New VFD for Pump Station

After nearly 20 years of service, the variable frequency drive (VFD) that controls the motors in the Gray Hawk pump station finally gave out and we had to replace it with a Watertronics VFD panel. The old drive gave out  a few months ago, but we were forced to limp along until we felt the weather could provide us with a couple days where we could survive solely off of the Red Feather pump station. Much to my surprise, against all historical weather odds, we experienced that perfect weather scenario in the middle of July. 

 

The old drive worked well, but finally showed its age and gave out.

 

A VFD is a device that directs the speed of an electric motor by controlling the frequency and voltage supplied to the electric motor. A motor's speed, measured in RPM's, is directly controlled by frequency, measured in Hertz. If the pump station is not watering at maximum capacity, there is no need for the motors to run at full speed. The VFD is programmed to react to my water needs and control the pump motors speed accordingly. The VFD will control the speed of the motor by controlling the frequency and voltage provided to the motor. A system like this is much more energy efficient and economical.

The new Watertronics drive weighs close to 2,000 lbs.

Installation of the VFD went through a hole in the pump station roof.



 

As you can see below, a panel like this varies quite dramatically from anything you might see in a residential setting and it requires a good technician to install, calibrate, and maintain. Andy Jones of Midwest Pump and Fountain out of Kansas City was onsite to oversee the install and start up of the new drive. The entire process took about a day and a half and the system has run smoothly ever since.

We had the same Watertronics VFD installed in the Red Feather pump station during the course renovation in 2011 and, outside of a cooling fan malfunction, it has worked flawlessly. Drives like this are not cheap and a lot of planning goes into the fabrication and installation of the unit itself, so we are very fortunate and grateful to have these drives controlling our stations. 



 

 The finished product

A huge thanks to Watertronics, Midwest Pump and Fountain, and Century Electric for getting this accomplished in such short order.



Needle Tine

What a wonderful week of below normal temperatures. We are coming off the weekend of the Indian Creek Invite and this cool weather really allows any stressed turf a chance to recover. We rolled a few extra times last week in preparation for the event so we are venting the greens this morning. We use 1/4" diameter needle tines at 3" spacing and 4" depth. We immediately follow that with one pass of a light weight roller to smooth out the surface and then we leave them alone. 

 

Venting allows for gas exchange and increased water infiltration. When air temperatures are as cool as they are this week this process also allows for some temperature regulation in the soil.

 

Of all the management practices we have implemented in our greens program the last two years there is nothing that has had a greater impact then consistent and well timed venting.

 

The process is minimally invasive and doesn't have any great impact on puttability besides slowing the speed down a little bit. We will roll the greens again Wednesday and return to a normal mowing pattern by Thursday. This is a process we try and do every 14-21 days. In this case we are 8 days removed from the last venting process but with weather as nice as it is and coming off of a tournament weekend the timing couldn't be better for another round.

Too Much Rain

2014 has been a particularly wet year thus far, and the cumulative effects of this moisture are starting to show up. If given the choice of having to deal with either wet or dry weather conditions, I would choose dry conditions every single time. Dry conditions allow us to supplement moisture with irrigation, whereas our ability to remedy wet conditions is extremely limited.

To allow the plant to properly perform its metabolic functions, the soil must be able to breath. Saturated soils do not have any capacity to exchange the gasses used or produced by the plants metabolic processes. Saturated soils can result in decreased levels of O2, which is the gas that plays a role in hundreds of metabolic processes. In addition, a buildup of toxic compounds such as sulfides and CO2 have been reported in saturated soils.

Denitrification is a symptom of saturated soils which we have observed on the golf course this year. Denitrification is a process that turns nitrate into nitrogen dioxide and dinitrogen gasses that are unavailable to the plant. This process is catalyzed by microbes that function in low soil oxygen environments.

Suspected denitrification and low soil oxygen symptoms

Here you can see the exact path the water takes as it drains.

The two photos above show the same areas after a few days of dry, cool weather and an application of a soluble fertilizer.

Saturated soils usually result in higher summertime soil temperatures. Although wet soils may take longer to heat up due to water’s higher specific heat they also take much longer to cool down due to water’s higher heat capacity. This can result in a sustained soil temperature above preferred  levels for optimal turf health.

Another issue we encounter with an abundance of moisture is disease. Wet and warm weather conditions create a prime environment for most turfgrass diseases. An ill-timed rain event could force an unplanned fungicide application, costing the golf course tens of thousands of dollars.

An additional nuisance effect of all the rain has been the need to keep golfers on the cart paths. At this point, soils are so saturated that even small amounts of precipitation have forced us to employ cart restrictions. I understand that this is an inconvenience and can really slow down play, but because of all the things I have touched on above, the plant is in a weakened state and is less capable of handling traffic stress. It is important to keep all carts off the turf until the surface has dried out.

If water is being displaced by the cart, it's still too wet.

An excellent question I was asked last weekend was "Why are we on paths and another particular course is not?" There are a number of factors to deal with in this situation. Moisture totals from storms can vary greatly from place to place. We have had storms this year that have dropped 7" in some parts of town, and “only” 2" in other parts of town. We have had situations in the past where one side of the course had significant rain totals and the other half did not. In this case, the course we were being compared to was 26 miles from our location and received 0.12" of moisture vs. our 0.50". The difference between cart restrictions and no restrictions could be as small as a couple tenths of an inch so these seemingly minute differences are important.

Also,  keep in mind that all golf courses have different soil types, topography, and drainage systems, which influence their ability to handle water. Some courses topdress fairways, which allows the water to percolate through the profile and away from the surface faster. And, some courses don't have cart paths, so cart restrictions aren't an option. I can promise you that cart restriction decisions are my least favorite decision to make. I thank you for your patience throughout this wet season and hope it starts to dry up a little bit.



Why No Intermediate Cut of Rough

Every spring a concern about rough height and density becomes an issue and the question "why don't we have an intermediate cut of rough" comes up. Playability is very important to us and our goal is to provide a challenging and fair golf course that a golfer of any caliber can enjoy. Catering to the high and low handicappers at the same time is a very difficult challenge. In addition to that challenge, our course, as with any business or household has to operate within certain budget constraints and what we try to do is provide the best (and fairest) playing conditions within those constraints.

That being said, why not have an intermediate cut? Essentially, it comes down to two things: cost and time. Years ago, there was a first cut of rough mowed three times a week with a five-deck contour mower, and green and tee complexes were mowed at a different height, with our other contour mower. The problem we continuously encountered was being unable to keep up on green and tee complexes using only one mower. The grass in these areas was always too long and once mowed, it was messy and produced poor playing conditions around the greens. We had to prioritize what was more important: a first cut around the rough, or a shorter, more manageable rough around the green? We chose the green complexes.

To solve this problem, we converted the intermediate rough mower into a tee complex mower and dedicated the other contour mower to green complexes. This allowed us to get all green and tee complexes mowed twice a week, providing a cleaner and more playable scenario around greens. The obvious downside to this plan is it leaves us unable to mow an intermediate cut between the fairway and the rough. This issue is exacerbated this year due to the moisture and decent growing weather we have had recently. In a normal year, heat and/or moisture stress would have already started thinning out the rough. Be patient I still expect this to happen as we get deeper into the summer season.

Why not get a new mower and start cutting this intermediate rough again? We actually tried to do this with our 60" zero turn mower last year, but  the results were ugly. For those of you who play the course regularly and find yourself in the rough often, you are aware that the grading in our rough is, well, rough. This uneven grading makes it very difficult to get a good cut with a mower that doesn't have independent floating decks. When we tried our zero turn, we dropped the height a mere 1/2" and mowed around a couple of holes, scalping more turf than we felt was acceptable. To do this correctly, we need the right mower. The contour or rough mowers we have found the most success with retail anywhere from $35,000 up to $74,000 a piece. On top of the cost of equipment, we would have the cost of an additional employee, fuel, equipment maintenance costs and time.

This is definitely a hot topic of discussion and one that we are genuinely including in our conversation about the future. No process we have in place is necessarily permanent and there is always room for change and improvement. Unfortunately, the cost of changing this process prevents it from being one we can address immediately. We will continue to look for ways to mitigate the problem in the meantime.

We could always change our layout to mimic the #2 course at Pinehurst. They have two mowing heights:  1) greens height, and 2.) everything else. :)

Lastly, I had a cool opportunity to contribute to the NGA's Nebraska Golfer publication that was sent out last week. Here is the link to that article.

http://www.nebgolf.org/nebraska_golfer/ngaedition4/index.html

The link below will take you to an article written to help the golfer understand the goal and vision of Pinehurst's #2 Course renovation. In regard to aesthetics, agronomics, and playability the site of last weeks U.S. Open was a far cry from venues of the past. Some liked it some didn't and I myself am on the fence. Regardless of preference the big picture thinking that went into this course renovation and set up is intriguing.

http://www.turfnet.com/page/news.html/_/commentary-us-open-brings-topic-of-sustainable-golf-to-the-masses-finally-r330

Course Recovery and Going Ons

With the warm temperatures and ample moisture we have received the last couple of weeks, the course has continued to recover well. My guess is that we are at 85% compared to where we were last fall. Increasing fairway and approach/roll-off density is what we will continue to work on.

 

#1 Gray Hawk - April 7th

 #1 Gray Hawk - May 11th

#1 Gray Hawk - June 9th

#1 Black Bird- April 7th

 #1 Black Bird -May 11th

 #1 Black Bird -June 9th

The week of May 26th was somewhat nerve-racking. The heat and humidity that week provided conditions perfect for an outbreak of the disease called “damping off.” In a normal year, with mature turf, I wouldn't be concerned about this particular disease, but juvenile turf plants under high fertility programs are the perfect host. Not wanting our recovery process to lose ground, we applied a preventative control product and made it through unaffected. This is by far the earliest in the season that I have ever pulled this particular product off the shelf. Hopefully we won’t need it again until pythium season gets underway.

The fallen cottonwood tree on #6 Gray Hawk has been cleaned up, for the most part. There are still a few branches in the lake and a giant stump that needs to be ground out, and that work will continue this week. Fortunately, we dodged a bullet last week when the hail storms in the area missed the golf course. I know of a couple of courses in the area were hit hard by these storms and repairing hail damaged greens is an incredible challenge. If you play a course that happens to have any storm damage, please try to be understanding and patient. I assure you they are working hard to get things back in shape.



#6 Gray Hawk (after tree cleanup)

Because last week’s storm missed us, we have been afforded some time to catch up on things that the spring recovery and tornado clean up had prevented us from addressing earlier. We are using every resource we have to keep up with the rough mowing. This is a full-time job and the guys are doing what they can to keep up. Once again, I have to ask everyone to please be patient (I realize I sound like a broken record). A spring flush of growth is natural and lately it has been exacerbated by high moisture and good growing temperatures. The turf will naturally slow its growth with the onset of summer heat. I can assure you we are not mowing it any higher height than we have in the last eight years nor are we fertilizing it any more than normal.

We have started edging bunkers again and this will be a season long process. We never found the time to do this last year, so it is a definite point of emphasis for this season.

On a less positive note, a couple of weeks ago (on a Tuesday) we had golfers vandalize some greens. Here is a picture of the damage that was found on the greens of #8 and #9 Red Feather. If anyone has any information that leads to these people being caught, there is a reward. Going forward, anyone that provides information leading to any individual who has vandalized the course is eligible for a reward. Details of this new "crime stoppers" system can be found at the pro shop. Thanks for your help.







Continued Recovery / Storm Photos

For the first time this year, we are finally seeing significant seed germination and growth. The course has made a great deal of improvement over the last week and a half.

We have quite a few fairway and tee complexes that have recovered well and we will try to get them back on a normal maintenance program immediately. We will be bringing the mowing heights down, pulling back the water, initiating growth regulator programs, and trying to increase density. As for the fairways still in recovery mode, we will continue to mow them at 0.80" and keep them on a heavy watering cycle to protect the young turf from desiccation. Spot seeding will most likely continue for the time being. We are literally seeing improvement on a daily basis so we hope to see the course continue to improve at a fairly rapid pace.

#1 Black Bird (early April)

#1 Black Bird (May 19)

 

#1 Gray Hawk (early April)

#1 Gray Hawk (May 19)

I would like to take a minute to tell you how much we appreciate the patience you have all shown. We allowed carts off the paths a couple weeks ago, on the condition that everyone remain off the fairways. I would be lying if I said I was completely comfortable with that decision, but everyone has been incredibly respectful of the restrictions. We cannot thank you enough.

We have decided to allow carts to enter the fairways beginning Friday, May 23rd. There are still some thin areas to watch out for so a heightened awareness and careful driving on your part would help us out a lot. There are also a few fairways that will remain off limits to cart traffic so your cooperation will be greatly appreciated.

On a more serious note, I am sure you are aware that the golf course took a direct hit from a tornado last week. The aftermath of this unexpected event has really kept us busy, so I hope to have a blog update with a description of the damage soon. In the meantime, here are a few photos.