Transition, What Does it Mean?

    Every year at The Clubs at St. James Plantation we overseed our tees and fairways to ensure better-playing conditions for our membership.  Essentially, what happens is that the cool season grass overtakes the bermuda grass on the fairways and tees that are going dormant.

     It is because of this process that we go through a transition from late spring into early summer when the bermuda grass is actively growing and the cool season grass is fading because of warmer temperatures.  Please understand that the courses at St. James will look different during this time, but this is natural.  Please click on the link provided below to learn more about golf course transition.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uq0mdjXcdRg

Cart Traffic

     As of Friday, November 6th, all of the Clubs at St. James Plantation have placed black stakes at the beginning and ending of all of the par 4 and five fairways.  These black stakes are in place to alert you where to enter and exit the fairways.  The reason we are asking you to use this policy is to limit the traffic on the overseeded portions of the courses.  The stakes will regularly be rotated to ensure that the regular cart and mower traffic will not damage any specific area.  Thanks for your cooperation while we try to improve your course conditions.

Winter fertilization

      Yesterday at the Players Club we made our second fertilizer application to the ryegrass. We fertilize the fairways with an ammonium sulfate, iron and magnesium solution. This application is sprayed directly through our sprayers onto the leaf tissue. Our tees and green surrounds are fertilized with a granular product. We use an organic 16-4-8 product from Lebanon Turf.
       These applications are typically made once a month through the winter. We will fertilize the ryegrass four or five times from October to February. Here is a photo of the granular application yesterday at the Players Club.

Looking ahead - GCM maintenance schedule 2013

      This week we are going to tackle the arduous task of plotting the maintenance schedule for 2013. This schedule includes the dates the clubs are closed and what tasks we will be performing. The tasks for each club will be similar, however the dates will be different. This calendar is an overview of the entire year. You can expect detailed posts throughout the year highlighting how we perform each job.

January

9th - Founders - Closed all day to apply post-emergent herbicide to the non-overseeded rough.
10th - Members - Closed all day to apply post-emergent herbicide to the non-overseeded rough and add colorant to the greens.
15th - Players - Closed all day to apply post-emergent herbicide to the non-overseeded rough and add colorant to the greens.
16th - Reserve - Closed all day to apply post-emergent herbicide to the non-overseeded rough.

February

9th - Members - Nine holes closed to add colorant to the greens.
10th - Members - Nine holes closed to add colorant to the greens.
12th - Players - Closed all day to apply pre-emergent herbicide to the entire course and add colorant to the greens.
13th - Reserve - Closed all day to apply pre-emergent herbicide to the entire course.
16th - Members - Nine holes closed to add colorant to the greens.
20th - Founders - Closed all day to apply pre-emergent herbicide to the entire course.
21st - Members - Closed all day to apply pre-emergent herbicide and lime to the entire course.

March

19th - Founders - Closed after double tee to fertilize (21-0-0) the non-overseeded rough.
20th - Reserve - Closed after double tee to fertilize (21-0-0) the non-overseeded rough.
21st - Players - Closed after double tee to fertilize (21-0-0) the non-overseeded rough.
30th - Members - Nine holes closed to fertilize (21-0-0) the non-overseeded rough.
31st - Members - Nine holes closed to fertilize (21-0-0) the non-overseeded rough.

April

14th - Members - Nine holes closed to fertilize (21-0-0) the non-overseeded turf.

May

6th - 9th - Reserve - Closed for four days to aerify and deep tine the greens and fertilize (21-0-0) the non-overseeded rough.
11th - Members - Nine holes closed to fertilize (21-0-0) non-overseeded rough.
14th - Players - Closed after double tee to fertilize (21-0-0) non-overseeded rough.
18th - Members - Nine holes closed to fertilize (21-0-0) non-overseeded rough.
19th - Members - Nine holes closed to fertilize (21-0-0) non-overseeded rough.
20th - 23rd - Founders - Closed for four days to aerify and deep tine the greens and fertilize (21-0-0) the non-overseeded rough.

June

3rd - 6th - Members - Closed for four days to aerify greens, apply insecticide to the entire course, fertilize (25-0-8) the entire course and apply a nematicide to the fairways.
12th - Reserve - Closed after double tee to apply insecticide and fertilize (25-0-8) the entire course.
13th - Reserve - Closed all day to spray herbicide to gradually eliminate the ryegrass.
17th - 20th - Players - Closed for four days to aerify greens, apply insecticide to the entire course, fertilize (25-0-8) the entire course and spray herbicide to gradually eliminate the ryegrass.
22nd - Members - Nine holes closed to spray herbicide to gradually eliminate ryegrass and fertilize       (25-0-8) fairways and tees.
23rd - Members - Nine holes closed to spray herbicide to gradually eliminate ryegrass and fertilize        (25-0-8)  fairways and tees.
26th - Founders - Closed after double tee to apply insecticide and fertilize (25-0-8) the entire course.
27th - Founders - Closed all day to spray herbicide to gradually eliminate the ryegrass.
29th - Members - Nine holes closed to spray herbicide to gradually eliminate ryegrass and fertilize fairways and tees.

July

9th - 11th - Reserve - Closed for three days to fertilize (21-0-0) and verticut fairways and tees.
16th - Players - Closed all day to fertilize the fairways and tees. (21-0-0)
23rd - 25th - Founders - Closed for three days to fertilize (21-0-0) and verticut fairways and tees.
31st - Reserve - Closed after double tee to fertilize the entire course. (25-0-25)

August

6th - 8th - Players - Closed for three days to verticut fairways and tees, deep tine the greens and fertilize (25-0-25) the entire course.
14th - Founders - Closed after double tee to fertilize (25-0-25) the entire course.
19th - 22nd - Members - Closed for four days to verticut the fairways and tees, deep tine the greens and fertilize (25-0-25) the entire course.

September

10th - 16th - Founders - Closed for one week to aerify greens and overseed tees, fairways and surrounds.
17th - 23rd - Reserve - Closed for one week to aerify greens and overseed tees, fairways and surrounds.  
24th - 30th - Players - Closed for one week to overseed tees, fairways and surrounds.

October

1st - 7th - Members -  Closed for one week to overseed tees, fairways and surrounds.
23rd - Founders - Closed after double tee to fertilize (25-0-25) the entire course.
30th - Reserve -  Closed after double tee to fertilize (25-0-25) the entire course.

November

2nd - Members - Nine holes closed to fertilize (25-0-25) entire course.
3rd - Members - Nine holes closed to fertilize (25-0-25) entire course.
5th - Players - Closed after double tee to fertilize (25-0-25) entire course.
9th - Members - Nine holes closed to fertilize (25-0-25) entire course.
10th - Members - Nine holes closed to spray overseeded edges with herbicide.
13th - Founders - Closed after double tee to fertilize (21-0-0) overseeded turf.
16th - Members - Nine holes closed to spray overseeded edges with herbicide.
17th - Members - Nine holes closed to spray overseeded edges with herbicide.
20th - Reserve - Closed after double tee to fertilize (21-0-0) overseeded turf.
23rd - Members - Nine holes closed to fertilize (21-0-0) overseeded turf.
24th - Members - Nine holes closed to fertilize (21-0-0) overseeded turf.
26th - Players - Closed after double tee to fertilize (21-0-0) overseeded turf.
30th - Members - Nine holes closed to fertilize (21-0-0) overseeded turf.

December

4th - Founders - Closed after double tee to spray overseeded edges with herbicide.
7th - Members - Nine holes closed to add colorant to the greens.
8th - Members - Nine holes closed to add colorant to the greens.
11th - Reserve - Closed after double tee to spray overseeded edges with herbicide.
14th - Members - Nine holes closed to add colorant to the greens.
17th - Players - Closed after double tee to spray overseeded edges with herbicide and add colorant to the greens.

      As stated above this is an overview of the entire calendar year. We will have the turf calendar updated with this information for your reference next week. Make sure to keep following the blog for detailed posts on the happenings with the St. James agronomy team.

Players Club - Overseed Week

      The Players Club was closed the week of September 25th primarily for overseeding. Although overseeding was our main goal we were also able to complete some other tasks. Here is a recap of last week's projects.

Monday
      While we weren't closed, we were able to begin the overseeding process on Monday afternoon. We applied a wetting agent to the tee tops and green surround. This particular product will aid in water retention at the surface. This will keep the moisture near the surface and readily available for the seed.

Tuesday
      Today was our busiest day of the overseed week. We began the day by topdressing the greens with a medium to heavy layer of straight sand. The heavy application rate was designed to help smooth the greens.
      In the mid morning we started overseeding fairways. This process takes approximately six hours to complete and used 17,500 pounds of ryegrass seed.
      The tees were seeded as well on Tuesday. This was started in the afternoon and generally takes between three and four hours and used 2,000 pounds of ryegrass seed.

Wednesday
      Today we were able to finally correct our turf issues on some of the greens on the back nine. Modern Turf (supplier of our sprigs) agreed to compensate us with 2100 sq ft of MiniVerde sod to replace our weak areas on 12 and 13. Below is a illustrated rundown of the process of resodding of these areas.

Removal of existing weak turf.



Light tilling of soil.




Addition of new soil. A 87/13 sand peat mix.



Using a vibrating tamp to smooth the surface.



Finished sub grade.



Aligning the new sod.



Unrolling the sod



Tucking the seams.

Finished surface.

      Sodding these areas on 12 and 13 took almost twelve hours total. We finished up on number 13 on Thursday at 11 A.M.. As of posting, these areas will be played as a free drop. Should your ball lie on these areas of the green you may place the ball at some point on the green no nearer to the hole.

Thursday

      We wrapped up our sod project in the morning and refocused our attention to overseeding. We overseeded green surrounds in the afternoon on Thursday. This task takes roughly six hours and used 4,000 pounds of ryegrass seed.

Friday

      Today we applied our preemergent herbicide to the perimeters of all of the overseeded turf. This product will prevent any wayward ryegrass seed from germinating outside of the target overseed areas. The application of this product is done with a walk behind sprayer and typically takes about three to four hours.

      Overall we had an excellent closed week for overseeding. Mother Nature cooperated enough to allow us the time to complete all of our goals. Our focus can now shift to preparation for the Member-Guest tournament in late October. Keep following the blog for more updates from the St. James agronomy team.

Overseeding 2012 - What's new

      Every September, each of the club's at St. James closes for a week. During this week we aerify, complete projects, refurbish course hardware and, of course, overseed.
      We try to improve our overseeding practice every year and 2012 is no different. We plan to add an intermediate cut of ryegrass to the course for winter play.
      You may have noticed the scalped edges of the fairways. Below are some pictures of what I am describing.

      The above pictures illustrate the location of the intermediate cut for winter play. The fairways will be cut at a half inch and the intermediate cut will be mowed at one inch through the winter months.
       We wanted to include the intermediate cut without sacrificing the width of the fairways, therefore the present scalped look is necessary prior to overseeding into the rough. The lowering of bermudagrass will help the seed reach the soil and aid in sunlight penetration.
       The additional turf will add an extra four feet of overseeded turf around the fairways. We hope this new cut will provide much improved playing conditions through the winter months.

Reserve Club - Aerification week

      This past week the Reserve Club was closed for aerification and overseeding. This is the most anticipated week of the year for the bentgrass guys. This week is a sign of another successful summer completed. Aerification week also allows us time complete projects that have been put on the back burner in order to tend to the greens. Here is a rundown of the events that took place at the Reserve Club this past week.

• Aerified the greens.

      We aerified the greens on Tuesday, our first closed day. This will allow maximum healing time for the surfaces. The greens were cored, cleaned, rolled and topdressed. This was all completed on Tuesday.

• Overseeded the fairways, tees and green's surrounds.

      Technically, we started the overseeding process last week. We apply a growth regulator to the bermudagrass fairways to slow growth and reduce the competition towards the ryegrass.
      Wednesday we officially overseeded the fairways, tees and approaches. The fairways are overseeded with a tractor and spreader in the centers. The edges are seeded with a drop spreader. This helps us to maintain our straight line edges.
      The tees and approaches are seeded in the same fashion, however on a smaller scale. We use rotary push spreaders through the centers and push drop spreaders on the edges.
      The next step is to define our overseeded edges. We do this with a pre-emergent herbicide. The Pre-M herbicide prohibits the seed from germinating. We make this application directly to the edge of the overseeded turf. This step, along with the drop spreading, provides the clean and crisp edges to the overseed.
     

• Added sand to bunkers on 4 and 5.

      The bunkers near the greens on 4 and 5 lacked the sufficient depth required by the USGA. We simply added more sand to these bunkers to provide better playability.

• Bunker renovation on number 2.

      The bunker on number 2 has been a maintenance and playability issue since initial construction. The sand constantly washed out into the adjacent pond. This left insufficient sand in the trap on a regular basis.
      We have taken steps this past week to correct this issue for the future. As you can see in the picture below, we have installed a mound to buffer the bunker from the pond. This mound will prevent future erosion from the bunker.

       The next step was to add the four inch layer of sand to the bunker. Below is a picture of the beginning of the process.

      Here you can see the bunker after competition.  You can see the newly installed mound on the left. We sodded this mound to further prevent the bunker from washing out. We are confident these steps will drastically improve the playability of this bunker.

• Removed bermudagrass encroachment from #6 green.

      Below is a picture of the bermudagrass encroachment on # 6 green at the Reserve. Here is an post on bermudagrass encroachment from last winter.
      We took a different approach to removal this time around. The difference was the application
 of Round Up herbicide prior to aerification.
       We planned to physically remove the bermudagrass initially, however it is difficult to ensure 100% removal. Our plan was to kill the entire plant with the herbicide application and then plug the bare spots afterward. Here is a picture of the putting surface after aerification.



      On Wednesday we began the plugging process. We used 150 six inch hexagon plugs. Below you can see our associates sweeping the sand from the completed area. These areas ranged in size from one to four square feet and were dispersed throughout the green.

      We completed all of our goals that we set for our closed week. Mother nature's cooperation certainly helps when we try to squeeze so many projects into a seven day window. And again we are extremely appreciative for the ability to close each course to accomplish these tasks.

Overseeding: It’s that time of year!

      The definition of “overseeding” refers to a maintance process in which grass seed is spread on top of the existing turf, in essence, swapping out seasonal turfs, replacing one type of grass with another.

     

      Overseeding is most commonly done by golf courses that use bermudagrass.  During the winter months, bermudagrass goes dormant.  Dormancy means a period of rest, or no growth, for certain grasses used on golf courses.  During this time, the grass goes from a pretty green color to a brown color.  Overseeding with ryegrass enables us to have lush green grass through the cold winter months, ensuring that the golf course is in great shape all year around.

     

      Overseeding is a maintance process done not only on the golf course, but in home lawns as well.  Overseeding is an activity often overlooked by the average homeowner.  Overseeding helps keep lawns thick.  This maintance process compensates for that natural slow down of the turfs reproduction.  There are two major benefits when it comes to overseeding.  First, you ensure your lawn stays thick and dense.  Secondly, you will benefit from having a more disease resistant lawn.  Late summer or early fall is usually the best time so sow your seed, depending on which region of the country you live in.

 

Positives for overseeding:

-          Green color during the cold winter months looks good.

-          Ryegrass usually grows enough during the winter to increase wear tolerance from traffic and may help to improve ball lies late in the winter when the dormant Bermudagrass becomes thin.

Negatives for overseeding:

-          Overseeding with ryegrass adds additional maintance costs for seed, fertilizer, mowing, and labor.

-          The new perennial ryegrass varieties are very competitive to the bermudagrass for light, water, and nutrients in the spring.

-          Extra costs can occur for chemicals to remove the ryegrass in the spring to help the bermudagrass grow.

 

      It’s important for us as superintendents to keep prime playing conditions for the golfers year round.  Overseeding is a tool we can rely on to achieve our goals.  As a homeowner, one must determine the advantages and disadvantages and decide if the extra cost from overseeding and possible damage to the bermudagrass from the ryegrass is economical.

Matt Knisely

Assistant Superintendent

Reserve Club