Fall 2013

Fall is, without a doubt, my favorite time of year. We had a successful golf season and now it is important we get a few major projects done before the snow flies. I was reviewing our greens management program today and was pleased to realize that we completed 13 topdressings on the greens between May and October. This is the most consistent topdressing season we have had since I started working at Indian Creek. Frequent topdressing takes a lot of work, especially on a 27-hole course. My mechanic and assistants worked very hard to help us get the job done. I hope to fit a few more topdressings in this fall and will aim to complete closer to 20 next season.

#3 Red Feather

Fairway aerification and over seeding were completed in the past couple weeks. This year's aerification process was by far the most thorough and aggressive since I started. We pulled 1/2"-1" cores to a depth of 4"-5". Every square foot of fairway was over seeded and aerified.

#4 Black Bird

#7 Black Bird

The next week will be spent fertilizing 120 acres of rough. We will also be spraying all the rough for broad leaf weeds. We also hope to finish up mowing our 50+ acres of natural areas. We are focusing on cleaning these areas up over the winter and throughout next playing season. It will be nice to treat these areas as an aesthetic element of the course as opposed to unmowed waste areas. It may take a season to get a real grasp on the weed control but I think we can take a big step in the right direction over the next 12 months.

 #2 Gray Hawk

Fall color on a Red Oak

Leaf cleanup always becomes a focus as the weather turns and many hours will be spent mulching what we can.

#5 Black Bird

Silt Layer

The weather we have encountered this year has been historically tough, but to this point, we have survived in decent shape. As we begin July, I think it is fair to expect the weather to remain warm which could present us with some challenges on the course.

I would like to revisit a topic I touched on earlier in the year when I was discussing aerification. As you can see above, we are battling a silt layer 3"- 4" below the canopy in some of our greens. The origin of this layer is unknown to me but my guess is there was an erosion event, either wind or water, during the original grow-in in 1991 that carried surrounding silt onto the putting surface. Over the years, the turf canopy has been pushed past this layer through topdressing. Unfortunately, the fact that this layer sits at the depth it does makes it tough to remediate quickly.

The only way to attack this layer is through years of aggressive core aerification, a process we ramped up 1 1/2 years ago. Progress has been made, but the heat and humidity over the last two weeks has exacerbated the effects of this layer. At the moment, the biggest problem we are facing is that the water we are applying through irrigating is getting trapped between this layer and the turf canopy. These wet soils lose the ability to cool down overnight which is keeping soil temps above levels adequate for root health. The wet soils also make the putting surface soft and spongy and prone to mower scalping.

Keeping adequate moisture levels throughout the entire profile depth is tough when most of the water is unable to percolate past this silt layer. Needle tining is typically the best tool to fight this problem during the summer months, but unfortunately this year, the effects of needle tining have not lasted as long as we had hoped. We will most likely begin needle tining on a weekly basis in areas affected by this layer. In addition, we may also increase the frequency of our topdressing routine to help protect the crown of the plant from mower scalping. Due to the high temperatures, this process must be approached carefully as to not cause additional turf stress.

The best medicine right now would be a drop in day & night temperatures and humidity levels. This would allow the soils to dry and cool down to levels conducive for root survival and putting quality. 

Verticutting and Sand Topdressing

Last week we went through the process of verticutting and topdressing our putting greens and I’d like to explain the reasoning behind this.

Verticutting is the use of vertical cutting blades, similar to small circular saw blades, to cut the turf horizontally. This can benefit the putting surface in the following ways:

• It removes lateral shoot growth promoting an upright growing turf stand.
• The energy the plant used to support the lateral shoots can be directed back to the upright shoots and, hopefully, the root system.
• It can increase putting speeds and provide a smoother putting surface.
• It opens the turf canopy allowing topdressing to be worked in. This is very important as we grow in the newer and more aggressive varieties of bentgrass.

Some golf industry professionals would include additional sunlight as a benefit from verticutting but I believe this benefit is minimal and short-lived.

The picture below shows an example of a verticutting unit for a riding greens mower. These units are attached to the mower in place of the normal cutting units. The green is then verticut in the same manner that it would be mowed. This process is immediately followed by a greens mower which picks up the debris removed from the putting surface.

 

 

Once the putting surface is clean of debris, we begin the topdressing process. Topdressing is the application of a thin layer of kiln dried sand which is brushed into the canopy through the channels opened by verticutting. This process benefits the putting surface in the following ways:

• The sand works its way into and dilutes the thatch/organic matter found in the soil profile directly below the canopy.
• It results in a firmer and smooth putting surface. These two traits directly impact the speed of the greens.

Inconsistent and insufficient sand topdressing will result in excessive organic matter accumulation in the soil profile. Excessive organic matter is perhaps the most detrimental characteristic of greens that underperform during the heat and stress of the summer months. Soil with too much thatch/organic matter lacks the ability to drain water and exchange gasses effectively. This results in a compromised root system that is unable to support the turf through periods of stress. The symptoms of excessive thatch/organic matter are also expressed through soft, spongy, and puffy greens surfaces that result in a poor putting surface.

Over the past four years, I have implemented an intense verticutting and topdressing program in hopes of battling the thatch/organic matter that has accumulated in our greens profile. Verticutting and topdressing will take place every 2-3 weeks throughout the spring and into early summer. At the onset of hot summer temperatures, we will remove the verticutting from the process and rely on lighter, more frequent topdressing. This will continue until cooler fall temps allow us to add verticutting back into the fray.