You put your bentgrass in my bluegrass

We receive some complaints about the length of the rough at times, especially around the greens. Mostly, these complaints involve what I refer to as contamination. The bentgrass from the fairways, greens, and tees, has escaped in the rough and surrounding areas.
Certain times of the year, it can be seen vividly.
Here are several photos of the contamination, as the heavy dew allows the bentgrass to appear as the light green areas.
Our committee is working hard on several possibilities for solving this often frustrating circumstance.
Enjoy the day,
Turf

Please keep carts off......

Sticks!?
Yes, sticks, branches, and twigs.
We have allowed carts off the paths from the storm, however, there remains many areas that cleanup is not complete. Until we get the entire course clean of debris (spring 2013?), we may do damage to our turf by pressing the twigs into the turf.
Putting cart traffic on areas loaded with debris can thin the turf, it is tough to grow grass on wood! Not to mention that hitting a ball in the rough that was partially on a buried stick is not fun!
We are trying to get the course picked up as quickly as possible, please be patient and exercise care where you drive the golf cart.
Thoroughly enjoying summer 2012,
Tur

Bentgrass in the rough

We receive some complaints about the length of the rough at times, especially around the greens. Mostly, these complaints involve what I refer to as contamination. The bentgrass from the fairways, greens, and tees, has escaped in the rough and surrounding areas.
Certain times of the year, it can be seen vividly.
Here are several photos of the contamination, as the heavy dew allows the bentgrass to appear as the light green areas.
Our committee is working hard on several possibilities for solving this often frustrating circumstance.
Enjoy the day,
Turf

Fwd: Please keep carts off.......

Sent from Erwin's phone, please excuse grammar and punctuation.

Begin forwarded message:

From: Erwin McKone <emckone@sbcglobal.net>
Date: July 26, 2012 7:46:59 AM CDT
To: Blogger Blogger <emckone.turfdoctor70@blogger.com>
Subject: Please keep carts off.......

Sticks!?
Yes, sticks, branches, and twigs.
We have allowed carts off the paths from the storm, however, there remains many areas that cleanup is not complete.  Until we get the entire course clean of debris (spring 2013?), we may do damage to our turf by pressing the twigs into the turf.
Putting cart traffic on areas loaded with debris can thin the turf, it is tough to grow grass on wood!  Not to mention that hitting a ball in the rough that was partially on a buried stick is not fun!
We are trying to get the course picked up as quickly as possible, please be patient and exercise care where you drive the golf cart.
Thoroughly enjoying summer 2012,
Turf

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Sent from Erwin's phone, please excuse grammar and punctuation.

Storm cleanup day 2

We are continuing the cleanup of the golf course and have opened the white and blue courses.
The cleanup requires the use of several loud machines and the attention of the worker. Our employees are taking care to work around dangerous equipment with extreme care.
Please, be mindful that they are engaged in hazardous working conditions and may not notice you playing near them.
Please take a moment and get their attention, or simply pick up and play to a safer location.
We are attempting to get things back in order as quickly as possible with minimal disruption to play.
Thanks,
Turf

Front comes through

We received some rain.
And some wind.
We are going to put our new chipper to good use.
There is quite a mess,
Turf

Practice tee quality

As if it was not a tough enough year to grow established turf, we also need to establish new turf on our practice tee. One of the tricks to establishing turf is the propagation of seedlings. Keeping seedlings and their tender roots alive without over watering and promoting disease is a challenge.
One of the ways we will attempt to improve the quality of our turf is by providing a light mist to these new plants several times a day.
Beginning next week, we will begin a light watering regime on the practice tee. We recommend that you leave the tee area for fifteen minutes from 12:00-12:15 and 3:00-3:15 pm each day. I was going to say we will close the tee, but there really is not a reason to close it, it will be open for anyone who would like to practice for playing in the rain. Towels will not be provided. Seriously, this time will be used to lightly mist the surface and should result in faster recovery.
We will post signs as a reminder.
We hope that this minor inconvenience will be seen as a positive improvement of our practice tee.
Day two of the presidents cup, shootout should begin about 2:00.
Come join the fun, we drive on the green banks and it is "not a problem."
Turf

Presidents cup, day 1

Presidents Cup is this weekend.
If you have never watched the shootout, you should plan on coming to the club on Sunday about 2:00. Everyone watches the flight winners compete for the cup!
It really is a great hour and a half of cocktails and sunshine.
Please help us by repairing ball marks, here is one about a big as my foot.
Ralph says "don't worry, football season is coming!"
Hanging in there,
Turf

Half inch of rain overnight!

Means a day off right?
Wrong
We will take it,.....all in stride.
Carts on paths.
Keep the heat away please!
Turf

Localized dry spots in fairways

Dust in the wind.
The dust falling from my fingers is soil from one of the brown spots in fairways.
Look at the two soil profiles pictured, the one on the left is darker due to the presence of water. The two profiles were taken side by side. One profile is good and the other, dry as a bone.
The solution, hand watering.
The problem, the areas are outnumbering hands.
My friend the beaver helped us out by making a willow on six white unsafe to the point we have to cut it down. Thanks Mr. Beaver,turf

Golf course soils

How important is good soil to turfgrass quality?
Check out this picture.
This valve was replaced a few years ago. After the repair, we backfill the hole. We always replace the clay with good topsoil in the top eight inches.
You can almost see the outline perfectly.
It's really hot,
Turf

The putt-putt team

Briar Fest was last night and here is the crew that worked on making the evening enjoyable for the children. Even Mollie joined the action, she is seen here stocking the ninth pond with goldfish.
I am so proud of the efforts my staff puts forth to bring recreation to our members and guests, not only for special events, but daily.
They truly outdid themselves this year.
Turf

Trees and turf

While the photos of seven red may be beautiful, they reveal quite a bit about ecology and natural selection.
Grasses (monocots) are some of the oldest living plants. The nature of this plant made it a survivor against intense grazing pressure by large herbivores.
The competitive advantage that grasses have is the ability to regenerate quickly and form dense stands.
The disadvantage that the grasses have? They have a low canopy and can be out competed by plants that can reach upward to the sun quicker.
Shading out grasses was possible by plants possessing an apical meristem (sorry).
Seven red fairway is under severe stress.
The trees compete for water, sunlight, and nutrients. The shade also means that the plant experiences extremes in leaf wetness (not good).
The rains we received after last weeks heat, cooked some low lying turf.
Please be mindful of the stressful summer that the turf (yes, me too), is experiencing, and avoid these areas with your carts.
The turf (yes, both of us), appreciate it.
Ever evolving,
Turf

Tall grass and golf courses

While it may seem to be an evil ploy by golf course superintendents to grow longer grass next to water hazards, they actually are in place to protect the very water that comes out of your tap. The grass serves as a buffer, riparian buffers in this instance. These areas are designed to protect water quality by filtering nutrients, trapping sediments, and reducing soil erosion. These areas also help enhance air quality and fish and wildlife habitats. Water quality is a major concern in our area, as nutrient loading continues to be a global concern. We have one of the greatest natural resources on the planet in our Great Lakes, we have a duty to protect them.
Next time you find yourself cursing the long grass, please keep in mind the great benefits of these areas.
Plus, you probably would have gone in the water anyhow.
Hope to see you at Briar Fest,
Turf

Turf canopy temperatures

Here is a shot I took yesterday with my infrared thermometer. 107.2 wow
A light application of water called "syringing" cools the turf for a short time. We are still being very careful with water as there are nasty fungi and conditions like "wet wilt" that will injure saturated turf.
Waiting for Sunday!
Walking on eggshells,
Turf

Boom boom disease

Every year about this time, we fight a strange turfgrass disease. I have coined this pathogen the boom boom disease. We notice black burnt turf surrounded by debris scattered in all areas around the damage. Golf courses are a beautiful landscape an we are happy that people enjoy. However, putting greens should not be used for firework staging areas. Boom boom disease rapidly kills turf.
Thankfully we have only observed this turfgrass phenomenon on four blue.
It's firework season in Indiana,
Turf

Happy fourth

The golf course is slowly drying out from the rains. The heat and humidity are here for a few days and we will carefully manage the water on our playing surfaces. Irrigation will take place by hand watering. We will only water very selectively as excess water promotes a variety of issues.
Please be careful in the heat, stay hydrated, and use sunscreen.
I love my country,
Turf