December 11, 2012

Friday night we had two and one half inches of rain and originally I intended to make the course “walking only” on Saturday because it was so wet. But being a Saturday, Mark and I talked it over and decided to go “cart paths only” and we opened up to carts at 10:00am.

Well, that didn’t last very long....

I am sure the person driving the cart had no intentions of causing damage, but none the less, he went off the the cart path and did. Unfortunately, this is not an isolated incident. It happens routinely. Even on days when carts are allowed off the paths, sensitive areas that are roped and/ or signed off are driven on with abandon by some. The ropes are simply knocked down and the signs ignored.

It doesn’t make a lot of sense to go about with disregard. And it certainly is not fair to those who follow the guidelines, and who have to deal the bad lies left behind by others.

November 23, 2012

Last week I traveled to State College, PA and attended the Penn State Golf Turf Conference. This is annual three day event in which professors and researchers from Penn State and other leading research universities present the latest research on fine turf used for golf courses. Presentations are also given by the mid-Atlantic and northeast regional agronomists from the USGA. The conference is primarily attended by golf course superintendents and turfgrass students from throughout the United States and other countries. 

This year the presentations focused on summer weed control, biostimulants and hormone therapy, financing equipment, water quality programs, social media, disease management and suppression strategies, managing shade, research focusing on poa annua, fescue varieties, and bentgrass, and the USGA’s “Year –in - Review” which recapped the challenges that  courses endured through the year.

Another valuable part of the conference was simply talking with other superintendents, sharing experience and ideas.

Next month the New Jersey Turfgrass Association is sponsoring their annual Turfgrass Expo, which I also hope to attend. Attending these types of seminars and conferences helps me to keep up to date on whats going on in the golf industry, which helps me do my job better, and in turn, makes the golf course better and more fun for you.

November 8, 2012

Is anyone else tired of this weather? The year started out with a non winter, followed by record high spring temperatures, the “Direcho” storm at the end of June, record high temperatures again but with no rain, then a week of rain in September from the remnants of Hurricane Issac, then came Hurricane Sandy, and now this “snoweaster”... I wish that whoever is making the Gods angry would cut it out already!

November 6, 2012

Today lime was applied to the fairways. Soil tests taken late summer revealed that the pH had dropped over the past few years and a correction was needed. The availability of certain nutrients to a plant is directly dependent upon pH. Acid soils tie up some nutrients while basic soils tie up others. Plants thrive with and/or without certain nutrients which is why the soil pH is very important to what particular plant is being grown. Turf – most turf – grows best at a pH of 6.5.

That seems simple enough, but an ideal pH is not always ideal. For example, some diseases, summer patch in particular, are more prevalent and destructive at a pH of 6.5 than a lower, or more acid pH. So we have to thread the needle very carefully to balance pH to get the best environment for the turf and the worst for the fungi. For our plants and disease history, a pH of 5.7 to 6.0 has continually given us the best growth and least disease pressure. This best case pH may be different for another course.

Not all lime is the same. There are two common types - high calcium lime, and high mag lime, which contains a high percentage of magnesium. The level of these nutrients found in the soil test will determine which type should be used. Sometimes the soil needs one or the other, or like in our case, we need to use both. To that end, today we are spreading high cal lime as half our lime requirement, and early next spring we will spread an equal amount of high mag lime.

What causes our soils to need liming every so often? Why does pH drop? Certain fertilizers and nutrients cause acidity, as well as irrigation water (yes, we keep an eye on that too!), rain, types of organic matter (like the mulched tree leaves), topdressing materials, etc. Soils are ever evolving, which is why it is so important to monitor them and make nutrient and pH corrections very regularly.

November 1, 2012

6:30 am Nov 1

I want to throw out a quick post to update you before the staff heads back out onto the course to continue the storm cleanup.

Overall we were very lucky with no major damages.  The entire course is littered with leaves and branches which are taking a great effort to clean up. Three trees came down – one each on 12 and 13 tees, and another on the 7^th forward tee. The 3 to 4 tunnel had about three feet of water in it that needed pumped out.

The 9^th green and surrounding area was flooded by the wetlands behind it. The 12^th tee area and the beginning of the 12^th fairway flooded from the adjacent wetlands that run beside it. The wedding garden and the lower practice putting green were also flooded with salt water. We will be treating theses areas with gypsum to help leach the salts from the soils, but will need irrigation to flush it out, and for the time being, the electric at the pumphouse is “out”. As soon as we get the pumps up and running we will be able to address the salt issue.

Our staff is being supplemented and aided by staff from the bagdrop/ proshop and clubhouse.

The 8th fairway... all the fairways were covered with leaves and debris.

9th green showing debris line  from flooding.

October 12, 2012

I am often asked what I think the coming winter will be like, and to be honest, I really don’t know. That at least leaves me on par with the local tv weather guys and gals. Difference is I just admit I don’t know.

Believe it or not, I once was a geeky meteorology major at Penn State, if only for a few semesters. I found though, that I enjoyed looking down a lot better than looking up, and that atmospheric physics and algorithms just weren’t my thing.  So came turf school....

If I were forced to guess what this winter will be like, I would have to say that I think it will be a bit more “wintry” than what we are used to. I say this because the leaves are falling a lot earlier this year. The signs of turf shutting down are also earlier this year than in past years. The woolly caterpillar has a longer red middle than its combined black sections. And the goats have winter coats already.  Tomorrow we might have frost....

But honestly, I really don’t know right now. I do know that if you ask me next March I will have a better answer. Just like Al.

October 2, 2012

A few updates:

Silvio Villalba has been accepted to the Rutgers Professional Turf Management Program beginning  January  2013. Rutgers is the same school that our assistant, Rick Shetler graduated from. Silvio has been working here at Greate Bay for seven years now doing every type of job there is on a golf course. I hope that you will join me in wishing him the best of luck!

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For the remainder of the season, we have moved to mats only on the driving range tee. Being a warm season grass, the bermuda grass is going dormant with the cooler temperatures and shortened fall days. It has stopped growth and no longer has the ability to heal. Any divots now will not heal until late next spring – with the amount of use it could receive between now and late spring, there probably would be little grass left, providing a huge opportunity for weeds to reestablish and the quality of the hitting surface compromised well into summer

We overseeded the bermuda with ryegrass (GLS resistant ryegrass) this week to help protect it and to provide colour through the winter months. We also applied a fungicide to protect the roots, which if infected, cause the bermuda grass to die off in patches during the winter. This phenomenon is referred to as Spring Dead Spot.

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Plenty of bentgrass seedlings are pushing up where we have overseeded the fairways. Thanks to everyone for avoiding these areas with cart traffic. It is really paying off. The more bent we establish in the fairways the better they will be. Also, bluegrass seedlings are just coming up in the rough. 

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We have finished aerating and deep verticutting tees. We also overseeded them with bentgrass. Through the next week or so we will be taking the gradens to the approaches to reduce the thatch that has developed in these areas. I hope to post pictures of the operation in the very near future.

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I am always asked about the goats and if they are “union”, since I give them a few days off each week... Its hard to eat poison ivy every day so I give ‘em a break and put them on hay to change up and balance their diet. This keeps them from getting bored, fat, and/or under nourished. Also, back at the farm, I observe them for health reasons and we trim their hooves and do a bit of training so that they are easier to manage. While they are back at the farm, we take the opportunity to move their pen to a different area on the course. So it’s not like they are lazy, sleeping, or having a beer while watching Jerry Springer go at it with Dr. Phil, although I have to readily admit that they are a bit more spoiled than most other goats.