Winter Recovery

We have endured some damage after one of the harshest winters on record. Fortunately, it’s limited to the fairways and did not affect the greens and tees.  We’ve started to “slit seed” these fairways to begin the recovery process.  These areas will be roped off for the next several weeks.  Please try to stay outside the ropes as much as possible.

#16 Fairway- Notice the sharp contrast on grass in one of the fairways.  The sodded bentgrass survived the winter, but the poa annua did not.  The poa annua did not survive because of the cold winter extremes and/or ice encasement.  

Balta begins the recovery process of slit seeding these areas.  We are beginning to seed the areas where all of the poa annua has died.  These areas appear more “white” than others.  

CDGA Golf Course Condition Update Letter

Below is an update on what other golf courses are dealing with regards to their greens.  We've been VERY fortunate to have minimal damage at Kemper Lakes as we have a fair amount of poa annua on our greens. Update on Turf Damage Due to Winter Weather Ladies and Gentlemen, Please see the attached letter from the CDGA Green Committee in regards to turf damage in the area due to the historic winter. Click here to view the letter  If you have any questions regarding the matter, please don't hesitate to contact our offices. Regards, Ed Nangle PhD Director of Turfgrass Programs Chicago District Golf Association Office: (630) 685-2307 Cell: (630) 423-1925

Let it FLY

The greens are finally open!  Try to get out and enjoy the next couple of days before the rain comes!  The grounds department has been very busy the past couple of weeks.  All of the bentgrass has been laid in the approaches on holes 3,4,5, and 6.  In the coming weeks we will begin sodding the bluegrass on holes 2,4,5,8,15, and 16.  Reminder:  We will be aerifying the week of April 21^st. 

Laying bentgrass is very time consuming.   I’m hoping to see these areas open for play in 4-5 weeks.

Before the greens are opened, they must be rolled and then mowed.  The rolling helps settle any frost heavings that occurred this past winter and prevents scalping from the mowers. 

Bartolo, Lolo, and Pablo ready to cut the greens!

CDGA Update - April 4, 2014

Welcome back everyone - it has been a long winter and while the calendar has officially entered springtime - Im not so sure that we are actually there yet. Snowfall March 24th and lows in the teens March 25th meant that old man winter has not let go of us just yet as far as temperatures go. As far the winter itself went it has been far from quiet from what I observed. Education talks were very well attended whether it was at Mauh-Nah-Tee-See in Rockford or Nashville GC in Nashville IL to Medinah CC at the annual CDGA club leadership conference led by the venerable Mr S. Solow - guys are suffering from some severe forms of cabin fever. 

From my perspective it has been intriguing picking up on methods and thoughts behind how to deal with the winter. I do feel however that there are extremes that we have dealt with this year that it may have not made one iota of difference. Instances of ice build up were reported in late December and unfortunately some courses never shook the ice cover until early March. That time period 80-84 days will have certainly wiped out a lot of Poa annua - pictures are below. The courses with bentgrass of course avoided the worry of this but at the same time the recovery to growth may take a little longer than many of us would like. 

From the personnel standpoint, we have hired Ron Townsend as our Director of Turfgrass Research. Ron a fellow Buckeye (I know I'm infesting the place) worked with the pathology program at OSU and most recently was up in Exmoor with the esteemed Mr. K. Galisdorfer. Ron was a Toro/Nicklaus scholarship award winner at OSU as well as a winner of the Trans-Miss scholarship. Ron will allow us to return to a much more normal research service while also aiding with data and website handling. Ron will contribute to the scouting report regularly and he may also be seen at meetings acting as my translator..... 

Click here to view the April 4, 2014 Scouting Report 

As always if you have a question or query please do not hesitate to ask and you can call or email. 

Ed Nangle PhD 
Director of Turfgrass Programs 
Chicago District Golf Association
www.cdgaturf.org 
Follow us on Twitter @TurfResearch

Springs Coming!

Temperatures are starting to climb and the grounds crew is busy preparing the course for opening day.  By the end of this week we should have a better idea on when the greens will be opening.  Four of our crew members from last year returned to work today: Balta, LoLo, Huver, and Pablo.  Our top priority is to complete the daunting task of raking up the entire golf course.  Willows are especially problematic.  As depicted below, they are messy and clean up is labor intensive.  It will take about a week to clean the entire course with 6-8 men.

 All greens must be  “cleaned up” before any spraying.  We’ll then apply our first spray of the season - a preventative application for snow mold.  With a cool, wet spring forecast, snow mold can still be a problem despite no “snow” coverage. 

Where's Spring?

I promise - spring will be here ONE of these days.  March 20^th officially marks the first day of spring, but the 10 day forecast doesn't promise any substantial warmth in the near future.  Think WARM!   Given the amount of snow cover this winter, concern has risen among superintendents regarding the health of their greens.  Ice can be a problem, especially if it’s a solid sheet of ice, as this may cause the grass to go anaerobic, i.e. suffocate.  At Kemper we currently have about ½” sheet of ice which appears to be porous.  This allows oxygen to reach the plant.  This is a favorable condition. 

A good test to see if greens are viable is to take plugs and bring them inside. This forces the grass to break dormancy and allows superintendents to assess the health of their greens with the snow cover.  On March 6^th, we took two plugs from the 5^th hole- one in the front and one in the back.  Currently everything appears to be healthy.  The images below show the increasing viability of the samples from March 6^th through today. 

 

CDGA Winter Turfgrass Update

Winter Turfgrass Update As we hopefully manage to drag our selves out of winter over the next month we will start to see an uncovering of what the snow and ice has left for many of us. Concern has been rising amongst many of you for many reasons as the thaw begins. The depth of snow has varied of course and this is mainly impacted by wind and surfaces in exposed locations such as hillsides, open sites and southern facing areas may be more prone to the thinner layer of snow. The depth of snow has not been of huge concern however - the length of time it has stuck around however is maybe more problematic. The predominant turfgrasses in the region have different tolerances to the time of cover as well as temperature. The other issues are freezing and ice which, have two different effects will become more apparent as we go through the early to mid spring. Click here to view the Winter Turfgrass Update As always if you have a question or query please do not hesitate to ask and you can call or email. Ed Nangle PhD Director of Turfgrass Programs Chicago District Golf Association Office: (630) 685-2307 Cell: (630) 423-1925 www.cdgaturf.org Follow us on Twitter @TurfResearch