Christmas Cookie Party

This past week we hosted our Third Annual Christmas Cookie party. Once again the evening was a huge success.  Our entire crew, along with their families, met at our shop for a night of pizza and cookie decorating.   By the end of the night, each family was able to take home a plate full of cookies to enjoy over the holidays.

As you can see from the pictures, our team is not only good at their job, they are also pretty good at being fathers, mothers and grandparents.  Thank you to the team for a great 2013 and looking forward to an even better 2014.  Merry Christmas!

Notes from a Recent Tree Seminar

By Jason Ferrell and Donna Zandt

Pin Oak on right side of #7

This past week Assistant Superintendent, Jason Ferrell, along with Landscape Manager, Donna Zandt, attended a tree workshop in Belle Plain, KS. The speaker for the workshop was Tim McDonnell, the Community Forestry Coordinator for the Kansas Forest Service. The workshop covered areas of selecting and planting trees, drought stress, diseases and choosing the right tree for your location.

There are many different factors to consider when selecting a new tree. The most important are the size, condition and planting space for your location. It is also important to know what the disease and insect pressures are for your area in order to select trees that are resistant. A few of the more common diseases and insects in our area are pine wilt, canker and emerald ash borer.  Other things to look for when selecting a new tree are trees with a well-developed leader, no cross branches and free of mechanical or insect damage. 

Planting the tree can be the most critical step to a trees success. The two most common ways of purchasing a tree are either in a container or balled and burlapped. Container grown trees tend to have more trouble establishing due to spiraling of the roots while in the container. Before planting, the container must be removed and roots sliced and loosened to promote outward growth. For balled and burlapped trees, the top half of the wire basket and burlap should be removed to promote outward growth. Trees should be planted so that the root flare (which is right above the roots) should be at soil level. A soil ring that is 4 to 6 inches high should be built around the edge of the hole and covered with mulch.

As most of you know 2011 and 2012, were very hot and dry years that has caused a lot of stress on trees. Water is one of the most important resources for a trees growth. More than eighty percent of the variation in tree growth is because of water supply.

Growing periods with little water can lead to decreased rates of diameter and height, poor resistance to disease and insects, disruption of food production and distribution, and changes to the timing and rate of physiological processes, like fruit production and dormancy. The first visible sign of a tree experiencing drought conditions are wilting of the leaves.

As mentioned above when selecting a new tree, the size, condition and planting space for the location must be taken into consideration. Some trees for our area that are drought tolerant are Caddo Maple, Trident Maple, Red Oak, Shumard Oak, White Oak, Chinese Pistache, Golden Rain Tree and Lace Bark Elm.

           

Course Update

About the time I start thinking that fall is really here, we end up with another 90 degree day! Cool mornings have been nice but we continue to remain hot and dry.  Looks like Saturday may offer some relief.

The last couple of weeks have been busy on the golf course.  Similar to the spring, we have several things that need to get done in a short amount of time.  At the top of the list was greens aerification.  The solid tine, deep tine aerification has become the norm for us during fall aerification.  Great results, without the threat of greens not healing in before they shut down for the winter.  During this time we worked in an aggressive verticut and heavy topdressing.  As always with aerification, temporary headache for long term benefits.

Deep tine aerifier in action on Greens.

Along with greens aerification, we have also aerified all of the primary rough (approximately 40 acres) with our recently purchased Toro 1298 Aerifier.  This machine has been unbelievable.  We have not been as consistent with our fairway and rough aerification in past years.  With this new machine, I actually look forward to punching holes. Following aerification, we are working our way through seeding all of the rough throughout the course with Turf Type Tall Fescue.  Rough is a little beat up following these
practices.  Should see recovery over the next couple of weeks.

Aerifying rough with the Toro 1298.

Not to be left out, the Zoysia has seen its share of attention as well.  We start off with an application of 5-10-31.  A little Nitrogen and Iron for fall color, but we are mostly after the Potassium to help prepare the plant for the stresses of winter.  Along with the fertilizer, we are also applying one last application of products to help eliminate any Bermuda contamination.  And finally, we apply our preemergent to keep the weeds out over the winter (Poa annua is the main target) and last but not least is a fungicide application to prevent Large Patch of Zoysia in the spring.  Zoysia is an ideal turf for our area, however, it still has its fair share of inputs.

Heading into the weekend, we are hoping to see some rain.  For as wet as we were early in the season, we are equally as dry heading into fall.  Funny how weather never works out exactly the way you want it to!

Rough

After a season of record rain, the rough is once again a hot topic.  Early in the season the cool season Fescue and Bluegrass were thriving creating difficult playing conditions.  As the summer progressed, the Bermuda in the rough hits the peak of its growth stage with tough lies and hard to find errant shots.

Finding the ideal turf for our area is a never ending battle.  The cool season grasses look great during certain times of the year, unfortunately, the amount of water required to keep the grasses looking their best is almost unsustainable during a typical hot and dry summer.  The new fine bladed seeded Bermuda's would be an excellent choice for our rough, however, there is still a stigma attached to the dormant turf during our shoulder season's.  

There was a point we were discussing the use of Zoysia as a primary rough.  The Zoysia has proven to be a good choice in our Intermediate Rough cut at 1.25".  Zoysia at 1.5-2.0" might be too clumpy and thick.  This takes us back to the seeded Bermuda's.  With a height of cut under 2.0", the Bermuda will still make the fairway a premium, however, finding balls and putting a club on them will be much better compared to our current rough which ranges from 2.5-3.0" during the summer months.

Due to the time required to kill existing turf and establish new turf from seed, this conversion is not to be taken lightly.  Ideally, the project would take place in conjunction with other yet to be scheduled projects (such as bunkers, tees, greens, etc.).  Below is good article describing the steps to convert to an improved variety of Bermuda.  

http://www.uaex.edu/Other_Areas/publications/PDF/MP477.pdf

Another option to consider would be to kill the existing stand and convert to a pure stand of Turf Type Tall Fescue.  This would completely remove the existing Bermuda that when combined with the cool season grasses makes for difficult playing conditions.  The trouble here, as we currently face, is an irrigation system not suited to water fairways separate from the rough.  Giving the rough what it needs leads to soft fairways.  I choose to prioritize the Zoysia fairways at the roughs expense.

Until the time comes, we will continue to make the best of our current stand of turf.  This week we will be lowering the height of cut in preparation for aerifying and seeding that we started today.  In the short term, conditions will be more playable.  Heading into next spring, the cycle will continue until significant changes are made.

Rough left of #18

Bermuda Control

Over the past couple of weeks we have been experimenting with a new product for removing unwanted Bermuda grass from cool season grass.  The primary areas we are targeting are the Collars and Intermediate Rough bordering our greens.  Both of these areas have historically suffered from Bermuda encroachment.  Up until now, our only reliable method of removing the Bermuda was a non selective kill (Roundup) followed by sodding.  Even then, Bermuda seems to find its way back within a year or two.

Fortunately, BASF has come up with a product called Pylex that is (so far) showing positive results for removing the Bermuda in these areas. 
 

Day 4 after treatment

Day 10 after treatment

The photos above are of the first test plot from the chipping green collar.  After seeing the results, we have also treated areas on #16 collar, as well as the Intermediate Rough on #1 Green.

#16 Collar

 

Intermediate Rough on #1 Green

 
As you can see, the product is definitely having an impact on the Bermuda, with minimal impact to the desired turf.  We will continue to experiment with small areas around the course, with the hope of moving forward next season with a plan for Bermuda eradication in the Collars and Intermediate Rough.

Fall Aerification Schedule

Over the years, the one constant in our greens management program has been the commitment to aerification.  What started out as a simple spring and fall coring has now incorporated the use of venting greens with pencil tines throughout the season.  For our greens especially, keeping them open and breathing is the single most important practice we utilize.

Along with the aerification, we also use this time to work in an aggressive verticutting with a heavy sand topdressing.  Greens take a temporary setback with the disruption but the long term benefits are clear.

For the fall of 2013 we will begin aerification on September 10th.  Due to a Monday outside event and a Tuesday WGA Invitational our first full day of aerification will be the 11th. The schedule is as follows:

•  Tuesday September 10th:      Aerify Practice Greens.
• Wednesday September 11th:  Aerify Front Nine Greens.
• Thursday September 12th:      Aerify Back Nine Greens.

Throughout the process we will have at least 9 holes available for play each day.  Since we are only utilizing the deep tine aerifier, without pulling a core, this should be less disruptive compared to our spring aerification.  I would expect greens to be decent by the middle of the following week.
 

Golf Course Update

Wanted to give you a quick update on where we are with the golf course.  So far this week we have had a little over an inch of rain.  Not too much, but on top of an already wet golf course, it felt more like three inches of rain!

On Monday we finished mowing all of the rough before the rain moved in.  The front nine rough was actually cut twice, which made a big improvement.  Today (Thursday) we were able to get started again with the rough.  Still a little wet, but we are making progress.  Our biggest concern is the 50% chance of rain for tonight.  If we miss this rain, the golf course will be completely mowed for the first time in over two weeks.  As you can imagine, we are praying for no rain tonight!

Through all of this weather, the fairways have been slower to dry out compared to the rest of the course.  For all the benefits of Zoysia, the downside is the tendency to act like a sponge following a rain event.  Luckily, as slow as the Zoysia  has been growing, it hasn't been as bad as you might expect.

Along those same lines, if we miss the rain tonight, I would expect to get carts off the path on Friday.  Any amount of rain, would limit our ability to mow or get carts off the path.

Thank you for your patience and understanding as we deal with record rainfall this summer. 

Golf Course Update

Unfortunately, the main topic of conversation for the last three weeks hasn't changed.  We continue to experience near record rainfall in our area and throughout the state.  Since July 14th it has rained 17 out of the last 25 days.  Seven of the rain events were over an inch, with three of them over 2".  Since July 1st we've had almost 14" of rain.  To put that in perspective, last year during this same time frame, we had .35" of rain.  Looking ahead there is an 80% chance of rain tonight, 70% chance for Thursday, before (hopefully) clearing off for the weekend.

On the bright side, our city's source of drinking water, Cheney Lake, is now 95% full.  The severe drought we have experienced for the last few years is beginning to ease.  However, the most direct impact to Wichita Country Club is the savings associated with irrigating the property.  Through July, we have used 63% less water in 2013 compared to 2012.  Based on where we are for the month of August, we may not need to irrigate until the middle of the month.  Certainly, there are numerous positives that come with the rainfall.

For all the positives, we are struggling to maintain the golf course in the wet conditions.  The biggest impact has been our inability to mow the rough.  Luckily, we were able to mow the entire golf course on Thursday of last week.  Since then it has been too wet for our equipment.  Rough is currently 6-7" tall.  We have three fairways (12, 13, and 15) that have not been mowed in over two weeks.  13 and 15 went completely under water in an earlier rain, 12 was slow to dry out; preventing us from mowing these fairways with the others.

Healthy Rough!

  Tees and greens have stayed on a (mostly) normal mowing schedule due to better drainage.  We have also been using push mowers around greens to give some relief from the tall grass.  Unfortunately, we can't push mow the whole thing!   

Outside of the lack of mowing, the course is looking great.  We are always concerned with disease during these weather patterns.  So far, our preventative applications are working.  Although the weather has put a damper on late summer golf, we are setting up for great conditions this fall.

I will continue to keep you posted through Twitter (@wccbrian) and the blog. 

July Monsoon

What a crazy week it's been!  Once again, last night we were hit with another 2.5" of rain.  The difference with this one is the entire amount came in about 45 minutes.  As you can imagine, the golf course was not built to handle this scenario.  

Since last Tuesday, we have now had four severe rain events totaling 8.35".  In all four events the bunkers were completely washed out, along with creek cleanup from water coming out of the banks.  Tuesday night, we had significant wind with the rain.  Branches were scattered throughout the course along with four trees that had to be removed.  Kudos to our crew for working through each storm.  Bunkers were completely repaired following each storm, only to be washed out in the next one.  

Creek cleanup from recent storm.

A couple of feet from going over #11 Green.

Runoff up in #15 Fairway

Typical Bunker washout.

 Looking ahead, it's going to take some time for the golf course to dry down.  We are approaching a full week since fairways and rough have been mowed.  Once things dry out enough to mow we will be forced to raise the mowing heights in the rough.  We will quickly work this back down as time allows.

The good news is the golf course will be in great shape as soon as we get back to a more normal weather pattern.  As far as irrigation water is concerned, there has been significant savings this year compared to the last two seasons. 

Thank you for your patience as we work to put the golf course back together.

Looking forward to getting back to this!

Golf Course Update

What started off as mild summer quickly feels more like the last two scorchers we have experienced in Wichita.  Other than a good rain on June 17th, we haven't seen much moisture.  With complete reliance on the irrigation system, we are beginning to see  more brown show up.  The good news is the course is playing firm and fast.  If you enjoy it lush and green, we're going to need more rain!

During the heat of the summer our biggest concern is maintaining the health of our greens.   With Bent/Poa pushups we are constantly walking the fine line of achieving the playability we desire without pushing the greens to the point of no return.  The practices we utilize are designed to produce firm, fast conditions without much emphasis on the color.  The fact is, these greens can be pretty ugly during the heat of the summer.  Doesn't mean they're not healthy, just a result of our turf types that tend to be more susceptible to disease and summer stress.

Below are pictures of a disease called Summer Patch.  The disease starts out yellowing the turf, with dark green outer edges.  Over time the disease will weaken the roots, mainly on the edges.  The good news is it specifically attacks the Poa, rarely do we see issues with the bent.  As summer progresses we will see bentgrass fill the voids left from the damaged Poa annua.  The pictures were taken recently on #17 green.

Water management, appropriate fertility and a solid preventative fungicide schedule are just some of the keys to success.  Another tool we have used over the last couple of years is continued topdressing throughout the heat of the summer.  Instead of using our heavy equipment to apply the sand we are now using push spreaders to apply a light dusting on a weekly basis.  The sand helps keep things smooth and firm while also keeping the greens from getting puffy.

Next week looks like there could be some relief in the forecast.  Cooler temps with a chance of much needed rain. 

Summer Greens Watering

As the drier weather pattern returns, along with the hotter temps, expect to see our team hand watering greens more frequently in the afternoon.  We will do our best to avoid play, however, there are times that it is necessary to water in front of a group.  Please treat them as you would a group of golfers in front of you.  Hitting into a green while we are watering is dangerous and could cause serious injury to the staff member.  Thank you for your understanding with this matter.

Current watering practices include deeper watering in the early morning utilizing our moisture sensors, followed up with quick cooling in the afternoon.  Our goal is to keep the greens as dry as we possibly can, which at times, leads to the necessity of interrupting play. 

Early morning hand watering

  A couple of other items....

As many of you know, our Border Collie, Sterling, died this past spring.  I've had several questions from members wondering if we planned to get another dog.  Without hesitation, yes, we will be looking to replace Sterling with another Border Collie.  My thought is to get through summer and look for a dog this fall.  If you hear of any puppies or preferably a dog that is 1-2 years old, please let me know.  A rescue dog would be an ideal situation, as well.

And finally, I took this picture awhile back and I couldn't resist sharing.  This is a good example of why we struggle with turf loss around cart paths.  With the width of our paths, please keep the carts (completely) on the paths around tees and greens.  The less stake and rope we have to use, the better!

Golf Course Update

After an unseasonably cool start to the summer, it looks like the heat has arrived.  On Monday our temps exceeded 90 degrees for the first time this year.  Rather than easing into it, we ended up hitting 97 degrees for the daily high.  More of the same to follow the rest of the week.

With the cooler temps along with timely rains, our water usage has been drastically reduced compared to this time last year.  Still a long ways to go, but we are significantly under budget on water for the year.  Good news after the last two hot and dry years.

One topic that continues to come up is the difficulty of our rough this year.  The weather we have experienced has led to some of the healthiest rough we have seen over the last few years.  We have managed to keep our height of cut at 2.5" for the entire season.  The issue is more the turf being thick and healthy.  The impact of the heat over the next couple of weeks will have a natural thinning of the turf.  Please know it is not our intention to make the course more difficult, simply the impact of weather has created the tougher than normal conditions.

Another area of concern this season has been the transition from the Zoysia Approach to the Bentgrass collar.  This has historically been a challenging area due to the high traffic as well as the different needs of the turf.  We have sodded several of the areas and will continue to grow in the remaining thin areas.  One simple change we have made to our routine is the use of carpets for turning the mowers on.  The carpets alone are reducing the impact of mowers turning daily in this location.  We will continue to implement new strategies to alleviate this problem.

Finally, my apologies for the limited blog postings.  I find that I am using Twitter on a daily basis to give quick updates on course conditions.  I encourage you to take a look at it.  So far, it has been a great way to communicate information.  

Tree Removals and Tee Renovation

Several changes are taking shape around #12 tee and #15 green.  Over the winter we removed two large Siberian Elms next to #12 tee.  These trees were causing shade issues on the teeing surface, along with root encroachment into the tee.  Now that the trees are out of the way we have started a minor project that includes widening the tee as well as adding 10 yards on the back and a few yards on the front.  This will give us more options on a tee that was previously limited in usable space.

New retaining wall on backside of #12 tee.

 On the #15 Green side of #12 tee we also were having issues with Siberian Elms.   The two Elms we removed both had significant decay leading to safety concerns, as well as root encroachment into the green bank.  Even without the decay, for the size of these trees, they were planted too close to the green.

Obvious decay in tree trunk.

Issues with turf from root competition.

Overall we removed (5) trees in this area.  We are in the process of planting (3) new trees close to this same area.  The current plan is to plant two Shumard Oaks and a Crabapple tree for spring color.  Better trees in the right location.

Taking down trees next to #15 Green.

Tree removal will benefit the green and surrounding turf.

Not far from this same location we have a Maple in decline as well.  We are going to monitor this tree as it breaks dormancy.  If we can dead wood the tree and still leave a decent amount of live tree, we will.  At this point, I  have my doubts on the possibility of saving the tree.

Decay on one of the main leaders.

Decline throughout the tree.

Removing old trees is never our intention, unfortunately, trees get planted in the wrong places that lead to problems as the tree ages.  Likewise,  we are to the point of trees that were planted 60 years ago, such as the maples and elms, reaching the end of their natural life span.  We will continue to plant replacement trees as needed, but we are also interested in opening up views across the course.  Maybe most important of all are the water requirements for trees throughout the property.  As water rates continue to increase, we are more aware of the expense of maintaining unnecessary trees.

 

More Sad News....

Once again, sad news to report on the blog.  This morning we found Sterling, the club's Border Collie for the last seven years, dead in his kennel.

This really came as a shock to those of us who took care of him.  He seemed to be a little slower than normal yesterday, but nothing that would make us believe his health was rapidly declining. 

Sterling was very dedicated to chasing the geese (or squirrels) off the course.  He was fun to watch in action, but most of all he was a good friend to everyone that wanted to pet him.

I know so many of you enjoyed seeing him.  He was a good dog that will be missed.

Hanging out in a cart last summer.

RIP Stan George

Yesterday I received a phone call informing me my good friend Stan George had passed away.  Stan had been the Superintendent at Prairie Dunes Country Club for over 20 years. As with everyone else who was hearing this news on Saturday, I was shocked and saddened to hear this awful news.

Stan was a mentor to many superintendents and individuals in the golf industry.  I never had the pleasure of working with Stan, although after years of leaning on him for advise, he clearly was a mentor to me.  Even after all these years in the business, Stan was constantly looking for new ways to do a job better or more efficient.  Rarely would you talk to Stan without hearing about something new he was trying out.   

I will most miss our annual grudge match, The Director's Cup, between Wichita Country Club and Prairie Dunes.  For the last 13 years the home and home matches have been one of the highlights of my year, as I got to spend half a day with Stan.  Stan was easy going on the course with his self deprecating sense of humor, although I knew the competitor in him wanted to close me out early!

Stan was a true professional; humble, hard working, and dedicated to the course he managed.  He will be missed by many. 

Golf Course Update

In spite of the weather, this past week we finished up all of our spring aerification.  Up to this point, we have aerified all of the greens, tees, primary rough and Driving Range rough.  On the greens and tees, we pulled a core and topdressed with sand.  The Driving Range and primary rough, were both deep tined using 1/2" tines to a depth of 8".

Aerifying rough left of #10 fairway

As I had discussed in a previous post, the weather this year has been quite a change compared to our last couple of years.  My best guess is that we are around 3 weeks behind our normal weather schedule.  The good news is we have used only minimal water so far this spring.  Unfortunately, the weather has limited our rounds.  I would expect this to change soon.

As far as projects are concerned.  The greens drainage project on #5 and #7 was a big success.  Moving forward our next project is the expansion of #12 tee (both lengthening and widening).  In this same area, we are removing the mulch bed short of #15 green and will be sodding and leveling for improved playability.

Looking forward to warmer weather.  We'll keep the weekly 1/2" rains!

Greens Drainage Installation

Yesterday we were able to get started installing drainage in #5 and #7 Greens.  Although we made good progress on Tuesday, the weather has temporarily stopped the project.

With 63 year old (mostly original) greens, internal drainage is the key component we are lacking to ensure the health of the turf during stressful periods.  About five years ago, we contracted XGD Systems out of Florida to add drainage to #10 green.  After great success with this green, we brought them back a year later to add drainage to #16 green.  Once again, the drainage was instrumental in creating healthy turf on the previously troublesome greens.  

Moving forward to the last couple of years, the greens on #5 and #7 were showing signs of drainage related problems.  Excessive wetness following rain events in the low areas leading to weak turf.  Last fall the decision was made to move forward with the drainage on these two greens.

Below are pictures from yesterday on #7 green.  Hopefully we are back at it tomorrow.

Removing sod for main line installation.

Mainline and outlet to drainage basin installed.

Trenching lateral lines.

Close-up of pipe in the trench.

Back-filling new greens mix in the trenches.

Drainage installed, sod back in place, ready for clean up.