Winter Projects - Irrigation?

Bryan and Kevin worked hard through tough conditions this past week to finalize the standardization of the hand valves around all greens. Below are some pictures of them installing the new hand valve by #4 South green. The standardization of these valves will allow easier and more efficient hand watering during the summer months.

Bryan and Kevin heating the pipe in the ground to remove old pieces of existing steel pipe for the quick coupler installation.

Putting together the quick coupler assembly and fitting the new pieces into the existing pipe.

Course Update

The golf course is still covered in snow and the frost layer is still present deep into the ground.  The temperatures overnight and during the day haven't been favorable for thawing yet but spring isn't too far away.  The ten day forecast shows a steady rise in daytime highs that push into the mid 40's but continues to show below freezing nighttime temperatures.  As soon as the frost layer thaws in the ground we will be opening the courses for the season!  Our staff is ready to get going at a moments notice so with a little cooperation from mother nature we'll get the 2013 season off to a great start.

Wild Turkeys at WCCC

Wild Turkey by #3 North Tees

Meleagris gallopavo, or wild turkey, have been spotted recently at Walnut Creek.  As stewards for the environment, golf courses are often the hosts of many different plant and animal species.  The wild turkey in Michigan became a thing of the past in the early 1900's due to lack of habitat and over hunting, but made a comeback recently because of strong reintroduction efforts.  Although they look nice, they're quite fast and will chase you if you get too close.  Even as a large bird, the wild turkey can actually fly up to 55 mph over short distances.  When you see them on the course this year and want to take a picture, just remember to respect them and to keep a safe distance away. 

Inflating His Chest!

Information for this post was gathered from the Michigan Department of Natural Resources website (click here to visit the site). Both photos were taken at Walnut Creek Country Club.

Hector's Shop - New Video in English and Spanish from Walnut Creek Country Club

Our new Equipment Manager, Hector, recently made his first instructional video from Walnut Creek and it was posted today! Please click here to watch his video. This video is a pilot video as he made it in both English AND Spanish.  With many more Hispanic technicians and equipment managers around the world, it’s increasingly important to share the videos in both languages.  Each month a new video will be posted on turfnet.com filmed from our very own shop at Walnut Creek so be sure to take a look from time to time and see what’s happening. Some of the tips and tricks Hector shares could even be useful at home with your own maintenance needs. Enjoy the videos!

8 South

8 South Fairway: Plug has been in the office for 9 days

Spring is undoubtedly not far away, and at this time of the year superintendents begin to think about how the turfgrass has handled this cold season.  Most of the time, superintendents will take a cup cutter plug out of a green or fairway and see if it greens up in their office or greenhouse.  Nine days ago I took a plug out of 8 South fairway to analyze how it will react in the spring.  To my delight, the plug greened up and is growing nicely.  This is a great sign for spring!

The USGA put out a spring report that talks a lot about winter kill on turfgrass as well as steps to recover from it which include irrigating turf earlier than you may think.  If you have the time, you can read the whole article by clicking this link http://www.usga.org/course_care/regional_updates/regional_reports/northcentral/A-Notable-Exception---February-2013/

2013 GCSAA Conference

GCSAA Conference 2013

Each year a national educational show is held for Superintendents and others to take classes, network with peers, and gain new ideas to help their facility for the year to come. This years show was in San Diego, CA. I was fortunate to take great classes this year that covered seeding/managing naturalized Fescue areas as well as a class dealing with recovering from winter kill injury on turf. Both of these subjects will come into play for us this coming season as we get ready to seed new naturalized areas and could need to recover from some winter kill injury.

In addition to taking some great classes at the show, I also attended the Michigan Golf Course Superintendents Association (MiGCSA) gathering and was able to network with many of Michigan's finest Superintendents, Assistants, and Educators.

--Dan Meersman named Superintendent of the Year--

On a side note, I would like to congratulate Dan Meersman, Director of Grounds at The Philadelphia Cricket Club, as this years recipient of the Superintendent of the Year award.  This award is a great honor and one that is well deserved.  After working for Dan and getting to know him well, it's great to see Dan's leadership, strong work ethic, and progressive thinking is continually recognized.  Congratulations Dan!

Winter Injury - Turfgrass vs. Mother Nature

There are many different situations that can lead to winter injury of turfgrass.  Possible causes include plant dehydration or desiccation, crown hydration damage, ice sheet formation limiting gas exchange, and freeze/thaw cycles.  As weather changes every year, it’s always possible to incur winter injury on some part of the golf course due to one of these scenarios.

Two situations in particular stick out this year with the recent weather and those are freeze/thaw cycles that may lead to crown hydration injury and ice sheet formation.  Normally, freezing and thawing cycles can be beneficial by fracturing apart tight soil and sand particles thereby creating new space for oxygen and water movement. On the other hand, very quick freeze/thaw cycles can result in turf loss due to crown hydration injury or ice sheet formation that does not allow gas exchange.

Three days ago the turf was covered with about two inches of snow, but that quickly changed as it melted away during the warm temperatures followed by a fair amount of rain.  While the ground was still frozen roughly 5-6 inches below the turf surface, there wasn’t a lot of room for the water to go other than stay on the surface.

Our staff saw the forecast coming and acted quickly in removing as much water as possible from greens to avoid turf damage.

Temperatures quickly dropped below freezing again last night which has led to ice sheet formation in multiple areas where there was standing water.  This situation has the potential to lead to turf loss, especially in areas covered by annual bluegrass or “Poa annua”.  Annual bluegrass, the predominant turf species of putting greens in northern climates of the United States, has a higher susceptibility to winter injury than creeping bentgrass.  

With that said, there are many times when annual bluegrass has survived during harsh conditions so only time will tell whether or not mother nature has been nice to everyone this year! 

Winter Work Update

Today we began the process of stump grinding as the temperatures are favorable to use heavy equipment on the course without damaging the turf.  After all the stumps are ground out, the staff will be busy removing the stump shavings and back filling the holes with new soil in preparation for laying sod this spring.  Having all the stump shavings removed and new soil put in its place is the key to having healthy turf here in the years to come.