Kimberley Golf Club Outdoor Operations

Blowin' Snow

2012-03-02T07:14:00.000-08:00

Over the past week we've begun to remove some of the snow cover from select greens. This time out we had the ability to leave a 4 to 6 inch snow layer behind. This layer goes back to the rain we had in December of 2010 that ultimately contributed to the ice build up we have on some greens. By knocking down the snow pack the hope is for a faster melt. Why not completely blow it off this time of year? Same old, same old: I don't want the Poa annua breaking dormancy too early and risk death by low temperature or crown hydration/dehydration (a.k.a. freeze/thaw injury). When we get closer and the weather has taken a turn we will be able to get those greens we blew earlier on and expose them far quicker than if we still had to blow large amounts of sloppy, slushy snow.

Blowin' 4 Green

One problem we have created is the obvious fact that there is now more snow on the surrounds after blowing snow from the greens. To make matters worse that snow will be bullet proof and slow to melt. Sort of a calculated risk since I am more comfortable with what damage may or may not occur on the surrounds with a prolonged melt. Regardless if we blow snow off the greens now or later the same situation with respect to the surrounds would exist but at least now the greens will be closer to being clear. A little support for our winter/ice strategy appears in an article posted by the USGA. Click here to go to a short article that talks directly about ice on greens and what to watch for.

Picking at a scab...

2012-02-24T15:29:00.000-08:00

Two weeks ago I went and pulled another plug from 9 green and was disappointed to be greeted with a smell that goes by many names, none of them good.


9G_Feb_17

Although there was green to start with the smell indicated things were far from perfect.

9G_Feb_21

Don't panic yet. I've been checking all over that green and the problem really seems isolated to back 30%. Yeah, there is ice over the entire surface but it is not as thick as it was at the back. Furthermore, the back of that green has a bit of a history of being troublesome. What I decided to do was experiment and see what happens. I have mentioned numerous times the risk of exposing Poa in the mid-winter but sometimes situations force you to make a choice. Any choices I make with respect to managing the ice on 9 will have a limited impact since the damage is done but, even though the area is small, I may be able to glean good "intel" that can be used in the future.

Poa under ice for greater than 45 days will not survive (so says certain research) and bent has over 100 days before it is impacted by ice cover (again, so says certain research). Research also suggests exposing Poa and even bentgrass too early can have a negative impact on the cold hardiness of both plant species. More research indicates that the development of low oxygen under ice will also severely impact turf health. So here's the thing we got ice and (based on smell) anoxic conditions under the ice, we got Poa annua under ice cover for close to 45 days, and we still got winter temperatures. It's sorta sounds like we are dammed if we do or dammed if we don't or in parlance of Star Trek this is a classic Kobayashi Maru !

I decided that, since the second plug we pulled from 9 green had definitely gone funky, we needed to address the anoxic conditions that existed to limit further damage to any remaining live turf (hoping against all hope that we have a secret stash of Bentgrass hiding within the turf canopy)


Two pieces of equipment you never want to see on a green in the winter

I used the skid steer to scrape down to the ice and then followed up by using the aerator to chip away at the ice. It took multiple passes with the aerator in numerous directions before I was able to get near the greens surface.

Initial pass with aerator only left small dimples

It took one guy four hours to get most of the ice off. After seeing the conditon of the turf once the ice was removed I have a hunch that the most serious anoxia was in small pockets at the back of the green. Other areas I exposed appeared green and only had a slight sour smell and not the stinky barnyard smell.

Now all we have to do is wait and see what happens. I did this with a close eye on the forecast. This time out I wasn't looking to melt the ice only increase air exchange. I think it is vital that any free moisture been avoided because of the problems associated with repetitive freezing and thawing. I did this on Thursday afternoon with the hope of limiting the turfs exposure to temperature swings. Fridays forecast was for seasonal temperatures with snow staring in the afternoon and as I write this I can confirm the weatherman was right on all counts!

Fakin' It......

2012-02-20T08:32:00.000-08:00

Besides staring at the final budget numbers and deciding on how to make things fit, I've been occupied the last couple weeks with planning this year's fertility applications throughout the golf course.

The good news/bad news thing about pre-planning all the fertility apps is the club can take advantage of early booking and payment discounts totalling $ 1200; however, the bad news is I have to use my crystal ball to look ahead to make more than a few guesses. When it comes to macro nutrients it is not a huge deal since it is relatively common knowledge how much to generally apply over a growing season. But with respect to micros and products called biostimulants it is the condition of the turf that can dictate what to apply.

Once the snow has melted it is turf health that suggests which direction you need to push it. If everything is "rosy" then products that encourage root development and CHO (carbohydrates, i.e. food) storage are used so the turf can create lots of reserve CHO to cope with stresses later on in the season. However, if the stand of turf is weak it requires the application of products that promote density. If the damage is severe and areas need to be overseeded different products geared towards the fertility requirements of seedlings are needed. Even as the growing season progresses and these damaged areas have begun to recover, their fertility requirements may be different. Previously stored CHO will be depleted during spring recovery and the turf may not have the necessary reserves to cope with the stresses that summer can bring. As a result, nutrients need to be applied more frequently or at higher rates to try to keep the turf in good condition until the end of the season.

For some time we have been applying nutrients via a combination of spraying and granular applications and I have a general idea of what seems to work at KGC. However, in the past I've had the flexibility to adapt to the turfs needs as the season progresses and purchase products suited for developing conditions. Ordering all fertility products in February to save $$$$ is not a huge gamble but it definitely ties my hands and puts all my eggs in one basket so I guess time will tell (am I mixing metaphors?)

Samples

2012-01-27T11:18:00.000-08:00

It has been relatively quite this past couple weeks with no real news to report. The snow is always nice and far better than rain. The last couple dumps have added another 8" over the hard dense layer to get the snow pack up to a respectable 16 or so inches (similar to other years at this time give or take a couple inches).

14" total snow in this picture

Since taking the previous picture we've had another 3 to 4 inches of snow.

I did take some samples from greens earlier this month to get feel for what may be going on. The frozen ground dictates a slightly different tool selection than normal.

Old cup cutter and sledge hammer are the only way to get samples

The problem with frozen ground is the difficulty in pulling a complete plug. Basically, all you really get is small slice that seems to break at the interface between the sand and thatch.

Fresh Plug, 12 Green

My first plug was from 9 green since it is the one of the ones I am concerned about. After digging and chipping I was able to do a little "scratch and sniff". As flaky as this sounds, the process involves closing my eyes, clearing my thoughts, inhaling deeply and letting the smell tell my brain what to think. I've said it before and I'll say it again, but when I smell grass in the middle of winter I automatically think of the color green. This time out, however, I smelled sour which for me triggers a brown color in my minds eye. I pulled a plug and brought it indoors and was glad to see it green up and grow. The weird part it is only the Poa growing. My guess is since the plug was difficult to remove and very, very shallow most of the roots (and possibly crowns) from the bentgrass would have been left behind in the frozen ground and, as a result, any bentgrass leaf tissue would all fail to grow.

I've been out to the other greens with ice on the surface and early indications (smell and, as in the case of the plug pictured above from 12 green) appear less threatening than those so far observed on 9 green. The plan is still to monitor the surface as best we can by randomly digging test pits and pulling plugs if conditions (i.e. smell) dictate it throughout the remainder of the winter. I'll check the greens tarped with the semi-permeable covers next week and comment on any thing I see.

What does Ice mean?

2012-01-08T14:37:00.000-08:00

A Brief History of 9 Green

Ice Development

November 13
First snow

December 29
End result after rain event and the on set of a cold snap.
Earlier snow has begun to form ice on the surface

January 4
More snow, more rain, and more cold.
Poor insulation from shallow snow cover
is causing ice to set up "tighter"

January 8
Ice thick enough that you need a shovel
to chip ice to loosen it.

Not an ideal start to 2012 but it may be time to start thinking of golf again. Since my last post in mid-December course conditions and the weather have been somewhat variable. We've had rain, snow, lows of -18 Celsius, and highs of +8 Celsius. Over that time the snow has gone through a few changes as demonstrated by the above pictures. So now what? First look at "Winter Kill" a post I did back in 2009 for a quick and dirty refresher.

Ice isn't always the harbinger of death but it makes for some stressful times. The ice we are seeing now is fairly set up over frozen turf and is no thicker than 1/2 to 3/4 of an inch. Because I feel the turf entered winter somewhat prepared (versus 2009) it is my hope that the only thing this ice really means is we won't damage the surface if we decide to blow snow.

At the risk of stereo typing Poa annua (the predominant grass species throughout the entire golf course), the one thing to keep in mind is Poa a nice lookin' grass but it's not very smart. Any sign of spring like weather and Poa will burn up it's stored winter carbs and start prancing around like it's mid-June. Without the "antifreeze" like protection the carbohydrates offer even a small drop in temperature below 0 degrees could result in damage from crown dehydration (FYI: intracellular crown dehydration is the sudden freezing of fluid within plant tissue that draws water from cells dehydrating them and killing the turf; extracellular cellular crown dehydration happens the same way but ice forms outside the turf plant). Truthfully, however, I am not 100% sure of what to expect so I'll keep checking the green surface to monitor the ice development and keep doing the "smell test" to get a feel for what may be happening.

December 19th Update

2011-12-19T14:26:00.000-08:00

This will be short and sweet. Not much of any significance has changed on the golf course with respect to snow cover and the "ice" situation. All surfaces are still frozen with about 6" of snow and some have a thin layer of crumbly ice directly on the surface. We need to get through January without any significant rain or increase in temperature and then I'll have a better idea of where we stand, hopefully.

Fall projects are the usual equipment tear down and reel grinding for the mechanic. Brad built a few more of the garbage enclosures that will be used on select holes to accent the brick work we will continue doing around the ball washers.


Garbage Enclosure

I like the idea of these things because they hide the garbage and they are cheap to make. The material costs are:
1. Two packages wood panelling: $16/can
2. Wire mesh: $6.50/can
3. A quarter of a 5/8's plywood for lid: $8
4. Recycled 2x6 from the clubhouse deck for the base: $0
5. Recycled 2x10 from old shop: $0
6. Staples for air gun, glue, misc. : $5/can
7. Stain: portion of 2 cans @$50? maybe $10

Total materials is around $45/enclosure. We are getting a little thin on the recycled lumber but the amounts we use are minimal and having to add the extra lumber would only increase the cost by another $10 or so. Labour? Building and staining 5 of them took just under 60 man hours. They are not a necessity but I think they add something.

Hopefully, you had time to answer the survey I posted a link to in the last post. Go to Kimberley Bulletin Article to read the article that was appeared in Friday's paper. Unofficial grapevine has things will remain status quo but we'll have to wait. I was pleased to hear from a number of people who took the time to fill out the survey. Again, hopefully, we will get a better representation of what people across the province really want.

Unless things get strange on the course my posts for the next month will be sparse but will start up more frequently in February when all the "Snowbirds" may be starting to think about comin' home.

We got a problem....

2011-12-09T10:37:00.001-08:00

The "we" in that statement encompasses anyone who has anything to do with golf. Somewhere in the cacophony of news I'm sure you've heard that the provincial government has plans to create new legislation concerning pesticides (see: Bill Bennett weighs in on cosmetic pesticides ). This topic exhausts me but it also gets me riled up (go to the Bill Bennett link and read the comments; especially the one by Agent_Whatever.....somebody you may know). It's hard not to appear as a single minded, uncaring, environmentally polluting, self interested capitalist when opposing a pesticide ban. I can appreciate peoples concerns but the debate has become entirely emotional and has turned into a pissing match between both sides and their experts. Both sides have arguments that support their view but as anybody over 30 or anyone who follows the news knows its all about how you present your facts.
Provincially the ball got rolling, I think, with the New Democrats proposingbill M-203 (Cosmetic Pesticide and Carcinogen Control Act). Althoughit was defeated, some of the points included were:

1.) banning pesticides use on non-residential areasincluding institutional, industrial, commercial and recreationalproperties.
2.) a 5 year phase-out of pesticide use by golf courses
3.) allow municipalities to pass more restrictive bylaws
and, a contradiction that that kills me every time,
4.) does not apply to the agriculture or forestry industry!

Iam repeating myself, but if pesticides are so bad then why not an across theboard ban? Economics? Employment? Here is some stats about golf in British Columbia you're going tosee a few times:

- Golf contributes over $4 billion in gross production annually

- Golf employs nearly 50,000 people in BC.

- Tax revenue from golf exceeds $400 million annually

Here is a one fact no person can dispute and one that I promise will happen without pesticide use:

Snow Mould Damage
on a Putting Green

With the climate in our area the biggest disease issue is snow mould and the damage it causes. There is no effective alternative to fungicides for snow mould control. There are numerous angles to debate but in politics it is numbers, financial and votes, that drive any governmental decision. Right now decisions are being made on assumptions that, for instance, information derived from an online survey in February 2010 is indicative of all British Columbians feelings towards a ban. That survey had 8000 respondents with 88% supporting a pesticide ban. The population of British Columbia in 2010 was 4.5 million. You need to go to this link https://www.leg.bc.ca/pesticidescommittee/ before December 16th and answer the survey the way that best suits your beliefs. I hope to e-mail out some more information before the dead line to educate people. Remember, pesticides is a very broad category that includes more than just Weed 'N Feed and you need to understand what you're supporting, for or against, and the consequences of your choice or inaction.

Week of November 28th

2011-12-03T18:00:00.001-08:00

I went and checked some surfaces to see how things have changed over the past couple days and things have changed a bit since last posting.

Snow Depth on #4 Green

Generally, there is enough snow cover on all greens to give us an insulating layer. Some surfaces have remained thawed and should be good for rest of winter. Others that were semi-thawed are now frozen and, along with the greens that remained frozen since the beginning of the season, have a pebbled ice surface of maybe 1/2 inch thick. The ice still lacks any real cohesiveness but is probably solid enough to prevent damage to the surface during snow removal in the spring.

"Pebbley" ice and Grass on #4

Because of the greens it is on (most don't see much sun this time of year) and the fact that it is removed fairly easily all we are going to do is watch it and make sure it doesn't grow thicker and/or more dense. If conditions change we'll begin pulling random turf plugs and decided on a course of action based on what we see. I'll keep you updated.

Week of November 20th

2011-11-24T13:19:00.001-08:00

The was not the weather I wanted in the middle of November! After that nice 15 cm of snow last Thursday we had another 11 cm come Tuesday a.m. However, that was followed by one inch of rain over the next 2 days! By the end of the rain the snow had been compressed 50% to just to over 12cm.


Just under 24cm snow Tuesday a.m


Just under 12cm (radio is 12cm to base of antenna) on Thursday

I was fairly sure ice would appear on the surface of the frozen greens but as of today, Thursday, November 24 there doesn't appear to be any ice on any of the surfaces I checked. Even better was the fact that those greens that were frozen seem to have thawed slightly which is maybe why no ice developed. The forecast is for fairly normal weather (flurries, highs near zero and lows around -4 degrees Celsius) which is good.

Situations like this are far from my favorite but they do help develop a data base of experience which can aid in making decisions next time out. Before we went and checked each green yesterday, I was under the assumption that a rain event of that size would be a problem since that has been the case in years past (anybody remember 18 G the spring of 2008?). Even after having the worst case scenario I talked about in the previous post play itself out and things now appearing "rosy" I hesitate to comment on how the turf will overwinter. Heck, we still have one week of November left! I've been spraying the greens as late as December 14th so, suffice to say, we are not out of the woods yet.

It's What it is Now

2011-11-17T10:53:00.001-08:00

15 cm last night. Hopefully, it is here to stay! We've been monitoring the greens, specifically #4, and ended up leaving things alone. I guess the good news (ice wise) is nothing has really changed or gotten any worse. The extra snow is actually nice since it will help buffer any dramatic weather changes. Best case it keeps snowing from now until March. Worst case, above normal temps with rain.

Yesterday one of the "herd" had a problem:

This deer managed to get his antlers tied up in the netting on the driving range. Luckily for him, someone saw him near the end of the day. I wasn't involved but I guess the extraction procedure involved a bit of a tussle and, apparently, the buck still has chunked of netting wrapped up in his antlers. Could have been worse.

To Snow Blow or Not To Snow Blow.....

2011-11-14T09:26:00.001-08:00

That sounds a little melodramatic but that is one of the arguments I've been having with myself since last Thursday (Nov. 10th). As referenced in the last post, the small layer of snow remaining on the greens could be a problem. The forecast last week was calling for increasing temperatures and possible showers. We ended up making the call last Thursday to remove the thin layer of snow on those greens where ice could develop. The real troublesome greens were already tarped so the greens we removed the snow from were those greens that had a frozen surface, had some occurrence of winter damage in the past, and where the snow had slightly melted . The other greens that hadn't really seen any late season heat still had a couple inches of snow on their surface so we left them. We ended up taking the snow off of 4, 8, 9, 10, 12, 18. The moisture that ended up coming was a mixture of wet snow and rain and made for some interesting conditions.

Snow Layer 14G

By Sunday most of the greens were like the above picture: a fluffy snow layer over corn snow over frozen ground. The corn layer is porous but tight and crumbled with little effort. The greens that had the snow removed were a bit different.

9 Green

Obviously there was less snow in general and the surface on all (with the exception of one) were slightly thawed. Again the snow layer was a tight corn snow but still came off the surface with minimal effort. The funky one is 4 green. The surface is bullet proof and the snow cover is very solid or, dare I say it, "ice like"? The layer is small and does come off with a bit more effort but now we have to decide what it could turn into. Again, the forecast is for more snow which puts a time constraint on removing the snow from 4 green since I would want anything left on the green surface after snow blowing to melt. Also, forecasted overnight lows are below -10 degrees Celsius and exposing a partially melted surface to that temperature is pretty much a guaranty for ice. There is always a way to rationalize your choices but it is only with the benefit of hindsight do you know if the right choice was made so, again, To Snow Blow or Not To Snow Blow......

Bring it on

2011-11-07T17:38:00.000-08:00

I guess it can snow any time now. The sprays have all been applied to the greens (I've still got one in my back pocket if conditions dictate it), tees, and fairways. We did a few experiments with different rates and different products including one that is more a plant health promoter with fungicidal properties. We also did a little demonstration that should have people talking in the spring....however, there was sort of glitch that may have balled up the demonstration but everyone is just going to have to wait until spring to find out more!

Tarp wise we went with the same general idea of laying tarps as we did last winter: permeable over-wintering tarps of varying weight on #1, #6, and #15 greens and the sandwich approach (permeable on the green surface which was then covered with an impermeable tarp) on #7 green. A few of the covered greens were sprayed with an extra preventative fungicide application since the humidity under the tarps can be artificially high and that can encourage disease development. I had planned on purchasing some extra tarps for this winter but decided against it for budgetary reasons and the fact that the greens that have a history of being funky in the spring already have tarps. I will budget for more in the spring since they are useful for encourage growth regardless of the spring conditions and who knows what next spring may bring?

We went out last week and put up the fences around those greens with a history of animal traffic patterns. To make things go quicker we installed a series of steel sleeves around those greens that we fence every year. For each green we have measurements of each sleeve from a central point and with that information and a metal detector we go out each fall and find the locations for the posts. This is sort of a throw back to those days when the elk seemed to show up before the snow fell or the ground was able to freeze and we had to fence greens to control damage. With elk traffic patterns and herd size changing it seems to be a far less of a problem in recent years. They still show up but it seems later on and in smaller numbers. This might be one of those things we can do differently to save time since it seems the elk are less of a problem.

Looking for Sleeves

This past week we had a small accumulations of snow that will work nicely as a insulation layer to protect the short cut turf from the forecasted lows of -15. We'll keep an eye out for weather changes since this thin layer of snow could, if lightly rained on, form an ice layer. If we get more snow and it accumulates to around 8" to 10" we should be on our way.


Snow and Fencing on #10 Fairway

Some More Fall Activities Picts

2011-11-06T14:33:00.000-08:00

So far the fall has been fairly typical work and weather wise. We were able to deep tine all the greens again this fall with 3/4 inch solid tines. Because we've been using this type of aeration for a few years now we were able to go as deep as 10 inches on certain greens with no detrimental effects.

Verti Drain Operating on #1 Green

Some of the greens (those with a little or no substance to their root zone) have a tendency to overly "puff up" when aerated at too deep a depth. For those greens we lessened the depth and slowed the tractor which seemed to help keep the turf in place. This time out we also rolled the greens with the tractor and aerator after we finished aerating and that really seemed to help lessen the "puffiness" factor.

Rolling to Smooth the
Green Surface

Depending on our spring and the health of the greens after this winter, we will have to aerate again early in the season to make up for missing this falls hollow core aeration. I am still not sure how that will work itself out but the hope is that by pulling a core early on in the spring the greens will be able to recover from both styles of aeration in the time it would normally take for the surfaces to recover from just the fall's deep tine.

If there is any good news this fall it could be the fact that we found very few trees (just over 20) attacked by the pine beetle. The flip side is the fact that some of those trees we found were very large Ponderosa's that dominate the scenery a KGC.

Cleaning up Ponderosa on
#6 Fairway

Hauling Logs From
#15 Green

As before, we will take the infected trees and process them in some fashion so as to kill the beetle.

You may be finished but we're not

2011-10-24T19:43:00.000-07:00

Sort of the same theme as last year at this time. Now that the golfing season is done we are are in a race against Mother Nature to get everything wrapped up before the weather goes funky. We still need to finish aerating fairways, scout and fall beetle trees, finish installing irrigation on the driving range and prep for seeding in the spring, begin our winter disease prevention sprays, collect all the accessories on the course, deep tine aerate the greens, install tree protectors on the planted trees, blow the city lines on the golf course, find the buried steel sleeves and install the fencing around the greens, tarp certain greens, finish installing new fuel tanks at the shop, and ????? all before the snow flies.

Frosty mornings play havoc with most of what we need to do but we work with the weather by starting those jobs that can be done without driving on the turf. I am sorry to say, but it is nice not having any golfers around since we are free to move about without having to watch for balls or people, especially when it comes to tasks such as falling trees and applying control products for disease prevention on the turf. I'm not the only one that feels that way.......somebody must have sent out a memo the day we closed.

Sow and Cub #1 Fwy

Some of the many deer all over the course

Driving Range Update

We finished the sodding of the tee deck in that pouring rain of a couple of Fridays ago. We were covered in slimy goo so there was no pictures of the process but here is one of the end result.

Driving Range Tee

As mentioned previously, we are trying to finish installing the irrigation and get things back filled and levelled in anticipation of seeding in the spring. A rough accounting of the project up to this point includes: cat work ($7950), irrigation ($2960), sod ($3800), miscellaneous (mostly shipping: $1500), labor ($1700 approximately - defined by the fact that two extra people stayed on extra time to help with our regular fall work), and most likely the remaining expenses for this phase of the project are those associated with seeding ($1500-$2000) which just over $18 000 (plus the labour costs). Not quite the $100,000+ the rumour mill was churning out but hopefully it will look like we spent that much! I guess the hope is we have a nice spring that will allow us to get on the range early so we can seed. Once the sod is rooted and we have the irrigation working people will be able to hit balls. The worst part will be picking the balls in the goo but maybe we'll get a quick catch and that will be a short lived inconvenience.

How we're makin' out

2011-10-07T06:42:00.000-07:00

No real sign of winter yet which is good. Reviewing what was written in the last post I see I suggested a fall aeration on the greens, however, the good news/bad news is we won't get to it now since we are stretched too thin with projects and keeping up with regular maintenance.

River Watch

October 1

We officially ran out of water to pump on September 30. The river level was too low to supply the pumps at a required the volume to keep the minimum discharge pressure needed to pump up the elevation change to the reservoir. Then the rain came and we are sitting good now, especially since we blow out the system next week. What did we learn from this year? Mostly, we do need to clean out the intake since compared to previous years pictures the river has been lower and we've been able to draw enough water. Again, not a real surprise, just routine river maintenance. I guess the good news is we inadvertently developed a way to control the output by manually manipulating an existing control valve. So, in conclusion for 2011, we didn't dodge the "no water at the river bullet" but it was only a flesh wound. The plan now is to address the intake and look into alternatives to coping with a more severe low water situation . I'll keep you updated.

Driving Range Update

Elevations on Driving Range

in Metres

Last week we finished moving material in the range. The above chart gives a bit of an idea of quantities of soil that had to be moved. For a reference point for the operator, we set out a line of wooded stakes down the centre of the range and measured elevation (in metres) at each stake with a level. The "1st shot" line was elevations after the bull dozer had stripped the sod and had already spent a day pushing. The "desired" line was created by using the points from the "1st shot" and moving them so the net cut and fill was as close to zero and we could get and still have a horizon that would allow players to see balls landing at the far end of the range. Initially, everyone, literally, said "just push from the front to the back" but without an appreciation for the volume of material to move that is a fairly simplistic way to view the project. For example, using a method called "Average End Area" you can look at one section on the driving range such as the area between 75m and 100m and estimate the amount of material to be removed. By shooting elevations perpendicular to these two points the estimated amount of material to be removed for just that section was 650 cubic metres. For the sake of argument, and if you allow some assumptions such as: the assumption that the entire driving range has a similar profile to the 75/100 metre section and you estimate that from 25 metres all the way to 125 m we needed to cut an average of .5 of a metre you could ball park the amount of material we needed to move to get to the "desired" elevation. Don't take these number to the bank but as a discussion point you could say the amount of material removed was 2600 cubic metre or 3400 cubic yards. Dump truck wise, assuming 15 cubic yards per truck, that is about 227 trucks! Again, there is quite a bit assumptions but if gives you an idea.

Next post will show sodding and end result.

What's new.

2011-09-24T11:35:00.000-07:00

This past week has been very busy and my time has been spread pretty thin so some stuff got put back burner. As I threatened last post, we have begun to aerate this week. We will begin with the fairways (see The Down Hill Slide....from 2010 for information on why) and will move onto greens starting the week of the 25th.
The tournament schedule leading up to last week sort of played with our falling spray program dates and, as a result, we have quite a bit of Fusarium (again, see posting from 2010 title Week of May 23 for more info on Fusarium) on the greens but we did get the first of our treatment down at the beginning of the week and now all we have to do is grow out the damage from this bout of disease and keep up with treatments on our normal fall schedule.
If you've played this week you probably noticed the work going on at the range. I was waiting until I posted anything about the project but that is just stupid because if I wait until it is done everyone will have found out for themselves, or worse, through the rumour mill about what is going on. I'll treat the project like the "River Updates" and rehash the week and give notice of what is to come the following week so people know what's what.

Driving Range Update
Firstly why the range and why now? The "why the range" was touched on in last weeks post (see Update). Why now? The quick and dirty answer might be something along lines of "best bang for the buck". Few other projects discussed by the Strategic Planning committee and presented to the Board of Directors had the same cost to potential revenue ratio (if there really is such a ratio?!). A new green or new tee would update the layout but, unless you're planning to do nine new golf holes, I'm not sure how much more play building or updating a single tee would bring in (not saying we don't need to do that, but that is whole new topic!), A driving range can add to the bottom line of a golf course in many ways. People buy driving range passes on top off their regular seasons pass and if your range is suitable people will come and practice even if they aren't members. The more people that hang around the club the greater the exposure and the better off the club will be in many aspects including membership numbers and extra revenue. Furthermore, a suitable range opens up numerous opportunities for offering special lessons and even the development of multi day clinics which again means more people spending time at KGC.

Right now the bulk of the work is stripping the old sod and moving material. We don't have the equipment to do that so we brought in a bulldozer to rough shape the range.

Pushin' the old tee deck

Prior to stripping material we dug out all the irrigation heads (24 in total) and will re-use those when we add back new pipe to the range. We also took the time to remove the perennials on the back of the tee and will use those around the golf course.

Bucket O' Perennials

Next post will have some information on how much material we needed to move but until then the following picture shows how much material was moved after one day (and, FYI, at the point this picture was taken we weren't even half way!)

Wildlife
On Thursday we got to watch the cubs and their "mom" devour some of the chokecherries around the putting green. Next to 3 green they demolished the Schubert chokecherry tree. I think I may have to admit that a Schubert is a poor choice for a tree at KGC.

River Watch

September 24

The flow is so low now that we can't even pump 130 GPM any more. At present, we have had to use one of the control valves to limit the pump station output to 100 GPM. I guess the good news is the reservoir is mostly full and the water demands are somewhat limited. I am not having much luck getting hold of the necessary government departmental representatives to line up the required permits to perform the obviously needed work at our intake. I'll keep trying and, hopefully, things fall into place before next April or, worst cast, next August.

Upate

2011-09-15T08:46:00.000-07:00

Starting next week (September 19th week) we will begin to do a small renovation project on the golf course. In an effort to update and make some of our facilities more usable the club decided to direct resources at bettering the driving range. The ultimate goal will be to increase the teeing area and grade the range so players are able to see the balls they hit land at any distance over the entire breadth of the range. The range will close for the season once we begin moving earth and it is planned for it to open early next spring. I'll post greater details and the progression of the project in the future.

Wildlife

No real news to anybody who has golfed over the past month but there is small bear who is making KGC his stomping grounds.

It has taken me this long to get a decent picture. We think it is the same bear from last year since the white marking on its chest are similar to one we had around the course last fall. The good news is he is healthy looking and making short order of this seasons saskatoons. We are notifying players when the bear is out and there is a posting on number one tee informing the uninitiated on how to handle encounters. (Click link for information regarding bear encounters www.env.gov.bc.ca/wld/documents/bearwld.htm)

River Watch

Still hanging in there. The single operating pump shutdown on Sunday and we were down beginning of this week to move rocks to get it up an running again at around 130 GPM. The combined fertilizing and nice weather require us to use more water than usual this time of year so the reservoir is low but as long as we can keep pumping until we blow the lines in October we should be able to fill the reservoir and have water for the beginning of next year......FYI: we like to have the reservoir full in the spring since there has been years where we've been using water on the course but were unable to pump up from the river because of a low run off. For me its comparable to having money tucked away in a sock for a rainy day.

September 15

Not so exciting times

2011-09-08T05:02:00.000-07:00

My dad says there is a Chinese curse that says something along the lines of "may you live in exciting times". Keeping that phrase in mind I can honestly say over the past couple weeks we've been blessed and definitely not cursed. Events on the the golf course have been extremely typical almost leaning towards boring. With summer staff leaving we don't really have the staff for small projects such as the paving block work we've been doing around the ball washer areas at the tees. Most of our time has been spent doing routine maintenance.

I've done a very preliminary scout of "beetle trees"and have found more. The most disturbing find so far is next to 6 green where a very large Ponderosa pine was hit hard by the beetle. This is the first large tree on the front nine to be attacked. Its location next to the road, power lines, and 6 green may result in us having to remove some extra trees to get it to fall where it will do the least damage. We will start to visit the usual areas and by the end of September I should have a good idea of how many trees we need to fall.

Dying Ponderosa on the Right

The club is hosting a regional tournament this Saturday so we won't start anything too crazy but be forewarned it is time to aerate. We will start by picking away at the fairways and then start in on the greens by the third or fourth week in September. There is some projects bubbling away on the back burner and if those heat up I may need to move regular fall preparation up a week or two.

River Watch

August 28

September 8

We've been running on one pump (about 230 GPM) since the end of August and have been able to keep up with the golf course demand. This past Monday we had the first low wet well shutdown. I was able to adjust the flow down to 180 GPM but that only lasted a day and the pumps shutdown again. I had to decrease the flow further to 120 GPM to keep the one pump filling the reservoir . We brought down a crew of 4 and after a couple of hours of moving rocks and we able to increase the flow near the intake allowing me to operate the pumps at around 180 GPM. This is only the first of many visits to keep the water flowing so stay tuned for more updates.

August Update

2011-08-23T12:56:00.001-07:00

The heat we are getting now is very nice. It's even nicer that we are getting it in August and not July since that would make for a very long summer for the turf (and the my staff!). Also, I'm pretty sure it won't last past the September long weekend. The other nice thing about August heat is the August nights can be cool and grass likes to grow roots during warm days and cool nights. Those areas with inferior irrigation are becoming very obvious with the heat and since we've had no appreciable rain for weeks those areas with no irrigation are in complete summer dormancy. Golf course wise we are just trying to hang on and get through the Pucksters Tournaments.

Wildlife

Not the best picture but just last week I saw a turkey hen and her brood out on 12 tee.

River Watch

We had some problems with the connection to the river but half a day, a pump, shovels, and two guys got everything going again. The flow is still good but it is dropping weekly. Before this little blast of heat and wind I thought our water usage would be on the decline but the turf is drying faster than I can water.

August 7

August 18

More holes

2011-08-04T09:47:00.001-07:00

I could include the usual pre-amble regarding lack of posts over the last couple weeks (not much happening, staffing, etc., etc.) but it never changes so I won't bother going into any detail.

We started to aerate the tees this week as well as needle tine the greens with our deep tine aerator the same as we did last year (see deep tine ). Both are fairly low key events and will be followed by a light top dressing on the greens next week and and a heavy top dressing on the tees.

Obligatory Aeration/Clean up
Picture for the Tees

A little follow up to the from our spot fairway aeration I referenced during the July 7th post.

New Grass In
Aeration Holes

This picture was taken July 17th and shows all the little sprouts from the overseeding coming up. With the possible exception of the aeration on the left of 14 fairway all other areas are looking great and the whole process has allowed me to back off the water in these areas as well as eliminate any extra hand watering. This is something we will start up again in September when the timing is better.

The fox is still around and has made the local paper. In the following picture the fox is within arms length and was busy eating a mouse.

River Watch

Here we go again. I'm optimistic that with the level it is now and the the fact that it is already August we should have no problems but I want to keep a record and this is a good vehicle for doing that.

River Level
August 7

Something different from this springs run off was the deposit of a log just outside the intake. The angle is perfect but if I could choose I would place it 300 yard up stream so the log could continue to direct the flow of the water to the intake as the river level dropped.

LDS not LSD

2011-07-15T04:31:00.000-07:00

No you're not hallucinating there is something funky on the greens. Sometimes with the heat (and usually after an aeration) the greens can develop dinner plate sized spots which can sometimes coalesce into a nice paisley patterns that cover large areas. The spots are a result of the turf being water stressed and are called Localized Dry Spots (LDS). There is multiple reasons why these occur including too much thatch, soil compaction, steep slopes, insects, disease, and the obvious one, poor irrigation coverage. Also, a sandy root zone that has accumulated enough organic molecules on a number of sand particles can eventually reach a point where the moisture content is so low that the growth media change from wettable to non-wettable resulting in the eventual turf decline.

LDS spot at the T-handle

End of the Soil Probe

Within LDS the sand is powder dry. I took two plugs, one from a LDS and one directly next a LDS to demonstrate.

Plug with Adequate Moisture

Versus Plug from LDS

We deal with these spots in a couple of ways. First, we spike the green surface to help break the surface tension that develops over the LDS. The equipment we use is nothing more than a series of "ninja throwing stars" lined up on a shaft which rotates as we pull it over the green.

Spiker Kit

The holes created are about one inch deep and hardly disrupt the surface.

Spiking Aftermath

To take full advantage of the perforations in the green surface the second thing we do is spray a class of product called a wetting agent. This product also has the characteristic of decreasing water surface tension as well as acting as a surfactant that allows the interaction of the dipolar water molecules with non-polar organic molecules coating some sand particles with the end result of making the once hydrophobic sand particle hydrophilic.

Usually, we can get a few months between treatments but a lot of that has to do with the weather (as usual) and how dry we let the greens get in between watering cycles. The easy thing to do would be to never shut the water off on the greens but that makes for some squishy greens so if it heats up more and we keep the greens dry you may see these spots before you eyes again before the season is up.

More aeration

2011-07-07T14:57:00.000-07:00

What to write about when nothing seems new? I guess I could do a quick review of the past couple weeks. We continued with aerating other spots once the greens where done. I made mention of why we aerate and top dress the collars and aprons in the past (see aerating collars) and the same reasons still hold true this time out.

Puchin' #13 Approach

We also took the time to aerate select spots on the certain fairways. We've done this many times in the past during early summer and it has resulted in better conditions during the remainder of the season for those select spots. We choose areas that a prone to drying out and, as a result, require extra work to keep them playable and looking good. We try to punch as many holes as possible and then overseed those areas with a blend of bluegrass/rye grass seed. I like to reuse the cores we collect from the spring greens aeration mixed with one part Nature's Gold (commercial compost composed of ..... you don't want to know but if you know someone in Kelowna chances are pretty good some of their "business" is on our fairways) and one part sand. We lay it on pretty thick with the hope of filling the newly created holes. The top dressing will also cover the seeds which helps give a better catch.

Aerating and Cleaning Cores
at Lone Pine

The next area to see the aerator will be the tees but I think everybody needs a bit of reprieve so chances are we won't be doing tees until the end of July.

One more quick comment about the greens aeration. I can see with the benefit of hindsight that the greens at KGC didn't really respond the way I had hoped. Although they are growing well with lots of grass and new roots are starting to appear they are still too soft. With the heat arriving last weekend I was happy with how well they coped, however, that was short lived and now we are having to hand water LDS (Localized Dry Spots) like crazy. Ultimately, the greens will be better off but my preference would be to not deal with the problems we are facing now. This falls aeration will not be as aggressive as I alluded to in the last post but more likely a repeat of the 2010 fall aeration (2010 fall aeration)

4 Green Surface

Aerating Greens

2011-06-25T10:36:00.000-07:00

On Monday and Tuesday of this week (and Wednesday also, actually) we aerated all greens. It's now Saturday and time for an early assessment of the process.

Day One

We followed the same idea as last year and only required 3 guys to aerate the greens and pick the cores.

Cleaning Up Cores

Surface Immediately after
Aerating

The pattern we tried this time out was a tight 1.5" X 1.5" with an 3/8's - 3/4's cross tine set alternating with a 1/4 - 1/4 side eject set. With that combination of tines we pulled three 3/8's and four 1/4" cores and punched three 3/4 slices per holder for a total of forty-two holes and eighteen slices over the width of the aerator. Using an average size green at KGC and it works out to be 600,000 holes over the entire surface but because we used some cross tines (FYI cross tines just punch a hole in the shape of an X and don't remove any material) we really only pulled an average of 420,000 cores per green.

Day 2

2 Days After Aeration and
1 Day After Sand Top Dressing

We top dressed in two direction at a medium rate. I think that may have been a mistake since the larger holes may be too big to disappear in a timely fashion. My concern was adding too much sand and then end up stressing the greens while trying to incorporate/disperse the excess sand. We've done that before and that process comes with its own set of headaches.

Day 3

Some greens dried out more than others following aeration and on those stressed greens the larger holes remained prominent. Again, more sand would have helped here.

Day 4

Not really a whole lot different from the previous day. Although the weather was cool following aeration I don't really think that impacted recovery. The visible holes in the above picture are from the 3/8 's tines.

I guess good news is all the greens appear healthy and are growing. They are very soft not only from the aeration but also from all the extra water they are getting as we try to limit drought stress. We will have to top dress again but you won't notice. The mechanic, however, will since the reels will need extra sharpening this week. We will have play a bit with tine selection before our next aeration in the fall. We aerated the new putting green with all 3/8's on a 1.5"x1.5" spacing and it handled it not too bad. I know not every green on the course could handle that spacing but based on this aeration we may try using 1/4" tines on the 1.5"x1.5" spacing instead and see what comes of that.

More Wildlife

2011-06-24T20:14:00.001-07:00

This week was busy with aerating and top dressing the greens and select areas on the fairways. I'll review how things went on the next post. This posting is short and is only meant to highlight some wild life sightings. This fox in the following picture has been cruising the course over the past couple days looking for "good eats".

Just after I took this picture he trotted directly next to my vehicle like I wasn't even there. I later saw him carrying what I hoped was a gopher in his mouth but, unfortunately, I think it was a chipmunk.

Not so unique but still awfully cute was this picture of a very new fawn that was born on Wednesday in the bush just off of 11 fairway.

They won't be such a nuisance if they stayed this small and lived in trees but I guess the squirrels pretty much have that market cornered.

It's been long time.

2011-06-18T08:42:00.000-07:00

There hasn't been any new posts for a variety of reasons but the main one is that not much has been going on. The weather has put a damper on the play and some of our activities but it has made it easy to grow grass. I sort of feel guilty when all we have to do is mow. Heck, we haven't even had to water. It is getting so bad that the grass is starting to grow over our irrigation heads!

Starting this week things will change slightly since that is when we begin to aerate the greens. Last years spring aeration was fairly successful so we will try something along the same lines but with some changes (see July 8, 2010 for more info) . We weren't able to do the amount of aerating I was hoping last year so only using small 1/4" tines each time out would eventually catch up to us. We are going to try a combination of last springs and last falls aeration's which means just a few more big (3/8's) tines versus all little tines. As a demonstration we aerated the old putting green on Monday and saw positive results.

Putting Green Five Days
After Aeration

The decision on what combination of tines we use is based on the reasons why we are aerating and general health of the turf. As mentioned in older posts, this type of shallow aeration is mostly for thatch removal, compaction relief, and increased oxygen exchange in the upper root zone. I'll tell you a secret if you promise not to tell the other superintendents....most of our roots, if not all, are only in the top 2 - 3 inches of our greens. Pulling a core that is 5 to 6 inches deep just ends up puffing up the surface since there are no roots to hold down the turf at that depth. Unfortunately, it's sort of a chicken and egg argument: you won't have deeper roots if you don't give them somewhere to go and you can't pull a deep core unless there is a deep enough root mass. We could always pull a deep core and just deal with puffy greens but it my job to find a happy medium between beneficial maintenance practices and playability. By using a tighter spacing and removing more material we have been slowly increasing root mass in the top couple inches (I make that bold statement based not on any hard empirical data but more on off-hand observations such as general firmness, slightly longer times between watering, and visual observation of root mass). Ultimately, with the help of deep tine aeration and slowly increasing the depth at which we pull a core I hope to increase root depth. However, with a mostly Poa annua grass and suspect irrigation coverage I'm sometimes just happy to see the mowers getting any grass at all!

Flower and Fusarium

2011-06-02T19:21:00.000-07:00

Once the rain quit and the sun came out there was a fairly showy flower display throughout the entire course. I'll guess most everybody knows what is what but here is a few pictures of the most obvious flowers out now.

Saskatoon Bush

Saskatoon's are all over especially on the outside borders of the course. Luckily most people from B.C. think they are too dry (?) but for a stubble jumper such as myself they are a great treat.

Oregon Grape.

This bush is all over in the deep rough. Apparently you can make a jelly out of the berries? I guess it might be worth a try just make sure to stay away from those dry, icky saskatoon berries.

Triple Combo

A combination chokecherry, trembling aspen and another yucky saskatoon bush

Balsamroot

Everyone has seen these on the south facing dry slopes at the golf course. I guess the good news is you can eat the leaves and even use them for smokin'. Nice option instead of eating saskatoon berries which, as everyone knows, are no good.

Oh yeah, and don't forget the poa flower. Obviously completely different from normal flowers the type of infloresence on the poa is what makes the fairways appear white and can affect ball roll on some of greens (see kimberleygolfclub.blogspot.com/2010/06/poa-in-full-flower.html for more information)

As nice as the wet and somewhat cool weather has been for the native plants blossom production it has been equally nasty for disease development. All greens, some worse than others, have small round, reddish brown spots which are the symptoms of a fungal infection known as Microdochium (or old school punks such as myself call it Fusarium) patch. Interestingly enough it is the same pathogen that causes pink snow mould with the only difference between the two occurrences is the type of weather. As an overwintering disease it can cause significant damage and it is one of the reasons we have to treat the turf to help ensure there is limited damage in the spring. As a spring/early summer disease it is usually not as severe and sometimes all that is needed is a change in the weather, a little nutrition and the turf can take care of itself. This may not be one of those times since it appears we are headed back into a damp cool trend weather wise. (see kimberleygolfclub.blogspot.com/2010/05/week-of-may-23.html for more of the same regarding spring disease).

Small Fusarium Spots

Large Fusarium Spots

Review of Last Winters Disease Control

2011-05-30T04:42:00.000-07:00

Now that we are through the May long weekend it is the unofficial beginning of summer golf and the supposed end of turf recuperative operations. As a result, I thought I would touch on how we fared this past winter. Its seems sorta a mute point being that we are well into golf season but there may be some things people aren't aware of.

Weather

If you've talked to me anytime this spring about how the course over wintered you've heard me comment on how the weather conditions last fall and winter had a big impact on spring conditions. Last fall was huge with respect to the turf achieving proper dormancy: dry, gradual but consistent temperature drop, and lots of light. A lot of the problems in the spring of 2010 related to the early and extremely cold temperatures in the fall of 2009 when the turf wasn't ready for it. Another plus was the fact that the snow pack this year was dry and deep. We rode out the one rain/thaw event in January with no ice. Even if any water reached the green surfaces I doubt it would have caused problems since for most of season the ground was unfrozen and water would have been able to soak in. Sometimes unfrozen ground, especially when it is wet and the grass is too lush, can exacerbate snow mould occurrences; however, this time out that was not the case. The more I think about it the more I think the soil temperature and soil moisture had an impact on spring conditions.

Fall Fungicide Applications

Treated Area in the Picture Foreground

Untreated Area Between White and Red Markers

This was the last year we were able to use quintozene (see kimberleygolfclub.blogspot.com/search?q=pmra for back ground) for winter disease control. We've messed around with different products on the greens over the past two years and I am comfortable with what we now use to treat the greens. Treating fairways for snow mould is our biggest cost when it comes to disease control. The alternative products available for 2011 are no where near as cost effective as quintozene. For the winter of 2010 we compared the efficacy of two different sprays against quintozene and, at least for this winter, we had good results.

Kimberley "Snow Mould Trials"

Far from scientific but hopefully some sort of indicator. You may have to double click on the picture to get a better view but this picture shows a fairway split longitudinally into three sections. In the centre of the picture between the rows of yellow pin flags is the quintozene spray. On either side is the two sprays we compared to quintozene. We did this comparisons at select spots on different fairways throughout the golf course with similar results. What that means for the future is had to say since, as previously mentioned, the weather had such a positive impact on spring conditions. The one comment that can be said with a large degree on confidence is the fact that the two alternative sprays we compared to quintozene were twice the price so if we want to continue some level of snow mould control the cost will go up. This winter we'll mess around some more but I think it will take a few winters before I'll have the same level of confidence with the quintozene alternatives.

River Update

I'm always amazed at the how the St. Mary river level can change from day to day. I stuck this video in here in an effort to show how fast and deep the river is but the impact is minimal unless you're familiar with the golf course intake. Obviously, water is not a problem but what a big and dirty run off can do is plug the intake with silt and clay making is harder to get necessary volumes later on despite there being lots of water in the river. As usual, it is a wait and see thing.

Lynx (or Bobcat?) sighting

2011-05-20T14:33:00.000-07:00

Lynx?

Earlier this week one morning some staff saw a lynx cruising the back nine. One staff member had a camera on his phone and took a picture. Just like a Loch Ness Monster or Sasquatch "sighting" the picture is sort of left open for interpretation but this sight was corroborated by two sane and sober (possibly) people so I am taking it to be a real event.

Most of this week was taken up with tree maintenance. We purchased 8 trees to replace some damaged and weak trees we've planted over past couple years. You have to know where to look to see where we've placed them so, in other words, the new trees are nothing too terribly exiciting.

One spot you will see, however, is the hole on the left of 5 fairway about 120 or so yards from the green. While digging out the trees we were replacing we also did some root pruning.

Digging out Roots

Roots had crept into the fairway and were becoming a problem when we mowed. The tree is large and, generally, if you are careful not to remove too much root mass there should be no serious harm to the tree.

Ponderosa Pine and Root
Excavation

One great picture that shows the benefits of root pruning goes back to when we added extra irrigation around 6 green a few years ago. I took the following picture late in fall long after the irrigation had been blown out. The picture clearly shows the dividing line of where we dug a trench for the new irrigation.

Visual Benefits of
Root Pruning Trees

During excavation we dug through numerous tree roots that were reaching out into 6 fairway. Once the tree roots were cut the turf no longer had to compete for water with the tree and grew to become a decent stand of grass. From the above picture you can obviously see that the turf on tree side of the trench still had the added stress of competing with the tree roots and, as a result, it entered dormancy sooner than the turf on the "root free" side of the trench. Every time I mow #2 or #6 fairways I always think about implementing a irrigation/root pruning program for those fairways since the roots are so prevalent on those holes.

Quick Word About Bunkers

2011-05-15T10:18:00.000-07:00

While most bunkers have been edged and readied for the season some have been left untouched and are marked with a "G.U.R." sign. Those particular bunkers (13 Fwy, 13 G & 14 Fwy on left) all require some additional sand to get them playable. They are not the only ones but they are definitely the worst. We are on the list for a delivery of sand but I am not sure when we are expecting it. We are restricted for bulk storage and since we always need a quantity of top dressing sand on hand for the top dressing program the greens are on we can only receive one load (approx. 40 yards) of bunker sand due to those limitations.

What I am trying to say is plan for getting those bunkers back into play is going to be a herkey-jerky sort of process with a mad flurry of activity followed by a waiting period and then another mad flurry followed by waiting, etc., etc. Actually, we only budgeted for a few loads and there isn't that many bunkers so the process shouldn't last all season but expect some of those bunkers to be out of play for most of the spring.

With respect to the long skinny bunker on the back of 1 green we have started to fill it in and will end up creating some mounding and long grass to capture balls. The motivation for this project mostly relates to the amount of labour and materials that go into maintaining the bunker during the season. It required more sand this season and since it is surrounded by quack grass we were having to spray Round-up monthly in an effort to keep the weedy grass species from taking over the bunker. For me, the image of a bunker filled with grass creeping through out is unappealing. Further, we had a pile of fill from an irrigation project two years ago that was cluttering up the left of 2 rough and it needed to get cleaned up. The initial plan was to use that material for fill during the rebuild of 3 tee but that project is constantly getting shelved for one reason or another. All these factors combined have lead to the removal of the skinny bunker on 1 green.

Visage System for Golf Carts

2011-05-09T12:59:00.000-07:00

If you've taken out a cart this year you may have noticed how periodically a notice pops up on the screen which normally displays yardage from the GPS. This batch of carts has the option of directing traffic throughout the golf course. This type of notification is particularly helpful for new players who may be unfamiliar with the course layout; however, it also might be a bit of a bummer for some of the regulars.
I've been reviewing cart traffic since we opened and have created boundaries based on traffic patterns up to this point. The way the system is suppose to work is as a cart nears an area that has been "electronically fenced" a noise is emitted and a notice appears providing driving instructions with respect to where the cart should be: "Please Use Cart Path", or "Back Up", or something like that. Generally, the way I've tired to set up the system is through a series of notifications that slow the cart from its regular speed of 12 Km to 10 Km then down to 7 Km then to 2Km with a notice indicating to "Keep Carts Back From Green". Finally, before reaching the green surface, the last control option stops the cart and the only way out is to back up.

Screen Shot From Visage Control Centre
Showing the Various Layers of Control

We can also prevent carts from leaving the property by using a type of control that shuts down the carts completely once it enters particular areas (no more taken the golf carts to the Marysville Pub, G.B.!) Other areas where notifications pop up include slopes that may be slippery or steep. This system allows us to manage the cart fleet and lessen the opportunity for damage from malicious individuals. Also, people operating the carts are protected from getting into situations where they may be hurt (think of the rolled cart incident that occurred on right side of #14). My hope was to "de-clutter" the golf course with less paint (no more white lines in front of the greens), less stakes and ropes, and less directional signage since too much of that stuff detracts from the golf course and its surroundings, IMO. As with all things it will take some tweaking and getting use to for everybody. I also hope not to be too much of a fascist control freak so if you disagree with some of the notifications for reasons other than "Because that's the way I've always done it!" let me know and I will try to find a common ground.

Week of May 1st

2011-05-06T19:31:00.000-07:00

First week of May and it seems like we are in full swing with routine maintenance. We are still mowing at early season H.O.C. but have been working steadily on improving the playing conditions on the greens. The holes from the deep tine aeration from last fall have mostly healed but the heaving of the green surface from that aeration is still present and the rutting that results from the mowing equipment is our biggest battle now. We have been vibratory rolling and topdressing at a moderate rate since the opening and I hope to have the greens firmed up and smooth before too long.

Spreading Sand with
Top dresser

Last spring we purchased the top dresser pictured and it has taken the job of top dressing and made it so much quicker and easier. This style of top dresser instead of just dropping the sand onto the surface incorporates spinning discs that throw the sand into the turf canopy. Depending on the rate, we can sometimes get away without having to drag the sand and disrupt the surface. All that is needed is a overnight irrigation. The other great thing is the distance this top dresser throws the sand. Again, depending on the rate, sand can be thrown up to 30 feet. To appreciate how this speeds the whole process it now only takes 2 passes with the twin spinner top dresser to cover our narrowest green versus 11 passes with our other drop style of top dresser.

Geotextiles and what they can do.

2011-04-29T15:33:00.000-07:00

This coming Saturday (April 30) we will open all 18 holes for regular season play. If you played this past week you may have noticed the color of the greens.

Left side was uncovered
Right side was covered

It is almost a comical, brilliant green (which I guess is way better than a depressing, dull brown!) that is due entirely to the geotextiles or tarps we have been covering the greens with since the snow left. We often use tarps when we are trying to speed the recovery of weak areas but this time we used them to protect the turf from the unseasonably cool weather and to increase the soil temperatures and promote quicker growth. Generally, temperatures under tarps are about two degrees warmer overnight and can be near 10 to 15 degrees warmer than air temperatures on a sunny day. Characteristics of a good "green up" tarp are 50 % light penetration, permeable to air and water, and lightweight (1 to 3 oz/ sqyd). Warmer temperatures, moisture, and air exchange allow turf to grow like it is summer. The risk of covering greens is the possibility of "baking" the grass or drying it out if air temperatures under the tarp get too high for a length of time. This time out the worst thing we may have done was grow too much grass. The first mow caused scalping and the H.O.C. was probably to low but nothing serious.

Oh yeah one more thing.....

2011-04-23T10:49:00.000-07:00

I forgot to ball park an opening for the rest of the course in the last posting. Take a look at the picture of number 12 that was taken the same day (today, Saturday, April 23) as we opened the front.

Not all the back holes are like this but obviously the back is at least a week if not more away from opening

Short and Sweet

2011-04-23T04:00:00.000-07:00

This week has been such a mish-mash of weather that clean up has sort of been a hit and miss thing; however, we will open the front nine on Saturday, April 24th.

For the crew it has been a straight forward week with most of the focus on clean up and prep. The greens in play have been mowed twice, top dressed and rolled. As in the past, the height of cut (H.O.C.) is suitable for the time year and weather conditions. As things warm up and we get on a regular fertility program the H.O.C. with change accordingly. The biggest hurdle for the greens now will be working out the ruts and humps from the deep tine aeration at the end of last year. There is still snow on the course that may interfere with play but hopefully people understand how the weather (my favourite crutch!) has had an impact on clean up. The good news is all the front nine greens are in play and suffered no damage this winter.

It suppose to be sunny this weekend so come out and get reacquainted with people and the course and be thankful there is no snow in the forecast.

Speeding up the Spring

2011-04-15T07:00:00.001-07:00

Anybody living in Kimberley knows what kind of Spring we've been having and how it is dragging out with respect to the melt. Once an area is exposed the surrounding snow goes rapidly but if there is any shade, especially during the afternoons, the melt is definitely slow. This week we decided that if we are trying for an April opening we should address those lingering snow areas. Spreading dark material is the one way to speed melting but since the snow is fairly deep in some areas we had to knock it down to a level we could work with. (see
http://kimberleygolfclub.blogspot.com/2009/11/snow-at-beginning-of-w eek-was.html for a bit of history re: snow removal from the fairways). The tractor was used to drag snow into the exposed areas in the rough.

Tractor dragging snow

We followed up by spreading a sand/organic mix over the remaining snow and sat back and hoped that the forecast was wrong and we would get some sun. However, this morning (Friday, April15) we arrived to work and found this:

The picture looks worse than it is but there was a couple inches. Not very much but what it does when it melts, obviously, is make everything wet again and adds to the further delay in getting equipment onto the course for clean up. Opening could still be next weekend but at this rate it is tough to commit and I promise we won't have all the clean up completed. Stay tuned.

End of the Week Update for April 8th

2011-04-08T16:22:00.000-07:00

As I was hoping for, the snow has started to move again and we've seen some melting. The little snow squalls throughout the week haven't really hurt us much but the overnight lows are slowing up the melt. Seasonal norms are highs of +13 Celsius and lows of -1 Celsius. This past week we've recorded highs anywhere from +6 to +10 but the lows, except for one day, have been -8 to -10. The snow will set up and not really start to move until early afternoon and with that occurring we don't see a whole lot of melting. Opening is still tough to call especially when it comes to predicting when we will have all 18 holes open. Take a look at the following pictures I took this afternoon (Friday, April 8) to see the difference between holes.

12 fairway looking towards
the green

9 fairway looking towards
the green

We are still trying for an "April-ish" kinda opening.?.?

Two Steps Forward, One Step Back

2011-04-04T14:46:00.000-07:00

By the end of last week the snow was beginning to disappear at a slow and steady rate and some of the greens were becoming exposed and everything seemed good. Obviously, the past weekends weather has set things back a bit. Optimistically, we should be back to where we were by the end of this week. Possible problems might be increased incident of disease on those greens that were exposed, but I doubt it. Everything I could see last week had no obvious problems and I would guess the turf can handle at least one more bout of winter.

The one other thing that could be addressed here is the Poa/Bent difference, again. Possible metaphors you could use to describe the two types of turf might be The Tortoise and the Hare, or The Ant and the Grasshopper with Poa representing the Hare and/or Grasshopper. Throw in the fact that it doesn't take a whole lot of encouragement for Poa to "get its dormancy off" and what could result is an ill-timed growth spurt. Bentgrass, obviously, represents the other side of those fables: slow and steady, plan for a rainy day, etc. etc. is less likely break dormancy early. Breaking winter dormancy too early could lead to damage from crown hydration. Damage results when cells within the crowns (the point from which leaf and roots originate,again think of an onion) absorb water and freeze. If the temperature drop is severe ice may develop within the plants and burst the cells ultimately killing the plant. I have referenced this before as it relates to damage in the early winter and melting ice and is the biggest reason why I want surface water off the greens in the spring. I would hazard a guess that this is a slim possibility. If anything good came out of the snow this past weekend it was the protection the cover offered from the -12 lows experienced on Saturday night.

I'll keep everyone informed by posting where we are at later in the week.

Annual Spring Photo and Projected Opening Date

2011-03-31T08:46:00.000-07:00

Spring 2011

For background go to: http://kimberleygolfclub.blogspot.com/2010/04/when-do-we-open.html.

In 2010 we had no snow at the same time of year and opened 9 holes on April 17 with the remaining of the course open for play by the middle of the following week. This year?

Opening depends on more than just the disappearance of snow from the course. Aside from waiting for conditions to dry up from the run off, I also like to have as much as the irrigation going as possible since the turf will require small amounts of water to help in the continual recovery from the winter as well as cope with the stress associated with play and maintenance. I've long given up the idea of having everything completely prepared for play first thing in the spring. Even after the snow melts and the course drys we would need another 5 -7 days with a crew of at least 6 to clean up from the winter and prep the entire course for play. My guess is people are anxious to get out and probably don't want to wait. Working in and amongst play is slow and inconvenient (for everybody!) but it probably only adds a few days to the clean up and as a general rule, I think, people just want to get out and work out the cob webs for the first few rounds.

A guess would have things up and running no sooner than the third week in April?

Blowin' Snow

2011-03-28T12:06:00.001-07:00

The snow level is starting to drop to a manageable level for us to work with. Shady spots still have up to 16 to 18 inches but other areas with even a little mid-day sun are getting down to the 12" level.

We began removing snow from the greens and started with #7 since it was the only green with an impermeable cover. We wanted to get some air exchange between the stale air under the tarp and the atmosphere (this relates back to a condition called anoxia. See http://kimberleygolfclub.blogspot.com/2009_11_01_archive.html). Things appear to be O.K. with no obvious disease and no stench (the usual indicator of problems). As usual, we will get a better read on things once the turf shows signs of growth.

Course Update...such as it is

2011-03-19T06:11:00.000-07:00

This will be brief. Snow is melting but we are still dealing with 20 inches on shady spots and 16 inches in the sunny areas. Temperatures have been nice but not as nice as the seasonal norms of plus 10. At the present snow level, removal would be arduous and could create large, dense snow banks that would be slow to melt. The usual reason we remove snow is to address suspected problems such as ice, disease, or tarp removal. We've dug down and haven't seen any obvious ice in the usual low areas or disease (to be far disease doesn't really show up until after snow melt).

18 Green Surface

The color is far from mid-season but based on the growth of the plugs we've pulled from the greens this year it seems to be temporary as seen from this pictures of a plug from 1 green.

Plug from #1 Green
March 4th

Plug from #1 Green
March 18th

The snow is also limiting our mobility as exemplified by the following:

However, with the right vehicle we can get around:

The vehicle on the left of the picture is obviously lighter and has high floatation tires that allow us to drive on top of the snow if there is a dense, crusty layer. The picture I'm not showing is the one where I also got the "high flotation" vehicle stuck 100 yards down 4th fairway and had to dig a road to it with the bobcat to pull it out. What I am I trying to say? Patience.

The New Carts Have Arrived.

2011-03-14T15:14:00.000-07:00

Preparing to unload carts

Its still early but some things are happening in preparation for the golf season. Earlier this week we received the new carts which are all equipped with GPS. Not everyone knows that each time we get new carts they have to come from Georgia (the state not the country). The trucks left on a Wednesday and arrived early on a Monday. Each truck carries 28 carts (we needed 3 trucks for the 66 carts delivered) in a "double-decker" style trailer. The roofs, windshields, etc. are loaded in compartments located under the trailer. If you double click the following picture you can see how little room there is for the top row of carts. Driving them out is fairly straight forward but backing them up can be challenging. Luckily, the dudes from Georgia do it all and we just watch.

Ramp leading to upper row

Most the old carts were loaded and at least one truck and trailer returned those carts to the U.S. I am not sure about the rest but usually they are taken to Calgary and Club Car in Calgary sells them.

Truck in the fore ground is loading old
carts while the other unloads new carts

Now that all the carts are equipped with the Visage (or the GPS system to keep it simple) we now have the option to use all the features that are available with such a system. Aside from the obvious tracking time and movement of the carts, we will be able to control the area carts are allowed to travel. For instance, but placing an "electronic fence" around the golf course perimeter no cart will be able to leave the property since the new carts will automatically shut down once they reach the perimeter. No more going to the Marysville pub for beers! Even better, from a selfish stand point, is the ability to limit traffic in excessively wet areas after monsoons without stringing out miles of rope. Also, we can limit traffic on the steep banks located on the back nine roughs. We can control the speed of the carts around the clubhouse and on steep cart paths to help limit the possibility of roll overs and crashes. As with all things there will be tweaking to get it all finessed properly for KGC.

At the end of this week I'll do another post on course conditions and where we are headed but as it stands now it is still wintry and not a whole lot has changed.

More Winter Activities

2011-02-23T13:32:00.000-08:00

As is my style, I have not been keeping up on my commitment to explain some of our winter tasks so I'll try to remedy that now. Part of our time is spent primping and/or fixing the golf course accessories (i.e. ball washers, benches, garbage cans, etc., etc.). Mostly this is pretty mundane stuff so I'll pick the one which maybe slightly out of the ordinary. One of the items that everyone gets up close and personal with every time they golf is the flag stick. With all the handling that occurs throughout the season the flag can look pretty beat up in a short time.

Chipped flag pole

Purely by trial and error we have realized some brands withstand the groping better than others but eventually they all reach a point where they need painting. We've tried touching up spots but the paint never matches so this time out we strip the poles.

Spinning pole and
belt sander

The process we ultimately went with involved spinning the pole on an electric motor and sanding off the paint with a belt sander and 60 grit paper. We finished off with a very quick hand job using a finer grit to take care of the fiberglass slivers. It took about 10 minutes per pole to remove most of the paint.

Sanded
Pole

We used the same machine to paint the poles with three coats of whites and two coats of red to give the barber pole sort of look.

Original pole on left
Refinished pole on right

Replacement on these poles is $40 to $50 (or at least it was the last time we bought some!). Materials to do 24 poles was less than $100. Each pole from start to finish took about one hour so 3 complete days in all. Including wages refinishing was about 30 to 40 percent cheaper than buying new. The big unknown is how well the paint will stand up. We are hoping to get up to 2 years between paint jobs....time will tell. I guess the other thing is now that we've done it once we should be quicker since most of the bugs have been worked out.

February Update

2011-02-22T07:37:00.000-08:00

There is still any where from 16 to 20" of snow out on the course but I'm starting to think about Spring. Last week I dug down and pulled some plugs from known bad spots on greens with a history of sometimes being funky at the start of the year. One week later and things seem OK. I'm a little leery to suggest everything is "peachy" but I am optimistic.

Back #9 Green

Same plug 10 days later

I've sampled three other greens (6,8, and 13) and they look pretty similar to the above pictures.

No Good Pictures but No Bad News Either

2011-01-21T08:29:00.000-08:00

It took a few days to visit all the greens but I finally managed to get to each green and dig down to all surfaces. The level of snow varies from 19 inches down to 11 inches with a majority of the greens on the back having the most snow. All surfaces are thawed and only one, 12 green, has a very small ice layer on the back tier. When I'm checking for ice I generally have a good idea where to go on each green based on past ice events, shading from trees, and my "spidey sense". It would be pretty bold to say everything is rosy but based on observations from the chronic problem spots it seems that there was no real negative impact (i.e. ice formation) on the green surfaces from the past weeks warm weather. At present, we have a 2 to 3 inch hard crust over a loose corn snow done to a buttery soft green surface. What now? For selfish reasons I would like another series large of dumps until mid-March and then it can stop. However, if no more real snow comes I'm optimistic that we have enough protection until spring.

Could Be Worse

2011-01-17T19:20:00.000-08:00

14" Snow on 18 Green
Monday, Jan. 17

We have 3 days of rain and above normal temperatures under our belt and the snow is changing. Today I checked some select greens with chronic ice problems and things appear O.K. The amount of snow has dropped from 20" on Friday to 14" today. The consistency of the snow is no longer dry but has more of a "Mr. Misty" feel (a dated reference to a DQ treat) versus a "Slurpee" feel. What I mean to say is there is no real flowing water and the melted snow seems to have re-frozen into a small, loose ice granules. There is no longer defined layers within the snow profile (as mentioned in the last post) but instead the snow is more uniform top to bottom. Most likely the insulating and water holding/trapping characteristics are all but tapped out. A continuation of this and we may be facing a scenario similar to 2008. That year we had a similar situation (rain, days of above zero temperatures, and decreased snow integrity) quickly followed by a large drop in temperature and the almost immediate formation of surface ice that resulted in severe damage to 18 green. However, some things in our favour this year are the large amount of snow at the start of the warm spell and the fact that most surfaces are unfrozen. Also, with respect to 18 green, we installed extra drainage (see http://kimberleygolfclub.blogspot.com/2010_02_01_archive.html ). We will continue to check the greens and keep and eye on developments until it looks like things have stabilized.

Snow Pack

2011-01-14T11:54:00.000-08:00

20 inches (50 cm) of cover on
January 14

Middle of January and we're getting rain. Disappointing but not unusual. The good news is the existing snow cover is fairly resilient. Starting on Wednesday (Jan. 12) and continuing through to Thursday (Jan.13) 9 inches of snow was added to an already existing 16 inches of snow cover over unfrozen ground. At this point, the only thing the warm weather and rain has done is consolidate the most recent snow fall from 9 inches down to 4 or 5 inches.

One of the things in our favour right now is the layers that are within the 20 inches of snow. Five inches down from the top is a small, thin crusty layer that could help to slow any water percolating down onto the green surface. Five inches below this thin layer is another thicker band of "snow/ice" that resulted from exposure to an earlier warm spell back in December. This thicker layer could also slow or stop any water from reaching the green.

Layers with the snow cover
on 9 Green

The one more good thing (depending......?)as I mentioned in a previous post is the observation that most of the green surfaces are not frozen. If water did reach the surface it could easily continue into the root zone without the development of ice.

I've seen late season ice develop over unfrozen ground before. Usually, the ground temperature melts the ice from the bottom up and a little air layer develops between the ice and the green surface. As long as the ice is not so dense as to completely seal off gas exchange, is not on the surface for more than 30 - 45 days, and does not grow thicker damage can be minimal (the usual caveats apply to such a general statement: plant health and nutrition, plant spp., blah, blah, blah, etc., etc.)

I'll keep a watch over the next week or until the weather changes to monitor any changes to the greens surface and post any observations.

December

2010-12-13T09:18:00.001-08:00

It's coming up to almost one month since my last post and, as I indicated at the very beginning, that means there isn't a whole lot to talk about. Most of our time has been indoors tying up loose ends. I've slightly obsessed over updating and bettering our record keeping for fertilizer and chemical applications on the golf course. I've been trying to tie in our inventory to our application records in a "real time" sense. Previous years records help with purchasing in the new year but turf conditions, weather, maintenance practices, and gremlins can change the amounts of products used and the timing of applications. Sometimes we are unsure of where we stand with respect to the amount of particular product so, obviously, a more accurate method of tracking will keep us better informed of where we stand during the growing season.

#18 Green
Seeing an smelling "green" under snow cover
always makes my day.

Last week we checked conditions on green surfaces and found all but 5 were completely unfrozen and had no ice layers on the surface. Of the 5 frozen greens two were tarped (7 and 15) and the remaining three (12, 14, and 16) were untarped. What does all this mean? Its early to really comment but, generally, unfrozen surfaces suggests a year with high disease pressure. This may only be an issue on those fairways we did not spray and/or those fairways we experimented with "lite" spray rates. I'm fairly comfortable in saying that all the sprays applied to the green surfaces went well so disease on the green surface during the winter should not be too big of an issue. We have about a 11" (28cm) snow cover which should be able to absorb any small rain events. Moderate to heavy rain and mild temperatures will affect the integrity of the existing snow but any melting snow or rain making its way to the green surface should soak in since most of our greens are thawed. However, all bets are off if we have a catastrophic rain/melt event like we had in December 2007 (we had to sod a portion of 18 green in the spring of 2008 because of ice damage).

Winter

2010-11-20T06:17:00.000-08:00

Looking Backward Down 5 Fwy
(all the tracks are from the wildlife)

I'm pretty sure winter is here. If the cold temperatures and snow weren't enough the large number of geese flying south this week confirmed it. I tried to record the flocks and all the honking but none of the videos or stills were able to satisfactorily convey the event. All you heard in the video was my clothes rubbing together and the geese are all but specks in the still photos.

Keep snowing. Right now 9" (23cm) on the ground and flurries in the forecast. Up to this point, all things considered, barring the unforeseen, and God willing and the creek don't rise, etc., etc. (you can probably sense my restrained approach) the winter has set up to be far better than last year. A quick course check has revealed unfrozen surfaces on the sunny greens and some slight slush in low area on certain fairways which probably doesn't mean a whole lot this early in the season. At the very least we have some insulation against any cold snaps that come our way. At the very, worst conditions for disease (very near zero and some surface moisture) are present.

Equipment Maintenance

2010-11-15T07:38:00.000-08:00

This is the time of year when we tear down the equipment and try to get it back into shape for the next season. One of biggest tasks is reel grinding.

Grinding Room

Over the season the edges of the reels and bedknives wear and become dull or damaged. We can do some stop-gap measures on the larger reels throughout the regular season but ultimately the reels need to be sharpened. Reels have to be removed from the machines and are given a once over looking for worn bearing, seals, or general wear and tear. Before sharpening any deficiency must fixed. Each reel is ground on a specialized piece of equipment that sharpens all the blades at once by spinning the reel while a sharpening stone travels back and forth across the reel.

Sparks from Fairway Reel Being Ground
(You can't tell from the pictures but both the
stone and reel are spinning at the same time)

Aside from the reels, the bedknives also have to be ground. The way a reel works is similar to scissors. Grass blades pass between the rotating reel and the stationary bedknife and are sliced in a motion similar to a pair of scissors cutting paper. With both cutting edges freshly sharpened the reel is put back together and re-installed on the mower ready for next season.

Bedknife and Bedknife Grinder

If possible, major mechanical repairs are usually delayed until the off-season. During the summer the mechanics time is often occupied by routine equipment maintenance as well as other tasks thrust upon him "out of left field". In the past the mechanic had to crawl around on the concrete floor and attempt to dismantle and fix equipment while lying on his back. A couple years ago we had a season where only half of the dollar amount budgeted for equipment repair was spend ; a seldom occurring and never repeated event. We used that surplus to purchase an hoist for the shop.

Rough mower getting the
once over on the shop hoist

With exception of our tractor all equipment pieces can fit on the hoist. Aside from saving the mechanics back, this "tool" has allowed for less down time since repairs are faster as well as allowing for more extensive inspections which can catch problems before they get too damaging and costly.

Some of what we do in the Fall.

2010-11-01T06:54:00.000-07:00

I ran into a golfer the other day who seemed to be left with the impression that as soon as the golfing was done we were out of work. I guess my postings aren't making the impact with as many people as I had hoped.

This has been a great fall with a general trend of colder temperatures and limited rain (only 12mm for October). Combined, these circumstances will give the turf lots of cues to get ready for winter. I should give a little update on where we stand in general. All the preventative sprays on the greens, fairways, tees, and green surrounds are completed. All the "beetle trees" have been cut and stacked and the wildlife fences around the greens are up. The planted trees susceptible to wildlife damage have been protected (see "Typical Fall Work", Nov. 2009) as well as having a slight pruning (not the best time but getting around in winter is a pain!). We took advantage of the protracted fall to perform a little extra aerating and dormant overseeding on the driving range. We aerated the range in 3 directions, overseeded and then dragged the cores and seed into the the holes and low spots. The hope is to increase the turf density which will make it easier to pick the balls with the range picker.

At present there is only 3 staff working (me, the assistant, and the mechanic). We still have to take the tarps out of storage and lay them out where they belong. I'll do another post dedicated to tarping the greens and will give more information at that time. There are still a few loose ends from this year to clean up out on the course but nothing substantial. Ultimately, the work moves indoor and is mostly related to record keeping, equipment maintenance, reviewing and planning, and monitoring conditions. Actually, each one of those tasks deserves its own post so I won't go into too much detail other than to say that even though golf is finished we still manage to fill our days with cleaning up from this season and getting ready for next.

Trees and Shadows

2010-10-29T06:24:00.000-07:00

Last fall and this past spring have motivated me to pay closer attention to tree's surrounding certain greens and the impact their shadows have on turf growth. The benefits of adequate sun in the fall include the typical increased air circulation and faster drying of tissue surfaces to help limit disease development. Another very important aspect of fall sun relates to the storing of carbohydrates (CHO) within the plant needed for overwintering and growth in the spring. As mentioned before, the growth habit of turf in the fall changes because of cooler temperatures and shorter days. These changes signal the plant to slow vertical growth and direct energy toward roots and the creation and storage of CHO's. The more light/energy available to a plant during the fall the more CHO's it can make and store which will help in winter survival and spring start up.
Good sun exposure in the early spring obviously helps in speeding the melt of snow and ice from the previous winter as well as warming up the soil quicker to increase plant and microbial activity.
The shade created by trees has many other physiological impacts on turf grass (low density, spindly and succulent growth, and poor root density) not to mention the direct competition trees pose to available resources for plant growth (light, water, and nutrients). Take a look and the following before and afters and see how selective tree removal can significantly increase available light and, hopefully, increase the health and, therefore, the playability of these surfaces.

8 Green Before

8 Green After

7 Green
Before and After

4 Green
Before and After

Removing trees is not the only maintenance practice we do to control their interference with growing turf. I've talked about root pruning before (November 3rd post in 2009) as it relates to cart paths. We also root prune around greens to limit root encroachment under greens. Kinda a boring picture but here it is.

Root Pruning Trench on 8G

Week of Oct 17 -24

2010-10-20T06:30:00.000-07:00

We continue with our fall maintenance and prep for winter. Aside from the tree removal for pine beetle (previous post) and aerating greens with the deep tine aerator, we have begun our winter disease prevention program. Right now we are in better shape (health and treatment wise) than last year. Temperatures have been in a nice range with overnight lows only moderately below zero (versus 10 to 15 below zero last fall) and day time highs anywhere from +5 to +12 C. We require 2 more preventative sprays on the greens to properly preparing them for winter.

Applying Snow Mould
Treatment on 12 Fairway

The funny thing about preventative sprays is the timing. An application needs to be before conditions are right for disease to fully develop but not so soon that you risk the treatment loosing its potency. Two of the green sprays need to be done while the turf is still able to absorb the treatment; i.e. still growing/photosynthesising. The recommendations for the third application is to apply just before the first permanent snow cover. The "just before the first permanent snow cover" is the weird part. Weather forecasts, historical averages, and my "spidey sense" are the only tools I have to decide when to time that last spray.

One problem with spraying too early is the affect moisture has on spray efficacy. The more a treatment is exposed to rain events or snow melt (with respect to a contact fungicide) the less effective is its control. Aside from rain, UV light can also lessen fungicide effectiveness as a result of UV degradation. One more thing: fungicides have recommended spray intervals that range from 7 to 28 days depending on environmental conditions and disease severity. Snow cover obviously limits re-applying so, ideally, you would want to be at the beginning of the time line with respect to the spray interval when the snow does come.

We can spray all 18 greens with just over one tank so it only takes 3 to 4 hours to finish. When it comes to treating the rest of the golf course we need another 10 tanks which, when you throw in frost delays and the time needed to have spray dry on the leaf, can take up to 5 days to complete the 10 sprays required.

Pine Beetle

2010-10-19T05:43:00.000-07:00

Blue Dots are Old Infections
Red X's are Infections for 2010
Updated 10/25/10
(click on picture for better view)

The past couple weeks I've been out marking trees that have been attacked by the pine beetle, same as last year (see "Typical Fall Work" 11/13/09).

Pitch Tubes on Lodge Pole
are Signs on Beetle Attack

Right now we have close to 57 green attack trees to remove. (Green attack refers to living pine trees that were attacked this season and are infected with the beetle now. Red attack refers to dead pine trees from previous seasons that no longer contain the beetle but still have their needles. Greys are dead standing trees with all their needles fallen off. More reading and info at: http://www.rdno.ca/pine_beetle/index.php and http://www.for.gov.bc.ca/hfp/mountain_pine_beetle/bbbrochure.htm)

Infected trees will be cut and processed (burning or milling) to kill the overwintering beetle/larvae. We monitor previous infections sites and walk the entire property (including the land owned by the golf club near the river) looking for new infection sites. A point of interest this year is the unfortunate circumstance of finding more Ponderosa hits this year. We have found infected Ponderosa's in the past but they have been small trees. This year all the new hits have been on large trees. If there is any good news all but one of the infected Ponderosa's are located in the deep rough.

Winterizing the Irrigation System

2010-10-18T06:13:00.000-07:00

One of the most important activities we do every fall is winterizing the irrigation system. Under your feet is almost 8 miles of plastic pipe that, on average, is only 24 inches deep. The shallow depth means the water inside the pipe will freeze and shatter the pipe if it is not expelled before winter. Draining the system through low points eliminates some of the water but not all of it. To understand why gravity draining is only of a partial help an explanation of how the irrigation system works might help.

Without going into too much detail, the irrigation system at KGC is a hodge-podge of control methods and piping schemes. The front nine is a "block system" which is best described as a constantly pressurized mainline that supplies a number of laterals irrigation lines in which a single valve controls multiple sprinklers. The laterals are only pressurized when the valve opens and the sprinkler heads are running. The back nine is a "looped system". In this type of system smaller pipe feeds off of a larger mainline at two points (usually at the start and end of a fairway). Each sprinkler heads has a valve and can operate on its own. Water is supplied to each head by the smaller looped line which is constantly pressurized.

The valves in both the front and back hold water and are not drained by gravity alone. Even a little water left at the base of a sprinkler valve can destroy a head. The following picture shows an irrigation head where the ice that formed within the valve at the base of the sprinkler split the casing top from bottom. The interesting part of the picture is how little ice was needed to damage the sprinkler pot.

Damaged Pot

The only way we have to remove unwanted water from the irrigation system is to use compressed air. We use a compressor that able to generate 750 cubic feet/minute (cfm) of air. As a point of reference, a small portable compressor used for air nailers can run up to 2.5 - 5 cfm. We rent a compressor locally and use it for 2 days. We close nine holes at a time for convenience and safety. It takes a full 8 to 10 hour day to completely blow the back nine and only a 6 hour day for the front. This relates mostly to the different control systems we have on each nine ( see April 15th posting for brief explanation of control systems at KGC).

Mixture of Air and Water Being
Forced out Sprinklers

Generally, we have pretty good success with little or no damage the following spring.

The clubhouse, on course bathrooms, snack shack, river pumphouse, and reservoir pumphouse all have to be winterized as well but for those we use a smaller compressor and R.V. anti-freeze to keep the fixtures from freezing. There have been years, like last year for example, where the cold came early and hard. I seemed to have misplaced the pictures I took but the damage last year included frozen control satellites, burst irrigation pipes, frozen valves, and split plumbing fixtures. At this point in time we seem to be ahead of last year with respect to "irrigation winterizing", that is. Hopefully, that hold true for all other processes we have yet to complete!

The Down Hill Slide.....and Now the Work Begins!

2010-10-05T17:05:00.000-07:00

Starting a far back as the first week of September we began our fall aeration program. This years weather and staffing constraints caused us to shuffle the aeration schedule around a bit but we are now on the final leg. Properly timed fall aeration (ample recovery time) can be a real benefit for the fall health of the turf. Usually, a season of play and maintenance cause the soil conditions to be less than optimal for growing healthy turf (see July 8th posting for more aerating info). Aerating will decrease compaction and result in better air exchange within the root zone. In conjunction with the increased height of cut and the turfs growth habit in the fall the benefits of aerating will encourage root development and carbohydrate storage for overwintering.

We started first with the tees. There is a little bit more of a B.S. factor for tees and, as a result, we are a little less concerned about impacting playability and pulled a fairly large core. We top dress the tee's with recycled aerating cores from our spring greens aeration. That is one of the good things about being an old Poa golf course; you can recycle things like aeration cores and not worrying about spreading Poa seeds since it is everywhere already!

For the greens this time out it was all about the core. I was too scattered brained to take any pictures but we used a 3/8 tines on 1.5x2 spacing with an extra tine every second row resulting in a 1.5x1.5 spacing for those rows. Sounds confusing but all I'm really trying to say is we had more and bigger holes than the last time we pulled cores (again, see July 8th. FYI the spacing I commented on in that post was incorrect. It should read 1.5x2 spacing). The end result was a very large volume of material and more open holes for air exchange.

The past couple weeks have seen us pick away a aerating the fairways. We use slightly different aeration equipment for large area such as fairways that is best explained as a hollow aerating tines on rotating drums.

Pulling a core with the Fairway aerator

This style of aeration is beneficial for its speed and simplicity. It does pull a core to remove thatch and allows increase air and water exchange but offers little in terms of compaction relief. The good thing about the recent weather leading up to the nice spell we are experiencing now is the rain made the ground nice and soft which is allowing us to pull a good 3 to 4 inch core. A perfect world would have us using the same style aerator we use on the greens but the reality of our fairway root zone (or should I say "rock zone") limits our options to a fairly robust aerator such as the one pictured. We don't have the equipment or available material to top dress the fairways but we select certain areas and do a very limited overseed/top dress. I am always on the look out for a good, cheap source of sand since top dressing the fairways would be very beneficial for health and playability. No luck so far.

moss

2010-09-28T13:16:00.000-07:00

Moss on Upper Putting Green
(double click for enlarged image)

One problem we have at KGC that is becoming more common on golf courses is the growth of moss on putting greens. Moss is a primitive plant that is able to photosynthesize similar to regular, everyday plants but has some significant differences from plants it that it lacks roots and a vascular system. Moss, especially the species that is well adapted to putting greens, is very tolerant of drying out and is capable of remaining viable after 2 years of dessication (i.e. it will survive without water for that length of time).

Maintenance practices used on a modern golf course such as low height of cut, low fertility and sand top dressing all contribute to moss invading a putting green. Include environmental factors such as poor surface drainage and low light conditions and moss will find it easy to spread. Few chemical strategies are available for effective moss control. Most selective pesticides usually are required to be transported within a host to be effective. The lack of a vascular system in moss make this impossible. A non-selective herbicide is just that non-selective...it kills all plants which is not very useful when controlling moss on putting greens. Most moss control treatments act to stress the moss more than the surrounding turf. If moss has a weak spot it is its susceptibility to certain metals such as mercury, copper, silver, iron, and lead. In Canada (I think) iron sulphate and copper hydroxide are the only "metal" products sold for moss control.

We are fortunate since we only have moss on one area on one practice putting green and it hasn't reached epidemic proportions. We are trying to control moss by applying diluted baking soda directly to the moss. The unfortunate side effect is the phytotoxicity displayed by the turf.

Brown areas are the phytoxic spots

Close up of spots with moss in the middle

These spots are the reason for this post. They appear within one day of spraying baking soda and make the green look a lot worse off than it is.

As an interesting aside: I am, technically, "breaking the law". Any product applied to pests as a form of control is classified as a pesticide. Since baking soda is not registered as a moss control product by the PMRA (see 7/21/2010 post) in Canada I cannot legal apply it to control moss, hence the "breaking the law" statement. Any product sold to control pest has to be registered with the PMRA as a pesticide and has to have a registration number. That includes products labelled as "environmentally friendly".
I can go on and on about pesticides and perception which, I guess, is the other reason I bring this up now. We are entering that part of the season when we are applying pesticides in preparation for winter disease prevention. When applying such products we follow label recommendation with respect to PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) which usually means spray suits, gloves, face mask, and sometimes a respirator. Those items are more a precaution for the applicator since the applicator is handling the undiluted product directly when mixing in the spray tank. The somewhat hypersensitive environment that exist today around the use of pesticides makes everyone nervous when they see an applicator wearing appropriate PPE. Everyday, common place precautions like washing your hands before you eat, drink, or smoke(!?!) are a good practice to get into whenever you come in from the outside. Somehow a discussion of moss has resulted in me getting on my pesticide soap box. I'll quit now.

River Watch

September 24th

Wow! Was that a non-issue. I kinda feel like Chicken Little but if I'm going be wrong about anything let it always be this. Obviously, the rain has been a bonus as the water level at the river is as high as it was in early August. The rain and slower growth will most likely mean there is very little water use for the rest of the year so it looks like we dodged the no water bullet for 2010

Disease in the Fall

2010-09-16T13:09:00.000-07:00

Its been a quite awhile since the last post and despite my initial comments that I would only post if something "was going" the reality is a lot has been going on I just haven't budgeted my time correctly. That been said I hope to be able to keep everybody informed on what we do this time of year so the underlying theme for most of the next couple posts will be fall and winter preparation.

This is one of the best times of the year for maintenance. The turf is changing its growth habit which means a little less mowing and less irrigation----especially this year. The cooler nights (something which has occurred all year and I suspect is one of the most important reason for course conditions this season) and shorter days help signal the turf to enter a second growth phase that is similar but smaller to the earlier growth phase in the late spring/early summer. You may have notice that certain weeds such as dandelions appear this time of year and that also relates to the improved conditions for cool season plant growth.

The change in weather also brings about conditions that encourage some turf disease. One disease I have already referenced early this year is Fusarium. (see "Week of May" 23 post for pictures and information). Another disease that is pretty common in the fall is called Anthracnose. It can appear as a foliar blight (occurring during the hot summer months) or as a basal crown rot (occurring throughout the season). Usually conditions such as low height of cut, low nitrogen fertility, and any aggressive mechanical damaging process (i.e. a deep verti-cut that cuts stolons or roots) encourage disease development. Here at KGC we see it every year at the end of August/ beginning of September.

Anthracnose infect Poa

It is best to treat this disease with preventative applications of fungicide since once it takes a foot hold it can cause severe damage that can lead to loss of turf. The tricky part is deciding when to apply a preventative application so as not to waste it. With limited fungicides registered in Canada and the threat of resistance developing within a fungal population to a particular chemical I am always hopeful that I can combine treatments into one application that will have a multitude of effects. Because of limited fungicide selection, treating a summer disease with a chemical that is also used for an over wintering disease is one possible way, through development of resistance, to limited a fungicides usefulness and length of service. This year saw a fair amount of Anthracnose throughout the golf course and as a result we had to go with the higher fungicide label rates to slow the spread on the greens. As a general rule, we will apply at least 4 treatments to the greens as a way of limiting development of any winter turf diseases. The last one is the trickiest since you want to time it just before the first permanent snow fall to get the best control. Continual snow/melt/snow/melt etc., etc. will lessen the fungicide efficacy and may result in having to apply another unplanned treatment. It does sound like the end of the world, however, many fungicides also don't recommend applying on frozen turf which is a pretty common occurrence here at KGC in November and December.

River Watch

September 10

No real change. So that is good.

Tournament Preparation and Tournament Conditions

2010-08-29T17:10:00.001-07:00

The 2010 Pucksters is completed and throughout the weekend there was plenty of generous comments about the course condition. Every department has plenty of behind the scenes work before any tournament date. I can only speak to what happens at my end but I know the Proshop and Food and Beverage have been equally busy getting things organized. We really started preparing for this tournament at the beginning of August (actually almost all of our maintenance decisions throughout the year are made with one eye on the events calendar and tee sheet in an effort to minimize interference). The two obvious things I can somewhat influence with respect to preparing the golf course for a tournament are the height of cut (HOC) and fertility. The third most important thing, I feel, is moisture but that one is pretty variable depending on weather and the irrigation system. With respect to the first two the underlying factor is the general health of the turf; the weaker it is the more I'll baby it. We have been lucky weather wise and despite the questionable conditions this spring the rest of the year has been great for growing grass...very few stupid hot days in 30's and lots of cool nights (the biggest thing IMO) with some real good rain days. Anyways, the general health throughout the whole property was pretty good so we were able limit the fertility (mostly the nitrogen) and lower the HOC on the greens a wee bit. Luckily everything fell into place and the greens, in particular, seemed to play good.
The one question I sometimes get is "Why can't the greens always be like they are for tournaments?". The short answer is "Because they would die". The long answer is more complicated. The reality about KGC green surfaces is there is plenty of problems including inadequate irrigation, no subsurface drainage, limited sun light, and poor air circulation just to name a few of the more obvious problems. The inputs (fertility, fungicides, water, etc.) and maintenance (aerating, grooming, top dressing, etc) would all have to increase and we neither have the budget nor the staff to accommodate everything that would be required. Perception is pretty important too. I have been taking "speed" readings on the greens for every tournament over the past couple years in an effort to keep a record and compare green speed between years and tournaments. Guidelines with respect to green speed are for regular "member" play a speed of 7'6" to 8'6" is considered medium (FYI: the distance of 7'6" -7 feet and 6inches- relates to how far a ball rolls on a green when released from a tool called a stimp meter) while a speed above 8'6" is considered fast. For tournament play 8'6" to 9'6" is called medium and anything above 9'6" is fast. For tournaments at KGC the speed over the last 3 years has been between 9' and 10' (another FYI: studies show that golfers can only distinguish speed differences between greens when the stimp reading is greater than 12" between greens). Why do I bring this all up? Perception: for the Wood Valence in June the stimp reading was 9'2"; for the Club Championship in July the reading was 9' while for the Pucksters the stimp was 10'3". As far as the research in concerned the speed between those three tournaments was close to the same. I think a lot of what people experience in tournament conditions is not the speed so much as the smoothness of the surfaces. Our maintenance practices of brooming, topdressing, verti-cutting, and aerating all disrupt the surfaces and, as a result, affect the smoothness of the roll. So the fourth most important thing we do when perparing for a tournament is limit surface disruption. Necessary maintenance practices we perform on a regular basis throughout the season cause surface disruption and that is also why the greens don't roll like they do on tournament days. As usual I've babbled too long so that's where I'll leave it.

River Watch

August 25th

The river is still giving us what we need. We have begun to build a weir out into the main channel in anticipation of the river dropping too much. The rain on Sunday, August 29th will bring the river up but unless it is snow up high the increase in river flow won't last long enough.

Verti-cut

2010-08-18T13:53:00.000-07:00

Vertical mowing (Verti-cutting) is a one of those maintenance practices people hear about but may not understand why it is done. As usual, explaining involves a little background info. I'll be pretty fast and loose (as usual) with the "facts" but generally most of what is written is accurate....the info can be more detailed but that has a tendency to translate into more boring.

Bentgrass has a creeping growth and on putting greens it spreads via stolons not seed. This type of growth can lead to "grain" which is a term used to describe a situation where the turf leaves are all laying in one direction (usually down hill or what ever way the water flows). Putting with the grain exaggerates the roll and break. Putting against the grain has the opposite affect on ball roll (i.e. slower and less break). Generally, grain is more of problem at higher heights of cut (HOC) since there is more leaf blade to lay over. However, at lower HOC when we are trying to grow the greens with more emphasis on density and root growth we can sometimes create conditions which may lead to somewhat "grainy" turf. One method for controlling grain is vertical mowing. The cutting heads we use (3 heads in total) contain 36 tightly spaced carbide tipped blades with 10 teeth per blade for a total of 108 blades (1080 teeth).

Blades on a single verti-cut mowing head

Triplex mower with Verti-cut reels operating

You can adjust the depth of the verti-cut heads to achieve desired results. For example, this spring we went about 1/2" deep on the weak greens to increase light and water penetration as well as to remove thatch and, hopefully, cut any existing bentgrass stolons which would then develop into shoots and help increase density. This time out we were more focused on grain control (i.e. standing up the turf that was laying over) and did not go as deep. Verti-cutting doesn't immediately speed up a green but may instead make for a bumpier and slower green. One way to address the bumpiness is to follow the verti-cut with a light sand top-dressing. The sand will level the grooves left by the verti-cut blades as well as protect any damaged turf from drying out.

Top Dressing Being Applied

If you played this past week you would have seen the linear lines left from the verti-cut heads. Usually, with a light verti-cutting the lines will grow out within a 6 or 7 days. Most likely we will do one more later in the season but this time the emphasis will be more on thatch removal since controlling the thatch in greens is one way to lessen opportunities for overwintering diseases. The more astute of you will note that I reference verti-cutting as it relates to bentgrass not Poa annua which is the turf species I claim inhabits all our greens. Poa is more a upright, clump type growth which is less prone to grain. We have enough greens with a blend of both bent an poa that verti-cutting for grain control is necessary. Perennial poa can spread laterally via stolon so verti-cutting on old poa greens may increase density by cutting stolons. Also, even at the higher height we verti-cut this time out, we removed extra material that could contribute to thatch development.

River Watch

August 18

This week saw the first time the river pumps (also called transfer pumps) shut down because of low water at the river intake. It took 2 guys most of a day to dig, expose, and clean out the area around the river intake with shovels and garden rakes. The end result was the ability to re-start both pumps inside the transfer station. The red paint mark on the rock on the right of the picture is there so we know how deep to dig to expose the conduit leading to the river intake (FYI conduit is 47" below the paint mark). This late in the year as the flow in the river decreases you can observe a visual difference daily versus weekly.

Vertidrain

2010-08-12T12:25:00.000-07:00

I have been lazy over the past couple weeks and have not posted much; however, like I said at the very beginning if there is not much going on I probably won't post. We've been lucky in that over the month of August there has not been a lot of breaking news on the golf course or tragedies to address. We are mostly in the routine of regular maintenance. We did aerate the greens the week of August 1st using a deep tine aeration method.

Deep Tine Aerator on 12 Green

The advantage to this style of aeration is two fold: 1.) aeration holes can be go as deep as 9" (versus 3.5"-4" for regular aeration) and 2.) the machine has the ability to loosen the subsurface for greater relief of compaction. The "kick" that relieves the subsurface compaction can also fluff up the greens (mostly because of our limited roots and heavy soils) and tends to make the surface bumpy. We do use 5-10% kick during our late fall aeration when play has stopped. To be fair, this time out we were only interested in creating holes for air exchange/water infiltration.

Needle Tine Holes

We were only able to get about 7" penetration and went with a slightly larger spacing. We could have gone the full depth and double the tines to get the biggest bang for our buck but with this type of aeration you need to fiddle around quite a bit to find the happiest medium between surface disruption (i.e. playability) and intensity of aeration. As we do more of this style of aeration and, hopefully, the greens overall health increases we should be able to go deeper and tighter. The real interesting part about this process is how and why are able to accomplish it. The general benefits of aeration (air exchange, compaction relief, thatch removal, blah, blah, blah) I'll harp on about in other posts. What I would like to cover here is the savings and the unique relationship that have developed. In the past we would contract out the deep tine to the tune of over $4000/aeration and since we weren't on the "A" list of clients we had to take whatever date the contractor offered. The very last time the contractor was able to fit us in the greens were frozen. As a result, and $4000 later, there was some greens we were unable to aerate completely and others that were damaged. Since buying our own deep tine aerator for $22,000 we have been able to deep tine 3 times at times that suit us. At the end of this year we will do one more deep tine for a total of 4 and a savings of $16,000. By the end of next year --assuming we keep the same schedule--we will have paid for the deep tine. There is costs associated with owning a machine but for the first few years those are mostly the cost of tines. The unique relationship part of this story relates to the tractor needed to operate the deep tine aerator. The tractor required needs to be of a minimum horse power and have a ultra low gear selection (sometimes called a "creeper gear") not to mention wide tires. KGC's tractor has none of these. As luck would have it, Trickle Creek does have a tractor that meets this requirements and they contract out their deep tine aeration's. So KGC has a deep tine aerator with no tractor to operate it and Trickle has tractor but pays to have their greens deep tined. This scenario obviously lead to a relationship that is best represented by the over used and usually self serving phrase "a Win/Win situation". With the two local golf course working together and sharing equipment we are able to take advantage of a highly specialized tool. Ultimately, KGC will have to replace our old Ford tractor but with the initial success of this particular equipment sharing experiment there is a possibility for local courses to purchase other specialized equipment and share amongst ourselves.

River Watch

August 8th

The huge rain events that kept coming last week have made watering a no brainer. But as you can see the river still continues to drop. There is more water at the river intake this year versus other years and as the middle of August approaches the watering requirements are usually less than early in the year so things appear "rosy". I feel a little bit like Chicken Little, but history is on my side.

Knapweed

2010-07-30T14:22:00.000-07:00

Good news/ bad news, I don't have a lot to discuss. Mostly that means nothing tragic has happened and we are in "summer mode". Check out the work done by the staff members on the rock wall beside 17 cart path. If you find yourself having to look for balls over in that area (or by any rock wall, for that matter) do not climb on them since they are merely cosmetic, with limited structural properties and are not meant to be scaled like Fisher Peak. Other things going on include the appearance of knapweed throughout the property. Go to www.invasiveplantcouncilbc.ca/spotted-knapweed for more info.

Spotted-Knapweed by 12 Tee

There are numerous patches all over. We try to manage knapweed by treating known areas with a broad leaf herbicide early in the season as soon as the first knapweed plant is seen. If there is an area we missed or a new area where knapweed is able to mature we then pull the plants and put them plastic bags and take them to the landfill. If you are so inclined to pull some of the knapweed yourself please leave any plants in a high profile spot so we can dispose of the plants in the best way. You could let me know as well and when (and if) we have time we will pull the plants. At the very least, I will include the area on our weed map so we can treat the spot next spring.

River Watch: July30

(Last weeks post had the incorrect date on it. I changed it). So far so good. We are still pumping with both pumps at about 405GPM. Water is dropping so hopefully we get some rain up high and it bring the river up.

Quintozene, PMRA

2010-07-21T05:28:00.000-07:00

An e-mail recently sent out to all golf course by the Pesticide Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA: the agency which regulates which pesticides can be used in Canada) informed everyone of the cancellation of a quintozene; a fungicide labelled for use on many agricultural crops and labelled for use against particular turf diseases. This fungicide is the backbone of KGC's snow mould prevention program. It provides good control of grey and pink snow mould at a reasonable cost. However as of December 31, 2010 it will no longer be labelled for use on turf. The good news is we can still spray our cole crops (broccoli, cauliflower, brussel sprouts, and cabbage) at a rate more than 2X the rate suggested for turf diseases......go figure not suitable for grass but O.K. for the food we eat. If quintozene possess properties that make it inappropriate for use then no longer labelling it for any use make sense but with it still labelled for agricultural use the PMRA sends mixed messages which is used by special interest groups when they promote their anti-pesticide agenda and criticize the PRMA and its registration process. Anyways, the importance to KGC relates to the choice we will have to make in the very near future: spend the money to continue to treat for snow mould on the fairways with an alternative product or save the money and not treat at all. The following pictures is of a section of fairway not treated for snow mould taken July 16th:

Snow mould damage
Click picture once for better view
and again for magnified view

I know it doesn't look too bad but remember this picture is taken after 10 - 12 weeks of growth. We are probably only 8 weeks away from our first frost delay! Those areas won't fill in before the end of the season. This next picture was taken in the spring right after snow melt and shows the obvious control of winter diseases quintozene offers.

Snow Mould Damage

If all the turf was maintained at 1.5-2 inches this type of damage wouldn't be a big deal. Every spring all the lawns and sports fields around town come back, don't they? However, there is a direct relationship between the intensity of the maintenance and level of disease: turf maintained at a higher intensity equals more disease opportunity. If everybody would be happly playing their entire game of golf on 2 inch turf this situation would not be so threatening.

The industry had a chance to contact the PMRA during the re-evaluation process to explain the importance of quintozene to their operation. Here is a excerpt from the letter I sent referring to the budgetary impact discontinuing quintozene would have: "Today, an application of
quintozene on 10.11 ha (size of treated area at my golf course) at present label rates the cost would be $9350. The cost of comparable treatments would be $30,250 (label rates of Propiconazole) or $22,650 (label rates of Chlorothalonil and Iprodione). The prohibitive costs of the available alternatives to Quintozene require decreasing the area treated." KGC will, not this year but definately next year, will be facing some tough choices. The almost tripling of a single budget item combined with the constant increases in fertilizer, fuel, and staffing is making it nearly impossible to meet expenseses with our present revenue.

River watch: July 21

Despite all thunderstorms the level is down. Look back to the previous post and compare the water level by the big rock on the left of both pictures.

Week of July 11

2010-07-16T13:00:00.000-07:00

Summer is back again as of the end of this week and we are back into routine maintenance with a greens aeration and the club championship both out of the way. As usual, we will continue to tie up lose ends (cart path edges, rock wall maintenance, etc., etc.) and try to keep on top of keeping things growing until the cooler nights of August. The biggest stress developing is the continual drop of the St. Mary river as the run off winds down. I will post river pictures with each post so people get an understanding of the struggles we face every July/August/September with respect to our water supply. This months pictures were taken July 16:

Looking up river at water flowing past pump
intake located on the right side of picture

Looking up river at the main river with
golf course owned land on the right

Presently, we are able to draw about 400 GPM (gallons per minute) with two pumps operated by electric motors. Typically, by August the river will drop to a level where we will only be able to run one pump at around 220 GPM which is just enough to keep reservoir supplied since we usually irrigate considerably less during August and into September. Just a reminder that if you click on each picture it will increase in size and one more click on the picture will allow you to zoom in.

2010-07-08T05:39:00.000-07:00

As part of the routine maintenance we finished aerating all the putting greens on the course last week. Everybody accepts the necessary evil of aeration but nobody likes it including the crew that has to do it. The shallow aerating performed this time out was to get oxygen down to the roots. Traffic from maintenance and play compacts the upper few inches of the root zone resulting in a decrease of available oxygen for the roots.

A quick and brief review of plant biology: grass is an autotroph a term which means it can create its own food. The process is called photosynthesis and the end products are glucose and the byproduct oxygen. Grass will use the "food" it created in photosynthesis to grow. The energy required for growth comes from a process called respiration which requires atmospheric oxygen (i.e. the plant has to absorb it). Seems strange that plants can create oxygen on one hand but on the other hand still need to absorb oxygen.

Another reason for aeration is removal of thatch from the upper surface. Thatch will affect nutrient availability, water peculation, playing conditions, incubate diseases, and contribute to poor/shallow rooting. A general rule of thumb is to aerate two times a year with 5/8 " hollow tines just to keep up with the thatch created by the turf in one growing season. The recommended volume of displaced material is from 20-25% per year. That translates in to 2 aeration's using 1/2" tines on a 1.25" spacing followed by two 1/4" aeration's on a 1.25" spacing throughout the growing season. Not goin' happen.

We keeping trying different things to find an agreeable process that provides a benefit to the turf with a limited disruption to playing conditions. This time out we used 1/4" tines on a 1.5x1.5 spacing that resulted in about 3% removal of organic matter. We picked the cores with a sweeper bought this spring and followed up with a medium top dressing. A traditional aeration requires the course close on an afternoon with any number of temporaries in play the next day while we top dress. Also, we require two aerators (we borrow one) two top dressers, 4 people to collect cores, 1 person to broom in the sand; 9 people. This time we used one person to aerate, one person to collect cores, one person to blow debris, one person to top dress: 4 people. We were able to do 7 greens/day with no closure and no temporaries.

The hope is we are able to perform 2-3 of these aerations over the golfing season (May, June, August) followed by an aeration with larger holes once we close for the season which would remove about 9-15% of the surface area (depending of the type of fall aeration: hollow core vs. verti-drain). Time will tell.

Fertilizing Fairways

2010-07-02T13:16:00.000-07:00

The past 10 days or so have been very busy with lots of maintenance getting done. This post will touch on the recent fertilizing of the fairways and roughs.

It takes about 2 to 3 days for us to fertilize all the fairways and rough using anywhere from 2.5 to 4 metric tonnes of fertilizer. Ideally, you want to fertilize in the spring when soil temperatures have risen to around 55 degrees F (or 10 degrees) and the turf has just started its first growth cycle of the season. That way there is sufficient nutrients available for uptake for development of new tissue. We were late by a couple weeks mostly because of the weather and other matters kept us from fertilizing any sooner.

Spreading Fertilizer on 9 Rough

This particular application has the analysis of 21-3-21 (FYI the numbers on a fertilizer bag represent the percentage of Nitrogen, Phosphorous, and Potassium a.k.a NPK. They don't add up to 100% since NPK are only the individual elements of the compounds that make up the whole fertilizer product). We apply at a rate ranging from .5lbs to 1lbs of actual N per 1000 sqft (another FYI: actual N is calculated by taking the weight of the bag multiplying it by the the number representing nitrogen on the bag and dividing by 100. For e.g. 21-3-21 comes in 55lbs bag so: 55 x 21/100 =11.55 lbs of actual N in one bag. At a rate of 1lbs/1000sqft one bag of 21-3-21 can be applied to an area of 11,500 sqft. This same calculation can be done for Phosphorous and Potassium as well.) After we have decided on a rate we need to calibrate the tractor spreader (and walk behind spreader) to achieve the desired rate. We use a big bag and run the tractor spreader for a set time at a set speed and then weigh the fertilizer collected. We do this over and over until we have the desired setting. That is stuff is probably only interesting to me but it applies to any rate calculation for any granular fertilizer so feel free to use it for your yard.

The biggest hurdle we have faced recently has been the cost increase of fertilizer by 40%. A couple ways to control cost is to use different fertilizer types. More expensive fertilizers have more nutrients and/or different nutrient formulations (e.g. methylene urea's) than a cheaper brand with the same NPK analysis. There is a trade off with using cheaper formulations and usually this is the length of time the fertilizer works (i.e. a fertilizer with a higher percentage of quick release Nitrogen is cheaper than a product with more slow release) and the compounds used in creating the fertilizer are usually higher in something called the "salt index" which can have deleterious effects on the turf. The other more obvious way to deal with cost increase is to fertilize less area. We are doing both when we fertilize. Those rough area with an increasing population of clover are areas which have not seen a high quality fertilizer or, in some cases, any fertilizer for a few years.

Our next major fertilization will take place in late summer/early fall when the turf enters its second major growth cycle before going dormant. The analysis will be similar with more micro nutrients and a different Nitrogen source which will still be available in the early next spring when soil temperature start to climb.

There is way more information to cover with respect to fertilizing and plant nutrition but I can tell peoples eye's are glazing over so I'll leave it there. Click the following link and read what the USGA had to say about the greens at the US open and see if the first paragraph sounds like any other place you might know of.

http://www.usga.org/news/2010/June/Beauty-In-Eye-Of-Beholder/

How much has it rained? Or better yet, How little irrigation have we used?

2010-06-22T06:23:00.000-07:00

It is no news flash to anyone that the weather has been wet. We keep informal weather records (highs, lows, precipitation amounts, etc) for reference. Same can be said for the water output of the irrigation pump station. Over the last 6 weeks of 2010 we have used 3.5 million gallons of water. Although that may sound like a lot of water but one needs to know that (best case scenario) the irrigation system at KGC can distribute about 450, 000 gallons/night when we are watering everything. So really 3.5 million gallons is only just under 7 complete irrigation cycles (i.e. 7 nights of watering everything). In the past we have usage as been: 2005-8.3 million gallons, 2006-10.8 million, 2007-12.9 million, 2008-7 million, and 13 million gallons last year.

The amount of rain fall (approximately) recorded at KGC this year is 52mm for May and 32 mm for June (not including this weekend). The weird and sort of disappointing part is, according to statistics for the past 30 years, the average rainfall for May is 42 mm and for June is 51mm. It sure feels like an above average year for rain to me! To be fair, Environment Canada has a little disclaimer regarding the accuracy of the weather records for Kimberly since during weekends and holidays no weather data is recorded. One tool I've been looking into for the past couple years has been a weather station for KGC that would log environmental conditions. There is numerous models ranging from the low $100's up to $15,000. Expensive weather stations pay for themselves over time since they can be integrated into the irrigation system and save on water and power usage. At this point in time we are lucky in that water costs are still relatively cheap at KGC so any weather station we would buy would be on the very low end of the price range.

Golf course wise the weather seems to have come during the week days which really cramps our style since most staff and work hours occur Monday to Friday and we depend on good weather conditions to get things done. Most of the cart path sodding is completed. Any remaining areas next to cart paths will be finished using aeration cores such as described in the May 19th posting. We have begun to replace the damage turf on the collars and aprons on some of the front nine greens and will continue for the rest of the following week. If possible we will begin to aerate parts of those fairways that were damage this past winter and try to get some more recovery in the weak areas. We are falling behind with respect to flower beds, string trimming, fertilizing, green aeration, and bunker maintenance. I am hoping to get caught up by bringing on more staff (school is out soon) to help with projects and routine maintenance.

Poa in full "flower"

2010-06-14T05:59:00.000-07:00

Seed Head produces by Poa

Another entry about Poa annua. It has been discussed enough so hopefully everyone knows what Poa is. Every spring both types of Poa (annual and perennail) produce an inflorescence that makes all the green surfaces appear white. The seeds produced by the annual bio type will germinate either this fall or sometime next spring when conditions favour germination. The seeds produced by the perennial bio type will germinate soon after they are produced this year. It is pretty tough to distinguish visually between the annual and perennial bio types but it doesn't make a difference as long as there is seed being produced to help fill in bare spots. In Canada there are very few products available to manage Poa and its seed head. In the U.S. there is a selection of pre-emergence, post-emergence herbicides, and products for seed head control. One post-emergence herbicide just registered for use on golf course (actually the only one) in Canada is able to selectively remove Poa from bent grass greens and will help all the recently build golf courses keep their green surface free of Poa. Use of such a product on the green surfaces at KGC is not feasible because of the large percentage of Poa on the green surface. The only other tool available is a growth regulator which acts to limit the elongation of turf. If you time it right the product will not suppress seed head but act to keep the stalk producing the seed head shorter and deeper in the the turf canopy. However, this product I'm describing is better for controlling growth of leaf tissue. It has the added benefit of encouraging lateral growth and will help increase turf density and being dense, with respect to turf, is a good thing.

Sod Work

2010-06-08T06:41:00.000-07:00

This week has the crew laying down sod at different spots throughout the course. Mostly, sod will go to finish off the tie ins from the cart path renovations started last fall (see "Week of May 23" posting for more info). This time we ordered some big roll sod which is 400 square feet per roll and is far quicker and easier to use if the location allows it. Two staff were able to transport and roll out 1600 square feet of sod in 3 hours; impressive sounding only if you've ever had to lay sod! Since the rolls weigh over 1000 pounds each we had to come up with a counter weight idea that would help the Bobcat keep all four wheels on the ground. The best ideas are the simplest and one of my guys came up with hanging a bag of sand off the back end. Driving with the bag hanging off the back end reminded me of seeing my kids when they had full pants when they were babies so we named it the "Bobcat diaper".

Bobcat with a full diaper unrolling sod

Since we had over 7000 square feet of big roll we had to unload all the big rolls in one spot and then use this area as a staging area. The Bobcat could carry a roll and a second roll could be loaded and hauled into back of one of the run around vehicles and unloaded when it was needed. The vehicle pictured below is a real work horse and has a payload of just under 1200 Kg (that's around 2500 pounds, that's over a ton!)

Workman carrying a big roll

Aside from tying in the cart path edges we will also use some of this sod in our nursery and use it on the course when needed throughout the year. It may seem like over kill to buy more sod than you need however one needs to consider firstly the cost of delivery which is the same if you order a full or partial truck and secondly the fact that the price per foot goes down as you order more. Sod is like buying toilet paper on sale....you might as well get as much as you can afford because you know you're going to need it one day.

Week of May 23

2010-05-30T11:06:00.000-07:00

This week was somewhat more productive with a couple twists. We began to prepare cart path areas for the arrival of sod on this coming up Monday but snow over the weekend in Alberta means sod could be delayed until next Monday (following the Wood Valence) since the fields where the sod is grown are too wet to work on with the sod harvester. There will also be some trees included to replace some that did not make the winter and to replace some of the mountain ashes that seem to be a favorite of the bears in the fall.

The cool, humid weather helped the development of some turf diseases that required treatment. One disease, Microdochium Patch (a.k.a. Fusarium and/or Pink Snow Mould ---multiple names which refer to the same disease. Just depends on the conditions when the disease occurs.) became prominent last week on certain greens. We pretty much plan on getting Fusarium at least once or twice every spring and as late as mid June if the weather is cool and wet. There are indicator greens which are more prone (same old, same old conditions: shade, poor air circulation, high percentage of Poa annua, & excessive fertility) to developing the disease and usually we base the level of treatment on the severity of disease present on those greens.

One of the Many Fusarium Spots

Another disease we are dealing with is occurring on those greens that over wintered poorly and had to be over seeded. Again, conditions like we are experience this spring (poor air circulation, cool, and damp) favour development of a disease called Pythium Root Rot. Generally, this disease is not a problem and can often be ignored. This year, however, there is new seedlings that lack a well developed root mass and established turf that is still trying to recover from this winters stresses; as a result, the disease was starting to affect plant health and it became necessary to treat it.

Spraying for Pythium Root Rot

"Give it a month and some heat"

2010-05-26T15:51:00.001-07:00

Its been just over a month since opening all 18 greens for play and some are still struggling but most are coming along. A lot of the growth in the thin areas you maybe seeing appears to be the regeneration of Poa annua from the crown. If you imagine grass looking like a onion plant think of the onion bulb as analogous to the crown of the grass plant. It appears that some grass plants were not completely destroyed last winter as some of the new growth showing on the greens is coming from crowns not seedlings. I can make this observation now that the turf has grown as it is easier to distinguish between bent grass species and Poa grass species once they have both matured. Some of the over seeding has worked but the young seedlings are struggling with the regular play and maintenance. To get a good look at the two species I'm talking about just double click each photo.

Bent grass in center of photo.
Notice the fat leaves with prominent ridges
running the length of the blade.

Poa annua in this photo has a thinner blade
that sometimes appears folded.

We've been pretty generous with the fertility and height of cut (H.O.C.) on the greens to aid in recovery and to get some good turf for the remainder of the season. With the first tournament schedule for early June we will need to begin lowering the H.O.C. closer to our more usual summer height soon. You can't blame all the problems on a grass species but a quote that sums up Poa best for me is "When Poa annua is good, it's the best; when it's bad there's not much worse"

Weeks of May 9th and 16th

2010-05-19T07:11:00.000-07:00

Punching and Collecting Cores on 15 Apron

This past week was good weather wise but pretty average production wise. Most new employees are trained up and we can now begin to take the more experienced staff away from routine maintenance and start to use their skills to finish off or get started on some of the projects I would like to get wrapped up before the end of May.
Starting on last Friday, we aerated and top dressed all the collars and aprons. I attended a seminar a few years back where an agronomist from the USGA suggested incorporating the collars and aprons into the same aeration and top dressing program as regular greens. The idea is to extend the greens playing characteristics to immediate area and allow players the option to take advantage of those characteristics as they approached a green. This year we are also doing it to help the light, air, and water reach past the matted, dead turf from this past winter and give the existing turf as well as the seed bank within the soil a helping hand in growing and filling in the funky spots.

We will use the cores generated from this aeration as a seed bed for filling in the sides of the recently renovated cart paths. We will mix in a healthy quantity of perennial rye grass seed (quick to germinate and able to withstand traffic stress) with the cores to help get turf established next to cart paths. Sodding the little strips next to the path, especially now with cart traffic and summer coming may be a waste of sod. The cores are composed of the ever ubiquitous Poa annua and as such are able to grow in areas that other grass may have a hard time getting established. One request to players is to try to limit traffic on these area until they have filled in. We don't have enough ropes and stakes to block off all the area; besides to much of that stuff always makes a golf course looks cluttered and messy.

Core Bordering the
Cart Path on 10 Fwy

Green Measles

2010-05-11T15:08:00.000-07:00

If you've been lucky enough to get golfing in between snow days last week you may have noticed green dots on some of the greens:

Those dots are indicative of the turfs response to aeration. Aeration will come up lots and there is always plenty to talk about but for now I wanted to show the obvious benefits of aerating greens. Everybody knows that plants leaves absorb carbon dioxide and release oxygen (photosynthesis) but sometimes people forget that the plants also need to absorb oxygen to make the energy (respiration) for cellular reactions occur. I am going to be fast and loose with the facts but a fairly "true" statement is all parts of the plant need to absorb oxygen in order for the plant to survive. Roots absorb oxygen to help fuel the transportation of nutrients into and throughout the plant. Some nutrition can be foliar absorbed but strong, healthy turf needs a strong, healthy, functioning root system. Each green dot seen in the first picture is the exact spot where an aerator tine penetrated the turf and left behind a open column down which water and air can travel. I used a cup cutter to "slice" through one of these columns to reveal the growth of roots over five inches deep on a mostly Poa annua green. If you look back to "Bent vs. Poa" post in February you can see pictures of Poa annua roots that are barely two inches. If you double click the following picture you can get a better look. Yeah, I know it is not a great picture but for this green, number 7, that is pretty impressive. You'll just have to take my word for it.

Week of April 25

2010-05-01T07:36:00.000-07:00

After the brief flash of summer a few weeks ago the weather has toned down a bit to below normals, again! Golf course wise the turf is slowly recovering and everyday there is more grass to mow. We have finally finished flashing sand and edging the bunkers and will begin maintaining them on a regular basis. Aside from making the bunkers presentable, this process also allows us to create an inventory of those bunkers which may need some extra work such as adding more sand or, in extreme cases, a complete redo. We edge to remove grass that has crept in over the previous season and to re-establish any ambiguous edges. Every time we edge there is some contamination from the native silt and clays and eventually these particles cause the bunker sand to lose some of its characteristics that make it playable. For an area being labeled a hazard, bunkers require a fair amount of maintenance to keep them from being too "hazard like". Despite this and their bad reputation with players, bunkers add another challenge to the game and contribute to the aesthetic appeal of a golf hole. One more thing: what is the rule on bunker rakes? There is lots of opinions but, believe it or not, there is no rule. (http://www.usga.org/course_care/faq/Turf-Management-FAQs(4)/). For KGC, rakes are mostly kept inside bunkers parallel with the line of play. The reason is mostly selfish. Since bunkers are hand raked, staff has to walk the perimeter of each bunker to perform their task. It easy for bunker staff place the rakes in bunkers and out of the way of mowers as they rake each bunker. Although it sounds trivial, the time it takes for the mowing staff to move the rakes out of their way adds up over the entire course. Also, the urge to just "nudged" the rake out of the way of the trim mower with the cutting heads while mowing around bunkers is awfully tempting and usually leads to destroyed rake handles and at $15/rake that also adds up!

The grey weather hasn't allowed for many good "photo op's" but regardless I've included some pictures of native plants people often see in the spring.

Prairie Crocus by 12 Tee

Arrow-Leaved Balsam Root #14

Wild Strawberry #14

The crocuses seem to have already lost their blossom and the balsam root is just beginning to become showy. We don't have as many flowering native plants as some other golf courses but if you keep your eyes open (mostly the in the back nine) you can see lots as you go around the course.

Course Conditions on April 23

2010-04-23T06:25:00.001-07:00

We have been lucky to have a few days with above normal day time highs which have really helped getting the grass to green up start to grow. We also have most of the irrigation going and that too has helped. Last fall and winter was a tough one on the irrigation system (especially the back) because of the lack of snow cover and how deep the frost went into the ground. I thought I would post some recent pictures to show how the place is greening up. We are still rough around the edges (bunkers need to cleaned and sand moved around, clean up from the fall still, etc., etc.) but as we bring seasonal staff online starting the first week in May it shouldn't take long to get caught up.

#17 Hole

#18 Green

#9 Green

#1 Green April 5

#1 Green April 21

We will play all 18 regulation greens for this weekend (April 23 and 24) and make a decision on what will be open for the following week but come May we plan to have all 18 in play for the season.

Paving

2010-04-22T06:08:00.000-07:00

BA Blacktop has been at KGC for the past 2 days and finished their part in paving the cart paths. We had to close the front and back nines on different days to limited interference between the paving crew and the players. Each day the paving crew shows up on your door step it costs over $7000 so it was to the clubs advantage to make sure the pavers could work without any interference. Everyones understanding with the respect to inconveniences caused by the paving project is greatly appreciated and will be, hopefully, rewarded with a nice smooth ride!

Hot mix had to brought to the paver from staging areas since the tandems could not access areas within the golf course

Loaders travelled across certain areas on the fairways with the only real damage on #6 where there was severe rutting.

This just shows the amount of equipment needed to do even a tiny project like KGC just did

End result

You can go to www.kimberleygolfclub.com/news.html to understand how we chose which areas to core out and completely re-do versus "over paving". There remains numerous spot that still need repairing but it is probably wise to look at paving cart paths as an on going maintenance process versus a one shot deal as long as we are dealing with trees and their roots. Now that paving is complete the grounds crew will spend the season tying in the edges and cleaning up all the seemingly random piles of debris left all over the golf course.

New Irrigation for #1 Green

2010-04-15T18:09:00.000-07:00

During the time that #1 green is out of play we decided to take advantage and update the irrigation heads and control. The irrigation system at KGC is a mish-mash of control systems and design logic. A quick and dirty explanation with respect to water distribution (i.e. pipes) is best said by the phrase "size matters". More of an explanation would make an uninteresting subject even more boring. The control system can be explained a little easier. A irrigation head is kept down by either the absence or presence of a stimulus which can be either electric (called a normally closed system) or hydraulic (called a normally open). KGC has hydraulic on the back and electric on both the front and back. Number one green is has electrically controlled heads but, because "size matters" and because of wiring the old heads could only operate in one particular orientation. What we are planning to do is increase the volume of water feeding the green by looping the pipe and increase control by adding new wire. The following pictures show the process, equipment, and supplies needed for such a project.

First we had to dig out the old heads and add new heads and pipe.

Sometimes you can push the limits of the pipes properties and give it an extra tweak to make a corner!

Adding extra heads means adding new wire too.

We pulled over 3000' of wire from #1 green back to the field controller on #3 tee

The resulting trench requires some clean up but not as much as a trench made by a chain trencher

Where we used a chain trencher we had to screen out the rocks when we back filled

New heads watering #1 green

When Do We Open?

2010-04-03T06:48:00.002-07:00

There may be a belief that the only thing we wait for before opening the course for play is for the snow to melt and the ground to dry up. Most years this is true. In 2010 most of the course was free of snow by the end of the third week in March. This was more an indication of the general lack of snow cover not the warm weather. An important point to consider before opening the course (and certain greens) is soil temperature. In the fall when we get below freezing overnight there is considerable heat in the ground that allows roots the ability to keep growing and absorbing nutrients. In the spring soil temperatures need to reach temperatures near 10 degrees C or 50 degrees F in order for roots and most soil microbes to start functioning (maximum root growth occurs around 15 C or 60F). When cold fall and winter contribute to a deep frost it takes longer for the soil to warm up . Continual overnight lows of -8 to -2 such as what we've been experiencing make the warming of the soil a long drawn out process.

I have been taking soil temperatures over the past few weeks and have seen some dramatic reading between greens and even within a single green. For example, #17 is pretty much the sunniest and therefore the warmest green at KGC and last week (March 27) the soil temperature during mid day was close to 17 C (mid 60's F) at 1.5 inches. One of the coolest greens in the spring is #7 and last week it was 3 C (38F) at 1.5 inches. Number 9 had soil temperature readings of 10C (50F) at the back and 15C (60F) in the front.

I again went out on Friday, April 2 to check soil temperatures on #7 green. I took the following picture from the back of the green and the importance of soil temperature as it relates to greening up is fairly obvious. In the picture foreground (the back of #7 green) temperatures were 3C while at the front of the green temperatures were 7C.

The other important thing to note is that those temperatures were taken from a green that has been double tarped since we exposed it on March 16th. Tarps help turf by moderating the lows and by allowing the turf underneath to warm up during day to a higher temperature than if they were exposed to the air. We only have a limited number of tarps so most greens are openly exposed; as a result, the speed by which the soil warms on these green is more impacted by the overnight lows.

That was sort of a boring topic so I finish with to pictures that show difference between years. I started taking pictures yearly to compare the snow cover on a certain date and how that relates to when we open. The first picture was taken March 25, 2008. That year we opened 9 holes on April 27th and 18 on May 2nd. (I've misplaced the 2009 photo but opening was 9 holes on April 17th and all 18 on April 22nd). The other picture is this year on April 1st. Hopefully, 9 holes on .........

Spring 2008

Spring 2010

The Tarped Greens

2010-03-21T14:40:00.001-07:00

Part of our winter preparation is to cover select greens with a special over-wintering tarp (see November 23 posting). We cover number 7 and 15 greens since these two have a history of developing ice most years. Ice is easier to break and remove from the greens surface when it is covered by an over-wintering tarp. If a green has a layer of ice and no cover to protect the surface there can be an increased chance of damaging the surface while trying to break up and remove the ice as well as exposing the turf to possible damage due to the continual freeze/thaw of the free water creating the ice. As mentioned in an older post, the tarps we used this year are slightly different than the tarps we have used in the past. These tarps have the ability to "breath" which is suppose to lessen the chance of anoxia (again, see Nov. 23 posting). The following is a brief description of the process required to remove the ice and get the tarp of the green surface in the spring.

Ice Layer Over Tarp

Although the ice on 15 green was never any thicker than a couple inches is was still too thick to remove the entire surface with just shovels.

Aerator Breaking Ice

We used the aerator to shatter the ice and then used shovels to remove ice chunks from the tarp and ploughed the ice off the surface with the bobcat.

Bobcat, Aerator, and Shovels

The whole process took 2 guys one complete day to finish. My concern of the thin ice layer that I observed over the winter appears, at least for 15 green, to be unfounded since the surface appeared unharmed when we pulled back the tarp. Once the surface has dried and the grass begins to grow we will then know how the grass overwintered.

Exposed 15 Green

One Green......

2010-03-13T11:35:00.000-08:00

When I'm unsure of how a green may doing under the snow I go out and expose a section of turf and pull a plug (see Feb. 26 posting). Number one green was showing an unusual color as the snow melted on the front left corner. I took a plug and put inside a window at room temperature to see what was what.

February 26

There is times when the turf under snow retains some of its green color but with the cold, freezing fall temperatures the turf usually turns brown. There is a problem if the turf is still brown 7 days later:

March 5

It's really bad news when things look the same after 14 days:

March 13

After one week I decided to remove all the snow cover from #1 green so we could get a better look at the entire surface and try gain some control by double tarping the green to get things growing sooner than normal.

Snow cover before removal

Snow removed with Bobcat in 20 minutes

Only a very thin ice layer

Spreading material to speed melt

Melt after one day

Tarped over ice for first night

The rest melted on day 2

This green will remain tarped for the rest of the month and depending on how it looks at the beginning of April it may stay tarped until recovery is satisfactory. Over the next couple weeks the weather will dictate any strategies we take to speed the recovery. The big unknown is how many more greens are like this one? Until I can get a look at all the greens I can't really say why #1 has a problem. My suspicion is we may see issues on those surfaces with a large percentage of Poa annua that are susceptible to freezing early and hard because of micro-climates (i.e. poor light and high soil moisture). It is still early and despite the lack of snow we have to be cautious about exposing surfaces to cold temperature, especially if we don't have enough tarps to protect the surfaces. This coming week we will most likely tackle #7 and #15 to see what is under the overwintering tarps.

Snow Melting Experiment

2010-03-09T07:10:00.000-08:00

A bunch of different things have happened over time to make me want to rid the golf course of snow quicker than usual. 1) I received a broucher in the mail a while back promoting the idea of using black sand to speed the melting of snow (assuming it is always sunny!). 2.) The possible threat of not re-registering a product we depend on for snow mold control. 3.) The development of a "biological" snow mold control. 4.) The increasing costs of fungicides. 5.) The push to be more "environmental"

First a little primer on snow mold: I'll generalize a bit but most of the winter disease on KGC is either gray or pink snow mold. Both diseases survive the summer as a spore within the thatch layer. The spores germinate in the fall and grow under snow cover (especially when there is plenty of snow over unfrozen, wet ground). A level of control is achieved by applying fungicides in the fall that limit growth of the germinating spores. Some fungicide efficacy is lost over the winter allowing for the development snow mold in the early spring. The decreasing control is one of the reasons why we blow snow off the greens if we think the disease pressure is high.

Greens will never be able to overwinter without some form of chemical disease control. However, with our fairways there is a greater "buffer" to handle some level of disease. The surface area is substantially larger (the fairway area on #16 alone is equal to the total area of the greens), some grass species (fescues and Kentucky blue grass) that exist on our fairways are somewhat resistant to snow molds as compared to the mostly Poa annua species on the greens which has no disease resistance, and the fairways can handle a little more abuse because they are maintained at a height of cut (3/4 " for fairways vs. 5/32" on greens) that allows them to recover quicker from winter damage.

If we can melt the snow and get the turf surface to dry quicker we will have less incidence of disease. The picture on the left shows about 7 to 8 inches of snow on the driving range. We ploughed a series of roads so we would be able to spread the sand on top of the snow.

The picture on the right shows how much snow melted after 7 days. Temperatures ranged from -10 at night to +9 during the day with mostly sunny conditions. If you double click on the pictures you get a better idea of how much melted in a short time. We will use this for melting the small amounts of snow left on our greens in the spring when we think it is appropriate.

We will see how quick the exposed areas on the range green up to the area we left the snow on. With a few other techniques (such as dethatching) we may be able to lessen the severity of winter disease damage on areas such as the fairways.

Bent Vs. Poa

2010-02-26T07:38:00.000-08:00

Slowly winter is disappearing on the golf course. Traditionally, we would have 10-14 inches of snow. As of this week there is any where from 5-7 inches with lots of south facing slopes and areas around certain trees already exposed. We are keeping an eye on the surfaces and have not seen any more ice develop. The crusty layer referenced in January 23 post has actually lost some of its cohesiveness and is removed with very little effort.

I removed a plug from 9 green about 10 days ago from the back right (a cold shady corner).In the above picture the different colors are due to the mixture of bent grass and Poa. I pulled a core that had both grass species to compare how they would green up.The thing to note is the different tissue colors and the yellow on the left edge of the plug. It is subtle but the blue/green grass blades are Bent grass. The yellow and lime green grass blades are Poa. What this suggests is the Poa may be slow to get going this spring.

To survive the winter and start spring growth grass plants depend on carbohydrate reserves that are accumulated in the fall and stored in the roots. Poa has many good characteristics, however, deep rooting is not one. To explain this point I took plugs from 18 Green.

(A short history first: when we had ice damage in 2008 and had to sodded 18 green. We trenched in a drain from the low spot where ice develops to a catch basin off in the rough.Within the trench we installed a drain tile and a length of heat tape. Each fall we have to find the end of the drain tile we buried under the green so we can have a way to drain any water that may develop under the snow. In an effort to keep the playing surface consistent we sodded the ice damaged area with Poa except for a small chunk of Bent grass which is marking the end of the drain tile under the green surface.)

The following picture shows a Poa plug at the top and a bent plug at the bottom.The interesting part is underneath the surface. The following picture shows the root zone of the Poa plug that existed at the end of October in 2009; unfortunately, fairly typical for most greens. This next picture is the root zone of the bent grass plug
There can be a number of different causes affecting root growth such as light availability, traffic, growing medium, fertility, soil structure and height of cut. What the two previous pictures demonstrate is the importance of grass species when it comes to root development. Remember, these two plugs were directly adjacent to one another so they would experience the exact same conditions. The only difference is one plug is bent the other Poa.

Going back to this spring: with such a small root mass, Poa is not very resilient to multiple stresses. As I mentioned in the December 12 post last falls weather played havoc with the fall preparations needed to help turf overwinter in best possible condition. The plug from 9 green maybe a forewarning of what exists on the rest of the greens. The most important thing now is to get the Poa growing without any extra stress like multiple freeze thaws, ill-timed temperature drops, or early traffic.

2010-02-10T15:59:00.000-08:00

The first turf conference of the year was held last week in Nanaimo and I was able to attend. Most conferences begin with a choice of one day seminars followed by 2 to 3 days of education sessions and a trade show. This year speakers included people from the USGA, Michigan and Rutgers Universities, The Merion Golf Club as well as representative from agencies such as Health Canada and The David Suzuki Foundation. Other than session specific for cultural practices for turf there were session for irrigation, horticulture, and turf mechanics.

The underlying theme for most turf sessions this year was the cosmetic pesticide ban. Supporters and detractors of the cosmetic pesticide ban debate can sometimes appear as radicals. With so much information available it is difficult to delve into the subject in any depth and not be overwhelmed. Both sides can be accused of presenting half truths and cherry picking information to support their argument as it relates to pesticide bans. Usually, the best approach lies somewhere in the middle. As with any debate the one thing I've learned is individuals need to educate themselves and take in both sides to reach a well informed decision.

I will supply some links to sites that discuss pesticides. From those sites there is links to numerous other sites if you want to look into the debate in greater detail.

P.M.R.A: The Health Canada agency that registers pesticides for use in Canada.

http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/cps-spc/pest/part/protect-proteger/use-utiliser/index-eng.php

Pest Control Canada

http://pestcontrolcanada.com/Pesticides/Managing%20pesticides.htm

Pesticide Free BC

http://www.pesticidefreebc.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=65&Itemid=

The provincial government is in the process of consulting the public on the issue of "cosmetic pesticides" and has a provided an avenue to build an understanding about the subject as well as a method for commenting before taking the next step regarding possible legislation of cosmetic chemical pesticides use. The following link will take you to the M.O.E site:

http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/epd/ipmp/regs/cosmetic-pesticides/consultation.htm

Oh yeah, golf course wise not much has changed since my last post including not much more snow!

Mid-Winter Upate

2010-01-23T14:08:00.000-08:00

Since the last posting in December not much has happened......that is until the weather this past week (January 10-16 week). The snow level has shrunk from around 30 cm (12 inches, give or take) to 15 to 20 cm (6 to 8 inches depending upon exposure) in just 3 days. I don't have the rain gauge out but the rain has been less than 1/8 of an inch (according to information collected by the pollution control plant) and the daily highs have been above 0 degrees C since Jan. 11. Luckily, the low's have been below zero for the most part so the melt stops overnight and it takes a little longer to get going the next day. A day with rain and a mean temperature over 0 degrees for 3 days is what happened in December 2007 when we had ice damage to certain greens (see the following pict).

The difference this time out is we have less snow, it has not rained as hard or as long as it did in 2007, and the mean temperature has been below zero. I've been to most greens to take a look for ice. Generally speaking, we have a 1/2 inch crust over top of 6 to 7 inches of "lite" corn snow followed by a very dense (dare I say "icy") surface layer. This is not very cohesive layer (i.e. it is snow that has melted and refroze into small ice chunks that have formed a loose association) and such a layer can be beneficial during the snow removal in the spring. We sometimes call it "snow blower ice"; however, the line between ice called "snow blower ice" and ice called"bobcat ice" is a thin one that you don't want to cross.

The one unsettling event this winter is what occurring under the tarps on 7 and 15. Our old tarp were replaced by a new style (see November 23 entry) and have created a situation I haven't seen before. The first image is of the surface on #7 Green under the tarp.

The increased exchange has allowed more moisture through than the previous tarps. The best way to describe the characteristics of the frozen water seen in this picture is to relate it to the hoar frost you see on trees during winter. It seems to be easily removed with a plastic snow shovel so along as it doesn't change form it may be nothing to worry about.

The next picture is of 15 green.

The moisture on this green has developed into a clear layer of thin ice that may have the effect of sealing off the surface. At present, the layer is very thin and is easily scraped away. One way to monitor what is happening under the ice is to dig down and remove the ice and "take a whiff". If things smell "green" I don't worry but if things smell like a slough I start to worry. The other problem seems to be that the tarp in sticking to the ice. As long as the ice gets no thicker and the tarp doesn't weld to the surface of the existing ice we should be able to get the green exposed and the ice melted early March (weather permitting). I will keep checking and doing the sniff test to see if things appear to be going south.

What's New and Possible Winter Scenarios

2009-12-12T16:52:00.000-08:00

I guess the good news is there is nothing earth shattering to discuss. Most of the snow has all melted except for a very thin layer on the greens surface. The cold weather has caused most of the ground to freeze solid. That usually means there is little opportunity for disease until the spring melt. It also means it could take a while for stuff to get going in the spring since the soil temperature needs to be above 50degrees F (10 degrees C) to get good turf growth. Right now all we can do is look at present conditions and decide if they may impact the turf next spring and try to formulate a plan.

A little FYI: "Winter Kill", the catch all term for dead turf in the spring, can usually be attributed to one or a combination of the following:

1. Disease
2. Crown hydration/dehydration or freeze/thaw cycle
3. Ice
4. Direct Low Temperature Kill

For most situations water needs to be present in one form or another (i.e. liquid or ice) to cause damage to turf. Up to this point, luckily, the greens have had very little water flowing or freezing on the surface.

Another factor contributing to unhealthy turf is the level of the plants reserves. Once spring arrives and the turf begins to grow the severity of damage to the exposed turf from the extreme early winter conditions may be depended upon how much carbohydrates (CHO) the turf was able to store before the temperature dropped. Increased height of cut, fertilizer applications, and a warm ground to keep the soil and roots active all aid in CHO production and storage in the fall. This fall was challenging because of the ill timed snow falls and below normal temperatures affected our fall fertilizing schedule and, as a result, the turf may not have had sufficient opportunity to develop adequate CHO stores.

We have experienced just about every version of the above scenarios that I have laid out at one time or another. Luckily, they have been limited to certain areas and not over the entire golf course. Arrival of winter cause us to change gears but it doesn't stop us from thinking about the turf and what surprises may await us once the snow melts.

Snow and Tarping Greens

2009-11-23T10:11:00.000-08:00

With winter looking a little more possible we began to wrap up some loose ends on the golf course. The only real significant thing left was to tarp the greens that are prone to ice damage. First we had to shovel off the skiff of snow that had stuck around before laying down the tarps.Unlike previous years, we left those greens we tarp exposed a bit longer so the ground could freeze. Some information coming out of Alberta suggests laying a tarp before the ground freezes may contribute to a condition called anoxia (lack of oxygen). Up until the spring of 2007 when #6 green was damaged we have never experienced any damage due to covering the greens. The picture above shows the damage from that year which was similar in appearance to greens at other golf courses that were discovered to have anoxic conditions during the winter of 2006. This year we've changed the style of tarp from an impermeable to a tarp with a looser weave that should allow gas exchange but limit water penetration. At present, we have around 2 to 3.5 inches snow throughout the course. This is still not enough to buffer any significant rain event. We will keep an eye on the forecast and try to make the right choices if it looks like rain. I'll keep snow and course conditions updated over the next few weeks but unless things get funky the entries will be short and sweet.

Typical Fall Work

2009-11-13T15:41:00.000-08:00

This past week had us scouting, falling, limbing, and removing pine trees infected with Mountain pine beetle and the Western pine beetle.

We had to remove around 65 trees from infected pockets scattered throughout the golf course property. This is amount of trees is similar to previous years. Areas where trees were removed include 1 fairway, 10 fairway, 12 tee, 14 tee, 14 fairway, and 16 fairway. Most of these areas are known to us so we knew where to start looking and weren't to surprised when we found infected trees. We were a little surprised to find more of the Ponderosa (Bull Pine) had been hit by the Western pine beetle. So far the Western seems to have a preference for the smaller trees in "out of the way" locations.

Logs from the trees were stacked in staging areas and then transported to a local mill.

Other tree work this time of year includes the application of drain tile to tree limbs to stop the deer from damaging the bark with their antlers.

Fall Paving

2009-11-03T17:30:00.000-08:00

This falls project has been the renovation of select cart paths on the golf course and repaving a portion of the parking lot. You can go to the KGC home page to see a description of the cart path portion of the project. Most of the work was done after closing so I'll post some pictures with descriptions here.
The earlier weather impacted the paving contractors work schedule at other locations and, as a result, the work that was suppose to be completed by the contractor on the golf course was pushed back until spring 2010.

We began by removing the old pavement and digging out the roots causing the humps in the cart paths.

We used a chain trencher to cut any roots next to the paths with the hope of delaying any damage to the paths in the future. We then hauled 200 tonnes of road crush with our utility vehicles to fill in all the excavated cart paths on the golf course. Work then stopped and will begin again in the spring with final grading and paving of the paths.

The project that was completed involved paving a path to the members cart storage area and repaving the parking lot by the Johns cart storage to add more parking spots.

Early Snow

2009-11-01T14:57:00.000-08:00

The snow at the beginning of the week was unfortunate since we had not finished treating some tee's and all the back fairways. By Tuesday snow had settled to about 2.5" . With only a couple inches and the possibility of rain and I made the choice to remove all the snow from the greens to lessen the chance of ice forming.

It took 2 days and four 9 h.p. track snow blowers to expose all the greens.

Traditionally, the snow before Halloween will melt but I choose not to take that risk and we began to plough those fairways that had not been sprayed yet. We started on the flat, smooth and firm fairways first and by Friday we were done removing a bulk of the snow from those areas we needed to treat.

The warm temperatures and rain melted the remaining snow on Saturday and we began to treat those area we missed on Saturday and Sunday.

In the beginning...

2009-10-29T18:03:00.000-07:00

I have been giving some thought as to how I could inform more of the membership about the activities occuring at the golf course throughout the whole calendar year. The plan is to try to write a weekly update. Updates may be more frequent if time and events dictate. They may be also less frequent if not much is going on. I will try keep it short and to the point and incorporate pictures to spice up the posts.

This is meant more as a vehicle for me to inform the membership. If you have information or questions please contact me in person as I won't respond to comments or emails since I would like to deal with members in person only.