New Tee on Par 3 Hole Ready for Drainage

The new retaining wall is completed and the new tee is now squared, shelled and aligned to the new green.  Next step is adding drainage and then mix.  With the rain coming in, the tee has been tarped to allow us to start work next week when crew returns.

USGA Update on the Crazy Spring

So This Is SpringMARCH 17, 2017By David A. Oatis, regional director, Northeast Region

Cold weather and snow are likely to wreak havoc with flowering plants this spring.

A mild winter and warm February temperatures have been tantalizing golfers with the prospect of an early spring. Bulbs are blooming, trees are budding, and courses in the southern part of the region have already applied preemergence herbicides and annual bluegrass seedhead suppression treatments. However, Mother Nature has reasserted herself in typical fashion. Cold March temperatures chilled bermudagrass back into dormancy and slowed pest development while single-digit temperatures and brisk winds bring an uneasy feeling to turf managers in northern locations. The recent nor'easter brought heavy snowfall, which all but slammed the door on plant growth and pest development. So, what does all this mean for golf courses?

• Bermudagrass was off to a fast start this year, but the recent cold temperatures have stopped it in its tracks. No damage is suspected at this point, but it will take plenty of warm weather and sunshine to get it growing again.
• Northern courses that had nondormant putting green turf and experienced single-digit temperatures should remove and incubate a few plugs from greens to check for winter injury. Widespread damage is not suspected at this point, but some injury may have occurred. Incubating plugs is the most effective way to gauge whether winter injury has occurred.
• Timing seedhead suppression treatments and preemergence herbicide applications has been difficult this year due to fluctuating temperatures; it is not going to get any easier going forward. Courses that made early seedhead suppression treatments may need to make additional applications because the seedhead production window will likely expand.
• Annual bluegrass weevils were active on many southern courses before the last two weeks of cold temperatures. Hopefully the cold will knock back their populations, but that may be hoping for too much. Turf managers should resume monitoring for annual bluegrass weevils once the snow melts.
• Recent high winds combined with heavy snowfall, ice and sleet will undoubtedly leave many courses covered with a layer of debris. More spring cleaning is in order for many.
• Temperatures always fluctuate during spring, but some years are worse than others. Late-winter and early spring temperature fluctuations result in a “start and stop” pattern for turf growth as well as pest and weed development. This makes timing control applications very difficult. It also produces inconsistent turf growth and makes turf more susceptible to wear problems. Don't overdo maintenance practices when turfgrass growth resumes. This is especially important with creeping bentgrass, because it is very susceptible to wear injury during spring.

The return of winter throughout much of the region is having impacts well beyond a deep layer of snow in many areas. Hopefully most courses will come through the cold snap unscathed and spring maintenance will soon fall into a normal routine. However, golfers may see a few more seedheads this spring, and perhaps a little more crabgrass and goosegrass this summer. For now, we will just have to wait out the cold weather and watch our college basketball tournament brackets.

Northeast Region Agronomists:

David A. Oatis, regional director – doatis@usga.org

Adam Moeller, director, Green Section Education – amoeller@usga.org

James E. Skorulski, agronomist – jskorulski@usga.org

Elliott Dowling, agronomist – edowling@usga.org

Addison Barden, agronomist – abarden@usga.org

Paul Jacobs, agronomist – pjacobs@usga.org

Information on the USGA’s Course Consulting Service 

Contact the Green Section Staff

Tree Removal on 16

The large maple to the right of the ditch is being removed to open up the new shot line to the alternate fairway and green.  This will now give everyone a much better look at the new green from the tee and may entice a few to go for it!

Greens Being Aerified Today

Getting a good head start on the aerification this season.  We will get greens done today, then in another week we will verticut and then dryject on March 23rd.  That will be followed by another dryject on April 24th.

New Screening Mounds

With the recent removal of several dangerous oaks around our storage garage we have now added some mounding in the area to help screen the building from the first tee and clubhouse.  With the trees removed we also created some cool vistas of the 15th and 16th holes.

Why Not!

With the warmer temperatures of late, we are taking advantage of it and getting out to verticut fairways.  We hopefully can have them all done by next week.  We will then punch them and topdress them.  Yesterday we sprayed and rolled greens as well.

Tree Removals by Garage Area

We are removing 4 oaks that are hanging over our alternate storage garage between the 1st and 18th holes.  These oaks have been littering the new roof of the garage with limbs and debris.  These oaks are planted less than 10 feet from the walls and propose a threat to the building.  They also offer no screening of the building since they have no lower branches.  We are also removing 2 heavily damaged tulips as well that are in the rough of #1 and are safety issues.

Note the after photo that now opens up views of the 8th,15th and 16th holes.  New mounding will be constructed to hide the building yet keep the new vistas we have created.