On Course

Winter Projects

2012-01-31T10:51:00.000-08:00

We have started the process of going through our accessories. We have painted all of our tee markers and our practice area flagsticks. Next we will resurface our course flagsticks and put on new bottoms so the sticks fit tight in the cup. We will be cleaning, polishing and repairing our ballwashers, garbage cans, and bunker rakes.

Two of the larger indoor projects we have left to do are to refurbish our benches and do the yearly maintenance on our equipment.The wood part of the bench will be sanded and restained and the metal frames will be repainted. For the equipment we go through each piece and change fluids and filters, inspect transmissions and brakes, replace worn parts, grind and install new bedknives or blades and rebuild engines if neccessary.

This photo below is a project to improve the playing surface of our greens. This is a brush that will help groom the turf (lift it up) so the mower can do a better job of cutting. This will cut the grass in a more upright position, which in turn will create a smoother surface. The smoother surface helps putts to roll more "true". If you have ever heard the term "grain" this is what we are trying to reduce. If you haven't heard the term it is: the grasses natural tendency to lay a certain direction. Often times you can have turf on a playing surface that will lie in varying directions. This should to be a great improvement and we completed the project in-house for a fraction of what it would have cost to buy!

Winter Projects

2012-01-19T08:55:00.000-08:00

One of the projects we have been busy with this winter is the removal of Buckthorn and Boxelder trees to the right of the Out of Bounds markers as you leave the Red tee on #9 and walk over to the Driving Range.

You can see the before picture below.

Below is the after photo.

The goal with this project was to remove the evasive Buckthorn and to open the hole up and increase the pace of play. Now if your ball is hit to the right it will not be knocked down into the Out of Bounds. You will also be able to see the flight of your ball and be able to find it quicker. It will be much easier to know whether you ball is still in play or not.

Project Update

2011-06-18T05:15:00.000-07:00

Course Project Update:

Stump cleanup is complete.

Stump filling should be completed by Tuesday or Wednesday next week.

Tee work- Tees on #7, 8, 12 have be sodded and seeded. We will have some finish work around the bases of the tees sod cutting an edge and adding a little more sod. Irrigation on #3 tee will go in Monday and Tuesday of next week and we will be hauling in some topsoil. They should be ready for seed and sod by the end of the week. The banks to the right of the tee and behind will be sodded with Bluegrass and the left side will be seeded with a blend of native type Fescues. This is the same type as we used on #4 Blue/Black tee.

Filling of low area off of #13 tee - we have installed drainage and will be adding more soil to raise the area a few feet. This soil will be hauled in starting next week. As with all these projects it will depend on weather.

The height of cut on #6 and #16 green is currently at .135" as compared to .125" on the rest of our greens. It will be brought down the rest of the way to match the other greens on the golf course by wednesday of next week.

Please feel free to contact me with further questions.

Project time

2011-06-05T05:25:00.000-07:00

   With a shortened Holiday week behind us and the addition of some summer help we will be digging into our list of projects for the summer. We will be continuing our stump work this week with a final round of grinding and cleanup. We will also be filling holes and prepping for sod. We started some preliminary work on the banks of the tees and will continue our work to get those ready to be sodded. We will also be adding some better soil to the tee tops to prepare them for seeding. Irrigation needs to be altered on the tee on #8 and #7. We will need to re-install irrigation in #3 tee as the old irrigation is no longer useable.
   This week we will also be making our first application of growth regulators to our fairways and greens. This helps to keep growth consistent and under control so we can get a better quality of cut and reduce our labor. With the peat soils in our fairways, any time we get rain we get a release of nutrients that causes a flush in growth.  Often times you can achieve good speed in the morning but as the day goes on growth slows them down. Applications to our greens help in keeping green speeds consistent throughout the day.
   Finally, with the loss of our Mechanic we are doing our best to keep the golf course conditioning at the level you have come to expect. We will have set backs here and there but are committed to keeping the golf course conditions and your golfing experience our top priority. We will do our best to complete our projects in a timely fashion and with the highest workmanship possible. We appreciate your understanding.

Spring Is Here

2011-04-23T08:18:00.000-07:00

As courses cleared of snow cover this spring many courses in the Metro area were faced with the death of some of their playing surfaces (greens, tees, or fairways). Dellwood was not immune as we found varying degrees of damage. While our tees and fairways came through the winter in good shape our most notable damage was to the 6th and 16th greens. Most of the damage on these greens seems to have occurred where the water drains off. To speculate on how it occurred can be challenging as these areas were under snow cover for a good 4.5 months. The damage could have occurred as a result of rain back in November, prolonged ice cover, or from a thaw/freeze event in the last 6 weeks.

As we can not change the weather events of this past winter it is of utmost importance to have a recovery plan. As the damage on these two greens was extensive and found throughout the green I felt it necessary to re-seed these areas. Our nursery sod supply is limited which also played a part in deciding to seed. We have gone into these greens and vertical mowed in three directions. This removes some of the dead tissue and creates a seed bed for the Bentgrass seed. Next we seeded the greens in two directions and followed with a brushing. We followed that with a sand/peat topdressing and another brushing. To finish we fertilized with an organic slow-release fertilizer and a soil amendment to aid in establishment of the seedlings. In order for the seed to germinate it requires two things, moisture and warm soil temperatures. Moisture is the easy part of the equation as our irrigation is already charged and operational. In order to achieve the soil temperatures we need we must cover the greens with a greens cover. This is a woven, breathable blanket that will create somewhat of a greenhouse over the surface. It is green in color and will absorb sunlight and warm the soils. Unfortunately it does very little to heat or retain heat in the soils at night, but there use could be the difference between playable surfaces by the middle of May or the middle of June.

We will be taking the greens out of play and using temporary greens while the grass is re-established. Although Bentgrass is a very tough and resilient grass type the seedling stage is very fragile and does not handle traffic. Our plan is to cover these greens until the seed germinates and gets to the point of needing to be mowed. This will most likely take about two weeks depending on the weather of course. We appreciate your patience in helping us achieve the best possible outcome, which is to have our greens back to normal playing condition before summer arrives.

Growing the Game of Golf

2011-03-02T07:35:00.000-08:00

I'm sure we have all thought of how to grow the game of golf and how to make our club more healthy financially. I recently came across this article in the Wall Street Journal that is out side of the box but is worth pondering. Check it out:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704132204576136270684216848.html

New Look to #3 Tee

2011-02-28T10:42:00.000-08:00

This past Friday we were able to get all the soil hauled in (and rough graded) that was needed for our project on #3 Tee. We are splitting #3 tee up into 3 tees by elevating the middle third of the tee 18" and the back third 36". This is being done to break up the "Runway tee" and to allow sight lines to the pond from any where on the tee. The final grading, irrigation installation, and seeding will be completed this spring and the back two thirds should open for play by early summer.
We will also be adding a new blue/black tee for #12 and a new forward tee to #7. All of this was done with the money that was donated by Stan Hollen and Mike Hilliard.

Clearing snow from the existing tee surface.

More snow clearing and attempting to strip top soil (it was too frozen).

Staking, hauling soil and shaping the middle third of the tee.

View from the 12th tee box.

Finishing the shaping of the middle third and staking the back third.

Finishing the shaping of the back third and hauling in some top soil for the both back tiers.

View from the 12th tee.

Willow on the Corner #8

2011-02-23T12:26:00.000-08:00

This video is of the removal of the large Willow on the edge of the pond on#8. It is taken from the tee so it is a little harder to see than I expected. It didn't help that it was so cold I was shaking. Hopefully as I get accustom to adding video we can make a few tweaks to make it better.

Tree Competition

2011-02-09T16:32:00.000-08:00

This series of pictures illustrates what happens to trees that are planted too close to one another as they mature.

In the first picture you can see trees that are bending (this would have been even more apparent if I had taken a picture more in line with the ground). These trees are seeking light which is necessary to produce the food the tree needs to survive. This is a group of trees to the left of the 11th green.

These trees are to the left of the 3rd green. You can see the 2 trees on the right are growing to the north and one of the trees on the left is growing to the south.

These are two trees to the right of #3 green. Here again you can see they are growing slightly in opposite directions to increase their light intake.

These trees are too close to each other and you can see some strange branching that could be have happened in response to needing more light.

2011-02-07T11:37:00.000-08:00

In addition to staying busy removing trees, Jeff, Kerry, Eric and our faithful member volunteer Gordy Eicher have been chipping brush and burning our brush piles.

Chipping brush #4 Green

It took three of us two days to chip most of the brush from the trees that were removed on the north side of the railroad tracks.

The burning of the brush piles in our 3 collection sites took us about 8 days to complete. You may be able to see the reason for how long it took us in the photo below. There was anywhere from 1-2 feet of snow on top of the piles.

Burning brush to the right of #4

Continued tree work

2011-02-02T11:18:00.000-08:00

As we have continued to make a lot of progress on our tree removals this winter we find more evidence to show that some of these trees are "at risk" trees. You can see in these photos the cracking and cavities that are present.

There is no doubt that is has been a wise choice to remove these trees proactively.

In this photo to the left you can see all the rotten wood that surrounds the cavity. These trees can be very unpredictable especially if they are softer wooded trees. Another element that comes into play is the size of the tree. Once trees get large they are impacted by the elements (wind, lightning, rain) to a greater degree. They also become quite heavy. I would compare this to putting a backpack on that is loaded down. If you are not strong enough to handle the extra weight it will effect your stability much more. Obviously this is a slow process and at what point in the thinning of the trees trunk will failure occur, I don't know. I have not heard of a definitive way to predict trees failure in this instance.

Golf Course Opening and Closing Stats

2011-02-02T10:29:00.000-08:00

This is an e-mail I received from the National Golf Foundation that I thought would be of interest to you readers:

NGF 2010 Openings/Closures Summary - Market Correction of Supply/Demand Imbalance Continue

NGF tracked 46 18-hole equivalent golf course openings in 2010 vs. 107 closures, for a net negative of 61, the fifth consecutive year that closures have outpaced openings. The total net loss of 220 18-hole courses from 2006-2010 represent roughly 1.5% of the total supply. The 2010 net loss of 61 courses in 2010 represents less than one half of one percent of total supply. Considering the severity of the recession, one could argue that golf has held its ground reasonably well.

These are some of the details emerging from NGF's Golf Facilities in the U.S. report, 2011 edition, which will be released in early February:

There were openings in 29 states.

Of the 46 openings, more than 60% were daily fee

There are currently more than 80 U.S. golf course projects under construction (excluding renovations)

States with the most openings in 2010 were Pennsylvania, Illinois, Florida, North Carolina and Texas

The region with the most courses currently under construction is the South Atlantic with 16.5 courses.

The total facility count at the end of 2010 stood at 15,890, 167 less than the all-time high of 16,057 in 2004. And the current number of 18-hole equivalents is 14,904.5, which is less than the number of facilities due to the large number of stand-alone 9-holers (4,382).

Please contact NGF with any questions or inquiries.

Tree Removals Winter 2010-2011

2010-12-17T07:57:00.000-08:00

At the Dec. 9th Greens and Grounds meeting I presented the list of trees to be removed this winter. After reviewing the list the Committee did not feel there was a need to approve the list as it only included trees that needed to be taken down due to conditions or was part of the on-going Management Plan that was done by StrataPoint Inc.

The list below has two categories. The first is trees that need to be taken down due to their condition. The second is a list of trees that were recommended (Tree Management Plan) for removal. I have also included the page or pages from the Plan where the recommendations can be found.

Tree Removals Winter 2010-2011

At Risk Trees
#1 Willow left of fairway bunker (decline and splitting/Plan pg.103)
#4 Willow near creek (closest the green) (damage and splitting)
     Oak behind green (dead)
#5 Cottonwood left hillside (lightning)
#8 Willow and Silver Maple left of tee (damage and splitting)
     Willow left of fairway next to pond (damage and cavity at base)
     River Birch right side past irrigation controller (dying/dead)
#10 Willows (2) right off of forward tee (damage)
#16 Silver Maple right of cart path by tees (multi-stem cracking)
       Willow near pond closer to #11 (damage)
#17 Willow near forward tee (cavity)
       Pine (2) past bunker (storm damage)
#18 Oak (4) left of tee (Oak Wilt)
Clubhouse - Buckeye next to small parking lot (splitting)

Other Removals Based on Tree Plan and Turf Condition
#1 Ash and Pine behind green (Plan pg.53 pgs.16-18&29)
#2 Ash next to cart path at green (Plan pgs.16-18&29)
     Cottonwood (6) dieback (out of play)
#4 Ash left of approach (Plan pgs.16-18&29)
     Linden and Oak behind green (Turf Conditions/Plan pg.75)
#6 Silver Maple right of green (Plan pgs88-89/Turf Conditions)
#7 Silver Maple and Pine between green and cart path left side(Plan pg.92/Turf Conditions)
     Pines behind green (3 of the 5) (Plan pg.93)
#10 Silver Maple next to fairway bunker (Plan pg.107/Turf Conditions)
#12 Ash (2) left of green (Plan pgs.16-18&29)
       Silver Maple right of green (Plan pg.116/Turf Conditions)
       Linden (2) right of fairway (Plan pg.117)
#13 Ash (6) between green and #14 tee (Plan pgs.16-18,29&122)
#14 Ash (9), Tamarac (2), and Silver Maple (1) behind green (Plan pgs.16-18,29&132/Turf Conditions)
#15 Silver Maple (2) left off of tee (Plan pg.134-135)
       Pine left of approach (Plan pg.134-135)
#16 Ash (5) right of approach and Ash (4) and Silver Maple (1) behind green (Plan pgs.16-18,29&140/       Turf Conditions)
#17 Ash (3) left of tee (Plan pgs.16-18&29)
#18 Ash (2) and Oak (1) left of approach (Plan pgs.16-18,29&150)

I will continue to keep you post on our progress.

Going for a Spin.

2010-10-27T11:29:00.000-07:00

Some of you may not be aware that we had a car drive down the 13th fairway across the green and then return to the tee. Fortunately, the damage was not too severe and we were able to fix the green fairly quickly. I think the fact that it has been so dry the last few weeks helped. The green still has some blemishes on the left front of the green but for the most part it hasn't affected playability.

Fairway aerification

2010-10-27T10:04:00.000-07:00

Fairway aerification using a walking aerator.

We have been very fortunate to have the long stretch of dry weather the past few weeks. This allowed us to complete fairway aerification before the remainder of our crew was done for the year. It was very important for us to get that completed as we were not able to this past spring due to weather and the golf calendar. Aeration is a practice that is done a number of reasons but for us the most important reason on our fairways is to remove organic matter. This allows for gas exchange and for water to get into the soil. Organic matter is the dead grass blades and roots that have not decomposed. They can create a barrier to water and air movement. Our Bentgrass also loves to grow horizontally and aeration helps decrease grain (the laying over of turf) by severing the leave/stem tissue.

Dragging the fairway to move the soil back into the turf canopy.

This year our process started with aerifiying the fairway. Most of this was done with a roller type aerifier (similar to the ones used on home lawns, only much larger) but we did use a walking unit for some smaller fairways. After that was completed we vertical mowed the fairway. This was done for two reasons: the first was to help break up the plug or break the soil off the thatch and second to again sever the leave/stem tissue. Our plan is to ramp up this practice in spring and fall when the stress to the turf from heat and humidity are not present. We hope to see if we can impact the graininess of the playing surface. We follow this with a dragging using a large piece of fence, which removes any remaining soil from the thatch. We finish the process by blowing the thatch into the center of the fairway and cleaning it up.

Things not as the seem.

2010-10-26T12:15:00.000-07:00

Although I am not thoroughly convinced that skunks were not involved in the damage that took place this Fall, there were definitely others that were. I spent a couple unproductive nights and a few early mornings doing some scouting for what was to blame for the ravaged turf. In the end our live trap produced 3 Raccoons and 1 Oppossum. For now it appears the damage has stopped. I am not sure if that is because we have gotten rid of the offenders or if the food source (grubs) has moved down in the soil to over-winter. Next year we will be dealing with the problem through preventative insecticide applications to get rid of the grubs.

Skunks

2010-09-10T12:12:00.000-07:00

Some of you may have noticed lately that something has been tearing up rough areas as well as the edges of a fairway. At this point the damage has been near the fairway bunker on #4, behind the green on #5, behind and to the left of #13 green, some on #17, and the fairway and bunker edge on #18. As best as I can tell this is being perpetrated by skunks. They typically pull chunks of turf out and root around to find grubs that are under the turf. As you might imagine this problem poses a few challenges.

These grubs are Japanese Beetle larvae that were laid back at the beginning of August. We have seen an increase in the number of mature beetles on the golf course over the last two seasons. Long-term we will have to look at making preventative insecticide applications if we are going to avoid turf damage from the grubs and from predators. We have made some insecticide applications to get rid of the grubs but dealing with the skunks is a problem we will have to address delicately. Stay tuned!

Greens recovery

2010-08-20T10:02:00.000-07:00

The greens are recoverying and we have returned to walk mowing and are starting to lower our height of cut back down now that most of the sand is gone. We have also fertilized greens which will help the greens to recover completely by the end of the weekend. The down side of this is that with the rapid recover we will continue to have slower green speeds through the weekend. We are very close to our normal height of cut but the fertilizer and hot, humid weather this weekend will really push growth especially in the afternoon. This morning the speed was just bearly 10' after rolling. We will continue to roll but I do not expect it to get our speeds back into our ideal speed of between 10' and 11' on the stimp until next week.

What is that stuff?

2010-08-13T20:50:00.000-07:00

This is Dollar Spot (turf fungus) that is been growing rapidly in rough areas. This is the tee bank along the 16th tee box.

This is what Dollar Spot looks like on a fairway. We have seen some severe disease pressure and fungicide efficacy has been shortened.

This is a picture of Brown Patch. A number of these diseases we have seen very little of in the past few years. This is primarily because of the quantity of pressure and the severity shortening our spraying windows/schedule.

Why are covering that green with soil?

That is a green that has been topdressed with a layer of sand and is in the process of being cored. After the green is cored we drag the sand and cores to fill the holes in the greens back up.

These are pictures of #7 and #12 right after we received that 1.5" rainfall.

Enough with the Heat

2010-08-13T20:02:00.000-07:00

We have been able to complete greens aerification in spite of the 1.5" of rain we received Sunday night. We were delayed but finished up the remaining greens Monday. The 4th and 6th green were very saturated and have not cleaned up well.
We have completed some of the tees but feel it is best if we wait to complete those until after this bad spell of weather ends. We are in the midst of a bad weather week. Temperatures are staying between 85-90 degrees, the humidity if very high and we have continued to receive additional rainfall all week. So far the golf course is doing alright and we do have preventative fungicide applications down but with disease pressure this high the fungicides efficacy will be reduced. We have been scouting for signs of break through and have made spot applications to help us through this intense pressure. The good news is there is a break in the weather pattern coming Sunday.
Unfortunately golf is played on a playing surface that is constantly changing and the weather plays a key role in that. We are going to do our best to keep it in the most playable condition we can. That is why we have closed the course for cart use a couple of times this week. We did not want to stress the turf out more and invite pathogens to infect the turf. We are hopeful green speeds will return to normal next week as the greens dry out and begin to heal.

New Tee

2010-07-02T14:31:00.000-07:00

Wednesday we undertook a small project that the Green Committee requested. We removed sod from the right half of the Blue tee on #11 and created a second tee above and further back. We were able to finish up the project this afternoon.

The first phase was to remove the existing rough height Bluegrass from the sight of the new tee. This step is not necessary if you are creating an elevated tee but is a good practice for a shallow tee. It ensures that the underlying turf does not grow through the soil mix into the new Bentgrass sod.

The next step a sand/peat soil mixture is added to create a level surface teeing surface. This will also give the tee some added drainage.

Following this the sod is laid down making sure to stagger the seams of the sod to aid in moisture retention.

The final step is to add the sand/peat mixture to the seams, trim the edges to create a smooth perimeter, sod the perimeter with Kentucky Bluegrass, fertilize with a starter fertilizer, heavily saturate the tee and rope off. If all goes well the tee will be opened in three to four weeks.

Native Areas

2010-07-02T14:17:00.000-07:00

You may have noticed that we have been cutting down some of the tall areas around ponds, in native areas, and in wildflower areas. We are doing this because of the movement of Canada Thistle into these areas.

This is a evasive perennial weed that is characterized by it's prickly foliage and violet colored flowers that produces tons of seed.

The largest area is the area effected is the areas between #8 and #11. Due to the droughty conditions last spring the thistle got a jump on the native species that were planted. The plan is to keep the Thistle from going to seed and exacerbate the problem. Than in late fall we can make a herbicide application that should be taken down to the root and kill the Thistle.

2010-06-14T08:01:00.000-07:00

The aerification of greens and tees was completed as scheduled and the golf course is now back to normal playing conditions. The process that was used to aerify greens was not our usual technique. We used solid tines that pierce a hole in the turf but do not remove any material. This creates channels for the exchange of gases and allows air to get down to the roots. In addition, it allows for rapid growth of roots into these spaces. All of this helps the green to better withstand the stresses that the hot summer and traffic bring.

Once we had finished aerating we topdressed lightly and rolled the greens. Normally, we would pull a core of material out a put a heavier topdressing down and brush the sand into the holes. This helps with drainage and to dilute any buildup of organic material. We were not able to use this method this spring due to the golf schedule but will return to this next aerification in August following the Club Championship.

This last week we have not done any fairway aerification due to the rainy weather. We have received 3" of rain in the last 12 days with more on the way today. This has also not allowed us to finish a number of projects including sodding or seeding stump removals. It's tough working with soil when it's saturated. Hopefully we will get a break in the weather this week so we can complete those.

This rainfall has also impacted green speed and ball roll. We typically use the greens roller to help compensate when speeds dip below our ideal range. This is not prudent when the soils are saturated. Damage can occur to the turf when the roller loses traction and spins causing damage to the surface. Damage occurs to the roots when you put excessive pressure on an unstable soil. The side pressure that happens when you roll can cause a shift in the soil that will shear roots and create a bumpy surface. This same thing happens when you drive a cart in the fairway or rough when it is overly saturated.

2010-05-28T13:14:00.000-07:00

We have been busy with a number of projects this week in addition to preparing for the Ladies Dellwood/North Oaks/White Bear Challenge and for the Memorial Weekend Tournament. Earlier this week we took down a large Cottonwood tree off the right side of #11 tee. This tree was removed because it was encroaching on the tee shot from the Blue tee and for another small tee (for #11) that will be constructed near the Blue tee for #9.

These are the before and after photos of the area.

Colleen our Head Gardener and her crew have been busy filling gardens with fresh annuals.

We also were able to move some shrubs we had taken out from behind the Pro Shop and use them along the pool parking lot.

2010-05-26T11:26:00.000-07:00

Just in case you were wondering why your eyes might be itching, your throat was sore, or you couldn't stop sneezing. These pictures below tell the story. The photo on the left is a deposit of pollen that was produced after an irrigation cycle washed it down into a collection area on a cart path. The photo on the right is not smoke but rather pollen being blown off of some Scotch Pine to the right of #15 tee. Everyday when I leave work I have to run my wiper blades and some wiper fluid to take the layer of pollen off my windshield. Now if that wasn't enough we are inundated with the cotton from the Cottonwood trees and the little helicopters (seeds) from the Maple trees are coming down in copious amounts.

2010-05-21T05:58:00.000-07:00

There has been a lot going on this last week. Here is a look at some activities that the maintenance staff is doing and some things we are seeing.

Last Thursday we had a rain day where it was difficult to do anything on the golf course. We decided it would be a good day to tackle a little project around the clubhouse. This landscape was getting a little unruley so we removed some plant material so the Proshop could see better and help give the area more depth by opening up some sight lines. We also had some overdue trimming to do on the four trees. This should allow the trees to get more air flow and be more health.

A number of trees on the golf course look either dead or very weak. The two species of trees are the Ash and the Honeylocust. The Ash's leaves are curling up and turning black and falling. This is not Emerald Ash Borer it is a fungus known as Anthracnose (not Anthrax) that develops during cool, wet weather. This is an added stress to the tree but does not kill the tree. I have seen this a number of times in my 12 years at Dellwood. The Honeylocust are just slow to leave out which is very typical for these trees. Here is a link to a great tool for diagnosing problems with plant materials. http://www.extension.umn.edu/gardeninfo/diagnostics/index.html

I have posted an update from the Department of Agriculture on this main page.

On the left is a picture of some Honeylocust to the right side of #9 fairway. The picture on the right is of some Green Ash to the right of #13 green. The photo above and on the left is of a lone Honeylocust next to the forward tee on #12.

Poa annua

2010-05-17T13:41:00.000-07:00

Have you noticed patches of turf in the fairways starting to have a white or tan look to it. If you have this is Poa annua or Annual Bluegrass that is starting to seed or to grow it's "inflorescence".

In the foreground you can see the change in color.

If you were to look at it from the side it looks like a small tree sticking up.

This seed growth can take place throughout the summer but generally speaking late May and early June is when you see the large volumes of seed growth. Typically, this marks the end of spring root growth as the plant is putting it's energy into seed production and top growth.

Cart Traffic Reminders

2010-05-10T05:59:00.000-07:00

As cart use is starting to pick-up I just wanted to send out a reminder to cart users about the need to keep carts away from tees and greens. We have again installed our green and white stakes in the approach to the greens. Please take carts back to the cart path once you approach these stakes.

Another reminder is please keep carts on the path when parking next to tees and greens. I'm not sure if we have it ingrained in our heads that we need to pull off to the side of the road. I use to think it was just golfers until I started to notice that I pull off onto the grass and so do my crew members. If we follow these simple practices we can help keep the turf around the tees and greens in better shape.

2010-05-07T13:15:00.000-07:00

The second project we have been working on is grinding stumps and cleaning them up. We contract to have the stumps ground and do the clean work ourselves. The grinder has a 55hp engine and makes quick work of your average sized stumps. However, most of stumps were of the above average size. It took the contractor over an hour to grind the stump next to the 1st green and another hour for the stump next to the 10th green. In fact the Willow stump next to 10 was the biggest the contractor had ever worked on.

It will take us another week to finish cleanup and prep these areas for sod. We try to use composted material that we have generated on-site to fill in these areas. Generally, if the stump hole is very large we will put some fill material first and cap it with the compost.

Spring Projects

2010-05-07T08:53:00.000-07:00

This last week was filled with some of our early season projects. Because the weather has moderated and turf growth has slowed we have been able to knock out some "to do's". The first project was edging of our bunkers. This can be a time consuming job as the elements over the winter tend to migrate the sand into the bottom of the bunkers.

The first step is to cut an edge around the bunker. We try to remove as little material as possible so the bunkers don't get larger every year. Once that is cleaned up the sand depth is checked throughout the bunker to figure out where the sand needs to be moved. Then using the bunker rake with a blade attachment is used to push the sand into the areas that are deficient.

As this is taking place a couple of people take landscape rakes and spread the sand out evenly by hand.

The finishing touch to the process is raking the bunker smooth using the bunker rake for the bulk area and hand raking the edges.

Green Speed and Condition

2010-04-26T14:45:00.000-07:00

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.

2010-04-21T06:13:00.000-07:00

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

2010-04-12T07:53:00.000-07:00

   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.

2010-04-01T06:34:00.000-07:00

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!

Prairie Rejuvenation

2010-03-27T09:42:00.000-07:00

The ability for some of our prairie/native areas to continue to stay in balance and thrive depends on careful management. The area behind the 7th green is a mix of prairie grasses, wildflowers, and some wetland plants that are planted along the waters edge. The use of prescribed burns are a useful tool to remove old prairie thatch, to reduce woody plant invasion, and to stimulate the growth of many native grasses and wildflowers. This year we were scheduled to do such a burn and we took about 45 minutes on thursday and friday to take care of the two areas.

While we were burning on Friday we noticed some visitors in the pond on the 7th hole.

A pair of Trumpeter Swans

On another note we have seen some other interesting things around the course. In this photo you can see the difference that snow cover makes in the development of snow mold (hence the name).

This is a path that we had plowed on #12 that we used to take tree debris to our recycling site on the right side of the 4th hole.

These photos show what happens when you remove snow and the insulation. It allows for the frost to be driven down into the soil. The first photo is of the cart path on #2. It is raised about 10" higher than in the summer time. The second photo is an area on #2 where we plowed out in order to cut down a couple of trees. It is also about 10" higher than normal.

Practice Facility and Golf Course Opening

2010-03-24T10:30:00.000-07:00

The Practice Facility will open today and the golf course is set to open at 11:00 a.m. Wednesday, March 31st. We will be operating with our 4 person staff until the second week of April. We feel that over-all the golf course is in pretty good shape and people will enjoy getting the season started. Most of our focus will be on completing the debris (sticks and small branches) cleanup from the trees we removed this winter. We are planning to have the greens mowed and bunkers raked. We will keep you posted on our progress!

2010-03-22T09:21:00.000-07:00

Turf conditions on a tour of the south end of the golf course were similar to the north. Tees and greens look great with only superficial snow mold on some fairways and some isolated turf loss in low areas of fairways.

These are photos of the forward tee on #16. Again you can see the difference between treated and un-treated turf. There is a perfect rectangle around the tee.

Another notable item from my walk was how the leveling of the rough that we did 2 1/2 years ago has held up. These photos are of the left rough on #11 (new). You will notice how the fairway has mild frost heaving will the rough has virtually none. The frost heaving this year is overall a lot milder but there is still a noticable difference.

This is more Vole damage located between the practice green and the cart path the goes to the practice tee.

I wanted to share some follow-up pictures of the Oak that was removed on #18. You can see the extent of the decay that has taken place inside the tree.

These are more photos of trees that we removed this last month. I will let them speak for themselves.

2010-03-17T08:58:00.000-07:00

Spring Condition
Spring is here and after a tour of the north half of the golf course yesterday things appear in pretty good shape. Most of the snow is gone and the turf overall looks like it weathered the winter. The most noticeable things you find in a year when you have heavy snow cover are Vole damage and Snow Mold damage. This year we have both in abundance. Voles are small rodents that are basically field mice. The Voles that we have are most likely Meadow Voles.

The Snow Mold I have found has been mostly isolated to rough areas that were not treated with a preventative fungicide application. It tends to be superficial on longer grass but can kill especially when it attacks finer turfed areas like greens, tees, or fairways. When I say superficial I mean the damage is on the leaf blades not down at the growing point (crown of the plant). Once the plant becomes active it will push the damage out until the blades are long enough that the mowers can cut it off. I have found some isolated areas in fairways where we have some Snow Mold but none on tees or greens. The best thing is for these areas to dry out and then be raked or somehow disturbed to break up the matted material. The same applies for your home lawns but make sure you wait until the turf and surface are dry.

The photo on the left is of the 14th tee box and it shows you the difference between treated and untreated turf. There are some years when no application may be needed due to little disease pressure. This senario plays out when we have little snow cover and dry conditions well into the spring. You really only get a small window of opportunity to make a decision that will need to last 5 months. I have witnessed what happens to fine turfed areas when they are not protected and conditions are favorable for disease. The below photos will give you some idea.

The frost seems to be hit or miss in the fairways which is typical for our peat. In probing the greens what I have found so far is about 7 inches of thawed ground followed by 12-16 inches of frozen soil. The quickest way for this frost to thaw is to get some good rains. Once the frost has left the greens and the surface has firmed up we typically give the green light for golfers to play. It is very important that the surface is stable so that we do not cause damage to the playing surface or potential damage to the root system. Fairways typically take quite a bit longer to firm up as the peat tends to hold frost and excess moisture. We allow for foot traffic on these areas as any damage to the surface is easily repaired. Also the root systems tend to be larger and are not exposed to the same pressures that the greens are throughout the summer. I will be touring the south half of the course this afternoon to see if the higher, heavier soiled fairways came through in similar condition.

"Great Seminar"

2010-03-05T08:21:00.000-08:00

   I don't often put the words great and seminar together when talking about attending a seminar but I spent the last two days at the Minnesota Golf Course Superintendent's March Seminar and it was. It was two days filled with great speakers and some good discussion held right here at Dellwood Hills Golf Club. The first day the topic was Sustainable Golf Course Maintenance with two Superintendents speaking about things they have done at their facilities and finishing with a panel discussion of 6 superintendents speaking about what they are doing to be more sustainable.

   The first superintendent from Kentucky spoke about how they have been making their own biodiesel fuel and how they have modified some of their equipment to burn vegetable oil as a fuel source. He also spoke of how his facility has been able to collect water from the neighboring community and use it to irrigate the golf course . They catch storm water as well as the effluent water from all of the septic systems of the surrounding houses. The second superintendent from Florida spoke about the need for our industry to be leaders in taking care of the environment and being more vocal in letting the public know about our efforts. He talked about the things that his staff has implemented at their golf course that not only benefit the environment but make good business sense. The afternoon panel discussion about Sustainable Golf Course Maintenance I will talk more about in subsequent blogs, so stay tuned.

   The second day of the seminar was on Winter Injury. We had Dr. Brian Horgan from the University of Minnesota and Dr. Kevin Frank from Michigan State University talk about causes of winter injury and the best methods for recoverying. We had Drew Larson give a presentation on the winter covers study he did for his Masters. Bob Distel, Superintendent from Wayzata had a segment to talk about how they have used a heated tent to recover some of their greens very rapidly in the spring after they sustained severe winter injury. And finally we had two people at the end of the day talk about the use of wildflowers and no-mow grasses to establish native areas on the golf course. Usually my hope when attending one of these educational sessions is to take home one or two items that I can use to make myself or our operation better. This seminar was packed full of great information as well as some great challenges to think "outside the box".
I thank the club for supporting myself and my staff in continuing our education and betterment.

Simple Tools Make Work Much Easier

2010-03-02T08:18:00.000-08:00

I am going to start this entry with another look at the tree next to 18 green. I will show you some more signs that the tree is not doing well. In these photos you can see some more cavity decay and some woodpecker damage.

Woodpecker holes don't always tell you that a tree is dead or dying but they tend to work on dead wood. There are woodpeckers called Sapsuckers that do exactly that. They feed on the sap of a tree or the insects that are attracted to the sap. These woodpeckers like live trees and you can tell that they are Sapsuckers by the pattern they leave. They leave tight rows of holes. This damage can girdle a tree and kill it. Woodpeckers will also use trees to do their territorial drumming in the Spring.

This photo shows Dan Hamel with Tree Works using what looks like a large wristrocket on a stick. He uses this to get his rope up high into the tree canopy. He has a long thin string that is attached to a weighted bag. He puts the bag into the slingshot and fires it up into the top of the tree.

He attaches the string to his rope and pulls it up over the limb. He uses this to secure himself to the tree to do his work. These guys are fearless and extremely talented.

Large White Oak #18 Green

2010-02-24T09:58:00.000-08:00

Today's post will be a series of pictures showing the structural issues with the Oak that sits next to the 18th green.

In these photos you can see a crack in the center of the tree and one running up the right limb.

These photos show the cavity in the base of this tree.

These photos show some of the cabling that is holding the tree up.

These photos show old cabling that has grown through a limb (left) and some more splitting in one of the main leaders (right).

A Surprise Around Every Corner

2010-02-22T10:58:00.000-08:00

As we continue this phase of the Tree Management Plan we have found more trees that outwardly appear in good condition but are not. This tree you will notice has some mushrooms growing on the outside of the trunk. These mushrooms are feeding on decaying wood. Once the tree was cut down we did find that there was decay taking place inside the tree. This tree was located along the wetland edge on the left side of #2 and was one of two Willows that were removed.

In these photos we have two of three Ash trees that were removed behind the 18th green. They both had cavities in the trunk as well as areas at the base that had sustained damage as younger trees. This is a good example of what can happen to trees when the bark is damaged.

This is another tree that was removed behind the 18th green that was decayed in the center. As Jeff was cutting a notch (in one side of the tree to help it fall the correct direction) the tree pinched down on his saw. We knew something wasn't right because at the time he was only 1/3rd of the way into the tree. Once a second notch was cut and the tree was down we saw why the tree reacted the way that it did. The interior wood looks and feels like cork.

2010-02-15T08:10:00.000-08:00

We have spent the last week implementing the first phase of the Tree Management Plan that the club had done by Strata Point Inc. This first phase has us removing all hazardous trees or those that are showing signs of decay. We are also moving forward with decreasing our population of Ash trees now while we can do removals in an affordable (in-house) way.

Along with the removal plan, Strata Point has identified areas of the course where we could add approximately 125 trees. One of the main goals in replacing trees is to increase the diversity of tree Species which in turn will provide the club's property with a healthier tree population.

What we are seeing in a number of the trees is severe decay or structural issues. The tree to the right shows one of the multi-stemmed trees. These trees have multiple leaders that are competing with each other and contain included bark, all of which produce a structurally weak tree. These trees are very susceptible to storm damage.

As you can see in the photo to the left the tree has a large cavity at the base of the tree. What you can't see is this particular tree is approximately 75 feet high and the cavity extended up through the main trunk. This type of structural deficiency creates a very unpredictable situation when the tree faces environmental stresses.

The opening you see is actually the front door for a penthouse suite for two squirrels. They made a hasty exit when they found out the building had been condemned.

You can see in the photo on the right more of the severe decay this Ash tree had. When the tree hit the ground the trunk split in half.

You can see this tree has a large seam running up one side of the tree. This was probably the result of being probably struck by lightning at one time. We will keep you posted on our progress and the different issues that arise as we move forward.

Burning brush can be tough.

2010-02-05T08:37:00.000-08:00

On Monday we started to burn our brush piles which we thought would go rather rapidly. With all the snow and rain we have had this winter the burning process took the entire week.

As you can see in the photo (left) the large amounts of snow around the base of the pile. What it doesn't show is the snow that was on top and inside the pile. I was most surprised at how long it took for it to melt. These fires were hot enough that you had to stay several feet away and yet it seemed the snow was hardly melting and it was only a few inches away. It may have something to do with all the rain creating ice layers.

Taking some time to reload on energy!

Be sure to keep an eye on the FYI section (In the right column) for any current items of interest. I have recently posted a link for an Emerald Ash Borer Update from the MDA.

Winter Activities

2010-02-01T10:58:00.000-08:00

The number #1 question I am asked when meeting someone and the conversation turns to occupation is, What do you do in the winter? I thought I would take this first post to give you some idea of what goes on for us in the Grounds Department, while you folks are looking forward to the upcoming season.

Our number one job is to go through each piece of equipment and prepare it for the upcoming season. This entails replacing worn parts, performing tune-ups and putting a fresh grind on the cutting units.

Another project we are currently working on is refurbishing some of our accessories. We have worked hard at identifying areas where we can find some savings by trying to reuse or refurbish things in-house. We put new coatings on flag sticks, paint tee markers, recover rake handles, paint benches and cooler stations. We also like to put a coat of wax on our equipment, our ballwashers and our trash cans.

Here we are re-painting the putting green flag sticks.

Another project that we take on is the burning of our tree waste. We have three locations (behind the tennis courts, behind the 8th green and along side the 4th hole) that we accumulate leaves, branches and logs. These areas save us a large amount of money each year. By using these areas and burning them each winter we save on labor and by not having the material hauled off-site and disposed of. We obtain a burn permit from the White Bear Fire Department and this processes usually takes us about a week.