1 Green - Rough Addition

The back right of 1 green was beginning to be over taken by buckthorn and other unwanted plants. Buckthorn out competes native plants for nutrients, light, moisture and contributes to erosion by shading out other plants that grow on the forest floor. The weeds and a few small trees were removed and soil was added to have the rough slope from the green to the creek. This addition is now much more attractive from the green and long shots may stop in the new rough instead of going into the old lateral red hazard.

Ash Tree Injection

Now that ALL the Ash trees have been identified and tagged, we have started the Arborjet Tree I.V. injection process. The insecticide we are using is called Tree-age. Tree-age provides broad spectrum insect control with extended residual activity for micro-injection and micro-infusion application through Arborjet injection systems. The active ingredient emamectin benzoate, eliminates existing populations of some insect pests and provides multi-year protection against new infestations of EAB. University research has consistently found it to be the most effective control method for Emerald Ash Borer. Tree-age is a longer-lasting and quicker-killing insecticide administered through injection holes in the trunk near the ground. It has a proven 99% kill-rate of established infestations within weeks of injection and a 99% prevention rate for uninfested Ash.

Tree-age is applied as a trunk injection at the base of the tree. It is not sprayed on the tree nor applied to the soil. Like any systemic insecticide, this product must be transported through the phloem tissue and into the canopy. Therefore, it will usually be more effective in a tree that is reasonably healthy than in a tree that has already been severely injured by insects.

Here are a few websites to check out if you are concerned about your Ash trees:

http://www.emeraldashborer.info/

http://www.mda.state.mn.us/plants/pestmanagement/eab.aspx

A Catch Up Week

With significant rain the last 2 weeks (3.2" this month) The Turf Staff has been very busy trying to play catch up. On Monday we had a outside event with 120 players. We revived .5" of rain just before the start of the tournament, and the course was in pretty rough shape on Tuesday morning. With the most anticipated tournament of the year, the member-guest Shillelagh, held Thursday threw Saturday, the staff had put in some hard long hours this week, and it shows. Here is a list of some of this weeks jobs

Greens - Height of cut down to .105" from .125"
Greens Rolled - W-Th-F
Tees, collars, approaches - M-T-W-F
Fairways - Mowed cross cut on Tue, Traditional cut M-W-F
Greens spayed - Turf Growth Regulator, Fungicide, Iron
Fairways Sprayed - Turf Growth Regulator, Fungicide, Insecticide
Tees sprayed - Fungicide
Tees Fertilized - granular .8# of N/1000 sq. ft.
Irrigation leaks - 4 yellow tee, 3" Slip fix. 18 fwy, 6" to 3" knock-on to slip fix
Rough, Green and Tee banks mowed - T-W-Th, with blowers following mowers because of clumping of grass.
Misc. All trees, green areas, tree areas trimmed. Bunkers weeded, sand added to low spots.
2,8,10,11,12 pond edges trimmed. Cart paths leveled. 50 hostas planted on east hill side woodchips.

PGA "Majors" Blogs

Here are a few websites for the upcoming Major golf tournaments.
Enjoy!

The United States Open
Pebble Beach Golf Links
Pebble Beach, California
http://gcm.typepad.com/

The Open Championship
The Old Course at St. Andrews
St. Andrews, Scotland
http://www.standrews.org.uk/2010-Open/Blog.aspx

The PGA Championship
Whistling Straits
Kohler, Wisconsin
http://www.pga.com/pgachampionship/2010/index.cfm

Bunker Rakes

The Greens Committee and Turf Staff have decided to place bunker rakes perpendicular to the greens. There has been much discussion about golf balls being held-up by bunker rakes and causing the ball to sit between the rake and the bunker lip. So our solution is to have bunker rakes placed in the bunker so the rake handle is on the bunker lip and the rake head pointed to the middle of the bunker. Please do not place rakes on GREENS SIDE of bunkers. The rakes may be placed on any side of fairway bunkers. Please spread the word about the new placement of bunker rakes. Thanks for helping!

Greens Aerification

On June 1st all 19 greens, short range and Bentgrass nursery were aerified and went quite well. We had a good day of weather, which always makes the process go smoother, and with nice weather in the forecast, we are hoping for a speedy recovery. I thought I would share a couple of photos of the aeration procedure, and explain how we do things.

1) Our first step is core aeration. We use two Toro 648 Procore aerators, each set with 30 tines to pull the core. Hollow 1/2" tines, spaced 2" apart. This process takes approximately 30 minutes per green.

2) Once the cores are pulled, our crew comes behind with snow and scoop shovels to pick the cores from the green. This is a very labour-intensive part of the day. We had 4 staff members per aerifier. But their hard work made the process move along at a good pace.

3) Once the cores are picked off the green, the next step is to topdress the green. Our Cushman topdresser travels across each green throwing down a layer of sand. To do all 19 greens it takes approximately 60 tons of sand! This is one of the more time consuming aspects of the procedure. Bentgrass seed is also applied at this time.

4) Once the sand has been spread on the green and dries, it is brushed in. Two Terra Brooms, pulled behind a utility cart, brush the sand in. The drier the sand is prior to brushing, the better the process works. This is where weather has a big impact on the success of the final product.

5) Staff members go to each green to fill and broom any open holes. Finally a heavy irrigation cycle to wash in any excess sand on top of the turf.

We appreciate your patients during this time. The short term disruption will greatly benefit the greens. Here are some benefits: Relieves soil compaction, modifies layered soil conditions, removes a limited amount of thatch, allows for better gas/air exchange in the root zone, promotes efficient water percolation, improves fertilizer and pesticide penetration and effectiveness, improves plant-root development, helps prepare soil for over-seeding and improves surface drainage.

May Weather Data

High Temps.
Min. 46
Max. 95
Avg. 69

Low Temps.
Min. 32
Max. 73
Avg. 50

Precipitation 2.50" Rain

Course Closed Today

CORING ALL GREENS TODAY

Aeration is an extremely important maintenance practice. Although it results in a temporary disruption of the green, aeration improves water penetration into the soil, reduces soil compaction, stimulates turfgrass root growth for a healthier plant, helps control thatch build-up, and improves overall growing conditions. Aeration is generally done twice per year, and sometimes more often if certain problems exist.

I will post more literature, videos and pictures later in the week about this topic.