Edging Bunkers

 

Over the last few weeks, we have been working on edging the bunkers on Black Bird. We have the edges cut on all of the bunkers except the right fairway bunker on #3. We want to make some adjustments to the size and shape of this bunker over the winter months so the edge will be addressed at that time. Next, we will be moving to Red Feather and will most likely get to Gray Hawk next spring.

Once all the edges are cut we will go back and repair the areas where the bunker liner has moved up through the sand. It is also at this time that we will replenish any sand that has been removed through the edging process. Below are a few pictures of the process.

 



 

 



Autumn Weed Control

For those of you who take care of your own lawns, the following article could help you prepare your lawn for the winter. The fall is the best time to take care of weeds and give yourself a clean yard entering next year's growing season.

Professional Use: How late is too late to control dandelions and other weeds this fall?Oct 10, 2012
We are now in the prime season for broadleaf weed control starting about September 15, but there is plenty of time in the fall for good, if not even improved, control over earlier applications. Nebraska research in agricultural fields reported in 2003 showed 2,4-D and/or dicamba were more effective in controlling dandelions and Canada thistle when applied 1 to 10 days after the first fall frost than when applied 5 to 11 days before the frost (Wilson and Michaels, 2003). Earlier work by Bruce Branham at Michigan State showed that even though early September applications were effective in controlling broadleaves yet that same fall, September applications were less effective long-term than applications made in October and November (Figure 1). More recent work on ground ivy at Purdue shows that herbicides like triclopyr (Turflon) that are very effective on ground ivy, retain their effectiveness when applied regardless of the first frost and as late as early- to mid-November(Figure 2) (Reicher and Weisenberger, 2007). However, herbicides with lower activity on ground ivy were most effective from Oct 1 through Nov 1, and efficacy decreased outside of this window. This study showed that broadleaf applications should be effective when made into the first week or two of November, but control may not be seen until spring. However, herbicides that contain carfentrazone (FMC’s Quicksilver, PBI Gordons’ Powerzone and Speedzone) will still give a response in 7 to 14 days even when applied in late October or early November. More recent studies at
Purdue were applied in Fall of 2007 used the two most effective herbicides on ground ivy from previous studies, triclopyr (Turflon) and fluroxypyr (Spotlight), and applied them with and without carfentrazone (QuickSilver) on Sept. 15, Oct. 15, and Nov. 15. QuickSilver had similar effects on both herbicides, dramatically improving short-term control from November applications (Figure 3). Though one might suspect that QuickSilver would decrease longterm control because the quick burndown could limit herbicide translocation, QuickSilver did not decrease longterm control from these herbicides as rated the following May (Figure 4). Similar to our previous work, Turflon applied as late as Nov 15 provided over 90% control by the following May of the very difficult-to-control ground ivy .We repeated this research at UNL in fall of 2010 with the then popular herbicide Imprelis, which is now off the market. The same trends occurred, even on the extremely difficult-to-control Nebraska ground ivy (Kohler et al., 2004) (Figure 5 and 6). The take home message is that broadleaf herbicides can be very effective when applied well into the fall. If quick knockdown is required for immediate customer satisfaction in applic ations later in the fall, using products or tank mixes that contain carfentrazone will give a rapid burndown while not decreasing longterm control.

Zac Reicher, Professor, Turfgrass Science, zreicher2@unl.edu

Figure 1. Effect of fall timing of broadleaf herbicides on control rated in Nov after application and again the following May. Note how Sep 24 applications were most effective when rated the following November, but later applications were more effective when rated the following spring (Michigan State 1986).

Figure 2. Three year averages of effects of herbicides applied in fall on ground ivy control when measured in May the
following year. Turflon (triclopyr) or Vista (or Spotlight, common name fluroxpyr) retained effectiveness regardless of
application date, whereas the efficacy of the 2,4-D-based carfentrazone suffered outside of Oct 1 through Nov 1
window. (Purdue 2007).

Figure 3. Short-term control of ground ivy rated in December from Spotlight or Turflon with and without QuickSilver.
Turflon and Spotlight applied in Sept or October provided adequate control by December. Combining QuickSilver with
both products dramatically improved control when applications were made in November (Purdue 2008).

Figure 4. Long-term control of ground ivy rated in May after fall applications of Spotlight or Turflon with and without
QuickSilver. Turflon and Spotlight applied in Sept or October provided excellent long-term control. Triclopyr applied in November provided over 90% control by May. Combining QuickSilver with both products had no statistically
significant effects either positive or negative on long-term control (Purdue 2008).

Figure 5. Short-term control of ground ivy rated on Nov 16 after fall applications of Imprelis or Turflon with and
without QuickSilver. Turflon and Imprelis applied in September, but poor short-term control when applied on 2 Nov.
Combining QuickSilver with either product dramatically improved speed of control when applied in November (Univ of
Nebraska-Lincoln, 2011).

Figure 6. Long-term control of ground ivy rated in May after fall applications of Imprelis or Turflon with and without
QuickSilver. Turflon or Imprelis applied in Sept or November provided excellent long-term control. Combining
QuickSilver with both products had no statistically significant effects on long-term control November (Univ of
Nebraska-Lincoln, 2011).

References:
1. Kohler, E. A., C. S. Throssell and Z. J. Reicher. 2004. Ground ivy (Glechoma hederacea) populations respond differently to
2,4-D or triclopyr. Weed Technology 18(3):566-574.
2. Reicher, Z. J., and Weisenberger, D. V. 2007. Herbicide selection and application timing in the fall affects control of ground
ivy. Online. Applied Turfgrass Science doi:10.1094/ATS-2007-0831-01-RS.
3. Wilson, R. G., and Michiels, A. 2003. Fall herbicide treatments affect carbohydrate content in roots of Canada thistle
(Cirsium arvense) and dandelion (Taraxacum officinale). Weed Sci. 51:299-304.

October Mowing

 

The following article was published by the University of Nebraska and provides tips about maintaining your lawn this fall and preparing it for winter. I thought it could help you all as our growing season comes to an end.

Many people ask how long to continue mowing into the fall. The answer is to keep mowing as long as the grass continues to grow, which is normally into late October or early November. Frequency of mowing can decrease, but continue to mow regularly into the fall. Avoid the urge to set the mower down and scalp your lawn for the final mowing. In years past, publications have recommended mowing low late in the fall. About the only advantage to this is that the tree leaves will blow from your lawn into the neighbor's lawn. Agronomically, mowing your lawn low in the last mowing should be avoided because photosynthesis is occurring deep into the fall, well beyond your last mowing. The higher the photosynthesis, the more energy a grass plant will store for winter and next spring, and the healthier the will be next year. Mowing off too much leaf area reduces photosynthetic capacity of a plant, reducing energy storage, and decreasing turf performance next summer. Regular mowing into the fall is also helpful to mulch tree leaves into the lawn, which research has shown to be beneficial
(http://turf.unl.edu/pdfctarticles/Octmulchtreeleaves.pdf). Continue mowing at your regular height until the grass stops growing in the late fall, since unmowed tall grass can encourage snow mold in rare years.

Zac Reicher, Professor, Turfgrass Science, zreicher2@unl.edu

Gray Hawk Construction Update

 The construction on Gray Hawk will wrap up over the next couple of days. All that remains are "punch list" items and the leveling of a few irrigation heads. All and all, the project went very smoothly.

The dry soils made shaping, grading, and backfilling a bit more difficult, and I will be interested to see if we have more settling this year than in years past.  

Green, tee, and fairway germination rates have been the highest and most consistent we have seen with any of the renovations. We will mow fairways for the second time tomorrow at a height of 1". The more we can mow these fairways, the faster they will reach their desired density. We are pushing them a little more this year by using biweekly foliar Urea applications. The low overnight temperatures expected at the end of this week could slow their progress, but we will have to wait and see.

I couldn't be more pleased with the way greens are growing in. We made a couple of minor changes to the way we prepared the greens to receive seed and they have made all the difference. Greens have been mowed six times and are down to a height of .190". We will start mowing them daily until growth slows and hope to get them down to a height of .150" by the end of the season. Their density gets better by the day. Topdressing and foliar fertilizer applications will be the key to getting the greens as mature as we can before winter. Rolling will also become important as we try and smooth out all the humps and bumps created during the regrassing process.

As the grow in continues, my focus will shift toward tree replacement. With all renovations, there has to be some tree removal and it is important to replace these.  Now that the holes are taking shape and we can envision how they will be played, we can start to add trees. This is one of my favorite aspects of the process. The correct placement of a tree can have a long lasting impact on how the hole looks and plays.

#5 Gray Hawk from 200 yards



#6 Gray Hawk from 300 yards

#7 Gray Hawk from 200 yards

#2 Gray Hawk green 30 days after seeding

#2 Gray Hawk green 30 days after seeding