KGC's Version of a Pink Ribbon Campaign......

...... mostly named that because that is the colour of the flagging tape we have.  I've marked trees on the left of 6 fairway just past the mounds, left of the red tee on #7, and directly next to the right side of 9 green.

Pitch Tubes on Ponderosa Left 6 Fwy

These are all Ponderosa pines and all have been attacked by (probably) the Western Pine Beetle but who knows.  The only real way to distinguish which beetle is doing the attacking is to look at larvae or the beetle gallery below the bark.

Beetle Gallery of Mountain Pine Beetle

Beetle Gallery of Western Pine Beetle

The end result is the same as all infected trees need to be cut down and removed.  We've already had to deal with beetle kill this year as covered in the June 28th post.  There will be lots of problems with removal of these trees including the volume of material produced by their removal, deciding how and which way to fall the infected trees, and what sort of impact a possible Western Pine Beetle infestation will have on the front nine layout which pretty much depends on Ponderosa pines.

Other things coming out of the wood work now that we are over half way include knapweed which is in full bloom all over the course.

Knapweed Left 5 Fwy

I've covered this pesky weed before (go here ) and not much has changed regarding it.  If you see it pull and we'll pick it up (hot spots are mostly on the back with the left of 14 fairway and the left of 17 fairway the worst).  I know that if we can treat these areas early in the spring with broadleaf herbicide we get pretty good control but its a case of getting the time and since I am the only guy with a applicators license I either have to do the application and be directly at the treated location if someone else is doing the application.  Either situation is not always an option when we are starting up.  

The river .... lets talk about it later I am already pretty bummed out.

The Summer Blahs

If I could carry the energy and drive I have in the mornings for an entire day I would always be on top of things.  As it is, by the time afternoon rolls around my ambitions seemed to have been tempered a bit so hence the reason for few posts over the past couple weeks. I guess things are also running even keel which is always good news. 

What to note as of late? As it turns out things haven’t dried out like I thought and we are only a couple of week away from having to back the water off because of the cooler nights and shorter days.  The river is dropping but not a topic of conversation for a few weeks yet.  Maybe the only thing to discuss may be the little black bugs on the greens.  BTA or Black Turfgrass  Ataenius is what your seeing.

BTA 

Go here for detailed info if you are so inclined but if you don’t just realize that, as a general rule, BTA are not a big deal and unless there is a bug population around 40-50 per square foot there is no real need to treat for them.  That being said don’t be afraid to squish them with your putter!

It Won't Look Any Better.......

Getting While You Can

 Over 3" rain last week, everything fertilized, mostly caught up on mowing, and nice weather all combined are making the course look pretty nice.  If the forecast is correct we will be showing moisture stress by this time next week so now would be the best to bring out a guest to show off the place.  I went around and took some pictures of the way things look now and I will use them as a compare and contrast a little later on (again, assuming the forecast for +36 for highs +19 for lows is correct).

Things of late to note could be the tree falling on 2 fairway.

Wedging the Tree Away From Fwy

Giving the Faller a Bit of Help

Removing Logs to the Sawmill

 

Beetle Damage Under the Bark

Both trees were Ponderosa Pine which mostly likely means it was the Western Pine Beetle (vs. Northern).  We've haven't been running a enough fall staff for the last couple years to keep on top of the scouting, falling and removing infected trees and my hunch is there is more out there. 

Update.

No catchy title this time out.  All we've been doing in routine maintenance.  As promised, we aerated and top dressed the collars and aprons around all the greens.  The fairways, roughs, and greens surrounds were all fertilized so expect grass in the next couple weeks.  One thing different is the primary cut of rough we started to do around the greens.  It's not much but it is in response to the survey I put out at the beginning of the year.  Interestingly enough no one has commented on it so it is either not enough or people haven't noticed.  Let me know what you think.

I added another sheet to the Maintenance Standard so take a look at that.  More volunteer work : 18 tee railing and snack shack painting are two recent projects completed by Gord J. and his crew.

We are dealing with some wildlife issue but I don't have any good pictures so that may wait until next time.  Otherwise, aside from the usual equipment issues (finally got the correct shaft for the fairway unit parked behind 15 green) we are bumbling along.

I bet you thought I forgot

I threaten way back at the beginning of the year to create a maintenance standard that outlines the course maintenance.  Obviously, it would be best to have it all done at once but this year (most years, it seems) has been tight on office time once the season got going.  I will place an evolving draft copy in the clubhouse next to the handicap computer for your reading pleasure.  Ideally, a standard would be developed by numerous individuals from a good cross section of golfing members, manager, and directors.  That is a lot of people to get together for a number of meetings.  Instead I used the online survey people filled out this spring as the bench mark for the basic maintenance practices.  I've furthered "fleshed" out the maintenance practices to provide information as a reference in the event there is a question regarding any of the maintenance.  Take a look and I'll tweak it as I get more done.

Golf course wise it's been a typical spring with disease, hydraulic leaks, snow, snapped axles, cracked frames, and lots of seed head on the greens and fairways (take a look at the right of #4 fairway by the big tree; there is so much seed head the grass hardly looks green!).  The mechanic has been swamped with our "new" used equipment starting to show some of why it was traded in not to mention all the sh*t he has to repair on our old stuff.  The only thing really working out, and I know I've said this before, is the staff.  Not having to train or baby sit opens me up to filling in on the course where we have man power gaps.

This month we will try to catch up on some of the stuff delayed for various reason (aerating  and top dressing collars and top dressing greens).  Extra ordinary projects we've undertaken (completing the #7 mini irrigation expansion and re-fencing the maintenance compound) have kept us busy as well.

Volunteer work this month will be highlighted on the deck and in the beds around the club house as all the plants and pots were planted by a group players on their own time.  Take a look.

Oops...Not Quite What We Planned

There is many areas on the course that receive an extreme amount of maintenance for what they are.  My personal pet peeve is the lack of required irrigation necessary to keep the greens surrounds healthy and playable (SEE HERE for more whining by me).  It takes running hoses, little wap-waps, and lots of time and labour to keep surrounds on certain greens from burning out during the summer.  Adding extra irrigation to a green like #7 isn't an ideal situation but it is the type of project that suits our budget and addresses one of the areas where we do quite a bit of hose irrigation.

We had some control wire left from expanding the irrigation on #6 green as well as some irrigation pipe from the driving range "do again" renovation.  Also, this spring we dug up an inch and half remote valve left in the ground from when we re-did the irrigation around 5 green a few years back.  Combine all these items and the fact that a control satellite is directly beside 7 green, installing a make shift surrounds line around 7 green appeared feasible.

We picked a routing and started work but unfortunately we weren't the first to use that routing and ended up hitting the lateral that controlled the front heads on 7 green.  Actually, hitting it is an understatement.  We demolished a large portion of it: oops.  We spend an extra couple days fixing that and now we're back on finishing the initial project. I'll keep you updated at we go along.
   

Repairing the Line

If you look around the course you will see a bucket load of saskatoon blossoms.  This year, and this observation relates to the turf also, has seen great growing conditions early on and all plants are loving it.

Saskatoon Bush on 15 Green

How the spring growth will play itself out during the rest of the year is hard to say but there is lots of potential!

Spring Update

The weather is causing everyone to think it's mid June and the warm days have really got the grass hopping so there is lots to cut but I am going be sort of a wet blanket and make everyone look at the calendar.  The month of May is somewhat in the middle of the spring peak growth cycle for cool season grass (remember there are two growth cycle for cool season turf: spring and fall) so I like to take advantage and get some increased density and, hopefully, root growth by keeping grass at a healthy H.O.C.  The clock starts ticking on turf health once we begin cutting at summer height so I choose mid to late May as the time to lower the height for mowing the greens until early September .  Furthermore, with the deep tine holes and the holes from the aeration in April I want to allow the turf time to take advantage of the oxygenated root zone and grow some nice root mass.  More root mass means the turf is better at "getting" nutrients and water which translates into healthy turf which leads to a better playing surface.

One quick comment on some things on the course.

Dandelions Around Base of Tree
( Double Click on Pict)

It's a great time to see all the dandelions we have on the course.  Specifically, its a great time to see where they are and where they are not.  Mostly you will see dandelions in the rough or around trees, or inside unmaintained areas.  There are very few growing in tees, fairways, or even in the rough immediately adjacent to the fairways.  The only reason relates to the cultural inputs whether it be water, fertility, mowing, or aeration.  Basically, all those processes make the turf healthier so it can out compete the weeds.  We don't spray large swaths of the golf course but tend to focus on areas prone to knapweed, sweet clover, and high profile/high play areas.