Glen Echo Country Club Golf Course Management

First maple sap collected and boiling!

2012-01-25T13:48:00.001-06:00

Collected over 20 gallons of sap during the first day and Chef Rob is boiling it down to produce our very own Glen Echo Golden Syrup.
Joe Wachter
Sent from my LG phone

Metrolink update

2012-01-24T15:06:00.002-06:00

The 6' culvert along #1 which was laid yesterday along #1. They are working on the upper end of the driving range pipe today getting the shot rock laid into place at the beginning of the box culvert before the rain arrives on Wednesday.

First few sections along #1 were installed. That is a 6' opening on the culvert that goes underneath the metro link tracks where it flows toward River Des Peres.

Maple Sap Flowing

2012-01-24T14:56:00.001-06:00

I've tapped about 18 trees to collect the maple sap that we turn into wonderful Glen Echo All Natural Maple Syrup. With the moderate temperatures over the last few weeks, we have hit a perfect stretch of tempatures under 32 degrees at night and above 32 degrees during the day and sunshine which supports flowing of the maple sap. Hopefully, we will have a great collection of sap this year which will boiled into maple syrup. Please check out the links from the past if you would like some additional information on the process.

http://geccgcm.blogspot.com/search/label/Maple%20syrup

You will notice some changes in our program over the last couple of years. The first year we used two liter bottles and 1 gallon milk jugs. Last year we used 5 gallon home depot buckets and that is what we are using this year. A couple of years ago we used a propane burner and my brother's iron firewood cooker. Last season, Chef Rob and staff used their steamer in the kitchen to boil down the sap to syrup.

43 gallons of sap to make 1 gallon of Golden natural syrup so you can understand our need and desire of have a good flow due to the amount of sap that we need to collect to make a good amount of syrup.

Maple sap dropping into a collection bucket along #18 fairway.

Video from Eagle Cam Harrison Bay TN

2012-01-17T12:56:00.002-06:00

Nice video of the Eagle doing some nest cleanup in preparation for egg laying.

   

Indoor weather work in the clubhouse

2012-01-13T14:53:00.002-06:00

The staff received a reprieve from the cold the past two days. They painted Membership Director Heather's office and are now painting the hallway wall and ceiling that runs between the administrative offices in the clubhouse.

Metrolink project

2012-01-13T14:43:00.001-06:00

Box culvert arrived on Wednesday for the #1 part of the project. This box is larger than the upper section. It is 6 foot in height. One can walk through the pipe.

Box culvert in the background.

A close up of the box culvert going into the ditch on #1.

Eagle Cam at golf course in Tennessee

2012-01-09T08:55:00.000-06:00

http://www.harrisonbayeaglecam.org/

Harrision Bay Eagle Cam

Bear Trace at Harrison Bay State Park

I found this site on the internet that you might find interesting from Harrison, TN. Not a lot of activity at this time but I'm sure it will be a very active in the next couple of months with eggs hatching and baby bald eagle activity. It will be great for kids to view.

Happy New Year

2011-12-31T09:27:00.002-06:00

Hope you and your family had a great Christmas or Hanukkah.

A toast to our membership for a great new year of health and prosperity and many visits to our great club.

Metrolink Project

2011-12-22T13:30:00.003-06:00

After a few more days of digging, the box culvert running between the driving range and metro tracks is near completion. There is still a great deal of earth work left to cover the box and provide a gentle swale that will eventually be grassed. They are working near the 22" natural gas main line that runs across the property so the work is somewhat tedious at this time.

Track hoe stuck in the mud waiting to be pulled out. The 22" gas main line is in the foreground.

Looking down the line toward the driving range tees. 515' total feet of box culvert is being laid.

Box is about 15' below grade at this point.

Weather stats for November

2011-12-20T11:32:00.001-06:00

The following are the weather statistics for November. A fairly decent month for temperatures with a little extra rain.

                OBSERVED          NORMAL   DEPART  LAST YEAR`S
                 VALUE            VALUE     FROM    VALUE
                                           NORMAL

AVG. MAXIMUM   59.2            55.5     3.7     60.1

AVG. MINIMUM     42.6              38.1       4.5      37.5

MEAN           50.9           46.8     4.1       48.8

RAINFALL

TOTALS           4.68          3.91    0.77     5.34

Follow up on #6 Oak tree

2011-12-20T08:45:00.001-06:00

Once the oak was brought to the ground yesterday, it is surprising that the tree lived as long as it did. It was completely hollow at the base. The contractor said there were concrete repairs made to the tree up off the ground. Concrete was used years ago to fill hollows in an effort to stop decay. The concrete also prevented animals from climbing up in the tree and creating more damage inside the trunk. Speaking with Tim Gamma a few days ago at one of our functions, he stated that this type of repair seems somewhat strange to many but in a number of cases over the years, he has seen that trees have actually healed themselves and had grown completely around the concrete filling. Old conventional methods should not always be thrown out because they are not modern or new.

One could easily crawl inside the cavity of this tree.

Final leaf clean up

2011-12-19T11:02:00.002-06:00

The staff have spent a couple of days between rain cleaning up the fence lines along #4-#6 from leaves which had raced across the course and colonized. They used backpacks to move the leaves away from the fence and the sweeper picked them up for disposal.

Jason, Tom and Russ blowing leaves away the wall.

Skip using the sweeper to pick up the leaves. He has to make a couple of passes over the piles and remove a small amount of leaves at a time so that the unit does not get clogged.

Tree Management Program

2011-12-19T10:56:00.002-06:00

We removed a few trees in the last week or two due to the tub grinder that was working in the back of the range for the metrolink project. The large bases of the trees were hauled back to the range and were ground into chips. The trees have been on our list the last couple years due to significant damage and their hollow trunks that could pose a hazard to members and staff.

A beautiful white oak died in late summer near the fence on #6 and Gamma tree is removing this giant today. Trees do out compete turf but I always feel bad when an old tree that does not create turf quality issues has to be removed.

Hollow silver maple logs from #17 being hauled back to the grinder.

Staff cutting on upper limbs from #17 silver maple that was completely hollow and damaged.

Sweetgum that was damaged and removed.

Large white oak along #6 fence line.

More than 1/2 the limbs removed.

Down to the central leader.

Sanitary Sewer work

2011-12-19T10:41:00.001-06:00

Insituform Corp. is being contracted by MSD to place liner inside the sanitary sewer that crosses through the lake complexes from holes 6, 9, 10, 15, 13 and 3. There is also a small section that we will completed near the maintenance facility and along #1. This process will take about 3 days to complete. This process is used to provide a less intrusive repair system for the aged pipe. I expect little if no impact to the golf course unless there is some slight truck damage along the cart path areas which will be repaired by the contractor.

Pipe liner being pulled out of the truck to be installed in the sanitary sewer.

The liner pulled through the system and now being filled with steam.

The steam pipe attached to the end of the liner. The steam hardens the liner material and sets it in place.

Metro project

2011-12-16T13:57:00.003-06:00

Rain has slowed the project a little in the last couple of days. The upper driving range box is about 1/3 in place. Each box is 6' long and they must lay 510' of culvert.(85 boxes). They will have over 1/2 of the box in place since they will be working Saturday this week. They will be covering the box with 2' of soil and the area will be graded and fescue sod will be laid. The area will be allowed to grow naturally and will not be maintained except on our side of the property along the driving range which we will mow to help in retrieving golf balls from the range.

Box culvert continuing to be laid up the driving range ditch. 2' of dirt will cover the top of the box culvert and the sod will be laid. The dirt mound in the background behind the skid steer is a dam that the contractor has to build and tear down as they move up the ditch due to continuous water flow. There is about 8' of water behind the skid steer. Their is a secondary berm up near the top of the ditch area to slow the water from entering into the main work area.

Learning Never Ends

2011-12-14T09:03:00.001-06:00

Assistant Skip and I spent yesterday at the annual Mississippi Valley Golf Course Superintendent's Association winter education/shop tour. This free event has become one of the best activities offered by our local association of over 200 superintendents, assistants and vendors. Five presenters discussed topics from;

How to Save Money on Renovations
Nitrogen Applications In the Fall to Cool Season Grass.
New Bacteria Problems in Bentgrass
The Effects of Early DMI Fungicides & Trimmet Applications for Disease Control on Creeping Bentgrass.
Annual Poa research

Some coffee and donuts for breakfast and a good hamburger, brat, hot dog and all the trimmings lunch made by our vendors kept us going. A little happy hour at the conclusion of the day is always good to catch up with old friends and maybe get a tip or two that can help save some grass for the next season. This year's event was held at the new maintenance building at Sunset CC(my first stomping ground). Its good to see how other facilities operations are set up and the equipment they utilize. We have a couple of other vendor sponsored events over the next few weeks to attend as well. I will be attending our national conference in Las Vegas at the end of February of 2012.

I do not think there is ever a time when one has enough knowledge about ones life work. Some of the information needs refreshing from time to time but there is new research and techniques that are being introduced to combat the many issues that we face on the course. More attention is being given to the business side of our work. Knowing how to grow and keep great turf conditions is our most important function as a golf course superintendent but the business side of our industry has been brought to the forefront since 2001. Staffing, planning, and dealing with a weakened industry in general play important parts to our daily routines. The proper utilization of resources has become more the norm in our business than the exception.

Other educational opportunities that I have found valuable have been free webinars which are given throughout the season and into the winter on various superintendent information sites. GCSAA(national supt association), TURFNET (Virtual golf course information company), USGA, and supply vendors.

Education is also important for me to keep my Certification status. I must accumulate 5 education points out of a total of 15 points over a 5 year cycle period to retain this status. I'm currently in my 12th year and 3rd cycle as a certified superintendent. Funds are provided in our yearly budget to help support the educational activities that I am privileged to attend and I thank you for that support.

Dr. Barb Corwin from Turfgrass Diagnostics discussing bacterial problems with bentgrass/poa greens in the new maintenance building at Sunset C.C.

Bunker Fundraising Campaign

2011-12-09T16:21:00.000-06:00

I'm excited to announce that we have received commitments totaling over

$ 92,000(57% of our goal)

in regards to the bunker fundraising campaign. 36 members and their families have committed to our project.

We appreciate those who have made the commitments so far and look forward to the next few weeks as additional pledges and or payments are made to this most important project that we will be undertaking next fall.

Save the date of April 21, 2012 for a couple of special events that we hope will celebrate and cap off our fundraising campaign. Announcements regarding this great event will be coming after the first of the year.

We have a great and most generous membership!

Metrolink work

2011-12-09T14:05:00.000-06:00

The first three box culvert's have been laid in place in the driving range ditch. I've also included a video of the tub grinder as it is chewing up the trees, stumps and brush that were removed from the ditch as well as some material that we have dropped in the last few days. There were also some larger logs in our splitting pile that were probably a little to big for us to handle that we placed in the pile as well.

The first three boxes in place in the driving range ditch. You can see the severe erosion near the metrolink tracks in the background that could cause a catastropic failure if the repair is not made. The boxes will be covered with soil that will bring the level of the ditch almost to the level of the driving range.

The skid steer in the ditch helps to position the pipe in place.

The trackhoe preparing to bring another box into the ditch. They weight about 15,000 lbs a piece.

Pearl Harbor Day 70 years later

2011-12-07T15:38:00.000-06:00

A day we should never forget.

December 7, 1941

Metrolink Project

2011-12-07T09:47:00.000-06:00

Pipe being installed in the driving range section of the project. Tub grinder is to arrive this week to grind up the mound of trees, brush and stumps that were removed from the construction area. The ground material will be hauled off to a composting facility. I would use some of the chips but there was a tremendous amount of junk trees and brush that were pulled out so the material would not be good for our use. Once mixed and properly composted at a facility, it will be reused by people throughout the metro area.

The beginning of the box culvert being readied for installation into the ditch. The large trackhoe is preparing the ditch bottom where the pipe will be laid.

2011 Missouri Green Industry Conference and Expo

2011-12-07T08:44:00.000-06:00

Horticulturist Becky Edwards and I were asked to speak at the Missouri Green Industry Conference and Expo at the St. Charles Convention Center yesterday. The event was attended by well over 400 golf, athletic field turf, irrigation, mechanic, and horticultural professionals and vendors who attended over 25 sessions regarding their particular work interest. Our topic was "Managing and Maintaining a Golf Course Greenhouse". Always a little anxious in preparing a presentation but it was great to share part of the hour with Becky. She did a great job and I got through it.

Becky's part of the presentation.

The relieved presenters and star of the show Lady somehow showed up in a couple of pictures.

Metrolink work

2011-12-01T14:50:00.000-06:00

The trees have been cleared from #1 as a part of the metrolink repair project along the ditch. There is a 350' section that has been exposed at the turn on #1. Orange construction fence has been put up for your protection. We asked that openings be placed in the fence in case a ball lands just on the other side of the fenced area in the turf. The graded or no turfed area should be considered off limits for your own safety during this project.

The box culvert and rock fill will rise up about 10' from the bottom of the creek. The box will be covered with soil near level to the grade that was along the fence before the construction began. I realize the area has been opened to view from the metrolink tracks but the newly expanded fairway(completed after box is installed) and improved rough should be beautiful. The health of the turf in the fairway and rough should improve dramatically due to increased sunlight and improved drainage in the fairway.
Below are a few pictures of the completed work over the last couple of days.

Trees removed in preparation of the work. This view is looking back from near the green. The two pin oaks to the right side approach of the green will not be disturbed.

Another view of the work.

Brush removed and the logs being cut to where the trackhoe can load them onto a dump truck. The crew is standing near our old fence line.

The trackhoe working near the culvert that goes underneath the tracks. The right side of the road is next to where our existing fence was located.

Another view from the 160-180 yard mark from the first mound on the right.. The mounds will be flattened and dirt pushed toward the fence line. A gradual incline will be put in place to help slow balls and direct water toward the new drain catch basins we intend to install.

The two large oaks that were located to the right of #1 tee were removed and stumps ground in about 4 hours. It would have taken my crew at least 3 days to remove these and about $300 for stump grinding. Hiring a tree company would have probably cost about $ 2,500 so this was a good deal to include this in the project.

The cleared area looking from the area between 1-18. To the far left is the construction fencing being put in place.

A closer view of the fencing going in to protect our turf area as well as protecting you from the construction zone.

The cross under in the metro link tracks where the new culvert pipe will dump its water.

This view is looking back toward the tee. Once the culvert box is put in place on the left and the fill dirt will be put in place, the area should be near level with the right side of the disturbed area.

Sewer line repair

2011-12-01T12:32:00.000-06:00

MSD cleaned the sanitary sewer line and placed a video camera throught the system to check for damaged and or blocked pipes. They located one and the repairs are being made today in the left rough of #8 about 100 yards from #8 green. A contractor is digging the hole and replacing the damaged clay tile with a new pipe. They will backfill the hole (8'x 3') with dirt over and we will sod it in later winter once we are sure it has settled completely.

Beginning the week of December 19th, Insituform is being contracted by MSD to place a liner inside the sanitary pipe throughout the length of our property. There will be some large trucks on property installing the liner. The surface is not disrupted during this process except possibly by the trucks moving around the property but this damage will be repaired by the contractor if it occurs.

Contractor digging up a 10' section of sanitary sewer pipe that was broken.

Irrigation shutdown

2011-12-01T11:50:00.000-06:00

The irrigation system was blown out on Tuesday. We hooked a compressor into the system at the pump house and spent the next 6 hours turning on heads and allowing air to push water through the system and out through the irrigation heads until air comes out of each head. A good day to complete this task since it was cold and blustery.

Air compressor being fueled after completion of the work.

Irrigation heads in the club lawn being blown out.

Metrolink Project

2011-11-28T11:34:00.000-06:00

Work continues on the Metrolink ditch project. A construction road is being built along the right side of #1 near the fence. Once the road is complete, the two large oaks forward and right of the first tee which died over the summer will be removed by the contractor. Also, five silver maples on the mounds on the right side of the hole from about the 160 yard mark down through the 120 yard mark will be removed as well. Brush and trees in the ditch area 350' long will then be cleared between the fence to the metrolink tracks.

Our Golf Course Master Plan called for a widening of the fairway at the dogleg and the mounds will be replaced. The fairway will be widened by approximately 5-8 yards. Our staff will install two large drains and a catch areas will be shaped to help capture water that crosses into the area from #18 and the left side of #1 and will be piped underground into the creek. The soil from the mounds will be used to create a graduated rising slope toward the fence.(2-3') New fescue rough will be installed in this area which will help to slow balls from entering into the fence and out of bounds. Once the project is completed, the rock will be removed and used on the right side of our range and in our parking lot area to provide for a solid surface for our equipment.

Looking from back left corner of the range down toward the tee. Cleared area before the installation of the drain pipe.

Left front corner of the range tee. The area along the range tee out about 75 yards is still covered by trees and brush.

The dozer pushing rock into place to create the construction road along the right side of #1.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2011-11-24T07:32:00.001-06:00

Just wanted to take a moment to thank all of you for your support and wish you and your family a full belly over Thanksgiving. Bird went in the oven at 6:30 a.m. and course is ready for everyone to enjoy over the next few days. Great weather for the Turkey Day Tournament on Friday starting at 11:00 a.m. Come out and play and then have your better half come by for some Black Friday 1/2 price Martinis in the pub that evening. Sounds like fun to me!

Additional Collar Aeration

2011-11-17T14:39:00.000-06:00

Our collars have had their troubles over the last few years and we need to reduce the amount of turf loss that has been occurring. Additional aeration over the next 6 months will encourage and improve water infiltration and root development which will strengthen the plants. The reduction of compaction also discourages poa annua which infests the collar/approaches. Poa annua has shortened root systems in the summer and also has a number of diseases that can affect its overall health.

The staff used our walking aerator over the last couple of days and aerated the green collars and approaches with a 1/2" solid tine. My intentions are to do this another 3-4 times next spring before summer rolls in along with the normal coring and needle tinning that we utilize as well.

Water management is also important for our collars to remain healthy. Proper amounts of moisture to support health cannot be applied by the overhead sprinklers by themselves. Wetting agents and extra hand watering must be utilized to reduce the water stress that our collars experience. We also need to reduce the amount of Bermuda that is encroaching our collars from the green surrounds. Early and regular applications of a pre-emergent called Tupersan will be utilized again this year. We have used it in years past with some success but it has not been used on a consistent basis to reduce the impact of the Bermuda. We will also need to cut out and spray some of the intermediate areas around greens. The large areas of Bermuda on some of our greens surrounds provide a regular supply of runners that try to invade the collars.

Collar aeration of the practice green. Damaged and or weakened areas were gone over a second time to encourage additional root growth.

Metrolink Project

2011-11-17T13:37:00.000-06:00

Road has been completed back to the dump area and trees/brush are being removed from both sides of the ditch along the driving range to within about 50 yards of the front corner of the range tee.

Road going around the right corner of the long range.

Track hoe with a claw loading up brush onto the dump truck. The trees to the right are to be removed as well.

Pile of brush in our main dump area waiting to be ground by the tub grinder which must be brought to the property and set up.

Metrolink Project Work Begins

2011-11-15T08:34:00.000-06:00

The Metrolink project has started in our maintenance area and into the long driving range. They are building a road from our maintenance area into the back of the driving range that will take them to the staging area in the back left corner of the driving range. The bins will be replaced, fence put back up but the road will be left in place which will give us a permanent road back to the dump area during winter and or wet conditions which will be very helpful for our operation.

During the project, you may expect dump trucks, flatbed trucks and other equipment will be coming into the club from St. Mary's Lane and coming out of our maintenance building area on a regular basis. The work hours should be between 6:30 a.m.- 4:00 p.m. Monday thru Friday. For your safety, please allow trucks to exit St. Mary's Lane before you enter with your vehicle.

Material bins being removed.

The roadway that comes into the driving range from the material bin area. Rock is being laid to build the road back to the staging area.

Veteran's Day, 2011 Thank you!

2011-11-11T11:08:00.000-06:00

For those who have served or are currently serving our country, thank you for the sacrifices you have given for our freedom.

Happy Birthday Marines

2011-11-10T15:53:00.001-06:00

I'm sure we have a member or two who are Marines, or a relative.

Happy Birthday Marines November 10, 1775

Frost and or frozen grass

2011-11-09T13:40:00.000-06:00

Late fall and winter golf is interrupted on a frequent basis due to frost and or frozen turfgrass. Early/light frost covers the blades and can be damaged more cosmetically if walked or driven upon. As temperatures begin to drop further, the individual cells of the blades can become frozen and traffic can lead to plants being damaged severely and or die. For these reasons, the course will not open until until the frost has lifted.
In an effort to respect your time, I would recommend that you call the pro shop if you have times before 10 a.m. and the temperature is below 40 degrees. We will make every effort to give the pro shop an approximate time when play might begin.

There are occasions during the winter that the temperatures are cold enough to where the grass blades remain frozen and the course will not be opened. We do not have a large number of winter players on the course but there are a few who are hardy enough to try to play during some of the colder periods.

The course will also remain closed when greens are covered with snow and or ice. There are also times when the turf is clear of snow and ice but the greens are softening from the freeze that begins to come out of our soil push up greens. Roots can be sheared and long term damage may occur. I will make additional posts regarding this issue when we get into the winter thawing periods of the year.

Below is a very informative video from the USGA regarding frost and the damage that can occur from both foot and cart traffic on frost covered turf.

Carts on paths for the winter season

2011-11-09T13:08:00.000-06:00

With the fairways going dormant and conditions becoming wet from the rain over the last few days, all carts will be required to remain on the paths the rest of the fall and throughout the winter.

We will allow individuals who have been given red flags during the main golf season to receive a flag as well during the winter when conditions are dry enough to allow access onto the fairways without damaging turf.

Zoysia does not handle wear and tear well during its dormant period and could be slow to come out of dormancy in the spring when everyone is excited about the new golf season.

We will allow carts off of the paths in the spring when we begin to get growth that requires mowing.

Weather Statistics for October

2011-11-07T11:06:00.001-06:00

Overall, our weather was particularly good in October. Warmer than normal temperatures and less than normal rainfall made for some nice golf days.

Temperatures Observed Normal Departure Last Year's
Value Value from Normal Value

AVG. MAXIMUM        71.6              68.5       3.1     74.1
AVG. MINIMUM        49.3              49.0       0.3     49.6
MEAN                60.5              58.7       1.8     61.9

Rainfall

TOTALS           1.66              3.33     -1.67     1.06

Back 9 greens aeration completed

2011-10-31T15:29:00.000-05:00

The back 9 greens aeration was completed today. Holes poked, topdressed, sand blow and brushed into holes, greens brushed and rolled. The front 9 are healing well and should be in good shape by the end of this week.

18th green being aerated this afternoon.

Tom blowing sand into holes on #17.

Jason changing the holes and Jeff rolling the greens.

WORLD CHAMPIONS 2011

2011-10-29T07:41:00.000-05:00

WORLD CHAMPIONS

I took a day off yesterday and watched most of the coverage and listened to local radio as well in anticipation of what was to come last night.

I wanted to share this quote which was brought up in the coverage I listened to yesterday. Its from "Field of Dreams". Its one of my favorites and also speaks to the heart of Cardinal fans and their love for this great game.

Ray, people will come Ray. They'll come to Iowa for reasons they can't even fathom. They'll turn up your driveway not knowing for sure why they're doing it. They'll arrive at your door as innocent as children, longing for the past. Of course, we won't mind if you look around, you'll say. It's only $20 per person. They'll pass over the money without even thinking about it: for it is money they have and peace they lack. And they'll walk out to the bleachers; sit in shirtsleeves on a perfect afternoon. They'll find they have reserved seats somewhere along one of the baselines, where they sat when they were children and cheered their heroes. And they'll watch the game and it'll be as if they dipped themselves in magic waters. The memories will be so thick they'll have to brush them away from their faces. People will come Ray. The one constant through all the years, Ray, has been baseball. America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. It has been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt and erased again. But baseball has marked the time. This field, this game: it's a part of our past, Ray. It reminds of us of all that once was good and it could be again. Oh... people will come Ray. People will most definitely come.

Bridge repair

2011-10-27T11:17:00.000-05:00

The bridge on #10 that was pushed over by a big rain event in mid-summer was rebuilt this past week. Our staff broke the bridge into individual pieces and chiseled the excess mortar off of each piece of stone in preparation for the stone company to restack and mortar it back into place.

The bridge beginning to take shape.

The staff from Stone Mill Design nearing the completion of the rebuilding of #10 bridge.

The finished product as good as new.

Verti-drain deep tined greens aeration Fall 2011

2011-10-25T15:22:00.000-05:00

Our deep tined greens aeration started on Monday afternoon once we were able to get a small outing through the first hole. We completed 4 holes which was disappointing but at least we got a start. the remaining five six greens were completed on Tuesday. The back 9 will be completed on October 31-Nov 1, next Monday/Tuesday. Our process takes over 2 hours per green which is why it cannot be completed in one day plus you deal with wet conditions in the morning which does not allow the sand to go into the holes as we try to fill them. Our process includes:

A solid 1/2" tine at a depth of about 8-8 1/2" in depth.
We bury the greens with sand which is used to fill the holes.
The sand is blown into the holes by our belly blower that is pulled behind a cart.
The sand is then brushed to help smooth the surface and pull up any longer length grass blades.
The greens are rolled to smooth the surface and then mowed. The mowing process is sometimes skipped if the sand is heavy.
We finish the process with an application of fertilizer and throw on the irrigation heads to knock down both the fertilizer and sand.

Below is a quick video of the aeration part of the process. Normally the unit is very smooth in its operation but with the added kick that we placed in the unit, it bounces around much more than normal.

Tree Management Plan, planting Dawn Redwoods

2011-10-24T17:25:00.000-05:00

Our horticulturitst Becky Edwards through her affiliation with the St. Louis Horticultural Coop received a nice discount on three Dawn Redwoods that were planted late last week. The trees were cultivated from the Dawn Redwoods located in the back of Missouri Botanical Garden grounds and were named after past director Dr. Peter Raven. They were planted between the main road and #9 lake.

Skip pulling the bermuda sod and some soil away from the planting hole.

Dumping the junk in the back of a cart to haul off.

Skip and Tom getting the trees in the ground after Becky removed the soil from the holes.

Becky finishing the backfill on the trees.

A little more backfilling.

Selling OUT! Great Game 1

2011-10-20T11:24:00.001-05:00

Great game one. The boys played hard from the start.
Can't help but be excited by the effort of Carpenter in the first inning with his play at first. Timely hitting, good plays and some great pitching again. Great to see the sun out today.

http://stlouis.cardinals.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=19923765&topic_id=11493214&c_id=stl

Staff was pretty blurry eyed this morning but the cold weather woke us up. Weather improving over the next couple of days. Come out and see us over the next few days. Green speeds should be good with the drying wind.

Greens Aeration will be taking place early next week.

THAT'S A WINNER

Olympic Golf Course 2016 Design Competition

2011-10-18T14:39:00.000-05:00

Article on the selection of the 2016 Olympic golf course design, first competition in golf since the 1904 Olympics at Glen Echo Country Club.
http://www.clubandresortbusiness.com/2011/10/18/officials-prepare-to-select-olympic-course-design/trackback/

Fall greens aeration

2011-10-18T10:09:00.000-05:00

I made an error in posting our fall deep tined aeration on the calendar for yesterday. We had a new event that was placed on the calendar during the season that was originally not posted at the beginning of the year. We will begin the process on October 31st and will complete a few of the remaining greens by Tuesday or Wednesday of that week without interfering with play. We will be using a solid tine which will penetrate 8-10" deep and will fill the holes. We will put a slight kick in the aeration arms which will help to fracture our soil base that our greens were built upon. The fracturing of this layer will allow for better water, oxygen and root penetration into this layer which is important for our greens since they have no subsurface drainage.

We have some additional plugging that needs to take place before this aeration to help fill in some damage that is still evident from the summer. The extra sand applied to fill the holes and smooth the greens will help to fill in some of the smaller voids we still have from this summer's damage and will help support some of the new germinated plants that has been growing over the last couple of months. We still have weather in November for good growth which will allow our greens to continue recovering until the soil freezes. The greens should be very playable for our members who enjoy late fall and winter golf.

Driving range grass tees closing/schedule

2011-10-18T09:47:00.000-05:00

The zoysia short range tee has closed for the season. We close the tee this time of year because the zoysia is becoming dormant and will not grow enough to recover from divits. The mats will remain open throughout the winter as weather permits.

The long range grass tee will be open for a couple of more weeks(weather permitting) until around November 1st. The mats of the long range will be open after the first of November only on the weekends due to the metro link construction project that is taking place along the driving range ditch. The contractor is also using the back corner of the range as a staging area which prevents the range from being open during this project.

#14 new bunkers are draining!

2011-10-18T09:35:00.000-05:00

The new bunkers on #14 are handling the 1.35" of rain very efficiently. No water in these bunkers compared to all others that are filling up with water as I type.

No water in the newly built bunkers(What a beautiful site) but plenty of water sheeting across the green this morning.

#6 bunker, not full to the top but will still need to be pumped and will take at least 2-3 days to be in reasonable shape for play.

September Weather Stats

2011-10-17T19:53:00.000-05:00

Some interesting weather stats for September. If you take away the first 3 days of 100 degree temperatures, the average temperature for the month would have been well over 5 degrees below normal.

15 days over 100 this year is the most since 1980 when we had 18 days. 2006 and 2007 had 6 days over 100 which are the next closest number of days since 2000.
63 days over 90 is 3 less than 2010's 66 days.
We had 58 days over 90 during June/August which is 6th all-time

We had the 33rd wettest June/Aug period.
2nd wettest April-June   21.14"
4th wettest April-July    24.05
15th wettest April-Aug 25.09

Wet conditions in the spring and early summer lead to some potentially weakened green root systems. Water replaces oxygen in the soil which reduces the overall health of the plant  A very hot early June with wet root systems and soil temperatures beginning to elevate quicker than normal begins to slow the growth of the roots.  Storage reserves are reduced in the plants because of higher than normal soil temperatures which signals the roots to begin to utilize energy and not grow any further. A reduction in storage reserves leads to energy depletion during the worst heat and stress of the summer.  All-time record highs for the summer add more punishment to an all ready weakened green system which in turn leads to some of the damage that we experienced this summer.

Lack of air movement(fans), no green drainage systems, spring preparations hurt by heavy rainfall and placing the most important tournament of the season in the middle of the most stressful time of the year all contribute to some of the damage that we experienced this season. No doubt that water management always plays a role in some turf loss. Not enough at the proper time or sometimes too much at other times. Once a area begins to dry down, it can take up to two days to get adequate moisture back in an area to calm it down or reduce the damage.

September Temperature and Rainfall

TEMPERATURES
                                  Observed   Normal    Diff    Last Years
                                     Value        Value                  Value

AVG. MAXIMUM   77.4          80.2        -2.8          81.2

AVG. MINIMUM     58.0          60.6      -2.6          61.4

MEAN                        67.7         70.4        -2.7          71.3

PRECIPITATION      3.18"        3.13"      0.05"          3.7"

5 Days over 90
3 Days over 100

Golf Industry and its economic impact

2011-10-17T14:55:00.000-05:00

Interesting study completed regarding the Missouri Golf Industry.

Study: Golf is an $889 million industry in Missouri

The Associated Press

JEFFERSON CITY | A new study concludes that golf is an $889 million industry in Missouri.

The study released Tuesday says most of that money comes from Missouri's 352 golf courses, 40 driving ranges and 30 miniature golf courses. But the figure also includes revenues from such things as real estate deals, tourism and golf supply sales.

It says the direct economic impact of golf in Missouri is comparable to that of the manufacturing of engines, turbines and transmission equipment.

When indirect spending is included, the study estimates golf has a total economic effect of $1.7 billion in Missouri.

State officials presented the study on the opening day of the annual Governor's Conference on Tourism. It was conducted by California-based SRI International for the Missouri Alliance for Golf

Read the full report http://www.golf2020.com/CurrentNews/EconomicImpact_MO_Golf_Full_Rpt_39.pdf

11 in 11?

2011-10-17T07:20:00.000-05:00

A blurry eyed Monday but a happy day for all Redbird lovers. Improbable run still going. Great to see a group come together like they have over the last 40 games or so.

First mowing of new bunker turfgrass

2011-10-17T07:17:00.000-05:00

Push mowed the new bunker fescue on Friday. Some rain early this week so we will see how things firm up after the rains.

Fall and leaves

2011-10-13T13:32:00.000-05:00

Some great weather for golf the last couple of weeks but as the calender moves forward, so does the process within our 1000 trees on property to begin the yearly dropping of their leaves and needles. The early round of trees include the Ash, Walnut, Locust, Cottonwood, London Plane Tree and White Pines which are shedding their second year needles.

We have two blowers, two rough units with mulching decks and our green surround unit which has mulching decks as well. We utilize our leaf vacuum for the later round of leaves near the end of the month when the piles become too big to run our rough unit over the top. Leaf clean up will probably take place everyday over the next month.

We will utilize our cart with pull behind belly blower to keep greens cleaned during windy days when backpacks just cannot keep up with the leaves raining down. On the weekends, we clean the leaves off of the greens first thing in the morning ahead of the mower and will come back after lunch and do another round of cleaning for weekend afternoon play. During the week, we will use our large area blower to remove leaves from the fairways and will create win-rows in the rough so our rough units can grind the leaves into smaller pieces allowing them to break down more quickly. We will blow off the fairways on the weekends but are limited in the time we can spend on the course so we do not disrupt our morning weekend players.

We appreciate your understanding as we try to chase down the leaves from our trees.

Day 5, Bunker Restoration Project Complete!

2011-10-10T16:15:00.000-05:00

Day 5 and the back bunker was completed today(Monday). Drains installed, gravel covered, liner sprayed, sand added and the surround sodded. The three exit drain lines need some general clean up, sand compacted, and sod hand watered to insure proper rooting/growth over the next couple of weeks. As the sod begins to grow and is rooted, we will begin to push mow the sod.

It is very important that members retrieve their golf balls from the newly constructed area and play from outside the area. We left ropes off of the area to allow easy access. Please respect the efforts of our maintenance staff and do not play in the newly constructed area.

The staff working in the rear bunker, checking drainage grades.

Skip preparing to check the grades.

The finished product from the lake side of the green toward 10 fairway.

From the 10 side looking toward the lake.

From the back of the rear bunker looking forward.

Bunker Renovation Recap

2011-10-07T16:04:00.000-05:00

The wind blew and the leaves fell. The temperature is perfect and the greens are rolling out. We spent most of Friday trying to get the course ready for the weekend. We made a turf adjustment and replaced the zoysia approach that we laid yesterday with fescue which gives a more consistent look across the green complex.

We will spend Monday getting the rear bunker completed. Overall, I think the process went well. I hope you like the changes to the hole. I know my staff will enjoy maintaining these new bunker complexes.

Below is a comparison of the old hole and the restored/renovated hole.

Today's view with the new fescue sod in the walk up/approach area instead of zoysia.

The 2009 view of the old hole.

A close up of the new bunker work.

Day 4, 14 Bunker restoration project

2011-10-06T19:10:00.000-05:00

Well, four days are in the books for our bunker project. The two right side bunkers were completed today. We had to spread sand and laid about 200 yards of fescue and 100 yards of zoysia. We will begin to increase our watering of the area since the temperatures and winds are beginning to increase. Expect over the next 5-10 days that the area around the bunkers will be soft. Please enter and exit at the lowest points to retrieve golf balls.

We have to do some major course work tomorrow to get the place cut and trimmed for the weekend but I expect to get some work completed on the back bunker tomorrow afternoon. Drainage and liner installation and hopefully sand placed in the bunker tomorrow. Sodding of the bunker will probably take place on Saturday. All the staff have been working tirelessly on this project. Morning duties for 2-3 hours and then over to the bunker project.

Jeff, Russ and Tom spreading sand in the right rear bunker. Jason working with Skip in laying the fescue around the bunkers.

Staff laying the zoysia in the approach and intermediate cut around the green.

Fescue sod half completed around the right bunkers. You will notice that the sod is up over the bottom of the turf. That is being done to protect the intergrity of the bunker edge and reduce some of the soil that might enter the sand before the sod has a chance to become fully rooted. We will go in next spring and reform the edge exposing about 1-2" of edge above the sand.

Zoysia on the approach.

Water flying, 2 right bunkers completed. We water mostly with a hose to insure that all areas get adequate moisture and we can hit some of the more stressed looking sod with more water as needed.

From the back right corner of the green complex looking back toward the tee.

Day 4 complete.

A close up view, IT'S AWESOME!

Day 3, 14 Bunker Restoration

2011-10-05T19:29:00.000-05:00

Well, day 3 is complete and so is the first bunker. The two bunkers on the right will be filled with sand and sod will be laid on Thursday. We have decided to continue with the intermediate cut(1.25") between the left bunker and the two right bunkers that tie into the walk path from the tees. One pass of intermediate will go around the left and right side of the green and the bank behind the right side bunkers will stay at the shorter height just like we have been doing this season. The remaining area around the bunkers and next to the cart path will be fescue mowed at 2.25 inches.

Just a reminder, the complete construction area will be ground under repair for a couple of weeks to allow the sod to take root and the sand to settle. You will be able to enter the areas to retrieve your golf ball but we ask that you go to an established turf area for your next shot. This includes the bunkers as well to prevent bunker shots from hanging up in the new turf in case you do not reach the green surface. The new sodded areas will have to be kept moist to assist with the growing process and should not be walked on except to retrieve a golf ball.

Skip leading the staff in laying big roll fescue down the face of the left bunker. Keeping the sod in longer pieces will reduce the chance of washing and movement in case players have to walk on the new area to retrieve their golf ball.

A few more pieces of sod added to the left bunker bank.

Bunker face completed and additional rolls being placed around the bunker. Also, staff shoveling sand into the different areas of the bunkers. The stakes are in place to assist with the proper depth of the sand. We are placing 6" of sand which will be compacted to about 5" with water and a vibratory plate.

The completed front left bunker. Its a beauty!

Another view of the front left bunker. The pipe in the foreground is a clean out pipe in case some type of blockage would occur that we could attempt to aleviate with a blast of water but we do not expect this to occur. It will be capped and covered.

Trenching of the right front bunker.

Trenching of the right side rear bunker.

Drainage being installed in the trenches. Pea gravel of a couple of inches is placed in the trench first, the pipe is then snapped together, a screw is drilled through each coupler to insure that it stays together and duct tape is wrapped around the joint..

Sand placed in the front right bunker before we left for the night.

Sand in the rear bunker.

The complex at the end of the 3rd day. Its shaping up very nicely!

Day 2, #14 Bunker restoration project

2011-10-04T17:32:00.000-05:00

Another day complete in our bunker project work. Kye Goalby finished his work on the back bunker by around noon today. The staff picked up the soil from the trenching on the left bunker, placed the pea gravel and drainage pipe in the bunker, sprayed the polyurethane bunker liner on the floor of the bunker and filled the bunker with over half of the sand that was needed. No sodding today but plan to lay most of the sod around the left bunker tomorrow morning.

The other 3 bunkers will be trenched tomorrow and spoils removed. I hope that we can begin to place sand in the two right bunkers tomorrow. We will be pushing to be fully complete by Thursday but will be close. With sodding needing to get on the ground, there will be a big push over the next day.

Yours truly with assistance from mechanic Harry spraying the liner material on the bottom of the bunker to reduce soil contamination.

Russ, Jason and Tom spreading sand in the left bunker.

The front right bunker ready for trenching.

The rear bunker prepared for trenching.

The back bunker still needs some edging and dirt work around the bunker and inside.

Day two complete. Will look a lot different with sod laid tomorrow!

Bunker Restoration #14 24 hours complete

2011-10-04T06:53:00.000-05:00

Work finished for the day Monday on our project on #14 and a great deal was accomplished. The staff cleared most of the sand out of the 4 bunkers between late Sunday and mid-day today. Kye Goalby shaped the front left bunker by noon and proceeded to turn that giant bunker on the right into 2 bunkers before night fall. Edges were completed on the left bunker and drain lines were trenched. We expect to have the front left bunker near completion by Tuesday evening. Spoils removed from the trenched drain lines. Pea gravel and drainage installed, spray on liner completed and sand and sod spread and laid.

Some hand shaping will need to take place on the two right bunkers, edges formed and trenching will probably be completed Tuesday.

Kye Goalby will be working on the rear bunker first thing on Tuesday morning. I would expect sand and sodding of the two bunkers on the right on Wednesday with drainage being installed in the rear bunker by Wednesday. The remaining bunker in the back will be completed by Thursday.

The liner used years ago in an attempt to prevent soil contamination helped to keep the bottoms of the bunkers very wet and with the combination of the clay soil that we have has created some issues when it comes to shaping. The finish product is a little rougher which requires more handwork but overall things have gone well. Regular course duties will involve some of our time over the next few days but I still expect that most everything will be completed by Thursday.

Sand being dumped into dump truck.

Tom and Skip working on the left front bunker Monday evening.

The tee side edge of the left bunker which had a least a foot of sand that had to be removed.

The steep face on the left bunker which is at least 3' tall.

Left had bunker basically cored out.

The guys working on the right hand bunker. Not a lot of sand on the top end but nearly 2 foot of sand at the bottom.

Kye Goalby beginning his work in the left front bunker.

The shaped left bunker. Notice the change in the green side edge of the bunker. From a 3' face to 6-8 ".

An overview of the work on the total complex.

Digging out the rear bunker.

Kye beginning his work on the right bunker.

Trenching drain lines in the left hand bunker.

Trenching and cleaning out drain lines. All the spoils from the trenched area will be removed by hand. Probably hang the skid steer over the edge and throw it in.

Kye continueing work on the right bunker.

Dirt added to the cart path side of the bank in an attempt to soften it. Work on the forward bunker.

An overview of the 3 bunkers that are rounding into shape.

A close up of the two bunkers. The lines around the bunkers mark where the edge will be formed.

More pictures to come.

14 bunker restoration, in the beginning

2011-10-03T06:38:00.000-05:00

We began cutting off sod and removing sand out of the first bunker on #14 yesterday evening. Worked till dark cutting off and digging out sod and sand. Still have some removal of material this morning and will then begin to tackle the large bunker on the right and the rear bunker.

Kye Goalby from Goalby Golf Design will begin his shaping work this morning. More pictures to come later.

Skip and Tom cutting sod off of the left bunker to allow shaping work to begin.

After sod is cut, Skip uses the tractor to push the material in piles and into our loader which is then loaded into the dump truck and hauled to the dump area.

Skip digging out the sand from the bunker. Skip steer loads it into the loader which puts it in the dump truck for removal.

First frost of the fall season, beautiful weather for the next couple of weeks!

2011-10-02T09:02:00.000-05:00

Sunrise this morning at 38 degrees brought the first light frost of the season in some of the low lying rough/tall grass. Not heavy enough to delay work or play but a harbinger of what we will have to deal with over the next few months. I will make a regarding frost in another blog over the next couple of weeks. Enjoy the week, it appears it will be outstanding for ball roll on our greens. If not 18, come out late and hit 9 each day and meet your spouse for a beverage and some great food from Chef Rob and staff I think Tapas Wednesday could be a blow out.

Also, GM Rob Stewart has scheduled a 'Dining on the Veranda' night. With a high of 79 degrees for Saturday, the evening should be just perfect! Go online or call for your reservation. Mario and staff will be very busy that evening I'm sure.

Light frost at the bottom of the hill on #4 in the rough.

Bunker Renovation equipment arrival

2011-10-01T10:12:00.000-05:00

The equipment that we rented to do the bunker renovation on Hole #14 arrived Friday afternoon. I can't wait for the beginning of the destruction around 4:00 p.m. on Sunday and the actual shaping/restoring work on Monday. Anyone playing this weekend will notice that the track hoe is staged and ready to go near the zoysia nursery area across from 14green/15 tee complex.

Trackhoe, trencher and skid steer from Luby Equipment Company. Thanks to Glen Echo member Steve Luby for assisting us with some fine equipment.

Green repair #16

2011-09-29T14:45:00.000-05:00

Waited to see if some of the turf would survive the hydraulic leak from a couple of weeks ago on #16 green. Finally gave in and repaired it today.

Russ pulling out the bad strip and replacing with new sod.

The finished product.

Bunker Renovation #14

2011-09-29T13:07:00.000-05:00

At the beginning of my golf maintenance career, the first major project that I was responsible to supervise was a bunker renovation as an assistant at Sunset C.C. With a recommendation from the green committee and support from the Board of Directors, we are at the early stages of a most exciting project here at Glen Echo, the renovation/restoration of our bunkers.

A committee consisting of members and staff has been formed and is meeting to determine how to raise funds for this project privately through our most generous membership. Additional details regarding the committees work will be forthcoming after the first of the year.

As a part of this effort, our staff along with Kye Goalby from Goalby Golf Design will be embarking on the renovation and restoration of hole #14 to give the membership an example of the work that will be accomplished over the next 12-18 months. There is a green committee meeting this evening in which the project schedule will be discussed and finalized. In general, a majority of the work is to be completed in 2012.

We will begin to tear out the bunkers on #14 late in the afternoon on Sunday, October 2nd. The main work should be completed by Thursday, October 6th including sod and sand. The hole will be open for play during this process.

Our staff will be involved in all activities of the renovation except for the actual design/shaping of the bunkers in which Mr. Goalby will complete this work. Below is a link to an interview that Kye gave to Golf Club Atlas in 2010. It speaks of his career and how it started, where he as been and what the future holds for him. I think you will find it most interesting. Locally, he has been doing shaping work of the bunkers at St. Louis C.C. He has traveled throughout the world with architect Tom Doak.

http://www.golfclubatlas.com/feature-interview/kye-goalby-april-2010/

The work that our staff will be responsible to complete includes the following:

Plan all aspects of the project with Goalby Golf design including increased staffing during the main project work as well as maintaining the golf course.
Provide constant communication to green committee, fundraising committee, Board of Directors and all membership/staff during the process.
Ordering all supplies and equipment needed to complete project.
Removing existing bunker sand, gravel, drainage pipe, and sod from around bunkers.
Finish shaping bunker with Mr. Goalby, edging, trenching drainage, removing soil spoils and installing drainage. Spray on a polyurethane permeable liner called Klingstone which reduces the potential of soil contamination to our new and clean sand.
Sodding new bunker area and installing sand.
On going watering of sod/sand and mechanically compacting sand to improve playability once the bunkers are complete.
Hand raking completed bunkers to protect integrity of the new bunker sod, edges and assist in improving firmness of new sand which has a tendency to be soft during the initial few months of installation.

A great look with two new bunkers being placed back into play as originally designed!

Echofest 2011

2011-09-23T07:13:00.000-05:00

The clear skies and a last quarter moon of last night has brought great anticipation to today's Echofest Member/Member Tournament. A cool morning with a foggy sunrise met our staff as we began today's activities. All areas of the course will be mowed today in preparation for the tournament. Greens have been rolled the last 3 days to assist in bringing additional speed to the slightly soft and moist conditions we have been experiencing over the last couple of weeks. Fall has arrived by the calendar today but the temperatures of fall have been here for a few days now. The staff has been gearing up to provide you with some very good conditions over the next couple of days. We hope you have a great time!

Lady relaxing as I prepare to change holes with the fog rising and our beautiful clubhouse in the background.

Interview and subsequent article for September, 2011 Superintendent Magazine article on aerification

2011-09-22T16:06:00.000-05:00

I was contacted a couple of months ago regarding an interview for 'Superintendent Magazine' about our aeration practices here at Glen Echo. Below, is the article that was written from the interview and or the link to the website.

http://www.superintendentmagazine.com/article-7309.aspx

Superintendent Magazine - September, 2011

FEATURES

The 'Hole' Enchilada

Experts share tips on putting green aeration.By Larry Aylward

It's early August, and the temperature is hovering around 100 degrees Fahrenheit in St. Louis, where Joe Wachter is the golf course superintendent of Glen Echo Country Club. August is starting off where July left off - and it was one of the hottest Julys in the city's history.

The greens on the golf course at the Rock Creek Cattle Co. are awakened in the spring with a core aeration.
PHOTO: COURTESY OF ROCK CREEK CATTLE CO.

The conversation with Wachter turns from the weather to aeration, which has everything to do with the hot weather and more. Ask any superintendent about aeration, and he or she will tell you that each course will have its own distinct program, because each course has its own microclimate. Throw in different soil and grass types, water quality issues, number of rounds, etc., and a course's aeration program gets even more defined.

Consider this a refresher course on aeration. We checked in with a few superintendents as well as Bob Carrow, Ph.D., professor of turfgrass management at the University of Georgia, to get their aeration tips. Some will sound familiar, and some might make you think about doing things a little different.

Getting an early start

The early bird gets ... happy golfers.

Wachter core aerates his course's putting greens, which average about 30 percent Poa annua and 70 percent Crenshaw bentgrass, in the spring with .5-inch hollow tines. He prefers to get out in the early spring to get the all-important but intensive task done ahead of time.

"The best time to do it is the middle of April," Wachter says. "But I try to do it before the first of April just to get it done and out of the way."

That way, the greens are healed up and ready for opening day, Wachter says. And then he doesn't have to carry out another golfer-disruptive task until the following October.

"We want to aerate as early as possible so we don't disrupt the players," Wachter says.

Wachter's initial core aeration usually lasts until May, when he implements a monthly needle-tine aeration program with a Verti-Drain. Wachter uses .25-inch solid tines and aims to complete the task on the first of each month through September.

Also during the summer, Wachter hires a contractor to aerate the greens with a Hydroject. The HydroJect, manufactured by The Toro Company, aerates the greens with "water jets." These jets are pulses of high-velocity water, released at regular intervals.

Wachter prefers to bring in the HydroJect sometime in July, "during the middle of the heat," he says. The process is not very disruptive to the greens.

Wachter waits until the end of October to perform the final aeration of the season - a solid tining of about 8 to 10 inches. Those holes are filled with sand.

For the year, the Glen Echo greens receive about six aerations/ventings.

Core aeration is important for many reasons. It's also the best time you can put down the most sand and work it in to dilute organic matter, says Bob Carrow.
PHOTO BY: LARRY AYLWARD

"If the weather doesn't cooperate, we might end up missing a needle tine," Wachter says. "But usually we get at least three needle tines, one HydroJect and two deep-tine or core aerations."

Wachter, who has been a superintendent since 1993, has changed his program over the years, keeping up to date with new technology, such as needle tining. He likes that needle tines can punch holes about 1.5 inches apart. That way, the greens can be dried in the root zone if they are too wet, or they can be watered in the root zone when they're too dry.

Wachter realizes that many of his peers prefer to core aerate greens in the fall, but he prefers not to because the created holes encourage Poa annua growth, and fall is ideal for Poa annua germination in the St. Louis area.

"I also don't like to disrupt the greens," Wachter says. "It's still too hot to aerate, and I don't like to tear them up. Besides, they're usually trying to recover from some type of damage anyway."

Wachter prefers deep tining the greens in the fall.

"I just want to get a deep base so they will drain in the winter and grow strong roots late into the fall," he says.

Wachter realizes he wouldn't have a job if it weren't for golfers. So he's all about pleasing them, which means working around them as far as aeration scheduling.

"I've tried to move it to times that are the least disruptive for golfers," he says. "We're here to make golfers happy ... and keep them happy."

On occasion, a certain green might require an extra needle tine or solid tine aeration. That would be Glen Echo's 11th green, which is flat and doesn't drain well.

"Waking up" the greens

Isaac Farabaugh, superintendent of the golf course at Rock Creek Cattle Co. in Deer Lodge, Mont., faces a challenging aeration schedule because the golf season is so short, about three and a half months, in his area of the country.

"Sometimes the ground freezes early, and we end up not getting it all done in the fall," Farabaugh says.

Rock Creek features a links-style, Tom Doak design. Being a newer course with only 3,000 rounds a year, Farabaugh has very few thatch and compaction problems on the greens. He core aerates the greens once in the spring and again in late August, and supplements with a PlanetAir machine every two weeks. The PlanetAir shatters soil with a kick-back action that reduces soil compaction.

"We also solid tine once in the spring, once in the midseason and once in the fall if we can get it done before the ground freezes on the tees and fairways," Farabaugh says.

It's a program different from most because of the short season. Still, aeration is vital. Farabaugh's initial core aeration plays a key role in "waking up" the greens in the spring when soil temperatures are still cold in order to get the golf season rolling. He also uses twice the normal amount of nitrogen in the spring to get the turf going out of dormancy.

Carrow: Not just cultivation

The University of Georgia's Carrow is a proponent of core aeration, but not just to create large holes. It's all about the topdressing, Carrow says.

"It's not just the cultivation process that's so important," he adds. "It's also because that's the time you can put down the most sand and work it in to dilute organic matter. It's just a better way of controlling organic matter accumulation."

A core aeration's effectiveness will typically last four to six weeks, in terms of sufficient water and oxygen infiltration, Carrow says. Then it's time to implement a venting program, such as tining.

Slitting, another form of aeration, is also less disruptive, even more so than deep tining. But slits don't stay open for long, Carrow says. "You're better off to do a .25-inch solid tine," he adds.

In the South, where the winter is short, Carrow says superintendents should solid tine greens as soon as the weather allows it, like in mid- to late March. This will relieve oxygen stress and poor infiltration, and promote maximum root growth later.

"The best time to core aerate greens on warm-season grass is when it's warm enough to achieve rapid recovery," Carrow says. That would be May or even into June.

Superintendents who oversee courses that receive heavy winter play can't core aerate during those months because recovery doesn't came fast enough in the cooler weather. Carrow suggests two or three tines to keep the greens open just enough to where they aren't disruptive.

Aylward can be reached at 330-723-2136 laylward@mooserivermedia.com.

Fall Plantings

2011-09-21T16:56:00.000-05:00

Becky is beginning to do some of our fall planting in our high traffic areas around the clubhouse and pro shop. Plants will include Pansies, a few mums, ornamental grasses, kale and a few other surprises. She also has some plans for the four large urns in front of the main entrances for the fall and winter season.

Becky has contributed greatly to our staff this season. Beds were well maintained and she was able to make some very good plantings out of the plants I stuck her with that were ordered and grown in the greenhouse this spring. She had to work very hard in catching up on some of the more professional horticulturist work that we were not able to accomplish over the last couple of year. She is beginning to develop some ideas for next season's plantings and greenhouse crop. At the time she was hired, the job was only budgeted for 9 months so we hope that we can retain her for next season. I hope the position can be returned to full time next season but that will be evaluated in the budget process this winter.

Becky in the foreground with her back turned to me. She's a little camera shy. Mums, pansies in the flagpole bed near the pro shop.

Rough bermuda eradication/control

2011-09-20T11:33:00.000-05:00

The fog and heavy dew this morning showed the great progress we are making with our first cut of rough and reducing the impacts of bermuda on the rough. The bermuda has a great deal of leaf surface and the dew shows up and is more concentrated on it in comparison to zoysia or fescue. As shown along #16 a month ago, there is still some bermuda in the left half of the picture but it is has been tremendously reduced. To the right of the flag pole is a solid patch of bermuda that was all the way across the picture to the fairway a couple of years ago. As we improve our rough, we will begin to over seed with additional fescue out into the area to the right side of the picture.

Mostly fescue on the left with a solid patch of bermuda on the right side of the picture.

Tree Management Program/Dead Oak tree removal near #9 green

2011-09-19T10:02:00.000-05:00

A wet Sunday, course received 1.25" of rain. Pumped bunkers early this morning. Too wet for much other work. Removing old dead white oak in club lawn near #9 green/lake.

Skip in the lift trimming on the large white oak dead near 9 lake. Chipper brought out in field to save time.

What is that clear liquid falling from the sky?

2011-09-14T21:00:00.000-05:00

Well, we received a much needed long and steady rain today to the chagrin of our Ladies Senior Club Championship participants who were forced to stop after only 9 holes. We had received over 1.5" when I left the office this afternoon which was more than double the rainfall we had previously received since July 12th. The course will react very positively with this flushing and deep soaking rain. Some of the salts and bicarbonates that build up in the soil due to heavy city water usage over the last two months will be flushed through the root zone and the water should pull some additional oxygen back in as well.

BASF Turf Talk

2011-09-14T20:19:00.001-05:00

BASF has a turf talk blog and the Glen Echo Country Club Golf Course Maintenance blog is being recognized during the month of September as their "Blogs We Like".

BASF Turf Talk

Interesting video on course set up

2011-09-14T10:56:00.001-05:00

I ran across this video from Tim Anderson CGCS, MG from Naperville Country Club. It shows his staff preparing the 18th hole for their Invitational earlier this season. I thought you would enjoy the view and the music is not bad either.(I just read that Assistant Steven Biehl manages the blog at the club). Great job!

Japanese Beetle treatment worked

2011-09-13T10:36:00.000-05:00

We have a Little Leafed Linden behind the 16th green near the main road(Marvin Pearson Way). Each season, this tree was attacked by adult Japanese beetles who loved to skeletize its leaves. This season, the tree was treated with a systemic control product(Imidacloprid) to reduce the amount of damage since it is in a high visibility area. As you can see below, the control worked well this season with some slight damage at the very top.

Slight damage at the top of the tree where the beetles first were attracted to the tree but once they began ingesting the chemical that was trans-located into the leaves, they moved to a non-treated tree.

I thought I had a picture of our tree and its damage from the past couple of year but could not locate it. Here is a good example from the Iowa State blog.

Grooming/verticutting greens

2011-09-13T09:56:00.000-05:00

We did a light verticutting/grooming of our greens today. This practice forces the grass to stand up and will cut some of the longer blades leading to a better cut. With our higher height of cut over the stress of the summer, the grass has a tendency to lay over and become lazy. The more grass surface area, the more friction created which slows ball roll. Verticutting/grooming, topdressing, and brushing help improve the smoothness and ball roll as we move from summer conditions into some beautiful fall weather.

Update on Hydraulic leak 16 green

2011-09-13T09:48:00.000-05:00

Overnight, the heavier concentrated spray from the hydraulic leak on #16 green died. This was from direct heat of the hydraulic oil where there was concentrated line. We will continue to monitor the remaining section. Hopefully, the oil did not get down into the crown area of the plant. The hydro-carbons in the oil are deadly to turfgrass which suffocates the plant and it dies.

The reddish color is due to direct heat burn of the turf. More than likely, this area will not regenerate and will need to be replaced. The overall oil leak was about 1' wide. The concentrated line on the left is where I came on the green and then stopped. The line on the right is where I backed off of the green. If the oil was not concentrated, there might be a chance that some of the turf will be okay.

Hydraulic leak on #16 green

2011-09-12T10:54:00.000-05:00

I was mowing greens this morning in preparation for our outing that was going off at 11:00 a.m. when we experienced a hydraulic leak on #16 green. The leak occurred on the top tier about 15' long and possibly a foot wide the way it sprayed onto the turf. We scrubbed the area with soap but more than likely will be losing some turf. We will be monitoring it over the next few days and will replace the area as necessary.

9/11, A Personal View

2011-09-10T16:25:00.000-05:00

As we reflect on the 10th anniversary of this terrible event, I want to share a couple of thoughts regarding my experiences during that time.

I was superintendent at Eagle Springs Golf Course and walked into the pro shop right around 8 a.m. There was a large screen TV with a picture of the first tower on fire. I stood there stunned for a couple of minutes watching NBC's coverage when I saw this dark flying object plow into the second tower.  Initially, I thought I was watching a replay of the first flight but I found out pretty quickly that it was the second plane. The rest of the morning became a blur as the attacks continued.

Eagle Springs is not quite as busy as Glen Echo with regular takeoffs and landings but we normally went through a sequence for about 4 hours everyday when airplanes would be lining up for landings as they went east to west and then circled around St. Charles and landed from the west. We would also have planes crossing the course flying from north to south landing on the crossing runway from time to time. Over the next week, the daily occurrence of planes flying overhead gave way to the beautiful silence that can be experienced on a golf course but the silence was deafening and very eerie after what our country had just experienced on 9/11.  Once planes began to fly, even though we were not back to normal, the noise of those jet engines did bring some sense of normalcy back to my life.

As most of you know, the American Express Championship was about to be contested at
Bellerive CC. that week. I had volunteered for the afternoon shift to help the staff prepare for their tournament. I had worked Sunday and Monday raking bunkers. After the attacks, I reported to work that afternoon knowing that the tournament was going to be cancelled but showed up to get the final word. I will always remember the faces of the staff who were so sad from the occurrences earlier that morning. Superintendent Tony Mancuso CGCS attempted to give us the news but was too overcome with emotion to speak. His first assistant Rob Kick(current Superintendent at Algonquin) gave us the news that the event was cancelled. All of us connected to golf understand the work that leads up to a major event.  Good guys who in the end were only concerned about what had happened to our country.

I've mentioned in the past that I have a membership in a golf course information company(TURFNET) in which I frequent the web board to share information with fellow superintendent's and ask questions. Through that board, I read the firsthand experiences of superintendents who watched the destruction of the twin towers from their beautiful properties around New York City.    Also, a number of clubs experienced multiple members/friends who died that day.

As I make my way around the property the next few days,  my thoughts will be with those we lost and those left behind.  I will sit and listen to the quite serenity that a golf course can bring but I will be very happy to have the silence broken seeing those planes flying overhead again.

Greens at regular cutting height

2011-09-08T06:46:00.001-05:00

Today will be the first day that our greens will be back to their normal cutting height except for #3 which still needs some time for recovery. Our greens continue to improve on a daily basis. The needle tining that was just completed will improve root growth and encourage additional recovery. We are doing additional plugging into some of the weak spots and will be hand topdressing in some of the areas to help smooth the surface. Grooming/verticutting, brushing and regular topdressing will be occurring over the next week or two to improve our cut and smooth the putting surfaces for the rest of the fall golf season.

Needle tining/venting greens

2011-09-08T06:32:00.001-05:00

We are needle tining/venting our greens today(Tuesday) which will assist them in a number of different ways.

The small openings will improve water penetration. The late summer and fall are usually low humidity times of the year so the ability to get water down into the root system are important.
The channels being opened up also allow for oxygen exchange which will help the greens recover from their summer stress.
Roots will begin to form in the channels which will also begin to allow for recovery and preparation for the upcoming winter season. The best root growth of the year occurs during the spring season so anything we can do to improve the overall health going into winter is important.

Holes are spaced at 1.5" apart which provide for many openings on each green. Most holes will be closed before the weekend arrives and will provide for little ball roll disruption.

Vertidrain aerator with needle tines venting greens.

Needle tines spaced about 1.5" apart in a double row.

Tree Removal from the front gate area

2011-09-06T13:23:00.001-05:00

We contracted the removal of the oak tree from the front gate that was struck by lightning earlier in the season. I had hoped to remove it this winter but it has browned out and succumbed to its injuries from this summer. The top is being removed today and the rest of the log will be removed this week. As mentioned in a recent posting, we will have the two trees removed in late fall to the right of #1 tee by contractors who will be doing work over the winter in the ditch near the driving range and hole #1. The large oak near #9/club lawn will be removed by our staff as will the oak on the right of #12. There appear to be other trees that are browning out and showing serious distress as well which we will be monitoring this fall.

Power lines, gate, wall and ornamental plantings were too close for our staff to attempt this job plus it is a very large tree. Contracted out the job to a tree service to remove the severely damaged pin oak from the front gate area.

Re: Club Championship Monday

2011-09-05T07:56:00.001-05:00

Joe Wachter
Managing Director of Grounds and Landscapes
Certified Golf Course Supt.
Glen Echo Country Club
Sent from my LG phone

Joe Wachter <jwachter@gecc.org> wrote:

We've made it to Labor Day and The Club Championship Finals. We are trying to do as many jobs as we can before play catches up with us. Good luck to the competitors and enjoy your holiday.
Joe Wachter
Managing Director of Grounds and Landscapes
Certified Golf Course Supt.
Glen Echo Country Club
Sent from my LG phone

Some additional weather statistics for this season

2011-08-29T18:04:00.000-05:00

Month of June

5 record highs for that particular day in June. Avg for the 5 days was 96.8
5 record low highs for that day in June Avg for the 5 days was 77.6
I should have known something was up with that type of heat in early June.

Looks like this summer season will pass 2010 as 4th all time record high temperature for the period June/July/Aug summer season by almost .25 degrees per day. Last season 81.7, this year 81.93. Three more days this week of over 90 will give us 64 for the season which is one less than last year with the whole month of September still to come.

A very heavy 1.10" of rain on July 12 was our last major daily rainfall. We've had an additional .69"(only .15" coming in one day) of rain in the last 39 days. Our weather station measures Evapotranspiration (ET) which is the amount of water lost from the surface of the ground which would be available for plants to utilize. Some of the factors affecting this loss include temperature, humidity, and air movement.

Since July 12, we've had rainfall of 1.79" and an ET of 8.02". That is a very significant deficit which points to why our water usage has gone sky high over last 6 weeks.

Irene Damage to Golf Courses in the East

2011-08-29T14:10:00.000-05:00

Check out Superintendent Frank Tichenor's blog at Forest Hill Field Club in Bloomfield, New Jersey.
He has some photos from damage they received from Irene. By the way, Frank has an excellent blog as well.

http://fhfcgreendepartment.blogspot.com/

Why are some areas on the course brown?

2011-08-29T14:04:00.000-05:00

Another post that did not show up from my phone last week.

The summer heat of July and August gave us some of the hottest temperatures ever and also left us with only 4/10" of rain since July 12. Our irrigation lake is recharged by runoff from rain but when there is no rain, city water is used. We used almost 8 million gallons of city water during the last billing cycle between July 15-August 1l and the meter continues to keep piling on during the current cycle. We are keeping our main play areas watered sufficiently but are throwing smaller amounts in our deeper rough and non-essential areas. The picture I've attached is behind 17 green and in front of 16 tee. Even with a modern irrigation system, you can still see how inefficient an irrigation system is in comparison to mother nature. There are numerous areas on the course in which weaknesses are on display from our system. A few tees, fairways and even greens are showing signs of damage from inefficient irrigation applications. I think its time for a rain dance. Maybe that will be a part of our Labor Day festivities this weekend.

Old zoysia nursery between 17 green, 2 fairway and 16 tee. We have kept the irrigation off in this area except for the bentgrass collar nursery near 16 tee in an effort to conserve on our water usage which is very high right now because of the 6 week drought.

Re: Sunday evening preparations for two day St. Louis District Golf Senior Championship

2011-08-29T13:44:00.002-05:00

I sent a few messages this week via my phone that did not show up on the blog. Here are a couple of those messages.

Skip, Tom, Jason, and myself out on a beautiful Sunday evening making early preparations for the two day senior championship. Not enough time tomorrow with 7:30 tee times to get everything accomplished for our members and guests playing in this event so a little dry, evening mowing.
Joe Wachter
Managing Director of Grounds and Landscapes
Certified Golf Course Supt.
Glen Echo Country Club
Sent from my LG phone

Germinating seed on #3 green

2011-08-19T13:30:00.000-05:00

Our greens continue to improve each day and the bentgrass seed that we placed on #3 green last Friday has now emerged from some of the rescue tine holes. These seedlings in combination of the continued regrowth from the weakened bentgrass that is reviving will help to discourage the amount of poa annua that will attempt to invade these areas. We will begin to do some plugging over the next few days to continue with the repair. The staff also made a couple of more collar repairs as the continue the trend of normal to less than normal temperatures.

Seedlings emerging at the tip of the knife.

Same picture but a close up of the little squiggly bentgrass seedlings at the tip of the blade.

Tee renovations complete

2011-08-18T16:51:00.000-05:00

The past couple of days our staff we completed the tees that we had promised. #13 white tee and #11 red tee. We also made a turf change on the #1 blue tee and converted from bentgrass back to zoysia which is the preferred choice of tee grass here at Glen Echo because of its low inputs(reduced water, chemical and fertilizer). It has great wear tolerance and can now be mowed by our riding unit which now will be mowing all tees on property. We've made changes to five teeing grounds this season; two from the blue tees, one from the white tee and two from the red tees and the walk path to #1 red tee as well. They will finish growing in the rest of the season but should be able to be used in the next few weeks. They will be in perfect condition for next season's play.

Sod cutter was used to strip off the sod that was then removed by our staff from the first tee, the red tee on #11 and what is now the white tee from #13. The removal of the sod allows the soil that was hauled in to adhere to the soil and allows the sod that is laid to blend into the existing sod surrounding the tee.

Stripped off sod from the red tee #11 waiting to be tractor rototilled by our laser leveling contractor from Schaefer Meyer.

Mike McNeil laser leveling the #11 red tee.

Laser leveling the white tee from #13.

Once the tee is prepped, we fertilize it with a starter fertilizer to give the root system a jump start and the staff laying the big rolled sod. Skip, Russ, Tom L, Jason and Demarcus.

The finished tee on #1. We will roll it tomorrow with the tennis court roller and let it grow for a few weeks before we open it back up. It will be topdressed with sand and will be walk mowed until it firms up enough for the riding unit to mow it.

Completed red tee on #11

Completed #13 white tee.

#13 white tee now aligned down the center of the fairway.

Fairway aeration complete

2011-08-16T17:52:00.001-05:00

Our fairway aeration was completed on Monday. A good soaking rain wiould go a long way in helping with recovery. The front 7, plus 17/18 look good from last week's work.
Laser leveling of the new white tee #13, renovated red tee on # 11 and leveling and regrassing of the #1 blue tee to zoysia will take place over the next couple of days.
Joe Wachter
Managing Director of Grounds and Landscapes
Certified Golf Course Supt.
Glen Echo Country Club
Sent from my LG phone

Walk path #1 Red tee

2011-08-10T16:31:00.000-05:00

The steps were removed from the red tee on #1 a few years ago and were not replaced. We've had requests on a number of occasions to make some improvement to this area because of the steep incline down to the tee. I had intended to get something completed last year but did not get this accomplished.

Today, we made the improvements which I believe will be helpful for those members who utilize this tee. We filled the incline with soil which has drastically reduced the severity of the slope. It will take a few weeks for the soil to settle and sod to become knitted down but I think this will solve the problem a number of our members have been having with the first tee.

Walk path for #1 red tee and the sod being laid.

The completed walk path.

Greens update/approach changes and collar repairs

2011-08-10T16:04:00.000-05:00

The weather of the last few days has been a welcomed relief for our greens. What once appeared to be turf that was beyond recovery has now led to little small green leaves beginning to emerge from weakened and damage spots all over the course. We placed a granular fertilizer on the greens this morning to encourage and assist with the recovery.

Years ago, false fronts consisting of bentgrass were placed on the approaches of our greens. This was a trend that many private courses in the St. Louis area implemented. Over the years, some of these areas have been reduced by the staff here at Glen Echo. The USGA has recommended during their site visits that these expanded bentgrass approaches be eliminated. We experienced some significant damage to the collar/approach on #3 over the past few weeks. In an effort to make repairs to #3 collar as well as to the practice green, we reduced the size of #11 bentgrass approach and replaced it with zoysia. We also eliminated in total the bentgrass approach of #3.

There are a number of reasons why we are eliminating the bentgrass approaches.

The playability is not consistent with the fairway grass which is zoysia. The bentgrass will not allow a ball to release onto the green as easily as if they were zoysia. '
The bentgrass on the approaches must be treated with chemicals along with the greens on a regular basis.
The bentgrass approaches have to be walk mowed which takes more time for our staff. Zoysia grass approaches would be mowed with a riding unit.
Additional water required by bentgrass making the approach soft and not allowing a ball to release.

The removal of the sod including the damaged area on the front collar/approach of #3.

Jeff, Demarcus, and Nick picking up the sod on #3

The finished product on #11 4-5 strips of zoysia sod replacing the bentgrass.

#3 approach and new collar sod added.

Fairway aeration

2011-08-10T13:55:00.000-05:00

We completed fairways 1-5, and 7 on Monday and did holes 17-18 yesterday morning. We plan to complete the remaining fairways on Monday.

The process included:

Mowing the fairway
Core aerating using a 5/8" tine.
Ground the cores with a flail mower which turned a majority of the material into powder.
Drove a cart with a drag mat over the remaining soil, cores and grass tufts to assist in moving the material down into the profile.
Used a blower to remove the remnants off of the fairways.
Mow the fairway.

This process takes between 2-3 hours depending upon the size of the fairway.

Russ with our aerator.

Jason using the flail mower to grind up the cores.

Tom dragging the remnants to move the soil into the profile and possibly break up some additional cores.

You can see the cleaner path created by the blower removing the material off of the fairways.

Harry, beginning to mow #7 fairway. Still a dusty operation.

Fairway aeration started this morning

2011-08-08T08:36:00.000-05:00

Our fairway core aeration began this morning. The staff will work as long as there is daylight and it does not rain. We are going after our largest fairways first to cover as much area as possoble.
Joe Wachter
Managing Director of Grounds and Landscapes
Certified Golf Course Supt.
Glen Echo Country Club
Sent from my LG phone

Greens update

2011-08-07T09:14:00.001-05:00

With the exception of #3, I do not believe we have taken any further steps backwards over the last couple of days and we continue to move in a positive direction with a few of our greens that were showing some serious stress. No doubt there still is some ugly grass out there right now but the weather this week should begin to put us back on the right track for recovery. We should begin to get a good idea this week which weakened or damaged turf spots will regenerate and or the the spots that will need to be restored by either inserting plugs or doing some additional seeding into the profile which would encourage more bentgrass over poa annua. I expect that a majority of our turf will regenerate from the crowns and will recover.

We will begin to place some sand on the greens with our light topdressing program which will help to improve ball roll and will begin to protect the crowns of the plant that have not had any sand for well over a month. This will also help us as we begin to lower our heights over the next few weeks. Our weaker greens will probably not have any sand placed on them for another week to reduce the risk of the blades being injured from the abrasiveness of the sand.

We will be removing some of our damaged collar sod in the next few weeks and replace it. Even with the severe conditions we have experienced, it is disappointing to me that we lost some of the turf that we did. As we do each season, we will evaluate our areas that need improvement, the parts of the program that worked and figure out if we could have done anything to offset some of the conditions that mother nature threw at us this season.

We cannot be over aggressive with our turf recovery work because there is still opportunities for some significant heat that could take out any gains. With our Senior Club Championship in progress, Club Championship, and St. Louis District Senior Championship approaching during the last weekend of August and through the week leading up to Labor Day weekend, we on focused on getting our turf back to normal as quickly as possible.

Fairway Aeration

2011-08-07T08:48:00.000-05:00

Of course rain would be predicted on our aeration starting day. We plan to start our fairway coring tomorrow. Our process will include pulling the cores, grinding the cores, blowing off the remnants and mowing the fairway.

We will do as many holes as the rain allows us to do tomorrow and will finish up our task next Monday. Additional postings will be made during our process.

Little accumulation of rain, come on out

2011-08-06T06:30:00.002-05:00

We've received less than a tenth of an inch of rain since yesterday. Greens are beginning to grow and show some better color from the changes in the weather. All greens were mowed this morning.
Joe Wachter
Managing Director of Grounds and Landscapes
Certified Golf Course Supt.
Glen Echo Country Club
Sent from my LG phone

Stress on some zoysia tees

2011-08-05T08:33:00.000-05:00

The core aeration of our zoysia tees last week placed some stress to our zoysia tees, especially since it stayed in the 100 degree range. Opening the tee canopy and dragging the tees does add stress and will dry out the surfaces which did occur on isolated tees. Our tees have good irrigation coverage but stress will show up on some tees that do not have adequate water coverage. A few of the forward red tees only receive water from rough and our fairway coverage heads which at times are not spaced properly to get the proper water to relieve stress. We've increased the watering totals over the last few days and the tees are beginning to show some relief from the stress they have experienced. Cooler weather and rain will get the tees back to normal in the next few days.

Our cool season tees continue to react negatively to the hot and dry weather of the last few weeks. They should respond in a positive way to changes in weather as well.

Red tees of #2 showing some stress from aeration and drought stress.

Weather Statistics for July

2011-08-03T11:00:00.001-05:00

Now for the hot details of July

July's Value Avg Diff Last year
Temperatures from avg.

AVG. MAXIMUM     94.8              89.8     5.0     91.0
AVG. MINIMUM     76.6              70.6     6.0     73.8
MEAN             85.7              80.2     5.5     82.4

Rainfall

TOTALS           2.91              3.90   -0.99     6.69

25 days over 90 for July, average is 15 with 8 days over 100

4th warmest July on record.

21st warmest June.

Shaping up to be a very warm summer period.

Our average for days over 90 for April-July is 17.

So far we have had 43 days over 90.

The average for August is 7.8 which we might top by the end of the weekend.

I'm sweating just typing this information.

Greens update

2011-08-03T09:08:00.001-05:00

Our greens continue to struggle over the last couple of days.

Our most troubled greens include 3, 2, 11, with 12, 6, 5 and 8 in order from the most severe to the least. Our other greens have their issues but are holding on for the most part.

Overall, we have done about everything possible to prevent further loss of turf but we continue to get see turf thinning on #3. Lack of air movement and direct sunlight as discussed in an earlier post make for one of the hottest environments on the golf course. For the most part, we will not see any great improvement in any of our greens until the weather conditions change, especially cooler night temperatures.(60's to low 70's)

2 appears to be improving but also is showing some weakness with some sections of bentgrass.

11 has continued to improve but has some weakness in general.

12 is showing some stress but has slowed in its loss of turf and is beginning to grow.

Greens 5, 6 and 8 are showing some symptoms of turf loss like our worst greens but are still in better shape and are being monitored closely.

Most of our worst greens are up against the edge of the property line where air movement is blocked by trees or houses which allows the heat to build as the day goes by.

Update of our Green conditions

2011-07-31T14:48:00.000-05:00

I spent a few minutes after lunch checking out our green conditions. Overall we are holding our own but do have a number of greens that are showing some significant stress, well all of them but some are definitely much healthier than others. We received very little rain yesterday .06" of an inch but the cloud cover did help hold green internal temperatures down into the low 80's which is great until the sun came out later. I'm sure we are well over 90 again this afternoon.

I closed the course to all employees for tomorrow on our club closed day in an effort to give the greens complete relief from any activity except some potential watering that we might need to do to keep the turf as healthy as possible. We mowed on Saturday and rolled only on Sunday. The greens will receive at least two days of no mowing and our weakest greens listed below might be allowed to rest even longer if we see limited growth. We have a few more days of this near 100 degree heat with some days near average coming toward the weekend.

The month of July 2011 is shaping up to be the 4th warmest on record. At least 3 degrees warmer than last year and the warmest July since 1980 by almost one full degree. Eight days over 100, 2 at 99, 2 at 98, and 25 total days of at least 90 or better, 10 more than average.

Below is a summary of some of our troubled greens.

The practice green has good color but is stressed overall from the activity that it receives on a daily basis. The surround turf is going dormant due to a lack of adequate irrigation since it is the only green that does not have a true green surround system.

#2/3 are basically about equal in their level of stress. Both are located in the worst area of the golf course. Lack of air movement on both greens creates serious issues. #3 is probably in a more difficult environment because it receives sunlight almost all day until near sunset.

#11 has shown marked improvement over 2/3 but is still struggling.

#6 is beginning to suffer a little more than it has over the last few days. Air movement last week helped this green but it is beginning to show some stress but it is growing. The sod line where replaced turf last year on the right side has thinned significantly giving the appearance of a spray damage but it is the sod that is trying to check out. We will do some extra spiking this week in an attempt to rejuvenate the sod that is declining.

#8 is doing okay but does has some significant stress in the front area of the green.

#9 has been looking pretty well but is beginning to show some additional wear since earlier in the week.

We will be placing our tractor mounted and cart towed blowing units near our worst greens for the next few days to give them some air movement which helps to keep the surface at a lower level. Fans and or air movement on the golf course allows the turf to respire which assists in the plant cooling itself. If the plant does not receive air movement, it closes itself off and begins to build internal heat like a human body which could lead to cell death and ultimately death to the plant just as a we would experience during a heat stoke or exhaustion event. There is a course in the area that has an infrared surface thermometer that they have utilized to check surface temperatures. In the area where a fan was assisting the green, the surface temperature was 92 degrees and the area away from the fan where it could not impact temperature, the surface was around 117 degrees. A marked difference.

We will be moving these units every couple of hours to another green to aid in their recovery process. We appreciate your understanding as we continue to do all we can to protect our greens from this most stressful period.

New Weed Killer/Damaged Trees

2011-07-29T11:15:00.001-05:00

No damaged trees here is my opening salvo regarding the above title. On to my story. This spring I began to use a new herbicide called Imprellis. This is a new chemistry from Dupont that kills many broadleaf weeds both on contact and through the soil which to my knowledge is no other product on the market that is like it. It has a very low use rate of 3 oz per acre and is very safe for applicators to use. It is safe on all cool season grass, has some activity on zoysia but will flat knock the socks off of bermuda which interested me because of our need to rid the first cut of rough of bermuda. So I tried it in some areas, out in the open, away from trees. It worked well and it sure did knock the bermuda for a loop. Some just started to grow out of the damage just before the Invitational. No tree damage to report here. I wanted to mention this in case any of you had a lawn service apply this product and possibly lost a tree that should be investigated. As you will see in the reports below, it looks like a multi-million dollar loss and lawsuits to come.

Well, we have come to find out on a large scale that there could be a problem with this chemical on Conifers.
It appears that the material has been sprayed around or near trees and has had a deadly consequence.

Here are a couple of links to news reports regarding this potential problem.

New York Times article

Turfnet.com news

Green condition update

2011-07-28T11:53:00.000-05:00

I am cautiously optimistic regarding the overall health of our greens. We have seen some improvement over the last couple of days of greens that had weakened from 12 days of searing heat. As mentioned earlier, our collars have taken a severe beating on some greens. They do appear to have calmed some over the last day or two. I checked out a facility yesterday that had the same issues with their green collars. I'm hearing other facilities that have had severe loss of collar turf. It is very difficult for all of us right now.

From what I can tell, there is some normal disease issues that we experience this time of year. Anthracnose being the major disease that is induced by stress and poor drainage. We are trying to combat this disease with keeping our green moist but not wet or saturated, fungicide applications that help reduce the severity of this disease and light amounts of fertilization that will help our turf grow out of this disease. We have not seen very much algae appear but if we get rain over the next couple of days, it could rear its ugly head. Raising of our green height will help reduce the impact of the algae because the canopy of the turf is slightly less open than if we were cutting at a shorter height. Our biggest fear is of a pathogen that will work under the turf canopy in the rooting area. We have treated for these type of diseases and will make another application tomorrow ahead of the potential rain that is being predicted.

As of now, we are fully turfed but it will be interesting to see if that changes over the next few days as some of our weaker spots begin to heal or move the other direction and become sicker. As of today, we are 5 degrees above normal in temperature for July. Our night time temperature is almost 3 degrees more in comparison to last season. We have 7 days over 100 right now. We only had 4 days in total last season.

I've attached 3 sets of photos from 3 different greens in an attempt to show you what is lying underneath your feet as you play. Overall, our rooting appears to be at the 3-4" level which is really good at this time with some strands stretching into or near the push/soil level.

#1 green from back to front. The area I sampled was from the middle right as you play into the green.

As you can see from this sample, it appears to be off color.

The sample I took was almost 6" deep and into the soil layer.

As I pulled away sand you can see roots beginning to show in greater numbers at the 3-4" line of the tape. White, not brown from heat damage or lack of oxygen.

Sample area from #7. Fairly healthy located in the middle back left of the green.

Sample over 6" deep. Look at the sand lines down through the soil layer. This is very helpful for drainage and root growth.

Again, roots being found in the 3-4" range.

#6 green looking okay for right now. I'm not saying this very loud. We still have a long road to hoe.

Sample on #6 beginning to show some weakness from the left side middle.

Core sample. Notice the light colored aeration hole filled with sand. This is very important for better drainage and growing roots out the tighter sand topdressing layer.

Roots at the 3-4" level with additional rooting coming out of the cored area.

Warm season tee aeration

2011-07-28T07:41:00.001-05:00

The staff worked on coring our warm season tees yesterday and should finish the remaining tees today. This is helpful for a number of reasons:

Moisture will penetrate the tee more quickly during rain events allowing the tee to become more playable in a shorter time and allow mowing to be completed.
Moisture can move into the root zone more quickly allow for a healthier plant and less water applied.
Small reservoirs are created by the aeration holes during rain events which help to move water off of the surface but then slowly moves into the root zone.
Thatch removal occurs as well.
We will topdress in a few days which will help to fill the holes with sand which will improve overall drainage and firmness of the tee and smooths the surfaces. This will also assist a player in placing the tee into the ground due to the softer condition created by not only the aeration hole but the sand application.

We will be doing a deep solid tine aeration in the next few weeks as well which will help us with deeper drainage, especially in the winter reducing crown damage from lack of water being able to move away from the crown of the plants. It will also make for better playing conditions for our winter golfers.

Tom Lewis using our Verti-drain to pull the cores. The silver drag on the back helps pull a majority of the cores to the edge.

Pile of cores at the end of the tee ready for pick up.

Skip and Russ picking up the pile of cores for disposal.

Jeff dragging the remaining cores on the tee to break them and help work the remaining soil into the canopy.

Demarcus, Tom and Nick blowing the remnants of the cores off of the tee in preparation to be dry mowed today.

Home lawns, what am I to do?

2011-07-26T18:42:00.001-05:00

I receive updates from both Missouri and Kansas State turf programs and extension. There was an interesting posting from Kansas State regarding irrigation of home lawns.

http://www.ksuturf.org/blog/2011/07/from-the-email-bag-stop-watering-and-stop-mowing/

Right now, if you have a cool season lawn, you should be doing nothing to the lawn except applying some water from time to time to keep it from going dormant. Heavy, saturated watering leads to more weeds outpacing your turf this time of year.

Also, nutsedge is everywhere. Spraying during this type of heat might kill the water grass but will kill everything else. We have a fine crop on the golf course right now that will continue to grow until the weather cools to more normal or less than normal temperatures. I missed my window earlier in the season to eliminate some of this dastardly stuff and refuse to damage good turf just to reduce its existence. This season, it has won but there is always next year and we will be applying early and often before the heat.

Green conditions and other turf concerns

2011-07-26T18:32:00.000-05:00

Our greens have faced some difficult conditions over the last couple of weeks with what appears to be more to come in regards to hot weather. We have gone two weeks without rain which good good during high heat because we can control the amount of water to our greens. However, our greens have become consistently inconsistent throughout the profile. There is plenty of moisture in the surface area but we are seeing less than adequate levels in the 3-4" area of the profile which makes for difficult management of our putting surfaces. As mentioned in last weeks post, we are using all tactics to help get us through this most stressful period.

11th green is definitely struggling with wet and dry issues. Normally one of our wettest greens, we have struggled to get its moisture where it needs to be.

7th green with some stress but holding its own.

Our collars have taking a beating over the last week. The green surrounds are beginning to pull water from these areas and we have reduced inputs to the green so there is less availability from these areas. We have pounded them with water from our hoses but to no avail in some cases. Hopefully, some of the turf has just gone dormant and is still alive in the crowns and will rejuvenate during some more normal weather. Some areas that have taken the most beating have been the practice green, left side #16 and the front of #3. All trouble spots from the past.

Our Zoysia/Bermuda tees are fantastic and some of our cool season tees are beginning their yearly struggle. Drought stress or inadequate water distribution, disease and conditions just too hot for cool season tees(mixtures of poa, bent, rye and bluegrass) are just some of the issues we are facing. Removal of a few trees, raising the teeing level and or modifying locations of these tees would be something that should take place in the near future. Less water, no regular fungicide applications and great summer conditions are more the reason to remove these type of tees from the property. We have enough space for the zoysia to survive the amount of play that we have on a yearly basis. The first 20-30' of this tee is beautiful zoysia because it received enough sunlight to adequately grow a warm season grass.

Our cool season fescue green surrounds are holding their own right now. They are stressed but doing okay.

The back of 10 green surround is a great example of how our fescue program is working. You can see the line between the good fescue turf on the left side and the junk poa, bluegrass turf on the right. This will be replaced in the future to improve the overall look and playability of this area.