Golf Course Report

May 2016

Before the Month of May gets away from us, I would like to give a brief update on the progress that we have made and the plans for the remainder of the summer.  As you know, the golf course is closed every Tuesday from May through October.  This allows our team to accomplish our weekly cultural practices without disrupting member/guest play during the week.  In addition to these weekly practices the course is closed 3 times throughout the summer for our more aggressive programs.  Our first closure is schedule for May 31^st through June 10^th.  Our goal is to be sufficiently healed to provide excellent playing conditions once we open the course for play on June 11^th.

Last month we had the opportunity to have two of our greens (15, 17) probed with a camera.  This process allowed us to see what was happening beneath the surface as the camera is run through the sub-surface drain lines.   The results for #17 were eye opening.  The drain line was intact however, it was filled with dirt.  This clogged line was preventing proper drainage and increasing the gas build up beneath the green leading to wet conditions and poor turf quality.  During our first Tuesday in May we tackled this project by unearthing the clogged drain line, cleaning the pipe and reattaching it to the outfall.  Without proper drainage and venting, the greens complex can become saturated and gases can accumulate to the point where the gravel layer can get sealed from the bottom up.  With this in mind, all of the greens on property are equipped with vents (small green grates at the top and bottom end of the drainage system).  These vents allow the gases to be released on a regular basis and provide air movement below the green surface.  This leads us to the issue found on #15.  The drain lines were clear on the camera but the vent on the top end of the system was capped and buried.  Once aware of this we immediately uncovered and replaced the cap with a vent.  We then proceeded to locate and vent all the remaining greens.  Close to 75% of our vents were either capped and/or buried.  We are looking forward to have the remaining greens scoped in the next few weeks.

The following Tuesday, the drainage on the right of #13 was cleared of built up sediment.  Over the summer we will aerify and topdress this area to improve playing conditions.  Our project this week involved removing a saturated area near the cart path end near #3 green and improving the drainage.

We will continue to target areas of concern throughout the summer.  This approached, coupled with our aggressive cultural practices will lead to enhanced growing conditions that will give us the flexibility to provide the desired conditions.

Caught on Camera!

After many days of monitoring the nest, I finally captured a photo of the the two Osprey chicks as they are being fed by their Mother, Daddy seems to keeping an eye on me and my camera.

Wood Duck sitting on eggs

Screech owls (Momma and chicks)

Wood Pecker egg

Mottled Duck and her Gang

Protective Mother

Feeding time

Kildear

Wood Duck

Otter

Great Blue Heron

Momma Osprey on her eggs

Purple Martins

Wood Ducks on the move

Blue Winged Teals

Golf Course Report

March 2016

                This is my first Golf Course Report since early January.  I apologize for the infrequency.  We have weathered the storm of a record rainfall in January and a cold and damp February.  The sun has begun to shine and the winds of Spring are starting to dry out our property.  The warmer temperatures have kick started the growth of all of our playing surfaces.

                Over the last few weeks we hosted three of our Major tournaments, the Ladies Member/Guest, the Ladies 9 Hole Invitational and the Mens Invitational.  From all reports each tournament was a huge success.  The seamless cooperation between all of our departments helped produce an excellent experience for all involved.  We take great pride in giving you a product that will impress your guests.  The Club Championships are underway and we will focus on providing tournament conditions throughout the month. 

                On the agronomic side, the dryer weather will begin to show its ugly side in the form of wilting plants.  Supplemental hand watering will occur periodically to ensure the health of the entire property.  I am constantly searching to improve the golf course, with this in mind; I have consulted our golf course builder about the possibility of rebuilding the Driving Range tee.  Our current situation has a tee that does not drain properly and is elevated in relation to the artificial hitting area.  The idea is to lower and extend the tee, add drainage, “sand cap” the tee and re-grass.  This will provide a better suited practice area to withstand the heavy usage during Season.  Another innovation that I am excited to be involved with is the use of a digital camera to scope the drainage in the subsurface of our greens.  A Demo was performed on #15 and #17 greens recently and has pinpointed issues that can be rectified during summer maintenance.  All of our greens will be shot with this camera on a Tuesday in May.  Repairing these clogged drains will release built up gases and improve percolation.  Although a number of our greens are situated in hard to grow areas, this project will allow us to improve the viability of our putting surfaces.  We are looking forward to a transcendent Summer of maintenance and an eye-opening 2016-2017 golf season.

                Typically, a strong El Nino is followed by a La Nina.  This would call for a drier Spring and Summer with an above average chance of Tropical development.  Our plan for the turf is to increase our cultural practices and our plan for the community is to protect your assets.  Thank you for supporting our TEAM through this unpredictable season it has been a challenge but we will persevere. 

                 

I receive Regional updates from the USGA Green Section periodically throughout the year.  This one seems apt to share with our membership during this uncommon weather pattern.  

 COURSE CARE

Strong El Niño Impacting Southern Golf Courses January 19, 2016 By Todd Lowe, agronomist, Southeast Region and Steve Kammerer, regional director, Southeast Region

Increased rainfall, reduced sunlight and cooler temperatures are creating the “perfect storm” for poor playability and turf decline.

El Niño
For months, weather forecasters have predicted a strong El Niño (see October Regional Update). While many of us in the Southeast Region had hoped that the predictions were wrong, El Niño is here and causing some concerns.

What is El Niño?
The term El Niño refers to the ocean-atmosphere climate interaction linked to a periodic warming in sea surface temperatures across the central and east-central equatorial Pacific. Typically, the El Niño effect causes increased rainfall in the southern United States during the winter months. In fact, it has rained 32 of the past 45 days in the West Palm Beach area. For comparison, the 30-year average for this same timeframe in West Palm Beach is 12 days.

How does El Niño affect golf courses in southern regions?
El Niño affects golf courses in several ways. For one, increased rainfall creates wet environments and softer playing conditions. Observations on recent Course Consulting Service visits include:

• Increased stress on greens and collars
• Frequent plugged lies
• Short roots and larger ball marks on greens
• More “mud balls” in fairways
• Less ball roll in fairways
• Tire rutting from mowers and golf carts
• Higher-than-normal water levels in lakes and ponds

The combination of wet, cool and cloudy conditions can cause considerable turf stress. Turfgrasses need sunlight for growth. Prolonged cloudy weather causes turf to deplete carbohydrate reserves that are stored in roots, weakening the root system. Roots take up oxygen from soil and saturated soils make it nearly impossible for weakened roots to survive.

How can you protect your golf course?
Ultimately, we need drier weather and more sunlight. A few tips to consider for improving turf health and playability at your facility include:
1.   Monitor soil moisture and reduce overhead irrigation – Many facilities have not applied irrigation since before Christmas 2015, yet rootzones remain saturated because of the increased rainfall. Keep track of your soil moisture and reduce irrigation as much as possible at this time. Spend the extra money and purchase a dependable soil moisture meter that measures volumetric water content.
2.   Increase mowing heights on greens – Do not stress your greens by mowing low. Sacrifice a little bit of playability for turf health and be more tolerant of slightly slower conditions. Turfgrass leaves are like miniature solar panels. Therefore, providing greater leaf area by increasing mowing heights will allow turf to create more energy through photosynthesis, promoting turf health and deeper roots.
3.   Vent greens regularly with solid-tine aeration – Venting with small, “pencil” tines – e.g., 0.25-inch diameter solid tines – is recommended on a monthly basis during normal winter months. Some facilities are venting greens as frequently as every two weeks. Venting improves rooting by relieving soil compaction and increasing soil oxygen.
4.   Use plant protectants – Fungicides are being applied at many facilities to reduce disease and improve turf growth. Leaf spot and Pythium diseases have been among the most common pathogens on golf courses over the past few weeks.
5.   Manage golfer traffic – Ropes and stakes often are used to reduce cart traffic stress and are particularly helpful during the winter. Also, more courses than normal have adopted “cart path only” policies during the past month because of saturated soil conditions.
6.  Implement a fairway topdressing program – “Mud balls” are a common problem when fairway soils remain saturated and are caused, in part, by an undiluted surface layer of organic matter. This thick, spongy layer causes more plugged lies and increases the occurrence of mud – i.e., organic matter – on balls. While fairway topdressing is costly, it certainly improves playability – especially surface firmness – and helps reduce the occurrence of “mud balls” in fairways with excessive organic matter.
Source: Todd Lowe (tlowe@usga.org) and Steve Kammerer (skammerer@usga.org)

Southeast Region Agronomists:

Chris Hartwiger, director, USGA Course Consulting Service - chartwiger@usga.org
Steve Kammerer, regional director – skammerer@usga.org
Patrick M O’Brien, agronomist – patobrien@usga.org
Todd Lowe, agronomist – tlowe@usga.org

Golf Course Report

January 2016

The New Year always brings new resolutions and a hope for a less stressful existence.  The key to a healthy life and a healthy golf course is to reduce stress.  Over the last 6 weeks the ever-changing obstacles have provided some challenges for our team.  There are many different stresses that contribute to the aesthetics and playability of a golf course.  The trick is to manage the ones you CAN control versus the ones from a Higher Power.

Environmental stresses come from Mother Nature.  We can certainly alter some of these stresses by removing trees to improve sunlight and air movement, adding drainage to increase percolation and buying fans and grow lights to simulate proper growing conditions.   The goal is to take what SHE gives and produce proper playing conditions.  How we do this is managing the Mechanical stresses that effect the turf.  This includes; traffic (carts, divots, ball marks etc.), mowing, fertility, disease suppression and moisture management. 

The Hot and Humid weather in December prompted reduced fertility and heavy grooming to provide expected playing conditions.  The Wet and Cool weather to start the New Year led to additional fungicide applications and a raise in the height of cut (HOC) for all of our playing surfaces.  To combat natural stresses we reduce mechanical stresses.  Raising the HOC will provide more leaf blade to absorb the limited amount of sunlight that the turf is receiving during this time.  As we mow at a higher HOC and less frequently, we will roll more often to provide acceptable playability. The lower the HOC the more prevalent the effects are, the greens are our main focus but the remainder of the property has shown signs of the stresses.  The seclusion of Stonebridge, in the Heart of Naples, takes a very dense buffering plan.  The Southern buffer creates the  damp and dank area on the left side of #15 and the rear of #4 green, the Eastern border aides in the same issues with #14 tee and green, #13 green an #11 green.  History shows, that the challenging areas stem from the lack of sunlight and air-movement, as the sunrise shifts throughout the seasons we can track the deficient turf. 

In closing, I want to emphasize that these are educational points not excuses.  We have been punched in the gut by Mother Nature and we are still standing.  No matter how intense the battle with “El Nino” is, we will provide superb playing conditions.  Please do not hesitate to contact me with any questions or concerns.  We have the tools to combat these issues and our timing will soon fall into place.