Solid Tine Aeration On Putting Greens and Fairways

On Monday, May 2, the golf course maintenance staff completed the critical task of solid-tine aeration of putting greens. The entire process took two full days to complete all 27 holes. While this process does cause a temporary reduction in putting green quality, the benefit to the turf is realized during the high stress periods of the summer.

NSCC's putting greens were built in the mid 1960's. The original soil base consists of a highly organic and mucky soil. This soil does not drain well, which makes ample root growth and development difficult. Over the last twenty years, NSCC's putting surfaces have been religiously topdressed with a fines-free sand which has accumulated to a depth of around four inches. While turf roots thrive in this sandy, well-drained environment, they struggle to penetrate into the mucky layer below. The solid-tine aeration penetrates into this undesirable area and fractures the soil. The fracturing affect creates additional pore space allowing for ample air channels and root development.

Following the solid-tine aeration, the greens were rolled to remove any imperfections and to help close the holes, verticut to stimulate growth and recovery, topdressed with sand to further smooth the surface, swept to stand and long leaf blades upright prior to mowing and to incorporate the sand into the turf canopy, and finally mowed. After mowing, a combination of liquid and granular fertilizers were applied to accelerate recovery.


In a similar manner, the solid-tine aeration of fairways is also underway. Larger diameter tines are used in fairways, but the overall affect on playability is minimal. In no time, the fairways will have recovered and prepared to endure the onset of summer stress.

A Picture Worth At Least A Thousand Words

Quite simply, drainage is one of the most critical elements necessary to obtain quality turf conditions on a golf course. The picture above, taken of the 7 White fairway, highlights this point. The portion of fairway displayed in the picture is taken from the dog leg looking back to the tee. As most members can surely attest, this portion of the fairway is historically a wet area as it is a low-lying area that actually sits below the water level of the adjacent pond. Golf course maintenance team members would be quick to point out that this area is also a very difficult area to manage due to the problems associated with excess water.

During the colder months of the year, water regularly accumulates in this area during freeze-thaw cycles which occur throughout our Wisconsin winters. The concern over potential winter damage in this area is common due to ice formation which often times leads to significant turf loss. This area also proves difficult to manage during the summer, as excessive moisture leads to saturated root systems which lack sufficient oxygen and increased disease pressure.

Ultimately this are is addressed in the Golf Course Master Plan as presented by Ron Forse. Upon completion, this fairway area will be raised and significant subsurface drainage will be added. Since the time frame for the implementation of the Master Plan has been extended, the golf course maintenance staff added drainage to this area in the fall of 2010. The golf course maintenance staff utilized only our remaining inventory of supplies to complete as much drainage as possible without overextending our budget.

Following winter, one can easily see the benefits of the drainage to this area. The turf in the areas surrounding the drainage remains in good condition, while the areas of the fairway further from the drainage, the forefront of the picture, have suffered areas of damage due to ice accumulation. The golf course maintenance staff plans to revisit this area in the fall, adding additional drainage in areas where ice accumulated over the winter.

Dedication!

Even after being given the option of taking the rest of the afternoon off, a few dedicated staff members decided to stay and complete the tasks they were working on, even in the midst of what is hopefully winter's last hurrah. The golf course remains in good shape, even in the midst of conditions that more closely mirror those of early March. The wintry mix that we are currently experiencing poses no threat to the health of the turf. The biggest impact it has on our Spring planning. Cold and wet weather slows down the growth rate of the turf, lowers soil temperatures, and makes golf course access difficult. Once warm weather returns, or rather begins, the golf course staff will once again resume with our early season maintenance practices.

Putting Green Maintenance Begins

The warmer weather of last week was well received by both golfers and the maintenance staff alike. While many members were able to take advantage of the recent spring weather by playing a few rounds, the golf course staff initiated a couple of key practices in our intensive putting green maintenance program.

Days which are both dry and sunny lend themselves to the successful implementation of both vertical mowing and sand topdressing the putting surfaces. While these practices may be completed independent of one another, the completion of both practices in conjunction with one another serves improves the quatlity of the putting on a number of different fronts. The labor intensive process includes:

• Vertical mowing in two directions at 1/8" deep and perpendicular to one another which removes thatch and other organic material


• Removal of the debris created during this process


• Sand topdressing


• Sweeping the sand into the turf canopy


• Mowing the greens following the sweeping process in order to ensure a smooth surface

The vertical mowing serves both to remove organic matter from the putting greens as well as to stimulate growth on the plants that have just begun to grow. The removal of organic matter ensures a firmer putting surface, while at the same time maintaining the proper water and air movement throughout the turf canopy. As you can see in the picture, a significant amount of material is removed during this process. On average an entire utility vehicle full of organic matter is generated per putting green. The new growth stimulated during this process allows the turf to more quickly cover any remaining aerification holes and other imperfections which may exist following winter.

Sand topdressing also helps to provide a firm and smooth putting surface, while at the same time further diluting the amount of organic matter in a putting green. When this light application of sand occurs immediately following vertical mowing, the sand readily fills the small grooves created by the vertical mowing and very easily penetrates the turf canopy.

Sweeping the greens forces the sand into the groves and also stands the turf upright. A final mowing following the sweep removes these long blades of grainy turf and provides a uniform height of cut and smoother ball roll.

When the weather cooperates, the golf course maintenance staff on Mondays which are golf course maintenance day. Since the course is closed until noon on Mondays, the golf course staff completes this process without disrupting play.

Golf Course To Open Saturday

Since the prolonged winter appears poised to leave the Milwaukee area, the golf course is slated to open on Saturday morning. Eighteen holes will be available for play as both the Red and White nines will open. While this week's wet weather has hindered the golf course maintenance staff's ability to get work done on the course, it certainly hasn't dampened our enthusiasm as we quickly approach the beginning to the 2011 season. I am very pleased to report the course is in great condition following the winter. Upon opening, you will notice the putting greens and tees are free from any areas of significant winter damage. The fairways also have weathered the winter extremely well. Only very small areas of damage exist. These areas, with some encouragement by the maintenance crew, should heal quickly upon the arrival of better growing conditions.

The golf course maintenance staff is in the process of preparing the course for our opening day on Saturday. Since the course is very wet and tender, the maintenance team must complete all work without the use of golf carts and utility vehicles. To date we have completed repair and raking of nearly half of the bunkers on the Red and White nines. All debris has been raked up on the golf course. The debris will be collected once the golf course is dry enough to support vehicular traffic.

Prior to Saturday, bunker rakes and tee accessories will be hauled out to the course. On Thursday, we plan to mow all putting greens for the first time of the year. While the first mowing is completed at a higher height, the affect of the procedure will provide smoother putting upon opening. Please remember that the turf has only begun to show signs of growth at this point. Take care to exercise great caution upon embarking on your first rounds of the year at NSCC. As always, take the time to replace divots and repair ballmarks. See you on the course!

Cold Weather Slows Course Opening

The combination of last week's cold temperatures and this week's predicted cold weather has caused the golf course to take a step backward. In order for the golf course to open, we must first be certain that all frost has left the ground. Traffic on frozen turf and soil, even foot traffic from golfers, can cause a significant amount of damage to the plants themselves. The turf at NSCC is very susceptible to damage at this point in the year. Until the plants are once again growing, they are unable to recover from any damage that they may receive from play. The golf course maintenance staff is eagerly watching the forecast in anticipation of course opening. To date, our activities on the golf course have been limited due to the frozen conditions. While some course clean-up has been completed, much work remains to get done. As the frost leaves the ground, the golf course maintenance staff will begin preparing the course for opening. Activities such as bunker repair cannot be completed until the bunkers are free from snow and the sand is no longer frozen.

The picture above helps to illustrate how fragile turf can be when the ground is frozen and the plants have not yet begun to grow. The brown tire tracks are clearly distinguishable in the photo taken of 8 Blue fairway. While the picture was taken recently, the damage was done in December when we applied black sand to fairways in order to melt the ice. Imagine for a moment the potential damage that could occur should golfers be allowed to walk on frozen fairways, tees, and putting surfaces. This picture not only illustrates how the decision to remove ice should not be taken lightly, but also how sensitive the turf can be during the winter and early spring. Many areas such as this exist throughout the course which will be noticeable upon course opening. In most cases this damage seems superficial and the turf should quickly recover following a couple weeks of growth.

As the forecast indicates, temperature appear to warm significantly toward the end of next week. These temperatures coupled with the hard work of the golf course maintenance staff will allow us to open the course as soon as we are able. Both I and the turf thank you for your patience.

Strong Start to 2011

Throughout last winter, many stories were shared by golf course superintendents about the horrific growing conditions of 2010. While most stories revolved around the challenging summer conditions due to excessive rains followed by high temperatures and excessive humidity, golf course maintenance staff employees and members of NSCC are well aware that the challenges of 2010 began as the snow first receded from the course. The melting snow revealed significant turf damage due to excessive ice coverage and flash freezes following rainfall.

The most common question of 2011, asked by NSCC members and maintenance staff personnel alike, is "how's the course looking?" I had been hesitant to give a definitive answer to this question, even though everything has been looking very good to date. Nearly all the ice formed in December had melted and snow had covered the course on a mostly consistent basis for the remainder of the winter. Both of these outcomes lend themselves to healthy turf in the spring.

Even though environmental conditions worked mostly in our favor, I was hesitant to give a definitive response for two reasons. First of all, one of the most common plant protectant products used to prevent fungal activity beneath the snow was removed from the market in 2010. The lack of availability of this product caused us to use a new product for the prevention of these pathogens. After lengthy analysis of university research and further cost analysis, we selected a combination of products that appeared to meet our needs. Since 2010 was the first year we applied this product, I was concerned about its efficacy, even though all research had indicated it should function well. At this point, I am pleased to report that the combination of products which we applied has exceeded expectations, allowing for nearly 100% control of winter pathogens. The second reason I was hesitant to predict the courses condition is due to the fact that the course is ever-changing. While the course appeared to be healthy throughout the winter, poor conditions in spring were still possible. A rain event, followed by a hard freeze could still present problems, although the likelihood for this decreases with each day. A moderate rise in temperatures, without extreme fluctuations in temperature, provide the turf at NSCC the greatest opportunity for survival and viability in the days to come.

Currently, I am very pleased with what I have seen following multiple walking tours of the course. The putting surfaces and tees have survived the winter with almost no damage at this point. The fairways are well above average. There appear to be no widespread areas of damage. There may be some small areas of damage in fairway depressions where minor areas of ice accumulation occurred. Currently, the course could use a gradual increase in temperatures to get the turf started out right. Once all frost has left the ground and the soil has dried enough to support foot traffic, we will open the course for play.