No, we aren't talking Britney Spears here ladies and gentlemen, we are talking about millions of holes in our golf greens at Glen Echo CC for a second time in 7 days!!
We completed our Dry-Ject contracted service on March 23rd and we spent parts of 4 days this week doing our Verti-drain Deep-tined Aeration. Our process includes the following:
Burying each green with about a ton of sand
Then using our Verti-drain deep-tined aerator with 1/2" tines going about 8" deep into our green profile
We then blow the sand into the holes
Brush the green with a drag brush behind a cart
And Roll the greens
This work assists our .125" tall bentgrass (30 pieces of copy paper tall) in a number of ways:
Deep channels assists water to move through the green profile.
It creates channels for new roots to form and grow.
Oxygen moves into the subsurface assisting root growth and soil microbiology
Reduces excessive thatch which can make a green spongy and be susceptible to foot traffic during wet conditions
The additional sand assists in protecting crowns which is the growth center of the plants where roots grow down and leaf shoots grow up. The sand also assists in filling blemishes, ball mark holes and improves ball roll out
Tom blowing sand in holes. We also use backpack blowers in tight areas.
Pretty much the finished product. We've brushed and rolled the greens a couple more times this week which assists in spreading the heavier pockets of sand around the green surface. We expect the greens to be completely healed over the next 10-14 days. Work took about 150 man hours to complete.
Tree Management Plan includes removing dead and or dying trees throughout the season. It also includes a few planted when needed. Staff installed 3 trees on the right side of #9 red tee toward the fence line on 9. These trees were grown in our nursery over the last few years and we then transplanted them. From left to right, Black Gum, European Hornbeam and Yellowwood to replace the Carrico tree which died over the winter.
Skip mowing fairways for the first time. Not a real tight mow and used an old set of reals since there is so much small debris on the fairways. We blew and hand picked up as much as we could. This got a little bit of the winter fluff off of them.
This past Monday and half of Tuesday, the staff did our every Fall deep-tine aeration with our
Verti-Drain machine. This process involved about 170 hours of labor, 42 tons of sand, 900 pounds of a soil amendment product, and approximately 1.6 million 1/2" solid tine holes put in our greens, collars and cool season approaches at an average depth of 7.5 to 8.0".
Our process included the following:
Mow the greens
Placed a layer of sand ahead of the aeration
Aerated the greens
Applied a 50# bag of the soil amendment material to each green.
Blew, brushed and pushed the sand into the holes and did a final smoothing of the sandy surface with a drag brush.
Rolled the green surfaces to smooth the surfaces
Changed the holes
Mowed green surfaces with an old set of reels to cut off the tufts of bent grass or longer leaves of plants that were lifted up during the process.
Watered greens a couple of minutes
Aeration of our greens are one of the most important cultural practices that take place on our golf course for the year. We complete this process for a number of reasons:
Improves drainage through our green profiles and assists in drying out wetter sections of greens.
Exchanges good gas(oxygen) with an overabundance of bad gas(carbon dioxide).
Improves drainage and oxygen which is great for developing new roots and improving existing root systems.
Additional sand on the surfaces assists in smoothing the surface after the holes close back together and protects the crowns of the plant which is where roots and leaves start their lives.
It also helps to dilute thatch or improve the mat layer which reduces the effects of ball marks and speeds up the process of healing as long as the mark is repaired by the golfer.
Topdressing machine puts a layer of sand on the greens at about a depth of 1/4" more or less. This is the same machine that we place a very light topdressing layer on our greens during the season. Approximately 3 hoppers of sand for the total golf course. It takes almost 2 loads of sand per the average sized green during aeration. A green such as 1 green we go across it 3 times for very light topdressing. During aeration, its about 10 passes which could increase tire tracking on the greens which we attempt to prevent.
The sand is kiln dried and reaches a temperature of well over 1000 degrees which dries it and kills the weeds and the bad actors in the sand. We brought our 45 tons of sand in on Thursday before the Monday activity so it would have a chance to begin to cool before placing it on the greens. Sand too hot being put on at the heavier rate could literally cook the bent grass.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYLffGwfH8c
We started the process before first light on Monday morning. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XkX8SxCReTs
A daylight view of the aeration. As you can see, 4 tines per holder with 6 arms placing 24 holes in our greens every 3" at a depth on average of nearly 8".
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Rezk8nRBTM
Tom spreading soil amendment product which includes: Dry kelp meal, greensand, compost, rock phosphate, sulfate of potash magnesia, calcium carbonate, humic acid, zeolite, and compost.
Pull behind blower and staff using back packs during sand into the hole.
Dark thirty the 2nd day.
Hole filled vs no fill.
Completed, holes to the top!!
1.Below are pics of the end results.You can see the channels down into this 7" section of the practice green. The topdressing/sand layer has been applied to the greens for the last 30 to 40 years. At the last 2 inches is the soil layer which is being incorporated with aerating/topdressing sand over the years to allow moisture to drain out of the system.
2. Our overall roots grow in the top 3-4" of our profile but we have longer roots growing through aeration holes deeper in the profile up to 7" or more as you can see below.
3. A large aeration hole from our Dry-Ject process that takes place each late winter/early spring up to 4" to 5" deep.
4. After the rains overnight and into this morning, water at the bottom of the 7" deep hole where I pulled a hole. This moisture works through the 5-6" deep sand layer of the green and then enters through the 2" soil layer more quickly because of the deep-tine aeration holes. It will move directly through the soil and a much slower pace because of the tight soil particles.
5. Below is a standard drainage system in most modern greens. We have one green that has drainage set up this way, green 9 renovated in the late 80's. This system is designed so water will drain through the 12" sand layer represented by the dark section on top. The water will slowly build up in the bottom 3rd but will slow at the next layer which is gravel which creates a perched water table. The construction of this type of system in golf greens is to allow roots the opportunity to take up moisture into the bent grass plant as the water passes through the sand. Once the water pressure increases enough at the bottom of the interface between the sand layer and gravel, it then releases into the gravel layer. Too much moisture for too long of a period of time in the root zone will deprive the plant of oxygen which is needed for the plant to survive.
This is once of the issues we have with our greens at Glen Echo which do not have standard drainage systems. A higher than normal period of moisture can lead to negative results both on the putting surface and below surface in our root systems.
Once the water begins to drain through the gravel system it will then enter the small holes in the drain pipe and will exit from the green area.
I apologize for little activity on the blog lately. Time to catch up. Course has held up well this fall. A little bit of rain has been helpful for the seed that was drilled in during late September and early October.
Frost is predicted over the next couple of days. What does that mean? Course will remain closed until frost has lifted from playing areas. We of course are most concerned about greens so this means the practice green and practice facilities are closed until frost has lifted off of those surfaces. What can frost do? Watch the following video from the USGA, they explain it perfectly. The frost delays are normally shorter in length this time of year since the ground temperatures are still elevated. As temperatures cool, the delays increase in length. Factors that affect delays include cloud cover and wind speed as the sun comes up. Remember, the last thing we want is to delay golfers from getting out on the course but our goal is not do damage to the turf that could create issues going into winter or coming out of winter into spring.
Fall aeration is planned on Monday 10/30 with probably 12-14 greens getting completed we hope. We will get the others completed over the next couple of days trying to finish before early bird players catch up to us. We intend to do a deep solid tine aeration, about 8-9" deep. We will fill the holes with sand which will assist the holes in healing and will improve ball roll out. Greens should be pretty good to go as the week goes by. In the video it illustrates coring, pulling a core out of the green about 2-3" deep. Our process will not involve pulling out a core but placing a deep 1/2" tine into the green about 8". These deep holes penetrate into our soil layer which is about 5" below the surface of the greens and assists with root growth and moisture penetration. I'll explain more next week after our process is completed.
Staff has been busy removing part of the ornamental planting along the east side of 9 lake over the last few weeks. With the addition of plantings around the clubhouse and pro shop, our horticulturist Becky has just too much for one person to manage. This bed was going to need a complete overhaul but I thought the best way to handle it was to put it back to turf grass. We had a difficult time making the steep sloped bank look good in the first place. I think next season along the turf to grow a bit along the steep side of the bank will look pretty good in place of an out of control planting bed.
Lake bank sodded and seeded along 9. Saved some money and decided to seed the top part. Area next to it is bermuda and will over run the seeded area next summer. Why waste money on something that won't be there for long.
This is our practice green collar that was sprayed with a product called Pylex used at a rate of 1/2 oz per acre. We've made another application since this photo and hopefully will remove some of this pesky grass out of our collars.
Picture above is a fairy ring on #10 fairway. We've had these from time to time on our fairways but not to the size and killing rings that we have been experiencing in the last year or so. We are looking at a couple of different potential treatments next season. First is possibly changing to an organic fertilizer which reduces thatch and improves the microbial population that are antagonistic to the fairy ring organism. 2nd would be a fungicide application. I like improving soil health through the organic fertilizer option.
We've had a little bit of Large Patch on Zoysia break out a couple of weeks ago. Largest spots were up toward 13 green. We did some spot spraying with a fungicide to help knock it down. The worst time of the year is spring for this disease. The spot spraying this fall will help reduce some of the activity next spring but we will still spray some of our areas where the disease occurs on a yearly basis. The organic fertilizer option could help to alleviate this disease but it takes a couple of years to throw the soil microbe population to the good guy side. Organic does cost more but in the end does it really when you have to keep spraying fungicides on a regular basis?
MSD is doing some storm drainage work in the subdivision next to us in Glen Echo Park to reduce storm water getting into the sanitary sewer line that runs through our course along the lake system. The excessive loading of the sanitary sewer creates issues along Wilson Street in U-City which has been on the news many times in the past from flooding. Part of the work will be some repairs and storm drainage being improved between the property line fence on 9 and the lake. This work will start in the beginning of winter and will be completed before the golf season next spring. Outside contractors through MSD will be completing the work. Some large storm water lines will be installed into our property and a open grass basin will lead water into another pipe that will go into our 9 lake. Our staff will be removing irrigation lines that will have to be dug up and replaced once the project is completed. The club has been reimbursed for work our staff will have to do for this project.
After a slow start on Monday with aeration, the staff slammed the rest out on Tuesday. Greens were not under regulation since we were a week late and the heavy rains Wednesday night have led to great recovery. Should be back to regular mowing in the next couple of days.
We've had very light frost on a few occasions in tall grass(out of the way areas) but our first real frost of the season is predicted for Friday night and Saturday night. Tee times are set back for the rest of the winter until 9AM just for this purpose. Please keep in mind the practice green is off limits until the staff gives the okay to proceed. It does have a tendency to clear a few minutes before #1
https://youtu.be/zkoWWrHzuAg
WEATHER STATS Temperature
Observed Normal Depart from Norm Last Year High 75.3 68.5 6.8 70.9 Low 55.8 49 6.8 51.3 Avg 65.5 58.7 6.8 61.1
Rainfall 3.15" 3.33" -.18" .98"
TIED FOR 22 ALL TIME OF TEMPERATURES OVER 90 DEGREES
9TH WARMEST SUMMER (JUNE/JULY/AUG) EVER 81.2
IRONICALLY, WARMEST EVER SUMMER ON RECORD WAS 82.7 IN 1901, THE YEAR GLEN ECHO CC OPENED.
Monthly Records
TIED 4TH WARMEST OCTOBER ON RECORD (65.5 DEGREES)
TIED 5TH MOST NUMBER OF DAYS WITH MAXIMUM TEMPERATURE 70 DEGREES OR
GREATER (24)
TIED 2ND MOST NUMBER OF DAYS WITH MINIMUM TEMPERATURE 70 DEGREES OR
GREATER (3)
TIED 4TH FEWEST DAYS WITH AT LEAST 0.01 INCHES OF RAINFALL (4)
...DAILY...
RECORD HIGH TEMPERATURE OF 91 DEGREES ON 10/17. THIS IS THE LATEST
OBSERVATION OF AT LEAST 91 DEGREES WITHIN A CALENDAR YEAR ON RECORD.
2 RECORD HIGH TEMPERATURES (10/17 AND 10/29)
3 RECORD HIGH MINIMUM TEMPERATURES (10/16, 10/17 AND 10/18)
Our fall greens aeration is our most concentrated project each season which requires using every staff member to complete this task. It is our most important project because it helps to improve the health of our greens more than anything else we do to them besides watering.
As mentioned in the past, deep-tine aeration provides the following benefits:
Drainage through and improves water's ability to penetrate into the profile both to get through it and into the areas where water is needed by the root system.
Gas exchange, oxygen into the soil and the release of harmful carbon dioxide which can build up in the soil.
Space for roots to grow, expand and improve.
Allows us to modify the sand profile with a coarse sand that provides improvement in all the areas listed above.
Improves the biological health, good microbes in the soil.
Thatch reduction by mixing sand with the thatch helping to dilute or break down the thatch.
Our process included:
Placing the sand on the greens. Approximately 1-2 tons per green based on their size.
Aerating punching about 110,000 holes 8" deep, 5/8" channel in each green.
Applying a soil amendment product to the green. Earthworks Renovate Plus
Blowing the sand in the holes
Brushing the sand in the holes and helping to spread the sand uniformly across the surface. .
Rolling to close over the holes and smooth the surface as best we can.
Changing the holes since they were damaged during the process.
We will need to brush the greens again to help work excess sand into the profile. We will roll regularly to help smooth the surfaces until we mow again which will be in a few days once the sand has settled.
With perfect drying conditions, we were able to complete all 19 greens on Monday. We will be rolling this week and brushing/mowing as well. Full report coming.
Bermuda eradication work is going well with our first spray that took place around July 23rd. Short video which stopped before I could complete my explanation(maybe my camera is telling me something). Larger Bermuda patches are pretty obvious from the red color that the Bermuda gives off as the chemical is taking effect. I was not trying to scare everyone off when I made the post regarding take your pictures now. I just knew that areas of the course would not look quite as green as they did but they still look pretty good when you see the effects the chemicals are making on the Bermuda. It will take more applications to get a pretty solid kill. The overwintering spray has a tendency to be the most effective.
I will make another application in the next couple of weeks and will complete the third application toward the end of September which will help us considerably for next season. Some of the Bermuda areas that are intermingled in the Zoysia are not as easy to locate but their are plenty of areas like this that we need to continue to hammer with these products to help push them out completely.
We do have some pretty serious issues with contamination in our intermediates in which some areas have little or no Zoysia. The left side of 10, right side of 5 and a few other areas where the Bermuda has moved from the rough into the fairway. This is coincidentally the areas which are sometimes shaded as well which discourages Zoysia and encourages Bermuda. Some of these areas will be treated with RoundUp and killed off completely and then sodded. I might do a couple of these just before dormancy this fall and then replace them in the spring with new sod. Looks like it is dead anyway when it goes into dormancy and will help us next spring get an early jump on sodding.
On Tuesday, E&E Enterprises whom we contract with to vent our greens with the Hydroject machines arrived on property and completed our 100K sq/ft of greens in about 4 hours. A very short video of a couple seconds posted below. Did not realize I had my camera set on time lapse at the time and they were gone when I decided to put the video on YouTube.
As usual, 4-5" in depth improving our greens in a number of ways with gas exchange, oxygen in, carbon dioxide that builds in soil out. Improved rooting with channels formed that are full of oxygen. We do not get a lot of new roots this time of year due to high soil temperatures, just checked this afternoon and at 2" of depth about 90 degrees. Also improves infiltration of water and drying of areas with excessive water.
Deep-tine aerated our Zoysia tees last week with an 1/2" tine to a depth of 4-5". As you know, we core aerated a couple of weeks ago so a 2nd aeration in less than a month. This should improve drainage on some tees which have large amounts of water running over them because they are at ground level and water drains across the tee. We hope to rebuild a number of these tees over the next few years to improve playability and turf quality.
Intend to get the rest of the bare spots in fairway areas covered with Zoysia in the next few days. We will also go after a few cool season rough spots near greens and bunkers with some fescue if we don't get too warm to start improving areas for the late summer and fall. I Intend to take our green height back to our normal height of cut for the weekend since our weather appears to be moderating. That will result in an actual height lowered by the thickness of 1 piece of standard copy paper.
Hope to see you out on the course over the next few weeks.
A couple of excellent pictures demonstrating why we aerate greens regularly. Some might think it's just to aggravate, hogwash. Gives us the chance to modify a very tight sand profile that was placed on greens for many years in St.Louis including by yours truly. Great for smooth rolling greens but not so much for draining excess moisture from green profiles because of the small particle size which slows water moving through.
Reduce compaction,Moisture movement, improved rooting and oxygen in the profile are our main goals with aeration.
New sand channel in 11 green looking down into the hole.
Sand channel on a new hole pulled from 11. Look at the beautiful white root which is at top of picture but of course toward the bottom in the green.
