Turf Conditions - Winter Update

The weather has been quite mild this winter with very little snowfall and at or above normal temperatures. With roughly 1 -2 months of cold weather that can be expected, today was a nice day to examine our current turf conditions and overall health of the golf course.  I'm pleased to say that everything is looking great and currently there are no signs of problems. Both the covered and uncovered greens are looking good and we do not have heavy ice buildup anywhere on the course to be concerned about. Below are a few photos of greens which show the current conditions. Keep your fingers crossed for an early spring and a great start to the 2016 golf season!

Putting green partially covered. Exposed turf looks good.

Turf under the covers looks great

5 South green looking very healthy 

2 South green looking great for January 25th! 

Assistant Superintendent - Michael Brown

Welcome to the team, Michael!

Course Closing

The golf course will officially be CLOSED starting 12/21/15 for the winter months. 

Off-Season Hardscaping Improvements

This fall the main focus of the club has been on the clubhouse renovation currently underway. In years past we have completed major golf course construction with bunker renovations and updates during this same time period.  To fully utilize the extra time and staff availability while not completing golf course construction, our staff has been investing in positive hardscaping improvements.  Currently we are working on the South course bathroom entries.  The patio bricks being used for this project came from the old patio behind the clubhouse that had to be torn out to accommodate the changes being made.  With in-house staff completing the project and reusing the patio pavers, this project is being completed for under $1,000! For the same size project contracted out it could cost over $9,000!. In the spring we will be planting ornamental grasses around the entrances as well as incorporating some annual flowers for a pop of color.  We hope you enjoy the nice updates-

BEFORE

AFTER

Fall Agronomic Practices - The Explanations

Fall is a very important time of year for the agronomy staff.  How the golf course looks and performs next season has a lot to do with what we're currently doing right now.  Two of the most important practices taking place on the course right now are aerification and fescue mowing.  Below are a few pictures accompanied by explanations and reasoning behind them to help provide an understanding behind their importance.

Aerification...a dreaded word that nobody wants to hear in the spring and fall. Commonly Superintendents will hear "do you really have to punch right now? The greens are perfect" or "Why do you have to punch holes now, can we wait until later in the year?" or "can we use smaller holes, why so big?" These questions are perfectly understandable and there are agronomic reasons behind them. 

Do you really have to punch right now? - When deciding when to core aerify greens, tees, or fairways the decision is based on reducing the stress window. During the months of June, July, August, and September in Michigan we expect our warmest, most humid weather in addition to the heaviest amount of traffic from both maintenance practices and golfers. Heavy traffic from these things leads to compaction of the soil, limited root growth, and general turf stress.  Compaction also leads less water, oxygen, and nutrient penetration to the root zone. With these things in mind, we generally aim for a spring aerification in the middle of May and our fall aerification in September.

Fairway Core Sample

Can we use smaller holes? Why so big? - Deciding what size holes to punch and the spacing between holes depends on many factors, but the most important factor is thatch removal. "Thatch" is the layer of organic matter that builds over time on top of the soil.  This organic matter build up comes from dead roots, grass clippings, and many other areas. A large amount of thatch on any turf surface can lead to soft, spongy conditions and limits appropriate infiltration of water and nutrients to the healthy root zone. As you can imagine, the more thatch that builds up, the worse the conditions will become.  The removal of this thatch is crucial to maintaining healthy grass on the golf course. Leaving the boring math out of this explanation, we aim to affect 15% of the surface area each year on greens and approximately 7% on fairways and tees.  The size/spacing of tines and frequency of punching are all contributing factors to achieving these percentages.

Fall Fescue Mowing

Fescue mowing is an important part of our fall maintenance program. Mowing fescue areas in the fall reduces weed growth mechanically and helps to thin the dense growth that has built up throughout the year.  Fall is the best time to target weeds in the fescue and reducing the thick top growth allows for a more effective spray application of herbicides.

Weed Control

Fall is the ideal time to spray for broad leaf weeds such as dandelions and clover as the herbicide will be translocated to the roots and ultimately kill the weed. Currently plants are spending energy storing nutrients for winter in their root system vs. producing flowers. Even though you can't see the weed flowering right now, they're still there! Spring applications may suppress the weeds but will not normally kill them. 

Productive Monday

Mondays are always very productive on the golf course due to outings not starting until 12 or 1pm and some Mondays having no outing at all. Today was no different. Below are items accomplished today-

1. All normal mowing
2. Bunker maintenance
3. General rough mowing on North and South courses
4. Plant health spray applications made to greens and fairways
5. Continued herbicide applications in rough for broad leaf weed control
6. Completion of West fairway aerification and clean up
7. Continuation of fescue mowing on West course
8. Year long brush and tree limb burn

Irrigation Pump System

This past week our irrigation system took an unfortunate turn for the worst as both of the main pumps failed. The failure was unexpected but not entirely surprising as both pumps were close to 15 years old! With a normal life expectancy of 8-10 years depending on water quality and use, 15 years isn't bad. It was a very tough situation to be in during July/August, but we took the opportunity to investigate the system in depth to prevent future problems. 

Our irrigation system is run by two 75 hp vertical turbine pumps, each capable of supplying 890 gpm at 110 psi, in addition to a 5 hp pressure maintenance pump. The pumps sit in a 13' x 4' concrete tube known as a wet well. The wet well holds water taken from a stream or pond and reduces the likelihood of contamination from weeds, debris, and foreign objects getting sucked through the pumps. 

The old pumps were removed using a crane and a scuba diving team inspected the wet well and intake pipe in the pond. The scuba team was used to ensure the wet well was in good shape without cracks or holes in addition to checking the intake pipe and screen prior to installing the new pumps.  The current wet well is intact and looks good but the intake pipe is very close to the sediment in the pond that has built up over many years. In the near future, the pond will have to be dredged to remove this organic matter build up and ensure we maintain a clear intake pipe going forward.

Old turbine pumps located between holes 3 and 7 North

To get by before the new pumps are installed, a temporary pump has been installed next to our existing pump station. The temporary pump is capable of supplying 450 gpm and will pressurize the system to the normal 110 psi. This allows approximately 12 irrigation heads to run simultaneously at full pressure in addition to a few hoses for hand watering. Currently, the new pumps are scheduled to be installed on Friday, August 14th.

A crane was used to remove the old pumps

Wet well inspected by scuba diving team

Debris found on the wet well bottom after pumping out sludge

Heading in for intake pipe inspection 

Organic matter sludge pumped out from around intake pipe screen

Beautiful Morning

Photo's of the day:

Sunrise on 8/9 South

Sunrise over the lake looking at 8 South green

2015 Bronze Tree Men's Invitational

A big thank you to my staff who worked so hard to get the golf course looking and playing its best! We hope all members and guests enjoyed their experience and thank everyone for participating.

Day two: 2 South looking sharp with evening shadows

Delicious food prepared by Chef and his team!

Day three: 5 West looking sharp