Northland Country Club Turfgrass Management

A Skate to Save the Congdon Hockey Rinks-Sunday 4pm

2012-01-19T15:10:00.003-06:00

I usually keep the info on this blog related entirely to the golf course and certainly stay away from political issues. However, the potential closing of the Congdon Park Hockey Rinks is an issue worthy of an exception.

The Duluth School Board has proposed to eliminate the hockey rinks at Congdon Park Elementary. There will be a skate in support of saving the rinks at 4pm this coming Sunday.

Northland has many ties to the rinks and countless members and staff grew up playing hockey on the Congdon rinks. Opportunities for kids to simply play sports in an unfettered manner seem to be disappearing to quickly these days and the loss of the hockey rinks at Congdon would be a tragedy. If you have the opportunity to show your support please do.

A little bit of cold; a little bit of snow

2012-01-19T08:00:00.000-06:00

We are currently experiencing our first cold snap of the winter. Yesterday was the first time I wore my heavy down jacket; it is usually a regular accessory this time of year. Says a lot about the winter we are having. This week is the first time the temp has dipped below zero in the Twin Cities. The average Minneapolis/St. Paul winter sees the mercury dip below zero 30 times!

Last night the temps dipped into the teens below zero and the windchills could reach -40. How is this affecting the course continues to be a frequent question. Today I got the question on my way into the grocery store so there is no doubt this strange winter has people thinking about the health of the course.

As the temps dropped last night we got a quick snowfall. It was not even enough to completely cover the turf but it will be helpful nonetheless. The area of the plants needing to be protected most from the extreme cold are the crowns at the base of the plant. Last night's snow, while minimal was enough to give a slight bit of protection to the crowns of the plant almost like applying a layer of topdressing. Something many courses in other parts of the country are doing in lieu of snow cover. With temps by Sunday expected to be back in the mid-30's my guess is the course will weather this cold snap just fine.

MGA Plate Refurbishment

2012-01-13T10:50:00.000-06:00

In the past week or so most of our winter work has moved indoors. For the foreseeable future our concentration will be on refurbishment of equipment and on-course accessories. A new project for the staff this year are the Minnesota Golf Association yardage plates, found on each tee. During the course of the year or in this case many years, the brass plates weather and lose their original look. Right now Jake is busy bringing the original look back to the plates.

We must credit The Minikahda Club for giving us the idea on the plate refurbishment process. Our guys have modified the process slightly to compensate for our lack of sand-blasting equipment and the results are very nice.

The first step is to use a soft grinding disc on the angle grinder remove oxidation and give a nice shine to the raised lettering on the plates.

Next, Jake applies a couple coats of black paint.

After each coat he uses a rag moistened with brake cleaner to remove the paint from the raised portion of the plates. Shining the lettering with the angle grinder before painting makes it very easy to wipe the paint away.

Wiping the lettering.

Here you can see four completed plates on the right and one plate on the left as it looked when removed from the course this fall.

The MGA plates are a small detail that every golfer come into contact with but to which most pay little attention. Clean them up and put a little shine on them and they will certainly stand out next season.

Shade: Why it is bad even in the winter

2012-01-12T14:14:00.003-06:00

Yesterday I woke up to 37 degrees and a slight drizzle. Soon the drizzle turned to rain and after a couple of hours became snow. In the afternoon the wind turned from the NW and the temperature sunk like a stone. By the time I went to bed last night the temps were just above zero.

When it comes to turf, the weather we experienced yesterday has the potential to create disaster; especially when snow is present. This morning as I walked our daughter to pre-school I took note and a photo of the boulevard in front of our house. Our house is a two-story traditional and faces north. Due to this the front lawn of our house spends this time of year completely in the shade. With the constant presence of shade the small amount of snow we have had this winter has not completely melted here, as it has in non-shaded areas. If you click on the photo above you can see after yesterday's rain and immediate freeze, much the turf on the boulevard is covered in ice.

Now project this situation to the golf course. The photo on the right shows 11 green on October 11th when the sun was much higher in the sky than it is now. The 11th green is in the same position to the trees as the boulevard is to our house; meaning in the winter the 11th green was shaded for most of the day, not allowing the sun to do its work. The trees shown were removed this fall and the 11th green is now almost completely free of shade. The advantages of full sun on turf surfaces in the summer are well documented both on this blog and though countless university research projects. However, any turf manager in snowy climates will tell you shade is just, if not more, detrimental to turf in the winter. If the winter weather is warm enough that sun is melting snow then it is imperative for it to be able to due so. This winter the sun has been melting snow in mid-January, typically this happens at the end of March. Anytime the melting of snow is extended or suppressed by shade the potential for ice damage to our turf increases exponentially.

The tree removal completed this fall was done for a number of reasons, not the least of which was the elimination of shade from our putting surfaces.

Winter...You Never Know

2012-01-11T10:49:00.002-06:00

As I write this post we are experiencing a light rain. Considering tomorrow's high temp is supposed to be around 15, rain is not what we are looking for at this point. However, the ground is quite dry and despite the small presence of frost it is my belief any moisture will be absorbed without forming ice on the surface.

The 10-day forecast hints at a cooling trend with more normal temps next week. If this is going to be the case than a few inches of snow would be helpful. When we remain bare this late in the winter the biggest concern is turf desiccation. As I walked the course on Monday I did not see any areas in danger of desiccation and reports from the Twin Cities are similar.

This has been a very weird winter but so far pretty good for turf. Here's hoping it continues but as the title states...

"If you can dream it, you can do it"-Walt Disney

2012-01-03T11:16:00.004-06:00

I came across the quote that makes up the title of this post this weekend while reading the book The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch. A group of superintendents have started a book club on Google+ and this is the first title we are reading. I found this Walt Disney quote incredibly relevant to so many aspects of life and of course I thought about: How this relates to our turf?

When I became a superintendent I had a vision for the golf course and what it could eventually become. Before even interviewing for the superintendent position at Northland I begin to formulate the thoughts and vision to bring the golf course to a level the membership deserved. Right from the beginning I knew reaching the ultimate goal was going to take time. Anytime you are reaching for a goal four or five years in the future it can be very difficult to take things one step at a time. In my first couple of years I often caught myself trying to complete steps nine and ten before steps one and two; a surefire way to not reach your goals. Eat the elephant one bite at a time is another phase I have heard and love and something I try and keep in mind everyday.

This weekend my wife and I were watching the movie Senna, a fantastic documentary on the late Brazilian Formula One driver Ayrton Senna. Early in the movie we hear an interview in which Senna talks about his move from go-kart racing to Formula One. Senna stated that when he first made the switch his goal was one good race in five. A modest goal to be sure but something which was very much achievable. From there Senna said he wanted to build towards one bad race in five. Senna's ultimate goal was to be World Driving Champion but he knew he needed to systematically build towards his dream, or it would never be realized. Senna achieved his dream and became World Champion three times before his death in 1994.

I have written on this blog many times about the transition we made to the golf course. It started five years ago with a vision and after four-plus years of work; last season we finally began to realize those goals. I say began because ultimately the goal for Northland Country Club is to have a golf course which is fantastic day after day year after year. Little by little the course was transitioned and became better and better. It did not happen all at once, it could not have happened all at once but by meeting small goals systematically we were able to reach our ultimate goal.

In any area of your life it is important to have goals and dreams and it is equally important to work slowly towards realizing those goals. Slow and steady ultimately does win the race and if you eat the elephant one bite at a time you enjoy the entire meal.

DMGCC, Golf Course Grounds Department: Pine Wilt Disease

2011-12-29T08:00:00.000-06:00

In April of 2010 we removed the large Scotch Pine left of the 11th fairway. The tree was beginning to show signs of decline due to pine wilt disease. You can read my blog post on the subject here. While doing some reading today I came across a post from Rick Tegtmeier, CGCS regarding pine with at Des Moines Golf and Country Club.

DMGCC, Golf Course Grounds Department: Pine Wilt Disease:

It is always good to know we are not the only course suffering from this disease, although it provides little help. As Rick states in his post there is no treatment for pine wilt. Prevention is the only treatment and the best prevention is the timely removal of dead trees and not planting non-native trees, such as the Scotch pine. Rick's opinion and it is one I share, is that all Scotch pines will eventually fall victim to pine wilt.

Maintenance Calendar Now Available

2011-12-28T13:22:00.001-06:00

Every year I seem to field more questions about aeration dates than just about anything else in regards to the golf course. Golfers want to know if their round has a chance of being affected by maintenance and I cannot blame them. This is why for the coming season I will be making a maintenance calendar available on the blog. The calendar can be found in the tabs along the top of the page.

Over the past few seasons we have worked towards a goal of reducing golfer/maintenance interactions; something I feel we now do very well. My goal in posting this calendar is not to drive people away but rather avoid unpleasant golfer/maintenance interactions.

Here is an example:

Two seasons ago we were performing a topdressing of putting surfaces, followed by venting and rolling (photo on the right). The finished product has no affect on play and we are off the greens by about 11 am. For this reason I do not typically post our topdressing and venting work. On this particular morning two of our members had scheduled a round with guests. They checked Twitter, Facebook and the blog and did not see any scheduled maintenance so they teed it up early and ended up right in the middle of our maintenance. This situation was nobody's fault but it could have been avoid with better communication.

What will be posted on the calendar:

Aeration-will include location, time we plan to be on the course as well as level of post aeration disruption.
Topdressing
Major projects requiring the closer of a certain area of the course.

What will NOT be posted on the calendar:

Spray applications-these are made early in the morning and rarely create conflict with golf.
Mowing and rolling schedules.

Hopefully the ability for members to view this calendar will further limit undesirable golfer/maintenance interactions.

2010 Green Tarping Program at Greywolf Golf Course

2011-12-28T10:46:00.000-06:00

Last week I posted on two different manners in which superintendents in different locations deal with snow and ice. One of the superintendents I mentions was Darren Reddekopp at Greywolf Golf Course.

Last year Darren put together this wonderful look at their green tarping process. The video is very well done and it is the type of thing I hope to provide more of in 2012.

The tarps used in this video are an impermeable and designed to keep moisture of the putting surface during the winter. Many courses in Minnesota have been using these GreenJacket covers with success for a number of years. The GreenJackets are pretty much the exact opposite of the cover we use here are Northland. Our cover are permeable and allow moisture to reach the putting surface. Bottom line on covers is to use what has worked well in the past. The impermeable covers hold some advantages over our permeable covers, especially when it comes to ice. However, our covers have worked well for us for many years and sometimes "if it ain't broke you don't fix it."

Snow and Ice Concerns in Different Climates

2011-12-22T12:18:00.002-06:00

One of the really great things about using social media to keep the Northland membership and others up-to-date on the golf course is the number of golf course superintendents and assistants I have the opportunity to interact with on a daily basis. Each day offers a worldly look into how golf courses are managed and operated all over the world.

Recently I had conversations on Twitter with two separate superintendents regarding snow and ice in their climates and the solutions they use. Darren Reddekopp (@Greywolfsuper) is Golf Course Superintendent at Greywolf Golf Course in Panorama, British Columbia. Greywolf is a spectacular mountain golf course and heavy snow is the norm; unfortunately so are winter rains. Darren said it is typical for the golf course to receive heavy snow followed by a warm up and rain. This situation is much like what we have experienced at Northland in the past two winters. Heavy snow, followed by heavy rain. The saturated snow pack then turns to ice as cold temps return. The hope in this situation is the inevitable ice layer forms above the surface leaving snow right at the turf surface. In most areas of the course this is exactly what we experienced in 09/10 & 10/11. The photo on the left shows a snow situation from last year. On the left of the photo you can see a shelf, which is the layer of ice formed by December rain. In this case this ice formed above the green cover and no damage was present in the spring.

Recently on his blog Darren posted on his current ice situation. The photo on the right shows Darren's current ice situation. A month and a half into a 5 month winter Darren is assessing all his options including physical removal of the ice.

On the same day I conversed with Darren, I also had the opportunity to Tweet with Steve Cook, Certified Golf Course Superintendent and Master Greenkeeper (@OHCCTurf) at Oakland Hills Country Club near Detroit. Few courses rival the major championship history of Oakland Hills and Steve maintains the golf course to major championship conditions on a daily basis.

Oakland Hills' putting surfaces are predominantly Poa annua and thus highly susceptible to damage from snow and ice. In the Detroit climate Steve has settled on a snow removal program for his putting surfaces. When the temp rises above 25 degrees the turfgrass staff removes any snow cover from the putting surfaces before it has the chance to melt and form ice. Steve says he has had "much success" doing this over the years.

Having the opportunity to network in this manner is incredibly educational. For us in Minnesota, ice on greens used to be a rare occurrence. However, things seem to be changing; last week I read an article which said mid-winter ice events have quadrupled since 2000. Whether you believe this is a short-term pattern or a long-term trend the fact is we currently face a greater likelihood of dealing with winter ice. Any info on how superintendents deal with ice in other areas of the US or Canada could help us down the road.

The Wimpy Winter of 2011...so far...

2011-12-19T13:17:00.000-06:00

So far we are experiencing the wimpiest of wimpy winters here in Duluth. Thus far we have received around five inches of snow. This is nearly 20 inches below normal! I have no problem jinxing our weather so far by making this statement. I enjoy the snow and cold and what we have out there now is sort of depressing.

What does this weather mean for the course? At this point I would say very little. With all the warm weather we have experienced I am actually very happy to not have snow cover. Anytime we get snow melt this time of year it has the potential to form ice on the surface and cause damage. No snow=no ice.

My only concern at this juncture would come if we were to see 15 or more below zero with bare ground. However, even in this case I feel we have the right turf on our surfaces to handle bare and cold conditions.

We are finding out this winter why "normal" is actually an average. Here's hoping for a little more normal in the coming weeks.

2011 Year in Review

2011-12-19T07:00:00.000-06:00

2011 went by faster than any of my five previous golf seasons at Northland. Busy time at home with our two girls, great weather and great turf all made the time fly by. When I say 2011 was the best golf season of my five at Northland I believe many will have a difficult time disagreeing. At the Annual Meeting of the Membership in June I stated this was the season we would realize the full benefits of our previous four seasons of turf transition. Transition and change is always hard but when a process is seen out the benefits almost always make the efforts worth while.

Weather:

The third hole on April 7th.

The 2011 golf season began on April 21st, exactly to the day the average opening date since 1967. Despite a second consecutive icy winter the course experienced minimal damage and once again opened to very good turf conditions. The overall weather in 2011 was fantastic for both golfing and golf course turf. May and the first part of June featured typically bad weather but once it got nice, it really got nice. Rain always seemed to arrive at night, just when it was needed and in just the right amounts. The weather around the country this summer was brutally hot & humid with the Twin Cities experiencing their highest dew point ever. As usual we were fortunate to not experience the same level of heat and humidity but it was hot enough for my wife and I to briefly consider purchasing an air conditioning unit for our home. Despite the heat and humidity the golf course remained in excellent condition through out the summer.

One of the best indicators for me in how much the overall health of our turf has improved in the past five seasons was our level of disease activity this summer. Despite having some of the highest disease pressure in five seasons, we saw very little to no disease activity on the golf course. Some disease was present; even pythium, the ultimate heat and humidity indicator, was found on the course this summer. Despite this the areas of disease were extremely limited and on only two occasions did it cause us to spray a fungicide. One application on greens and one on tees. For the third consecutive season we did not make a in-season fungicide application to fairways.

Thatch:
The presence of fairway thatch at Northland has been an ongoing battle for many, many years. USGA agronomic reports going back to the 80's talked about the need to manage the fairway thatch. The climate and the turf types on the course lend themselves to high thatch production if careful management is not present.

Over the past 5 seasons we have been able to largely marginalize our fairway thatch. It is still present, although in much smaller amounts and while we will always carefully manage our thatch layer it is no longer something which causes us daily concerns. Aeration and judicious use of fertility have allowed us to achieve a net thatch loss over the past five seasons.

Consistency:

The most important goal of changing management practices here at Northland five seasons ago was to achieve a season long consistency on all playing surfaces. There is no doubt this consistency was lacking during the four years of transition but this is the nature of a transition. In 2011 we experienced the season long consistency which had been our goal from the beginning. The course changed with the seasons; playing drier and firmer during the summer but these seasonal differences did not come with a reduction in quality.

Green Speed:
One of the hottest topics at any golf facility is green speed. In the second part of last season we found the ideal green speed for creating an enjoyable experience for all golfers. Ironing out our green speed was a little bit like Goldilocks and Three Bears. In 2010 it was too fast, early 2011 too slow but by the second half of 2011 it was just right. Mowing heights, mowing and rolling schedules along with moisture levels are key to green speeds and last season we found the right mix of all three.

Simplicity:
As a staff, something for which we have striven over the past few years is simplification. We try to make our practices as simple as possible without compromising the quality of the golf course. By keeping things simply we make them easy to repeat and when dealing with seasonal labor, the more repeatable our practices are the higher the quality with which the tasks can be completed. This simplicity leads us to being able to provide consistent playing conditions within a tight budget.

Fairway Extensions:
Over the past few years we have been working to extend the edges of many of our fairways. Our goal in extending these fairways is to return the mowing lines to former widths. As fairways are mowed, the tendency is for the surfaces to slowly shrink. I once read that the average course can lose as much as one acre of fairways a year do to poor mowing.

As we extend the fairways we look for areas of rough with large populations of bentgrass. When a fairway shrinks the turf species remain and thus large populations of bentgrass in rough near a fairway tends to indicate the areas was once fairway. The process of scalping these areas to fairways height and blending them in with the existing fairways turf is a two to three year process. Next season we will be adding more areas of fairway extensions. The extensions added will be consistent with the master plan and working to regain past fairway area. The link below takes you to a map, which shows the areas of fairway we plan to extend in the spring.

Fairway Extensions on Scribble Maps

Collar Project:

The new 21" collar on the backside of 14 green.

This fall we completed the initial work of narrowing the putting surface collars to a consistent 21". The project involved some scalping of existing collar down to green height. It also involved a good deal of sodding of both collar areas and rough. The weather we had this fall was perfect for growing in the sod in both areas. As we move through the spring the sod will continue to knit and gain strength before the summer stress period.

I do expect some of the areas scalped down to green height to suffer during their summer of 2012 adjustment period. In some of these areas the current turf is not optimal for putting surface height and these areas will be treated with seed and sod as needed.

Going forward this project will provide us with a consistent look and quality of our putting surface collars. It will also cut down on the amount of mowing time required to cut the collars. A win-win project.

2011 was a wonderful golf season in so many ways. The turfgrass staff and myself are enjoying the more laid-back approach the winter season offers but at the same time we are also excited to build off the momentum of 2011 and continue making Northland Country Club one of the very best golf course in Minnesota.

Happy Holidays to everyone from the Northland Country Club Turfgrass Staff.

Cut your mowing in half? How deep do the savings go?

2011-12-12T07:00:00.000-06:00

In the past three seasons our turf management practices have allowed us to drastically reduce our mowing frequency. This reduction has come without a negative impact on playing conditions; in fact the reduced mowing has lead to increased health and thereby drastically improved playing conditions.

I was pondering this reduction in mowing today as this is what Minnesota superintendents do in the winter, we ponder. Reduced stress is the most obvious impact of reduced mowing but how deep do the savings go? Lets see if we can drill down a bit.

Reduced Stress/Healthier Plants

Fewer dollars spent on fertility

Fewer man-hours spent on applications
Less growth requiring fewer man-hours on clean-up

Fewer dollars spent on fungicides

Fewer man-hours spent on applications
Less time spent pondering fungicide programs (only somewhat serious on this one)

Healthier plants require less irrigation (also see compaction below.)
Reduced stress also has the opportunity to increase fine (bentgrass and fescue) turf populations, which may increase all reductions mentioned.

Reduced Mowing Hours

Less equipment wear and tear.

Theoretically equipment will last twice as long.
Fewer man-hours spent maintaining equipment.
Fewer dollars spent on parts. If a sharpening on a mower used to last one season can it now last two seasons?
Fewer dollars spent on fuel, lubricants and other hour depended parts.

Less compaction (could go in Reduced Stress as well).

Less may not mean less aeration but it means less aggressive aeration; aeration which takes fewer man-hours to perform.
Less compaction will allow for better water infiltration meaning:

less irrigation
reduced or eliminated use of wetting agents
less time spent hand-watering.

Some of these items might be stretching it a bit but its quite clear the savings from something as simple as reduced mowing can be drastic. Ultimately mowing reduction creates a good deal of budget freedom. Costs can be cut all together or moved to other areas of the budget thereby increasing the effective size of a golf course budget without increasing the bottom line.

Winter is looking good so far...

2011-12-09T10:30:00.001-06:00

The winter of 2011/2012 has gotten off to a good start; from a golf course point of view. As you can see on the right, snow cover to this point is minimal and that is a-ok by me. Ideally what we want for the golf course is to get good, sustained cold weather before any significant lasting snow cover is established. This cold allows the plants to harden off and establish strong dormancy. It also allows the ground to freeze hard and deep. Last season we had lasting snow cover before the ground had the opportunity to freeze solid. When this happens the temperature at the snow/soil interface stays at the perfect temperature for snowmold activity and also reduces the dormancy of the plants making them susceptible to ice damage.

Below you see a photo of bentgrass on our first fairway. This is exactly how we want our turf to look going into snow cover. The surface is almost bristle-like and the leaf tissue has very little moisture content.

Minnesota winters change in a heartbeat and as we have seen in the past, being close to Lake Superior makes us more likely to have a significant rain event at some time during the winter. Here's hoping the rest of our winter is as good as the beginning.

Ferrous Sulfate Viewed from Space

2011-11-22T14:34:00.000-06:00

The look of the putting surfaces at last week's President's Cup at Royal Melbourne has created quite a conversation in the golf and turfgrass community. Rumors have been all over the map.

The underlying soil on the putting surfaces is dark. It very well may be but it would not cause this appearance.
Charcoal was applied to warm up the greens and germinate seed. This certainly could have taken place but was unlikely the reason for the uniform dark green color.
The greens were dead and they were painted dark green. Accounts from players and media would certainly refute this comment as the players seemed to feel they were some of the finest surfaces they had ever seen and played on. Paint helps but it does not make dead anything but dead.

This article from the Australian Turfgrass Management details some of the work done at Royal Melbourne in the past few years. It also mentions their re-grassing of the putting surfaces. Another article viewed in PDF form here details how the Sutton's mix turf was isolated from old colonies of original turf on the Royal Melbourne putting surfaces, grown out to seed, then used to re-grass the very same surfaces. The Sutton's mix is a mixture of Colonial or browntop bentgrass, creeping bentgrass and velvet bentgrass. Bentgrasses of all varieties are acid loving plants much the same as blueberries. In order to promote the fine turf created by these grasses Royal Melbourne is using an acid fertility regime. This regime is mentioned in the journal of a volunteer at the President's Cup. Here at Northland we are using a very similar regime to promote our finer grasses of bent and fescue.

Below are satellite images of three different course using similar fertility programs.

View Larger Map
Royal Melbourne-Obviously taken during the winter as all but the putting surfaces are dormant. In this image you can see Royal Melbourne's putting surfaces [likely] shortly after a ferrous sulfate application. The neighboring course to North does not appear to use this program while Victoria Golf Club to the East and Kingston Heath to the Northeast both appear to be applying ferrous sulfate.

View Larger Map
San Francisco Golf Club-In February of 2009 I had to opportunity to play this fantastic golf course. The putting surfaces here have been re-grassed with bentgrass and an acid fertility regime is being used to keep the Poa annua at bay.

View Larger Map
Northland Country Club-Last but not least, a course we all know and love. We have been using an acid based fertility program for the past three season on greens and tees and the past two seasons on fairways. This image from August of 2010 shows the uniform dark green of ferrous sulfate applications across all surfaces. In this image the tees have received the most recent application followed by greens then fairways.

Each of the three courses shown above feature different weather and seasonal conditions. Melbourne feature hot dry summers with cool but generally not freezing winters. San Francisco features cool dry summers and moderate to cool and wet weather the rest of the year. Duluth, well we all know what Duluth provides for weather. Each situation provides challenges and advantages for promoting finer grasses over Poa annua. An acid fertility regime can assist in swing the competitive balance in favor of the bents and fescues.

Royal Melbourne « DCPC G&G Blog

2011-11-22T11:16:00.000-06:00

Another superintendent chimes in with insight on the appearance of the Royal Melbourne putting surfaces.

Royal Melbourne « DCPC G&G Blog:

Look Familiar?

2011-11-19T08:00:00.000-06:00

If you are watching the President's Cup this weekend being played a Royal Melbourne Golf Club you may find the look of the greens to be familiar. The photo on the left shows one of the putting surfaces at Royal Melbourne, a course perennially listed as one of the world's best. The green on the left has been treated with ferrous sulfate just as our greens are treated with ferrous sulfate.

Royal Melbourne's putting surfaces are a special blend of browntop bent. The browntop does very well in acidic conditions, which the ferrous sulfate helps to provide. The ferrous sulfate applications are also used as part of a Poa annua control program. Below is a photo of our 18th green taken June of 2010.

2 Tee-Sunlight and Long Views

2011-11-17T15:40:00.000-06:00

Last week the turfgrass staff completed planned tree removal in the 2 tee, 17 tee and 16 green area. The most important goal for the work in this area was to allow for more sunlight on all three playing surfaces. The second tee is quite small for the amount and type of traffic it receives. Being in the shade for large portions of the day slowed divot and traffic recovery and also limited the level of turf quality in general. The shade issues being caused on 16 green have been written about in the past and this work will help to improve the quality of turf on the right side of the 16th green.

Shade cast on the 16th green.

This photo shows the 2nd tee nearly completely shaded at 10:45am.

This photo shows the shade cast on the 16th green before removal. It also gives a good example of how a long view of the golf course was blocked.

In this photo you can see how Ben's shadow is cast directly on the green. As trees have now been removed the right side of this green will now receive much more vital sunlight.

Another important aspect of this work is to open long views of the golf course. Despite the dusting of snow, the photos below show the new views created by the tree work.

This photo from the right rough of the first hole shows how we have opened up a long view of the golf course. It is now possible to see the 16th green in the distance.

Taken from a similar angle as the photo three above, this unobstructed view from the 16th green all the way back to the clubhouse is spectacular.

Off to Wisconsin

2011-11-15T08:00:00.000-06:00

This morning I am on my way to Milwaukee, then onto Kohler for the Wisconsin Turf Symposium. Tomorrow I will be sitting on a panel discussion, which will be moderated by USGA Agronomist, Bob Vavrek.

The theme of the day and half event is "New Tools for Old Challenges". There are a number of excellent speakers participating so it will be fun to not only participate but to listen in on the other talks. It will also be fun to spend a couple days rubbing elbows with the fine golf course superintendents of Wisconsin.

How Good is Green?

2011-11-14T10:56:00.000-06:00

When most people think about winter in Minnesota green grass is not really the first thing that pops into their mind. When thinking about plants and winter in Minnesota we typically think of shriveled, dead, brown plants that have either finish their life cycle or shut themselves down to prepare for the long cold winter.

I used to view the golf course turf in this same manner. My feeling and goal was for the turf on the playing surfaces have a tawny appearance as it heads into the winter. Too green meant too lush and too lush can potentially cause all sorts of problems leading to poor turf in the spring. For the past three seasons we have been applying ferrous sulfate to the playing surfaces as a part of our promotion of bentgrass. One of the many advantage of applying ferrous sulfate is the way it greens the turf. The past two springs we have observed excellent turf and playing conditions coming out of winter. The spring green up had taken place earlier and excellent overall plant vitality has been present early in the spring. As we have moved through the late fall we have made weekly applications of ferrous sulfate to all of the playing surfaces both as a part of promoting bentgrass but also to provide as much green color to the turf as possible.

The photo on the left shows the teeing grounds of the third hole. On tees this season, in addition to applications of ferrous sulfate, we made two applications of a product call Civitas. Civitas is a mineral oil based fungicide which has gained tremendous popularity across the country for its ability to reduce the amount of chemical fungicides applied to turf. Another advantage being seen with Civitas comes when it is used in combination with winter snowmold fungicide programs. Our tees are treated with a complete winter snowmold application but in addition to the fungicide we have also applied Civitas. A component of the Civitas is a green dye and this is the reason our teeing grounds have such a deep green color right now.

The photo on the right shows the 15th fairway after our snowmold fungicide was applied. The snowmold products we apply are manufactured by Bayer and they also contain a green colorant. This colorant is called Stressgard. More and more we, as superintendents, are finding available products containing green colorant as a way to protect and support stronger turf. I was suspicious at first but having seen results first hand on the course I do believe there is a strong correlation to green turf going into the winter providing better results in the spring.

This weekend as my family and I returned from Minneapolis I drove by a couple of courses that looked exactly as I would have wanted our turf to look three or four years ago; tawny with hits of green. There was no doubt this turf was dormant and ready for winter. Don't get me wrong, in no way am I saying tawny and brown is bad for turf going into winter. I do however remember that we were much slower to get going in the spring when our turf looked this way heading into winter. By going into winter green, we will come out of winter relatively green. As the snow melts in March and April the sun has some nice power and our darker surfaces are going to attract more heat, which will allow the plants to begin growing earlier than we might typically expect. Earlier growth means our membership gets a better golf course sooner in the spring.

During my five seasons at Northland one of the themes laid out by the Green Committee has been the idea of extending the season. We all know what a short golf season we can be presented with here in Duluth and as a turfgrass staff we have worked very hard to provide the membership of Northland with as many days of good playing conditions as possible. Aeration practices and growing a healthy stand of strong turf are just two of the many items we have changed with the aim of extending the season. You can now add green turf in the fall to this list.

More Drain Work on 16 Green

2011-11-10T09:57:00.000-06:00

Our difficulties on the 16 green have been well documented. Yesterday, Jake and Ben finished up work on a couple more drain tile issues that arose this summer. Last fall after work was completed on both the front right corner of the green and the drain lines we felt our troubles on this green were mostly behind us. However, during the summer one more drain line, in the area repaired last fall, reared its ugly head. The area can be seen in the photo on the right. The fact this area is in near complete shade has not helped the problem.

The past couple of days Jake and Ben have been working to remove the existing sand and crushed granite, which had been placed around the tile. Once these materials are removed the trench is being filled with an 80% sand/20% peat greens mix which will continue allowing the area to drain but hold more water and nutrients insuring healthy turf growth.

Drain line after sand was removed.

Landscape fabric was laid in the trench, pipe was installed, covered with crushed granite then wrapped in the landscape fabric. Finally 100% sand was used to backfill the trench.

The trench after fabric, rock and pipe have been removed. The trench will be backfilled with 80/20 and new sod installed from our nursery.

As you can see in all of these photos this area was heavily shaded, which compounds any turf issues we have had in the past. Now that the drain lines have been fixed and tree removal has taken place, we fully expect to grow strong healthy turf in this area.

As you can see in the photo below, new sod from our nursery has been placed over the repaired drain lines and will be ready for next season.

Tree Removal-14

2011-11-09T13:00:00.000-06:00

On Monday we begin our fall tree work with the 14th hole. The three trees front and right of the green and the four trees immediately behind the green were removed.

Before

After

After-taken from the approach.

Compaction relief at La Jolla Country Club

2011-11-09T12:41:00.002-06:00

Yesterday I ran across this video created by PACE turf in San Diego. The video takes a look at the putting surfaces at La Jolla CC and the effect deep-tine aeration had on their compaction layer. The visuals are quite impressive.

Deep-tine aeration has become a key component to our turfgrass management at Northland. While we do not have the same compaction problem in our putting surfaces, we do have a very similar situation in our fairways. Something deep-tine areation will help us with in the coming years.

Something New For Winter-Fencing Around Greens

2011-11-04T14:17:00.003-05:00

One of the areas of our operation in which I am most proud is our ability to observe and deduce. This observation and deduction are obviously very important during the golf season as we react to what we are seeing from the turf. We also use observation and deduction during the off-season to give our turf the best chance of coming out of winter in top condition. The past couple of seasons we have observed that winter traffic was hurting our greens and deduced that we needed to make a change.

The bottom of the golf course receives a lot of "uncontrolled traffic"; members and neighbors using the course for all sorts of winter activities. Grooming of ski and snowshoe trails is a wonderful winter service to our membership but it also helps us to control the traffic from these winter activities. Most people want to ski and snowshoe on groomed trails and we are able put the trails in areas which will limit any potential damage to the golf course.

It is no secret that Northland Country Club is a sledding hot spot. "Controlling" sledding traffic is much more difficult than ski and snowshoe traffic. Over the past few winters we have suffered some turf loss on the lower putting surfaces. Winter rains have played their part but we have also suffered because of the sledding traffic. Large amounts of foot traffic pack the snow down and when mid-winter and spring thaws come these areas turn to ice. If you have read this blog you know ice and turf are not friends.

We do not want to discourage sledding at Northland but we do want to protect the putting surfaces from this damaging winter traffic. This fall we have decided to erect welded wire fencing around the greens receiving the most winter traffic. We started putting up the fencing this morning and completed two greens; one and 18.

The fencing around the 18th green from the veranda of the clubhouse.

A close-up view of the welding wire fence used for winter protection. I have been asked "why metal, why not orange snowfence?" Well...

Having worked at Town & Country Club, the winter playground of Northwestern St. Paul, I have a lot of experience with fencing greens. A slight bit of slack like this would catch snow and eventually tear down the snowfence. Not to mention, plastic snowfence, in the winter chill is a good bit easier to rip down than welded wire.

You might ask: "don't you sometime have to get onto the putting surfaces in the winter?" Well, we thought of that. We left a "man door", which will eventually be wired shut but can provide access for man or equipment if the need should arise.

Observation and deduction are quite powerful actions in the world of turfgrass management. This winter they may go a long way towards protecting us from spring damage.

Covering Nearly Complete

2011-11-03T15:43:00.000-05:00

Today, we finished covering all but one of the putting surfaces. Only the seventh remains to be covered and it will be completed tomorrow. Tomorrow will be our last day with our "full" seasonal staff and full advantage will be taken. Our main focus tomorrow will be the fencing around the bottom greens. I will most certainly post photos when we have a green complete.

Putting Them to Bed

2011-11-02T15:13:00.001-05:00

This morning I made our winter snowmold application on the putting surfaces. This afternoon, after the chemical was dry the turfgrass staff begin covering with the putting green and the 18th.

Covering will continue tomorrow and Friday. Once finished covering we will erect the fencing around greens.

Master Plan Implementation-Fall Tree Work

2011-11-02T08:36:00.000-05:00

This fall, as most of you are likely aware, the membership of Northland Country Club voted the golf course master plan into the by-laws of the Club. The master plan now stands as the road map for future golf course improvements.
While there is no exact timetable for completion of the master plan the Green Committee feels it is important to begin implementing the aspects of the plan, which can be handled in-house, at low cost to the club and with minimal disruption to the member play. Tree maintenance, some tee box construction and widening of many fairways are all items able to be completed by the turfgrass staff.
The Green Committee, with the support of the Board of Directors has decided to begin implementing portions of the planned tree maintenance this fall. The trees marked for removal on the plan fall into one of three categories.

Improvement of playing surfaces by reducing shade and root competition from trees.

We are quite fortunate here at Northland not to have a great deal of shade issue on our playing surfaces. However, providing adequate sunlight to our playing surfaces is of the utmost importance. When turf does not receive adequate sunlight the result is a playing surface, or areas of playing surfaces, which will fall short of the membership’s expectations.
Moving forward; tree removal aimed at increasing sunlight on playing surfaces will be given priority.

Open views-both external of Lake Superior and internal of the golf course itself.
Highlight and uncover certain architectural features of the golf course.

When considering the trees to be removed this fall the Green Committee carefully considered the three factors listed above. The Green Committee expects similar projects of scope and nature to take place each year over the next three to four years, with most work done after the course has closed.

The Green Committee and the Board of Directors feel it is of the utmost importance to keep the membership fully informed of the work to be done. The following list, demarcated by hole number, are the areas in which trees are planned for removal this fall, after the golf course is closed. All work, other than stump removal, will be completed by the Northland Turfgrass Staff.

#2 - Trees between #2 and #17 tee box as well as the trees between #2 tee and #16 green

Removal of these trees is necessary to promote better turf conditions on the second and 17th tee as well as the 16th green.

#5 - Trees that are encroaching on the line of play from both tee boxes

Left side of the main tee
Right side of the alternate tee

#5 - Trees that are to the back right of the green between #5 and path to #14 tee box

Spruce trees blocking views of Lake Superior

#7 - blue tee box

Pocket of trees right of the blue tee on seven affecting line of play and turf conditions on tee surface.

#9 - left of green

Trees both right and left of the cart path cast a large amount of shade on the ninth green.

#10 - Trees left and right of fairway

Trees on the right side of the fairways ball block the hazarad area and view of the right side of hole
Trees on the left side are growing out of the a mound/ground feature

#11 - Remove trees surrounding the green

Roots are very close to green and competing with turf as well as blocking sun and air flow. These removals will aid in improving chronic turf issues at the front left corner of the putting surface.
Removing trees from behind the green will open up a great view of #12 green all the way back from the #11 tee box
Spruce tree short and right of the right greenside bunker will be removed in order to prevent golfers from the double hazard of being under the tree and having to hit over the bunker.

#13 - 4 trees near the left fairway bunker

Removal of these trees will allow a player a better opportunity to challenge the fairway bunker.
This will also allow for a view of the green from the 13th tee.

#14 - The four trees directly behind the green that give the player depth perception on their approach shot into the green. The three remaining trees short and right of the putting surface will also be removed.

The removal of these trees is in-keeping with "infinity" looks already in place on the 13th and 15th holes.
The two shorter scotch pine further back in this area, between the third green and fourth tee will remain. This includes the tree near the portable toilet on the fourth hole.

As stated earlier, work on these removals is expected to begin once the golf course is closed and the greens have been covered.

There Comes a Time

2011-11-02T07:30:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was the final day of the 2011 golf season. While the forecast shows the next few days will be relatively decent, it is important we as a turfgrass staff have three nice days to properly put the course to bed.

Over the past couple of seasons we have stayed open longer when the weather has been nice. What determines nice? Its one of the largest gray areas we deal with each season. For the purpose of keeping the course open nice would mean a 5-7 day stretch of 50-60 weather. While the forecast the next couple of days is nice, I do not see this type of weather coming.

At this time of year my only goal is to make sure the course is put to bed properly. Many factors go into the decision of when to close the golf course. Soil temps, air temps and weather forecasts are just a few of the variables we must consider. It would be wonderful if we could give everyone "one more round" but when we get to this time of year "one more round" has the potential to compromise our winter prep and could produce consequences for the course come spring. Two or three days now are not worth the potential for problems, which would linger much longer in the spring.

I understand not everyone is going to agree with the decision of when to close the course. I do however hope everyone can understand the reason behind this timing. The 2011 golf season was great from beginning to end and proper preparations now will go a long way towards us realizing the same in 2012.

Taming the Flood

2011-11-01T10:47:00.001-05:00

Jake is working on building up the creek bank on four this morning. When the snow melts or we get heavy rain the bottom of four tairway floods terribly. This should combat the issue.

Nice Depth

2011-11-01T10:20:00.001-05:00

Yesterday we deep-tined all the putting surfaces before we cover the greens. As you can see we achieved a very nice depth.

Irrigation Blow Out Complete!

2011-10-31T07:34:00.000-05:00

On Friday we completed blowing out the irrigation system for the winter. Winterization of a golf course irrigation system is something every northern climate course does this time of year. With the age of our system this is process that always makes me a bit nervous. However, as it has for the past five seasons, the blowout went off without a hitch.

Many times on this blog I have written about developing systems withing our operation and how these systems help us to do our jobs with quality and efficiency. This was the fifth time Assistant Superintendent, Jake Ryan and myself have blown out this irrigation system. Second Assistant, Joe LeVoir has now been a part of three winterizations. Together the three of us have developed a wonderful system for this annual project.

The day before blow out we first fill our 1700 gallon pre-mix tank located in the maintenance building. The water in this tank will be used Monday when we spray our snowmold application on fairways. Next, all valves coming off the city mainlines are closed and quick-coupler valves are inserted around the course. This drains as much water as possible out of the system before the compressor is hooked up and air blown through the pipes. By draining water out of the system it drastically reduces the amount of time required when using compressed air to remove water from all piping.

Once the 900 cubic foot per minute compressor is hooked up to the system it takes us about 5 and a half hours to completely clear the upper and lower systems. When complete the irrigation system is ready to spend the winter resting quietly beneath the snow.

Next up: Deep-tining of greens on Monday, snowmold applications Monday and Tuesday and finally covers on Wednesday.

Completing the Infinity Look

2011-10-27T13:15:00.001-05:00

Earlier this morning work was completed on further leveling and grading behind the 13th green. The work completed this morning has brought the infinity look behind the green all the way across the putting surface.

Many thanks go out to member Steve Johnson, who provided the equipment and operator to complete the work.

The initial look of the 13th green before tree removal in 2008.

After tree removal but before initial grading.

After the initial grading and leveling.

The 13th as it appears today. My estimate is the grade behind the green has been leveled nearly ten feet since the tree removal in 2008.

Sunlight-Sometimes the Answer Really is that Simple

2011-10-25T10:14:00.000-05:00

If you have played golf at Northland in-well probably ever-then you know the front right corner of 16 green is a difficult area for us to maintain quality turf. Often times, when dealing with a chronically difficult area numerous factors contribute to the decline of turf. Multiple factors were certainly at play on 16 green.

Internal Drainage:
In the fall of 2006 the putting surface on 16 was vandalized and replaced with sod. At this time drainage was added to the right side of the putting surface. While the execution of this drainage was poor it did result in the right side of the green being drier and better for quality turf. One problem improved.

Surface Drainage:
Last fall, after a particularly bad summer for the turf in the right front of 16 green, a contractor was brought in to do minor work improving the grade and surface drainage. These improvements keep water from puddling in this area during snowmelt and heavy rain. A second problem improved.

Traffic:
We are fortunate at Northland to have few issues with foot traffic on putting surfaces. One area in which we do have a difficult time with foot traffic is the right front of 16. As walkers come up to the green they are naturally funneled between the green and the right front bunker. In addition to foot traffic, the edges of putting surfaces are also a natural concentration for mower and roller traffic. When the two types of traffic are combined the results are a decline in turf health. Generally traffic issues can be managed with extra fertility and extra aeration, both of which this area receives during the summer months. A third problem improved.

Sunlight:
Finally we come to sunlight. As you can see in the photos below, the front right corner of 16 green is heavily shaded by the trees between 2 tee and 16 green. The problem is especially critical during the spring and fall, when this area of the putting surface spends most of the day in the shade. The first of the two photos below was taken at 9 am, the second at 1:30pm.

As we move through our summer stress period we expect this corner of the green will decline slightly in heath. Having improved a number of problems affecting this area we would also expect the quality of this corner to improve quite quickly as we get to September. Unfortunately, despite the numerous improvements, we continue to see a decline in turf quality in this corner of the green. The reason for this continued decline, as the title states, is shade. In order to recover its health and quality the turf in this area needs sunlight; something it gets very little of from September-May.

The recently approved golf course master by Golf Architect, Ron Prichard, features numerous tree removals. In many cases the removals are aimed at improved views of Lake Superior as well as interior views of the golf course. In numerous other areas the removals are aimed at improving and protecting turf conditions on our playing surfaces.

In my five seasons at Northland we have worked very hard to find real solutions to chronic problems, rather than continually provide Band-aids. While the solutions vary I feel comfortable in saying we have solved many chronic problems on the golf course. The front right corner of 16 green is another chronic problem I know we will solve.

Seriously!!??

2011-10-24T13:36:00.001-05:00

Divots from 15 approach towards two green. Why was this necessary? Have a little respect for the course.

Nice Germination!

2011-10-24T10:23:00.001-05:00

We have got some really nice fescue germination in the fairway areas seeded this spring. An area like this on three, one that typically dries out quickly, will be mostly fescue in the span of two to three years.

Deep-tining Success!

2011-10-20T14:00:00.001-05:00

This is one of our sand channels created by our deep-tining in September. Pretty cool to see. Imagine what thousands of these channels across a putting surface do for drainage.

Important Dates as We Move Towards Closing Day

2011-10-20T13:24:00.000-05:00

Friday, October 28th:
This will be the date of our irrigation blow out. Always a sure sign the golf season is near an end.

Monday, October 31st:
Pre-covering deep-tining of the putting surfaces. The past two seasons we have not deep-tined before covering and these are the only two seasons we have experienced damage on putting surfaces. Small damage but damage nonetheless. This is another wonderful example of the advantages of owning our own deep-tining unit. No need to schedule a contractor. No need to spend a 12 hour day waiting for the contractor to finish the job. No concerns about rescheduling the contractor if the weather on Monday is poor. Also, owning our own equipment also allows us to complete this process closer to covering thereby minimizing the effect on golf.

The question some of you may have is "didn't we just deep-tine the greens?" Yes, is of course the answer but the reason for this deep-tining is different than when done in September. Our goal with a late-season, pre-covering deep-tining is to open holes in the surface, which will allow water from any late fall or early winter rain to move off the surface and into the holes, minimizing ice cover across the turf. Typically when the greens are uncovered in the spring we also find the holes to be filled with ice. As the soil thaws in the spring this ice will freeze and thaw a number of times helping to "shatter" the soil and create a wonderful secondary aeration.

Monday, October 31st and Tuesday November 1st:
Application of winter snowmold control. Far and away the most important application we make to the golf course all season.

Wednesday, November 2nd:
The likely start of the covering of putting surfaces. Unless the 10-day forecast shows some very nice weather, Wednesday November 2nd will be the final day of the 2011 golf season.

Stay tuned for any further information.

Do Golf Courses Play by Their Own Set of Rules?

2011-10-18T14:45:00.000-05:00

Golfdom Magazines most recent issue featured the cover story "Turf on Trial". In the article they looked at four common environmental accusations made towards golf courses. Two months ago I was contacted by author and Golfdom writer Tony Pioppi to see if I would be interested in being interviewed for the article. Tony and I talked for some time and the result is the piece seen below. It was an honor to be asked to participate and good to know Northland has gained a reputation for being environmentally sound. Many thanks to Tony and Golfdom for the wonderful article.

	Turf on Trial

Golf Courses Live by Their Own Rules

Collar Width Quality Control

2011-10-18T12:12:00.000-05:00

With our collars now being kept at a consistent 21" all the way around the course one issue we will need to address next year is that of quality control. We will need to be diligent in order to keep the width consistent. Yesterday I may have found just the person for the job.

Wrapping Up, Closing Down and Gearing Up

2011-10-18T12:05:00.001-05:00

The end of the golf season is a very busy time for us around the course. It is really a good thing the growth of the turf slows to almost nothing this time of year because there is a lot to do between now and the first week or two of November. First we need to wrap up the fall work, then we need to close things down and finally we will be gearing up and switching over to "winter mode".

Wrapping Up:

Mow down unmowed rough areas.
Final ferrous sulfate and nitrogen applications to greens and fairways
Irrigation blowout Friday, October 28th.
Snow mold applications to greens, tees and fairways
Pre-covering deep-tining of greens. This will take place on Monday the 31st right before we make our snowmold application to greens. More on this process coming in a separate blog post.

Closing Down:

Covering of greens-the date for covering and thus closing is still up in the air. Anyone who lives in Duluth knows any golf past Halloween is a bonus. Come the week of Halloween we will prepare to course to be closed in short order. Once the decision to close is made it take us about one and a half days to get the greens covered. All course accessories will be removed leaving just flagsticks and cups to come off the course before covering.
At this time the plan is to complete our snowmold app on greens on Tuesday, November 1st. Once this is complete we can close at any time.

Gearing Up:

Once the greens are covered and the course closed we will have the following tasks to complete, among other odds and ends.

Wrap, tennis court arborvitaes in burlap to protect from winter deer feasting. We begin wrapping these trees three winters ago and they have grown in and recovered nicely.
Place metal "hog" fencing around greens on the lower portion of the golf course.

In the past greens 1 and 2, 15-18 have suffered winter damage due to heavy foot traffic. We do not discourage sledding on the course but we want to make sure the traffic does not damage the putting surfaces.
This type of fencing has been used very effectively at my old course, Town & Country Club in St. Paul, where golf course traffic in the winter is off-the-charts.

Place sand bags to divert water near the 18th, 3rd and 11th greens.
Winterize equipment and switch the shop and cold storage to "winter mode."

"Winter mode" means pallets of ice melt replace divot mix and the mower storage area stores the plow, snow blower and snowmobile.

Lots of activity among the turfgrass staff between now and Thanksgiving.

Fall Nitrogen to Promote Spring Bentgrass Growth

2011-10-13T13:47:00.000-05:00

In our efforts to promote and maintain bentgrass over Poa annua we are always looking to add tools to our toolshed. This fall we will be using fertility timing to help promote strong bentgrass growth next spring.

In Minnesota we typically view Summer and Winter as ideal seasons for promoting bentgrass or in the case of winter, eliminating Poa. Spring and fall are typically seen as months in which Poa is able to out compete bentgrass. As part of our continued efforts at increasing and maintaining high bentgrass populations, we use multiple combinations of tools with an aim to promote bentgrass during all seasons of the year and removing as many periods of Poa advantage as possible.

Earlier this summer, recently retired superintendent, Jerry Kershasky of Brookfield, Wisconsin tweeted about fall application of nitrogen in order to promote more vigorous spring growth of bentgrass. Typically in areas with winter dormancy of turf we find spring growth of bentgrass to be slower than Poa. For a number of years Jerry has been reversing this trend by making late-fall applications of soluble nitrogen.

One of the articles mentioned by Jerry was written by Dr. Ralph Engel, Professor Emeritus of Turfgrass Science at Rutgers University. The article was written in 1988 and touts fall, pre-dormancy applications of soluble nitrogen, as a method to increase early season bentgrass growth. Last fall we made some applications of this nature on fairways and saw aggressive spring growth from our bentgrass. Over the next couple of weeks we will be making nitrogen applications to all playing surfaces with the goal of promoting more vigorous bentgrass growth early next season. Doing so continues to close windows of opportunity for Poa to get any leg up on bentgrass.

An Extra Advantage of our Collar Project

2011-10-13T13:03:00.000-05:00

During the course of the project we were able to harvest a large amount of quality bentgrass sod. This sod came from the areas of collar removed and replaced by bluegrass. The photo below is just one of the many areas in which poor turf was removed and replaced with good quality bentgrass sod. This photo comes from just over the left-side bunker on 15 green.

Collar Update-We Have Sod

2011-10-12T07:30:00.000-05:00

Your imagination is no longer necessary when viewing our new collars. Today we received our bluegrass sod and the vision began coming into focus.

No better way to show the results than with pictures.

Back of the fourth green. The light green strip of collar is sod that replaced some of the poor turf in this area. The bluegrass or rough sod shows you how wide the old collar was in this area. Second Assistant Superintendent, Joe LeVoir is seen tapping into irrigation to handwater the sod.

Left side of four green.

The front of the fifth green, just over the bunkers. This area was in very difficult shape this summer and this change will yield very nice results.

Back of the 13th green. This shot really gives a great idea of how the 21" collars will look. A very clean, professional look at the edges of our putting surfaces.

The left side of 14. A drastic improvement over what we saw this summer. Part of the reason we did not repair the collar here this summer was knowing this project was coming.

Back edge of the 14th green. Another vast improvement. In areas such as this Jake removed the old collar sod, which was very poor and replaced it with quality collar sod generated from other areas of the course.

A huge thanks goes out to the entire crew but especially to Assistant Superintendent, Jake Ryan. Jake took complete ownership of this project from the creation of the 21" double paint gun, to the initial mowing and all of the sod cutting. A great effort by Jake and the entire crew from the beginning to end of this project.

Work on the Collars Continues

2011-10-11T07:27:00.000-05:00

I have had a number of questions about our collar project over the past week or so. Rightfully so, with all the sod cut and removed out there and white blue and red lines dotting the edges of the putting surfaces; it does all seem a bit confusing.

Today the project will start to take shape when we begin laying the bluegrass sod in the areas from which Jake and the crew have removed old collar sod. Currently the old collar sod has been laid out near the nursery. The process generated a large amount of good quality sod from the collars and this will be used to our advantage. If you play the next couple of days you will notice some areas with white XXX's. Jake has marked these areas to be replaced with good collar sod.

Yesterday we did some coring of the areas in which the putting surface has been extended. The videos below look at these areas before and after coring.

Deep-Tining Fairways?

2011-10-10T09:00:00.003-05:00

The potential deep-tining of fairways here at Northland is something totally new. Up until this season there was no ability for this beneficial process to take place. Now that the club owns it's own deep-tine unit, the idea of deep-tining fairways and the advantages it can bring are close to a reality.

The problem is making it happen. Since our fairways have never been deep-tined beginning to process will be very slow. Last week I made a couple of trial runs on the beginning of the 6th fairway. The trial was good and bad in that the deep-tining gave some great results for the soil but was far too aggressive on the surface. Not one to be deterred easily I am continuing to work on coming up with the best way to begin this very beneficial process and to do so with the least disruption to member play possible.

I am confident that we will watch this video one day and say, "remember when we started doing this?" Slowly but surely, it will get done.

New Video of Turf Lifted by Fairway Aeration

2011-10-06T12:49:00.003-05:00

Took another video yesterday of the some lifted fairway turf. This video gives a great visual of how the roots of this turf can be sheared in places by the aeration process.

Something of note is that the way the turf in the video is right now was essentially the condition of all our fairway turf when I came to Northland in 2007. All of the roots were in the thatch making for a difficult management situation.

21-inch Collars

2011-10-05T13:10:00.000-05:00

Last week we began the process of narrowing all of the collars on the golf course to 21-inches. There are a few reasons for making this change.

21 inches is width of the walking mowers we use to mow approaches and collars. The reason our collars have been wide is that prior to 2007 they were mowed with a riding tri-plex mower. The wider width of collars allowed the riding mowing to make one complete pass around greens. Now that we are walk mowing the collars our mowers were having to make as many as 5 passes around the green while mowing collars. Once this transition is complete the mowers will make just one pass around each green. Conservatively we estimate this will help us gain 1.5 hours of manpower each time we mow the approaches and collars.
Appearance-A wide collar is more about maintenance functionality than appearance. Walk mowing collars allows us to push the putting surface out as far as possible. Once the 21-inch collar is established you will find a very clean, appealing look around the greens.
Stress Management-We ask our staff to turn their mowers in the rough as much as possible in order to reduce stress to the collars. With the wide collars it became easy for the staff to "cheat" and turn on the collar. With only 21 inches available to turn they will have no choice than to use the rough.

Jake created this contraption of paint guns. The distance between the tips is 21 inches. Using this allowed us to accurately mark the width of the new collars.

When establishing this width we have worked to push the putting surface out as far as possible. In some places this was already the case and thus the outside of the existing collar will be removed and replaced with bluegrass sod. Yesterday Jake began removing some of the existing collar width with the sod cutter. One Monday we will be getting sod to place in these areas. The bentgrass sod removed from the existing collars will not go to waste. It will be used to "clean-up" areas of collar and approach around the course.

In the photo below you see the back of the first green. In this case we will be pushing the putting surface out by mowing down existing collar width.

These areas will be mowed with a mower set slightly below the height of the existing collar. We will slowly take the height down during the course of the fall. Once the covers come off in the spring and we begin mowing these areas will be mowed with the regular green mowers. Some of the areas being mowed to green height contain a slight crown. These areas will be cored with a 1/4" tine and have the soil removed. This will be followed by a rolling and eventually the crown will be reduced.

The video below was shot yesterday on the 15th green. It gives a good look at how the existing collars are being transitioned.

What are the brown strips in the fairways?

2011-10-05T09:00:00.001-05:00

As has been our custom for the past few years we completed our fairway solid-tining in the week or so after the Spooner. Unlike past seasons we were quite dry leading up to this aeration and have been just as dry since its completion. During this early fall aeration of fairways the root systems are not as strong as during our spring aeration. Due to this there is the tendency for the turf to lift slightly as the machines aerate. When this happens some of the weaker rooted areas have their roots sheared and thus during warm, dry weather we get the appearance you see on the left. While the dry streaks are a bit unsightly there is very little damage done and with some extra irrigation the fairways will return to normal; some rain would not hurt either. Something interesting about these areas is that the turf having turned brown is the bentgrass. Look closely and you will see perfectly green Poa annua plants mixed in; seems counter-intuitive right? Better watch video below to find out why this occurs.

In the future we may have to re-evaluate our timing of this type of aeration depending on weather conditions. The main goal of this solid-tine aeration is to make "Swiss cheese" out of our thatch layer allowing water and air to reach the soil. Given our clay soil the Procores do not provide us with a good deal of depth of penetration during fairway aerations. When we look to achieve depth and soil shattering we will be using our Aerway aerifier and our new Verti-drain deep tiner. These operations will come later in the season in order take advantage of fall and spring freeze and thaw cycles.

More Deep-tining on Tees

2011-10-04T13:30:00.001-05:00

Not often do you get to see a tractor and verti-drain backed by Lake Superior.
I am out working on tees again today. Will probably take me through tomorrow to finish them all.

Deep-tining Tees

2011-10-03T12:13:00.001-05:00

I am out on the course right now Deep-tining tees. Using a 3/4" tine at a depth of about 8". Another high ROI aeration.

Blog Changes

2011-10-03T07:00:00.000-05:00

I am messing around with a pretty significant change to the look of the blog. Not sure if I think it or if it will stay but the old design seemed a bit tired.

If you have any comment on the new look feel free to post it in the comment section of this post.

Nursery Work

2011-09-29T13:21:00.000-05:00

If you have looked back from the ninth green towards the fairway you have likely noticed our nursery looking very nice. If you have been so fortunate to hit your ball right of fairway you may have walked on the nursery; if you have you are definitely aware of what a wonderful area of turf it has become. The purpose of growing a bentgrass turf nursery are many: repairing damage, extending playing surfaces and testing new products are just a few of the important reasons for maintaining a quality nursery.

Earlier this week we began the process of mowing a portion of the nursery down to green height. The entire nursery is 8000 square feet; of this we plan to maintain about 3000 square feet at putting green height. This is a process we take slow dropping the height of cut a little bit at a time until we reach the point of being able to mow with the same walkers used on greens. The video below talks a little more about the process.

As we use our nursery there is a need to re-establish the areas in which turf has been removed. The next video takes a look at this process.

Did I say we would never core again?

2011-09-26T12:06:00.000-05:00

Well, it was not exactly true. Coring does have a purpose and an advantage over solid-tining; this advantage being the physical removal of cores. This morning we did some coring on some small areas of the putting surfaces. The focus of this coring were the areas of collars and green sodded last fall. The sod in these areas was taken from the back of the gold tee on #13. The sod from this tee contains much more thatch than the areas of green and collar which they now reside. In order to ensure the sod performs as well as the existing turf it is necessary to core these areas and physically remove the thatch.

The coring was completed using a .25" tine. The photos below were taken after the coring but before anything was picked up. The hole is quite small and will be barely noticeable after a roll. The photos below show #'s 11, 16 and three. These three greens received the largest amount of corring. 16 was the only greens to have any significant cores removed from the center of the putting surface. On 16 I cored the drain lines as they had remained slightly firmer than the rest of the green after the work from last fall and this spring.

The cores are being cleaned up as we speak. Other than a little sand being left behind they should have minimal influence on the putting surface. Below are a couple photos of the 16th green after the cores have been picked up. After blowing off the sand we will mow and roll tomorrow. The work will barely be noticeable at that point.

Aeration Evolution

2011-09-22T09:11:00.000-05:00

Yesterday afternoon the crew finished solid-tine aeration of fairways. All surfaces have now been aerated at least once this fall and my guess is, hardly anyone even knew it was done. Our aeration at Northland has evolved a lot in the past five years and being able to achieve our desired results with little disruption to play has been our ultimate goal.

My first season, 2007, we cored all of the surfaces. Why? Quite honestly, as a new superintendent I did it because that was what I knew aeration to be. As time has gone by and I have learned what the course needed and how to best take advantage of aeration, our process has evolved dramatically. The evolution of our aeration practices have been aimed at three specific points.

1.-Reduce the affect aeration has on golf by minimizing surface disruption.

As the years have gone by we have eliminated core aeration. The healing process was too long and required more fertility post-aeration than we wanted to apply to our turf. A typical coring saw a healing time of anywhere from 2-4 weeks. Subtract that time, spring and fall from our already short golf season and we were losing anywhere from 4-8 weeks of good golfing weather to aeration recovery. By moving away from core aeration and replacing it with solid-tine aeration our healing time has been reduced to almost nothing. The biggest advantage coring has over solid-tining is the physical removal of thatch. Most, if not all of our cultural practices are aimed that the physical breakdown of thatch. Couple this the fact our practices are no longer a net producer thatch and we are able to sustain healthy turf with solid-tining alone.

The reduction of surface disruption also goes a long way in our efforts to increase bentgrass populations. Another topic for another post...

2.-Aerate our surfaces at points in the season, which best take advantage of the way our turf grows.

Return on Investment (ROI) has always been important to how we manage the golf course. Whether it be labor, equipment purchases or aeration, we are trying to achieve the highest ROI possible with any of our practices. In order to achieve the greatest benefit from aeration the practice needs to be completed during a periods of the season generally considered as good golfing weather. The reduced healing time we have realized by switching to solid-tine aeration has allowed us to perform aeration at times of the growing season, which give us our best ROI.

3.-Aerate our surfaces in a manner that best matches our management practices. IE: deep-tining

Our management practices at Northland are focused on depth. Deep roots and deep irrigation; the deeper in the soil we can force our plants to gather their water and nutrients the better our turf will be and the better the playing conditions we are able to produce. Our aeration practices of the past year or so have really focused on depth. Greens are aerated at a depth of 12" or more, tees 9-10" and this year we will begin the process of increasing the depth of aeration on our fairways.

I played the course yesterday for the first time since aeration. Usually plus-one week from aeration you can still expect a pretty bumpy surface. The putting surfaces yesterday were in very good to excellent condition and the evolution of our aeration has brought us to this point. Because our surface disruption from aeration has been reduced we are now able to aerate during a period of the growing season, which provides a huge advantage to our plants, without ruining the playing conditions our membership desires in September.

Below are a couple of videos I shot Tuesday looking at our putting surfaces one week after we deep-tined.

Using Disease To Our Advantage Rather Than Preventing It

2011-09-20T08:00:00.000-05:00

Our reduction in pesticide use here at Northland is well documented. This past golf season was one of the warmest and muggiest Duluth has seen yet we were only required to apply one fungicide application each to tees and greens. For the third consecutive year we did not treat our fairways with a fungicide during the golf season. The only fungicide applied to fairways in the past three years has been our annual snowmold application.

Today I found a wonderful post on Turfhugger from Canadian superintendent, Jason Haines. In the post Jason talks about how he using disease to his advantage as an indicator rather than preventing its presence with a pesticide. I was struck by how similar Jason's approach is to what we do here at Northland. Below is the post in its entirety.

Enjoy!

For years we as turfgrass managers have been taught to make preventative pesticide applications. The logic behind this was that if you could prevent the problem you would in turn have to use less chemicals to control the pest. In some cases this is true. There are some pests out there that you just don't want to get. In the case of cool season turfgrass fungal diseases during the summer I think that you can afford to skip the preventatives and here's why.

When we get sick it is often for a reason. You get a cold because you forgot to wash your hands or touched something that was infected. You get heart problems because you smoked for 20 years and had a poor diet and ate deep fried everything for lunch. You get diabetes because you ate too much sugars when you were young. Out turf is exactly the same. When it gets sick there is often a reason why. There are many things that can kill our grass but where I'm from (West Coast of Canada) our main threat to the health of our turfgrass comes from fungi.
Dollar spot is a fungus that can wreak havoc
on poorly maintained putting greens.
Each fungal disease has a very specific range of environmental conditions that it requires to thrive. These conditions often aren't conductive to the growth of healthy turf. Shade, moisture or drought stress, compaction, lack of air in the soil, excess or lack of fertility, and otherwise unhealthy turf lead to disease. In the summer we have almost total control over all of these conditions.

So if we are making preventative fungicide applications we aren't seeing the active disease. The poor growing conditions are still there but we are covering up our poor management with fungicides. This active disease tells us a lot about what our turf is experiencing.

Yellow patch usually doesn't harm the turf
but it can tell you what could be done better!

At first sign of Dollar spot I know that my greens are probably dry and that I should irrigate in the middle of the night to knock off the dew. When I see Anthracnose I know that my greens are over-watered or under-fertilized. Who needs fancy dancy electronic tools when you have fungi?

We need to change the way we think about pests on turfgrass. I see the disease on my turf as my most valuable tool for maintaining healthy turfgrass. By spraying preventatives I am basically throwing away my most valuable tool as a turf manager.

When I use less chemicals on my greens I have less surprises. Covering up the poor conditions of your turfgrass with chemicals will only make the infection worse and more severe when it has the chance to infect. If you have no chemicals on your turf the initial infection will be less sever because the environmental conditions on your turf don't change that rapidly. Compaction slowly builds, drought doesn't happen overnight, irrigation systems don't over-water, trees don't decide to shade your turf on a whim, thatch doesn't appear in a week, layering in your soil happens over years, etc.

Early sign of Fusarium on putting greens. This
particular infection took a month to cause
significant damage that would warrant a
corrective fugicide application
Now sometimes you will be hit with a particular disease and the only option would be to spray some pesticides. This usually happens when we cannot control the environment especially during the winter months. This gets me thinking so stay tuned for a future blog post on my theories about not having to control the environment to prevent disease.

Here's my challenge to everyone. Let the disease and pests on your course tell you what's wrong. Don't kill them, use them to make your grass better!

Deep-Tine Operation

2011-09-19T08:52:00.003-05:00

Today we will finish out deep-tining of putting surfaces for the fall. As we were deep-tining the 18th on Friday I had Joe shoot a video of the machine in operation. Many of you have probably never seen a deep-tiner in operation.

Enjoy!

17 and 2 Are Finished...18 Tomorrow

2011-09-15T15:28:00.001-05:00

Both putting surfaces were finished up this afternoon. Two is in play now but 17 had to start Men's League as a temp and remained so because of skins. It will be back in play tomorrow.

Tomorrow morning we will be topdressing then deep-tining the 18th green. Looks as though it will be a great day with lots of sun so the sand should dry by about noon and the green will be ready for play around 2pm.

17 Green Update

2011-09-15T10:19:00.001-05:00

Currently the 17th green looks about like this.

While we were working on the 2nd green yesterday a small rain shower hit, followed by another and another and another. We had almost finished with the 2nd green however the 17th had not been started before the rain hit.

At this moment the availability of the 17th green for Men's League this afternoon is hanging in the balance. Before we can work the sand it needs to be completely dry. See the post and video from yesterday. If the sand has any dampness at all it will not fill the holes and the deep-tine of 17 will have been wasted. Once dry it will take the crew about 1.5 to 2 hours to have the green ready for play. I am hoping the sand dries over the next two hours and we are able to have the green ready for league play at 1:30.

If the green is not ready we will play a temp on the approach.

Update: Video Now Works-Large Hole Deep-tining Update

2011-09-14T15:42:00.000-05:00

Today we continued work on the 5 greens being deep-tined using a 3/4" tine. Number 7 was completed yesterday, while numbers two and 17 were started today. Two was nearly finish when we got a quick drizzle making the sand too damp to fill the holes. You will see in the video below how important it is to have dry sand. Number 17 will have to wait until the sand dries tomorrow before we are able to finish the work.Below are a few photos detailing the process.

First sand is applied around the outside edge of the putting surface.

Using a combination of brooms and bunker rakes the sand is worked into the deep-tine holes.

By placing the sand at the outside edge of the putting surface we are able to build windrows of sand. When the sand is dry it falls right into the deep-tine holes.

Working the sand in from the outside edge of the putting surface.

The video below gives you a look at the process. Of course what would a video at Northland be without a bit of wind noise. Sorry...

Below, the finished product, both from 6'1" and up close.

Update on Green Work Today

2011-09-14T09:38:00.002-05:00

Today you will find us working on the 2nd and 17th putting surfaces. Both surfaces now have a heavy topdressing sitting on them. They will be tined over lunch and the crew will be brooming them beginning around noon. When the crew is present on the green please consider the green closed and move on to the next hole.

I just read an article last night about a superintendent who suffered a brain injury after being hit in the temple by a golf ball. We also had one employee hit near the eye earlier this summer. Pretty scary stuff.

Please be cautious of our employees when you are hitting towards them. Always make sure they are aware of your presence an intent to hit before hitting towards and employee.

Deep-Tine Update

2011-09-13T11:41:00.000-05:00

The deep-tining went very well yesterday. All 14 of the greens we planned to tine with the .5" tines were completed (aerated, rolled, topdressed and broomed) by 3pm. Then we got a quick 15 minute cloud burst that helped wash in the sand a bit.

The view of the deep-tiner from the tractor.

The 12th green after rolling and topdressing.

The putting green this afternoon. The greens are being rolled again as we speak.

A close-up of the putting green.

Over the next few days we will be doing a lot of rolling on the greens. The deep-tine process does leave the greens a bit bumpy and before we mow we will need to smooth them out. Mowing now would be hard on both the green and the mower. Once the sand has settled down a bit and the greens have been smoothed out, we will resume mowing.

This afternoon we began the process of using larger tines on the remaining five putting surfaces. We started today with seven and will continue with two, eight, 17 and 18 in the next couple of days.

Deep-Tine Healing

2011-09-11T12:00:00.001-05:00

If you are curious about how quickly our Deep-tining will heal, take a look at the photo. I did this little test spot on the putting green Wednesday. It's already healed nicely.

Deep-Tine Aeration Reminder

2011-09-06T10:16:00.000-05:00

Just a reminder that next Monday we will be deep-tining 14 of the 19 putting surfaces. Northland is unique in that we do not close the golf course during aeration of putting surfaces. You will have the opportunity to come out and play the golf course but I ask that you please lower your expectations.

The putting surfaces will be in various states of dis-repair on Monday. The process is as follows:

Deep-tine the putting surfaces.
Double roll the putting surface.
Apply a heavy topdressing.
Broom the topdressing into the turf canopy.

Depending on the hole you may find the surface in excellent or "just aerated" condition.

If you chose to play on Monday I ask one thing. PLEASE DO NOT HIT ONTO A GREEN WHICH HAS TURFGRASS STAFF PRESENT. Before you hit to a green be sure you have receive some sort of confirmation from the staff member that they are aware of your presence.

Beginning Tuesday we will be performing a separate deep-tining process on the remaining five putting surfaces. This process will involve a large tine with all of the holes being completely filled with sand. For more detailed info please refer to the deep-tine aeration post here.

Its TIme to Exercise!

2011-09-05T08:00:00.000-05:00

As I write this post there is a definite change in the air. The 10-day forecast shows highs temps only in the 60's and regular night time temps in the 40's. For some this means the golf season is winding down, while others feel the next 30 days or so offer the best golf of the season. Regardless of how you view this change in the weather we as a turfgrass staff always view this time of the year in the same light. Its time to "exercise" our turf.

In Minnesota our turf has two very different in-seasons in which the turf is asked to perform in very different ways. During the golf season the turf is asked to perform to the demands of golfers daily, while during the winter the turf needs to be prepared to stand up to whatever brutal conditions winter offers up. Fortunately each of our in-seasons are preceded by an "off-season" giving us an opportunity to prepare the turf.

This preparation is not so different from the way an athlete prepares themselves during their off-season. Strength and conditioning work bring an athlete's fitness to a level allowing them to perform in their chosen sport. Once the season comes the athlete uses other exercise methods to maintain this fitness through their season. The way we work with out turf is not so different. Spring and fall are our "off-seasons" and the time in which we perform most of our aeration practices. These aerations, mostly focused on deep-tining, help our turf to grow deep, strong roots. Roots that will provide a base of strength during the stress of the summer. During the golf season our practice focus on maintain that strength as best we can through small, non-disruptive aeration, irrigation, and fertility. After the completion of our main golf season at Northland we once again began to focus on strengthen our turf; this time to best prepare it for the long winter to come.

An endless cycle that allows us to provide strong conditions through the meat of the golf season.

Pounding the Fescue

2011-08-30T06:00:00.000-05:00

Jake had the slit-seeder out today beginning slit seed fescue into our drier fairway areas. The first shot below shows some of his work on the first hole, while the second shows the seeder in action on the third fairway.

Dr. Don White, retired turfgrass specialist at the University of Minnesota used to say, "the best time to seed in Minnesota is during the State Fair. Seeding into these dry areas right now will yield wonderful results in the future. Generally it takes about 18 months to really see the fine fescue began to emerge in these areas. The seed will germinate this fall, mature through out next season and by spring of 2013 the fescue plants will make up a good percentage of the fairway turf in these areas.

A Follow-up on Fescue

2011-08-29T12:40:00.002-05:00

Despite the fact we are one inch over the monthly rainfall average for August; we are currently experiencing our driest stretch of weather since June. I wanted to show a photo of how fine fescue responds to dry conditions. This photo comes from the left side of the 15th fairway. An area prone to drying out very quickly during the summer months. In the photo you can see that while the dryness has browned out the fescue it still forms a very nice turf. As time goes on the dry loving fescue will take over this area while bentgrass remains the main turf in areas less prone to this sort of drying out.

One of the Best Sunrises I Have Seen

2011-08-26T12:18:00.001-05:00

This morning Duluthians were greeted by a rather loud thunderstorm. As the sun came up over Lake Superior the Storm was just reaching the lake shore. It made for a spectacular sunrise. Enjoy the photos below.

Happy Birthday Penelope!

2011-08-25T09:25:00.001-05:00

Saturday was our daughter Penelope's 1st Birthday. Hard to believe we have been the parents of two little girls for one whole year. Lindsay and I felt incredibly blessed to have one beautiful daughter. It seems almost too good to be true to have two girls as beautiful as Olive and Penelope.

Happy Birthday Penny!

Fine Fescue as a Disease Management Strategy

2011-08-24T08:34:00.001-05:00

Last week, after noticing some potential disease on the 14th fairway and approach, I sent a couple of samples to the Turf Diagnostic Lab at the University of Wisconsin. The suspected disease is a leaf spot caused by the pathogen Bipolaris sorokiniana. Bipolaris leaf spot is a bugger of a disease, which affects mostly bentgrass. While it does not completely wipe out turf it does present a challenge in that fungicide applications are expensive and only seem to suppress the disease as opposed to completely controlling it. Dr. Jim Kerns of the University of Wisconsin wrote a blog post in July on Bipolaris for the TurfDiseases blog. The post highlights some of the difficulties of dealing with Bipolaris leaf spot.

Parlaying off of yesterday's post on fairway dry spots; one of our plans for dealing with Bipolaris leaf spot is the use of fine fescues. Research on fine fescue and leaf spot is limited but some very nice work is being done by Drs. Brian Horgan and Eric Watkins at the University of Minnesota. According to Dr. Watkins their trials using fine fescue at fairway heights of cut have not shown any significant instance of Bipolaris leaf spot. Other "turfnerds", as we like to refer to ourselves, have said the instance of leaf spot on fine fescue, especially chewings fescue, is generally low.

The photo below shows Bipolaris leaf spot on the 14th approach.

The next photo shows a small area of Bipolaris on the 16th fairway. The affected turf is bentgrass while the green, unaffected turf is fine fescue. As the disease ebbs and flows from season to season the affected bentgrass will decrease in population while the unaffected chewings fescue will increase. A very natural way to manage this difficult disease.

Again, this is a situation in which we are working to find a solid long term solution to a problem rather than simply treating symptoms year after year.

Fairway Extension Update-13

2011-08-24T07:04:00.001-05:00

In this photo you can see show the fairway extension on 13 is really beginning to blend along the old fairway line. The patches of bentgrass are growing bigger each day.

Dry Spots in Fairways-Solving the problem, not treating the symptoms

2011-08-23T14:26:00.001-05:00

We see them each summer; as you play the golf course in July and August you will notice some areas on fairways have a brown tinge to them. The photo on the left shows some these areas on the third hole. Over the past five seasons we have seen areas such as this become less and less around the golf course; the reason for the reduction are numerous.

We have reduced our thatch layer from nearly four inches to two inches or less. Many of the areas are the result of hydrophobic thatch being unable to gain moisture from rain or irrigation.
Aeration, aeration, aeration-over the past five seasons we have aerated the fairways 17 times, in one form or another. This aeration has broken down thatch and deepened root systems as well as creating avenues for water and air to reach the soil system.
Wetting Agents-This season, for the first time, we have applied a wetting agent to our fairways. This addition along with our aeration program has greatly increased the ability of rain and/or irrigation to wet the thatch and soil, thereby creating more consistent fairway conditions.

Despite all of these improvements we still see some areas on fairways drying our faster than most areas. In most cases this is due to the very thin soils found on the hillside holes of 2, 3, 15 and 16. These hole are built on top of ledge rock and many of the dry areas have soil only three to four inches deep. There are multiple options for dealing with areas such as this.

Over-water the dry areas using over-head irrigation-this results in the non-dry areas of the fairways being far too wet, leading to many other issues.
Hand-water the dry areas using hoses and lots of man-power. If we had the budget and the increased labor force that comes with it, then hand-watering would be an option. In our case, it is not.

The third option is, in my opinion, the very best option. Rather than manage our conditions to the needs of these very small dry areas, we have worked to seed fine fescues into these areas of the fairway. Fine fescues find the dry conditions of these areas to be optimal and once established they form an excellent fairway turf.

The photo on the left is an up close shot of an area on 15 fairway in which the population of fine fescue is very high. The photo below and on the right shows the same area from further away. Areas on 1, 2, 14, 15, 16 and 18 fairways, which in the past we have struggled to produce good turf, have been seeded with fine fescue. Over the past couple of years the fescue has really began to emerge on these fairways and the turf conditions have dramatically improved because of it. We have also seeded fescue into many of our tee boxes and their conditions has also improved drastically.

With each summer season we identify these dry areas of fairways and use our Turfco slit seeder to seed various fine fescue species and varieties into the existing fairway turf. Fine fescue is by nature a slow-growing turf. While establishment is slow, once they are present in a stand of turf fine fescues provide a hearty, deep-rooted, low-input turf producing a fantastic playing surface.

If you live in Minnesota you know how poor the Gopher Football team has been for the past 50 years. Recently I read an interview with new coach Jerry Kill. In the interview he talked of how he and his staff are working to build the program on a foundation of concrete, rather than sand. They are working to building something that will last for years and years; exactly what we are doing with our fairways. By seeding fescue into dry areas we are solving a problem as opposed to treating symptoms. When you treat symptoms you must do so day after day, year after year. Solve the problem properly and it is unlikely you will deal with the problem again. Another way we practice sustainable turfgrass management at Northland Country Club.

A New Piece

2011-08-23T11:23:00.001-05:00

Earlier today we took delivery of a new piece of equipment; our own deep-tine aerator. Deep-tine aeration has been performed on the putting surfaces at Northland for many years but the practice has always been performed by an outside contractor. There are a number of disadvantages to using an outside contractor for deep-tine work:

Expense: each time we did our greens it cost us about $2000. Now rather than doing our greens once a year we can do multiple deep-tining per season at no extra cost to The Club. We will also move deep-tining operations to our tees and fairways.
Timing: When using an outside contractor we are at the mercy of the weather. When weather intervenes it makes re-scheduling the work difficult if not impossible.
Quality of work: no offense to contractors as they are very skilled in their equipment operation. However, by owning and operating our own deep-tine unit we are able to insure the work is performed exactly the way we want, thereby limiting any potential damage.

Deep-tine aeration is a wonderful practice and over the past 10 years or so has gone from a niche cultural practice to something most courses employ at some point during a season. We will use this deep-tine aerator in many different ways through out the course of the season always with the goal of creating better draining surfaces and deepening our rooting.

Stay tuned during the course of the fall as I will be documenting the use of the deep-tine aerator throughout the course.

Fix Your Ballmarks!!!

2011-08-19T10:56:00.001-05:00

I just found this dandy on the 5th green.
There are two common issue with ballmarks. In this case the ball hit on the back of the green and likely ended up in the back bunker. Don't forget to fix your mark!
The second issue is when riding a cart. Ball hits the front of the green, ends up on the back of the green. Golfer drives around and walks onto the back of the green forgetting to repair the mark on the front. Don't forget to fix your mark!
Out of respect for the golf course and your fellow members; don't forget to fix your mark!

Simple Rules for Divot Replacement.

2011-08-18T08:30:00.000-05:00

On Saturday I found this divot situation on the 14th hole. I am often asked how we would like the members to repair divots. Should they be replaced, or should they be filled with sand?' The answer is really, "it depends."

In this case the excavated turf was large and deep with sufficient soil attached so if replaced healing would be quick. When I found this divot it looked just like this; the very large divot laying next to spot from which it came. While its great that this golfer filled the divot they should have replaced the turf.

What to do with divots is based on two things-time of year and size of divot.

A divot like the one above should always be replaced.
A small divots that falls apart should always be replaced by sand.
Anything in between-from June 15th to August 15th, use sand, before and after those dates it should be replaced.

Simple rules for replacing divots.

TurfNet Tips and Tricks Video

2011-08-15T08:09:00.003-05:00

A couple weeks ago Jon Kiger of TurfNet visited Northland and shot a few tips and tricks videos. This is the first; a technique we use for breaking up small scars on putting surfaces.

I usually hate watching myself in videos. Its the old 'hate the sound of my voice' thing that many of us have. This turned out very nicely. Thanks to Jon and TurfNet!

Managing or Keeping Alive?

2011-08-11T08:15:00.000-05:00

The PGA Championship is being played at Atlanta Athletic Club this week. If you have not noticed the media and players talking about the turf than you have not been paying attention. I cannot remember a major in which the turf has been at the forefront of the conversation as it has this week. Last week I found a video with Atlanta Athletic Club director of courses and grounds, Ken Mangum.

http://www.golf.com/golf/video/article/0,28224,2086579,00.html

In this video Ken talks about the Club's switch to Zoysiagrass fairways and ultra-dwarf burmudagrass putting surfaces. Previously Atlanta Athletic Club had bentgrass putting surfaces, which in the deep south is not considered an ideal grass for putting surfaces. Bentgrass is a cool-season grass and it performs poorly in the heat of the south. Zoysia and burmuda on the other hand are warm-season grasses, which thrive in the heat of summer. While not shown in this video Mangum has made the following comparison between having warm season and cool season grasses on his putting surfaces. He says, "One you are managing as a proper playing surface, the other you are just trying to keep alive."

How Does this Relate to our Turf?

In our location bentgrass allows us to manage a proper playing surface while Poa annua is a grass we just try and keep alive. When the turf on a golf course is able to be maintained as a proper playing surface, rather than having to be kept alive, the results are very, very good. Here at Northland bentgrass gives us the best opportunity to provide a proper playing surface.

Ballmarks

2011-08-10T11:40:00.002-05:00

This season we have seen a drastic increase in the number of unrepaired ballmarks on the putting surfaces. For the most part the reason for this increase in unpaired ballmarks is the fact our greens have been wetter and softer this season due to the rain. It is important that when you repair your mark you do so properly. As properly repaired mark has little to no effect on the quality of the putting surface. However, a poorly repaired mark will linger for weeks.

Last week I did a short post asking members to repair their marks as a follow up I planned to shoot a video showing the proper method of repairing a ballmark; low and behold the superintendent blogging community comes through again. Neil Radatz, Certified Golf Course Superintendent at Hawks Landing Golf Club in Verona, Wisconsin shot the video below on proper ballmark repair methods.

Weather conditions are always going to dictate whether or not we have significant ballmarks. However, we can all do our part to reduce their effect on the course by not only repairing them but I doing so properly.

Its Invite Week!

2011-08-08T12:09:00.003-05:00

Invite week is the week that dominates our calendar pretty much from the time the course opens in April. The Invite is always on our mind and while other important events take place during the course of the summer it would not be a stretch to say we strive to have the course peak for the week of the Invite.

Invite week means many things to the turfgrass staff. Long hours, split shifts, night mowing and the general camaraderie that comes from filling fairway divots together on a cool evening. It is also a chance for us as a staff to watch tournament golf being played on the course we work so hard to maintain all summer.

Our summer is a lot like a fast-paced movie with an ever changing plot and a brilliant climax. The Invite being the wonderful climax to our summer golf season. Sure, there is more to come after the Invite but after these exciting five days everything else sort of wraps up the plot and sets up the sequel. Its a little bit depressing knowing the golf season is winding down but at the same time its rewarding knowing we have taken the toughest weather our summer can give and managing the course gets a little easier as we head towards fall. The Invite signals a lot for us each and every season. Here is a sampling:

The effective end of our summer turf stress period. It really only lasts about 45 days but it often seems longer. Shorter days, cooler night time temps and drier air all lead to reduced stress on the turf and make the golf course easier to manage.
The reduction in seasonal staff. Most of our staff are students at UMD and after the Invite they begin to think about going back to school. When cobbling together a crew becomes more the rule than the exception, we know fall is just around the corner.
Mornings are cooler meaning; sweatshirts, jackets and a more enjoyable cup of hot coffee.
We start thinking about aerification.
We plan for fall snowmold applications.
Chemical companies come out with their early-order programs for next season's products. This means we spend a lot of time analyzing our programs in order to determine what worked, what did not and what we may or may not do differently next season.

There are a lot of reasons the Invite stands out on our calendar. Most of all its signals the five most enjoyable working days of the summer.

Bentgrass is Beautiful!

2011-08-05T11:08:00.002-05:00

Took this photo on four green yesterday. Such a wonderful example of the success of our Bentgrass management program.

There is almost no Poa in this photo!

Unrepaired ballmarks?!

2011-08-05T08:26:00.002-05:00

Seeing a lot of them out here right now. Please leave the course better than you found it.

Fall Aeration Schedule

2011-08-03T14:14:00.000-05:00

On Monday, September 12th we will be performing our fall deep-tine aeration of the putting surfaces. With good weather we expect to be able to complete 15 of 19 greens on Monday. These greens will be deep-tined with a 1/2" tine to a depth of about 12". The greens will then be double rolled following that with a heavy topdressing. Once the topdressing is broomed into the surface, the playing condition of the greens will be very good. Healing time will be minimal and within a week conditions will be back to normal.

On Tuesday and Wednesday we will be deep-tining the other four greens with a slightly different protocol. Numbers 2, 7, 8 and 18 will first receive heavy topdressing, followed by aeration with a 1" tine to a depth of 12". By using a tine of this size we will then be able to fill the entire 12" depth of the hole with sand. Creating these deep sand channels in the putting surfaces will allow for better drainage as well as helping the greens to dry out sooner after heavy rain events. The same process was used on the putting green this spring and the results have been fantastic. The 1" deep-tining process does create a larger disruption to the surface and will take longer to heal but the short-term pain is well worth the long term gain.

We have deemed this more aggressive deep-tining to be important but we also want to limit its affect on play, which is one of the reasons we will only be doing four greens at a time. In May, when we do our next deep-tining we will do another four greens, continuing in this manner until all 19 greens have been done. Despite the more aggressive nature of the 1" deep-tining, it will still provide far less surface disruption than core aeration.

In the weeks after the Spooner we will also be performing aeration on tees, fairways and approaches. All aeration will be solid-tine only and will have little effect on play.

Sod-Love and Hate

2011-08-03T08:00:00.005-05:00

Over the past couple of seasons we have had the desire or the necessity to sod various areas of the golf course. My feelings on the use of sod vary greatly depends on where it is being used. One thing is certain about sod; it provides instant gratification. The long-term results however can sometime be less gratifying.

In the rough we do sodding on a regular basis. This type of work can be seen at the beginning of 14 and 18 fairways and the back end of the the gold tee on 13. Rough sod is bluegrass sod and given proper fertility and aeration we can reasonably expect the sod to perform well and be "knitted in" after about a month.

As we move to bentgrass playing surfaces sod use becomes less favorable. The sodding of fairway turf to another area of fairway is generally a successful venture. As you can see in the photo below this sod taken from the beginning of 14 fairway meshed very well near the bunker on four fairway. The sodding, completed this spring is almost unnoticeable.

Last fall Jake removed some sod from the 14th approach in order to raise a slight depression. In this case the sod was removed and replaced directly back in the same place. A very successful meshing took place and the sod has given us little trouble.

Now, as we move into more tightly mowed and more intensely maintained areas of greens and collars sod has a more difficult time taking hold; especially when the sod is moved from a tee box then quickly asked to perform at green height as you see below.

The above area is on the front of 14 green. This area and many like it were sodded last fall with sod from the gold tee on 13. The sod was allowed to gain a foothold last fall, then in the spring mowed to green height where required. This sod, in these areas has performed reasonably well but there are some areas, like this, which will need some attention in the fall.

The most noticeable sod difficulty on the course right now is the left side collar of 14 green. If I had to pick the most difficult area on the course to grow fine turf it would be this collar. A lot of slope, sand and huge exposure to the elements all conspire to make growing turf on this collar difficult. This spring we made the decision to replace the sod on this collar. In this case we used fairway sod due to our nursery not being quite ready. Our fairway sod is still quite thatchy, especially when compared to the sandy soil of this collar. Laying thatchy sod over sand keeps the roots from growing into the new soil and thus the sod struggles. Moving sod from one type of setting to a completely different setting was a bit of a gamble but we knew the result would be better than the turf we replaced. Our nursery is now ready and once September comes we will be making any necessary repairs to this area.

It is worth noting that the second most difficult place to grow turf on this golf course is the front of three green. Obviously very similar conditions to the left side of 14. Last year we did some extensive sod work on the front of three and the results, shown in the photo below, have been fantastic. Sod can and does work but its fickle nature can be frustrating.

Sometimes, as a superintendent, it is easy to feel your struggles are yours alone. With so many superintendents now blogging about their courses it makes us feel as though we are united in some of our troubles. Jeff Johnson at The Minikahda Club in Minneapolis is a good friend and we talk often. Last week he posted on his blog about the troubles they are having and have had with sod. Its nice to know we are not alone in some of our struggles. Be sure to check out the comments at the bottom of Jeff's post. Three separate superintendents, myself included, comment on their difficulty with sod.

The Minikahda Club Grounds Department: Should I Dare Say It...I hate sod!

An Indication of Progress

2011-08-02T09:25:00.000-05:00

Last night the golf course received nearly three inches of rain. In past years this amount of rain would have kept carts from the course for a couple of days. This morning carts are a go and while a little squishy the fairways will hold up just fine.

What is the biggest difference between today and previous years?

Our thatch layer is significantly reduced. What was 3-4 inches five seasons ago is down to 1-2 inches today. Thatch holds water for a long time and when you are trying to run carts on 4 inches of saturated thatch it is not a pretty sight.
Aeration, aeration, aeration-Since 2007, by my count, we have aerated the fairways 17 times. This includes coring, solid-tining and slit-tining. Each and every aeration has helped to create a more positive soil structure, which not only allows moisture to move down and away from the surface but also allows the soil to dry more quickly once the rain stops.
Keeping the fairways dry between rain events allows for the presence of open pore space within the soil structure. When we do have rain the soil is not saturated, pore space is available and the rain water is able to move away from the surface. This drastically reduces the amount of water remaining on the surface thus causing damage from cart traffic.

I have made this statement before but its worth repeating: Progress on a golf course often comes slowly but when achieved properly it can yield wonderful results.

Turfgrass Staff "Field" Day

2011-08-02T08:02:00.009-05:00

Ask anyone who has worked summers on a golf course maintenance crew and they will tell you the job can get to be a bit mundane during the summer months. Early mornings, which may or may not follow late nights. Hot and humid days starting with 7 to 8 miles of walk mowing followed by digging a hole in the afternoon can really wear a guy down. This time of year it is good to get the guys away from the course for a day and boost morale. Most of the time they come back tomorrow feeling refreshed, good about what they do and excited to put in a good shift. Today was a Crew Morale Day.

We started work this morning at 5 am, then jumped in a multitude of vehicles and headed for Minneapolis and Target Field. One of the advantage of being in any industry is the connections to other people within your industry and the doors it can open. About a month ago I got in touch with Larry DiVito, head groundskeeper at Target Field. Larry was able to take time from his busy schedule and show the NCC Turfgrass Staff around this jewel of a ballpark.

Larry gives Peter some tips on mowing straight lines on the clubhouse lawn.

The TC behind homeplate will get a fresh coat of paint for Friday's series opener with the White Sox.

Apparently assistants like to stand with their arms crossed. Larry's assistant Nick is in the foreground on the left while Northland assistant superintendent, Jake Ryan stands just to Nick's left.

I am fairly certain the NCC Turfgrass 9 could have given the Twins a game at least a couple times this season.

Larry uses much of the same equipment as we do at NCC. On the right, a Toro workman. Against the back wall in the middle of the photo a 5210 fairway mower, which mows the outfield turf.

Jeff took one look at Target Field's Procore 648 and said "boss, I could work here."
Its an inside joke.

Soil storage bins located beneath the left field bleachers.

Don't often get to see the park from this angle.

Larry joined us for a crew photo.

Many thanks to Larry and his assistant Nick for taking time from their busy schedules to show us around Target Field. The ballpark is breathtaking and the field immaculate. Today was a day none of us will forget.

What happens to turf when its hot?

2011-08-01T08:01:00.000-05:00

I was going to write a little post about what happens to turf during the heat of the summer; then as I was perusing turf blogs the other night I found this post from Jerry Kershasky of Westmoor Country Club in Brookfield, Wisconsin. Jerry has been the Golf Course Superintendent at Westmoor for 37 years. I first conversed with Jerry through email and Twitter last year, then February we met at the GIS in Orlando. Our first meeting lead to an hour long conversation in the hallway. Jerry is a wonderful guy with a huge passion for growing great turf the right way. No reason for me to re-invent the wheel on this post. The following is Jerry's post from his blog.

Sometimes, in the summer, during extended heat waves, your Power Company might issue a Black Out Warning, meaning if everyone uses their air conditioners and other electric consuming equipment, they, the Power Company, might not be able to meet the energy demand which would trigger a network shutdown or a Black Out.
Well, I'm not the Power Company, I'm a Golf Course Superintendent and I'm issuing a Brown Out Warning for the cool season grasses, Bent and Poa Annua. When temperatures get hot and humid for extended periods of time, Bent Grass and Poa Annua will use more energy than they can produce. This energy deficiency weakens their whole vascular system and the normal wear and tear of mowing, rolling and foot traffic that had no effect on their health during cooler times now has a drastic consequence of turf thinning or outright kill. So, much like the Power Company asking you to conserve power during high demand periods we will conserve energy by raising the green mowing height slightly from .095" to .11", mow the greens every other day rather than daily and roll every other rather daily, by making these simple adjustments we reduce the stress on these weakened grasses. Yes, this will slow green speed down but it will also conserve energy and get these grasses through, this hot weather period, with minimal damage.

westmoor turf: TURF BROWN OUT WARNING, CONSERVE ENERGY

Anarchist's Guide to Golf Course Architecture: Root Development on Non-USGA Greens

2011-07-26T14:41:00.000-05:00

This is a nice blog post on rooting found in non-USGA greens. Very cool to see this kind of rooting. I would be curious to learn about Armen's construction method.

Anarchist's Guide to Golf Course Architecture: Root Development on Non-USGA Greens

Teamwork at its finest!

2011-07-26T14:32:00.003-05:00

If you got the email I sent to the membership yesterday than you know we were planning to give the greens a light topdressing tomorrow; at least that was the plan. When I took a look at the weather forecast this morning I saw an 80-90% chance of rain tonight and tomorrow. Not only would rain put our topdressing plans of tomorrow on hold but after topdressing a nice steady rain is just what the doctor ordered.

What do we do?

A quick change of direction; Jake and I devised a plan to get the topdressing, venting and rolling done today. Trouble is Tuesday is women's league. Hmmm...perfect...they started today with a shotgun on holes 1, 7 and 13, meaning there was a six-hole gap between groups. The six hole gap would be perfect in that it would allow us to topdress, vent, roll and replace the cup without affecting any golf. We bounced a couple ideas off each other and we were off. The women teed off at 8:00am and by 8:30 we were exploiting our six-hole gap. Jake was applying the light topdressing, Jeff and Danny were running the aerators and Mike and I were on the rollers finishing up. We were able to work comfortably in the six-hole gap. Jake gave the groups ahead a wide berth and we had the putting surfaces rolled and the cup and flag replaced before the groups behind were close to catching us.

The teamwork on display this morning was something to behold. We work very hard to set up repeatable systems from which our turfgrass employees operate. Even today, when plans were changed spur of the moment we were able to execute the plan to perfection. Everyone knew exactly what they needed to do and exactly how to do it. Being a part of such great teamwork is a wonderful experience and something, as a superintendent, which makes me very proud.

A few photos from today's operation:

First step is to topdress the green with a very light application of sand. Our new topdresser does this very well and keeps us from having to use a broom or brush.

Next our aerators are used to vent the green. The vibration of the machine does a wonderful job of shaking the sand into the turf canopy.

The putting green after the first couple of passes with the aerator.

Just about finished.

After venting we roll the green to smooth the surface.

Roller and aerator on 8 green.

Aerator on the 13th green.

Truly Integrated Pest Management

2011-07-21T12:29:00.001-05:00

This morning finally brought relief from a long stretch of hot and humid weather. My superintendent colleagues from around Minnesota and the rest of the country probably would like to kill me for even hinting that what we had was hot but for us at Northland it was. While it may not have been as hot or as humid at the Twin Cities, it was certain hot and humid enough to spark a bout of the turf disease dollar spot. Funny thing is; I have seen little to none on the course this week. The reason, "Integrated Pest Management" (IPM).

IPM is practiced in one way or another at most golf courses. In basic principals IPM is the integration of numerous pest management strategies with the ultimate goal of reducing the use of pesticides. At Northland we integrate many different pest management techniques all aimed at not just reducing pesticide use but in some cases eliminating it.

The most important ideal in our IPM is creating a healthy plant and providing those plants a relatively stress free environment. Much like a human, who when healthy gets sick less often, healthy plants are less susceptible to disease. We help to create healthy plants through the use of high carbon organic products, careful and timely fertility and cultural practices aimed at reducing mechanical stress to the plants.

The following is a list of items integrated into our pest management program.

Application of high carbon organic products.

These products including; seaweed extract, humic acid, molasses and yucca extract help create a healthy soil structure and activate the plants natural ability to remain disease free.

Application of high rates of ferrous sulfate (FeSO4).

There are those who doubt the ability of ferrous sulfate to help battle disease; applied as a primary fungicide I would agree. However, three seasons of use and observation have left me with the belief ferrous sulfate helps aid disease suppression in the following ways.

Reduction of inter-cellular moisture resulting in a more resilient plant as well as a plant which produces less guttation fluid.
Desiccates senescent leaf tissue leaving a reduced bio-mass and eliminating the weakest plant tissue. This weak tissue generally being the best initial host for disease.
Iron is a key component of chlorophyll and its application results in a dark green color. A plant with more chlorophyll is better able to photosynthesize and thus healthier.

Cultural practices aimed at reducing mechanical stress to the plants. Mechanical stress reduces plant health and creates "wounds" through which turf diseases can infect the plants. A number of ways in which we have reduced mechanical stress.

No vertical-mowing.
Use of smooth rollers on all mowing equipment.
Reduced mowing due to use of plant growth regulators and regular rolling of surfaces.
Solid-tine aeration instead of core aeration.

Careful use of nitrogen only fertility. By applying our nitrogen at the right time we are able to strengthen the plant and make it both less susceptible to disease and better able to grow out of any scarring that might occur should disease become active.
Water management-Both irrigation and dew removal

During a hot humid stretch we limit our irrigating a much as possible. Knowing the hot/humid weather was coming we made sure to have adequate soil moisture before the humidity. High humidity limits evaporation and the need for irrigation.
By not irrigating we are able to limit the period in which the turf is wet and free water available to the disease pathogens; a necessity for disease activity.
When soil moisture is adequate and over-night winds are light we typically experience heavy dew. When dew is present and disease pressure is high we remove the dew first thing in the morning. This is done by dragging a hose, mowing or rolling. Removing dew allows the turf to dry faster in the morning reducing free water available to disease pathogens.

We are very fortunate to be located in a climate, which allows us to manage disease culturally, usually without the use of a pesticide. Disease pathogens, like any organisms, have a life cycle. This life cycle must be completed before the pathogen can infect our turf. By integrating all of the above methods and getting help from the weather we are constantly able to disrupt the life cycle of disease pathogens before damage occurs. It is much like building a sand castle on the beach. Our IPM program is the waves continually knocking the castle down before it is finished. On occasion the castle is completed and we see some disease but usually, before it has the chance to be noticed by golfers the waves knock the castle down again.

Another way in which we manage Northland Country Club to be friendly on the budget and the environment.

Want to get into the mind of Superintendent?

2011-07-14T15:14:00.002-05:00

Over the past couple of days, as I have observed the greens, I have noticed more than normal localized dry spot (LDS). Not something unheard of on a golf course and not something unheard of on this golf course. However, I am seeing more than in years past and I started to wonder why. The following is a post I made on the superintendent and turf professional forum: Turfnet. There is an ongoing discussion happening on deep-infrequent irrigation and my observations over the past couple of days fit the discussion.

A little technical but I hope you find it interesting nonetheless. A small window into the ongoing thoughts and observations of a golf course superintendent.

The past couple weeks I have noticed a larger than normal amount of LDS on our greens. Trying to think of what has been different this year as opposed to past years has really got my wheels turning. The blog post by Wilber yesterday helped set me in the right direction.

Not all of our greens have LDS. Some of them are very consistent. None of them have a wetting agent applied, nor have they for the past five years. So, what has been different this year, resulting in more LDS, verses other years in which LDS has been almost no factor.

Its mid-July and only about half of our greens have received a deep watering.
These are the same greens with more LDS.
The greens which have been deeply watered are far more consistent have have little LDS.
Since the third week of June when we got 3.7” in 10 days we have had adequate moisture, enough to keep us from watering many greens but not enough to achieve a complete flush.
The greens which have been watered deeply, either once or twice have achieved a flush in the last month, while the greens which have not been irrigated deeply have not achieved a flush.

We have very good irrigation water and soil quality, a deep irrigation cycle does a great job of reviving our greens. I think what we are seeing out here goes to show the importance of having a regular flush, regardless of soils or water quality.

Tonight I am going to give all of our as of yet unwatered greens a “flush”. I will report back in a few days.

Changing the Nature of Things

2011-07-11T14:05:00.002-05:00

This post was originally going to be about the amount of bentgrass I am seeing on greens but then I realized there was opportunity to take a look at some of the long-term improvements we are really beginning to notice around the golf course.

The photo below was taken on the 11th green. In this photo you can see a large population of bentgrass. As we have geared our cultural and nutritional practices towards the needs of bentgrass, we have seen these kinds of populations develop all over the golf course. There a many people in the turf industry who scoff at the idea of transitioning a Poa annua/bentgrass population to predominantly bentgrass. However, to me, making this transition is rather simple. We have two very different grasses, which thrive under very different conditions. Create conditions more favorable to the stronger grass (bentgrass) than the weaker grass (Poa annua) and a transition in population will take place over time.

As you play the golf course this season I believe it is quite obvious that the practices used to make this transition have been scaled back. Rather than going all out, pedal to the metal, in favor of bentgrass we are allowing the transition to take place a little slower and more naturally. Make no mistake, the transition will and is still taking place but it will be less noticeable. As I write this I realize we have maybe made more progress on our bentgrass populations this year being less aggressive than we had when we were more aggressive. A topic for a future post I think.

I believe one of the easiest things to forget about a golf course is that the playing surfaces are living organisms and thus dramatically affected by the surrounding environment and the inputs we as turfgrass managers provide. Over the past four seasons we have been working our turf out very hard. Pushing it the way a personal trainer would push an athlete in an effort to gain the very top levels of performance. One of the best ways to judge the conditioning of our turf is by the root systems. Healthy turf, grows healthy roots, which make for healthier turf and healthier roots-you get the idea. Its a wonderful cycle.

The photos below show the fantastic root growth we have achieved on our greens.

As you can see in the above photo the root growth is strong enough to hold plugs on greens together to a depth of about nine inches. In 2007, my first season, I can remember cutting cups and barely getting the plug to hold together three inches down.

This photo shows a cup cutter containing a full nine inch plug. The roots were sticking a good four inches out of the bottom.

Over the past couple of weeks I have had various members approach me with positive comments on the golf course. Almost always their comments include something to the extent of and I use 13 fairway as an example, "boy I cannot believe how good 13 fairway looks, I have been here 20 years and its always been terrible." When I started at Northland four-plus years ago I said there would be immediate improvements noticeable today and there would be long-term improvements which happen over time without anyone really noticing. As people look back to 2007 and beyond they are beginning to notice many of these long-term improvements. As a turfgrass staff we are finding that greens, which were once our most difficult to manage have become some of our easiest. The reason almost always comes down to a successful transition to a stronger turf.

I am very pleased with the golf course this year. We made some adjustments to our programs, which have resulted in better conditions, without sacrificing our long-term goal of transitioning to stronger grasses. The past few years the golf course has been really good sometimes and depending on who you asked, not so good at other times. Today we are in a position to be really good all of the time.

Number 15-Way Back When

2011-07-07T14:46:00.000-05:00

This weekend author and Duluth native, Rick Shefchik, sent me this photo of the 15th hole. Rick is currently putting the finishing touches on a book detailing the history of Minnesota's most predominant golf courses; a book in which Northland will be featured. Rick is planning to use this photo as a part of his chapter on NCC.

A photo of 15 taken this spring for comparison.

A couple things to note in this photo.

The fairway is dramatically further left than it is today. Occasionally we find sprinkler valves from the 1937 irrigation system. These valves went right down the middle of the fairway. The old valves we have found on 15 are about 10 yards from the left edge of today's fairway.
The mounds between 3 & 15 and 2 & 16 can be seen in this photo leaving little doubt they were original features.
If the trees see on the right side of the fairway in the 20's are the same trees seen in today's photos; they sure haven't grown much in 90 years.
Lake Superior was out there even in the '20's!

A Cool Look at a Green Mower

2011-07-05T08:00:00.000-05:00

My guess is most golfers have, at some time, stood and watched a member of the turfgrass staff walk-mow a green. Its almost as mesmerizing as watch a Zamboni, trouble is it happens way too early in the morning for people to see. While we have all watched these machines moving over the putting surface leaving behind a beautiful cut its unlikely most have given any thought to just exactly how these mowers cut the grass so low and so perfectly. Friday I was out on the 18th green adjusting the out-front brush on one of our walk mowers. I got down on my hands and knees to look at something and realized that I had a very cool photo staring me in the face.

There are a number of things to see in this photo.

The smooth front roller. You can also see the back roller of the cutting unit on the very left of the photo. Our walk-mowers, the Toro Flex-21, have three rollers; two on the cutting unit and the rear drum, which drives the unit across the green. We use only smooth rollers on all of our reel mowers. The smooth surface drastically reduces surface disruption and plant stress.
Between the two rollers you can see the business areas of the cutting unit; the reel and bedknife. Unlike the rotary mowers you use on your lawn, which spin a sharp blade at a very high rate, reel mowers cut the grass blades like a scissors. The bedknife (the very end of which is visible) is stationary and forms one blade of the "scissors" as it moves just over the surface of the green. The spinning blade of the reel forms the other blade of the "scissors". The reel on this mower has 11 blades and spins to continually clips the blades as the mower move across the green. The relationship between the reel and the bedknife is everything when it comes to producing a quality cut. Our mowers are set up such that the reel and bedknife are not quite touching each other. The gap between the two is about the thickness of a piece of paper. After each mowing the reel to bedknife set-up is checked, as well as the height of cut. A poorly set up mower results in the grass blades not being cut cleanly, which can result in: poor putting conditions, increased need for fertility and water, as well as an increase likelyhood of disease. The spinning of the reel throws the clipping into an attached basket where they are collected. When conditions are just right a single mower will collect a half basket or less of clippings per green.

As you can see in this photo the mowing of a putting surface happens on a very small scale. The cutting height on greens is currently .115 inches, just above 1/10 of an inch. At these heights any problems with the reel to bedknife set-up can cause big issues with the quality of the putting surfaces. Next time you watch that mower cutting a perfect line across a green you will have a little better idea of just how it works.

Fairway Extensions

2011-07-01T12:31:00.000-05:00

In the past few weeks I have fielded a few questions on the fairway extension areas we mowed this spring. In general the question is: "How long before these areas will look like the rest of the fairway?"

Its a very good question and the answer is: About a season or so but it also depends on the area extended. The photos below help show what I mean.

The above photo shows the extended area on 13 fairway. Most of this area was Kentucky Bluegrass, which is not a fairway grass, at least at our heights of cut. At the interface of the previous fairway and rough line you can see some lighter colored turf. This is bentgrass that had crept over from the existing fairway. As the season goes on and this area continues to be mowed and treated as a fairway the bentgrass will become more prolific. Treat it like a fairway, it will become fairway is essentially what we do with these areas.

This photo shows an extension to the approach on the second hole implemented last spring. This area looked very much like the extension on 13 when it was first mowed 14 months ago. You can clearly see how the bentgrass has move into this extension. It has for the most part become like the rest of the approach.

This extended area is on the sixth hole and was also done this season. This area already contained a good amount of bentgrass and can be expected to transition a bit quicker than the area on 13.

Overall the goal with these extensions has been to either return the fairway to where it once was or push it out to where it should have been. If you stand on the 13th green and look back, the new mowing line looks much more natural than the old lines. Exactly what we are looking to accomplish.

Something of Interest

2011-06-16T11:37:00.000-05:00

In November of 2009 we ran a drainage line across the approach of #11. Sod was removed, the line trenched and once the tile was in place the line was filled with an 80/20 greens mix. This morning I noticed a slightly different color right over the drain line. Obviously the roots of the turf in this area are growing in the 80/20 of the drain line and it is provide the plants with a slightly different "diet" than those plants growing in the native soil. There is no different in turf quality just a slight difference in color.

File this under "Something of useless interest."

Happy Third Birthday to Our Daughter, Olive

2011-06-13T08:10:00.006-05:00

Three years ago today our daughter Olive was born. She was beautiful and as a baby was calmed, relaxed and had a ton of "crazy black hair", as she likes to say. When members ask how old our girls are they are always surprised it has been three years since Olive was born. It surprises us too, she is growing up much faster than Lindsay and I want to admit.

Today she is still beautiful, with a slightly higher energy level and a ton of crazy blonde hair.

Happy Birthday Olive!

Brushing Greens

2011-06-10T12:00:00.000-05:00

Over the past couple of years, brushing of our putting surfaces has become a key cultural practice. Brushing is just that, running a brush over the putting surface before mowing. Doing so stands up the leaf tissue allowing longer leaves to be mowed off. Consistent brushing helps to provide a tighter, smoother playing surface.

In the past we used a broom pulled behind a cart (shown below). The pull-behind broom brushes the surface very aggressively, not to mention it requires a cart to be driven on the putting surface. Because of the aggressiveness of this broom we were unwilling to brush in the middle of the season for fear of damage. Just when we would most like to realize the benefits of brushing we were not willing or able to do so.

This year we have moved to using a brush attached to the front of one of our walking mowers (shown above). Brushing this way is far more efficient and much less aggressive than our old method. The pull-behind broom was so aggressive that unless we double cut greens they were noticeably slower due to the amount of leaf tissue stood up. The brush in front of the mower lifts just the right amount of leaf tissue to make a difference but doesn't require a second mowing.

Currently we have one of our walkers outfitted with this brush. Our 19 greens are broken down into four mowing routes. Each time we mow, one of the routes is mowed with the brush. This means that every fourth time a green is mowed, it is also brushed. Keeping this consistency throughout the summer will result in some really great, consistent putting surfaces.

A Little More Sod Work

2011-06-08T11:09:00.000-05:00

Earlier today the guys went to work on another sod project. This time we are removing and replacing the collar sod on the left side of the 14 green. The turf on this area of the collar was mostly Kentucky bluegrass and did not perform well under our current maintenance practices. The sod being used is predominantly bentgrass taken from the beginning of 14 fairway.

There are other areas on the course with similarly poor turf in which we will also be looking to do some replacement.

The Fish is Back

2011-06-08T07:11:00.003-05:00

The tire tracks in the dew are from the fairway application Jake is making today. A couple years ago we were using a hydrolized fish product in our sprayable applications. The past two years we got away from the fish but decided this year it was valuable enough to put back in the program.
If you play golf today or tomorrow your nose will certainly let you know, the fish is back.

Why is part of the ninth green darker?

2011-06-06T08:20:00.000-05:00

On Wednesday we made our first application of iron and growth regulators to the putting surfaces and tees. The ninth green was the last to be sprayed and I came up about 10 gallons short of finishing. This left a portion of the ninth green looking dark from the iron while the rest of the green remained much lighter in color.

Since this spray did not contain anything absolutely essential to plant health, I decided to leave portions of the ninth green unsprayed. A "test plot" as my former boss, Superintendent of Town & Country Club Bill Larson, used to call it. After we spray we often look for results and say the "iron did this or the growth regulator did that." However, without an untreated area to measure against, our comparisons are less accurate. Over the next couple of weeks we will be able to see, side-by-side, exactly what affect our spray has on the turf.

What Makes This Leak on 6 Such a big deal?

2011-06-06T08:10:00.001-05:00

A couple of weeks ago you may have noticed a significant irrigation leak on the sixth fairways. Leaks like this are quite common with our aging system and when they do occur they cause quite a problem.

First let me describe difference between modern irrigation design and older irrigation design. Modern irrigation systems are designed with one large mainline running throughout the course. The greens, tees, and fairways are fed from this mainline. In the case of a leak small portions of the system can be shut off and isolated while the leak is fixed, without disrupting irrigation for the rest of the course. For instance, a leak in the sixth fairway on a modern system would require as little as a couple heads to be shut off while being fixed. Irrigation on the rest of the course would continue as normal. By comparison, this leak a couple weeks ago required us to shut off water to holes six, 13, five, four and 14 while the repair was made. Instead of separate mainlines our old irrigation system incorporates the mainlines as part of the fairway lines. This hole on 6 contains the four inch mainline that feeds holes six and 13. On our system this "mainline" doubles as the right-side fairway line for hole 6. In a new system this mainline would run down the middle of six and 13 feeding small areas of each hole separately thereby allowing us to isolate much smaller areas when fixing leaks.

What makes an irrigation system like this so difficult to work with is the amount of area we need to shut off when making a fix. If this leak on six would have showed up in the middle of the summer, when irrigation is required on a daily basis, we would have had no choice but to allow the leak to continue until either getting a large amount of rain or we moved to the fall and could afford to shut down five holes for a couple days.