March 31, 2014

Although the snow seems to create much more popular news stories than does the rain, coupled together the amount of precipitation is beginning to add up. Last week alone, including the snow on the 25^th and this weekends rain on the 29^th and 30^th, we received  3” and change. Since December, we have received 4” of precipitation above the normal for this quarter period. The wet weather pattern that began last spring of 2013 is continuing. Not that a drought would be the answer, but a drying period would be welcome.

The third green, 10am Saturday morning, March 29, 2014

 These storms, both rain and snow, have altered many of our spring plans. Although we were able to aerate the tees, it took us another two weeks to topdress them, sneaking it in a few tees at a time between storms. Fairway aeration was originally scheduled for March 11th and 12^th, rescheduled for March 25th and 26^th , and now has been rescheduled a third time to April 2nd and 3^rd.  Spreading the organic Ocean-gro product has similarly been rescheduled a number of times. Those are but a few examples. I am confident though that we will catch up, as we always seem to find a way.

March 18, 2014

I am not going to complain about this years winter or yesterday's snow...it is what it is and I cant change it.

I have been asked if this winter is good or bad and the answer is yes and no.

Yes because:

-         We received plenty of moisture

-          There was a lot of “frost heave” to break up and naturally aerate the top few inches of the soil profile 

-         Without much winter play, the turf did not get a lot of wear and tear

-         The snow cover insulated the turf from winds and desiccation

-         Most likely, the record cold temperatures reduced fungi and insect populations. Although this affects both the bad and good guys, it would seem that they will be in a more manageable balance come spring.

No because:

-         We didn’t have many golf days

-         The turf may take a bit longer to green up this spring because of the low soil temperatures

-         There remains a chance that with cool, wet weather, snow mold may become a problem in the next few weeks

-         We will be a few weeks behind schedule when the weather does “break”, and will need to adjust to the late start

We need to remember that grasses have been around for millions of years and have survived pretty much everything that can happen. We will make it through this too.

November 2, 2013

Last Tuesday, October 26, we were visited by entomologists Dr. Albrecht Koppenhofer and his post doctoral research associate, Olga Kostromytska, from Rutgers University. The purpose of the visit was to collect adult annual bluegrass weevils (ABW)  to be used in a study to determine the degree of insecticidal resistance to products that are traditionally used to control their populations.

The annual bluegrass weevil, which feeds primarily on poa annua, is the most destructive insect that we battle with throughout the year. In the spring the adults emerge from their overwintering sites ( from under debris, leaves, dropped pine needles, etc) and migrate across the rough to greens, tee, and fairways where they lay their first generation eggs inside the sheath of its preferred host,  short cut poa annua. The eggs hatch and the larvae feed on the plant before tunneling out and entering the soil to pupate. This egg laying, feeding and tunneling in the poa plant kills the plant. In the soil they cause no damage, but become adults that will repeat this process. Over the year, up until October, there are multiple overlapping generations, before the adults head back to tree lines to overwinter. 

For each stage of its life cycle, a different insecticide must be used – a contact for the roaming adults, a systemic type for feeding larvae, and a soluble contact that can be watered into the soil to affect the pupae. That is complicated enough, yet what makes control even more difficult is that these weevils have been evolving to be resistant to many of these insecticides to the point that the products offer little if any control. In the end, the weevils are becoming harder to control and populations are growing, and damage is increasing. At courses with a long history of ABW, resistance is a serious problem. At the same time, the annual bluegrass weevil, which once was a threat mostly only to New England, is now evolving to thrive in the warmer temperatures of the Mid - Atlantic States and south.

At Greate Bay, we began seeing damage just four years ago. I suspect there is a degree of insecticide resistance because each year it has become harder and harder to control the ABW populations here. This year was especially tough. Two years ago we only needed to treat a few areas on the course, and were able to decrease the adult population enough so that subsequent applications were not necessary. Last year though, we needed to treat the entire course and then on certain fairways and most greens we had to follow up again with as many as three subsequent treatments. As late as early October, we were still noticing light damage on the greens, collars, and on some fairways. This sustaining population of ABW might be an indication that the insecticides we use are decreasing in efficacy, due to resistance

Dr. Koppenhofer had contacted the NJ Superintendent’s Association looking for courses that would allow him and his team to collect weevils for a study to determine resistance population levels throughout NJ and surrounding areas. Within a week after volunteering Greate Bay as a collection site, we had set up a date for his visit.

Sampling was simple. The researchers dug out small, 6-8” diameter pieces of sod, about an inch deep, in suspected overwintering sites along the tree lines of hole #7. The sod was placed in five gallon buckets of warm water and a paper towel was laid on the water as a raft for the weevils to hang onto as they floated up wards through the water. The weevils were then collected from the paper towel rafts and put in containers for their trip back to Rutgers. In all, they were hoping to collect at least 1,500 adults, which they did.

Our weevils, along with the ones from other courses taking part in Dr. Koppenhofer’s study, will be tested with various insecticides normally used to control them, and the degree of resistance, if any, will be determined. From this study, alternative treatments and/ or insecticide rotations may be recommended to decrease resistance so that in the future, we will be able to better control the ABW. 

Dr. Koppenhofer collecting weevils on #7

Annual Bluegrass Weevil

September 30, 2013

We accomplished quite a lot during the month of September!

Labor day week we performed a deep vertical cut with our graden machines on the greens which we immediately followed with aeration and topdressing. These cultural practices remove thatch, stimulate the growth of the bent grasses, help amend the soil, relieve compaction, resurface the greens, and overall improve the health of the greens.

At the same time, we aerated the fairways and also performed a deep verticut to the approaches – these practices remove thatch, aerate the soil, and help to relieve some of the compaction that has taken place throughout the year. As soon as we dragged and cleaned up, we drop seeded bent grass seed into the open holes, and followed that with our slice seeder. As I write this, I am very happy with the results so far – we have had pretty good germination and I am seeing plenty of seedlings.

We resodded the 7^th black, blue, and white tees with Patriot bermuda grass (the same variety that we used on the driving range a few years back). The 7^th tee is one of the hardest areas on the course to grow turf – it’s surrounded on three sides, left and back with trees, and to the right with the halfway house. It gets very little air movement and the trapped air heats up, making it the warmest spot on the course by at least 5-10 degrees.( Incidentally, the 13^th tee is the second warmest area.) Because bermuda can take the heat, we think its the best choice for this area. The green and yellow tees had been sodded with Riviera bermuda grass three seasons ago, and have out performed the traditional grasses such as bent grass that had been used previously. If the bermuda doesn’t work, the chainsaws will work!

We have overseeded some of the rough areas that have worn thin due to cart traffic and lack of irrigation. Some of the areas include the left of 8 fairway, areas between 1 and 2 fairways, the areas surrounding the 7th green tee, and areas along the left of the sixth hole.

Although not in play, we overseeded the wedding garden lawn too!

Last week we did a second aeration of the tees and this coming week we will topdress them and slice in more bentgrass.

All these efforts will translate to better and improved conditions over time.

August 17, 2013

We have begun to de compact the fairway and tee soils with a machine named “the Verti-Quake”.  I think that this is the first time here that the fairways have ever been worked deeper than the standard two inch aeration that has been done spring and fall. We did do deep tine aeration and Verti Quaking a few years ago on the tees. And every other year we have done the greens with the process of “drill and fill” – deep tine aeration to a depth of 10 inches and the holes backfilled with sand to provide drainage. Yet for the fairways,  this is a first that I am aware of.

The standard fairway and tee aeration is great, but it only works the top two inches of soil. Below 2 inches, the soil continues to compact a little bit more each year from cart traffic, mowers, foot traffic, etc. Over the 90 years since Greate Bay was built, a definite hard pan has developed (more so on the original holes than on the redesigned). The soil beneath 2 inches has very little pore space for roots, air and drainage. In fact, most of this pore space qualifies as micro pores, which tightly hold water in the soil by surface tension, rather than allowing it to drain by gravity.  

In some areas, the hardpan is so dense that even while applying all my weight to my soil probe, it won’t penetrate it. In this environment roots will not grow strong and deep or last for long, and with the onset of heat, drought, or high moisture stress, the turfgrass plants can rapidly weaken and decline.

This was very evident this summer on the fairways. Record amounts of rainfalls saturated the soils and they never fully drained, drowning the roots with lack of air, and creating a thriving disease environment. When the heat came, the plants in the worst areas were too compromised to survive. Pythium and wet wilt then occurred and increased struggles in many areas.

The Verti-Quake has curved blades which are offset by just a few degrees. As they rotate through the soil at a depth of approximately 9 inches deep, the offset “rocks” the soil sideways back and forth, loosening the soil and creating pore space. If you were to stand behind the machine, you would easily feel the earth vibrating side to side under your feet, like a gentle earth quake. The offset is strong enough that the tractor operator is swayed (gently) left to right and right to left as he/ she drives forward. The harder the soil, the vibration and sway increase dramatically.

A side benefit of using the Verti-Quake is that the rotating blades also cut any smaller tree roots that extend into the playing surfaces. Tree roots are much stronger than turf roots, so out compete the turf for nutrients and water. The cessation of root competition will also make the turf stronger.

The Verti-quake is a slow machine – it is operated at 1mph or less. To do our fairways one time will take many weeks. Tees will take a few days. I am hoping to do the course twice this fall/ winter, and go on a bi yearly program.  

Within a few years, if we are able to stay on this program, the results will be dramatic.

The Verti-quake won’t solve every problem that we have – the need for drainage, less trees to block air circulation, cart traffic on wet soils, etc. Yet, it is another procedure that reduces stress and will give us a more competitive turfgrass plant.

July 23, 2013

It has been a challenging summer so far....especially since the first week of July. That was the turning point when the temperatures rose substantially without receding, and with the turf roots already compromised from the previously rain soaked soils, some areas of the course – most notably a few of the fairways – began suffering  the effects of  theses environmental stresses.

We have done the best we can with syringing, reducing mowing frequency, raising heights of cuts, reducing traffic in areas, careful water management and increased preventative disease controls. Still, we have had our share of challenges with diseases and the basic problem of nature that not all turf can tolerate the excessive heat no matter what is done.

We have seen more than our share of pressures compressed into the last two weeks. Last week alone, not counting the heat, we battled with pythium, summer patch, dollar spot, annual bluegrass weevil, slime mold, brown patch, wet wilt, fairy ring, cicada killer bees, and summer grassy weeds. We also had vandalism on 14 and 18 greens. And then we had malfunctions with a few pieces of equipment too, but that always happens at the wrong time! Its all Murphy’s Law and its just the way it is. The heat is to subside over these next few days (we are hoping the forecast is correct!), and we will turn our attention to nursing back our weaker areas, and getting caught up on other things.

In the mean time, I want to thank all of our members and guests who let us through to syringe, poke at the turf, and especially for keeping your carts on the paths on the weaker holes. Our staff appreciates all the support you have shown us.

On Thursday afternoon, the valve cover burned the turf when it was set to the side if the quickcoupler

Thursday afternoon - asphalt temperature on 5 cart path at the tee

Thursday afternoon - Temperature of turf  on 5 fairway prior to syringing

July 5, 2013

They’re baaaaa-ck....

Sorry, but I couldn’t help it!

 The goats are back to munch away at all the bad stuff for the season. At this time they are in the brushy area behind 16 green that also borders holes 2 and 17. It’s a pretty big area and we will see how they tackle it. So far they have begun in the middle section under the trees and are working their way out.

Since I have been asked many questions about the goats, I have put together a list of FAQ’s in an attempt to answer them as best I can:

What kind of goats are they? The gals are high percentage Boer goats. Boers are bred and raised for meat. They are efficient eaters, very hardy, and for the most part, friendly.

Do you milk the goats? No, Boer goats are not very good milk producers. There are other breeds like Nubians and LaManchas for that!

Do goats really eat everything? No, not everything, and especially not tin cans! (Those of you who throw your empty beverage cans in the pens please take note!) Some plants, like milkweed and laurel are extremely toxic to goats, so there are areas I cannot take them.  

Do they really eat poison ivy? Although poison ivy isn’t on the top of my herd’s list like wild roses and sassafras have becom , in time they will eat it down.

Do they stay here at night? No, I take the goats to my home for the night. I can’t trust that a stray dog might attack them, a practical joker let them out of their pen, or that someone steals them for themselves or dinner. Anything could happen.

When are they here? I usually bring the goats Tuesday through Fridays, and sometimes Saturday. I dont bring them in wet weather, as goats in general do not like to be wet.

Do they bite? Are they friendly? Our goats don’t bite, although if they get to know you a bit, some, especially Irene and Francis will suck on your finger (I am not sure why they have this behavior). Our herd is friendly, although they can be shy – we take every opportunity to have people interact with them so that they learn trust and don’t become defensive.

Should I get a goat and tie it up in my yard to mow the lawn? NO! Goats are not designed to eat grass – they are browsers and prefer to eat plants “off the ground”. Also tying up a goat leaves it defenseless to run from danger, or it could get tangled up and hurt. And goats are herd animals are very unhappy and anxious if alone.

Are they spoiled? Pretty much! Probably worse than most peoples dog’s!