Turf Report

March Turf Report
Winter weather from late December through February had us concerned about winter injury to turfgrass. As a few die hard March golfers can attest, the golf course survived winter quite well and it should be in great shape for golf this spring. Greens are in excellent condition. Fairways and some rough areas have minor superficial snow mold damage that will grow out during later March and April.

Few New Englanders felt warm and fuzzy over our severe winter weather, but the heavy snow cover combined with extended cold temperatures helped turfgrass. The deep snow cover acted like a warm insulating blanket for turf, while the constant cold kept the snow from changing into damaging, turf killing ice. May all cold and snowy winters be just as nice as 2010-2011's!!

The golf course is somewhat messy with sticks and small branches scattered because of windy storms, but we are working to clean it. We lost a few trees and branches, and removed the dead pine on #2, and the large (and dead) maple on 18. If the golf course dries out quickly after this weekend's rains, I can forsee greens opening up somewhere between March 17th to March 24th with constant good weather. We will keep you posted.

Thanks for reading and we hope to see you soon!!

2011 Ice Age Is Over??

In January, we wrote about ice accumulation on the greens causing potential problems for turfgrass this spring. As of today, (Friday February 18th) we have had 28 consecutive days of ice on greens. Research suggests that at least 40 to 45 days of ice accumulation is necessary to cause problems. The February thaw we are seeing this week is removing snow and ice from greens in an efficient and inexpensive way. As of this writing we are not planning to mechanically remove snow from the greens, or apply black sand to greens' surfaces to melt ice.

Although I don't like making predictions when dealing with fine turfgrass, it would appear that we can stop worrying about ice related issues at this time. Water is flowing between the greens' surfaces and the ice layer, providing gaseous exchange which plants need even in winter.

We can't wait to see everyone on the green golf course very soon. It has been white for far too long.

Mid Winter Update

Winter is a time for us to recharge batteries a bit, prepare equipment for its future duties, seek out the best deals on fertilizers and pesticide products and attend education sessions to learn new developments from distributors and university researchers. Of course, we are always here to help the golf course get through its long nap unscathed. While the golf course sleeps under a thick protective blanket of snowcover, potential problems are on the horizon due to the thaw and freeze cycle we've seen this week.

The first month of winter with its La Nina sent winter weather provided consistent cold temperatures with plenty of snowfall. The impressive snow cover provided an excellent layer of insulation from the cold, and also protects turf from damaging winds. However, because of the rain and mini thaw we saw this week, combined with extreme cold we'll see this weekend and beyond, potential ice problems loom on the horizon for fine golf turf in New England.

An ice layer has formed and will thicken on greens over the weekend. Ice acts as an impermeable layer over the surface of turfgrass, choking off plants from oxygen. Even in winter, plants need to breathe. If the ice layer stays for over forty days, problems may develop for Poa annua plants present on the greens. Luckily, as yours truly came to Potowomut from northern hinterlands near Rochester NY, we have been through this exercise before. If conditions are unchanged by later February, we may need to clear the greens of snow, and apply a truckload of black sand to break the ice layer. Black colored sand directs warm March sunlight to the surface, melting snow and ice quickly. We will keep you updated.

A few golf course trees have been damaged by the weight of heavy snows and strong winds. We have cleaned up a few, but more remain to be cleaned up when snow cover dissipates. Also, dead trees have been removed on 2,8 and 18.

As mentioned in my last post, the well that provides irrigation water will be serviced this winter. The contract has been signed and this work will be completed before we need water in late March or April.

A new nematode control product was introduced to the marketplace just after January 1st. (Nematodes damaged several greens last July.) I have scheduled meetings with the manufacturer and with the most learned nematode researcher on turfgrass, Dr. Wick from the University of Florida during a scheduled trip in February. Like the experimental walnut extract product we used last year, this is a bio-nematicide, a product applied that isn't a pesticide. Azaguard uses neem seed extract to shrink nematode populations because nematodes and neem seed extract act as two "north" magnets pointed at each other. Nematodes won't live under neem trees and the material acts as a deterrent.

We are excited already to get back to work on the golf course. With some luck, the golf course will remain unscathed through winter and will be open as soon as conditions permit. Back to regularly scheduled winter activities, and thanks for reading!!

2010 Summary

As of this morning (12/16), the greens are closed for the season. Snow mold fungicides have been applied to greens and tees, as has the green paint we use to protect the greens from desiccation in case we have a dry and snow free winter. We were unable to apply a fungicide to fairways to prevent winter diseases as in the past because in September the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) eliminated pesticide material PCNB from the marketplace, a material that prevented snow molds at relatively low cost.

Reflecting back, 2010 was a unique and difficult golf season that I will remember for quite some time. After an average winter, we had eleven inches of rainfall and golf course flooding during a single 500 year storm event in late March, extreme heat and humidity during summer, a cold fall and early winter chills from late November until today.

Your golf course performed well during the season, but we did not survive this difficult year unscathed. Greens had high populations of stunt nematodes and these root annihilators showed their handiwork by damaging the edges of some greens. Because nematicides are no longer available to treat turfgrass, we formulated a control program based on increased fertility (fertilizers) to grow plants at a faster pace and with more ability to grow new roots after they disappeared. Also added to our program this year was as experimental nematode suppressing material based on walnut extract. This material will be applied next spring to suppress the nematode population before it explodes with warmer soil temperatures of summer.

A few fairways and rough areas declined this summer because of the condition known as "wet wilt." Wet wilt is a condition where weakened turfgrass roots cannot pull water from unsaturated soils to cool itself. Turf dies ironically, because it wilts in areas where soil moisture is more than adequate but the roots are incapable of moving it. In our case, thunderstorms dropped rainfall onto extremely heated soils during July 23rd and July 24th. During the next six days the heat ramped up again keeping soil temperatures high. Despite adequate soil moisture, roots were too sick from the heat to use the water and areas of turf perished. Many of these areas were overseeded this fall, and damaged rough and fairway areas will be re-seeded in early spring to aid recovery.

Professionally it was a challenging year for Golf Course Superintendents here in Rhode Island, and nationally. Golf courses in the Mid Atlantic and Northeast states were devastated, especially from Washington DC to Boston. Many golf courses closed for up to eight weeks to re-establish turf, and famous big budget big name golf courses were not spared. All in all, ours was a successful year for the golf course, especially considering our conditions versus spending less than our original budget. Based on 2010, we will tweak programs again to improve golf course conditioning, and expect an even better golf course during 2011.

Special thanks for all your wonderful support during 2010. I am extremely fortunate to work for such a positive and supportive membership! I speak with other Golf Course Superintendents from across the area and country, and I don't always hear positive stories that I tell about Potowomut. Thanks!!



Tidbits....Also, thanks to my wonderful and dedicated crew for all their hard work during 2010....Pumped 17.5 million gallons of irrigation water, and another 5 million during our special "keep the pumphouse from flooding" project in late March....We will clean the well that provides water for irrigation during winter 2011as we saw thick iron deposits on the well screen when it was last cleaned in January 2008....Read about wet wilt here: http://psuturf.blogspot.com/2010/07/wet-wilt-and-heat-related-injury.html

Aeration Dates

Greens will be aerated three times beginning October 6th. A contractor will begin with the Deep Tine Operation, followed by conventional aeration performed by our staff. Thirdly, a different contractor will sand inject the greens during the week that begins October 11th. Throughout the process, temporaries will be installed while individual greens are being worked on.

Tees will be completed today.

Fairways will be completed (slowly) beginning Monday. We usually complete fairways in three to four weeks.

Also during the next few weeks, areas of rough that failed due to the extreme heat and humidity of summer will be seeded, and sod plugs will be installed to thinned areas of greens.

Rope a Dope

Way back in 1974 Muhammad Ali beat hard punching George Foreman using a defensive strategy famous trainer Angelo Dundee described and was later named "Rope a Dope." The idea was that Ali could cover up defensively while Mr. Foreman tired himself throwing unconnecting punches in early rounds. The plan worked perfectly as opportunistic Ali knocked out an exhausted Foreman in the eighth round.

Although not quite the same as the "Rumble in The Jungle," we are employing defensive strategies maintaining the golf course as advised by United States Golf Association Agronomist and good friend Stanley Zontek. (His July 2010 article is presented below.)

The summer heat, humidity and now four days of wet weather continues to throw punches at turfgrass, and we are using defensive-like Rope a Dope strategy to absorb the blows and produce a winning golf course.

During a twenty eight day stretch of late July into late August, the golf course saw only .28" of natural rainfall. This was one of the driest stretches of weather I have ever observed during my career in golf. Then, shocked that the raindances were actually answered, we had four days of constant wet weather from Sunday until Wednesday where we received 1.83".

A heavy disease punch landed during the last few days. Disease anthracnose came on very strong during the wet spell, especially on the 13th green. Between raindrops, affected greens have been sprayed five times this week and have already improved. The most disease laden greens (1,8,13) were spiked this week to get air into soil profiles. All remaining greens will be spiked before late next week. Also, heights of cut were raised .010" (ten thousandths of an inch) on all greens today, because of a very hot forecast for the next two weeks. They will be lowered again once the summer of 2010 tires a bit, like Mr. Foreman in 1974.

Tidbits.....Always replace any substantial divots as opposed to using the sand mixture! If your divot disintegrates, only then use the seed and sand mixture to repair your divot. Also, the seed in the bottles is appropriate for low grown fairway turfgrass only! DO NOT USE SEED BOTTLES IN THE ROUGH....Thank you....Repair your ballmark plus one other....Pumped 13.7 million gallons for irrigation to date.....Pond is again full....we have only purchased 125,000 gallons of water from the city of Warwick during our hot summer at a cost of $ 400....


Once again, here is Mr. Stanley Zontek's article written to Superintendents and golfers:

The summer of 2010 is on a pace to break all temperature records in most of the Mid-Atlantic region. As of today, the month of June was the warmest in history for Philadelphia. The Washington, D.C. area has had forty days of 90+ degree temperatures and we are still in July.

The agronomists of the Mid-Atlantic Region believe it is necessary and appropriate to send special letters to USGA member courses on “defensive maintenance and management programs” as long as these weather extremes continue. Obviously, extra care must be taken to pamper the grass through this difficult weather. Equally, extra understanding from golfers can help achieve that goal. It is a common problem for everyone. If we all work together and do what is best for the grass, the summer of 2010 will one day be nothing more than just a bad memory.

This letter also will be sent to golf associations and regional golf course superintendent organizations. In this way, information can be made available to all golf courses, whether or not they are USGA members (and we hope most are).

The letter follows:

WEATHER ALERT & TURF LOSS ADVISORY

Periodically, the agronomists of the Mid-Atlantic region send letters to USGA member courses pertaining to extraordinary weather conditions and turf-loss-related matters. The weather experienced during the summer of 2010 has prompted this letter.

Our goal is to alert golfers and turf managers alike that this extended period of heat and drought -- followed by heat, humidity and thunderstorms -- has caused and probably will continue to cause turf stress and turf loss problems throughout the region. No two golf courses are alike, having different grasses, soils, course features and golfer expectations. It is important that golf course superintendents use “defensive golf course maintenance and management programs.” That is, be conservative. Pamper the grass. The turfgrass is under intense weather stress, which is compounded by an increase in disease pressure. Be more concerned about plant health than green speed!!! There is an old adage in our industry -- “slow grass is better than no grass.” This is not a joke. It needs to be taken seriously.

Suggested “defensive” management programs include:

•Compress spray programs. With heat, humidity and thunderstorms, fungicides do not last as long and disease pressure is greater. There is no better money spent than to protect the grass from disease.
•Raise mowing heights and use sharp mowers. This can help the grass survive.
•Mow less…roll more. The goal is to reduce mechanical stress to the grass plant.
•Switch from grooved rollers to solid rollers, and protect collars from the turning of mowers.
•Spoonfeed the grass. Spray weekly with light rates of nutrients, iron (to keep the grass green), and growth regulators. Excessive grass growth depletes carbohydrates (plant food).
•Air drainage. On shaded or pocketed greens, prune limbs, use fans and generally keep the air moving. When you are hot, you stand in front of a fan to cool yourself. When the grass is stressed, it needs good air movement as well. Drier turf is also less prone to disease.
•DO NOT OVER-WATER. Hand water if possible. Lightly syringe the turf with the nozzle -- never going past horizontal. Any mid-day watering should be focused on cooling the canopy. If you are wetting the soil, it’s too much! Remember, you can always add more water, but wet, saturated soil can damage roots, increase disease and contribute to turf loss via the Wet Wilt Syndrome. If corrective watering needs to be done for dry spots, the extra water should be applied in the early morning or late in the evening. Do not over-water the grass in mid-day heat.
•Surface aerate the greens. This allows the soil to breath, excess moisture to escape, and roots to regrow, thereby helping the grass to survive.


In summary, be careful. This may be one of our hottest summers in decades. We all share the responsibility of keeping the turf on our golf courses as healthy as possible during this period of extreme weather. Again, be careful and have realistic expectations for golf course playability.

The Mid-Atlantic Region agronomists are part of your agronomic support team. If you have a question or concern, give us a call or send an e-mail.

Please pass the rain....

Our wonderful summer continues...

Please refer to an article written by John Paul Newport for the August 7th Wall Street Journal about the difficulty of maintaining golf courses during the hot summer of 2010. You can find the link in my "links" section on the right of the blog.

Our golf course is drying down after nineteen rainless days, with no rain in the forecast at least until early next week. Rough turf that are dormant haven't been irrigated due to either a lack of coverage from the irrigation system, or because we are not running rough heads to save water.

Fairways have three irrigation heads evenly distributed across their widths. In most cases, there is a single irrigation head in the center of the fairway, with the other two heads located in the rough. Even though two thirds of fairway irrigation heads are placed in the rough, the responsibility of all three heads working together is to irrigate fairway turf. Turfgrasses in the rough require more water than fairways, and providing adequate water to maintain thick and lush roughs would cause a myriad of problems for fairways, in that they would be overwatered. The problems include increased disease pressure, poor playability, inconsistency within individual fairways, and increased water requirements. To quickly summarize, the irrigation system irrigates fairways as designed, and provides a quantity of water to roughs, even though in a drought year like 2010, it isn't enough.

Dormant turfgrass in the rough will quickly recover after rains and cooler weather. (Mr. Stevens advised his eastern Golf Course Superintendent clients today that the second half of August will provide needed rainfall to aid rough recovery)

Green edges were overseeded as described previously on August 3rd. As there are four million bentgrass seeds in a pound, the seventy five pounds of seed we used represent 300 million potential new bentgrass plants. Unfortunately, asking a single bentgrass seed to germinate into an existing green is a most difficult proposition for many reasons we won't discuss here. If even 0.5% (half of 1%) of the seeds germinate, this would mean 1.5 million new bentgrass plants will be present into the perimeters of the greens....and success!!

We will continue to install seed into thin green edges beginning next week. This will be a more concentrated operation using small hand spikers, salt shakers to apply seed and a light application of sand. Since the germination rate is low, persistence will help to establish more plants. Small areas completely void of turf will be sodded in a few weeks.

Notes......We have treated all fine turf areas and some rough areas with an insecticide to prevent turfgrass damage from grubs. Areas with irrigation were watered in; we are worried about failures to areas without irrigation because this material needs to be placed into soil with irrigation or rainfall. We will keep you posted.....Greens and tees were treated with a fungicide to prevent diseases today. (Friday)....Minor outbreak of disease anthracnose is present on two greens this morning, we will continue to monitor and treat accordingly....Irrigation gallons now exceeds 12,500,000 for the season....Dry areas of fairways are being hand watered because my big hose will always be the most efficient method to apply water where it is needed most!!

On a personal note, son Benjamin and wife Laura are the proud parents of Violet Caterson Shields, born in Los Angeles on July 14th. Granddad Patrick can be seen many days sneaking peeks at pictures of Violet on his phone while he drives from green to green this summer....