Early Fall Maintenance Report

 As we head into the fall months, the golf course is starting to recover, after a nice soaking late September rain, from yet another abnormally dry period. In the past year we had a severe drought in September and October of 2022, a very dry period from late May into June, and recently another dry spell with the golf course going over a month with very little precipitation. In meteorology patterns are your friend, and it definitely seems that less rain and drought periods are becoming common. Looking forward another dry week is forecast, and hopefully late October will usher in a season change and produce a typical late fall pattern of increased rainfall.

Aeration

The dry weather has helped the grounds department complete some fall aeration. The greens were aerated on September 5th and the crew battled the very hot conditions and completed it in one day. We have received many questions as to why some aeration holes were bigger than others. In order to complete the core aeration process we needed to use all of the aerators in the fleet. Two of the walk behind aerators are old Jacobson aerators that pull plugs at a tighter spacing but require the use of smaller tines. The John Deere aerator goes much faster and uses bigger tines. Consequently, the Jacobson units used 1/4" tines (the biggest they can handle) and the John Deere aerator used 1/2" tines (the smallest recommended for this unit). All three were utilized in order to aerate the greens in one day. 

Also, another common question was why the holes were not filled completely with sand. Again the time constraint was an issue. We simply do not have enough time in one day to completely fill in the holes. The typical greens aeration procedure starts with pulling the cups, then marking heads, aerating the greens, blowing the core plugs onto the collars, picking up the cores, topdressing with sand, dragging the sand in with a broom mat, watering, fertilizing, and rolling. This is a long process and to get the holes completely filled with sand we need more workers and time to either blow or push the sand into the aeration holes. In addition, the smallest tine size that can be completely filled in with sand is a 1/2". As previously stated only one of the aerator units is equipped to aerate with this size of a tine. Ultimately, core aerating with 1/2" tines and filling them with sand is better for the turf agronomically and will help to heal the putting surfaces quicker leading to better post aeration playing conditions.

Currently the putting greens are fully recovered and rolling at the same speed as they were pre-aeration. The turf over the aeration holes is much greener than the surrounding grass and will be noticed for some time. This is a great example as to why aeration is so beneficial. The green aeration holes are pointing to the fact that the increased oxygen, drainage, and reduced organic matter are improving the conditions over those holes (click here for a USGA article on healed aeration holes and putting conditions). Looking ahead we will be examining possible solutions to improving this practice to help speed up recovery and help increase the agronomic benefits of the procedure.

In addition, aeration has started on other playing surfaces. Aeration of the tees has begun and is taking place when time allows. The fairways will be deep tine solid aerated on October 5th; however, the approaches will be core aerated to utilize lighter equipment around the greens. The south tee has been aerated and rough aeration will occur after tees and fairways. Also, a reminder in early November the driving range will be set up for mats only to let the turf recover from the season-more on this on a later post.

Aeration of the greens begins at 5:00 AM with lights.

Blowing off cores on #5 green.

Cores on #11 green. Photo courtesy of Josh Ward.

Topdressing after aerification. 6 cuft/1,000 sqft was used-around 25 tons of sand total. In order to fill in aeration holes double this rate must be used.

Cores picked up after aeration. Estimating this is around 30-40 tons of  cores.

#12 green took a bit longer to recover due to its location, soil profile type, and using the 1/2" tines.

Aerating the south practice tee.

 

Tree Roots

Late summer and early fall are the perfect times of year to see the negative impacts trees have on turf. The depleted water table along with the hot temperatures and high humidity force the trees and turf to compete for available moisture. Most of the time the big tree roots win the battle and this produces a noticeable brown ring around many of the pin oaks and other large trees on the property.

Earlier this year, I put together some numbers to quantify how much water these large trees are using up during the summer season. Using a formula based on tree canopy width, it is estimated that around 30% of the water from irrigation or rainfall is being utilized by tree roots. The champion overcup oak alone uses around 600 gallons a day. This equates to about an inch of water needed per week to maintain its health and vigor. Of course this is the biggest tree on the property; however, there are many large pin oaks located throughout the grounds and with their root systems stretching under the turf around the entire golf course the enormous amount of water needed for both to survive comes into focus. 

When the cost of watering, pruning, storm cleanup, fall leaf cleanup, tree removals, daily blowing off debris on playing surfaces and over seeding under tree canopies comes together it represents a hefty part of the grounds budget. In addition a healthy urban canopy should only be around 10% of a particular tree genre on a given property. This means that there should only be 10% maples, or 10% oaks on the course. Currently, we have 40-50% of the country club's tree canopy comprised of pin oaks. We have seen in the past, with diseases like Dutch elm disease, and insects like the emerald ash borer what having too many of one kind of tree can do to a property. Currently, there has been some concern with oak wilt showing up around the tri state and we are monitoring the club property for this particular disease. It mainly affects oaks in the red oak family (this includes pin oaks) but it also can infest other families of oaks.  An outbreak could be devastating to say the least.  

As the trees continue to increase in size I believe a conversation needs to be had about removing some of the trees, especially in high priority turf areas, for the overall health of the trees/turf on the property and to ensure the grounds budget is utilized properly.

Pin oak by #13 green tee. Notice the brown turf under the tree's critical root zone. Every year this becomes noticeable in late summer/early fall.

Ash tree sucking up moisture on #3 blue tee.

Pin oaks depleting moisture on the right of #16 fairway.

Benefits of Maintenance

Dr. Bill Kreuser wrote an interesting article a few years ago about the importance golf course maintenance (click here for the blog post). In the article he discuses how increased maintenance practices affected the Jim Ager Memorial Golf Course-a nine hole public course located in Nebraska. At the end of 2014 little to no maintenance had been performed over many years at the detriment to the golf course. Agronomic practices such as sand topdressing and aeration were eliminated, because of finances and inconvenience to the golf schedule, which greatly reduced the quality of the putting surfaces allowing high amounts of moss, algae, thatch, and soil hydrophobicity. Diseases such as pythium root rot and anthracnose became common and killed many areas of turf. With decreased rounds and deteriorating playing conditions the leadership decided to invest more time and money into golf course maintenance. A five year plan was agreed upon and basic agronomic practices were implemented. Topdressing of the putting surfaces, plant growth regulator applications, aeration, verticutting, and smart fungicide and fertilizer applications were executed. After 5 years the results were astounding. The rounds increased from 12,000 to 22,600 annually, revenue expanded substantially, the green's speed and firmness increased, and most importantly golfer's playing experience was enhanced.

This article outlined, clearly, the benefits of having and being able to implement a sound maintenance program. Over the last couple years the Green Committee has helped to make this more of a priority for the WHCC golf course with good results. Recently we have received a couple questions as to why the club is closed until later on Mondays or why some Tuesdays mornings after outings are blocked off for maintenance. In short, the grounds crew needs this time in order to implement agronomic practices that will help the playability and condition of the WHCC golf course. Topdressing, spraying, aerating, verticutting, etc.., are very important and as Bill Kreuser's article describes, are necessary practices. It is impossible to accomplish these cultural practices with shotgun starts or early tee times. We hope everyone understands the importance of these procedures and helps to keep time in the golf calendar for much needed maintenance.

Horticulture/Projects

The summer annuals performed well this year. Some annuals such as petunias and marigolds fell victim to phytophthora root rot and needed to be replaced. Fall annuals are beginning to dot the landscape with peppers, mums, and kale making an appearance in some of the pots and landscape beds. The weather right now is still warm, but shortly the cooler temperatures will prevail and these annuals can tolerate the cooler weather better than the summer flowers. October is a good month to take in the full grown annual display before the cold November nights bring about its demise.

The red oak tree in the landscape bed by the fountain is scheduled to be removed on October 30th. This tree has outgrown its location and is in decline due to the limited root space that location provides. It also drops much debris into the fountain and parking lot area. After removal, a new design will take its place including flowering shrubs, bulbs, and annuals. It should open this space up and provide a new updated look for the fountain club yard.

Other landscape projects are being discussed with the Green Committee such as adding landscaping to the right of #12 tee and replacing the taxus bushes behind #17 green and #2 tee. I will update upon approval.

On the horizon tee leveling is set to take place in late October. The exact tees to be leveled are still being worked out.

 A tree assessment will be completed in early October to determine the health of the existing trees and the removal of diseased/dying trees. Once approved this will be completed during the winter months.

Mums being planted by the front entrance.

White mums planted to replace bubble gum petunias that succumbed to phytophthora root rot.

Declining red oak by the fountain scheduled to be removed. If you zoom in the declining canopy becomes evident. It could be saved with expensive treatments and pruning; however, due to its limited root capacity and its location it is recommended for removal.

Fall is a busy time for the grounds department. Overall, barring any unforeseen setback, we feel the golf course has emerged from the hot summer months in good shape. The fall maintenance, along with fall fertilization, will help the turf fully recover from the high volume of rounds and hot temperatures. Also, this will help the turf survive the cold winter season and aid in good spring time recovery. Thanks for your patience as we strive to implement procedures that will greatly improve conditions leading to better play and happier golfers.

Brad Piecuch

Grounds Superintendent