Early Snowfall

This past Tuesday we received 6-7" of snow and the next morning was a chilly 23 degrees.  It's odd seeing leaves on the trees and snow on the ground.  It does make for a great picture, though.

Rain, Rain, Rain......

This past Thursday we received 6" of rain from 8:00 am to 2:00 pm.  Before this day a 2 month drought had forced us to lower the ponds on the course and we were in the process of transferring the water up to the reservoir.  Amazingly, every pond on the course was filled and some water was lost over the overflow near the club's entrance in a matter of hours.  We were able to transfer some of the water up to the reservoir for future use.  Below are some videos and pics of the day.

The new short game area got hit hard by the rain.  Washing out in a number of areas.  Thankfully, the greens are still intact. 

The video above is of the river of water going over the entrance drive.  At one point it was over 1 foot in depth. 

Al Peters: 1955 - 2013

This past weekend one of our grounds crew members, Al Peters, passed away during his work day here at the club.  Al was 58 and had been working for us for the past 2 months.  His son, Scott, who has been working for us since 2008 was by his father's side in his last moments. 

Al was a great addition to the crew.  He was consistently upbeat and got along with everyone.  Always quick to enjoy a good laugh or to strike up a conversation about current topics with anyone he was around.  He was willing to do whatever was asked of him and went about his normal day doing the best job he could.  He will be missed by all of us. 

Short Game Area Progress

Even after the rain event 2 wks ago, the new short game area is coming along nicely.  Today marked the first day for mowing the greens.  They were mowed at .250", which is 1/4".  As the greens mature we will slowly lower the height of cut to match our existing greens, which are at .125" or 1/8".    

Short Game Area: Greens Mix

The new short game area greens will be grown on a mixture of 80% sand, 15% compost and 5% peat.  The new greens (5-8) are grown on a similar mixture, while #2 & #16 greens are grown on a sand/peat mixture.  The remaining greens are "push up" or native soil greens.  "Push up" simply means that when the greens were constructed they pushed up the existing topsoil and shaped it into a green.

 

Below is a picture of the blending machine used to make our 80/15/5 mixture.  

 

 

The compost is used in our greens mix as a source of organic matter and nutrients.  The compost also allows the new greens to have a similar composition to our existing push up greens.  For many years now, the greens have been topdressed with straight sand and after taking a sample of the top 2" of the profile recommendations were made for a sand/compost mixture. 

 

Short Game Practice Area

The short game practice area is in full swing.  As you may have noticed 2 weeks ago the area was starting to look a little yellow.  The cause of this was an application of a product called RoundUp.  RoundUp is a non-selective herbicide which kills plants that it comes in contact with.  The application is a standard practice in the renovation process, which helps to kill not only the green portion of the grass plant, but also the root.  This aspect is important because some grass plants can regenerate new plants from their roots, so during the construction process the soil is moved around the site and if some viable roots remain there is a chance they could regenerate.  An undesirable example of this is rough grass (Kentucky Bluegrass/Ryegrass) growing in the short game areas that are intended to be cut down to fairway (creeping bentgrass) height.

Before the construction began we removed all of the sprinklers in the area and capped the irrigation pipe.  As you can see from the picture, the grass has been completely killed off at this point.

Here the contractor Vintage Golf is beginning to shape one of the chipping greens. 

Here they are shaping the edge of the green and bunker face on the west green complex.

The picture below shows the east green complex being fine tuned.  Green surface contours are created during the construction process that will mirror the finished grade after the greens mix is installed.  12" of greens mix will be installed inside the "shell" of the green complex. 

The Sand Man Cometh

Tuesday and Wednesday of this week we were playing in the sand.  Well, not playing.  Applying would be a better description. 

Tuesday marked the inaugural day of topdressing tees.  Our tees are showing signs of being puffy and in a few small areas scalp marks are occurring after mowing.  Topdressing with sand will aid in firming the playing surface, diluting the thatch mat and will also make a smoother tee.

On Wednesday we continued our sand onslaught.  #6 fairway has been a focus of our topdressing attention over the past 2 years and the improved conditioning of the fairway is in large part due to this.  Our goal is to make an application each month.  This is directly dependent on the weather, though. 

 

Rainy Days

Over the past week we have had a number of rainy days.  At this point last year we were begging for rain.  Remember that? 

Today the crew is working on cleaning up leaves and sticks, removing water from the course, cart path weeds, building organization and whatever else we can manage to do without causing damage on the course. 

The pic below is of our homemade contraption that we call the "Suck-O-Vac".  We started using this machine 6 years ago before our recent drainage improvements.  Although the responsibilites of the machine have lessened dramatically over the years, we still have a number of small areas on the course that hold water.

The Suck-O-Vac is an old 200 gallon sprayer tank mounted to a trailer.  We then added a wet/dry vacuum to the top.  The vacuum sits in the opening for the tank almost perfect and after a little silicone the machine was airtight.  The vacuum is plugged into a generator in the back of our cart.  After the tank is full a 2" ball valve is opened to drain the tank into an existing drain inlet. 

June Newsletter

Hello Everyone.  I hope you all enjoyed the spring.  

Within the past month the bunkers were edged and topped off with additional bunker sand.  A detailed map was created of each bunker diagramming the depth of the sand before the project.  Our goal is to have 4-6 inches of sand throughout the bunker. 

#6 fairway was also topdressed during May.  Currently, we have around 2” of sand capping the fairway.  We will continue these topdressing applications throughout the year and the coming years at monthly intervals to increase the sand cap to our desired 4-6”.  I am sure you will all agree the fairway has improved dramatically over the last couple of years and the topdressing program has played a big part in the fairway’s improvement.

The rough left of 4 fairway is close to being able to play out of.  The cold spring has really slowed down the grow-in process, so thank you for your patience.

 Every spring we receive a number “comments” about the rough.  Even though it seems we are growing U.S. Open style rough, we are not.  We actually are maintaining it at the same height that we do throughout the year.  It just grows very rapidly with the spring rains and when the grass flowers it gets very tough to play out of. 

 Yes, I did say the grass flowers.  It isn’t as pretty as the flowers we think of initially, but every spring some turfgrass produces seeds on a stalk and it is referred to as inflorescence.  This is especially true with the grass species Chikaming has on its property.  Normally grasses produce this inflorescence when they have not been mowed, but Poa annua or Annual Bluegrass (our dominant grass species) produces seed even at greens height.  This explains the “white-ish” blotches on the greens, tees, fairways and in the rough. 

 The Grounds Staff and I look forward to seeing you all through the year and, as always, please repair your ballmarks, rake the bunkers and replace your divots.  With your help, we can continue to make Chikaming a great place to play.  Thank you!!

Eric Rank

Director of Grounds

MSU Turf Update

4-25-2013

Spring Flooding of Turf

In the last week heavy rains blanketed most of the state resulting in streams and rivers overflowing their banks and many low lying areas flooding. The water has slowly started to subside and turf that was flooded may be exhibiting damage symptoms. Factors that determine turf survival under water include: turfgrass species, submergence duration, submergence depth, water temperature, and light intensity.
Turfgrass species differ in their ability to survive flooding. Unfortunately there are no hard fast numbers such as Kentucky bluegrass will survive 5 days and creeping bentgrass 15 days under water. Instead species have been assigned relative submersion tolerance ratings: creeping bentgrass – excellent, Kentucky bluegrass – medium, Poa annua and perennial ryegrass – fair. As submergence depthincreases the potential for injury increases. If the leaf tissue is above the water line – even just a little bit – the turf will probably survive. On golf courses many have observed creeping bentgrass floating on the edge and even growing out into a lake. This is a perfect example of turf surviving when partially submerged. The final two factors affecting turf survival are water temperature and light intensity. Both of these factors are working in our favor right now as the air and water temperatures have been cool. Flooding during the summer months when temperatures are higher often result in damage to the turf when it’s submerged for even a short time.

Many golf courses in flood plains have flooded.
As the water recedes, the turf may be yellow or brown. The discoloration is related to the turf losing its ability to take up nutrients. It doesn’t take long once turf is submerged for soil oxygen levels to decline and root hairs to begin to die. As the root system becomes impaired, nutrient extraction and water uptake will be limited. Keep this in mind once the water has receded as the turf may benefit from a light fertilizer application. To assess if submersion has caused injury, extract several plants from the flooded site and cut a horizontal cross section through the crown. If the crown is white and firm – it has survived. If the crown is brown and mushy – it’s dead, so time to develop a reestablishment plan. Finally, for those areas that were flooded due to a stream or river overflowing a bank you are probably dealing with silt or soil deposition. Removal of soil deposition can be difficult and seeding into the deposited soil can be an option. Once successfully reestablished soil cultivation such as core aeration or slicing will benefit the turf by breaking through deposited soil layers to facilitate rooting and water infiltration.

Kevin W. Frank
Associate Professor and Extension Turf Specialist
MSU Turf Team

Rainy Day Work

At times the grounds crew and I are forced to work inside during or after heavy rainfall events.  This was the case on several days over the past two weeks.  These particular indoor work days were used to complete a few shop improvements that have been needed for a long time. 

Project #1 was to clean.  All of the buildings were swept and our breakroom/bathroom area was mopped.

Project #2 was new ceiling lights in our 3rd building.  This building was built in 2004 and since then a single light has been lighting the 30' x 60' space.  Inadequate to say the least.  The building is now brightly lit by 19 energy effficient fluorescent lights. 

Project #3 included organization of the 2nd building.  This building has been plagued by inadequate floor space for parking equipment, which leads to restricted and/or no areas to walk.  The major reason for this safety issue has been the many pallets of fertilizer that come in every spring were stored on the floor.   

To remedy this issue we purchased a number of pallet racks and spaced them according along the back wall of the building.  Equipment can be parked under the pallet rack shelving, while pallets of fertilizer and divot mix are stored above.

 

   

April Showers

Over the past 2 weeks we have received a total of 4 inches of rain. The first rain showers of the previous week were needed as we were actually very dry.  That 1 inch of rain was soon soaked up by the ground and we were able to mow greens and fairways this past Sunday. 

The remaining 3 inches of rain came this past week between Tuesday and Thursday.  Of which, 2.5 inches was over a one day period.  Heavy rainfalls such as this result in swollen ponds and additional water hazards on the course. 

2 pond from Entrance drive

Path behind 11grn/10T

2 pond looking toward the green from left rough.

2 pond looking toward the Hamlet parking lot.

Propane Tank Movement

Last Wednesday we moved our propane tank that supplies the heaters in our main building at the grounds department. We did this too improve parking for our equipment during the day. The 1,000 gallon tank was moved from the west side of the building to the east side with help of an excavator. A trench was also dug for the gas supply line which was later installed by our propane supplier.

Each year we make improvements to our facilities to increase our operating efficiency and this project will definitely help with that.

Spring (Still feels like winter) Work

After the coldest March on record we have only been able to spend the last week and a half outside. Stumps leftover from the tree trimming/removal project were ground down and a portion of last week was spent cleaning up the grindings. We began filling them with topsoil at the end of last week and will finish the job this week.

Stick cleanup is at the top of our priority list at the moment and it will continue into next week.

MSU Turf Update

3-11-2013

 

Attempting to Prevent Ice Damage to Poa annua Greens Crown hydration followed by the crowns being crushed It is that time of year again when the snow is melting and the potential for ice damage may be occurring. Every year it seems that ice formation on Poa annua greens causes turf loss in some part of Michigan, with last year being the exception. The ice damage is referred to as crown hydration and believed to be caused by the Poa annua plants breaking dormancy early and taking up water, then when the temperatures drop at night, ice crystals form in the crown killing the plant. Most of the time the soil in the entire green is saturated following snow melt. While all the P. annua plants in the green take up water and the crowns become hydrated, only the plants in the area where the ice reforms die. The creeping bentgrass plants, which do not break dormancy early, have dehydrated crowns that are not as susceptible to being crushed by the reformation of the ice. So far, I do not see a problem as the Poa annua has not broken dormancy, but it will only take a few days in the 60’s for this to occur. As the snow melts and puddles of water form on the greens, it would be wise to remove as much of the standing water as possible. Good luck, and let’s hope it turns out to be an ice damage-free Spring. J. M. Vargas Jr. Professor, MSU   The message you received and any attachments may contain confidential, proprietary or privileged information and are only for their intended recipient(s). Do not, directly or indirectly, use, disseminate, distribute, alter or copy the message. No confidentiality or privilege is waived by errant delivery. E-mail transmissions cannot be guaranteed to be secure or error-free as information could be intercepted, corrupted, lost, destroyed, arrive late, incomplete, or contain viruses. Therefore, the sender, The Michigan Turfgrass Foundation, and their officers, directors, employees, affiliates, and agents (collectively, the "Michigan Turfgrass Foundation") do not accept liability for any errors or omissions in the contents of the message.

 

http://www.michiganturfgrass.org/       miturfgrass@gmail.com      P: 517-392-5003

CH Bar Project

The clubhouse bar project is in full swing. The bar opening has been widened. The men's bathroom is getting a much needed facelift and the new fireplace is installed.

Eviction Notice....

Our tree trimming project this year was primarily focused on the removal of dead or declining trees.  Most of the work was centered around the new holes (5-8).

However, one of the trees we removed was a failing sugar maple right of 18 approach, near the cart path.  The top of the tree has been gone for a number of years and rotten wood and a few branches were left behind.  But, Nick Conklin (Conky) and I never anticipated we were cutting down someone's home.

Needless to say the resident raccoon was a bit shook up.  So, being the good Samaritans that we are, we moved the log and the occupant to an area out of our way and went about our work.  The next morning the log was empty.

 

Disclaimer:  No animals were harmed during the filming of this blog.  :)

Tree Trimming 2013

Part of our winter routine is usually tree trimming and removal.  We are just finishing up a two week project with a 65 foot lift and a small track loader.  The lift allows us to prune or remove branches near the top of the tree.  In some situations the removal of a tree is needed and the location doesn't allow for a normal tree felling or "tree dropping".  An example of this would be near a green, tee or fairway.  So, we use the lift to tie a rope to a limb then run the rope through a crotch in the tree.  The other end of the rope is connected to a tractor or, in this case, a track loader.  After the limb is cut it swings down, the rope tightens and the limb is slowly lowered to the ground by the track loader.  The result is no damage to the turf.  We repeat the process until the tree is at a manageable height to which we can perform a normal felling while minimizing damage to the turf.

We perform this work "in house" and all of the necessary safety equipment are used throughtout the process.  This includes chainsaw chaps, helmets, hearing protection, eye protection and most importantly, while in the lift, a safety harness is used.   

Irrigation Pump Work

Today we had our irrigation pumps removed to be rebuilt. Each pump and motor will be thoroughly gone through to ensure many years of reliable service.

The pumps are currently 13 years old and have only had seasonal maintenance performed on them since installation in 1999.

The pumps should be back in service by mid march.

Strange Temps

Today it was 61 degrees.  Last Thursday it was 19 degrees with 6 inches of snow on the ground.  Within the next 3 days it is forecasted we will receive 1 to 2 inches of rain, then 6-10 of snow on Thursday, coupled with bitter cold by Friday. 

Tomorrow we will scout the greens for any standing water and remove it before the freeze sets in.  A phenomenon called Crown Hydration may occur due to rapid freezing over a short period of time.  There is potential for turf loss if the water is not removed.  Here's a link for more info on Crown Hydration and other "winterkill" that affects turfgrass.  http://www.turf.msu.edu/winterkill-of-turfgrass

Cart Path Work

This past November, the crew and I, continued to work on our cart paths. After the asphalt was removed from the paths we realized there was a need for drainage in many areas. This was evident after a rainfall where standing water occurred in every low spot.

So, the next step was to install drain tile in the cart paths. Something that I never thought I would say because it just doesn't fit into what I'm used to. After the spoils from the trencher were picked up we installed the tile and back filled the trench with the same pea stone that we are using on the surface of the path.

A Winter Project Completed

After the holidays, the guys tackled prepping our rough mower to be put up for sale. The entire machine was thoroughly checked, repairs were made and fluids changed. In addition, every mower deck was disassembled and painted. The crew did a great job on the project and the end result will be a satisfied buyer!