COURSE CONDITIONS

October 12, 2010   

GREEN’S SPEED:   9.0- 10.0  

TEE HEIGHT:   5/8”

FAIRWAY HEIGHT: 3/4”

ROUGH HEIGHT:  2 ½- 3 ½ ”

ANTICIPATED WORK ACTIVITY:

1.     Add plugs to greens as needed.

2.     Knife tine aerification on greens: back nine-Tuesday; front nine- Wednesday.

3.     Lightly topdress greens: front-Wednesday; back- Thursday.

4.     Seed roughs- front nine and back nine.

5.     Mow around bunkers.

Back nine greens will be spiked on Tuesday,10/12

Front nine greens on Wednesday, 10/13.

For any comments or concerns, please call me at 764-6572 or try my email at: gcs@shadowglen.org .

Scott Johnson CGCS



9/21 Course Update

Our focus for this week is to mow all the golf course in preparation of the Fall Classic this Friday and Saturday.  The greens mowing height for the sodded areas has been lowered to .155 for Tuesday's mowing. The mowing height for the established areas of the greens will go to .130 on Wednesday with a double mowing that day. The mowing height will be lowered on Thursday to .145 over sod and .125 for the rest of the greens.

Roughs have been seeded on #15, 17 and the chipping green areas. Ropes and stakes will  protect these areas from equipment and golf cart traffic through these areas for the next two weeks.  Seeding is planned for street crossings and holes #3 & 4 during mid-week.

Nutgrass on #13, 14, 15, 16 has been boom sprayed with a herbicide this week.

Greens will be sprayed on Wednesday with fertilizer and fungicide. Some of the new sod has a fungal disease called Yellow Tuft.  The disease is normally not life threatening but it does turn the leaf blades bright yellow and stunts the plant.  Usually the disease is present in the Spring and Fall when alot of moisture is present.

A Grounds and Green Committee Meeting is scheduled for Thursday evening at 5:30 pm.

Have a great day!
Scott Johnson, CGCS

Course Update 9/15/10

Course Expectations:

·         Opening day on Tuesday was dampened by the early morning rainstorm.

·         Carts were forced to stay on paths as water drained across the course.

·         The roughs and bunkers were not prepared as desired.

·         Presentation of the golf course did not meet all members’ expectations or the maintenance staffs’.

Focusing Forward:

·         Basically, we have two sets of greens on the golf course. On holes 3,5,6,7,9,11,12,13,17, & 18, little sod is present and the mowing height is at .135 of an inch. On holes #1,2,4,8,10,14,15 & 16, the sodded areas are being mowed at .165 of an inch. To eliminate scalping of the grass  by the mowers,  lowering of the mowing height will be a slow gradual process. The goal is to get all the greens down to .120” by the end of September, sooner if possible.

·         Lightly topdressing the sod on the greens will need to happen weekly. This effort will be a challenge since the next six Mondays are taken with Corporate Outings.  I will try to topdress a couple of greens a day throughout the week  as  the event calendar allows.

·         The roughs are thin or void of turf in many areas.  We are seeding roughs at every opportunity, weather permitting.  If the roughs are full by Thanksgiving, I would consider the seeding effort a success.  Like everything else, the time to seed is now!  We need to be completely seeded by the end of September. So, roughs will be very inconsistent for the remainder of the fall.

·         Bunkers are a hazard.  If we have a rain event that washes out the bunkers, we will focus on restoring  greenside bunkers first and then repair the fairway bunkers. If it is raining at the start of the day, we may not put any effort in the bunkers until they dry out a little.  

·         The maintenance focus will be prioritized as follows: Greens, Practice Range, Tees, Fairways, Bunkers and Roughs.

·         As the days get shorter, the course will stay wet for longer periods of time which may limit maintenance efforts to different parts of the golf course.

·         I would like to think that the acclaim and recognition that Shadow Glen has received in the last five to eight years was due in part to the focused efforts of the maintenance crew. We are a proud bunch with a relentless spirit. Our pride has been hurt but we have not given up.

·         Healing takes time.

Sept 10th Update

ANTICIPATED WORK ACTIVITY:

1. Mow new sod on  all greens.
2. Repair any scalp marks left by mowers.
3. Add plugs to greens as needed.
4. Heavy topdress greens with new sod and drag with chain mat.
5. Fertilize greens.
6. Seed roughs- front nine and back nine.

THE CENTER OF THE PRACTICE GREEN IS OPEN FOR PRACTICE

Four days to go.........  The front nine greens are smoothing out fairly well. The back nine greens are a week behind the front nine but most of the sod is along green edges or the back portion of the green. So, I plan to open all the greens on Tuesday with the knowledge that they will be slow and bumpy. Aggressive efforts to return the greens to members' expectations will continue throughout the month of September.
 
As of today, the mowing height on the open greens is at .145" and the newly sodded greens are being mowed at .175".  The final mowing height for the season will be at .120". To reach the final mowing height will take most of September to make gradual steps down. With the frequent fertilizing to push the grass to spread and fill open areas, the high growth rate is limiting speed more than mowing height. Again, I hope to wean the grass of the high fertilizer inputs as the surface becomes more solid and we are close to the final mowing height.
 
September will be o'kay, October will be great!
 
Have a great weekend,
Scott

Mid- Week Update

We are in a race against time as the staff tries to ready the remaining greens for opening play on Tuesday, September 14th. The difficulty with the new grass is preparing a smooth surface that will allow the mowers to cut the grass without scalping the uneven spots. Also, the grass arrived at a high height, so we have to start at a similar mowing height and bring the grass down slowly. Yesterday, the new sod on the back nine greens was rolled, hand topdressed and fertilized. For Wednesday, all the greens will be treated with a fungicide, mowed and repair plugs planted on #1,2,4, 17 and 18. Some sod work will be done on the practice green if time allows.

From the cart path, the greens look good because they have lots of grass on them.  From a playing standpoint, they are not very smooth and they have lots of grass which translates to slow speeds. With each passing week, the frequent topdressings and gradual lowering of the mowing height will result in more player satisfaction with the putting surfaces.

Hopefully, we will not lose a day or two to the remnants of the hurricane  moving up from Texas and Oklahoma later today?

Heavy topdressing on #10 green after the new sod was rolled.

Topdressing on #12

Topdressing crew waiting on the roller to finish smoothing out new sod on #15 green.

9 greens open today!

Holes #3,5,6,7,9,12,13,17, and 18 are completely open for play.  The mowing height is still a little high, so the green speed is slow.  All the remaining greens have been sodded and we are working to repair the practice green with grass from our nursery stock. Fertilizer and topdressing sand are the two main ingredients to help smooth out the surfaces along with time.

The staff has started seeding the roughs and this work will continue to the end of September.

 #9 green ready for play

Putting out on #18

Progress report with Greens

On Tuesday, all the back nine greens and part of the practice green were sodded with new bentgrass. The sod arrived in a refrigerated truck by 7:00 am  and the crew was laying grass by 7:30.

For Wednesday, the crew focused on topdressing all the ballmarks and small blemishes on the greens that are scheduled to open this Saturday.  Greens 3, 5, 6, 7, 9, 12, 13, 17 and 18. This work will be completed by the of end of Thursday.

As of now, I'm trying to bring the mowing height down without causing any stress or scalping of the surface. Lowering the mowing height will be a slow process that may take all of September to get to the final cutting height.

The green speed will be very slow at the start and the pace should improve with each passing week. On the greens with alot of sod, like #1, 2,4, 8, 10, 11, 14, 15 and 16, a smooth ball roll will take some time to achieve. Again, with each passing day, the greens will improve as we go into Fall.

  #12 green sodded and seams topdressed

#10 green sodded and topdressed

Ball marks topdressed on #9 green in preparation of reopening for Saturday 

Big Day for the Back Nine Greens

Today, the back nine greens will be sodded with A1 bentgrass.  Hopefully, we will complete the work today in order to beat the heat and be able to take advantage of forecasted rain on Wednesday and Thursday.

The front nine greens were mowed on Monday without too much scalping. Crew will be plugging small spots on the #3, 6, 7, 9 and then #5 all day.  I plan to open theses five greens on the front nine this weekend.  Prior to opening on Saturday, I still need to lightly topdress these greens and bring the mowing height down a little each day. I'll identify which back nine greens I plan to open after we finish the sod work.

The following two paragraphs are a summary of diagnostic tests performed on  soil cores recently taken from 4 greens. The work was done by Norm Hummel of Hummer & Co., a turfgrass soil consulting  and soil testing firm in New York.

The analysis of the root zone mix reveals that the sand mix meets USGA specifications and the greensmix is capable of supporting a healthy turf. The variability of the sand depth creates some watering issues that challenge the success of the turf but it might be overcome with other maintenance measures. A thin layer is or has developed in the interface area just above the gravel layer. At present, the greens drain.


Up to this point, the top three to four inches of the green is where I focus most of my management practices. According to plant pathology tests and soil tests from two different labs, the management practices implemented by me have resulted in a growing environment conducive to growing healthy turf. One of the toughest parts of my job is formulating a maintenance strategy that meets play expectations yet still allows for adjustments when Mother Nature delivers a difficult weather scenario as we have experienced this summer.

Front Nine Greens Update

A lot was accomplished this week on the front nine greens. All the greens that needed new sod were planted on Wednesday. On Thursday, the crew returned to #1, 2 and 4 greens to tie-in new sod edges to the same plane as the existing turf on the greens. Later in the day, greens #1,2 and 3 were heavily topdressed to float out the surface. On Friday,  sod edges on #8 green were tied-in and the green was heavily topdressed. Greens #1-9 were fertilized and watered-in.  Now, we need to let the grass have time to put down roots and start to grow. The first mowing is planned for next Monday.

Exploratory drainage work was started on the left side of #10 below the green. The drainage exit line that carries water from the green appears to be clogged with soil and water is backed-up in the pipe.  Investigative work will continue through the weekend.

A small crew has started cutting out dead turf areas on the back nine greens in preparation for a Tuesday delivery of bentgrass sod. The crew will continue to prep areas on the back nine greens over the weekend and on Monday.

That's it for now- have a great weekend!

Sod arrived around 10:00 am on Wednesday.

 

#1 green prepped for new sod

#4 green ready for sod

Sod being laid on #8 green

Sod laid out on #2 green

Heavy sand topdressing over new sod at #4 green

Assistant Superintendent Heath replacing a leaking 8" x 8" x 2" lateral tee on hole #7 on Thursday.

Greens update

Early signs of turf decline on #10 green in mid-July. A plant pathologist found no fungal disease but did find Bacterial Wilt which is a secondary stress issue. No known cure for Bacterial Wilt.

Stress and turf decline along green edges of #15 green.

Searching for drain clean-out off back of #15 green. Notice two feet of greens mix with eight inches of topsoil over greensmix beyond green edge.

Dead grass stripped off green. #4 is ready for new sod delivery on Wednesday, August 25th.

Crew stripping off dead turf on #2 green Tuesday morning. Green will be sodded this week.