Course Update

The outstanding weather throughout November has given us a great opportunity to continue work on our bunker face rehab. Over the years, thatch and sand build up on the steep faces has contributed to the decline of quality grass in these areas. Starting last season, we started a rotation to strip/ resurface the bunker faces, eliminating patchy areas where golf balls wind up causing difficult recovery shots.

1 Bunker face in fall of 2012

After resurfacing last year. Fall 2013

#7 Greenside. After removing layers of thatch and sand.

#7 Finished

#9 Before

Completed

The lip created on 14 greenside after 10 years of bunker shots!

Ah ha, that's where my sand budget goes!

Back to original form

What happens when things go wrong II

There's never a dull moment here at Rivercrest. While prepping the greens ahead of the Club Championship field so not to change the conditions through out play we experienced this major blow out! The lead group was on 5 green when this little glitch occurred. We frantically raced to the shop to get the squeegees and a cup cutter before the first group arrived while alerting Jamie on the first tee of the change. Whew, just in time.

This geyser almost took Mike's head off!

Of all places to drain to, right over the pin placement for the final day

Just a Reminder

Please save our cart path edges! Over the years a tremendous amount of time and energy has gone into fixing these areas. Excess compaction coupled with radiant heat are the main killers of grass along the path. Parking the carts away from the edge will greatly help our appearance. Thank you.

Thatch, Thatch and more Thatch

The bentgrass cultivars make for excellent golfing surfaces especially greens but have a drawback with being prolific thatch producers. Managing this layer is extremely important as bentgrass can create a .5" of thatch every season. This will lead to serious problems such as poor oxygen and water infiltration, frequent wilt from shortened root systems, and eventually black layer. Black layer is a mass of decomposing thatch and organic material that is completely oxygen deprived and will quickly lead to surface death if not corrected.  The dense thatch holds moisture at the surface causing the roots to shrink as there is no need dive in search of water. With excess rainfall this year punching the greens and tees more often was necessary to allow a path for roots to follow but more importantly, introducing oxygen below.

The tees have been cored twice this fall to aggressively attack this layer. To keep the tees looking healthy and improve recovery throughout the season increased amounts of nitrogen are applied but with the downside of producing more thatch. We will attack this layer early next year as well with two aerifications in the spring.

2013 Fall Aerification

Monday's aerification went exceedingly well with overcast skies, cool temps, and the crew raring to go. After 14 hours going strong, all the greens and approaches were cored. The greens were punched using 1/4" hollow tines and 3/4" hollow tines for the approaches. Finishing Monday was key as hotter temps were arriving Tuesday and Wednesday. The less time spent abusing the grass during the heat of the day would aid in recovery. Topdressing and brushing was done first thing in the morning and early evening to avoid the heat. This allowed us to concentrate on cooling/syringing off the grass midday as temps hit 90 degrees.

Corey spreading wet topdressing at a heavy rate.

Our new rotating brush in action. Even with heavy amounts of sand, two passes was all that was needed. See finished below

Shade : Update

We took advantage of an opportunity while being closed for aerification to address the turf issues on nine tee. Arader Tree Service set up and removed three trees behind the back tee which will allow all important morning sunlight to hit these areas. We also removed a few trees directly to the left of the middle tee to get some midday sun. Opening up these areas will allow for more sunlight and airflow to reach the tees throughout the day. This will improve recovery especially during rainy periods as it will speed up the drying time.

8:00 AM two weeks ago

8:00 AM this past Wednesday

This picture was taken after coring the tee a few weeks ago. The water still remained in the thatch four days after a rain.

Shade in the summer isn't always good

The importance of morning sunlight on the growing effects of bentgrass have come full circle in the mid-atlantic region this year. The seemingly non stop rainfall this summer has made drying out the soil a difficult yet top priority. A balancing act is required to be proactive agronomically (preventing problems rather than reacting) while providing high quality playing conditions. The greens have been deep-tined, cross tined, and punched with bayonet tines to not only relieve compaction but more importantly, air out. Tees have been punched with the larger bayonet tines to allow for drying 3X.

Deep tine, cross tine, bayonet tine

Number nine tee has always been more difficult to maintain due to it's location. The back two tees are tucked against a retaining wall for the carriage homes, tall trees directly behind, and little or no air circulation.
These three elements will always be detrimental to turf growth.

The front tee on 9 gets full morning sun and adequate airflow.

This picture was taken at 8:45 am

 Last weekend the back two tees reached their boiling point. The 3.5" of rain Tuesday, another .5 over the weekend along with temps reaching almost ninety caused what it is known as wet wilt. The saturated soil has effectively suffocated and compromised the roots. Once this happens the plant cannot pull any moisture out of the root zone to cool off and overheats. Dry wilt happens when the plant doesn't have enough water to cool down. Ironic that perfectly moist soil will cause wilt! Even after poking holes on Thursday to alleviate  the wetness, the continual combination of no sunlight, no circulation, and relentless rainfall destroyed the roots. The pic below shows a mass of brown/black decaying roots.

Notice how wet and clumped together the soil is.

 Keeping the plant cool is vital and SUPER light misting every half hour was needed to keep the remaining plants alive. Cooler temps earlier this week were a welcome relief and aided in the recovery. After five days the tee has begun to bounce back.

This temperature reading was taken at noon with an air temp of 81! NO GOOD.

Directly across from the back tee.

             

                         The front tee on nine moments later. The healthier green grass reflects the heat much better.

Breath,Breath

The most effective way to dry this root zone out is core aerification. This will remove the saturated thatch and soil allowing the plant to breath. Timing and temperature is key and the forecast for the next week or so has mild temps and much cooler nights. We will aerify all of the tees early next week to avoid any further damage due to water logged soils. The wet root zone and extreme temps two weeks ago contributed to the decline of this tee but opening holes during that week would have been more damaging than good. Updates to follow.