November Greens Superintendent Update

 Greens Superintendent Update

 

The month of October was one for the books. Although we have been in drought conditions since September, the course held strong and has been in great condition. Even with the drought, we were able to minimize irrigation use. Utilizing wetting agents and timely sprays we can train the turf to be resilient during dry stretches. We had one solid rain storm on October 14th and timed our wetting agent on fairways perfectly. By utilizing Mother Nature for our soil sprays we save on water usage. If it's raining you will likely see me putting out a soil spray almost every time. I have had the middle retention pond dam setup since the beginning of the month. My goal this time of year is to get water retention up in ponds and fill in areas that have receded. The ball marks on the greens have been getting skipped or repaired improperly. We work extremely hard to keep the greens in great condition and we ask that each golfer continues to do their part to keep them that way. We have backed off mowing practices with the cold weather in the morning. Going into the winter you raise the heights on all mowers, and let the plant grow up. This allows the fine turf to protect itself from harsh winter conditions. With the cold weather comes frost delays and leaves. As the frost lifts we work as quickly as we can to get the course clean and playable. The wind at Sky is relentless and unforgiving. Our staff will have an area spotless and one gust on a hole like 9 and it's covered almost immediately. We have started our pickup process with the truck to remove the leaves and dump them in our compost area in the dump on 5. Along with removal, we will mulch the leaves in certain areas. Not only does this stop the leaves from blowing around, but provides free nutrients for our rough once it breaks down over the winter. We will continue to make sure all surfaces are cleaned daily with the skeleton crew we have this time of year.

 

 

 

Irrigation

 

Pictured below is our MIM from Rainbird. This allows us to set up irrigation via our computer and water overnight with programs. With the rainstorm we received it also came with some serious lightning strikes. Our MIM unfortunately got smoked during this storm. Along with a handful of radios inside of our irrigation box. Luckily this is covered under warranty and a new one is on the way. We did dry down during the loss of our irrigation. It is October and we are better off going into the winter dry versus wet. We are in the process of getting the system back online currently. We can still water from the boxes for now until the system is back online. While it is time-consuming it is accomplishable. We will be shutting the system down for the winter very soon. We are lucky this is in October and not July.

Dollar spot trials

On every property, I set up a few test plot areas. This is to ensure that our spray program is protecting the fine turf to our standard. By keeping an untreated area this allows me to trial products and test the efficacy of sprays. Most products will claim 21 days of coverage, but I like to do my own research as every golf course is different. In the photo below half of the plot is treated and healthy, and the other has a dollar spot breakthrough. This indicates the products being used are not only doing their job, but we are not wasting money. Dollar spot forms with mycelium on the surface of the plant that looks like cotton in the dewey mornings. Preventive sprays allow us to keep the disease at bay. Whereas curative sprays will suppress but not completely heal the turf. Timing is always key when combating every turf pathogen. This is a disease we battle from the start of the season all the way to the end. By doing these small trials around the course

I can make adjustments to next year's Program.

Tree Damage

 

Our smaller trees to the right side of 11 Tee took on damage with the winds and heavy rain. We cut down the leaders that were unsafely leaning towards the 11 tee box. Upon cutting the tree we discovered a massive cavity in the tree. We are lucky this happened overnight and not during the day. We will assess the rest of the tree this winter and remove anything that is deemed unsafe for the playing area.

 

 Sunrises

 

One of my favorite parts of my job is watching the sun rise every day. While some members are also up during this time I would like to share how beautiful the sunrises are here at Sky. Also a great fall foliage shot of one of my favorite views as well.

Golf course superintendent,

 

Cogan Register