The Greate Bay Country Club Greens Department

December 21, 2011

2011-12-21T05:11:00.000-08:00

Whatever and however you celebrate during the Holiday Season, may it be meaningful and joyful! I sincerely wish you the best!

Thanks for all your support this year, and throughout all the past years! It’s been great!

Best Wishes,

Ken

December 13, 2011

2011-12-13T05:37:00.000-08:00

I caught these two off the cart path again...

December 2, 2011

2011-12-02T06:29:00.000-08:00

I am proud to let you know that we have been re-certified by Audubon International as an Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary. We are one of only 842 golf courses worldwide that have attained this honor. Certification is based upon improving wildlife habitat, reducing pesticide use, water conservation, water quality management, and community outreach. Re-certification is required every two years and it is awarded only to those courses that continue working to improve in these areas.

November 22, 2011

2011-11-22T05:41:00.000-08:00

I have strong doubts that the first Thanksgiving even remotely resembled the "history" I was told in second grade. But considering that (when it comes to holidays) mainstream America's traditions tend to be over-eating, shopping, or getting drunk, I suppose it's a miracle that the concept of giving thanks even surfaces at all. ~Ellen Orleans

Thanksgiving, man. Not a good day to be my pants. ~Kevin James

Got no check books, got no banks. Still I'd like to express my thanks - I got the sun in the morning and the moon at night. ~Irving Berlin

“Thanksgiving is the day when you turn to another family member and say, “How long has Mom been drinking like this?” My Mom, after six Bloody Marys looks at the turkey and goes, “Here, kitty, kitty.” –David Letterman

Thanksgiving is the holiday of peace, the celebration of work and the simple life... a true folk-festival that speaks the poetry of the turn of the seasons, the beauty of seedtime and harvest, the ripe product of the year - and the deep, deep connection of all these things with God. ~Ray Stannard Baker

We wish you all a meaningful Thanksgiving day- Ken and the Greate Bay staff

November 3, 2011

2011-11-03T10:18:00.000-07:00

We have just finished “de-compacting” the tees. We hired Clarkston Turf to verti-quake and verti-drain our tees. The verti- quake has rotating blades that vibrate. The blades sliced down into the soil profile to a depth of approximately 10”, shaking the soil to loosen it and to cause lateral and horizontal fracturing. The verti-drain followed. It is a heavy duty aerator that we fitted with ¾”solid tines, and went as deep as 12”, creating vertical channels to admit air and increase drainage. Next our staff topdressed the tees with straight sand, just like we do on the greens, and dragged it in.

Continuing this program consistently over the years will produce results much like we have seen on the greens with the drill and fill– better turf health, stronger turf, less disease, deeper rooting, and firmer surfaces. I am pretty excited about it all!

The verti quake and verti drain on the 13 tee

The verti- quake

The verti drain

Top dressing


Topdressed tee (not dragged)

Trivia question: We have 6 sets of tees, but how many actual tee boxes do we have on the course?

October 28, 2011

2011-10-28T09:49:00.000-07:00

I was probably just as surprised as anyone else was this morning to see a thin layer of frost on my windshield. It seems too early to be this cold already....but then again it seemed too early to be 90 degrees last April too. The weather is changing.

Earlier today Bucky made a trip out to my office and we talked about possibilities of having frost delays these next few days. We talked about getting everyone out as soon as possible and to still have the course prepped. We are always trying.

If it does frost, we ask that you stay off the course, including the practice greens, until we clear the course for play. Traffic and frost don’t go well together. The frozen plant cells will crack like frozen balloons if pressure is applied to them. If enough cells are cracked, the plant dies. Damage may not show for days, and sometimes not for weeks. But it will. Trust me - I have seen it.

Bucky and I work really close together when we get frosts, and as soon as we can, with out wasting a minute, we will get you to your tee. Your patience is appreciated, and it pays off with keeping the course in great condition.

October 20, 2011

2011-10-20T09:16:00.000-07:00

Leaves, leaves, and leaves.....We get more leaf fall than snow fall!

From here on in we will be dealing with the leaves from the thousands of trees on the course – blowing, raking, gathering, and mulching. Leaf clean up requires more labor hours per year than any other job we perform, except for mowing greens.

We have already begun to send out staff to blow off the greens, tees, and fairways on a daily basis, followed by the rough mowers fitted with leaf mulching kits. We send staff to rake the leaves, acorns, hickory nuts, etc from the bunkers. Sometimes the leaves fall faster than we can keep up, and on windy days, it’s almost impossible as they scurry in all directions to escape us!

October 7, 2011

2011-10-07T03:08:00.000-07:00

As the weather cools, we have been doing some “re-hab” to the course. These past weeks we have aerated, fertilized, and overseeded the tees. We fertilized the fairways and are in the process of overseeding areas that have thinned a bit due to the elements and everyday wear and tear. We are sodding the few areas on collars that suffered from the summer’s heat. We are catching up on tree work and repairing cart paths too. Soon we will be overseeding and aerating the rough.

For the greens department, it is the beginning of the 2012 season. The work we do now benefits the course this year, but it really pays off the next.

Note: The months of August and September have been the area’s wettest ever since weather records have been kept.

September 24, 2011

2011-09-24T09:13:00.000-07:00

For our Audubon re –certification project, we chose to make the course friendlier to the monarch butterfly that passes through the area on its trek north from Mexico in the spring, and back again in the fall.

Early in 2010 we identified and preserved milkweed beds growing along both tunnel slopes to provide habitat for the monarch butterfly. We also preserved areas that were growing flowering plants that the monarch liked as a nectar source. We continued this project through this year, and hope to expand it in the coming years.

The monarch butterfly larvae only feed on one plant – milkweed! And for that reason milkweed is the only plant that the monarch will lays its eggs on. The digested milkweed makes the monarch caterpillar “toxic” to other animals that eat them and makes them sick. An animal soon learns not to eat these caterpillars, and so the monarch specie naturally protects its population generation after generation. It’s an arrangement that worked so well for awhile...

.....except for one thing the monarch could not plan on....Man, his machines, and herbicides. Over the years, development and the “need” to have manicured open spaces has greatly reduced the population of milkweed plants, which in turn has reduced the population of monarchs. This is why preserving remaining communities of milkweed and establishing new ones is important.

We are lucky that we have areas out of play that support the milkweed plant. These past years we have not allowed the staff to cut them down, and we do not use any herbicides in these areas. It is our goal to help the monarch by helping the milkweed!

September 20, 2011

2011-09-20T03:50:00.000-07:00

Lightning 101 - Do not stand under a tree in a thunder storm!

This strike occurred on Thursday afternoon, September 15. It hit the tree top and passed through the tree, exploding its bark and wood, and throwing it thirty yards away. Had anyone taken shelter there...

If you hear thunder, come off the course immediately and finish your round after the storm passes- its just not worth it to take a chance with lightning.

September 14, 2011

2011-09-14T05:38:00.000-07:00

A few random clips.....

The greens are healing up really well following last week’s aeration. By next week they should be back to normal! Thanks for understanding the reasons for, and the long term value, of aeration. Our staff greatly appreciates your support!

We are aerating tees now– a few at a time, and doing our best not to be too disruptive. We will also topdress and over seed them. Our goal is to make them healthier and denser.

We are still cleaning up from Hurricane Irene. Over thirty trees were uprooted or blown down, and many more trees suffered damage from broken branches and leaders. Yoos Tree Service has come almost every day since the storm to cut up and chip the fallen trees and broken branches, trim out “hangers”, and grind stumps. Some of you asked why there are letters on the trees....it’s to identify each tree and compile data regarding the damage suffered by each tree.

We have decided to lay down Ken’Surprise Tournament for this year. With all that’s going on with aeration, over seeding, hurricane clean-up, and coming projects, our staff is unable to give the tournament the time and effort to make it as successful and fun as we’d like. And we don’t want to do it half way....that wouldn’t be right....you deserve better than that. We will hold it in 2012, and we will do our best to make it worth your wait...!

August 31, 2011

2011-08-31T05:07:00.000-07:00

#5 with debris and downed trees to the left of the fairway

When I toured the course after Hurricane Irene, I first counted our blessings that the storm could have been a lot worse, and secondly, the twenty three trees that the storm blew down. It was the back end of the storm on Sunday afternoon that brought very powerful south west winds and uprooted most of the downed trees. Fortunately, none came down on any greens, tees, equipment, buildings, or irrigation satellites.

Along with the downed trees and tons of debris, Irene’s heavy rains washed out bunkers and cart paths, which will take a lot of work to restore.

On Monday we began cleaning up. Our first priority was safety....to remove / take down leaning trees and broken branches left hanging in trees. We brought in Yoos Tree service to take down what we were not equipped to do, and for the rest of the week they and our staff will be working together to get everything chipped up. With the added help of staff from the bag drop and clubhouse, we began cleaning out the bunkers and re grading the main cart paths on Tuesday. We are also working to get back on our regular mowing and maintenance schedules, and also to prepare for Memorial Day weekend and next weeks aeration!

We do have our work cut out for us....


#2 greenside bunker completely washed out

Downed pine on #11

Oak on #13

Masses of downed branches on #14

One of the many uprooted trees on #1

Chipping up trees on #1

August 25, 2011

2011-08-25T09:49:00.000-07:00

Thought that I would share an experience that is new to me – flower blooms on an elephant ear plant!

I have been growing elephant ears for over ten years now and I have never had one bloom – I didn’t even know they bloomed!

I called a few of my expert gardening friends to ask if they had ever seen an elephant ear in bloom and they all said “no”, including a friend and grower who has been in the greenhouse/ flower business for over 25 years.

I did a little research and found it isn’t uncommon for elephant ears to bloom, but because these are tropical plants that need heat, blooms are rarer further north than south. Perhaps the excessive record heat that we had late June and throughout July was the trigger...

August 19, 2011

2011-08-19T10:10:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday we stripped the white tees on 9 and 13, and the 7 black, blue, white, and yellow tees and sodded them with “low- cut” Kentucky bluegrass.

Last June, Dave Oatis, the USGA agronomist for the Mid- Atlantic region, walked the course with Chris, Bucky, Gary, Joel, and I. At that time Mr. Oatis recommended that if we ever had the opportunity to sod any tees, low cut Kentucky bluegrass was proving successful and that we might want to give it a try. Mr. Oatis and other USGA agronomists have observed that the low cut varieties have been showing better recovery and wear tolerance than the traditional bent grasses on many regional golf courses.

We will be re-opening these tees once the sod roots, and from that point on we will be evaluating it for ourselves. We also encourage you, our members, to share with us your thoughts and opinions of the low cut blue grass (and the bermuda) compared to playing off the bentgrass tees.


Roll of low cut blue


The finished 13th white tee

August 11, 2011

2011-08-11T09:47:00.000-07:00

Earlier this week, we sodded the 7^th yellow and silver tees with Bermuda grass as a trial. Bermuda loves the heat so we think it will perform well in this teeing area. The former drawback of using Bermuda turf in this area was a lack of cold tolerant varieties that could survive cold winters. Over the past decade hybrids were developed through selective breeding, and quite a few cold tolerant varieties of Bermuda grass are now available.

The Bermuda variety that we chose is called Riviera. It is grown by Tuckahoe Turf Farms of Hammonton in their Estell Manor fields, approximately 15 miles away from here. They have grown this variety there successfully for over four years without winter loss. Other golf courses in our area have been experimenting with this same Bermuda variety on tees, fairways, and driving range tees with good results. It is also the same turf used at Lincoln Financial Field for the Eagles. Knowing that other superintendents have had success with Riviera, and that it can handle the wear and tear of professional football, I am optimistic that it will prove itself here.

August 6, 2011

2011-08-06T02:38:00.000-07:00

A little more than a week ago we fertilized the tees. Due to application errors combined with daytime temperatures climbing higher than was forecast, many of the tees were damaged. We watered and flushed to no avail.

Some of the damaged turf will re grow but too much is lost to fill in satisfactorily. We continue to syringe the tees and apply natural growth hormones to the tees to encourage as much re growth as possible. Paralleling this program we are aerating, overseeding, and lightly topdressing the tees, with the most damaged taking first priority. I am confident that these programs, along with late season deep tine aerification, etc, will make the tees stronger in the long run.

The tees have always presented more challenges to our staff than most other playing areas. Within any tee complex we deal with a wide variety of soils and grasses, water needs, compaction, shade, tree roots, wear, and localized micro environments that can be very harsh. For example, on 4 we range from a very heavy soil that holds water to a sandy mix that is droughty. The former receives irrigation once a week while the latter needs irrigation daily along with afternoon hand watering. On seven, which is a closed pocket, we use fans, but still the temperature will rise 10 to 15 degrees higher than the open areas of the course, placing way too much stress on the turf. Remember the picture of icing down the turf that I recently posted? That was the 7^th tee. Every tee complex has different, and similar, challenges.

That’s not to say that the fertilizer application is not to blame – it is. But it explains why any error on a tee will not be forgiving.

Our intent now is to establish an acceptable stand of turf as quickly as possible through aerification, overseeding, and topdressing. After establishment and maturity, I plan to aerify and deep –tine aerify the tees on a more regular basis, and topdress them with a sand/ peat topdressing material, embarking upon a long term soil modification program. At the same time, we will be testing a few different seeding mixes and turf types to see what does best in our soils and micro climates.

In all, we will do our best to make this into an opportunity to do better.

July 30, 2011

2011-07-30T06:16:00.001-07:00

I’ve always told people who’ve asked me about the greens staff that I work with best people that I have ever worked with...every day they teach me something new and inspire me.

The following is an email I received today that goes with everything I have ever said of the greens department staff –

Ken,

I just had a call from Melissa Fata - the head teller at Cape Bank in Linwood. They have been doing a food drive for the last couple of weeks. Today Clara, Denia, Pedro, Edgar, Marisol, Max, Isabella and Isidro came in to cash their checks and brought quite a bit of food to donate. Melissa said the box is now overflowing. She was so touched by their generosity that she just had to call and tell me. She also said they are always so pleasant when they come in. Please let them know their “good heartedness” does not go unnoticed! We are lucky to have them as part of our team.

Have a Greate day!

Candy Jankowski

July 23, 2011

2011-07-23T06:41:00.000-07:00

On Friday, July 22, the temperature rose to 102 degrees with a heat index topping out at 116 degrees. Although we had many hot days last year, this day beat them all. Today is forecast to be pretty much the same.

We continue to do all we can to hold conditions. Cool season turfs such as bentgrass, blues, and ryes will decline in this heat. Poa annua, a winter annual, simply wants to“check out” as it has evolved to do and is supposed to do.

To relieve the heat we increase syringing – not watering. Syringing is the art of applying a small amount of water on the plant to cool it down. Just like us and any other life of cells, turf can suffer fatal heat exhaustion. Consistently cooling it down throughout the day can help to prevent turf from becoming over heated, increasing poa’s chance of survival, and suspending decline of the other grasses.

At the same time, as heat weakens turf and its natural defenses, diseases have an easier time of taking over. Brown patch, pythium, and anthracnose are the most active in the heat, and if left unchecked, these diseases can take out acres of turf in hours-yes! in hours!

We have applied preventative fungicide sprays to the greens, tees, and fairways to suppress these diseases. They can never be eradicated totally, so we have to be diligent and watch for any “breakthrough” so that we can reapply fungicides immediately.

The heat is not a good thing – it is really tough on the grasses, and on people. We will just continue to do the things we do and do them to our best ability so that the turf has its best chance of making it through these ridiculously hot periods.

Using ice to cool turf on 7 tee. Also, as the ice melts, the cold water seeps into the soil and drops the soil temperatures


Poa yellowed due to heat stress, but will recover when the temps go back down.

Edgar cooling down the 7th green

Close up of a syringe/ misting nozzle.

Pythium on ryegrass rough

July 3, 2011

2011-07-03T03:52:00.000-07:00

The Southern Pine Beetle (SPB) population has been on the increase in southern New Jersey, and we recently have identified it on the golf course, most notably in the areas near the 13^th green and 4^th tee.

The SPB attacks all pines, but favors the native pitch pine. The adult beetles bore into the inner bark and the female then lays her eggs. The hatched larvae then feed on the inner bark, girdling the tree on the inside. The beetles also transmit “blue stain fungi” which colonizes in the trees xylem, blocking water movement in the tree. When these larvae mature, they bore out of the tree and fly to a host tree to lay their eggs and the process begins again with a new generation. Once infested with the beetle and blue stain fungi, the tree is certain to die with in a month or two.

Spraying a pitch pine near the 11th green.

Having found the SPB, we have contracted with a local tree service to do preventative sprays to do our best to hold off further infestations. Last Thursday we sprayed about 50 trees and next week we will spray at least as many more. Due to the expense, we will be concentrating on the specimen pine trees and ones that are “part of the course”. Our plan is to protect as many of these pines as is feasible.

Dead pitch pines to the right of the 13th green that were attacked by the SPB and blue stain fungi earlier in the year.

June 21, 2011

2011-06-21T04:33:00.000-07:00

The summer solstice occurs at 1:16 pm today! and is the day of the year in the northern hemisphere with the most time of daylight! Sunrise today occurs at 5:32am and sunset at 8:28pm – 14 hours and 56 minutes of daylight today! From this day on til the winter solstice in December, the days will become shorter...

The summer solstice is considered to be the first day of summer, although there is no official decree or law to make it so. It’s just an “easy out” on the calendar! Throughout the world, people celebrate the solstice with parties, pagan ceremonies, prayer, music, etc, and of course, somewhere, probably at a Wal Mart, there is a solstice day sale.

No matter how, or even if, you celebrate the solstice, have a great day and a great summer!

June 20

2011-06-20T05:32:00.000-07:00

What makes greens speed? Is it just shaving the down the greens? Is it really that simple?

Greens speed isn’t that simple. Height of cut does play a role, but shaving down the greens is not the only factor. Green speed also depends on many other factors and the consistency of maintenance programs – some of these are mowing frequency, rolling, topdressing, soil moisture management, verti-cutting, growth regulators, and fertility. Green speed is also a function of weather and turfgrass variety. Because of all the necessary programs, green speed also depends on a lot of person power. Green speed is something that must be planned for, not just “made”. And not just accomplished by green height.

When we plan for a tournament, preparations to produce a target green speed begin at least six or more weeks in advance. All the programs are increased to peak the greens at the time of the tournament. If we have timed every thing correctly, the greens will top out at tournament time, and be healthy enough to recover from the stress incurred. The longer we maintain them in this manner, the weaker they become due to all the stresses put on the plants, which is why the greens cannot be kept at tournament speeds at all times. Even US Open and Master’s greens don’t stay fast for very long...

June 9, 2011

2011-06-09T08:54:00.000-07:00

Everything these days are computers, ipads, clouds, blackberries, and all the other stuff that can do it all...but I am a bit like Wendell Barry, who in his essay, “Why I Am Not Going to Buy a Computer”, explains why he still uses a pencil when he writes...

I am that way about some things...

I still use a knife to cut open the turf to look for bugs and make counts, check the greens with an old fashioned soil probe to look at the roots and the soil moisture. I dont use a lot of the digital stuff that claims to do this for me....I still like to rely on my own senses and instincts that I have honed and have learned to trust over the past 50 plus years...and I still like to use the old traveling sprinkler.

I have been using these things since I started out in the business. Some are driven by a diaphragm, and others are gear driven; both use the water pressure as energy. Ours are gear driven. Not much can go wrong!

Traveling sprinklers are a great to supplement large areas that do not get enough coverage from the “computerized” automatic irrigation system. Many days we use ours on the rough areas on 4, 7 and 8. All we need to do is set it up, and then move it when it gets to the end of its run. The traveling sprinkler is very dependable and efficient, and while it is doing the watering, we can be off somewhere else doing other things!

I guess I could add a digital readout, a key board and some blinking lights to the frame to make it look high tech, but I know it wouldn’t work any better. It’d probably get a virus and crash...so I will leave it the way it is....plain and dependable!

May 28, 2011

2011-05-28T03:24:00.000-07:00

I am hoping that you have noticed a few “changes” that we’ve recently made to the golf course!

On the fourth green we completely renovated the green surrounds. We re-graded and drained the entire area, redesigned both left side bunkers – even making a sod wall bunker back left - updated the irrigation, removed trees, and planted a privet hedge to screen out the road that runs right of the green.

On the fifth tee we removed five trees that interfered with tee shots and removed a section of the cartpath. We removed one chestnut tree at the left of the fairway too.

Behind the fifteenth green we planted 65 Leyland Cypress trees to screen out the traffic on Route 9. We planted more privet behind the seventeenth tee and fourth tee, also to screen out traffic on Route 9.

On the sixth hole, we repaired the right side bunker and sodded the high traffic area near the green.

I think that these changes will make the course more playable and enjoyable for everyone.

May 14, 2011

2011-05-14T05:13:00.000-07:00

Many times I am asked why I wear long sleeve shirts and rarely wear shorts...

...skin cancer.

I don’t have skin cancer, and I don’t want to get it if I can help it. My cousin died of it when he was 26. My mom has been through it. One of my friends continues to have it surgically removed on her arms, stomach, etc. Most people know at least someone who has had it, but most people probably know more than one. Skin cancer is the most common type of cancer diagnosed in the U. S.

It is also the most preventable cancer, and if caught early, the most curable too.

To reduce the risk of developing skin cancer, limit your exposure to the sun. This can be done by taking advantage of shaded areas, wearing clothing that covers as much skin as possible, wearing a wide brim hat, and using sunscreen. Also, use lip balm that contains sunscreen and wear sunglasses to protect your eyes and eyelids.

It’s very important to check your skin often for any changes such as sores, red and /or irritated areas, colored spots, etc. Moles are extremely important to look over – look to see if they are getting bigger, growing uneven edges, changing colour, or becoming raised. Basically, any changes to your skin can be an indicator of skin cancer.

If you suspect anything, it’s best to see your doctor. It is also a good idea to visit your dermatologist on a regular basis.

As golfers, we spend a lot of time in the sun, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. It’s just that we need to use a little common sense and caution about the risks we take. Skin cancer is one of those things that we need to know about so that we can keep our risks in check.

May 6, 2011

2011-05-06T09:40:00.000-07:00

Today we finished up the greens aeration!

We first used the Graden machine to deeply slice into the green – more or less a vertical cut – which pulls out thatch. Following the Graden operation we aerated the greens with small open tines on a tight spacing. After cleaning the thatch and plugs, we topdressed and applied a calcium fertilizer, then matted it in.

Everything went well, and we will now concentrate on healing them up and getting them back to what we are used to!

April 23, 2011

2011-04-23T04:50:00.000-07:00

So much is going on that I have a hard time focusing on any one event or subject to write about....so it’s probably best to post an overview for now.

We have begun cutting rough on a daily basis now. The turf is really growing with this moderate and somewhat wet spring weather. We are also back to our normal fairway and tee mowing schedules.

We are grooming and rolling the greens every other day along with the normal daily cutting to reduce the slight bumpiness caused by the uneven growth of the many varieties of poa and bent on the greens.

But mowing is just the tip of the iceberg...we are starting up the irrigation system, rebuilding the rail road tie garden beds at the half way house, fertilizing, applying our pre emergent controls, applying fungicides and herbicides, taking measures to suppress the annual bluegrass weevil population, prepping for next weeks green’s aeration, etc.

If you’ve been playing, I am sure you have noticed that we have re shaped many of the tees into the traditional rectangular shape, capturing the time and vision of Willie Park Jr.

We have just begun a project to restore the #4 green “walk on” and re-edge the left side green bunkers. I will most likely post more about this next week.

We recently finished planting a Monarch Butterfly Way Station garden near the clubhouse practice putting green as part of our Audubon Sanctuary certification program.

There always is a lot going on in our department no matter what time of year it is, but every spring we are exceptionally busy with the rush to stay ahead of Mother Nature and prep the course for a great year. And its all good! We are loving every minute of it!

April 15, 2011

2011-04-15T05:18:00.000-07:00

In just few days this week the golf course went from dormant to flushing green growth!

If you played Monday of this week and again today, Friday, I am sure you noticed the difference! On Monday the greens had little colour, yet today they are green and growing fast. The same is happening with the tees, fairways, and rough. This flush of growth makes the surfaces a bit uneven, as some turf sprints while other varieties jog – they grow at different rates. Fortunately, this will begin to settle out in a short time. With this flush of growth, our staff is shifting focus from spring cleanup and spring projects to mowing and grooming to catch up with the flush.

It’s great to see the turf growing again, smell the fresh cut grass, and see the members back on the course! We are looking forward to a great year!

March 29, 2011

2011-03-29T09:34:00.000-07:00

Behind the 11th green, we installed a linear trap designed to catch annual bluegrass weevils as they make their way from their over wintering areas in the adjacent woods, to the green where they will lay eggs. When the eggs hatch, the larvae feed on the poa annua, weakening it to the point that it dies.

With the trap, we know when these insects begin to move, and get a rough idea of the initial population that we are dealing with. With this info, we time and manage our sprays to suppress the population of adults prior to egg laying.

Managing these weevils is a year long battle - they can have four or more generations a year. They attack poa anywhere too- greens, tees, fairways and rough. They are also resistant to many of the available treatments. For the best control, timing and rotation of different type insecticides is best.

There are many types of insects that attack turf, yet the annual bluegrass weevil is by far is the most challenging.

Pictured below is the linear trap, Edgar preparing the area for installation, and Denia flagging it.

March 23, 2011

2011-03-23T09:15:00.000-07:00

When a seed germinates, the root is first to emerge from the hull, anchoring the expected green shoot, and sending up water and nutrients to feed it. Without the root, the green shoot would fall over, wither, starve, and die. The importance of the root over rides the importance of leaves and shoots throughout the plant’s life. If roots are strong and healthy, then most likely, the plant will have the ability to compete with traffic, drought, temperatures, disease, and other stresses that man and nature create.

March 18, 2011

2011-03-18T07:41:00.000-07:00

On Sunday, March 20, the spring, or vernal, equinox occurs at 7:21 pm EDT. Its the moment the earth is tilted to the sun so that it follows the celestial equator, and the day is twelve hours of light and twelve hours of darkness. From the moment after, daylight lengthens until the summer solstice occurs on June 21.

********

I’d like to remind everyone that we will be aerating fairways and tees on Monday, March 21, and Tuesday, March 22, weather permitting. We will do the front nine on Monday and the back nine on Tuesday. There will always be a nine open for play!

We will aerate greens May 4 and 5^th. We feel that waiting a bit gives the soil time to warm and for the greens turf to start growing aggressively, which will cause the greens to heal much faster than if we were to do it this early.

March 10, 2011

2011-03-10T06:53:00.000-08:00

About every two or three years we like to tour all of the tree-lines on the golf course and decide which grassy areas are receiving the most competition from trees. Tree roots typically grow near the soil surface and “steal” water and nutrients from our greens, tees, fairways, and roughs. Most of these areas are already tough to grow grass in because they are heavily shaded and receive plenty of traffic. Allowing trees to impact turf from above and below just doesn’t seem fair. On Wednesday, Clarkton Turf Services visited Greate Bay to do some tree root pruning for us. They have an impressive machine which uses a series of curved blades that penetrate about ten inches into the soil (most grass roots grow two to six inches deep), slicing all of the tree roots that could make growing grass even more difficult. Their machine is very efficient and can prune everything we need in about one day. Root pruning is another tool we can use to improve conditions on the course, and when performed properly, is completely safe for trees. The rule of thumb is to avoid pruning more than 1/3 of a tree’s roots in any given year. Our method only impacts about ¼ of the root system, and we have yet to “lose” a tree because of pruning. Check out the video to see just how the machine works.

Post, pictures and video contributed by Chris Lare, Assistant Superintendent

March 4, 2011

2011-03-04T04:29:00.000-08:00

We recently placed strobe lights in both ponds – the entrance pond and the pond bordering the 12th hole – to discourage geese from nesting along the shores and raising their young in the surrounding areas. The solar powered yellow strobes are anchored in the ponds and automatically activate in darkness (evening through sunrise). The blinking yellow light is very disturbing to the geese that overnight in ponds or along the banks, encouraging them to move on and take up residence else where.

During the day, we chase the geese using other methods. Some of these are running Apollo (Joel’s dog) and Rocky (Heather’s dog) and scaring off any geese that might land. We are also using radio controlled boats to chase the geese off the waters where the dogs can’t go, or can’t swim fast enough to get close. A lead goose will break off the main flock and “tease” the dog away by swimming just out of reach and away from the flock, eventually tiring the dog. The geese aren’t so clever with a boat....the boat can get up to 30mph and so this teasing doesn’t work.

Our goal is not to hurt the geese...but just to give them reason to move on. Besides their droppings (up to 3lbs per day per goose) that make a mess, the geese will eat turf down to its crowns, thinning and killing turf areas. By moving them on, they will find other, and hopefully, more natural breeding areas. That’s best for all of us.

February 28

2011-02-28T05:59:00.000-08:00

In the January 2011 issue of "Golf Course Industry" magazine there is a brief article describing how our staff handled last year's record heat! Here is the URL to the online version that you can cut and paste:

http://www.golfcourseindustry.com/gie-111-cover-story-ten-minutes.aspx

February 23, 2011

2011-02-23T09:57:00.000-08:00

Chris and I were turning into the clubhouse drive this morning and my eye caught this immature night heron in a cedar tree on the right. The shore bird was perched on an inside branch with only his head visible. Luckily we had the camera in the truck, and with the window rolled down, Chris got a good shot of him before he shyly backed up deeper into the cedar to hide. We often see night herons in the entrance pond searching for minnows and crabs, yet this was the first time I have ever seen one perched in a cedar tree.

February 18, 2011

2011-02-18T07:29:00.000-08:00

Maybe it’s the recent warm weather, or Punxatawny Phil’s supernatural powers of foresight, but out on the golf course we’ve definitely noticed the days getting longer and the return of spring. We are now about sixty days removed from the shortest day of the year (December 21st), which means we’ve gained about an hour of daylight since Christmas. The change in day length has a profound impact in nature. All over the northern hemisphere plants are responding to longer days (or shorter nights, as the case may be).

Some plants are long-day plants, which require less than a certain number of hours of darkness. These species usually flower in spring or early summer. Some examples are: carnation, ryegrass, clover, pea, barley, lettuce, wheat, and turnip. Other plants react to shorter days, and begin to flower when nights get a little longer. A few examples of short-day plants are: poinsettia, coffee, tobacco, strawberry, cotton, rice, and sugarcane. Still, there are plants that flower regardless of how many hours of sun or darkness they receive. Roses, cucumbers, and tomatoes all produce flowers independently from the length of the day. It is suspected that they initiate flowering after reaching a certain growth stage, or possibly in response to a period of lower temperature.

On the golf course, we’ve noticed certain grasses and a few plants beginning to perk up. The grass-like leaves of crocuses are starting to push their way up through the still-frozen earth. In mulched or otherwise insulated gardens, you might even be able to push away the cover and see the tips of newly forming daffodils. Today’s sun will last just one minute longer than yesterday’s, but that single minute holds the promise of spring.

This post is contributed by Chis Lare, Assistant Superintendent

February 10, 2011

2011-02-10T07:24:00.000-08:00

This morning, the sun rose over a frozen landscape dusted white with snow...

Yet, by the weekend, temperatures are forecast to be in the mid to high 40’s with plenty of sunshine. I am looking forward to that! And to be honest, I am going to think that Punxsutwaney Phil was right about an early spring when his shadow escaped him last week. Besides that, I have a gut feeling that the remainder of the winter will be mild, for whatever that is worth. Nonetheless, I am going to stay optimistic!

The course is weathering the weather well – I haven’t seen any major problems. There is a bit of snow mold disease on a few of the tees, but with warmer weather in the spring, I expect it all to grow out.

The geese took up residence throughout the course while we were on winter break. Now that we are back, we have been chasing them off with Apollo, and doing our best to clean up after them. We are getting that back under control.

In the shop, Don is going over all the pieces of equipment, repairing any problems left over from last season, and doing preventative maintenance that keeps our equipment running as if it were new.

Chris and I are finishing up our strategy plan for maintaining the course this coming season. We build upon strategies that were successful, such as syringing and preventative sprays. We develop programs to prevent new problems, like last years first ever invasion of the “annual bluegrass weevil”. A lot of planning happens long before any of the turf begins to turn green.

Hopefully you will get to come out for a round this weekend when the weather warms a bit. We do miss seeing everyone!

January 7, 2011

2011-01-07T04:38:00.001-08:00

Almost two weeks after the season’s first major snow, we are still working to clear the greens of snow and ice. A week after the storm, air temperatures rose to the 50’s for a few days and melted the snow to a slush which reformed to ‘glacier’ like ice when the temperatures fell back again.

Although the course is clear of snow or ice in a lot of areas, the winter’s bounty is stubbornly staying in just as many more.

Many of the greens didn’t clear, and the ice is proving very hard to remove. With only a few hours a day of above freezing temperatures, it doesn’t soften much. We’ve gone green to green taking off all the snow we can, and then have chipped away at all the ice that will crack and split off. But a lot of it is too solid to break apart, and if we were to use too much force we could easily cause damage to the turf beneath.

December 29, 2010

2010-12-29T10:02:00.000-08:00

It seems that every winter I am asked by some one sooner later, “is this snow good for the grass, or does it hurt it?”

And my answer is always the same, “it all depends...”

Snow cover, like any other weather event, can help or hurt, and there are an infinite number of variables that can tip it either way. Here are the basics:

A good snow cover insulates the turf from wind and cold air temperatures, so that the turf does not desiccate, or dry out too much. Being covered with snow, the turf and the soil get a “traffic” break too, which prevents winter wear damage. As the snow melts, the water seeps through the soil, facilitating gas exchange for oxygen to jump start the roots when the soil warms. Many times, the turf is healthier coming out of winter when it has had snow cover for at least some of the winter.

On the other hand, winter diseases can occur beneath the snow because of the moist environment at the turf /snow interface. And if ice should form and cover the turf for long periods of time (usually 3 weeks or more), especially on poa greens, gas exchange will stop altogether and turf can then smother and perish due to a lack of oxygen. You may remember this happening to greens in the Philadelphia area about fifteen years ago.

We do our best to prevent bad things from happening, such as keeping fertility low and doing a snow mold spray late in the fall to suppress disease. And if the snow stays too long, we will clear it off best we can.

Right now, I am not worried about the snow that we had early this week...it’s been on the turf long enough to be good, but not there long enough to worry about.

December 23, 2010

2010-12-23T09:29:00.000-08:00

We'd like to wish all our members and guests a Greate Holiday Season, and best wishes for the New Year!

December 20, 2010

2010-12-20T05:19:00.001-08:00

The winter solstice occurs tomorrow, Tuesday, December 21, at 11:28 pm EST. The solstice marks the moment that the earth’s northern hemisphere is tilted back it furthest point from the sun, and the southern hemisphere is tilted is furthest point closest to the sun, - it is the shortest day in the north and the longest day in the south!

Beginning at 11:29 pm EST, the days will start to lengthen here as the earth begins to tilt opposite, and we will begin the transition towards spring!

Prior to the solstice, there will be a lunar eclipse which will begin Tuesday morning at 2:41 am, and will last approximately 3.5 hours. This is a very rare event – that a lunar eclipse occurs on solstice day!

Although it may not seem that solstices and golf go together, they are very much intertwined, as all plant life is dependent upon day light length...

December 11, 2010

2010-12-11T05:41:00.000-08:00

Last Wednesday and Thursday Chris and I attended the New Jersey Turf Conference held in Atlantic City. We attended presentations on turf biology and disease, managing turf stresses, disease suppression and control, soils, and water management. The speakers included Dr. Bruce Clarke of Rutgers University, Dr. Peter Dernoeden of the University of Maryland and Dr. Bruce Martin of Clemson University. We also attended a seminar to get updated on pesticides and pesticide safety which was conducted by representatives of the NJDEP.

During breaks, Chris and I had plenty of opportunity to talk with other Superintendents and turf professionals about how we faced the weather challenges of last summer. We all talked about what worked and what didn’t. In the end, the consensus was that it was the hottest and toughest summer that any have seen, which wasn’t that much surprising…. But sharing our experiences with others was, and will always be, another way to learn.

As with any career, one can never learn enough, which is why Chris and I attend events such as this. Everything we learn gives us another tool to help you have the best conditions that we can offer.

December 7, 2010

2010-12-07T04:22:00.000-08:00

It’s early December and the weather has made a decided turn toward cold! Just like all of you with residential sprinkler systems, here at the golf course we also need to get the water out of our pipes before heavy freeze causes damage. Our process for blowing out the irrigation system is similar to yours or your landscaper’s, but on a much larger scale.
We begin the week before our rented air compressors arrive, and let the system “gravity drain” for a day or two. We open some of the higher elevated valves to let air in the pipes, which in turn lets water drain into some of the ponds around the course. When water is no longer flowing out of our pipes we close all of our valves, attach the compressors to the main pipe outside of the pump house, and begin pumping compressed air into the irrigation system. We re-open the pond fills and let the air push out as much water as possible. Next, starting closest to the pump house and working away from it, we open every hose connection and run every sprinkler until nothing but air exits.
We literally have miles of pipe to empty, and 800 or so sprinkler heads and quick coupling valves that need to be emptied. Though we only make use of the compressors for two or three days, it takes about a week to complete our blowout. The goal is not to get every drop of water out of the system, but to get enough out so that if a deep freeze occurs, the pipes and sprinklers will remain undamaged. We have a pretty good process going and rarely do we see damage caused by ice. The process can be tedious, but it saves us an awful lot of trouble when we recharge the system the following spring!

This article was contributed by Chris Lare, Assistant Superintendent.

November 23, 2010

2010-11-23T07:22:00.000-08:00

One of the joys of the fall season, other than cooler temperatures, is witnessing the change of foliage on the golf course from green to yellow to orange and sometimes to red. Cooler temperatures are often accredited with this beautiful transformation, but another, more significant factor is at work here. The process by which trees shed their leaves is complex, but the reason for this occurrence can basically be attributed to shorter days, or reduced sunlight.
If you remember your high school biology, leaves are green because they contain chlorophyll. Chlorophyll is a green pigment which helps plants carry out photosynthesis. As days become shorter and the amount of available sunlight decreases, trees no longer have the need to produce or keep so much chlorophyll in their leaves. When days get shorter trees use a hormone called ethylene to start withdrawing chlorophyll from their leaves. A second group of pigments, carotenoids, get left behind. Carotenoids are yellow pigments which are present year-round, but are usually hidden by chlorophyll. So, as chlorophyll is taken out of the leaves, they take on the yellowed appearance of carotenoids.
Not all leaves stop at yellow. Some turn orange, or even red. This additional coloring is the result of the presence of yet a third group of pigments called anthocyanins. This set of pigments serves a couple of purposes. First, while the tree is busy removing chlorophyll and other hormones and nutrients from its leaves, it is pretty vulnerable to damage from the sun. Anthocyanins act as a type of sunscreen, allowing the tree to get ready for winter without taking too much damage. Anthocyanins are more often found in trees that prefer colder climates, furthering the belief that they act as protection from the sun. It is also believed that yellow leaves attract aphids, so trees have adapted to prevent this attack by turning their leaves red.
So there you have it! A hormonal response to shorter days gives us one of the most spectacular natural events that occur. Enjoy it while it lasts, miss it while it’s gone, and rest easy knowing we’ll see it again!

This article is contributed by Chris Lare, Assistant Superintendent

November 13, 2010

2010-11-13T09:17:00.000-08:00

Did you ever wonder why I take the bales of straw used for fall clubhouse decorations and place them along the shores of our irrigation pond on #12?

Barley straw, as it decomposes, releases certain compounds that inhibit the growth of algae. It does not kill algae that is already present, but prevents new algae cells from forming, which is why its best to get it in the water before algae becomes an existing problem.

The breakdown of the straw also nourishes populations of “good” bacteria that help keep the water clean by eating up excess nutrients and pollutants.

Barley straw does not work in all instances – success depends on the pH of the water and the presence of dissolved oxygen. Luckily, our water pH is close to perfect, and we place the bales along the shores because the wave action there oxygenates the water.

They might look a bit out of place, but these bales help keep our irrigation water clean, and are a great alternative to risky aquatic herbicides which would negatively impact the turf that receives this water as irrigation.

November 7, 2010

2010-11-07T04:31:00.000-08:00

As the weather continues to offer us cooler temperatures, frost delays become more common. Frost occurs when ice forms on the outside and inside of the turf plant. Ice on the outside is what we see, but the ice on the inside – frozen plant cells – is our worry. Pressure applied to frozen cells damages and breaks the cell membrane. Later, when the cell thaws, the cell fluids leak out, causing death of the cell. Unfortunately, in most cases, all the cells of the plant’s above ground parts are killed this way, and the plant cannot recover.

Sometimes it’s hard to be patient, especially when you’ve waited all week to get a round in, but it's one of those things that we cannot control or change. Maybe take the time during a delay to enjoy another cup of coffee, have breakfast, and talk with your friends…it might just make your day a bit better after all!

The USGA has a great animated explanation of frost delays in the link below.

http://www.usga.org/turf/articles/video/frost.html

October 30, 2010

2010-10-30T08:57:00.000-07:00

Here is a picture of the 6th rough where we tilled and seeded earlier this month...even after 30 years of doing this, I still get excited to see the grass come up!

October 15, 2010

2010-10-15T05:57:00.001-07:00

On hole # 6, left of the tee to fairway rough, there is an area where the turf has continually struggled to grow. The soil has been seriously compacted, worn down, and has lost its structure due to years and years of traffic. Whatever topsoil that might have been in this area, is gone. And to make things worse, the area is bordered by trees which block sunlight, and whose roots compete for water and nutrients.

This area indeed has a few challenges! On Wednesday, we did all we could to face them!

The first thing we did was to spread topsoil over the area, and then add peat moss. We then spread slow releasing organic fertilizer and gypsum (for calcium). The last thing we added to our “mix” was a product that supplies micro nutrients, sulfur, potassium, and manganese. After all these were spread, we roto-tilled the area five times to mix it in and to relieve all that compaction. What we were not able to do was remove the trees!

After the area was raked out and leveled, we seeded it with a mix of grasses that best tolerate shade, poor soil, and to a degree, traffic. And finally, we roped it off so that the seedbed would not be damaged.

It was quite a lot of work!

Now we just need to keep it moist and nurture it to grow. I will post blog updates on how the area progresses, so please stay tuned!

October 8, 2010

2010-10-08T03:57:00.000-07:00

The weather seems to be returning to a more normal pattern…the temperatures are becoming more in tune with historical averages rather than record breakers, and needed rain has returned. Perhaps the last two weeks have been somewhat frustrating to some of us with the rain storms, yet the rain alleviated the current short term drought conditions and delayed the NJ DEP from issuing statewide water restrictions.

We have been very busy reseeding the few areas in the rough where we lost some turf. We are using a mix of bluegrass and creeping fescue on these areas – bluegrass for wear and drought tolerance along with disease resistance, and fescue for drought tolerance. In some areas we add a bit of ryegrass for quick cover, expecting that the blue will out compete it by next summer. This is the same overseeding program that we’ve done in the rough over the past five years. We’ve had a lot of success with these varieties.

Over the next few weeks we will be applying herbicides in the rough to reduce weed populations! Fall is the best and most effective time for weed control due to the cool growing conditions! We will also begin rough aeration too.

One other project that we are in the process of completing is planting a privacy screen of arborvitaes along the northeast side of the 13th tee.

So we are busy – using the fall to prepare for next spring…

September 22, 2010

2010-09-22T03:19:00.000-07:00

The Fall Solstice is now less than a day away, yet the warm and dry weather continues. This weather pattern is forecast to continue with higher than normal temperatures and little rainfall.

Looking back over the summer, there were… 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20,21,22,23,24,25,26,27,28,29,30,31,32,33,34,35,36,37,38,39,40,41,42,43,44 days over 90 degrees since April!

And the record highs that were set so far this year:
- March 19…73 degrees
- April 6…88 degrees
- April 7… 91 degrees
- May 2…88 degrees
- June 20…95 degrees
- June 25…99 degrees
- July 5…99 degrees
- July 6 …102 degrees
- July 7…98 degrees
- July 24…99 degrees
- July 25…99 degrees
- August 5…96 degrees
- August 29…98 degrees
- August 31…99 degrees

April, June, and July of 2010 respectively were the warmest single months ever recorded.
There was less than 6 inches of rain combined June through August.
On September 8, 2010 the NJ DEP declared a drought watch.

September 21, 2010

2010-09-21T03:30:00.000-07:00

It has been less than two weeks since we aerated the greens and fairways. With the nice weather that we are having, and after-aeration care, the greens and fairways are almost completely healed. Next week we will be back to lower mowing heights and grooming!

During the aeration, we overseeded all the tees with a bentgrass variety mix, and are happy to say that the seed is coming up strong! The overseeding was done to increase the bent population of the tee boxes, which will help reduce the time it takes for divot healing, as the bent will grow over.

With the return of moderate weather, we are picking back up activities to improve the course. Presently, we are preparing the area left of 13 tee to plant a screen of arborvitaes to seclude the tee from neighborhood yards.

September 15, 2010

2010-09-15T04:11:00.001-07:00

You’ve probably noticed that there are a great number of monarch butterflies in the air throughout the course, and many more on flowering plants and shrubs resting or taking in nectar.

This is the start of the monarch’s fall migration to Mexico where they will “hibernate” for the winter. It’s hard to imagine that such a light and fragile insect has the bird like abilities to navigate these long distances and survive. The monarch is the only butterfly to do this.

Next spring, the monarchs will make their way back north in successive generations.

Monarchs lay their eggs on milkweed plants which is the only plant the monarch caterpillar feeds on. There are “toxins” in the milkweed plant that make the caterpillar bad tasting to predators, so most birds, etc leave it well enough alone. To help the monarch along and increase its populations, we let milkweed plants grow where they do not interfere with play. One area is at the top of the 15-16 tunnel banks nearest 15 green.

This is another example of how Greate Bay does all it to can help wildlife.

September 10, 2010

2010-09-10T10:54:00.001-07:00

A few weeks ago, on Saturday, August 14th, I attended the Eagle Scout presentation and ceremony for Chris Waniak of Somers Point, a member the area’s local BSA Troop 55.

In May of 2009, Chris did his Eagle Scout Community Service project here at Greate Bay, erecting nesting boxes and nesting tubes for mason bees, and placing them throughout the golf course. I helped Chris with the planning and implementation of this project as part of our certification project with Audubon International. Together we made a great team.

I am proud of Chris for achieving the honor of Eagle Scout. I know that he will continue to achieve and make a difference in this world throughout his lifetime.

Congratulations Chris – you deserve it!

Related notes:

Chris is the son of James Waniak, who is not a stranger to golf! Jim was an Assistant Superintendent of Linwood CC and later became the Golf Course Superintendent of B.L. England. Jim is now in charge of the fields for the Atlantic City school system.

Heidi Hibbs, Chef Norm Hibb’s wife, has been very active throughout the years with BSA Troop 55. Both sons of Norm and Hiedi achieved Eagle Scout as members of BSA Troop 55.

September 3, 2010

2010-09-03T08:14:00.000-07:00

We practice aeration to restore and/or improve growing conditions for the turf, which makes all the sense in the world. A doctor needs to perform surgery at times to save a life, and although we are not doctors, we do the same on soils to preserve the life of turfgrass.

This picture of 8 approach is a great example of the benefits of aeration. Take a look and you will see that the grass that survived in this patch is in a recognizable pattern…an aeration pattern. In the aeration holes there was oxygen, loose soil for deep rooting, little thatch, no compaction….thats why it survived.

On Monday, September 6th, we will begin green and fairway aeration, hoping to be finished Wednesday. If you have a few minutes, come on out and watch – I will be happy to explain the process and show you the whats and whys of aeration!

August 27, 2010

2010-08-27T03:16:00.000-07:00

Underneath the golf course is buried a few miles of pipe and many more miles of wire which make up the skeletal structure of the irrigation system. Every so often, a pipe cracks or a fitting breaks and we scramble to repair it. It’s a big part of what we do. If the water isn’t working, we cannot irrigate.

These past weeks we have had three leaks – one on ten, one on the driving range, and another on #9 green bank. To give everyone an idea of the scope of these repairs, I am posting the following pictures showing the process of repairing the leak we had on ten last week.

The 6" tee split simply due to fatigue, as this one is at least 25 years old.

Here the area has been dug out and the excess water draining from the pipe is being pumped out.

Silvio and Edgar, after building a replacement tee section, carefully re-fit it where the original break was cut out.

After the blue couplers are tightened and the pvc couplers glued, the leak is fixed and the water turned back on! Refilling the excavation is next.

From start to finish, this break took approximately five hours to repair, followed by a 12 hour cure time for the glue to properly set before we were able to put it back in service!

August 20, 2010

2010-08-20T08:27:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday, August 18, we received 1.75” of rain – it is the only significant rainfall that we’ve had for over 7 weeks. The day before, a thunderstorm just missed us. At the exact same time on Tuesday that we were busy syringing our greens and tees under a hot, sunny sky, 3” of rain was falling from lightning sliced clouds at Linwood CC, only a few miles away!

Wednesday’s rain was a good rain though. It was a soaking ran that came down slowly enough to soak into the soil and percolate deep into the root zone. It was just what we needed and I could not have asked for anything better to come from the skies…

August 14, 2010

2010-08-13T04:49:00.001-07:00

There are more things than heat and drought and subsequent disease that stress turf. One of the other stresses (of many) is trees.

Shade caused by trees filters out light that the turf needs for photosynthesis. With less that an adequate ability to produce sugars, the turf plant can never become healthy or vigorous.

Trees also block air movement which creates stale, humid “air pockets”. Stagnant, humid air is a perfect environment for turf diseases. This is the reason we have fans on the 7th tees.

The unseen problem of trees is their roots. Trees have miles of surface roots that lie just beneath the soil surface and compete with the turf for water and nutrients. Every few years we bring in a specially designed machine to “prune” these roots along the fairway edges, tees, and greens.

Between these machine prunings, we sometimes have to do some areas manually. We use sharp edged flat shovels and push them down as deep as we can through these surface roots along the edges of greens and tees where we notice tree root competition.

We did this manual pruning the other day along the outside edges of 11 approach, 11 green, and 14 green. This pruning will help the approach and these greens to strengthen up.

When it is so dry like it has been, trees can cause a lot of turf damage – their root systems are so much bigger than the turf root systems, and so they can easily out compete turf roots for the soil water.

In this photo of the back of 10 tee, the turf is weak, thinned and then bare due to the tree root competition.

August 11, 2010

2010-08-11T08:08:00.001-07:00

There is an art to “hand watering” – knowing where the water is needed and having a feel for how much to give…too much or too little water can have negative effects on the turf, and in most cases poor watering will cause the turf to decline and die.

Being so important to get the right amount of water, we use many different nozzles for different applications. Some of these nozzles are (left to right):
- The large round nozzle is called a “rose” nozzle, and it produces a pattern much like a gentle shower. This type is used to water landscape areas, sod, and to water in fertilizers, etc.
- The small yellow nozzle produces a fine mist, and we use it to syringe greens, etc, where we only need a mist to lower the surface temperatures.
- The tall red nozzle and the blue nozzle beside it are “fire nozzles”. They produce a thick, pressurized water stream that can reach up to 25’. These are used to water large turf areas such as roughs, mounds, and sometimes fairways. These nozzles can also be dialed down to produce a shower like the rose nozzle, and be used for flowers etc. It is a very versatile nozzle and we use it more than any other.
- The short red and blue nozzles are used on greens where a mist is not enough, yet a full stream is too much! These nozzles produce medium to large droplet water sprays, and are best suited to hitting dry areas on greens and tees.
- The brass “slit top” nozzle is also a spray type, that puts down a heavy pattern and is used for dry areas in the fairways and rough.
- The last example in this picture is a proportional system with a fire nozzle and it is used to apply wetting agents where ever needed.

If you look closely, you will see many of these different nozzles being used on different parts of the course – watering is not a “one size fits all”!

Last, but not the least, the nozzle I use the most myself is my thumb! Its hard to hold back 120 psi with my thumb, but its worth it – I can make a mist or a full stream and everything in between in milliseconds! Technology is great, but every once in a while the old fashioned way works just as well!

August 4, 2010

2010-08-04T02:54:00.000-07:00

According to the National Weather Service, July 2010 here was the hottest July on record. (June 2010 was the warmest June on record) The NWS is predicting the same trend of record heat for August.

We are not alone in this heat – many other parts of the Northern Hemisphere across the globe are experiencing the same. We can point to a Bermuda High off the coast as our cause for heat here in the Mid Atlantic, but it does not explain the warmer temperatures for the rest of the world! Is it global warming? I really don’t know and it is way too political to get a clear answer– but I do know that we have experienced record rainfall, record snow fall, and now record heat in less than a year's time.

And all this makes growing grass – especially fine turf – a greater challenge. We have had to shift our practices accordingly to avoid adding any additional stress on the turf – we mow as early in the day as we can, hand water and syringe (we spent over 500 man / woman hours on this in July!), we've shortened our fungicide spray intervals, reduced our fertility so the turf does not get “overspent”, etc. We have also rested a few areas to reduce wear and tear and stresses, such as the 11th fairway, etc. Over all, these practices are helping us to get through this challenging weather.

July 28, 2010

2010-07-28T06:17:00.000-07:00

Our weather is definitely the hot topic these days, so I thought we would focus on our water management practices a little more. Some of the tools we utilize to keep the course adequately watered are wetting agents. Wetting agents are soap-like substances that decrease water tension and allow water molecules to “spread out”. If you want to see it in action, try this quick experiment. Cut a square of waxed paper. Using a spoon or dropper (if you have one handy), make two separate, but small “piles” of water. Add a drop of dish soap to one of the water piles. This puddle should immediately flatten and spread in all directions. By adding soap, you have decreased the surface tension of the water and allowed it to adhere to a surface it didn’t like. I recommend using waxed paper because the waxy coating closely reflects the conditions of dry, sandy soils. Soils actually develop a wax-like surface that won’t allow water to penetrate the soil, or to infiltrate it very deeply.
There are three different forces which act on water and affect the way it behaves. The first is gravity, which pulls water down into the soil. The second is cohesion, which allows water molecules to band together and form larger drops. The third is adhesion, or water’s ability to stick to other surfaces. Adhesion is the one we’re most interested in altering. If we can decrease the surface tension of a drop of water and increase its’ ability to adhere, then we can water more efficiently, as well as make that water stick around a while longer.
It would seem to be a pretty simple principle to follow, but not all wetting agents are created equal. Some have longer-lasting effects, while others have the potential to burn if they are not watered in right away. Not all of them can be mixed with fertilizers or other chemicals (this is especially important to us). Wetting agent designers use many different compounds to achieve the desired results, so each wetting agent has a unique set of characteristics. In addition to their composition, these substances are available in different forms: liquid, granular, and water-soluble tablets. At Greate Bay, we use several types of wetting agents, depending on where and when we are applying them. When making the decision to apply wetting agents we have to consider our watering schedule, fertilizer applications, fungicide sprays, weather conditions (current and future), the amount of time that has passed since our last application, and many other factors.
Wetting agents are an important part of our water management program, helping us to use less water more efficiently, and increasing the amount of water that makes it to the plants roots.

(This post was contributed by Chris Lare, Assistant Superintendent.)

July 8, 2010

2010-07-08T09:28:00.000-07:00

I really wish that were another topic to write about other than this week’s weather – but it is the story.

Last month was the warmest June on record since records have been kept, which goes back 136 years. Fifteen days in June were 90 degrees or higher.

July continues the trend with record highs. We even hit the 100 degree mark, which made 90 degrees seem like a cold front! At the same time we have been without any precipitation of any consequence – a few sparse tenth’s of an inch since early June.

Lately you have seen most of our staff carrying and using hoses to water dry areas, and to syringe greens. Watering is adding water to the root zone, while syringing is applying a fine mist to cool the temperature of the turf. You probably have also seen the fairway heads come on and quickly “march” down the fairways. This is a syringe, but on a much bigger scale. We time the heads to make approximately one revolution – applying only enough water to cool the radius of turf surrounding them. What we are trying accomplish with all this is to control the temperature of the turf through out the course, and get water to the roots only in the areas where it’s needed.

The short term forecast is for a return of temperatures in the 80’s! I don’t think that any of us will be unhappy about that!!!!!

July 2, 2010

2010-07-02T07:08:00.000-07:00

Thank You!

I very much want to thank all of our members and guests for taking such great care of the golf course. It seems that everyone is replacing divots, or filling them with sand from the bottles. Every time during the day when I check the course, I see very few unattended divots.

This is huge!

Besides not having your best shot of the day roll into a crater for an impossible shot, the amount of repaired divots has enabled the staff to do other tasks, like hand water, and keep the course in the shape its in!

Again, I just want to thank all of you! Your efforts to take care of the course are not going unnoticed!!!!!! And I appreciate it so much. You guys are Greate!!!!

June 29, 2010

2010-06-29T03:46:00.001-07:00

How hot do our greens get?

One of things we do to manage turf stress is to measure temperatures at the greens surface and know how hot the turf gets. Like any other living organism, turf reacts to temperature, and if it gets too hot for too long, it can die, even if there is enough water in the soil. Our greens turf which mostly poa annua, is especially sensitive to extreme heat, and has to be closely monitored throughout the summer to keep it from overheating.

So we take temperatures so that we know when and how much to syringe our greens. Syringing is not watering. Syringing is misting the green with a fine spray. The water droplets land on the leaf blades and as they begin to evaporate, heat is pulled from the plant and released into the air. This process decreases the temperature of the turf, minimizing effects of heat stress.

Yesterday, at 11:30 am, the temperatures on the7th and 10th greens were 114 degrees f and climbing. Knowing that it was still early in the day and the afternoon forecast was for increasing temperatures, we sent three persons to syringe. As is our procedure, they moved backward through the course, and this day, made three complete circuits. Syringing held down the temperatures of the plants to about 100 degrees, which is very tolerable. Had we not syringed, the surface temperatures would probably have reached 120 degrees or more, causing considerable stress and turf decline.

Syringing is very important to the health of our greens. When you see our staff syringing greens, please know that they are working very hard to get the greens through the day so that they will be in the same great shape tomorrow!

June 23, 2010

2010-06-23T04:00:00.000-07:00

You may have seen the aerators out on the greens this week!

We are doing what is termed “venting the greens”. This is a process where we use tines that are one quarter inch in diameter, and four inches long, to punch needle sized holes into the green.

We do this procedure approximately every four to six weeks to open up the greens. Over the course of this time period, the greens become sealed at the surface from the traffic of play, mowing, rolling, etc. When this occurs, water cannot easily penetrate to the root zone, and the gases that build up in the soil cannot escape or be replaced with fresh air. The result is dying roots, and that leads to turf loss and green failure.

These tiny holes that barely can be seen, and do not affect ball roll, reverse this condition, allowing the soil to breathe and drink again, and sustaining a much better environment for the turf grass roots.

June 19, 2010

2010-06-19T04:35:00.001-07:00

I thought that I'd share some pictures of the staff preparing the course for the 2010 Member Guest Tournament! Here goes!

Our mechanic, Don is probably the most important person in our department. It is his art and skill that keeps the equipment running, enabling us to care for the course. Here Don has a fairway mower on the lift, checking height of cut and adjusting the reels.

In this picture, Edgar paints the Greate Bay logo on the 1st tee.

It takes a lot of teamwork and communication behind the scenes to make things work so well! Bucky and I and our staffs are in constant communication, coordinating, and setting up the course.

The "little things" are the "biggest things"! Paying attention to detail is important! Here before the sunrise John gets ready to fill divots and check the greens for any unhealed ball marks.

Another detail is hand raking the green side bunkers. Here Denia rakes the bunker on 10.

On Saturday we triple cut the greens to increase the speed. Here four persons - Baldemero, Isabella, Edgar, and Max - converge on the 18th green to get it finished before play. Once again,its a lot of good teamwork that gets everything done!

After the greens are cut, they are rolled. Here Isidro rolls the 13th green.

Assistant Chris Lare paints the cup on #1 green. Weeks before the tournament, Bucky and Chris determine pin locations, and Chris supervises the staff so that these areas are "saved" for the tournament.

Chris uses a USGA stimpmeter to determine the consistency of the greens.

As soon as we can after the days last tee time, we begin mowing the tees, approaches, collars and fairways to prepare them for the next days play!

The fairway traps are also raked in the evening. Doing all this work in the evening allows the crew to concentrate wholly on preparing the greens in the morning.

Once again, its the "little things" that are the "big things". Here Isabella cools down a hot spot in the 5th rough. In the evening, three persons went hole by hole with hoses to care for the wilt, rather than turning on heads and softening up the course.

Although Ryan is not on our turf staff, he is part of our whole staff. I am always impressed with how he cares for the details...

I hope everyone had a GREATE Member / Guest Tournament! I know that our staff had a GREATE time preparing the course for everyone!

June 16, 2010

2010-06-16T02:29:00.000-07:00

This coming Friday and Saturday is our annual Member- Guest Tournament, which we have been preparing for now for the past four weeks. To peak the course for any event takes a lot of planning, preparation, and timing. It’s not just a matter of ratcheting things up for a day or two.

Weeks ago we lowered the fairway heights and began a daily mowing program to tighten them up. You’ve most likely have seen Pedro mowing every day.

We have also taken down other heights as well, and this includes the greens. For weeks we have adjusted greens heights lower, a 1000th of an inch at a time, so that the turf doesn’t stress out. We have also top dressed the greens to smooth them out, and changed up our irrigation, spray and fertilizer programs to ease this height transition. We’ve done the same with and for the tees.

We’ve been going at it for some time now. It’s not easy to peak a course. And unfortunately, these peaks are not wholly sustainable due to the stress that is put on the turf. Kept under these extra low height conditions for an extended length of time, the turf will begin to thin and disease out, as its physical and biological limits will have been passed. As you can tell, it takes weeks of prep just to keep it alive under these conditions for just a few days!

I wish everyone who is playing in our Member- Guest good luck and great golfing for the weekend! “Tear it up!”

2010-06-11T03:28:00.001-07:00

A few “off the wall” things….

Looking around I see a lot of nature here at the course, and so I thought today I would share a few of my observations with you.

In the area of the 16th green lives a blue jay. Almost everyday I see him perched on the controller that sits to the left of the green, surveying the green bank for an insect meal. When a bug catches his eye he hops down and sorts through the grass for it. Take a look for him next time you play the 16th – you will most likely see him.

Behind the 6th green the honey suckle vine is in full bloom. Besides a pleasant aroma, the flower also has a great taste. Pull the white flower off the vine and nibble on the end that was attached to the vine – tastes like sugar….

Every so often I will share more nature with you. After all, we are a certified Audubon Sanctuary, which means that we are both golfers and environmental stewards.

June 9, 2010

2010-06-09T07:47:00.001-07:00

Today we “jumped” out ahead of play to give the greens some needed, special attention!

We performed a touching verti-cut on the greens and followed that with a light sand topdressing, which we gently bushed in. Last to come was the sprayer with a small amount of soluble fertilizer. Normally we would water all this in, but with the rain on its way, we decided to be patient and let Mother Nature be our helper.

The verti-cut is a set of reels with vertical cutting units that slice through the canopy, cutting runners and laid over grass leaves. Doing this consistently helps prevent “grain” and trains the turf to grow straight up. It also opens up the canopy to accept the topdressing.

The topdressing dilutes the thatch, which firms the greens for putting and doubles this positive by helping us with disease control. The sand also fills voids, such as un- repaired ball marks, etc., so that the green in a sense, is resurfaced…almost what the Zamboni does to the hockey ice.

And the fertilizer helps give the turf just enough energy to get through it all!

Weather and play permitting, we try to maintain this program consistently, repeating it every two weeks. I translates into attaining better and better conditions!

June 5, 2010

2010-06-05T04:07:00.000-07:00

This week we planted 42 Dark American Arborvitaes along the fence behind the 16th tee. We did this to create privacy, and block out the sounds and sights of traffic rushing down Route 9. This will surely help your golfing experience on this tee!

Before...

After...

June 1, 2010

2010-06-01T02:56:00.000-07:00

Some of you may already know that I am an amateur beekeeper with a few honey bee hives at home. The other day, one of my hives swarmed – simply put, that’s when half the bees stay in their hive with a new queen, and the other half takes off with the old queen to find a new home. Between leaving the original hive and finding a new home, the swarm will rest on objects like branches, fences, house eves, etc. While the main swarm and the queen rest, scout bees are out looking for a new home which could be a hollow in a tree or any type of place that gives them protection and room to make comb. Swarming is nature’s way to make new colonies, and keep the world populated with these valuable pollinators.

When swarming, bees are not at all aggressive, as they try not to deplete their energies because they will need those to establish a new home which takes all their effort. A swarm may look a bit discomforting but its not. If you do see a swarm, do not panic or get out the bug and wasp spray. Just leave them alone- they will fly off to a new home usually in a day or two, if not in a few hours. The other thing to do is to call a bee keeper who will take the swarm and put it into a hive. You can find a “swarm collector” at the following web site:
http://cjba.njbeekeepers.org/swarms.htm

The reason that I put this on this blog is that a golf course (and a yard) is a place we might come across a swarm. I have seen honey bees in our flowers so I know there is at least one colony in the area (honey bees will travel a few miles for pollen and nectar). If you do see a swarm on the course, let me know. If you find one in your yard, please call a bee keeper. Whatever you do, please don’t kill a honey bee, as their numbers are dwindling due to diseases and an undiscovered causal agent that causes colony collapse disorder.

By the way, I caught the swarm that had left my hive. The bees collected on a pine tree branch about 15’ up, so I got out the ladder, grabbed a hive box, and went up there and shook the bees off the branch and into the hive. The swarm is doing well, making comb and bringing back pollen. And when they bring pollen back to the hive, it is a sign that the bees are out there pollinating flowers and most likely, pollinating the crops that will feed you! If you’d like to see the video of the swarm I caught, and the full story, visit http://seventeenfarms.blogspot.com/

May 27, 2001

2010-05-27T08:05:00.000-07:00

These past few days a local demolition company has been cleaning up the area couched between the 11th and 12th holes. Over the years this area has served as a collection spot for branches, leaves, grass clippings, etc that we routinely clean up from the course. From now on, we will put organic debris in a 30 yard container that will be taken to a local recycling center. There, our “yard waste” will be shredded and turned into mulch!

May 26, 2010

2010-05-26T03:12:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday and today, Wednesday, our staff planted over two hundred California privets along the 3rd green and 4th tee to screen off Route 9 and Village Drive to seclude us from the car traffic, greatly enhancing our golfing privacy.

Assistant Chris Lare uses the auger to make the planting holes.

Isidro, Max , and Baldomero plant to the right of the third green.

Taking a quick break from a long day of planting are Adan, Silvio, Isidro, Baldomero, Edgar, and Max.

May 24, 2010

2010-05-24T07:29:00.000-07:00

I thought I would share a few facts about mowing greens…

At Greate Bay we send out four persons every morning to mow the greens. For tournaments, special events, and shotguns, we sometimes send out six to eight persons.

With four persons mowing greens, each person walks on average 2 plus miles mowing their assigned greens.

We walk mow our greens to get a better cut and to reduce the compaction and wear stress that a “riding mower” would cause.

Each day we mow greens a different direction so that “grain” does not develop. For instance, if you would take a moment and picture a clock face, we mow our greens 12:00 to 6:00, 3:00 to 9:00, 2:00 to 8:00, 4:00 to 10:00, and so on.

We measure and set our greens mowing heights in thousandths with a specially made gauge. Choosing a cutting height depends on many factors that I must weigh out: health of the turf, the weather, the type of coming golfing events, disease pressure, anticipated greens speed, membership comments, etc.

We do not change height of cut on a daily basis as that would be too stressful on the turf. In other words, green height change is planned out so that the height is changed over a period of days, and sometimes weeks, depending on the difference of change.

The greens mowers are checked for mechanical problems each day. There is no tolerance for error, as an error on a green could cause loss of turf.

Our staff collectively spends approximately 12 -15 hours a day mowing greens and checking mowers. During special events, we spend considerably more time!

May 17, 2010

2010-05-18T11:16:00.000-07:00

Many times I am asked about what the crew does when it rains like it is doing today…

The answer is that we do a lot!

Although every rain day is different, today offers a few good examples of what we do when it rains, so I took a few pictures.

The first thing we did was to have a staff meeting where we discussed equipment safety and training, upcoming events, and general turf maintenance topics.

Silvio is using a drill press fabricating a part for one of our maintenance carts. Rainy days are sometimes the only time our carts can be worked on.

Don, our new mechanic, and Pedro, one of our long time staffers, inspect the mowers on one of our rough units. Rainy days are great opportunities to do preventative maintenance on our equipment, such as the rough mowers.

We did other things today which I didn’t get a picture of – pumping the water out of the tunnels, putting trailer hitches on carts, doing building repairs, cleaning the equipment, organizing tools and inventories, and for Chris and I there were meetings and stacks of paper work to finish!

Rainy days may not be for mowing, but they give us a chance to catch up on a lot of other work that is just as important.

May 14, 2001

2010-05-14T06:29:00.000-07:00

Today, Faro Lanuza, our mechanic, is retiring. Faro is planning to travel, work on his farm, and spend a lot of time with his family and pursue his various and eclectic interests. We will miss Faro - he's part of our family here at the club, and for so many years he has contributed to our success.

The following is a reprint of an article about Faro and his career that I wrote a few years ago and posted around the club. It's quite a story, and I am sure he will be adding a lot more to it during his retirement!

Faro was born in the Philippines of Spanish parents who emigrated there from Spain. He attended and graduated high school in Iriga City, and then moved to Manila where he worked his way through college employed at an electronics manufacturing plant. He first attended Mapua Institute of Technology, and transferred to Feati University, graduating with a degree each in Mechanical and Electrical Engineering.

After graduation, Faro was recruited by many manufacturing companies to work for them, and over time, held many positions in these competing companies as plant supervisor, production supervisor, head of engineering and production, head of manufacturing design, etc. During these years, he also began his own engineering/electrical/ mechanical design consultant company, and later moved to Saudi Arabia to run a container manufacturing plant.

In 1986 Faro took time off from his career to visit relatives in the United States, and after touring the country, decided to stay here, settling in West Virginia, and starting a home improvement/ home construction company. On a job in Brigantine, he met his future wife, and after they married, settled in Galloway Township. During this period, at the urging of a friend, Faro appeared as a performer in the Broadway production of “Oklahoma”. In 2001, he became a United States citizen, disbanded his construction company and began a construction equipment repair business in Galloway.

Wanting to do something new, he came to Greate Bay in 2002, where he has used every bit of his knowledge and experience to help us do our best. Faro, who we nicknamed “Einstein”, can fix anything! And if he doesn’t like how something is made or works, he fabricates his own designs and parts to make them better. We could not do the things we do without Faro – he is special, and is arguably the most important person on our staff!

Faro lives in Galloway Township with his wife Prudence, and his teenage son. Faro is very active in many church organizations, sings for his church, plays piano, organ, violin, and harmonica, and is known to sing karaoke now and then!

May 13 , 2010

2010-05-14T03:46:00.001-07:00

Thursday morning I was walking up the 7th hole when I saw a bird that I have never seen before. It was crouched, drinking water from a puddle on the cart path near the three left side bunkers. When I approached, it swept up into a sassafras tree, perched, and cautiously watched me as I slowly walked by.

It had a red stripe on its white breast, red under the wings, and white specked feathers on black. Later in the day I got out my birding book and learned that what I had seen was a "rose breasted grosbeak". According to my book, it is not a rare bird, and this part of NJ is well within it's habitat range. For me though, it's very exciting,and to see it here at Greate Bay reinforces the fact that our commitment to environmental stewardship is continuous,rewarding and successful.

(The picture of the grosbeak is from a web site on birds. I did not take the picture.)

May 12, 2010

2010-05-12T10:24:00.000-07:00

Wetting Agents

On Wednesday we sprayed wetting agent on the fairways and on Thursday we plan to spray the tees. Wetting agents need to be watered into the soil, which is why the sprinklers were on during the day.

A wetting agent is a compound that reduces water tension and allows irrigation and rain water to penetrate the soil with better efficiency than it would naturally. With the use of wetting agents we use less water, are able to water the course more evenly, and lessen the amounts of “localized dry spots”.

Collar Fertilization

Today we fertilized the collars. We fertilize collars separately from the greens and/ or the rough, due to the wear they take from the greens mowers each day. So that the fertilizer does not burn, or get picked up by the mowers, we water in the fertilizer right behind the spreader!

Flower Planting

We have begun planting the summer annual flowers around the clubhouse, the 1st, 7th and 16th tees, and the wedding area. The annual varieties that we use are impatiens, vinca, geraniums, and petunias. Impatiens grow best in shade and need plenty of water, while the others prefer full sun and drier conditions.

In many of our beds we have added perennials over the years– these include hosta, day lilies, salvia, black eyed susan, phlox, daisies, dusty miller, vinca vine, coreopsis, bee balm, and cone flowers.

I am always asked what we do to keep the flowers growing big and colourful. It’s really very easy . We are always careful to match the plant with its preferred environment – shade plants for shade, and sun loving plants for full sun. We are careful to water, but not to over water, and lastly, we give our flowers a little bit of fertilizer often, rather than a whole lot once in awhile! It’s really that simple!

May 7, 2010

2010-05-07T10:18:00.000-07:00

This morning we were greeted by the sight of a water geyser! The head that is located in the approach of 11green “blew off” and water was shooting approximately 20’ into the blue morning sky. I am not quite sure what time the break occurred, but I am “guessimating” that what we later diagnosed as a defective coupler had broken some time after midnight, and must have run for a few hours. The water drained over to the cartpath, flooding the area to the left and to back of the green.

The blowout was not hard to repair, but the clean up took some time. Pebbles, rocks, and sand had been shot up into the geyser and were littering the green and approach. We used brooms to sweep them up so that we could get the green puttable and so that our mowers blades would not be ruined when we cut. We pumped the water to the closest drains – this took approximately four hours!

Anyhow, it’s fixed and we are back in business so to speak! We will have the cartpath opened up tomorrow morning as if nothing ever happened at all!

May 6, 2010

2010-05-07T03:29:00.001-07:00

Yesterday we re-installed the fans on the 7 tee complex.

We the use fans on this tee to circulate the air because the winds and breezes are blocked by the trees to the left , the fence vines to the back, and the halfway house to the right. Without air circulation, the air stagnates and humidity builds into it, which creates an environment for disease and stress. The fans help to minimize these risks.

Unfortunately, the 7th tee complex has other problems including poor soil, small size, and shade. We have been addressing these problems with aeration, verti-quaking, extra fertilization, hand watering, and some rebuilding. With all the extra attention and the fans, through the years the tees have improved tremendously.

May 4, 2010

2010-05-04T08:48:00.000-07:00

On Sunday afternoon I was on my normal rounds checking the greens and tees, and probing fairways when I found that a pipe had broken to the left of the whites on the 2nd tee. The water was spilling across the cart path and into the rough, and then pushing through the cedars and into the pond before the 18th tee. I quickly drove my cart to the shop and got the gate valve keys and was able to turn the water off before it washed out the cart path and caused more and other damage.

The area was so saturated that I decided to let the area drain out until Monday morning before making repairs. On Monday morning, after 3 hours of careful excavation we located the break on a 6” main. It had split beginning at a joint, and the split extended about four feet down along the pipe. It was a pretty bad leak as far as leaks go. It was also serious – to repair the pipe we had to shut down the water for holes 1, 2, 3, 16, 17, and 18, along with the wedding garden and practice green. Luckily the weather was cloudy and we were able to get along without syringing or watering.

We spent the rest of the day on Monday cutting out the broken section and replacing it. This had to be done surgically and with a lot of patience. With the main ran bundles of irrigation wires that control the sprinkler heads and supply power to the controllers. We had to be very careful not to stretch, nick or cut them.

Tuesday morning, we stabilized the new section of pipe and flushed out the system. Afterwards, we pressurized it to our operating pressure of 120 psi, and checked for any leaks at the couplers. Everything held tight!

As I write this we are filling the hole and flushing out the system once again. Invariably, no matter how careful we are to avoid letting sand and soil enter the irrigation system through breaks such as this, it still gets in and takes a lot of work to flush it out.

Hopefully by this afternoon we will have all of this finished up, and the irrigation system fully functional.

April 22, 2010

2010-04-22T03:34:00.000-07:00

The rain that we had last night prompts me to explain why I ask for carts to sometimes stay on the paths after rainstorms. I don’t think that I have ever had the opportunity to address this before.

The reason is that wet soil compacts more easily than drier soil. The water lubricates the soil particles and when downward pressure is applied, the particles are moved closer together, filling and reducing pore space. Pore space is the open space between soil particles that holds and drains water, gives room for roots to grow, moves fresh air into the soil and vents the bad air out, etc. Without pore space, water, gases, and roots have no where to go, and the turf thins, and sooner than later, dies….

Limiting traffic on wet soils is another piece of the puzzle to having healthier turf that lasts the season long.

April 14, 2001

2010-04-14T12:08:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday, the 14th of April, we used a machine called the “verti-quake” to loosen the soil beneath the tees. The “verti quake” has off set knives which rotate into the ground at least 10” deep, pushing the soil column left to right, right to left over and over again. This side ways quaking action breaks up the compaction, opening up pore space for roots, air and water. The end result of this process will be stronger and healthier tees!

Click on the video to see the "verti quake" in action!

2010-04-10T03:33:00.001-07:00

Now that we are charging up the irrigation system, I thought I would write a little bit about where our irrigation water comes from…the Kirkwood- Cohansey Aquifier and rainfall.

Our water starts its journey to the sprinkler nozzle from all points of the world as it is evaporated and then carried in the earth’s atmosphere until it reaches the sandy soils as rain.

The rain that is not carried off by streams, or retuned to the atmosphere as evaporation or transpiration, percolates into the ground where it is stored in the earth’s rich underground. The Kirkwood – Cohansey Aquifier underlies over 2000 square miles of the state, lies about 10’ under the ground surface, and ranges in depth from 20’ on its western boundary along Rt 70 to 300’ deep along the Atlantic Ocean. It’s estimated that the Kirkwood- Cohansey Aquifier stores up to 17 trillion gallons of water! For those of you on wells at home, it is the source for your water.

Our pond on 12 is filled by natural seepage from the aquifer. It is also filled by rain and rain runoff from 12 and 11 fairway areas, and run off from the residential areas that surround the eastern areas of the course, notably from the neighborhoods abreast of 13, 14, and 5. We also have two wells that extend 150’ deep into the aquifer which we use to fill the pond when rain and seepage do not keep up with irrigation withdrawal.

The Kirkwood – Cohansey is one of our states most important natural resources, and as our commitment as a certified Audubon International Golf Course Sanctuary demonstrates, we work hard to protect it. We are careful to conserve water and only take the minimum amount we need for irrigation purposes, and we follow programs that protect it from contamination from pesticides and fertilizers. After all, every life on this planet is dependent upon water, so we do our best to preserve its purity and quality at all times and in all we do.

April 6, 2010

2010-04-06T08:28:00.000-07:00

What are all those yellow dots on the ground? What are Chris and Silvio spreading all through the rough?

It isn’t a fertilizer, but a herbicide which we call a “pre-emergent”, or a “pre-em". Pre- em’s are a class of pesticide that is applied to kill weeds as they germinate, and must be applied prior to the target weed’s germination. The herbicide creates a barrier at the ground surface that newly emerging weeds must pass through on their way through the soil. As they pass through the barrier, they absorb the herbicide and die. The barrier, unless physically broken (by a divot, aeration, etc) will persist for 4 months, giving control until mid August. If a pre-em is applied after the target weed germinates and emerges, it is too late, and little control is achieved.

Pre –em’s are used for many types of weeds, but our main target is crabgrass and goose grass.

Crabgrass begins to germinate as the soil temperatures reach 55 degrees f, and continues to germinate until the soil temperature cools in the fall. Goose grass needs higher soil temperatures, and normally doesn’t begin to germinate until late May or June, continuing through September.

We determine our application timing two ways – prior to the soil temperature reaching 55 degrees f, and the “count back”. Count back refers to how long we want the barrier to remain, as it will also prevent wanted grasses from germinating. If we plan for fall reseeding, we need to apply the barrier in time that it will be gone (degraded). April through August is 4 months, so it gives us a seeding date of mid August to be safe.

Applying too early does not give control long enough into the summer, and too late doesn’t catch the weeds before germination, and then the barrier lasts past the late summer seeding window, causing yet another problem. Over and over, I will keep stressing one thing, and that is “Timing is everything for everything” … for everything we do!

We use different pre – em’s for different play areas and for different grasses. In a few weeks we will treat the tees and fairways with another product which was developed specifically for the finer turf areas. We will use yet another pre –em for our greens collars. We do not treat greens because pre –ems prune roots, and on greens, we always need every bit of root that is there. If crab grass or goose grass should emerge, we pick it out with a knife!

So that’s what we are doing, and what all those yellow dots are all about!

April 3, 2010

2010-04-03T03:21:00.000-07:00

I would like to wish everyone and their family a greate Easter weekend!

April 2, 2010

2010-04-02T05:26:00.001-07:00

Synergy n., pl., -gies.
1. The interaction of two or more agents or forces so that their combined effect is greater than the sum of their individual effects.

Today we are trying to take advantage of the plentiful sunlight, warm air temperatures, and generous soil moisture by applying a soluble fertilizer to the greens to help shorten the healing time from aeration. Each by itself does not grow turf, but together, these combine to provide a physical and nutrient rich environment to “push” the turf to its maximum, and we are taking advantage of this synergy the best that we can!

March 30, 2010

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

Yesterday we received 2.8 inches of rainfall, adding to the March total that today “rests” at 10.14 inches. For the calendar year March 29, 2009 to today, March 30, 2010, we have received 75.1 inches of rain, or 6 and ¼ feet! Our historical average for a year’s rain is 43 inches. So we’ve had quite a lot of rain…

Remember the James Taylor song that goes, “I’ve seen fire and I’ve seen rain…”? I really hate to complain about the rain, even if it seems to be too much, causing us a lot of extra work, and puts us behind schedule regarding our spring preparations. But I’ve also seen fire – I have been through droughts and water restrictions – I’ve watched grass wilt and die away, and fairways and rough become dust blown. That can be pretty bad too.

The weather is unbalanced right now, so we just need to do the best we can and be patient until it rights itself. The latest short term forecast model is for warm and sunny skies through next week. The song goes on, “I’ve seen sunny skies that I thought would never end…”

The weather is going to be just fine!

March 25, 2010

2010-03-25T04:47:00.001-07:00

On Wednesday and Thursday we aerated fairways and tees.

The tee aeration process was this:

First our contractor aerated the tees with a tractor pulled aeration machine that pulled cores approximately 3” deep and .75” in diameter. This brings up a lot of thatch and soil, which is exactly what is needed on the tees!

Cleanup is next. First the cores are dragged to break them up and separate the soil from the thatch, which is blown off. Some of the soil, now loosened, naturally gets dragged back into the holes.

Mycorrhizae is then spread on the tee surface, for the same reasons as for the greens.

Due to time and equipment restraints – we are at the same time now touching up the greens and aerating/ cleaning fairways – we will top dress the tees early next week. For topdressing we use a spec’d sand with a little bit of peat/soil mixed in. After the topdressing is applied, we will drag this in same as we did the greens.

The fairways are done much the same, yet on a much bigger scale (26 acres vs. 3.5 acres!) but without the mycorrhizae and topdressing. Two tractor pulled aerators go first, followed by two persons who drag the cores with big, metal drags. On the approaches we use the core harvester so that the soil from the fairways will not get dragged near the green, contaminating the greens’ sand topdressing. We then use three blowers to blow off the residue thatch into the rough. Over the next week, we will use rough mowers to “mulch” up this thatch.

All of this is a lot of work, but there is no other substitute for removing thatch, or for cultivating and improving the soil profile. In the end, aeration is really a course improvement every time it is done!

March 24, 2010

2010-03-24T07:52:00.000-07:00

Monday and Tuesday we aerated the greens. Aeration is one of the most difficult, and most labor and equipment intensive practices that we perform. It’s also the most important thing that we do.

This is what we did to improve the greens:

Before we aerated, we did a half inch deep verti- cut with the Graden machines. The verti-cut blades slice into the green and pull out thatch, which is the organic mix of living and dead plant material found at the top of the greens surface. Some thatch is good, as it cushions the growing points of the grass plant from traffic. But too much thatch slows drainage, and makes the greens slow and spongy. Fungi love thatch, so reducing the amount of thatch helps with disease control. The verti-cut blades also severe the bent grass stolons, or runners, prompting them to produce new plant buds. This helps increase the bent grass population.

Following the verti-cut we began the aeration process. The aerators pulled cores from the greens, approximately 3” deep and .5” in diameter. This process removes both thatch and soil, leaving a hole to be filled with sand. I will say more about sand later.

The clean –up crew came next. Two persons operate the “core harvester”. This machine is best thought of as a moving conveyor belt that moves the plugs from the ground to the bed of the vehicle it is attached to. Another team cleans what debris the core harvester leaves behind. The cores are taken to areas where fill is needed – such as along cart paths, low areas that are bare, etc. These cores will later be raked out and seeded with another grass.

Following clean - up, sand topdressing was applied with a tow behind top-dresser. We always do our best to put down enough sand to fill the holes. This is very tricky because the aeration holes are never perfectly uniform, and some areas of the green always need more or less sand. Sometimes it takes two topdressings to get all the holes filled.

I will talk more about sand now. The sand we use is spec’d for its size and shape, so that it firms without much compaction, while still providing pore space for air, water, and roots. It is also heat sterilized to kill fungi and weed seeds and prevent contaminating the green with disease pathogens and unwanted plants, such as clover, poa annua, or crab grass. The sand is a soil improvement, which makes for healthy, firm, and true greens.

After topdressing, we applied “good fungi” to the greens of the genus mycorrhizae. There are books written on the subject of mycorrhizae, but to keep this post simple and short, these fungi work symbiotically with the plant roots to take in nutrients, absorb water, grow bigger and deeper, resist disease, and make the plant stronger. These fungi are best applied in a manner that they can be worked into the soil root zone, and so aeration is the best time to add these.

Next we used a soft cocoa matt to gently drag the sand into the holes. When the weather is dry this is a very simple process, but with constant rain showers and high humidity, the sand was dampened and took a lot of extra work to matt in. Due to the wetness, all the greens will need to be dragged once or maybe twice again.

Over the next few days we will be going back and adding topdressing to the greens where the holes did not fill, re-dragging where needed to even out the topdressing application, and rolling to smooth and firm the greens. This is normal aftercare for aerated greens.

Aeration is really an investment. It promotes rooting, helps drainage, increases air exchange, increases soil microbial populations, adds pore spaces, reduces thatch, helps prevents diseases, and so on. Although none of us, especially me, likes the disruption, it still is the only and best way to renew the greens for yet another golf season.

March 19, 2010

2010-03-19T07:17:00.001-07:00

I am beginning to realize that to write about all we do in a day, let alone a week, could take hours for me to write and hours for you to read…so I will do my best to pick and choose what I think is most important to you and try not to go on too long.

Wednesday we mowed the greens for the first time this year! We mowed again Thursday and then again on Friday. We also mowed the approaches and tees for the first time on Thursday. We are not mowing so much now to remove growth as we are to stimulate growth! These first mowings take off the dead leaves and leaf tips, letting sunlight penetrate down to the new leaf buds, which stimulates the plant to begin growing. It isn’t rocket science. It’s as simple as a plant needs sunlight for photosynthesis to produce the energy to grow. We are just helping the light get to the plant.

We also sprayed a growth regulator on the greens Friday morning. I will probably write a lot about growth regulators throughout the season, as we use different types for different purposes; different growth regulators cause different effects on the turfgrass plant, and so using them is a science all its own, and this part of growing grass is rocket science.

The growth regulator combination that we sprayed Friday is for suppressing seed head formation of the poa annua grass that is a major component of our greens. Left unchecked the seed heads grow fast, and above the leaves, causing the greens to get “bumpy”. By suppressing this growth, the amount of seed heads are reduced, and the greens are smoother. Also, if we have less seed heads, then less poa seed drops to the green where it germinates the following fall. Those new poa plants then compete with the bentgrass which is the turf we are trying to favor. And then there are more poa plants with seedheads and on and on…

Although the growth regulators never give 100% control – it’s more like 70% control at best – less control is achieved if the spray is not timed well. Spraying a day early or a day late can be the difference between success and disappointment. To time the spray, we use degree day modeling, look at the plant itself, gather info from other courses, weigh in our historical experience, and use a lot of “gut” feeling. Even if we’ve got all the science right and it rains the day we need to spray, or something else prevents us from spraying that day, we will miss the window of opportunity, and not get good suppression. Timing is everything for everything, and many times that is out of our control.

Over the past years we have had some pretty good success with seed head suppression and in a few more weeks we should know how successful our spray was!

(p.s. Are you beginning to understand why I have grey hair?)

March 18, 2010

2010-03-18T04:20:00.001-07:00

Saturday, March 20th, is the first calendar day of spring!

The seasonal calendar dates are all based upon the position of the sun in relation to the repose of the earth. The first day of spring is the date of the Vernal Equinox – that is when the earth is completely vertical, neither tilted to the north or the south, and the day and night are of equal length. The first day of fall is the date that the Autumnal Equinox occurs – again when the earth becomes vertical.

The first day of summer is the date of the Summer Solstice, when the northern axis of the earth is most tilted towards the sun. The Winter Solstice is the opposite- the northern axis is tilted the furthest from the sun. The 2010 dates and the exact moment of these events are as follows:

Vernal Equinox Mar 20 2010 1:32 PM EDT
Summer Solstice Jun 21 2010 7:28 AM EDT
Autumnal Equinox Sep 22 2010 11:09 PM EDT
Winter Solstice Dec 21 2010 6:38 PM EST

Since forever began, people have celebrated these astronomical events with dance, song, and/ or prayer, all in keeping with our connectedness to the rhythms of the earth, the universe, and the Spirit.

The importance of these celestial events has also been captured in early architecture. Throughout the old and new worlds many structures were built whose architectural attributes line up with the sun on equinoxes and/ or solstices. The Mayan “Temple of the Seven Dolls” at Dzibilchaltun on the Yucatan Peninsula and Stonehenge in England which pre dates 3000 BC are but two examples.

There is folklore and mystery based on these celestial dates too. One of the most common “folk facts” is that an egg can be balanced on its end during either equinox, due to the unilateral pull of gravity between the sun and the earth that is thought to occur at the exact time of the equinox.

All of these examples demonstrate that humans have always valued their relationships with the sun and nature. It is important that we still do. I worry that with computers and the flooding rise of technology, we have drifted from our connectedness with the natural world. We may be forgetting that the earth wobbles, and that this imperfection is what gives us life. It’s a “simple importance”.

Spring is an event of our natural world! Maybe take some time off on the 20th and celebrate the Spring! Or maybe take a few seconds and just try to balance an egg…but please, don’t miss out on the wonder of it all.

March 15, 2010

2010-03-15T06:38:00.000-07:00

Wow! Another northeaster! The storm began on Friday and continually intensified, peaking and unleashing angry torrents on Saturday afternoon. Winds reached a steady 30mph and gusted up to 55 mph. The rain came slanted, like a fusillade. The storm quieted with the darkness of Saturday evening, but rain still came and went through Sunday and Monday as the low rotated off the coast. The pattern of powerful, wet weather just continues. It seems relentless.

We received 3.8” of rain since Friday, March 12, when this storm began, along with hail that came with a Sunday morning line of thunderstorms. The rains washed out the drain that we were working on at the driving range, and the winds downed the giant oak that stood to the left of the forward tee on #5, a Jersey pine at the beginning of 12 fairway, and an older Jersey pine that guarded the lower tee on #3. More branches were stripped from trees throughout the course. A sinkhole developed in 10 fairway that is a few feet round and just as deep. We also lost power to the pump house. I could go on.

Needless to say, our staff is concentrating efforts to clean up; including all the damage we still have left to finish from the February blizzards.

March 12, 2001

2010-03-12T07:09:00.000-08:00

With the warmer weather, we have ramped up activities on and around the course! It’s like going 0-60mph in 3 seconds! It feels sooooooo good to be out side again - walking around on the grass rather than through the cold, wet snow!

So what have we been up to?

We have been concentrating our efforts on clean-up and a few projects. Cleaning up has included removing storm debris from the playing areas, getting the gardens ready for spring, and cutting up the countless branches that tore from the trees during the February 6 blizzard. It will take us a few more weeks to finish the storm clean up.

I have visited other courses in the area and they too have suffered significant tree damage that is similarly unprecedented.

Projects that we are undertaking at this time are: making repairs to the parking lot at the driving range, running new electric lines to the #15 - #16 tunnel for the sump pump, adding drainage to 10 fairway (pictured above) , and setting up a martin house on # 10.

We are doing quite a lot, and there is still so much more to do! In a little more than a week from now we will be aerating and fertilizing and prepping for the summer!

The year is gearing up fast!

March 10, 2010

2010-03-10T05:11:00.001-08:00

We have had some very strong storms this past winter – northeasters, blizzards, and heavy rains. For sometime now we have had at least one, sometimes two, strong storms every week. For the year March 11, 2009 to March 10, 2010 we are 23.8” of precipitation above the historical yearly average. So far, 2010 has been a continuation of this wet, stormy trend.

Is it climate change? I don’t know…but as it is for most arguments, the same supporting data can be interpreted and presented with opposite views. I don’t think that there will ever be a total consensus, for no mater what happens to the climate, somewhere on this earth there will be a desert and somewhere else a glacier and both will be a pulpit.

What is agreed upon is that a very strong “el Nino” formed in the Pacific late last year, and it has yet to weaken. An El Nino is a term used to describe a rise of ocean temperatures in the tropical pacific. Typically, an El Nino brings rain and strong storms to the west coast, which then pushes into the Gulf States. In the past months, the jet stream has dipped south, picking up this energy and moisture, sweeping it up through the mid- Atlantic where it forms into low pressure systems. The recent results have been drenching rains and blizzards.

NOAA scientists are thinking that the “el Nino” will persist another month or two at least, and it seems that we may be stuck in a rainy, if not stormy, pattern for some time. Scientists also caution that there are many other variables that affect the Mid- Atlantic weather pattern, and that we can not assign every raindrop, wind gust, or snowflake to the el Nino phenomenon that is occurring many thousand miles away. But it does have an effect, and our area continues to feel it.

March 6, 2010

2010-03-06T08:13:00.000-08:00

While everyone else has Punxatawney Phil, Greate Bay has Bernie! Bernie came out of his cart shed the other day and DID NOT see his shadow, which means spring is here at Greate Bay, and the course is open!

For a while there, it seemed as if winter was never going to end. I am sure we will get a few faint punches still, but nothing that will hold back the Spring!

Late last week our staff was able to put some time on the course, and we got busy getting it ready for golf. We put out the tee markers, cleaned off the greens, worked on traps, changed the cups, and fixed up the cart paths. We also continued to clean up the winter storm tree damage – this will take up much of our time for the coming weeks!

Meanwhile, I am really glad that Bernie didn’t run back to his cart shed for another six weeks! Its really great to have you and the sun back on the course!

March 3, 2009

2010-03-03T06:52:00.000-08:00

And just when I thought it was ok to drink soda, Joel tells me that he and his wife are expecting their third child! I guess that if it's in the water, and now that it's in the soda, I will have to find something entirely different to drink! Does anyone have a suggestion?!!!

March 2, 2010

2010-03-02T07:47:00.000-08:00

No matter what I could say about Denise, it would never be enough to describe the impact that she made upon me, or how I feel about her. She left a part of herself in me, as well as in others; a part that I will always hold on to and celebrate …I will never forget her.

February 25, 2010

2010-02-25T08:17:00.001-08:00

The other day, as the snow from the previous few storms began to melt away, we discovered a small bit of grey snow mold on the newly sodded tees. The new sod is “succulent”, due that we were pushing it with extra nitrogen to grow it in when it really wanted to go dormant. Also, the turf covers, placed over these tees to protect them from the whims of winter weather, produced a layer of humidity between the turf and the snow. These conditions created the environment that grey snow mold needs for growth and infection. We had treated these tees preventively before the snow, but the protection had run out – most fungicides don’t last more than a few weeks even in the best of conditions.

As soon as we saw the snow mold, we shoveled off the remaining snow from the tees and pulled back the covers. We kept the covers off for a few days to facilitate air exchange, and then re treated the tees with a granular fungicide. With the snow still deep in many places, and the underlying ground soggy, we had to “walk in” the spreader and the bags of fungicide – it was no easy task. Soon after we applied the fungicide, we replaced the covers on the tees.

Today it has begun to snow again, and the moisture levels are still overwhelmingly high, re enforcing the conditions that produce winter diseases (moisture produces diseases in any season). We will keep on it, watching and treating as we can, hoping that soon the weather will dry out and give the turf a very needed break from all the wetness we’ve experienced recently - but really, we've been wet since the spring of 2009.

Ferbruary 22, 2010

2010-02-22T05:13:00.001-08:00

Probably best not to drink the water, ‘cause something must be in it!

Recently, many on our staff are being blessed!
- Silvio Villalba and his wife welcomed a son the first week of January.
- Blanca Diaz is expecting her second child, due in late June.
- Clara Martinez is expecting her second child, due in August.

And as you probably have heard, Bucky and his wife recently welcomed their third child on February 18!

…I think that I am going to stick to drinking soda for a while, just to be safe!

February 17, 2010

2010-02-17T11:12:00.000-08:00

We still have about 6” of snow on the ground…but we are busy!

Faro has been very busy working on equipment, and has just begun tuning up the greens aerators. In the picture he is re- welding the frame of one of our older aerators – these machines take a beating, punching holes in hard, compacted ground! He’ll be going over the whole machine these next few days – checking bearings, tightening bolts, replacing tines, adjusting chains and linkages, greasing pivots, checking the engine… Then he will do the same for our other two aerators.

Meanwhile, Isabella and Ellie have been repairing and painting tee markers, ball washers, and cleaning and prepping equipment that not too long from now will be out on the course!

Outside, Jose and Baldemero are working with assistant superintendent Chris Lare, beginning the daunting task of cleaning up the tree debris from the February 6th blizzard.

February 12, 2010

2010-02-12T09:03:00.000-08:00

This week we have endured two snow storms, both technically categorized as blizzards by the National Weather Service. The first storm came last Saturday and released a fury of hurricane force winds and a blinding snow. Snow accumulations were as high as 20" and drifts exceeded 3' in many places. Wednesday, just when we were about finished digging out from Saturday, the second blizzard came out of the mid west and formed a low off the NJ shore, which eventually pushed north up the coast, sparing us from another heavy accumulation, but still leaving us with 4" of new snow.

The snow really does not hurt the turf. Actually, the snow cover insulates the turf from the cold air, and helps prevent wind caused dessication. The problem that could be, is that if the snow does stay for an extended period of time and/ or forms a suffocating sheet of ice over the grass, it could cause toxic conditions to form by blocking the exchange of air and gasses. This is rare, but if you recall, it happened to many courses in the Philadelphia area in the early nineties when ice laid on the greens for well over six weeks! We have a long time to go yet before we need to worry about that!

Another problem that could occur is the threat of cold weather disease. The melting of snow causes excess water, which breeds certain cold weather fungi that can attack the turf. Like Gilda Radnor's character Rosanna Rosanna Danna would say, "it just goes to show, it's always something!" I am not concerned about it now, but I will need to be on my toes and stay ready for it. Once again, there will be plenty of time to worry about that later.

What did get hurt were many trees - mostly the cedars and white pines. The snow stuck to the green boughs and weighted the "cold made brittle" branches to the point of snapping off. The damage is everywhere, and it will take us some time to clean up the broken limbs, take down "hangers", and prune back the snags. These trees will make it, but many have lost their symmetry and will look contorted and lopsided for years to come. Near the 14th green, two tall native pines leaned over with the weight of the snow and uprooted. These we will have to take down.

The forecast is for sunny skies this coming week. I am hoping the snow will melt and that we can begin getting things cleaned up so that you can get back on the course!