End Of The 2014 Golf season

The golf course closed on October 31st and several ongoing projects were completed before winter arrived this past Saturday. All winter fungicide applications were put down during the 2nd half of October and into early November. It remains to be seen if the recent rains will have had any effect on the fairway applications sprayed in mid-October but I think the course should be okay based on past experience.

The turf has gone into winter in good condition, the leaf cleanup went well and 3 major projects were finished on time. One project of concern was widening the area behind the artificial tee surface at the driving range. There was a safety issue that needed to addressed before someone was injured. The Turf Hound mat deck was taken apart and moved forward. In its original location paving stone was laid down. It matches the stone used on the course in both color and style and looks much better than adding more asphalt. Next spring the mats will be reinstalled and the natural turf surface will be completely resodded and should be ready for use by mid June.

Another concern, at least for us in Turf Care, was reestablishing the nursery. All the existing turf was used over the summer. We now have 3 different sections at the nursery. There is about 10,000 sq ft. of Poa annua (from our greens aeration cores) that has been interseeded with creeping bentgrass. This should closely match our greens and will be ready for use later in 2015. We then cut off approximately 8000 sq. ft. of sod from several of the greens at Pioneer Meadows. This turf can be used on our greens if need be but is more suited for our bentgrass tees. It was difficult to cut, move and install as you can see in the picture. Fortunately all it needs is some care and attention next spring. We decided to leave it for now aside from some patching and topdressing of seams that occurred after the photo was taken. It looks much better at present. In between the two sections we installed 2000 sq. ft. of Kentucky bluegrass for other areas on the course that will need repair (such as the new cartpath edges).

Of course the major project was the paving of all the remaining gravel paths on the front 9, adding a few extensions on some back 9 paths and installing a continuous path on #11. All par 3's are now cart path from tee to green aside from the south path on #4. It was decided that it did not need to cut across the 4th hole to connect to the north path. The base preparation was 6 inches of gravel followed by 3 inches of asphalt. A very solid system especially considering all the trees lining the paths. The cleanup next spring will take time. Curbing, sodding, placing the premanufactured concrete steps and paving stone work will take place throughout the month of May. The amount of damage from the gravel and asphalt dump trucks is considerable across the poor old 9th fairway, in front of the 1st tee and in front of the 9th tee. They will be repaired as usual. The use of Dura Deck matting rented from Little Guy Oilfield Rentals resulted in significant reduction in turf damage further out on the course. Overall I am very pleased with the project. Carts will be cleaner, the paths are very smooth and many hours of labor tasked to keeping the old paths presentable can be utilized elsewhere. 

An example of the cleanup work. This section of path at 4 tee will have paving stone installed on the right and soil/sod work on the left.

This winter we have installed the bubble wrap/ice shield covers on 4 greens. In addition to the 6th green, covers were laid over the 8th, 18th and warmup greens. Fresh air will be blown under the covers every 10 to 14 days over the winter season. Over the next 5 months that should reduce my stress level by about 20% every time we experience a warm spell or it decides to rain. The plan is to keep adding covers each fall, 4 or 5 per year.

Backpack blowers are hooked up to each pipe to force fresh air under the covers. We use passive tubing which is inflatable plastic pipe with holes along its length that allows the air to fill the space under the entire cover.

All that remains is to rope off several greens to keep wayward cross country skiers off them. Any traffic on uncovered greens can possibly lead to ice formation. This season a new groomer purchased by the Royal Mayfair Ski Club will give us side by side tracks for a more "social" experience out on the trails. The skating rink will open once the ice is deemed safe. Enjoy the off season wherever you may spend your time.

A Personal Note To The Unsung Heroes

This blog has nothing to do with The Royal Mayfair Golf Club and is much more personal in nature. I want to recognize and pay tribute to the those superintendents that can maintain smaller golf facilities with limited resources and still present a course in great condition and is fun to play. Some of them are 9 holes, some of them are shorter 18 hole courses. You know who you are. Generally they are located in a rural setting but sometimes they can be found within the city limits. I have a very close association with one such club. That course will close permanently after 23 years of operation. The City of Edmonton has grown around it and it will soon become a new residential community. If you know me then you are well aware that Pioneer Meadows is the course and that my wife Jennifer has been the superintendent there for 20 years.

Course closures in this area (Alberta) are very rare and I realize that this has been a common occurrence throughout the US but this one hits home. I've experienced the growth of Pioneer Meadows through the trials and tribulations that my wife, her Turf Care team and the management have gone through over the years. When I say every penny counted I mean it. Almost to the very end. The Edmonton market is very competitive and Pioneer Meadows suffered under the perception of being "too short" or "too easy". Maybe the marketing failed. I don't know but I'm a fairly good golfer and I loved playing there. I used all the clubs in my bag, the greens became firm and quick over Jenn's time there and it didn't take 4+ hours to play (assuming you weren't playing in a company scramble buts that's another story).

Believe me when I say that Jenn has had it very tough at times over the years.  I realize we as superintendents all have issues and they become relative to the type of facility you work at but some of the experiences she has gone through made me admire Jenn and others like her even more. The perseverance and commitment was amazing at times. It took a toll on her health. It took a toll on our family. Could she have left? Could she have moved up the career ladder? Was it difficult being married to me? Absolutely. Imagine the conversations we had at home when discussing her club and the clubs that I have worked at, especially now that I'm at The Royal Mayfair. But she stayed so that I could realize my aspirations. We could bring our daughters to Pioneer Meadows whenever we wanted. Our border collies basically had free run of the place. When I came home and needed to vent she listened and offered advice. When I had "turf problems" she helped me through them as only another superintendent could. She was innovative and experimental with new turf care products and cultural management. She used a hand held moisture meter long before anyone had heard of the TDR 300 or POGO. I could go on and on here but I'll stop.

I was out at Pioneer Meadows last evening watching the heavy equipment strip the soil immediately south of the course and it was sad to see. No matter that it's my wife's course that will close. It is upsetting to see ANY green space disappear. Yes it is a golf course but one still surrounded by trees, populated by wildlife, a breeding ground for ducks and geese, rainbow trout in the ponds, etc. etc. Life moves on I suppose. Nice work Jenn and thank you for being such a close colleague over the years. You made me a much better superintendent.

If you recognize yourself or have worked in similar situations I salute you. If you know someone working at a small, limited budget golf course don't forget about them. Go play and support their efforts. There are hidden gems everywhere in this province.

Fairway Aeration Update

 

 



Anybody that has been out on the course this week (which is many considering the great weather) knows that Turf Care is currently core aerating the fairways. This process is very disruptive, messy and time consuming. The disruption is obvious. Two or three fairways covered in cores and several different cleanup procedures occurring all at once. Until the cores dry there is the matter of mud sticking to equipment, golf cart tires and the bottom of your shoes. Why so much mud? I'm going to be blunt here and it tells of the frustration we are experiencing during this procedure. The only sand in the profile appears to what has been applied in the last 4 years. Actually we have just started to get aggressive with topdressing in the last 2 years. The 2 to 3 inch core we are pulling is mostly dirt. We've known this to be the case for awhile but when you begin to correct the problem it becomes a daunting task. I'm left wondering how this could be at a course of Royal Mayfair's quality. But that's in the past and we have to think of the future.

 

The fairways were very good for the last few years and even up until the middle of last August. With the dry summer some problems were exposed. It was easy to see during periods of long term stress that the turf would suffer. By introducing some agronomic changes and proposed upgrading of the irrigation system we can greatly improve the performance of the fairways. However, they will not magically improve overnight. It will take years of aggressive turf management and then a commitment from both Turf Care and the membership to continue this type of work during every golf season in the future. Turf Care cannot decide that maybe one season we'll just solid tine or maybe a mid-summer topdressing will be skipped. Also, the membership must relax expectations when fairway aeration is underway (or any aeration procedure for that matter). Our great playing conditions do not happen on their own. A cliché yes, but short term pain will result in long term gain.

 

It may appear to the casual observer reading this that our fairways are in rough shape. Far from it but we need to get out in front of future problems given the changing weather, a commitment to deliver outstanding season long playing conditions and the day to day challenges of a golf course that has a very high % of Poa annua throughout the property.

 

I ask that you please be patient with Turf Care as we go through the next week of aeration and heavy sand topdressing. These are long tiring days for all involved. As much as you would prefer Turf Care to be somewhere else at 6:00 pm we need to be here to get the work done. Thankfully the weather is warm and we've experienced no frost delays. Yet. 

 

 

If it was always this dry cleanup would be so much easier. Each fairway is blown off after the sweep. Topdressing follows. The sun is setting so in this case the sand would go down the following day.

 

 

 

September Update From Turf Care

I haven't posted a blog since mid July but it is now time to detail activities on the course over the next month. Following the list of work a couple of turfgrass issues will be discussed. The month of August went very well at the Club. All the events came off without weather related problems. In fact it was the driest August (although very humid for Edmonton) in many years. Since I arrived at the Royal Mayfair in late 2010 the course has not gone through a dry spell until now. This weather has exposed irrigation shortfalls (as it always does) and further reinforced the remaining work required to keep improving the golf course and especially our fairways.

September is typically a month of aeration and this year is no different. Aside from the greens all the tees, approaches and fairways will be core aerated and topdressed. The biggest task, fairway aeration, will begin next week. They will be both solid tined and cored then heavily topdressed in order to begin reducing the compaction and poor drainage problems that have become more than evident throughout the summer. The wet summers of 2011 to 2013 masked underlying problems that need to be addressed moving forward. The greens are scheduled to be aerated in the first week of October (which may include the 29th and 30th of September). 9 holes will be closed each day so that Turf Care can accomplish this work without interruption from frost delays or member play.

Turf Care and Project Work:

• Early fall fungicide application on greens, tees and approaches (preventative).
• Aeration beginning September 8th on fairways with tees and approaches to follow later in the month.
• Sodding of damaged turf in wet areas around a few tee sidebanks.
• Repair the small collar damage behind 14 green.
• Replace a few small repair plugs that didn't survive at the very front of 9 green. Sodding on greens in mid summer heat at a very low mowing height is tenuous at best. The cooler seasons of spring and fall are more suited to that kind of work, when you have the choice that is.
• Leaf sweeping will begin soon. The leaves are quickly changing color and by mid month cleanup should be well underway and will continue until closing.

Projects:

• The largest project is continuation and completion of cartpath paving. The front 9, a continuous path from tee to green on #11 and some extensions on #'s 12, 13 and 15 will be undertaken towards the end of September. Exact start date is still to be determined and you will be notified as to when very soon.
• Removal of rxr ties on the south and east side of the north tee complex at #4. The tee was going to be renovated this fall but that has been delayed for a season or 2. When it is rebuilt a new retaining wall system will be built on the north side of the complex.
• Removal of the rxr tie wall beside the path leading up to #2 green. The need for a wall will be eliminated by moving part of the path into the tree line.
• The promised washroom at #14 tee is to be built in early 2015 and then installed on the course during the summer. Apologies for the delay but the process is in motion.
• Renovation of the nursery as all the turf was used earlier this season.

There are two turfgrass related topics to review. The first is the purplish colored spots on the greens that appear during the onset of cooler weather in the fall and prevails until the turf begins to grow as the soil warms the following May. It is not a disease and not much of a concern. It usually occurs on the strain (or bio type) of Poa annua that is perennial in nature (a tight growing, fine bladed variety with  low seedhead production). A very simple explanation is a buildup of certain sugars in the leaf blade that becomes apparent when chlorophyll is reduced as cool weather arrives. Some of those sugars give the leaf blade the purple/red color you may be noticing.

The second issue is more of a concern. Going back to my previous comments about the soil structure of the fairways, the hot August with little precipitation, high humidity and inadequate irrigation throughout the fairways, we experienced numerous dry areas and the onset of Summer Patch disease. This is not a new problem here but had been very limited in its occurrence in the past. It has run its course but we are dealing with the symptoms. There are patches of damaged Poa annua on many of the fairways. You may have noticed reddish patches of degraded turf quality even close to irrigation sprinklers. This is a root disease that can be mitigated by a healthy root zone. The solution for our fairways is more intensive management and perhaps a preventative fungicide application in future summers. That will depend on the type of weather we are forecast to experience during July and August. A mild September in combination with a recent fertilizer application and the upcoming aeration will certainly help recovery in those areas.

Mid July Course Update

Its been awhile since we've updated the Turf Care activities on the golf course. It's already the middle of July and the Men's Member Guest is quickly approaching followed by the Judge Walsh and the Club Championship later in August. Here's hoping the great weather holds for the remainder of the summer and these events get the same conditions we experienced for the Women's Member Guest held earlier this month.

The recent hot and dry weather has exposed some flaws in our irrigation system. The greens are fine and most of the surrounds are okay. Any dry areas around the greens is primarily due to the soil type under the turf especially on the top of mounds. This situation has been a problem at the club for many years but always improves with cooler weather. I am also not a believer in requiring a golf course to be emerald green across the property for the entire golf season. A few dry areas should not be of any concern. Having said that however the fairways are wetter than we would like. The Poa annua on the course requires more water than normal during long dry spells. Also over the last few days we have applied a second application of wetting agent on the fairways that should allow us to reduce irrigation requirements for the remainder of the summer. Unfortunately it needs to be watered in and that has resulted in some wet areas. We are cutting back the water and should be able to dry the turf out, hopefully before the thunderstorms that are sure to arrive in the next few weeks.

If you follow me on twitter or play the course enough you will have noticed some yellow spots and streaks on the turf on the greens and tees. There is no regular pattern or specific condition (shade or sun areas) that seem to be present either. Testing has not identified any disease organisms. We did test for nematodes and to our surprise we do have a small population of cyst nematodes that are harmful to turf. This is a complicated problem that we have never encountered. For that matter it is pretty much an unheard of issue in Alberta. Without going into great detail (there is detailed information on the internet) there is no registered chemical control for nematodes in Canada. There is a treatment protocol involving a mix of non chemical materials that we are currently researching for effectiveness but we aren't holding our breath. Fortunately the situation seems to be stable at the present time. No better and no worse.


On The Course Next Week:

• Adding irrigation coverage between the 9th green and the 1st tee slope
• Adding a sand/seed bottle exchange site at 16 tee
• Core aerating the collars (3/8 inch hollow tines) 
• Topdressing greens, collars and approaches
• Light topdressing on fairways (remember: once a month for June, July and August)
• some sodding next to the putting green and behind the 9th green
• Clover control

Overall I am very pleased with the golf course and the work above will allow Turf Care to fine tune some areas and improve the playing conditions even more. Enjoy the great weather.

Regards,
Wade Peckham and the Turf Care Team

Late June Course Update

It now appears that the Edmonton area will finally get a nice run of warm weather. With the high temperatures will come the warmer nights that really help fill in those areas that are slow to recover. We are focusing attention on some of the rough that was damaged by snow mold and the residual effects from hosting the Women's Canadian Open. A few tees also need some extra attention.

The warmup green is now open but it still needs a few more weeks (as does the east side of putting green) before it's 100%. The 18th is recovering nicely from a setback that occurred 2 weeks ago. We still aren't completely sure what happened but most of the bentgrass was affected. We had our theories and decided to proceed with a new plan that has had positive results. The warmup and #18 green are currently being mowed at a higher height so they will be slower for another week. Your patience with the 2 practice greens and #18 have been very appreciated.

On The Course:

• We are aerating a few select tees. #7 Blue, #17 Gold and #18 Red have been cored to help with the final stages of recovery and water penetration issues.
• The Gold tee on #4 will be resodded next week with Penncross creeping bentgrass. That tee is just too small to sustain the play it is getting. In fact the whole complex is not designed for par 3 use. Look for a late season renovation that will greatly increase tee space.
• The Short Game Practice Greens will be solid tine aerated to aid in air and water movement. Water holding amendments are being added to those tees with water issues.
• Bunker sand adjust next week.
• The tree stumps that have been springing up recently will be ground down and filled in.
• The benches for some of the tees have finally been shipped. The delay was due a manufacturer's error.
• Sodding various areas of troublesome rough.

Now that school is out more juniors will be playing the golf course. However etiquette school is in.
 If you are a junior reading this blog please remember to replace your divot or add sand if the divot breaks apart. On the greens fix your ballmark and maybe a few others as well. We've watched a few juniors over the last few days thus the reason for this reminder. Tell those that you play with and any guests you bring too. Actually we all need to remember these points no matter what your age. Thanks for your help in keeping the course clean and ready for the golfers behind you.


Regards,
Turf Care

The Difference Between Aerating And Venting

This morning our Teaching Professional pulled up to the first tee for an early round of golf, took a glance over to the 18th hole and saw a scene that strikes fear in the hearts of all golfers. The green had been topdressed, 1/2 inch cores were being pulled and cleanup of the surface was soon to begin. I was watching the procedure when he asked me if all the other greens were being worked on. Not being one to miss an opportunity I replied that we had punched all of them. The look on his face was priceless. Sorry Mike. Just kidding!! What it did tell me was that even with twitter, the Turf Care Blog and communication with the Golf Shop (several days in advance) not everyone got the message we were hollow coring the new turf on 18 green today. Or that we will be venting the rest of the greens on Wednesday and Thursday. Food for thought. The main point of this blog post is to review the difference between the two procedures and briefly explain the purpose of each.

We are all familiar with hollow core aeration. It is the removal of a predetermined percentage of the root zone and modifying it with sand that is brushed and or blown into the open holes. It is disruptive to play but is also an essential turf management tool here at The Royal Mayfair. We typically aerate in early October to extend "summer like" greens throughout September. In our area of the country if greens aeration occurs in September the quality of the putting surface will be changed for the remainder of the season. The later aeration date means the aeration holes do not heal over before winter but I believe that it helps drain away minor amounts of excess moisture in the late fall and helps in water and air movement in early spring. Just a personal preference and something that not every superintendent would agree with but it works here. The exception to the rule this year is the 18th green, the warmup and 1/3rd of the putting green. They are being "punched" several times to aid in recovery. Recovery that has gone very well to date.

Venting is a procedure that punches many small pencil like holes in a green using a soild tine (no core is pulled). The main purpose is to open up the surface to allow better air and water exchange, not to modify the root zone. However we do lightly topdress each green before venting. The mechanical action of the aerator loosens up the turf canopy (which is very tight at present) and quite a bit of the sand is vibrated into the grass. Also when we brush the remaining sand some of it does make it into the small holes in addition to smoothing the surface of the greens. Following the brushing we will roll and syringe (light watering) each green. The putting surface is now pretty much back to normal. Aside from some evidence of our regular topdressing program the holes are barely noticeable. We vent the greens once a month from June until September.   

Both procedures are important to maintaining our quality greens and their correct soil physical properties.  

There are many types of solid tines used for venting turfgrass. We have installed a "cross tine" on this aerator for our purposes.