Green Speed and Condition

   Now that we are fully into Spring and the grass has started to grow we will be lowering the height of cut on our greens.  This should in turn start to increase our green speeds.  We like to see the greens begin to grow and have the ability to recover before we get too agressive with height.  We will also be treating the greens this week with fertilizer and bio-stimulants to stimulate growth and recovery, a wetting agent to improve water infiltration, and a plant protectant to stop fungus growth.
   Another update that I am sure will make everyone happy is we will not be performing a typical greens aerification this Spring.  Due to the late aerification last year and a large event we have scheduled the week after Memorial Day we will be solid tine aerifying the greens.  That is we will be using small tines that will simply pierce a hole in the surface and not remove any organic matter.  We will follow-up with a normal topdressing and roll the green surface.  There will be minimal impact to play.  This process will allow for the exchange of gases (aeration), stimulate root growth, and leave small channels for water to better penetrate the surface of the green.

Spring is picking up.

  

The busy season has officially started.  Our full-time seasonal staff is back and hard at work.  They have spent the last week or so finishing up some of the winter cleanup.  They are now moving into our regular maintenance activities of mowing, raking bunkers, and setting up the golf course.  We are also starting some of our early season projects.  One of those projects is getting the irrigation system fully operational.  Another is trying to get our bridges back down after the frost push them up during the winter.  We borrowed a backhoe and were able to get them to settle down for the most part.  At least now the approaches are better and carts won't bottom out.

We also have started the process of vertical mowing the damaged areas in the fairways.  This will aid in the recovery of the turf by removing excess organic material.  This warms the soil faster and allows live tissue to recover faster and for the seed bank that is in the soil to germinate.  It is very similar to what you do to your lawn at home in the spring when you power rake.

I have to include this photo I took last week.  I was doing some office work when I heard this loud noise coming from the sky outside.  I went out and saw two pair of F-16s flying at a very low altitude over the golf course.  They did this a few times and then they got into formation and made a couple of passes right over our shop.  On the third pass they came from the opposite direction and headed straight for Minneapolis.  I guess they had an appointment at Target Field they had to be on time for.

Sustainability - Part1

   In the Turf Industry the lastest buzz word not too unlike a lot of industries/economies is "Sustain" or "Sustainability".  This being the idea or philosophy of what can be sustained.  In a previous post I talked about a seminar I attended where there was a panel discussion about Sustainable Golf Course Management.  Some on the panel looked at it from an environmental standpoint, some from the economics of what their budgets will allow, and others from the standpoint of trying to bring American golf back in line with European golf.  This last standpoint is related to how golf courses are conditioned.  To me it boiled down to how do we provide high quality playing conditions, while keeping the cost of golf affordable and doing the right thing for the environment.
   I have included an article (http://www.golfbusinessmagazine.com/pageview.asp?m=3&y=2010&doc=2322)

from Golf Business Magazine that talks about what some turfgrass managers in the golf course industry are doing.  I think it is a good article to read especially after watching golf over the weekend played with conditions that are arguably superfluous.  My next installment on this subject I will discuss what Dellwood Hills management practices have been.

   Monday we started the process of firing up the irrigation system.  Not only is the first time we have charged the system in March but rarely have we done so before the third week of

April.  This will be the second time in the history of the club that we have opened the golf course in March.

With the lack of rainfall so far I feel it is best we get the system charged and make sure we work through the normal broken pipe and head damage that we normally see.  As of yesterday (Wednesday) we have seen a much smaller volume of problems.  It has taken two days to get our mainlines fully charged (another record).  I attribute that to the large blanket of snow last Fall before the frost set in deep. 

   Just a reminder that it is early in the season and the peat fairways still have frost coming out of them.  They are soft through out and we need to keep cart traffic to a minimum, so please keep them in the rough as much as possible.  This will insure we don't have to spend extra time fixing ruts and your fellow golfers have a better surface to play from.  Enjoy this great weather!