Spring Tee Aerification Underway

The 2010 spring core aerification of tees at NSCC is currently underway. All Blue Nine tees have been completed, as well as the Men's tees on the White Nine. The Red Nine tees will be completed, weather permitting, on Thursday 6/3. The remaining Ladie's tees on the White 9 will be completed on Friday 6/4.

All tees on the White and Red Nines will be completed as they have in the past. More specifically, the tees will be core aerified, collected, sand topdressed, swept, and fertilized. With continued warm weather, the tees should be nearly completely filled in by next week. This essential process allows us to maintain a consistent and quality teeing ground by reducing compaction and thatch, and increasing water and air infiltration. Upon the conclusion of the aerification process, the tees will be better suited to deal with warm and humid weather that will certainly appear throughout the summer months.

Since the Blue Nine tees have developed a more substantial thatch layer than their counterparts on the Red and White Nines, the NSCC golf course maintenance staff has taken a more agressive approach to counteract this problem. Not only are soft, spongy tees less desirable from a player's perspective, they may also lead to a number of agronomic problems such as mower scalping, increased susceptibility to fungal pathogens and drought stress.

Instead of simply following the normal aerification procedure of core removal/collection and topdressing, the NSCC included multiple vertical mowings to the procedure to help reduce the amount of thatch on the tees. In the case of the Blue Nine, the tees were verticut, then aerified. Instead of simply collecting the cores, the tees were again verticut an additional two times. The final two vertical mowings served two purposes. First the vertical mowing assisted in pulverizing the cores, freeing the sandy soil from the turf's thatch and roots. Additionally the vertical mowing created openings or channels for the sand to penetrate within the turf canopy to better dilute the thatch layer. Once the cores were pulverized, the organic debris was blown off of the teeing surfaces, sand was applied and swept in. In the short term, the tees may appear battered and bruised, however the benefits will be realized in firmer teeing surfaces and healthier turfgrass plants.

Blue Nine Opening Date: Wednesday, May 26

The Grounds and Greens Staff is pleased to announce that the Blue Nine will open for play Wednesday, May 26th. The combination of a warm spring temperatures and numerous hours of hard work by the golf course staff will allow us to open the Blue Nine a few days ahead of schedule. The putting surfaces are on par with the Red and White Nines in terms of speed and putting quality. The fairways have also recovered extremely well in most places. Sporadically located throughout the course you will notice small areas which will require some follow-up seeding to encourage continued recovery and growth. These areas will be circled in white and designated as Ground Under Repair. We ask that you please do not hit from these areas and take a free drop according to the rules of growth. Currently, the golf course maintenance staff is in the process of fine-tuning the Blue Nine, including extensive bunker repair and edging which is pictured above.

The pictures below display the fairways as they were during seeding, and the same location as it currently exists only six weeks following. The current rain and upcoming warm temperatures should stimulate ample growth, allowing us to once again provide pristine conditions just in time for summer.

PAR4Research Auction Open

For anyone interested in playing some great course throughout the state, click on the logo above. Rounds of golf at many great golfing venues are available for auction. All proceeds will be donated for turfgrass research at UW-Madison. UW supplies golf course managers throughout the state with first class information that allows us to do our jobs in the most cost effective and environmentally manner possible. Enjoy and good luck.

Deep Tine Putting Green Aerification

"Why do you have to poke more holes in the greens right when they start to put well?" To say that any type of putting green aerification is detrimental to putting green quality is an understatement, however, this is a very near-sighted approach to viewing an entire putting green maintenance program. Golf course superintendents throughout the world utilize various forms of aerification to achieve a wide number of goals for their putting greens. Benefits of aerfication include, but are not limited to organic matter reduction, improved air and water infiltration, and compaction reduction. Without achieving a proper balance of the above mentioned components, putting greens will eventually fail. When developing a putting green maintenance program each golf course manager must develop a customized prescription to meet the needs of his or her golf course.

At NSCC, we will aerify the putting greens at least four times throughout the year. Fall core aerification is the most disruptive to play, requiring the greatest amount of time for turf recovery. Venting, or spiking, is almost imperceptibe immediately following and is utilized in the middle of hot and humid summers. The solid tine aerification which was completed on Monday helps to promote a healthy root system on the turfgrass plants as we prepare them to overcome summer stresses.

NSCC's greens are comprised of two layers. The top four inches of each putting green's soil profile is comprised of sand which has accumulated over the last twenty years of consistent sand topdressing. Unlike modern golf courses or courses with newly rebuilt greens, a soil layer which drains very poorly exists below the sand layer. In order to encourage a healthy root system, we must penetrate deep into this layer. Conventional core aerification does not allow us to aerify to this depth. On Monday, we used solid tines (3/8" diameter) that are ten inches long to penetrate into the underlying soil. Following tine insertion, the specialized aerifier kicks the tine backwards, fracturing the soil even more. The end result of the fracturing process is increased air space within the soil profile and compaction alleviation. This increase in air spaces allows for a healthier root system, even within the soil portion of the green profile. Without a healthy root system, the putting greens would not survive the inherent stresses that summer brings.

Following the solid tining, the putting greens were rolled, verticut in multiple directions, sand topdressed, swept, mowed, fertilized and watered. This time consuming processes will allow for quick recovery, making Monday's aerification unnoticeable in only a couple days. While putting green aerification is a short term inconvenience while playing, the long term benefits will pay off throughout the summer.

Wet End to Another Busy Week

The end of a busy work week draws to a close with some much needed rain showers. Last week's cold nights, with lows in the mid to low 30's have really stunted the growth of most turf on the golf course. While the turf itself was not damaged by the frosty conditions, its growth rate decreased to almost nothing. Fortunately, the damaged areas of fairways did not see this same decrease in growth due to the covers. The covers have retained enough heat to allow the underlying turf to grow. The golf course maintenance staff spent over 100 labor hours removing the covers on the Red Nine and mowing the turf beneath. Due to the moisture from the weekend rains, the gradual rise in temperatures this week, and the accelerated rate of growth due to the maturation of the turf plants, I anticipate removing many of the covers from both the Red and White Nines. In some cases, the area of coverage may be reduced allowing the course to be played as normal. In other areas, such as 7 White, the turf has not sufficiently matured to allow for the removal of the covers. The golf course maintenance staff will continue to tweak and address the damaged areas to encourage rapid recovery. As is usually the case, some warm weather and timely rains will be our biggest asset as we look to full recovery in these areas.

In addition to mowing beneath the covers, the golf course maintenance staff continues with regularly scheduled spring maintenance. Adjusting and troubleshooting the irrigation system to ensure proper operation is critical for future turf health. The irrigation system was pressurized in late March, the earliest day in course history. Since that point, the golf course staff has been busy verifying that each sprinkler head is fully functional and operating properly. Sprinkler heads that are not turning on, not rotating, leaking, or have clogged nozzles will lead to inconsistent turf conditions in the summer. Additionally, an inefficient irrigation system leads to wasted water, a precious natural resource. The golf course maintenance staff spends many hours each spring fine tuning the system to ensure proper function and distribution uniformity.

Stump Repair Behind 2 White

In continuing with the the implementation of the Ron Forse master plan, two large spruce trees were removed from behind 2 White green last winter. Following their removal, a large area without grass was exposed. Additionally, a small, artificial knoll remained between the areas where the two trees previously resided. In order to created a more naturalized look behind the green, the small mound was removed. The soil from hill was used to fill the other stump holes on the course. The golf course staff will regrade and sod the area on Wednesday.

Vertical Mowing Continues

The golf course maintenance staff continued with its aggressive greens maintenance this week by vertically mowing all putting surfaces. On Maintenance Monday, All 29 putting were greens were treated in this manner. Following the verticutting, all greens were topdressed with sand, swept, and then mowed. In early spring, we verticut at a depth of 1/4 inch, while later in the season we will raise the depth to 1/8 inch or less. This labor intensive process serves multiple purposes both helps to promote new growth while removing thatch and other decaying organic matter. Additionally, the small channels created by the machine allow for the topdressing sand to more readily enter the turf canopy. The combination of verticutting and sweeping stands the turfgrass leaves upright prior to mowing. The clean cut afforded by this process provides both smoother ball roll and a healthier stand of turf. This is already the second time this process has been completed in this warmer than usual spring.