Aerification

Looking back in time to last fall's aerification, I wasn't pleased with how the weather was so uncooperative with my plans. After starting the process on the 14th of September, the last greens we punched were on the West Golf Course............the first week of October!! With consistent rain storms slowing the process down, we were then hit a series of abnormally low temperatures and our first snow storm not even a week later. I've spoken about the importance of soil temperatures in an earlier post, and this is a perfect example of its value on the development and recuperative properties of turfgrass, especially after receiving beating from aerification. Plainly said, without optimal weather, the turfgrass wasn't able to recover properly, leaving our greens not fully healed going into winter. Because the majority of our rounds fall between Memorial and Labor Day, moving this process into August is not a reality, although it was on my list of things to mention. Now that the false front of spring has arrived, and my window to aerify draws closer, the decision has been made to be less abrasive to the golf course to regain optimal conditions as quickly as possible. While the golf course could benefit from every opportunity to punch a hole in the ground, greens aerification will be done a little differently this spring. I'll update you as we go.

Snow Showers Expected

We're expecting to experience a heavy storm system this Friday and I'm hoping it comes in the form of rain, rather than snow. While temperatures have remained consistently in the 50's, Fridays high won't make it out of the 30's so we'll probably be looking at closing the golf course down for the weekend. Anyone needing to travel west on highway 70 should probably do so now. Be safe out there and have great weekend.

Got Plugs??

Pictured above is the nursery plug I had taken out a while back. Each picture has been taken roughly one week after the previouse one and has continued to show us some signs of life. As exciting it is to finally see some green, I'm deeply disapointed to see how much death has occured on this green. By looking at this sample, you will notice that hardly any of the Annual Bluegrass has managed to make it through the winter. The vertical shoots represent the Bentgrass that makes up only a small percentage of this green. Seeing this gives me a pit in my stomach knowing that the majority of our older greens consist of this variety.
It might be worth mentioning that this sample has been placed in our greenhouse and has had the opportunity that none of our other greens have, 78degree temperatures and a steady stream of water and oxygen, you might even call it a controll. As we enter into warmer months, soil temperatures will be the number-one variable to our golf course waking up from its off season slumber. I'll get into soil temperatures later when I have taken a plug from the new holes, picures are truely worth a thousand words in this instance.

Charge Up

This week, the Golf Course Maintenance Staff will be executing the irrigation system charge-up, or in other words, filling the lines. As discussed before, each winter the irrigation pipes are blown out using a massive air compressor to avoid broken pipes from freezing ground temperatures and water expansion. Now that the golf course is snow free and we're finally able to push a shovel into the ground, it's time to get some needed water to the golf course. Although this seems later than in past years, most of the golf course has been snow covered for most of the winter. As you know, this can be a good thing, or a bad thing and we will have to wait for an answer to that question. Depending on how successful we are in the fall blowing out the system, this is usually a good indicator of how many pipes we have to replace in the spring. Because water usually settles in low spots on the course, or even dips in the pipes themselves, a usual canditate for replacement pipes is somewhere on the South Golf Course. Pictured above is one of the lowest parts of the golf course, located in front of 7South Green. Although this is normally a time of high anxiety not knowing how favorable the ground was to us, it marks the beginning of another great season at one of my favorite places on earth. Here's to 2010!

Squeege

One of the drawbacks from spring conditions in Colorado is that you can never count on weather conditions to remain consistent. After months of being bogged down by snow and freezing conditions, we've been blessed with some higher daytime temperatures and somewhat comfortable playing conditions. Although snow cover is the best thing for protecting the plant during these winter months, it becomes abundantly clear when it's time to clear it from greens. In some instances, it's removal is to reduce ice build up that could be suffocating the plant from oxygen exchange, while another example would be to re-apply snow mold fungicides. In any case, the decision is usually based on a rational set of circumstances that go beyond the Greens Chairman wanting to play the golf course with his Brother-in-Law. The method of removal is typically based on golf course elevation, but can vary from course to course. In our case, huge amounts of snow are rare and can usually be manually removed if conditions warrant. My main concern in these rare instances is the build up of ice (most often in shaded areas where little to no sunlight is able to hit the green). Because the majority of our greens consist of Annual Bluegrass or (Poa), a higher susceptibility to winter damage and slower to green-up condition in the spring is usually the case. To combat winter damage, a heavy application of topdressing sand is applied to all of the greens before going into dormancy in the fall sometime around Thanksgiving. This sand application helps protect the plants from damage caused by wind and additionally acts as a blanket on the green, thereby warming the soil and promoting a faster green-up in the spring. Ice levels are assessed daily during the winter months in a proactive attempt to avoid this occurrence. If ice does build to an uncomfortable level, (symptoms including ulcer pains and the inability to sleep knowing my greens may not come out in the spring), I'll typically make a heavy application of Humates to the greens sometime in March. This application is made to darken the surface of the green and attract more ultra violet rays from the sun. This material also accelerates soil temperatures and gives us a chance to push our greens without the use of covers and is usually gone unseen by our pre-season golfers. Other Golf Course Superintendents have been known to use black sand, or even sunflower seeds for the same effect. Because of the design grade of some of the greens throughout the course, they have the tendency of holding water. Coupled by the fact that the ground remains frozen in the greens profile, and the lack of drainage in the majority of greens throughout the golf course, the surface water has no where to go and must be manually removed to reduce the potential damage from a freeze-thaw cycle. Although a huge effort is given each year to prevent this type of damage to greens, inevitably, fairways and tees are too abundant and suffer from this damage. While I've witnessed this turfgrass condition on all of the golf course, it is usually concentrated on the old holes that occupy larger trees and experience reduced wind. I suppose only time will tell where we will need to re-seed this spring........I'll have all night to think about it, I guess.

Snow

February hasn't offered much in the way of playing golf. Giving the golf course a much needed break from traffic normally doesn't hurt my feelings in any way, but the lack of life out there is beginning to wear me out. This winter hasn't been one with large amounts of snow, it has merely been a case of the little snow we have gotten not going away. The average daytime temperature is still ranging in the lower 30's and we have yet to break into the 40's for more than an hour or two. Unfortunately, Colorado's front range is not the only area to be lacking in snow totals. Unless March brings some snow with her, this might go down as the worst ski season in recent memory. I realize that snow and local golf enthusiasts usually don't go together, but snow totals play a major role in how the golf course is managed throughout the season by way of runoff. The large retention reservoir adjacent to 3West fairway and 5West tees is the major source of our irrigation water and is solely fed by runoff. The reservoir is currently at 22.5" and is looking good for the time, but without some higher totals in March, I fear this supply will not get us through the season and force us to fire up the lower pump station to supply the golf course. We'll cross that bridge when we get there, but looking at the big picture, going through another draught year isn't something we are all looking foreword to.

Making the Cut

Since being with the club, I annually cut a few cups from some select greens around the course and place them in the green house to get an early look at what we're going to be dealing with once the soil temperatures elevate in the spring. It's almost like looking into my agronomic crystal ball. This practice gives us an idea of how much desiccation we will be needing to recover from and what percentage of the Poa Annua took a hit. After about a week in this controlled environment we can usually notice some signs of life, but not always. Normally, after getting back from the GIS, I have the chance to monitor the progress of the cups we cut and usually have some perspective on where we sit. Well.......not this year. After another failed attempt to put a cupcutter in the ground today, I've decided I need to wait. Having to deal with the Mother Nature is something I should have learned to deal with by now, but in general, Golf Course Superintendents are some of the most impatient people on earth and somehow, I fit in well with that crowd. Pictured above, is the only plug I was able to take from the course. This sample was taken from the nursery green and is almost two inches in depth, (half the depth of what I would like to have in a sample). While its not as representative to the course as I would like, it will have to do until the deep freeze of winter releases its grip.

ICE

As it stands, this winter has given us a few circumstances that we can do little about. Although this is my 7th winter in Colorado Springs, there haven't been two that have been similar. I've learned that there are two constants in these months, cold and wind. Unfortunately, once we get into spring, all the preventative measures taken in the fall turn into reactive practices. While the golf course staff continues to monitor the ice levels on the course, our main focus will always tend to focus on our putting green surfaces. Having 30 greens to consume our time, getting around to clearing snow and ice from tees and fairways has proven to be an impossible task. Like any other living thing, turfgrass requires a few staples of life. Whether it be the warm months of summer, or the harsh winter season, air circulation and water are two things a plant must have to survive. One of the major types of turf damage comes in the form of ice accumulation and can cause terror to golf courses in the Rocky Mountain region. As mentioned before, Poa can usually survive short periods under ice while bentgrass has an easier time surviving longer periods of snow and ice cover. At times, it is vital that we remove this layer to allow our greens to breath. Pictured above, is Assistant Golf Course Superintendent, Steve Blais spreading the humates to the green. You will also notice how these small, dark granules attract heat from the sun to melt the snow and create 'breathing tubes' for the greens beneath.

Heading to San Diego

While most of you football fans will be watching the Super Bowl this weekend, Assistant Golf Course Superintendent Steven Blais and I will be heading out west to attend the GCSAA Education Conference and Golf Industry Show. Like the title says, this year's event will be held in San Diego, California and will offer us something other than the single degree nights we have been experiencing this last week in Colorado. While the focus of my classes will be in environment planning and sustainability, the show also offers valuable points towards my upcoming Class A certification. Although this is a long week away from my family and the golf course, this is a huge educational opportunity to touch on the most up-to-date turfgrass research and industry standards. I'd like to thank the Sunrise Company for its commitment and financial backing to further education in turfgrass maintenance and look foreword to the applying these new practices to the golf course upon our return.