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…
Friday, August 20, 2010
Friday, August 13, 2010
August 14, 2010
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.
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
August 11, 2010
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!
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
August 4, 2010
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.
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.
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
July 28, 2010
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.)
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.)
Thursday, July 8, 2010
July 8, 2010
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!!!!!
Friday, July 2, 2010
July 2, 2010
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!!!!
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!!!!
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