Turf Status Test

This photo was taken 24 hours after we began our "super scientific" test to determine the effects the winter weather has had on our turf. Yesterday we removed a plug from #1 Gray Hawk green, #1 Gray Hawk fairway, and #2 Black Bird fairway, placed the plugs on a growing medium (sand), provided water and heat and waited for any signs of life.

#1 Gray Hawk was chosen as a location for plug removal based on the fact that it is one of the course's most exposed areas. #2 Black Bird was selected as a location for plug removal based solely on the eye test. The fairway seems to have a different look in regards to turf color and turf stand integrity.

After 24 hours, we didn't seen any green up in the ryegrass plugs and just a little bit in the bentgrass plugs. I wasn't surprised by the lack of green up in the ryegrass plugs. Twenty-four hours is a short window of time and the turf was very dormant. The visible green up overnight in the bentgrass plug, however, was surprising and unexpected.

These plugs are only a very small snapshot of the golf course and most likely will not represent the facility as a whole. We will need more time before we can determine the overall health of these plugs and will keep you posted.

Summer Employment Opportunities

Spring is quickly approaching and before long, the course will be filled with golfers and we will have more work to do than time to complete it. As we prepare for the season, we are starting to fill our seasonal positions. Finding hard-working and dependable people to work during the golf season is always difficult and seems to get more so every year. You would be doing the golf course a favor by spreading the word that we are hiring to anyone you may know that would have interest in golf course work. Please have them contact me at 402.289.0901.

We have a few of our typical seasonal positions open, but have also created a couple new positions for the coming season.



The first new position would be for two people to mow the rough on Thursday and Sunday evenings. In past years, we made three mower passes around each fairway on Monday and Friday morning –  a process we call "swaths". The goal of this was to provide less penal rough right along the fairway while we focused on the rest of the "outside rough." One issue that frequently arises with this mowing schedule is by Monday and Friday morning, the turf adjacent to the fairways is long and wet and the mowing process results in a mess. Inevitably, we end up having to blow or drag the clippings. This clean up process is time-consuming, rarely works well, and uses up additional manpower. The other issue we run into, especially on a busy Friday, is getting caught by golfers. Once we get caught by golf, the opportunity to come back and remove clippings is gone. This leaves a less than ideal playing surface and a sloppy appearance on the course.

My hope is that by mowing these areas the evening before, when things are dry, we will have little or no mess to clean up and no need to run the rough mowers around fairways on Monday and Friday. Of course, we have golf to work around during the evenings but we have a mow pattern in place that will eliminate almost all repeat contact with golf groups. The goal is for the golfer to see the mower, at most, once per nine hole round.

This would be a great position for a retiree looking to keep busy or for someone that wants to make a few extra bucks and enjoy the golf benefits that come with working on the course.



The other positions we are always looking to fill are the dedicated weekend positions. We need a lot of workers for a short period of time on the weekends to get ahead of the 6:30 am three tee start. I like to have a handful of people that are willing to work a few hours on Saturday and Sunday only. Juggling the vacations, sports, family, and summer school schedules of the regular seasonal crew is very difficult and the dedicated weekenders help fill gaps and keep a consistent work force on the course. These positions will require a bit more physical output than the evening mowing positions and may require spending some afternoons hand-watering, but are still a great position.
Again, please contact me at the shop if you or anyone you know would have any interest in joining the maintenance crew for the golf season.

Clarification on Drought

I received some input from a blog reader that made me realize I did a poor job of explaining my concerns over the lack of winter moisture. I appreciate any and all feedback to my posts. In fact, the reason this site was created was to open the lines of communication between the golfer and our department. Keep them coming! Thanks for the input and I hope this clears up any confusion.

Comment from the reader:

"Brian Fuchs, a climatologist with the National Drought Mitigation Center, housed at the University of Nebraska-­Lincoln, said the dry winter is not yet something to fret over, for several reasons:

• Winter is the driest time of year, he said, so when less-than-normal moisture falls, the deficits aren't that large.
• The soil is frozen, so any snow that melts now can't be absorbed anyway.  
• Last fall, rain and some snow replenished dry soil with moisture before the ground froze. That water is still locked up in the ground, he said, and will be available for growing plants at spring thaw.

 And those cracks appearing in yards and parks? They aren't a sign that the ground is parched, he said. The cracks are formed because the soil was wet when it froze. If the soil were dry, he said, it wouldn't be cracking.

Of greater concern would be a lack of rain during the growing season, Fuchs said. For now, there are no discernible clues in climate patterns about whether spring and early summer will be rainy, he said."

First and foremost everything the reader mentioned above is absolutely true. However, it does not relate directly to where our concern lies. It is important to understand that we aren't as interested in moisture deep within the soil profile as we are with moisture that is available to above ground parts of the plant (leaves and crowns). This makes the inability for snow melt to penetrate frozen soils somewhat irrelevant in regards to preventing winter desiccation. What snow and winter hand-watering does do is provide moisture directly to the above ground parts of the plant that lose it due to evapotranspiration. If the crown of the plant dies, then the entire plant dies. Snow cover also helps cover the plant protecting it from desiccation that is exacerbated by dry winter winds.

As for the crack in the ground what was stated is true but not complete. I spoke with Brian Fuchs and I was told that a portion of his interview was omitted by the OWH in which he mentioned cracks in the ground are caused by both wet and dry soils. It has found that in turfgrass settings, especially sand based putting greens, the cracks in the ground can very easily be attributed to dry soil conditions. With the lack of moisture, high winds, and periods of warmth we have experienced this winter the upper few inches of the soil profile could very well be under drought stress. He mentioned turfgrass and winter wheat crops have had a very difficult winter and winter kill is expected throughout Nebraska.

It is always important to understand that most widely published articles are going to be generic in their  information. They will speak to broad generalizations, not site specific information. There are countless micro climates and soil types through out the state and each one will react differently.

I included an article from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln that may clear things up further. Again thanks for the input I really enjoy this stuff.

Extension is a Division of the Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln cooperating with the Counties and the United States Department of Agriculture. University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension education programs abide with the nondiscrimination policies of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and the United States Department of Agriculture.

Warm winter with no snow cover could increase desiccation damage
January 17, 2014  The warm and windy weather with rare snow cover so far this winter is increasing the chance for desiccation damage in cool-season turf on lawns, sports turf, and golf courses. Desiccation occurs when the roots cannot supply enough water to the dormant/semi-dormant plant to keep up with the amount of water lost through the leaves and crowns. Any environmental factor that increases water loss will increase desiccation damage. The recent warm temperatures increase evaporation from the plant and soil surface, and water loss is magnified by high winds. Desiccation injury is usually greatest on exposed or elevated sites (Fig. 1), with high sand concentrations (low water holding capacity) in the soil profile, and/or areas where surface runoff is great. Winter desiccation injury to turfgrass is common in Nebraska and the north central US when snow cover is not maintained throughout the winter. Over the long term, windbreaks can help to slow the wind across an area and encourage longer snow cover. In the short term, a wide variety of turf covers, from fabrics to snow fences to late-season topdressing can help prevent desiccation. Rainfall late into the fall helps reduce desiccation damage (not with this year’s dry fall in Nebraska and the North Central states). Winter irrigation where feasible can help maintain plant and soil moisture and also minimize damage from desiccation. As we stand now in Jan. 2014, we would recommend irrigation if possible to help reduce potential damage on exposed greens, and perhaps on tees or other high value turf like sports fields.

For more information on the complexities of winterkill, refer to the March 8, 2011 Turf iNfo at http://turf.unl.edu/pdfctarticles/march%20winterkill.pdf
Zac Reicher, Professor, Turfgrass Science, zreicher2@unl.edu  Bill Kreuser, Assistant Professor and Turfgrass Extension Specialist, wkreuser2@unl.edu

Winter Desiccation Damage



Drought

I took this picture to illustrate just how dry things have gotten this year. This is the transition from green to collar on 5 Gray Hawk. This will seal back up as the soils warm and are able to take up moisture, but this is something I haven't seen in my time as a superintendent. We tank watered the greens last week to keep the crowns and leaves of the plant from desiccating and if we miss out on the moisture predicted over the next week we will be out watering again soon. Unfortunately we don't have the ability to water much more than the greens. I hope this winter weather isn't a foreshadowing of what the growing season has in store for us.

Winter Tree Work

A big focus for us this winter is the removal of unhealthy trees and trees that have an adverse effect on any valuable turf areas.

Grinding stumps



In order to keep our tree population as free from disease and pests as possible, it is important to remove any trees that show irreversible signs of decline. The removal of these trees eliminates host sites for pests and removes any disease pathogens from the course. This practice will become ever more valuable as we try to fend off the approaching Emerald Ash Borer.

Another important reason to manage the tree population is to provide ideal growing conditions for trees that we deem highly valuable . Its very common to have a number of large trees planted too close to each other. Many times it is important to thin out a few of these trees to provide space for the healthier trees to mature properly.

Here you can see the effects of trees planted too close. Neither of these trees will meet their full potential and one or the other will most likely have to be removed sooner than later.

Lastly, but probably most importantly, the removal of strategic trees can improve turf quality. Not only do tree roots steal valuable nutrients and moisture, but they also impede air flow and help create micro climates that are ripe for disease.

Personally, I love trees and their role on a golf course so it is important to me that we keep as many trees as we possible. It is also very important we continue to develop and implement good tree health programs so the trees we have can continue to thrive.

 

 

The guys have been working hard chipping what we have dropped over the last couple years.

 



Dessication and Direct Cold Temperature Injury

Lately I have frequently been asked how I think the course is overwintering. Although I feel we have overwintered well to this point, there are some issues that have me very concerned.

The most pressing of the concerns is winter desiccation. Desiccation occurs when roots cannot provide enough water to replace what the crowns and shoots loose. We have been without any measurable moisture for far too long. Combine this lack of moisture with high temps an winds and we are approaching  a time for concern. With no measurable moisture in any long term forecasts we may have no other option than to start hand watering the greens next week. We will haul water to the greens in our sprayers and apply by hand.  This is a time consuming process but the possible benefits make it worth while. I would love to use the irrigation system to supplement the tees, fairways, and rough but that could be at a huge cost to the integrity of the underground piping. The freezing temps would wreak havoc on a charge irrigation system and the costs of repair would far exceed the cost of reseeding any winter damage.

Winter desiccation damage. Notice the wheel tracking. Keeping traffic off these areas is very important.



There are risks to dormant watering that we must be aware of however. Too much supplemental water could provide enough moisture to the plant to catalyze both intracellular and extracellular ice formation. Anytime we experience warm weather coupled with too much available moisture, the crown of the plant runs the risk of hydrating. If this warm weather is followed by a dramatic drop in temperature, there is a risk of ice formation within the plant. The rapid formation of Intracellular ice (ice within the cell) causes mechanical damage to the cell wall and results in cell death. The formation of Extracellular ice (ice between the cell walls) is an equilibrium process meaning that the formation of ice between the cells pulls water from within the cell causing cell desiccation. This desiccation over time can result in a weakened and damaged cell. The correction application of water is very important.

Another issue that concerns me is that these extremely cold stretches we have experienced this year have all been preceded by a short stretch of above-average temperatures. This last arctic blast was proceeded by a couple days in the 50's and 60's and along with those temps came the melting of what little snow cover we had.

The loss of snow cover compounds many issues. The most obvious is that we lose the protective and insulting benefits that snow cover gives us. Snow cover provides good protection to the plant from the extreme cold temperatures as well as the desiccating winter winds. With as little moisture as we have had over the last few seasons, any protection from desiccation is very important.



Fortunately this is not our course but is an example of freezing injury on turfgrass.



Bentgrass has the ability to withstand much lower temperatures than ryegrass so, unlike with desiccation, my initial concern is not for the greens but for the fairways. My level of concern is not alarming at this point because I am not sure that these previous periods of warmth were long enough to cause hydration and it has been so dry. Also the fact that they happened in the dead of winter when the plant was at its highest level of dormancy versus the spring when the plant is preparing to break dormancy will hopefully help our case. On that same note however, it appears we are going to have temperatures well above normal in the near future. If these high temperatures linger long enough and there is sufficient moisture, we could have a problem on our hands.

Preventing winter damage can be very difficulty since our control options are extremely limited. Predicting winter damage is also very difficult. We will do our best to protect everything we can and wait for spring to see the results of what is shaping up to be a difficult winter. Pray for some snow.

Trailer Fabrication

I would like to thank Randy Robbins and Kurtis Burden for designing and fabricating a trailer for the maintenance crew to use. They took an old pull-behind tank sprayer, gutted it, and repurposed it for use as an on-course trailer. We now have the ability to haul extremely heavy equipment anywhere on the course.

This will really pay off when we reach the aerification/venting processes. Transporting our greens aerifier from one hole to the next is very time consuming and limits our ability to needle time during the summer months. This trailer helps alleviate that issue and makes the process much more convenient.

These are the behind-the-scenes processes that often times go unnoticed and, as a result, unappreciated by the golfer. Not only did these guys save the golf course money we would have used to buy a new trailer, but they also saved us time working on the course and, as we all know, time is money.