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.