A Cover Update

A couple of weeks ago, we wrote about covering portions of our driving ranges that are in need of recovery.  The covers the golf course maintenance crew put down were moved two weeks later and the results were excellent.  Below are some pictures that were taken on the Reserve and Members Club ranges.  The first picture is on the Reserve Club range after the cover had been moved.  As  you can see the covered turf has recovered nicely.

The second picture we have added is on the Members Club range and it shows perennial ryegrass seed that has germinated while being covered for 2 weeks.  The area directly under the cover was topdressed and seeded directly before the cover was put down.  As you can see the ryegrass has germinated well under the cover.

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: 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