What I Noticed While Playing In The Men's Opening And Other Thoughts

Its important for a superintendent to play their course on a somewhat regular basis. For myself that might mean once every 2 weeks depending on a whole list of excuses. The round I played this past Saturday really drove this home for me. We have been so busy the past week getting ready for opening day and herding the new staff around the golf course that the only way I could do an honest evaluation of the grounds was to play. I had a great time playing with Robb James, Wade Hudyma and Kevin Mckee. What follows are both the good and the bad as far as I'm concerned anyway:

• the back nine is in far better condition than the front nine aside from the new sand
• the new bunker sand looks good and is very playable
• the turf conditions around the 3rd and 4th greens gave me heartburn
• the lakes would look good filled to the highest level possible (cannot do that until the irrigation system is on and we have the city line thawed)
• my staff have a ways to go in terms of training and completing their tasks in the manner we have instructed them ( as an example all you had to do was check out the bunker raking or try to wash your golf ball in a couple of empty ballwashers)
• the damaged Poa on the greens (specifically #'s 2, 3, 6, and 8) should recover fairly quickly as May progresses
• there are many small LREP sod jobs on the front nine requiring repair (poor results from low quality turf and over winter settling) 
• a few fairways need to be moved back closer to the red tees
• Paving, curbing and rerouting some of the cartpaths (on the advice of Ted Locke) would move the golf course to a whole new level (in my opinion)
• the Royal Mayfair is a beautiful golf course with so much more potential that I get impatient thinking about it

This Week On The Course:

1. Irrigation system startup on Monday
2. Fertilizing greens, tees, fairways, etc.
3. Haul road repairs should begin later in the week
4. Fine tuning the new bunkers
5. Demo of a Toro Sand Pro to compare with out existing power sand rakes
6. Course washrooms and fountains open by Tuesday (barring unforeseen problems)
7. Marking front nine fairways
8. Training, training, training

See you out on the course,

Wade

Opening Day: Important News To Remember

A quick list of updates and information for you to consider:

• regular mowing will not begin until we have consistent irrigation and better growing conditions thus reducing stress on the turf; for the time being however we will strive to deliver good early season conditions
• yes the haul roads look terrible but they will be repaired; again as the water situations improves
• there will be 2 bunkers without sand: one at #2 green and one at #4 green
• please use the ball retrievers to extract your ball from those 2 bunkers  as you may damage the clay base by walking on them; they are still too wet to install sand
• please abide by the Ground Under Repair signs that will be placed around several of the new bunkers; they should be in play by the weekend
• most bunkers on the back 9 have been edged but they still require additional work that will be ongoing into next week; the sand conditions are less than ideal as I'm sure you are all very aware of
• the white lines surrounding the fairways are for contouring changes and to help the mowing staff; feedback is welcome and further adjustments are inevitable
•  course washrooms are closed until next week
• tank watering will be ongoing during the day (unless it rains); hopefully we have the water system on early next week
• enjoy the 2011 golf season!!!!!

Wade

Mowing Changes And A Course Update

As promised but long delayed, some discussion regarding mowing changes for 2011. Paramount in the minds of many is the implementation of double cutting greens. The greens have evolved over time to become a blend (aprrox. 60/40) of creeping bentgrass and annual bluegrass, better known as Poa annua. The bentgrass is one variety but the Poa appears to be 3 different cultivars or types for lack of a better term. They all have different growths characteristics and different responses to our varied weather patterns. Pure stands of creeping bentgrass tend to grow at the same rate. Mixed turf greens do not. As a result by mid afternoon, no matter how short greens are cut in the morning, they will get bumpy. They may still be quick but a consistent predictable ball roll cannot be achieved even with rolling. For those members who cannot play in the earlier hours of the day they will miss out. Double cutting can keep the greens cosistent for a greater portion of the day. It is not a perfect solution however. Certain golf events, extreme weather and the need to monitor turf conditions can affect the scheduling of double cutting. We will strive to mow the greens twice per day beginning in late May, Monday to Friday. We will monitor weekends but I would like to give the turf a "breather" if you will. Of course if a weekend golf event warrants an extra cut we will proceed with a second mowing.

The second cut will begin at 11:30 a.m. with 2 riding mowers going from 18 green backwards (in numerical order) to the 1st green. The putting green and warmup green will be cut last. The operators will approach a green, allow golfers to finish putting and then proceed to mow. It should take approximately 5 to 7 minutes then they will be on their way. It is during this time when problems arise. They have to make the decision when to begin cutting if golfers are hitting their approach shots to the green. There has to be some flexibility here between you and the staff. The sooner they can start mowing the quicker the course is cut for everyone. My feeling is:  I would rather wait a few minutes and then get to putt on a better surface than the previous hole. But we all have different expectations. I will repost this discussion as we get closer to the end of May.

When you get onto the course this week you will notice many of the fairways outlined in white paint. I will be changing some contours and adjusting the fairway widths throughout. Dont panic! I will be widening fairways in most cases. Of course with a wider fairway will come a slightly narrower first cut of rough. I want to use a different machine to mow the first cut. It is smaller and narrower than the old fairway mower that was used in the past. As I get some feedback we will also be bringing the beginning of the fairways closer to the forward tees where necessary. This will take time though as I get more familiar with the layout.

One more change I would like to discuss  is mowing a walking path down the length of the tees out to the fairway start. It won't affect playability but it might keep your feet a little drier if you are one to walk the course. This isn't a priority right now but something we can implement later.

As for course conditions the warmer weather has really helped in the last few days. The entire staff is finally on board as of Monday, May 2nd so we can really get to work. By my count there are 21 new people wandering around out there (just kidding) getting their feet wet. When we open Thursday I cannot promise a completely clean golf course. There is just not enough hours in the day. We will have all the greens, tees and fairways cut. Bunkers will be raked and cleanup will be ongoing. CTC, with our help, will be installing new sand in the 8 bunkers I have mentioned previously. We do have a problem beside the 4th green. That bunker is still full of snow and the new clay base is sure to be very wet. Hopefully we can speed up the process by shovelling out most of the remaining snow. The haul road work will begin as soon as the irrigation system is up and running (next week) correctly. We have enough sod to tank water until then.

As for the greens I am mostly pleased with how they have survived the winter. Some greens have areas of disease that occurred after the snow was removed and before we could get a spring application of fungicide on them. It was only certains cultivars of Poa that were affected but with water, heat and some help on our part it won't be long before these spots fill in. My feeling is that thatchy greens tend to have a high population of disease pathogens. Thatchy greens require a consistent, committed topdressing program to help alleviate this problem. Hint, hint.

Enough turf talk for now. I hope many of you have seen our first grounds video and I look forward to many more. I believe they will be a great resource for communicating our cultural practices to the membership. I will say that it is harder than it looks to do. I won't win any acting awards and cue cards are definitely a must for the next video. A big thank you to Matt from the pro shop for his help. 

See you soon,
Wade   

Course Update And Other Thoughts - April 22nd

A brief update for the membership:

• All the greens and tees are clear and have come through winter in good condition. They may have issues here and there until it really warms up and we have the irrigation system operating but as of today Eric and I both feel a sense of relief (especially myself).
• The fairways look fairly good but some are still snow covered and most are still very wet. The Poa annua/Kentucky bluegrass blend prevalent at our club results in a mix of early season colors. As long as most of it isn't grey thats a good sign. The Poa will tend to lose the green and go almost an orange tinge until the weather improves and we can really start aggresively managing the turf.
• My approach to the beginning of any golf season is to go easy on the turf until I am confident that any work we attempt will not result in a setback. This is a crucial point in the season that can go a long way in determining conditions for the summer.
• The application of some fungicide around the greens in the rough has held back the snow mold. When you get on the course you will notice the spray perimeter. Greenish on one side; matted, moldy and greyish on the other. Can you imagine the damage if we could not use fungicides to protect the turf in the fall?
• As you are probably well aware the practice facilities open on Saturday. Please refrain from commenting on green speed for awhile. The practice and warmup greens are mowed but they are soft and slow. We have lots of time to knock that topic around. The practice bunkers are not ideal but we will be replacing the sand with new product and cleaning up the edges soon. I'm sure Ted Locke has ideas in place to revamp that area behind the range tee. This season we will be treating that green like all the rest so eventually it should be a better playing surface because right now it almost looks like a  tee box. Time will tell.
• I'm not sure if many of you know this but the grounds crew has undergone a dramatic turnover. We won't go into the boring details but those staff returning are the people I felt could contribute to the success of the club. The other 20 or so new staff have a steep learning curve ahead of them. My team is committed to training them to become valued members of the maintenance crew but there will be mistakes and issues for us so please have some patience in the early goings. 
• My next blog posting will deal with some maintenance practice changes for the season. Yes, one of them involves the introduction of a double cutting program for the greens. Stay tuned.
• Finally, a word about something that is probably on your minds throughout the day. When will the course open? My best guess is around the 5th of May. Weather permitting as usual.

Wade Peckham

COURSE UPDATE APRIL 14th

My day started off with a look out the window and no snow! By the time I had dressed and checked out the radar loop on the Environment Canada website it was snowing. On my way to work I almost hit a pedestrian who decided to cross the street without looking or thinking about an ice covered 109th street. No harm done.

I had planned to go out today, take some pictures of the golf course and then post them for all to see. It would be a bad joke to do it now. Aside from a lack of pictures I can report that conditions look very promising at present. We have 3 greens left to clear (the present snowfall not included) and the greens that are clear look good. The greens that have more annual bluegrass (Poa annua) than creeping bentgrass look blotchy and off color but that is normal. There are several different bio types of Poa across the surface of the greens and each type has its own distinctive color and look as they come out of dormancy in the spring. Eric brought in samples (plugs) to the greenhouse and after 24 hours or so they are growing quite well. The tee surfaces also look good and any fairway turf I can see looks ok as well. Unfortunately I can't see much. They are either covered in snow or underwater. If you have a home lawn you probably have a good dose of snow mold and maybe some mouse damage. At the golf course the mice had a field day. No pun intended. Many surrounds are chewed up and I think we will see some activity on some tees and greens as well.

 Wherever we did not apply a fungicide there are some pretty dramatic examples of snow mold. We sprayed all the usual areas of the course as well as 1 or 2 passes of the rough around the greens. Next fall, weather, time and cost permitting I would like to expand the rough treatment to further protect the course for a better spring result. Conditions as they are this spring always validate our efforts to protect the turf from disease pressure. We aren't quite out of the woods yet though. We will be applying a spring fungicide as soon as we can get on the greens and hoping for seasonable weather and not a dramatic drop in temperatures. The turf (especially Poa) is very susceptible to a low tempertature setback during March and April.

We are hoping to have the parking lot (most of it anyway) cleaned up before the Easter weekend and the practice facilties open by then as well. The putting greens are almost a given but with today's weather the driving range has become a long shot. Maybe next week will be warm and sunny. We need good weather down in maintenance as well so that our city water line thaws out sooner than later. Scroll to the bottom for another picture. One other note. The ipod app will not display pictures so visit: http://www.wpeckham.blogspot.com/  or Google: "Royal Mayfair Turf Notes" to view any pictures. Thanks.

Until next time.
Wade

Course Conditions Update

I know my previous blog stated that I would discuss double cutting but I changed my mind. March 30th was the first mild, sunny day in a long while. The melt is finally underway so I thought the membership would like an update as to what has transpired over the last few weeks. Some encouraging observations and one troubling concern. Don't worry. The problem isn't a turf related issue.

We began snowblowing a path around the golf course last week and should be finished by Friday. These paths allow us quick access to the greens and tees in order to keep a close eye on the snow/ice conditions. The snow pack is still deep and the turf is frozen underneath. This can change quickly depending on the weather. I'm not a big fan of clearing greens but this has been an unusual winter so it looks like we will begin blowing off the snow early next week. Our main concern once the snow is removed is keeping standing water off the surface of the greens to prevent a freeze thaw cycle that can kill turf at this time of year. Our other concern is being able to get on the greens with our sprayer to apply a spring fungicide to control disease. That all being said, any spot we have shovelled down to the surface looks promising. We did encounter ice where someone skiied across the large practice green in December. I'm sure it wasnt a member but probably someone unfamiliar with the course. If the track is damaged this spring we will know why and it will serve as a good example as to what early ice formation can do to turf.

Now the "troubling concern". One week ago our city water stopped flowing to the green house and our maintenance facility. After many phone calls, map reading and thawing attempts we have finally figured out the problem and its a big one. 11 years ago a 6 inch high density polethylene pipe was pushed in from the parking lot entrance area to the irrigation lake behind the shop. This line is "all weather" and our water supply tees off this line close to the maintenance facility. We thought this 1 inch feed line had froze. We were wrong. The type of winter we have experienced (very long and cold) coupled with the asphalt at the entrance to the club (the 6 inch line runs under the entrance) being exposed without an insulating snow cover has resulted in that line freezing. How do we know? We went into the irrigation pond control vault to test the water flow and there is no flow. That line should be fully pressurized as it is supposed to be below the frost line. Not this year. Before anyone says, "Call Epcor", forget it. They told us we are on our own as it is a private waterline. We have thought about steaming the line but the variables are to numerous to discuss here. For the time being we have Maureen and the greenhouse looked after. We have brought in bottled water for the shop and some portable outhouses for the staff. If it hasn't thawed out when we need irrigation water we will go through the procedure of pumping directly from the river into the pond. Old school. A 6 inch pump and lots of hoses (with notification to Parks and Rec of course). Hopefully the line thaws during April and the line isn't damaged. HDPE line is more durable than steel when it comes to ice.

Thats it for now. The double cutting topic should be up by Sunday.
Wade

Thoughts From The CGSA Conference In Vancouver

Just returned from the Canadian Golf Superintendents Conference and Trade Show. Vancouver may have been cooler than normal but I saw green grass, water not ice, no winter boots and the odd crocus popping out of the ground.

Did a run/walk around Stanley Park. Oh my aching legs. Cross fit is slightly different than distance running. Save the comments. Didn't seem like an issue at the time. A lot less trees around the NW point since my last visit thanks to that vicious windstorm a few years back.

Looked at some new equipment at the trade show. Saw the new leaf/debris sweeper we will be purchasing in the spring. Aside from our Toro Rake-O-Vac the other sweepers we own will not be used on the property anymore. From what I saw in the fall everytime they went out damaged turf was almost a given. I think we have enough repairs to deal with as it is. Some new innovations in rough mowers and pump station replacement were in my view as well.

The seminars were informative and some will be beneficial to our plans for the course in the near future. No boring details here though. Although one seminar dealt with managing greens of a Poa/Bentgrass mix. Basically different times of the season require different mangement strategies in order to "get the most" out of each turf type. No huge surprise but some new thoughts and ideas were discussed.

One last comment. When you get an industry such as ours together in one location you hear some interesting comments, tales and rumors. You also find time to relax and socialize with colleagues and sales reps. All valuable (aside from the rumors that is) in my humble opinion. Well worth the investment in professional development and I'm thankful the Royal Mayfair supports our attendance at national conferences and regional seminars.

Next blog topic: "Greens Mowing and Double Cutting"