Why Sand is Important

This picture shows why putting a lot of sand on the greens is important during the off season months.  When we keep the greens open during the winter months, the grass does not grow.  Soft spikes, while an improvement from the old metal spikes are beginning to wreak havoc on the quality of putting surfaces due to their aggressive nature, especially in the afternoon after a good amount of play has gone through.  The dimples you see in the sand above would be into the grass and crown of the plants had we not topdressed them, possibly injuring the plants.  Constant foot traffic all winter could effect the putting surfaces come spring and next summer, which is why we always put a good amount of sand on them to protect them from traffic and weather conditions.  The sand also helps dilute thatch and firm up the greens.

Great Life Lessons

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=2&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwiVj4fa64nYAhURPN8KHf2jB2wQtwIILjAB&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3D0wMmcoPTmAs&usg=AOvVaw2bxGT3kISVYdE2drsqpsXq

Great speech by Lou Holtz that pertains to everyday life.
"you are either growing or you're dying" 

Get Ready for Winter

Looks like winter will be coming a bit early.  Snow forecast for tomorrow, temperatures in the upper 20s for highs next week.  We put another 40 tons of sand on the greens today to protect the plants from desiccation.  That makes a total of 100 tons of sand that we have put on the greens in the past 10 days. 

Prepping Greens For Winter

A busy day on Monday.  The greens received their last fungicide spray followed by a heavy topdressing, a deep tine aerification using 3/4" tines then a 5/8" solid tine aerification on top.  This will help with any winter drainage and help alleviate compaction from all the rolling done since August.  We are also applying our dormant fertilizers today, followed by another topdressing next week.

Clean Up of 3 Green Area

We have removed the planter that was situated behind the 3rd green, which will allow us to improve the playability of the hole.  While the planter served its purpose for many years, it does not fit into our style of golf course now that is more natural in nature.  Also, the flowers on the rhododendrons and azaleas only flowered for the late spring and offered no color in the summer.  The plants were over grown and becoming unsightly.  Now, rough will be added to the hillside and an expanded collar that will allow approach shots that normally would be in the rough leaving an impossible chip to now roll back onto the green.  We were able to reuse many of the plants along property lines and buildings for screening.

Lets Hope for Rain

Being dry for almost 6 weeks, we have really tried to limit our irrigation usage to help toughen up the grass.  However, we do have to use it and over the course of 6-7 weeks of using just pond water, it can have negative effects on our soil and plants.  You will see from our recent irrigation water test, we have problematic levels of Chloride and Bicarbonates.  These lead to premature wilting and seal off the greens, effecting drainage and nutrient uptake.  A nice natural rain will help flush all our soils and alleviate the problem.

Feeling the Effects of the Storm Already

Boy we need the rain, but looks like we are going to have to pay the price to get it.  High winds during the overnight and so far today have started to make a mess of the course.  The oak on 1 will come down today.  More importantly we need the rain to supplement our roughs etc.  We have not irrigated in almost 3 days in preparation of the storm and we are dry right now so hopefully they get this forecast right!

Ball Mark Plugging

We spent the better part of today plugging out ball marks on the 11th and 14th greens.  These are short par 3s that get pounded on a daily basis.  After plugging the ball mark out, we fill the hole with a sand mix that contains seed and fertilizer.

Verticutting Fairways Today

Good progress today on day 1 of verticutting fairways.  We completed 12 fairways today and will finish the rest by lunch tomorrow.  After we mow one or two more times, it will be hard to tell we did anything to them.

Test Plots

On the 8th fairway today we did a test plot using ammonium sulfate fertilizers to try and deter worm castings from occurring.  Over the past few days, worm casts have come out with a vengeance and will become a playability issue and wreak havoc on our mowing equipment.  Insecticides are expensive to apply and we decided to experiment with fertilizers first and see if watering practices will have any impact.  Stay tuned for any results...if any.

US Mid Am Qualifier

Qualifier under way this morning.  Thanks to my crew for putting in the extra hours this holiday weekend trying to play catch up after Sundays rain.  Greens are a little soft for my liking today, players should be able to go low.

It Was A Good Run

Not sure if many of you know but I decided to take 5 acres of fairways (holes 2,13,14,15) and not make any fungicide applications on them this season.  I wanted to see how much the grass can take without relying on fungicides.  We used only a growth regulator and nutrients all season thus far and today was the first day of disease outbreak all season.  The middle photo is brown patch and the bottom photo is dollar spot fungus.  Not bad considering how much rain we have gotten along with the high humidity most of the summer.  The brown patch will disappear once we get through today and tomorrow, the dollar spot we will keep using nutrients to help try and control it.  I always said if things got bad, I would make a rescue fungicide treatment, but what we found today does not warrant it.   Seeing our results so far this year, next year I may expand my experiment to 10 acres (about 1/3 of our total fairway acreage).  The key is plant health, good drainage and good sunlight.  We took a fairway that was shady (15), we took a poorly drained fairway (13) and 2 par 3 holes that do not get much cart traffic (2,14) to run this experiment.  If we can continue over the next few years to see these results, we will save some money and reduce our carbon footprint on the environment.  It is important to remember that preventative sprays are usually 1/2 the rate of a curative spray so it is vital to make sure you keep up with plant health throughout the season.  So while you may see the sprayer out weekly, it may only be applying nutrients and not always chemicals.

Aerification Time

A little verticut and triplex mow before the outing this afternoon.  Fairways are aerified and topdressed and now we are spraying with nutrients for recovery.
Fast forward 6 hours and we are underway.  A lot of sand and a lot of holes tonight.  Finished 10 greens tonight and have 8 more tomorrow and dryject will be here at 6 am to go behind us.

Keep Punching!

A good week so far at Arcola.  Vented greens on Monday, tees on Tuesday and approaches today and tomorrow.  More rain forecast for Friday into Saturday.  Firm and fast seems like a distant memory!

Monday Morning Maintenance

Topdressed the greens Sunday night before the rain and now venting them between rain on Monday morning.  Nice relief following a few hot and sticky days.

Last Minute Spray

Even though we did not get to vent the 12th fairway today, we noticed a great deal of wilting was starting on it.  Once we checked moisture levels, they were high enough that this should not be happening.  We suspect it is either wet wilt or root pythium or dysfunction.  We made a fungicide application to this fairway only tonight to see if it will keep it in check.  The recent heavy rains followed by higher humidity will lead to any of the things I mentioned above.  The 12th fairway is always one of our weaker ones so we have to baby this along for the next month or so.

Fairway Venting

Today we vented the fairways using 1/2" solid tines.  With all the mowing and rain of late, we need to open them up a bit to let them breathe.  Once we mowed after, it was hard to notice any disruption to the turf.

Frustrating

This is a picture of us having to dig up an irrigation isolation valve on the 9th hole.  When the system was installed in 2005, they put in cheap valves that have been failing since 2010 and earlier.  Once the valve fails, we have to shut off the pumps to make irrigation repairs.  Today is no different, as we have to replace this one and the one on the 7th hole.  We usually replace 10-12 per year, but the biggest pain is having to drain the irrigation system every time we have to do a repair and then recharge it, which uses up water and goes against our allocation.

Miserable Prep Morning for Arcola Cup

Thanks to my staff and for 5 friends who came in to help us mow for the Arcola Cup.  Unfortunately the weather will not allow us to put our best foot forward.

A Little Venting Before the 4th

Today was a perfect day to vent the greens in advance of 4th of July weekend and the Arcola Cup on July 7th.  The venting will help dry the greens down after this weekends rain and humidity.  This will also help with our upcoming summer patch spray and gypsum application.  Once we rolled greens following the tractor you could not even tell we did them.

Let Them Eat!

In a previous post, I stated short term pains for long term gains and that was related to allowing the annual bluegrass weevil to eat some of the poa in the fairways since we are using growth regulators to help eliminate the poa.  The photos show the 12th fairway about 8 days ago when the eating was at its peak and the bottom photo shows the same fairway yesterday.  The bentgrass is beginning to fill in the voids where the poa is.  Had we applied an insecticide on the entire course to take out the larvae, it would have cost us close to $9,000.  Plus, all the beneficial insects that are in the soil may have been effected as well.  Instead, we spot seeded these areas at a cost of $250 and made an extra urea and potassium app at a cost of $500 to help get the bentgrass to fill in.  While the area is not perfect, it will be in the coming weeks and has had little impact on playability.  Next year, we will have less poa to worry about on this and many other fairways.

Progress on 11

The top picture shows the most recent photo of our 11th green and the bottom picture shows the green about 8 days ago.  We know this green has a hard time getting going each spring so we did several things the past 10 days to help it along.  First, eliminate all rolling.  Second increase nutrients to help increase thatch to allow the green to withstand foot traffic and wear and tear.  Third, lightly syringe throughout the day to allow areas not to wilt out, especially during the hot dry spell we just encountered.  Today was the first double cut for normal play in over a month.  We will continue to monitor plant health and will not roll any longer.  Double cutting will continue daily as long as plant health remains positive.

Short Term Pains....Long Term Gains

You will notice the orange color on our fairways and some areas that are thinned out a bit.  This is damage from the annual bluegrass weevil that effects poa plants.  We are aggressive with growth regulators on fairways and you will see yellow grass, that is the poa plants.  We allow the weevils to eat a little each spring to lower the poa populations and allow the bent to take over.  We also spike and seed bent in some areas where there are lower populations of bent to allow more to eventually take hold.  Our populations of bent have significantly increased over the past few years.   That is why it is better to allow this to happen and our fairways will be that much better in the summer months.

Different Pin Placements

Unfortunately we cannot use the center of the greens every day when changing cups so occasionally we have to use some corners.  After a busy week or two of big events and pin placements for the most part in the center of greens due to green speeds, we have to use some corners to spread out traffic.

Final Prep Work for Member Guest Today

Many thanks to my staff for stepping it up a notch this week in preparation for the Invitational.  A lot of mowing and blowing this past week to get course ready for play.  As usual the guys rise to the occasion and make it happen.  Looks like Mother Nature will do her part as well.

Congratulations to the Hoffman Cup Champs!

http://www.hoffmancup.org/

Hoffman Cup in the Books

On Saturday, we did a quick single cut and roll before the start of the Hoffman Cup finals here and with nice dry conditions and lean turf, the greens were rolling 14.5 - 15 before play started at 12:30.  We did not go over board preparing our greens for this event and this shows why our aggressive aerification program pays off when it matters most.  The nice thing is if the weather cooperates this week, we will not have to go too crazy to keep the greens rolling 13 for the Invitational on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

Bentgrass Plug From 11 Green

This is a picture of the same plug in a matter of 48 hrs.  The top photo was when the plug was taken out on Sunday morning, the 2nd photo is Monday, the third photo is Tuesday and the bottom photo is today after 3 days in a controlled environment, the plug has shown huge improvement.

Last Official Project

I am happy to announce that the construction of this new tee on the 16th hole will mark the end of all major construction on the golf course.  We will sod the banks on Friday.  Our construction started in 2011 and has not stopped since.  We have renovated all 18 holes to some extent including all new tees, bunkers, green expansions, chipping areas, irrigation and tree removals.  All that is remaining on the must do list is drainage on fairways and cart paths and these we can do as time and funds permit.
Thanks for your patience the past few years as we worked diligently to get projects done in a timely fashion while trying to limit disturbance.

Good Monday Work

The greens were vented today using our deep tiner and we applied 10lbs/1000 sq feet of gypsum on top.  We watered in the gypsum and then a nice rain came after to help it into the soil.  Our greens have been on the lean side of late so the rain and the calcium were sorely needed.

Bentgrass Not Waking Up Just Yet

We all know each spring we battle the off color bentgrass on our greens.  The colors can range from purple, to red to brown or even blue.  This is caused by a multitude of factors, weather, mechanical stress, growth regulators, dry weather, foot traffic etc.  This is most evident on our 11th and Practice Greens where every season they look terrible this time of the year.  Even though we hit 90 on Thursday and Friday, it was preceded and followed by 60 degree temps during the day and low 50s at night.  We need steady temps to get all the grass to wake up.  When the bentgrass cannot grow fast enough and we are aerifying, topdressing, rolling, double cutting, growth regulators etc, these all lead to stress, bruising and the colors you see out there.  These will all go away as soon as the weather moderates.  On top of that, we usually do not start fertilizing until this time of year so the grass really needs more help than we are giving it.  We also lean the greens out with water as well so that will stress the greens too.  Moving forward I am going to concentrate more on promoting growth on these greens than keeping them firm and fast, especially in April and May.

The red arrow shows the bentgrass in the chipping area on 14.  It is purple and not growing, while the yellow arrow shows the poa....doing just fine.  Also, this is the only walk off point of the green so the bentgrass is constantly getting pounded by mowers, foot traffic etc and cannot grow out.

Again, the yellow arrow shows little patches of bentgrass by the collar of 13.  They are off color as well.  This bentgrass is probably less than 5% of the green and not so offensive, but when you look at 11 and the practice green, the bentgrass makes up more than 90%, which is why most people are concerned when they see them.
When it comes to the weather and growing grass, patience is a virtue.

New Par 3 Hole Opens

Christian Wall and Chris Connelly were the first to christen the new par 3 hole for its grand opening on Friday.

Green Ready to Open on the 16th Hole

The green is ready to be opened later this week. Work is finishing up on the cart path and the alternate 16th green can now open.  In another week or so the par 3 portion of the green can open when the tee is knitted in.

Quick Aeration Recovery

We finished aerifying greens last Monday with 1/2" solid tines followed by a 1/2" deep tine followed by dryject on top.  While the greens were a disaster on Friday as far as growth and seedheads, they have come a long way since.  By weeks end they will be almost in mid season form.

Barn Hole Green Being Renovated

If you remember last year we stripped off the Barn Hole green to use it for our new green expansion on the 2nd hole.  For the time being, we are going to refloat the putting surface and add some subsurface drainage.  By changing the contours of the green we have now created many more pin positions.  This is a nice little par 3 hole that can be used for practice or as a spare hole.  We plan on seeding the green next week and should have turf cover on it by June.