Continued tree work

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

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

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.

 

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



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.

   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

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!