Tenacity

Tenacity is the product we are using to control the Poa annua we have throughout the course, this product works by removing the chlorophyll within the plant essentially starving the plant and causing it to turn whitish in color and die.

We began a heavy fertilization program simultaneous to the spraying of Tenacity. The purpose of this was to encourage the Kentucky Bluegrass to fill in the voids where the Poa annua will die. We will sod areas where the Kentucky Bluegrass does not effectively fill in. Our fairways with the most Poa annua are holes 13, 14 and 15.

Having looked at these areas again recently, I have found some Kentucky bluegrass that will hopefully fill in with additional fertilization. I am anticipating that the need to sod will be limited to a very few areas on the course. If sodding is needed, it will be on the above-mentioned holes as well as on some of our green approaches where we have some bentgrass that is dying.

With the death of the Poa annua, there will be voids in the turf until it fills in. Until this occurs, golfers will play lift, clean, and place.

In the upcoming weeks, we will begin making Tenacity applications to the tee boxes and to a 36” swath around all the greens. The last application will take place sometime in September to these areas. Just like the fairways and green approaches, you will again see a yellow discoloration to the grass.

If there are any further questions that I have not covered concerning our Poa annua removal process please do not hesitate to contact me.

The Dynamic of the Crew

Now that the season is in full swing many of you may have noticed the diversity in ethnicity of our maintenance staff. This year we have a predominately new crew, with only 4 crew members returning from our previous season. The crew this year is mostly made up of refugees.

A refugee is a person who has been forced to flee his or her country due to past persecution, or a well-founded fear of future persecution, because of political opinion, race, religion, nationality, or particular social group.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) determines refugee status. According to UNHCR, there are currently about 15,000,000 refugees in the world. There are also an additional 29,000,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs). IDPs are people in refugee-like situations who have not managed to cross the border to another country.

There are 3 durable solutions for refugees.

• The first choice is that the refugee can return to his or her home country because of changed country conditions.

• The second choice is that the person can be permanently resettled within the region of his or her own country. Permanent resettlement means that the person would have a pathway to citizenship within the host country.

• The last choice is third-country resettlement. This option is only considered when the first two options are not viable.
Less than one-half of one percent of the world’s refugees receive third-country resettlement.
The U.S. resettles approximately 80,000 refugees per year, more than 3 times as many refugees through third-country resettlement as the rest of the world combined. Currently there are approximately 25,000 refugees living in Utah, 99% live in the Salt Lake Valley. Between 1000 and 1100 new refugees arrive to Utah each year.

The above information is found at http://refugee.utah.gov/home/index.html

The refugees who work for us are from Burma, Bhutan, Ethiopia, Bagdad, and Nepal. A few of our refugees are from Burma but moved to Malaysia prior to relocating to the US. Others have parents from Burma but were born in refugee camps in Nepal.

We are optimistic for a hard working crew as many of them have shown ambition for learning new skills and a desire to be teachable. However, there have been some challenges training a crew who for the most part didn’t even know what golf was, let alone how to operate machinery. Communication with the refugees has been difficult. Most of the refugees speak little English, a good number are learning English. During the hiring process we had to make sure that we had one person who spoke each language and English proficiently enough to translate when necessary. It has also been interesting to discover what cultural difference we share. Expectations in the U.S. and at Glenwild require additional training. We are hopeful that this group can adopt our practices. We have been encouraged the last week or so and feel hopeful they might be figuring this all out.

Nestboxes

We have installed 17 large Nestboxes around the course. They are roughly 18” tall by 9” wide.

Theses nestboxes were constructed in our shop over the winter. We also constructed a smaller nestbox which is roughly 13” tall and 10” wide.
There are 2 sizes of nestboxes in order to attract a variety of different birds.
The larger nestboxes will attract the American Kestrel, Screech Owls and the Red-Shafted or Northern Flicker.

American Kestrel

Screech Owl

Northern Flicker

The Americal Kestrel and the Screech Owl prey on smaller mammals such as the voles we have here at Glenwild. Most vole damage occurs during the winter months when voles move through their grass runways under the protection of the snow.


Vole Damage in the Spring



Vole

The nestboxes were attached to Aspens and Spruces at a minimum of 10 feet or higher.

We have not installed any of the smaller nestboxes but will be doing so soon. They will attract song birds such as Mountain Bluebirds, Western Bluebirds, Tree Swallows, Black-capped Chickadees, Mountain Chickadees, Downy Woodpeckers, and White-breasted Nuthatches. These song birds like open areas our course provides and can be seen swooping around the ponds for insects.

Mountian Bluebird

Western Bluebird

Tree Swallow

Black-capped Chickadee

Mountain Chickadee

Downy Woodpecker

White-breasted Nuthatch

For more information you can visit the following websites:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Kestrel
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bluebird
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Screech-owl
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_Flicker
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tree_Swallow
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black-capped_Chickadee
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mountain_Chickadee
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Downy_Woodpecker
http://www.coopext.colostate.edu/adams/ag/vole.htm

Snow Mold Prevention

Clearing the Putting Green



View of the Putting Green and Driving Range



Clearing 15 Green

The Joys of Winter

Rain in early January created a buildup of ice on greens three and four. The presence of ice on a putting green can be devastating to what once was a healthy stand of turfgrass. There are varying opinions as to what actually happens to turf when it is under ice. The most common explanation as to why turfgrass can’t survive in these conditions is that the plant suffocates. Even through the winter months, the plant is respiring, meaning it is taking in carbon dioxide and emitting oxygen. The presence of a layer of ice completely covering the plant means this gas exchange can’t take place and results in the death of the plant. After detecting the presence of ice on greens three and four, the decision was made to remove the ice in an effort to avoid any damage that might occur. Here are a few pictures of the process of removing the snow and ice.

This is a trailer that is typically used for transporting greens mowers in the summer that has been modified with snowmobile skis in order to transport a snow blower.

The first step is to find where the ice has formed under the snow. (We are standing on #3 green.)

Where there is ice, we can safely use the snow blower to remove snow without damaging the green surface.

We find the edge of the ice with shovels to avoid running the snow blower on the turf.

This is what is left after removing all the snow: the ice layer on the green.

The ice buildup was close to two inches in places.

Once the snow has been removed, solar radiation unfreezes the ice from the surface of the green allowing us to easily remove the ice from the surface with shovels. As to why there was ice only on greens three and four, we believe it is due to the snow depth. It is often slightly more windy in this area of the golf course. The increased wind blows the snow off this area and also promotes more melting.