December 5, 2014 Scouting Report

December 5, 2014 Scouting Report It's here - hot off the presses and the final installment of another year of intrepid detail and willful misinformation! As I write this I realize that we certainly seem to have gotten off lightly so far this winter. Looking at a lot of brown grass this week has allayed my mild concern regarding whether or not turf had hardened off appropriately to the cold temperatures. That however has changed and many of the courses are now looking appropriately brown. Unfortunately some damage has occurred during the cold snap which will be seen all the way into late April of next year. Conference season is in full swing as well as a spat of annual meetings for the various association - further to that, the CDGA Club Leadership Conference is upcoming and our session for prospective greens chairmen and superintendents has some very interesting topics in regards to the role of a greens chairman, water issues facing golf courses and course changes in relation to re-grassing, redesigns are all on the slate for discussion on February 21st at Medinah CC. Guest speakers will be in place from the USGA, GCSAA as well as presenters who have had recent experience on some of the mentioned topics. As it is the last scouting report of the season, it would be poor of me not to remind you of the education opportunities coming up - OTF next week, Wisconsin Turfgrass Research Day, Jan 6th , ITF January 13-14th, MTF, and of course GIS in San Antonio February 21-26. These are all great opportunities - avail of them. Online opportunities at the Great Lakes Turf School are also available here. One last note is to thank you for your support this year and as always Happy Holidays - whichever way you celebrate it! Click here to view the December 5, 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 Office: (630) 685-2307 Cell: (630) 423-1925 www.cdgaturf.org Follow us on Twitter @TurfResearch

Current State of Affairs and What to Expect in 2015

We are finished with the Phase III bunker renovation work for 2014.  There is work that needs to be completed going into the spring and we will do our best to finish the work as quickly as possible. 

Following is a project update:

•         Front 9 renovation is complete
•         All bentgrass has been sodded per the architect’s design
•        All bunkers on the back 9 have been rough shaped
•         Final shape work and drainage is required on holes 10 and 18
•         Drainage to the traps has been completed on all back 9 holes to help remove water when the spring thaw begins
•        Liner is installed on hole #14; Holes 10, 15, 16, and 18 require liner installation
•        Bluegrass needs to be sodded on holes 10, 15, 16,and 18
•         Seeding (dormant seeding) is completed to give it a jump start to growth when soil temperatures warm up

What Can Golfers Expect When the Season Officially Opens?

Our first priority will be to get the bunkers sodded, lined, and filled with sand.  We have approximately 2 weeks of work left to finish the remaining bunkers.  Our goal is to have all bunkers open for play when the golf course opens in the spring.  Golfers will be able to play from the new bunkers even with the “bare” seeded areas.  These areas will be roped off and should be open for play sometime in June.

Below are pictures of the bunker renovation project:

Crew working on installing liner on #14

Bunker complex on the left side of #7

New greenside bunkers on #7

View of #9 on the tee; new tees will be added to the right

View of #1 on the tee

Bunker Construction Update

The weather has been an issue due to the amount of rain we have received.  All of the bunkers and lake excavation on #7 are completed besides the finishing aspects (i.e. bunker liner, sand, and sod) on the fairway bunkers.  Dave Carter (our lead shaper) will be finishing #1 today then moving to #9 and by the end of tomorrow should be on #10.

#7 Greensides "Before"

#7 Greensides "After"

With the lake excavation we have moved approximately 400 tons of material, This was all moved by tractor trailer and dump truck.  This material was used to add a berm on the left side of #7.  This was seeded to our fescue blend similar to #14 and #15.  

Ball Marks

The ballmarks on the greens have gotten noticeably worse recently.  How bad are they?  Below is a picture of the #3 green with 500 flags, each representing unrepaired/incorrectly-repaired ballmarks.  The reason the entire green is not covered is because we ran out of flags! Approximately 1500 flags would be needed to designate all of the ballmarks on this green..  I am asking each member to assist us repairing ballmarks by repairing two ballmarks on each green – yours and another.  I appreciate your help. 

  

Crew Appreciation and Grubs!

Below are the men of the entire grounds maintenance team!  During the summer, we start at 5 AM to provide the playing conditions that our members enjoy.  They take tremendous pride in the work they complete on the golf course.  We work through the rain or shine and through the cold months!  Next time you see any member of our crew, please tell them “Thanks!”

Pictured from Left to Right:

Mike Paciga, Huver Vargas, Magorito Espinoza, Javier Hernandez, Ever Figueroa, Balta Vasquez, Reynaldo Ocampo, Omar Vargas, Eliodoro Hernandez, Jon Savoie, Ricardo Vargas, Bartolo Solano, and Alvino Antunez

Not Pictured:  Cal Moyer, Peter Solkaski, Octavio Rios, Javier Hernandez, and David Field

We've been battling some grubs this year, particularly #10 fairway as shown below.  We treat the entire golf course preventatively back at the end of June, however, we never really know how effective it is until the fall.  We did have some breakthrough this year, which may be attributed to the amount of rain we received this year.  We have been treating the grubs post emergent in these areas.  The damage has begun to subside and recovery is now evident.

Green Issues and #7

There is a disease called Bipolaris leaf spot that is evident on a couple of the greens.  This disease may be the result of one of the wettest summers on record.  The greens have been treated and the CDGA has taken samples to confirm the diagnosis.  We have been proactive in the healing process and have already seeded/ plugged the infected areas.

How come the lake levels are so low? 

We’ve been lowering the lake level to prepare for the dredging of the waste bunker on #7.  We will be excavating the bunker and water will flow to the greenside.  This will make for a much more difficult approach shot!

Aerification Schedule

September is the perfect time of year for aerification.  Aeration is critical to grow healthy grass and provide superior playing conditions during the stressful months of July and August.  In September the day lengths are shorter and nighttime temperatures are cool (50’s).  This environment allows a quick recovery (about 10 days) since the grass is still actively growing. 

Below is the schedule for our greens, tees, and fairways:

September 3^rd- Holes 13-18 (Tees/Fairways)

September 9^th- Holes 4-9 (Tees/Fairways)

September 11^th- Holes 1-3, 10-12 (Tees/Fairways)

October 27^th- Greens (1-18)

Why do we aerify?

Aerification provides the following primary benefits:

-Thatch reduction

-Air/water movement

-Compaction reduction

We will try to complete this work as quickly as possible.  If everything goes well, we may be able to complete the entire tee/fairway aeration in 2 days. 

Below is a link to a video that the USGA prepared on greens aeration and its benefits: