A Couple Issues With Trees

NSCC is fortunate to have golf course with an abundance of trees. While playing a round these trees serve multiple purposes. In addition to providing an aesthetically pleasing environment, trees enhance the game of golf by providing strategic value in certain cases. As many members have noticed, some of the trees at NSCC appear less than healthy. In fact, there are two main issues with trees.

The tree above is a Litteleaf Linden. Littleleaf Lindens are located throughout the golf course and are easily identifiable by their pyramidal growth habit. These trees have proven to be a hardy variety and adaptable to NSCC's heavy, clay soils. Currently these trees have fallen prey to the Japanese Beetle. The Japanese Beetle feeds on the leaves of the tree, causing the tree to look less than healthy. This fall, the maintenance staff will treat all Littleleaf Lindens with a preventative insecticide to allow for a healthier tree next season.

The second issue involving the spruce trees at NSCC has been well documented within both the national and local media. The problem is associated around a new herbicide that was released last fall.

Upon its release, this new herbicide was revolutionary in three ways. First, the application rates were significantly lower than any other herbicide previously released. This is a huge benefit to both the applicators and the environment. Secondly, the herbicide is more effective on a broader spectrum of weeds than most other herbicides on the market. Lastly, unlike most herbicides that can only be applied during dry conditions, this herbicide offers the ability to make an application during both wet and dry conditions due to its systemic activity when taken in by plant roots.

Many golf course managers and landscape contractors began applying this herbicide last fall and this spring. We made our application this spring, predominantly on the Blue and White Nines. A few weeks following the application we, as well as other courses around the country, began noticing damage to the new growth on spruce trees. Since that time, some trees have continued to decline while others have remained the same. We currently have 74 spruce trees with varying degrees of damage. Other course within the state have reported anywhere from nominal damage to upwards of 700 trees.

Currently, there are at least two class action law suits filed against the chemical manufacturer. The EPA has also suspended the usage of the herbicide. The chemical manufacturer has opened a hotline for all affected customer and supplied forms to document the damage. Upon the submission of the forms, the manufacturer will send out professional arborists to further document the damage. Once the damage has been documented by the arborists, the manufacturer intends to introduce a plan for removal, replacement, and damage recovery for all those affected by their product.

Preparing For the Heat

The cornerstone of the maintenance program at NSCC may be most appropriately described as taking all necessary steps to prepare for the heat of the summer. This general tenet may be easily lost on most golfers since Wisconsin summers often seem way to short. In fact, we focus our maintenance practices around preparing the course to withstand the difficult summer conditions that usually occur from July 4th to the middle of August.

Make no mistake that even though we often receive favorable growing conditions for much of the early summer and fall, this six week stretch of weather can be especially brutal. Often times, as turf managers, we see increased disease pressure, soil moisture problems caused by too much or not enough precipitation, equipment and personnel fatigue caused by long days at work, and increased traffic stress caused by golf carts and player traffic to name a few.

In order to overcome these stresses, we tailor our maintenance programs to offset these stresses. Critical maintenance practices such as aerification, sand topdressing, a balanced nutrition program for the turf, preventative application of plant protectants, drainage installation, and irrigation system maintenance highlight some of the inputs required to keep a course in top condition throughout the stressful summer months.

Once we reach this time of year, our practices our evaluated on a daily basis to ensure that all necessary steps are taken to care for the turf at NSCC. Seemingly simple steps such as daily movement of the holes on greens to evenly distribute foot traffic and tweaking of mowing heights on putting surfaces assist in caring for the turf.

As we are about to embark on the hottest stretch of weather to date, the golf course maintenance staff has intensified its preventative maintenance measures. A few examples are highlighted below.

You thought aerification means big holes and bumpy greens? Not true, you probably didn't even notice that we completed an aerification process commonly referred to as "venting" last week. Instead of pulling larger diameter cores, the golf course staff poked the greens with very small, solid tines in order to improve air movement within the soil profile.

In order to combat prolonged periods of dryness, the golf course maintenance staff applied a combination of soil wetting agents which will allow the turf to maximize the amount of water applied to the turf.

In an effort to better analyze which products are best suited and most cost effective, the 5th fairway on the Blue Nine was sprayed with multiple wetting agents. Through continual evaluation we will be best equipped to determine the best product for the dollar on next year's purchases.

Cold And Wet So Far . . .

The theme for the year so far can be best described as cold and wet. Cold and wet temperatures have prevailed thus far as temperatures have struggled to break 70 degrees on most days so far this season. In addition to frustrating golfers, the weather has also hindered the golf course maintenance staff as well. Critical practices such as aerification, sand topdressing, and most applications of plant protectant materials require dry days with ample sunshine. Fortunately, the cold temperatures have not hurt the course as much as they would in a year in which we were attempting to recover from substantial amounts of winter damage. To be honest, we are thankful that temperatures have remained cool this week since we have received 3.50" inches of rain to date with more predicted over the next couple days. The standing water on fairways becomes temperatures warm into the 80's and the water serves as a magnifying glass that can cook the underlying turf.

We have taken advantage with important tasks such as the core aerification of tees which occurred the week after Memorial Day. The current stretch of wet weather looks to break by the weekend which should allow us to get caught up with mowing, sand topdressing of putting greens, and an application of plant protectant materials on the fairways.

The benefits of fairway drainage become apparent during extended periods of wet weather. Currently the best example of this is on 7 White where additional drainage will be added this fall to complete the fairway.

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.