Week of May 23

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"

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

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

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

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.