown this year some suppression, but obviously not total.  To maximize the smoothness of the putting surfaces during this production, we have lowered our height of cut down to .120" (except 18, where we are at .135"), are brushing daily with the attachment shown above, rolling regularly, and adding additional topdressing to further smooth out the greens.  These seedheads should pass by the end of the month. If you have any questions, please contact me.

18 green continues to mature.  I appreciate the feedback I have received on the new surface.  As a friendly reminder, the height of cut will be slightly higher for the remainder of the month, and each week we are lowering the height by .005" until we reach .120" (our regular height).  This is so that we minimize scalping injury and allow the turf to fully mature at regular greens height.  We will continue to roll the green more frequently to better match the other surfaces until then.

Elcona's Seed to Feed Garden

Church Community Services came by this week to prep another new Elcona feature that I mentioned in the May Prattler, the Seed to Feed Garden.  The staff and I will be running an irrigation line to this area north of the Short Game area, and planting should take place within the next couple of weeks.

Finally, Phase 2 of the Terrace project is moving along nicely.  The compaction stone grade has been established, and I am happy to report we are ready to lay pavers down!  These pavers will arrive Wednesday and will be placed on a compacted 3/4" layer of limestone chips.  The firepit insert should arrive Wednesday as well.  The firepit will be a 6 foot diameter circle, with a 30" wide flame and realistic looking logs.  I hope to share some pictures later this week to give you a better visual on the newest Elcona feature.

Have a great week and I will see you out on the golf course!

Ryan

Course Happenings for April

     April certainly has been full of ups and downs weather wise.  From 2" of snow on the 15th of the month to upper 70's and dry on Easter weekend, it has seemed like a roller coaster ride of weather to deal with when executing all that we need to do on the grounds. 
    



   Besides completing our aerification on greens, tees, and fairways successfully, we also are in the process of applying pre- and post-emergent weed control around the golf course.  Another critical spring application to our Poa annua greens is for seedhead suppression.  Note that this first of two applications does not eliminate the presence of seedheads on our putting surfaces, but is effective in greatly reducing the number of them that affect ballroll.  As in previous years, we have place checkplots, such as the one in the left picture, to measure the success of the timing on the application.  To learn more about why we place these on certain areas, Greg posted a great blog article here.

  

Another project that we have completed is the area between 6 green and 7 tee.  Several large trees were removed over the winter and were replaced with four Amelanchier species.  These trees will be smaller and more compact, and add a dramatic white background in the spring with its blooms.  Sod and seed were added to fill in the bare areas.  Many of you have commented on the new look from the green or tee, thank you for those. 
 

Perpendicular grain on 7 fairway

Lastly, we began verticutting tees and fairways this week.  Our tees have a good amount of thatch in them, making them spongy to the feel.  Some thatch is good, acting like a mulch barrier protecting the plant from extreme temperature fluctuations and moisture loss. Thatch also gives the turf some cushion from cart, mower, and foot traffic. Too much thatch leads to soft playing conditions, potential for mower scalping, and increased desiccation of the root system. 

Verticut mower on 1 fairway

Vertical mowing is also a great tool to create a more upright standing plant, which in turn creates a better quality of cut for our regular mowers, and a tighter lie for your ball in the fairway.  The picture top left shows the grain issues we are facing in the fairways today, and the bottom left picture shows the unit in action and the clippings that the vertical mower leaves.  This will be a regular bi-monthly practice for us unless weather dictates otherwise.  Keep in mind that it will take many vertical mowings for the fairways to get to where we need them to be.  For more information on vertical mowing and its benefits, a great article can be read here.  See you on the golf course!

Ryan

Course Update

Slow progress is still progress. At least that is what I am trying to convince myself right now.  This has been an unbelievably slow start to the season, especially when making comparisons to last year.  After looking back at our log book from last year, we continue to be every bit of 4-5 weeks behind.  Although last year was certainly an anomaly when it comes to early springs, it’s still frustrating knowing that the weather is not cooperating at a time when everyone is ready to get out and enjoy the golf course.

The weather is equally as frustrating for me as well. This is the time of year when we want to accomplish so many important agronomic tasks and we just can’t get to them right now. Spring fertilizer applications where they are needed, pre and post-emergent weed control and regular mowing schedules are all items we would like to get done, but we must show patience and wait for Mother Nature to tell us when the right time is.  If you maintain your own lawn, this applies to you as well. See me if you have any questions.

On the positive side, aerification of the greens, tees and fairways is complete and we have made our first of three applications to reduce seedheads on the greens. Notice I said “reduce”, not eliminate.  This application will not keep all seedheads from forming, but help to minimize the amount of them. Historically, we have had very good results and my hope is that this year is no different. As in year’s past, I have placed several 4’x4’ check plots (untreated areas) on some of the greens to help me better judge the results we obtain from this application.  If you would like more information on why we use check plots, look along the right side of this screen under “Popular Posts”.  The third one is titled “What Can You Learn from 16 sq. ft.” and will give you a greater insight.

Check Plot from a previous year

Several of you have asked me about the new, white labels on some of the trees on the golf course.  These labels serve the same purpose as the colored ribbons that were put out last fall. They are simply there to help me identify trees that have been diagnosed with varying degrees of damage from the herbicide Imprelis. These labels DO NOT necessarily mean that the tree is going to die or need to be removed; they just make it easier for me to obtain information without having to constantly look them up in spreadsheets.  To date, we have not finalized anything with DuPont as far as a settlement is concerned. As soon as we have the appropriate information, I will be sure to pass it along.

New Imprelis Tree Labels

With that being said, it’s spring so get out here and enjoy your club.  Even if it’s a little cold and rainy outside, there are plenty of activities going on inside the club for you to take advantage of. I look forward to seeing all of you and have a great month.

What Can You Learn from 16 sq. ft.?

One of the best things about my job is the educational opportunities that are available on a daily basis.  Whether it comes in the form of a classroom, monthly superintendent meetings, discussions with fellow peers via Social Media or something as simple as throwing a sheet of plywood on the ground, there is always something to be learned everyday. You'd be surprised at how much info you can obtain from a simple 4'x4' square (16 sq. ft.) of plywood. 

During my 6 years here, I have been closely monitoring our applications of fertilizers, herbicides and fungicides to ensure that they are necessary, timely and that we are achieving the desired results. With a struggling economy and the costs of these products continuing to escalate, it is imperative that each application not only work, but it needs to be justifiable.  One of the ways I have been monitoring the performance of the products that we use is through the use of the aforementioned sheet of plywood. 

Portable 4'x4' sheet for easy transport

There isn't anything tricky about how to use the plywood.  Simply place it in an area that is being treated (usually on one of our green or fairway nurseries) and make the application.  The purpose of the plywood is to shield the chosen section of turf from the application so that it can serve as a "check plot" against the treated area.  After the application is made, remove the plywood and wait. Over a period of time, the hope is that there is a noticeable difference between the treated area and check-plot.  If there isn't a difference, you could make the argument that the application wasn't necessary or the timing was inaccurate.  You could also make the argument that the product didn't work, but in my experience that usually isn't the case, but it has happened here.

Unfolded plywood on green nursery

The best example of the use of check plots here at Elcona happens every spring.  Everyone is aware that our greens are mostly comprised of poa Annua (Annual Bluegrass) and that it is a prolific seeder in the spring.  Hopefully you are also aware that we make 2-3 applications of growth regulators to help suppress the formation of the seedheads. It is never expected that we will achieve full suppression of the seedheads, but the hope is to reduce them by 50-60%.  How can we tell?  You guessed it...a check plot.  The photos below show you quite clearly where the plywood was placed and it should be obvious that there are significantly more seedheads in the check plot vs. the treated area.  Imagine how the greens would putt if we didn't make these applications!  As we expected, the application has been successful and certainly more than justifiable.

Check Plot on #1 green. White square caused by excessive
seeding within the check plot.

Check Plot on #10 green.  Software used to add yellow
tone to make the seedheads more visible.