Course Notes, 7/25/2023

Summer has definitely returned, but not before a highly successful Walter O. Wells Invitational occurred last week. I also would like to give a special thanks to our staff. I am very proud of the product they have produced for throughout the year, and can only think of one word to describe them: Awesome! Throughout the next few weeks most of them will be leaving us for the season and will be missed until they return in April 2024. So a huge thank you/muchas gracias to Adam, Ron, Tevin, Jim, Paul, Larry, Dave, Matt, Jack, Donis, Mitch, Yony, Issac, Aryton, Andrew, Ethan, and Dylan for all your hard work this year. Also a special thanks to Tom Thome and Tom Zimmerman for their help mowing fairways last week. Very much appreciated!

The popular motto “defense wins championships” rings true, not just in sports, but in turf management as well. It’s not necessarily what we do when the heat and humidity arrives, but more about what we don’t do.  For example, for a majority of the year we have experienced cooler to average weather.  This, combined with some changes I have made in our maintenance and agronomic practices, has allowed for some spectacular playing conditions.

So, what does defense mean in agronomic terms? The height of cut on greens has been raised slightly (from .11″ to .115″) to increase the amount of leaf tissue on the plant giving it a better opportunity to generate the necessary energy to survive.  If necessary, a mowing day may be skipped and replaced by rolling to reduce stress.  Irrigation is kept to a minimum as well. The need to minimize the amount of irrigation may sound counter-intuitive because of the heat, but we need to reduce the possibility of various types of diseases from developing.  Moist soils, thatch and leaf blades make an ideal environment for pathogens to grow and create harm to the turf. By reducing the irrigation, we reduce the moisture available to the pathogen. On days when we don’t mow fairways the dew is mechanically removed by two carts dragging a long hose across the playing surface to knock the dew off of the leaf blades allowing them to dry more quickly. In periods like this, every little trick helps.

Plant protectants and growth regulators are helping us as well, although they are not as effective during periods of high temperatures and humidity.  The humidity combined with these defensive measures listed above will lead to some decreased green speed, with the added moisture in the air being taken up by the plant, creating larger leaf blade surfaces.

Many afternoons have the staff and I syringing the greens turf to help cool it down.  When temperatures get above 85 degrees, Poa annua has difficulty photosynthesizing (making energy), and uses more energy then it can produce, causing stress damage.  By applying a fine amount of water, the turf is temporarily cooled off to relieve some of that stress.  This syringing creates the same effect as your skin feels if you ran quickly through a sprinkler.

The dark green is healthy Bentgrass. The yellowish-green is Poa annua, struggling in the summer heat!!

The picture below is 15 green taken with a thermal camera, and notice that the higher heights of turf are 10-20 degrees cooler than the green, and that the 100 degree canopy temperature on the greens turf is only cooler than the metal on my cart, which measured at 114 degrees.  The lower height of cut on the turf, the higher the canopy temperatures can be and the need for our syringing.

The great news is that the heat wave and humidity is expected to return to more manageable levels by the start of next week.  Please keep in mind that these changes are only intended to be temporary and that the ultimate goal is to provide you with a golf course that you can be proud of year round.  With that being said, until the heat and humidity begin to drop, we will continue to play defense.  As always, I encourage all of you to please contact me with any questions or concerns at ryan@elconacc.com.  Thanks, and have a great rest of your week!

Ryan

Course Notes, 7/3/2023

I was very happy to see the protective dome of drought break over the past week or so. The golf course received just under 1.5″ of rain from Thursday through Sunday, which is more than it received from May 10 through June 28 (1.05″). Many of the fairway and rough areas that were struggling have popped back and the irrigation pumps received a much deserved few days off.

Final preparations are being completed for this year’s Walter O. Wells Invitational. Our staff has done a wonderful job through all they have experienced this season so far and I could not be prouder of their efforts. Many of the preparations that lead up to the Invitational include mowing down native areas (which help with pace of play and controlling weed populations), adding sand to any areas in bunkers that need additional depth, pruning up selected trees and trimming pond areas.

Many of you still ask where to place the bunker rakes after using them. Above is the proper way we would like to see them, and my staff continues to improve about keeping the rakes off of the very edge of the sand the last few days. Place the rake about 2-3 feet inside the bunker edge when completing your raking. This will help eliminate the chance of the ball coming to rest against the edge. Thank you for your feedback in our maintenance and for your cooperation.

A few of you have also asked about some fluctuations in green speed recently. It has been and always will be a top priority for me to keep the greens as consistent as possible while maintaining a healthy playing surface. It is not uncommon for speeds to vary from day to day based on our rolling program and other external factors. During a typical week of the peak season we will mow greens daily, and roll them on Tuesday, Wednesday afternoon, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. All of our maintenance practices are dependent on weather allowing us to do so without harming turf health or playability.

There are many other items that factor in to green speed, which include:

Moisture Levels: What can affect moisture levels? The two main culprits are rainfall/irrigation and humidity. It’s no secret that firmer/drier greens tend to be faster and soft/wet greens lead to slower speeds. We combat this as much as possible by utilizing a moisture meter that measures the percent of water in the soil. If the percent moisture is below our thresholds, we will add water via the hose just to the areas that are below said threshold and not to the entire green. If the levels are at or above our morning thresholds, we do nothing and allow the surface to naturally dry. As you can probably relate, the last 7 days this task has been pretty quick and easy given the rainfall and high humidity.

Higher humidity days can be very challenging to dry the surfaces out and keep the turf from being “sticky” and having slower ball roll. The saying “Air That You Wear” applies the exact same to the putting surfaces and the ball sticking to the leaf blades as it does your clothing sticking to you on a hazy, hot and humid day. The leaf blades also take in more moisture when it is humid and become engorged, increasing the surface that can create friction against ball roll. Unfortunately humidity is a factor that, contrary to popular belief, I cannot control!

One way we try to dry out the rootzone is by “venting”, or aerifying them with .25″ solid tines, as depicted in the video below. After the holes are poked, we topdress the green with sand and roll the green smooth. These holes allow fresh oxygen to get to the roots of the plant in addition to drying out the soil below.

Weather: What happens to your yard after it rains? It grows and typically grows much faster than it did before it rained. Rainfall provides the turf with clean, usable water that helps to flush elements from the soil that tie-up nutrients, therefore making the nutrients readily available to the turf. Nutrients lead to healthy turf which can lead to additional growth. Believe it or not, lightning also plays a large role. The unbridled energy of a lightning bolt shatters nitrogen molecules in the air. Some of the free nitrogen atoms combine with oxygen to form compounds called nitrates that mix with the rain. These nitrates are a powerful natural fertilizer that any plant can readily take up and thus increase its growth rate.

Nutrition: The turf needs food to be healthy. Just as with humans, the healthier it is, the more active it tends to be. Healthy turf will grow more than unhealthy turf.

Growth: Turf is a living, breathing entity. It doesn’t just grow at night when most of us are sleeping, it grows during the day as well. This means that the greens will usually be slower in the afternoon than they are in the morning. Again, with our area actually receiving a good soaking rainfall over the last 5 days, greens are growing at a much higher rate than they were in May and June when drought conditions were prevalent. We will be verticutting them next week to remove some of the excessive growth.

Topdressing: Typically in season, we apply and broom in topdressing sand, and the amount of sand varies based on the rate at which the plant is growing. Topdressing sand helps smooth and firm up the surface of the greens. A smoother surface provides less friction on the golf ball and a faster speed.

Growth Regulators: Growth regulators are plant protectants we apply on a regular basis to slow down, not stop, the growth rate of the turf on greens, tees, and fairways. Over the years we have found a schedule that will provide very consistent results from day to day, minimizing surges in growth, but like everything else, the performance of the product is dependent upon several of the factors listed above.

I would encourage you to spend a few moments before each round on one of the practice greens. They are maintained the same as the greens on the golf course and will give you a good reference as to what the greens on the course will be like on that given day. We will continue to execute good decisions with the things we can control and give you as consistent a putting surface as possible given the items that occur each day that we cannot control!

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at ryan@elconacc.com. Have a safe 4th of July however you will be celebrating, and I will see you out on the golf course!

Ryan