USGA Update

Bonus Golf: Take Note of the Risks

By Darin S. Bevard, senior agronomist, Mid-Atlantic Region
January 31, 2012

While some light snow has fallen at times and reminded us that it is winter, milder than normal temperatures have been the rule. Nicer weather has allowed for more golf than usual to be played during the winter months, but there may be consequences in the spring.

For the past several weeks there have been many opportunities for golfers to get out and enjoy the weather, and their favorite golf course. With the extreme wet conditions of late summer/early fall, this bonus golf has been great for the golfers, and has helped the bottom lines of many golf courses. The mild weather has also rekindled the debate over winter play and the potential agronomic downside of excess traffic, especially on greens.
In the last couple of years, frequent snowfall and cold temperatures have rendered the winter play conversation a moot point. This winter we have been blessed with plenty of days to play golf, and golfers who want to play. The result - the back and forth debate over whether greens should be open or closed. There is no right or wrong answer to this question because of the different needs of individual golf facilities and the different weather conditions. 
Common sense dictates that winter play is bad for grass, especially greens. Extra traffic under often marginal conditions causes wear. The difficulty is quantifying the cost of this damage from the perspective of impacts on in-season playing quality in addition to the cost to repair damage that may (or may not) occur with winter play.
Some golf courses simply close completely or close their greens during the winter. If this is an option for your facility, great. Even if only a few greens that are already difficult to manage in season could be closed, the reduction in winter wear will be beneficial. If your course chooses to play golf during the winter, decisions on playability of the golf course should be made on a daily basis. If it is too wet or the greens are partially frozen, the risk for damage is greater. The worst case scenario is thawed conditions at the immediate surface and frozen conditions one or two inches below the surface. The bottom line is, you must weigh the pros and cons for your individual situation and act accordingly.
If there are any questions on winter play, give us a call. We will be happy to visit with you about this issue and provide information that may help with a tough decision.
With the relatively warm weather, there are agronomic concerns too. On Poa annua greens, isolated areas of active anthracnose have been reported this winter. Monitor these conditions for the remainder of the winter and beyond. The other major concern is whether Poa annua has even hardened-off sufficiently to tolerate low temperatures. Warm temperatures reduce hardening in Poa annua, making the grass more susceptible to winterkill. Without snow cover, the grass has less insulation from sudden drops in temperature, which is the primary cause of crown hydration, especially in grass that is not sufficiently hardened. Time will tell, but this is a cause for concern in the northern tier of the region. Enjoy some bonus golf when the opportunity arises, but realize there are still concerns from winter traffic and Mother Nature.

RoundUp results starting to show on Newport

The poa annua on some of the Newport fairways is starting to die as a result of our RoundUp spray a couple weeks ago.  The ryegrass and bentgrasses take a little longer to show results.  This cleaner beginning will lead to an even better season of bermudagrass fairways on Newport! 

Toro Irrigation Training

I had the opportunity this past week to attend an Intermediate Toro Site Pro class in Pittsburgh.  I wanted to sharpen my skills with our irrigation software, to be a better manager.  With some tweaks, we can use less water and compress our irrigation water window to save money on electricity.  Most people do not realize how sophisticated our irrigation software is.  Many people have this idea the irrigation runs all at once.  Generally it takes 8-9 hours to run full cycles on both courses.

You Did What??? Are You Crazy???

The first picture is of #10 fairway Newport.  We treated this fairway with the herbicide Revolver late last spring.  Note how clean the fairway is.  The next picture is of #8.  We did NOT treat with Revolver.  We were unsure of the bermudagrass populations on #8.  Now that I know the populations, part of our winter maintenance of the Midlawn Bermudagrass on Newport is treating with RoundUp while the bermuda is dormant.  RoundUp at low levels (24-32 oz per acre) controls the cool season grasses and poa annua.  We applied a poa preemergent last September.  The third photo shows poa annua germinating in a divot.  the RoundUp controls the poa and ryegrass without harming the bermuda.  I used a green dye to prevent overlaps and skips. The RoundUp was dry and safe to play on in about two hours.  I have extensive experience with this type of maintenance.  It is part of our effort to improve fairway conditions on Newport.  With the lowest possible use rate (24 oz/acre), we should see some results in 2-4 weeks.  The RoundUp absorbs slower into the plants during even this mild winter.  The efforts done now, will pay huge dividends this season!

What Are the Blue Rings AAround the Bunkers on Newport?

We have treated the bunker faces on Newport with RoundUp.  We mixed a 1/4% solution (half the lightest label rate) with some colorant and hand sprayed the zoysiagrass around the bunkers.  We are trying to kill all the winter and perennial weeds and cool season grass in the zoysia.  It is perfectly safe, I have done this before.  We are also trying to preserve and recreate the nice clean edge that was present when Newport was redesigned in 1998. 

Stay tuned...tomorrow we are spraying RoundUp on the Newport fairways..............WHAAAAAAT you say?  Stay tuned.

New Portajohns on the Way!

We are seriously upgrading the golf course portajohns.  We have acquired a better unit for a better price.  The new portajohns will feature a sink with water, hand sanitizer, a towel dispenser and a flush mechanism.  Unless we experience really bad weather next winter, the idea is to have a better unit in place for year round use.  The on course restroom by #9 Newport will continue to be winterized and closed each winter.  These units are scheduled for a February 1 delivery.

How Will the Abnormal Weather Affect the Golf Course?

The weather pattern sure has been crazy, with some of the warmest conditions through the end of the year I have ever seen.  Usually I have observed the grass stops growing completely about a week after the time change in November.  This year, we are still observing some top growth!  The danger from my standpoint is if you continue to mow greens regularly and it turns cold, you lose some of your protection to foot traffic and those mower wounds use up energy from the roots to "harden off" again.  The process of hardening off can be seen on the greens now.  They have a bronze cast to them and some of the bentgrasses turn purple.  With the freezing and thawing of the ground, we are substituting rolling weekly to keep the greens smooth. 

A plus of the nice weather is the season for growing roots has been extended and this could help out next summer.  The nice weather has also allowed for a lot of on course work to be completed.  More about that in another post.  A couple minuses are traffic and wear damage occurs when the grass on the fairways and rough arent growing, so the plants have little defense against the extra traffic.  Another negative has been some of the wierd late season disease activity.  The above picture is of some stubborn Waitea Patch on the Chipping Green.  I had this analyzed by a plant pathologist to confirm this pathogen.  Generally Waitea this time of the year appears to be cosmetic and seems tostop when temperatures become cold.

Long term weather outlook is all over the place.  I hope this gives some insight as to my recent observations.