Club House Lawn Expansion

Here we begin the process of extending the lawn so that it is now level
Here we have begun adding topsoil

Reconfiguring irrigation system

Adding topsoil and compacting

Sod has been layed, now we wait until spring for the finishing touches

Aeration: A breath of fresh air for greens

Greens Aerification at Glenwild

As the golf course here at Glenwild enters its tenth (10^th) year of play, I thought that it would be a great opportunity to begin a dialog with the membership about our maintenance practices. Many have asked the question, "Why do we aerify greens?" Since this practice started, it has been a question asked by every golfer, multiple times.

I have been fortunate to be the Golf Course Superintendant at Glenwild since its inception including the construction and grow in phases. Over the past ten years, it has been my responsibility to protect and maintain this great golf course. As the golf course matures, our procedures and practices will change with the challenges associated with an aging golf course.

The reputation of any good facility can be attributed to the condition of its greens. Consistency, speed, and health of the surface are the hallmarks of good greens. To that end aerification is the most important practice performed to maintain and promote healthy putting surfaces. Here at Glenwild, we have A4 Creeping bentgrass on our greens, which is widely recognized as the grass that creates the best possible putting surface. However, A4 has its challenges as well. Mainly that it produces the most thatch (dead plant matter left behind from old stems and stolons), meaning it needs more aggressive maintenance including more frequent aerification. The need for aerification comes from a number of factors that negatively affect healthy bentgrass. The aerification process removes thatch, relieves compaction, provides oxygenation to the roots, allows for better drainage, and helps relieve other environmental stresses mostly pertaining to plant diseases. Simply put, if Glenwild didn't aerify and keep up with our current practices, we wouldn't have very good greens for long.

In years past, we have experimented with both core and linear aerification. Linear aerification cuts straight lines in the greens which removes more thatch than regular core aerification. This practice, although great for removing thatch has a longer recovery period. In past years, we would linear aerify the greens the 1^st week of August. This schedule of linear aerification did a great job of removing thatch, but was very disruptive for play and was slow to heal. In order to keep our prime playing conditions for as long as possible, we have opted for core aerification in September and October.

A4 is the biggest thatch producer of all the bentgrasses making its necessary to aerify a minimum of 2 times per season. Fall is the best time to complete this process due to warmer soil temperatures and a more consistent weather pattern. The benefits of fall aerification are two-fold. It provides time for the greens to heal / regenerate and gives us the opportunity to open the course earlier in the spring to better playing conditions.

The older courses in the area have less of a need to aerify as much as we do because they do not have the new generation of bentgrasses. Much of their putting surfaces are Poa annua, a grass which requires less aerification but provides an inconsistent surface susceptible to additional stresses. The newer courses in the area have the latest generation of grasses with the exception of Promontory's Dye course. These courses based on their soil conditions, location, budget or other factors may choose to not aerify using the same schedule we have here at Glenwild, but in my professional opinion will eventually end up having problems like Summer Patch disease, a fungus that can wipe out large areas of the greens.

It is my recommendation that in order to have great greens as long as possible throughout the season we should stay on the current maintenance schedule. I have been proud of the product that our staff has consistently produced over the past ten years. If you have any questions or are interested in learning about our procedures please give me a call at 435-615-7632.

 

See You on the Course!
David G. Willis, CGCS

 

 

New Ball Drop on #17

Tenacity

Tenacity is a product we have been experimenting with over the last couple of years. This coming season we should have much better results in our effort to kill and control Poa annua in the Kentucky bluegrass. We have based our experimenting and applications on recent studies done at the University of Illinois.

This product works by removing the chlorophyll within the plant essentially starving the plant and causing it to turn whitish in color. This coming spring we will take one of 2 approaches to restore the areas with dead Poa annua. We will either; remove the dead grass and replace it with new sod, or we will push the growth the Kentucky bluegrass with fertilization and slit seeding to fill in thin areas.

Why are we spraying this product? Simply said, to control the Poa annua. Poa annua is a very invasive weed that has the ability to take over a turf stand. It can be invasive in the fairways, rough or greens. The most crucial area to control Poa annua is on putting surfaces. Poa annua grows quicker than bentgrass, it is a prolific seed producer, it is very susceptible to many turf grass diseases and temperature stresses, these traits make it vulnerable for an easy death. During last year's US Open at Pebble Beach many of the pros complained about these negative effects. The quicker growth causes a very bumpy uneven putting surface which commonly nocks the ball off line while it's tracking towards the hole. By removing large stands of Poa annua in the fairways this allows the Kentucky bluegrass to dominate which in turn allows us to be less dependent on spraying fungicides in the fall, saving us money and being more environmentally friendly, while at the same time providing better esthetics, playing surface and healthier turf.

I specifically chose which parts of the golf course to apply this product so that the Poa annua can be attacked over the course of 2 or 3 years. This will lessen the negative effect of large turf areas being dead come early spring and summer. We sprayed fairways 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 11, the upper half of 13 and 17. All green approaches were sprayed along with all the tee boxes. Come late May we will finish spraying the greenbanks (the areas surrounding the greens). In August we will include some additional areas to spray again as we move towards reducing the amount of Poa annua on the golf course.

Let the Melting Begin

April & Snow?
Who would have thought. . .

November - 7"
December -31"
January - 31"
February -14"
March -19"

April
1-4"
2-1"
3-4"
4-4"
5-3"
6-24"
13-5"
Month Total-45"

Total Snow for the season
147"