Keep it in the Fairway

With the heat of summer upon us, please keep carts out of the rough as much as possible.  During the summer months, the Zoysia is growing aggressively, while the cool season grasses are having a difficult time handling the heat.  Reducing cart traffic in the rough is one of the most beneficial things we can do to keep the rough looking and playing its best through the hot summer months.

Below are a few key points to follow in order to reduce wear on the course.

• Scatter.  Carts have a tendency to enter and exit at the same places.  When you see grass laying over from traffic, change your route to avoid driving in the same path as the other carts.
• Avoid driving too close to bunkers.  Bunkers create pinch points that have a tendency to funnel traffic into the same area.  Over time compaction and wear lead to less desirable turf.
• Stay at least 60 yards away from the greens.  Green complexes are sacred ground. Keep the carts on the path around greens.
• Once you are on the fairway advance down the fairway to your next shot or your partner's ball, as opposed to driving back to the cart path for each shot.
• Avoid parking around tees and greens with tires in the grass.  Cart paths have plenty of space for you to park completely on the path and still allow traffic through.  This is key for avoiding the bare ground a foot off the path around tees and greens.
• Where possible, keep it on the path.  Balls in the rough on the cart path side of the hole can typically be reached easily with a short walk from the path.

Thank you for doing your part keeping the course looking its best!

Summer Aerification

Close up of aerification holes



Deep Tine Aerifier on #16

This week we are in the process of deep tine aerifying all of the fairways on the golf course.  The aerifier uses 1/4" thick tines penetrating the fairway to a depth of 8-10".  The solid tine is capable of impacting a high percentage of the profile without the mess of pulling a core.  Following this practice, we roll the fairway smooth, with minimal disruption to play.

Unfortunately, this is a slow process that will take the majority of the week to complete.  Primary benefits are compaction relief, creating more air space in the profile, and improved water penetration where it is needed most; all leading to a healthier plant.

During this same time we are needle tining the greens, also known as venting.  This process is very similar to what we are doing on the fairways.  Following the aerification, we are applying a calsium product, rolling the green smooth and giving the greens a deep watering cycle.  We will be venting the greens once a month throughout the summer.

Golf Course Update

After a dry start to the summer, we are finally seeing some much needed rain.  Yesterday afternoon we had a quick .85" of rain.  Followed up with another .60" of rain last night.  Although this doesn't seem like too much, the rate at which it was falling caused a complete washout of the bunkers.

This morning we are working on putting the bunkers back together, along with general cleanup from the storm.  At this point we are not able to mow fairways or any of the rough.  Hopefully, late in the day we can get some mowers going, although it looks like it may be tomorrow morning before we'll be able to get on the course without doing any damage. 

Currently, we will have carts restricted to the paths.  If we get the wind and heat that is predicted there is a possibility that we can change this by late afternoon.

For the weekend, barring any more rain, we should have the course back to normal.  Thank you for your patience.

Golf Course Etiquette

Attached is a great article written by Jim Moore, director of USGA Green Section’s Construction Education Program.  The article highlights several key points of proper golf course etiquette.  

From my own observations as well as talking to members, unrepaired ball marks seem to be more noticable this year.  With the greens being firmer, ball marks are more difficult to find.  Please do your part in making the greens the best they can be.  A properly repaired ball mark heals in a few days.  A mark left unrepaired can leave a visible scar for up to two weeks.  Below is the link to the article.

http://www.usga.org/news/2011/February/Course-Care--Appeal-For-Return-Of-Etiquette/

On a side note, you can follow the "Championships" tab on the link to "Schedule"  scroll down to U.S. Women's Mid Amateur.  This will take you to the Women's Mid Am home page, here you will find several pictures of the tournament we hosted last year.  If you haven't seen the pics, there are some great shots from the golf course.

Summer is Here!

After an unusually dry spring, it looks like we are now dealing with hotter than normal temps for June.  Below is the article from the National Weather Service.

Earliest Occurrence in Year of Six Consecutive 100 Degree Days, June 3-8th, 2011

From June 3rd through June 8th, 2011, we have had six consecutive days of high temperatures of 100 degrees or higher at the Wichita Mid Continent Airport. This is the earliest occurrence on record in the calendar year of six or more consecutive 100 degree days in Wichita.


Looks we should get a break for the weekend, although Thursday has a good chance of making it seven days in a row over 100. 

Zoysia Intermediates



Zoysia Intermediate on #1



 This past summer we converted our cool season (Bluegrass) Intermediates to Zoysia.  Several factors were driving this decision including less water usage, improved disease tolerance, along with an improved year round surface.

With one year under our belt with the new turf, we couldn't be happier with the results.  Following an unusually cold winter, the Intermediates came out of winter in great shape and continue to improve as the heat of summer begins to kick in.

From a management standpoint, our watering practices have seen the greatest benefit with the conversion.  In the past the Bluegrass was constantly needing more water compared to the surrounding Zoysia fairway and Fescue rough.  Not only are we using less water, resulting in significant savings for our water budget, we are also able to keep the fairways drier, resulting in a firmer healthier fairway.

Busy Week

In spite of the shortened week due to Memorial Day, we have had a productive week on the golf course.

On Wednesday and Thursday this past week, we were able to squeeze in a topdressing along with a light aerification on greens.  The aerification is a process we refer to as "venting".   Using 1/4" spiking tines, we aerify the greens and collars on 2"x 2" spacing to a depth of about 3.5".  Following the aerifer, the greens are rolled smooth with almost no impact to ball roll.

This is a process we will do monthly to open up the greens to improve air exchange, along with creating channels to assist with water infiltration.  The light topdressing is another practice we use bi-weekly to help firm up and smooth out greens.  This practice also helps to break down thatch, preventing greens from getting "puffy" on us.

As the weather continues to warm up, we applied our first fertilizer application to the Zoysia fairways.  With the Zoysia, our goal is to use as little fertilizer as possible.  Zoysia has a tendency to produce thatch along with spring disease when too much fertilizer is applied.  Limiting our fertilizer inputs helps to keep fairways firm with minimal clippings.

At the same time we are also applying growth regulators, combined with iron, to the fairways in order to encourage a tighter plant with less clippings.  All of these practices combine for a healthy turf growing at a rate we control, avoiding days of fairways getting too tall in between mowing.