We experienced our first frost of the season today and it was heavy enough to create a slight delay. Be aware that this will occur more frequently as evening temperatures dip into the 30's and soil temperatures begin to cool. Excellent article on Frost Delays from the USGA and a video below. I'll give the Glen Echo Grounds Department's view on frost in the next week or two with another blog post.
Not good when your first hole is at a low point on the course
#10 as well
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKR7z0fVeXs
We have a number of turf renovations projects completed and taking place as I type these words. Over the years we have been replacing the false front approaches on the greens that are bent grass. We replaced #12 last week. It will sit dormant over the winter and will begin to grow in during spring. We intend to replace a number of other approaches next spring including 7, 10, 13 and 15.
Guys finishing a corner of the intermediate near 12 green.
Single lap collar on #12. Saves club time in mowing, water since zoysia requires less water than bent grass and chemical applications.
Replacement of collar on practice green walk on.
Same area.
As most of you have seen and can see from the pictures above, the practice green walk on area is not in great shape. We tore it out this morning and began the process of restoring this area.
First thing we did was strip the existing sod to Doctor Ott's clock.
Next we rented a large walk behind tiller and tilled the area as deep as it would go, 6-8 inches.
Bought 2 yards of compost and tilled it in. Also added some bagged compost that we had stored.
The next thing we will do over the next few days is to get some small irrigation heads installed that will only apply water to this area.
Once that is completed we will purchase some new fescue sod and let it rest over winter
We will install some human traffic control measures to spread the wear and tear. Provide proper cultural practices including multiple aeration over the season. Fertilizer and chemical controls will also be need to improve the overall health of this area as well.Pictures and video discussion of the work we are doing at this site.
Working in the darkness of morning. Frost on the turf so we had this work to do.
This is after sod was stripped. We do have mats for you to walk across the dirt area. After tilling below, the dirt is very soft and we don't want you tracking the dirt on your greens and into the pro shop.
9 hp tiller I used to till up the pretty severely compacted soil and till in the compost.
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)
Everyone wonders why we have frost delays. I have a good example of why we must stay off turf during frost. I believe these steps across 5 green were made by someone cutting through the property a couple of months ago. The steps go across the green but do not come back and I have not seen them on any other green. The turf was dormant when it happened but the marks are still visible. It will probably take at least a couple more weeks for the footsteps to disappear. Imagine if a person was walking on the green back and forth during putting.
The footstep trail goes to the right of the flag all the way across the green.
Close up view of the turf. You see very little green in the area of the print. Look at the green plants in the surrounding area starting to poke there head out and see what is happening.
As I mentioned in my post earlier in the week, I would expect frost delays the next 3 days which includes Fri-Sun. We were delayed until 8:30 this morning. I think you could expect Saturday's delay to be well past 9 a.m. with the late sunrise and with temperatures falling into the upper 20's. I would check with the pro shop on an approximate start time. They are predicting some wind overnight Friday but I don't think that will save us with the temperatures predicted to be well below 32.
We brushed the greens again to work the sand around a little bit more and rolled them. The greens are a little less smooth but we went a couple inches deeper than I normally have been going to give us greater benefit in the long run. Changing the depth every so often will prevent a compaction layer from forming from the aeration program. I'm delaying mowing because we left a little more sand on the surface to protect the crowns of the plants during recovery and help smooth them from play over the last few months. I would expect that we will put a first mow on them after the weekend cold temperatures.
Next week appears to be in the 60's & 40's so I would expect the greens to improve considerably over the next 7-10 days and we should be back to regular mowing late next week. As November days continue to pass, we will reduce our mowing schedule and alternate mowing and rolling to begin to allow the turf to slow its growth and harden off toward the end of the month. An increase of height will also accompany this process to improve turf health going into winter. I will apply one more growth regulator that is detrimental to the poa annua and will encourage the bent to grow into the more dominant poa annua areas of turf.
Frost is predicted for this weekend around St. Louis so allow me a moment to explain the frost delay policy for our club. Frost is a nuisance this time of year. The last thing we want to do is delay our work schedule so we can be here longer and make our members stand around the pro shop waiting to go out to enjoy their day. The delay occurs because the millions of grass plants can be damaged if stepped or driven upon until the frost has melted. The plants energy is then used to repair the plant instead of being used to strengthen it for winter and next spring.
Frost this time of year usually can delay play until 8:30-9 a.m. This includes the practice green as well. The frost this time of year usually only covers the outer leaf of the plant. As temperatures fall well below freezing, plants can freeze completely. Delays can be up to 10-11 a.m. in this case. We open the course once the plant is pliable and cannot be damaged. Not many members come out in the winter during cold days but some do make an attempt to beat the ball around. On some of the colder days, the plants never thaw and the course is kept closed.
If you see that temperatures are predicted to be in the 30's in the morning, you can almost be assured there will be a delay unless we have wind or cloud cover which reduces the potential of frost. We will try to give the pro shop an estimate on the delay so they can assist you in planning the start of your round. I will also post it on twitter. If you don't follow me on twitter, you can check on the side of my blog for my twitter feed which will contact course opening announcements.
A great video below from the USGA regarding frost and golf. I cannot say it any better!
Also, the link for those of you whose email does not show the embedded video.
As mentioned in a email blast last Friday, frost delays are upon us. Something none of us like to experience but a necessary requirement to protect our turf from damage. Delays occur because of the frozen dew that attaches itself onto the plants.
We ask that all golfers do not begin their rounds until after the designated tee times for this time of year. These times are put in place to protect your facility and create as little inconvenience for our membership as possible. It is important for all golfers to check with the pro shop for the okay to use the ranges and or putting green before starting their day at the club. Normally the putting green is one of the first surfaces to clear being at a higher elevation and near the parking lot which holds extra heat. Guidelines for you to follow are when predicted temperatures are to be around 40 degrees or below, the chances for frost to occur are pretty good. Especially since our first hole is one of the lower lying areas of the property. We will try to give the pro shop an estimate on the frost delay if at all possible so if you look outside your window at home and see frost, more than likely there will be some type of delay.
Below is a great video from the USGA regarding frost delays and the importance of staying off of the turf areas until the frost lifts.
Yes, I do know how to count but my count on the days working the project was duplicated from Tuesday and Wednesday. Sorry about that, I made the correction.
We have been receiving frost on 3 of the last 6 days. Monday's frost covered most surfaces except the greens. I believe our temperature on property was 33 degrees.
Keep in mind that frost delays are put in place to protect the turf from foot and cart traffic damage. Below is a video from the USGA which I have used before discussing the problem with frost and golf and or maintenance on frosty surfaces. I will discuss this issue in more detail on the next rain days from our bunker project.
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.
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.
Well, its getting that time of year where we need to have a discussion regarding frost, the delays that can be incurred and why we don't allow golf to be played on frosty turf surfaces.
The last thing we want to do is to delay your enjoyment on the golf course but sometimes mother nature requires us to be patient and wait a few minutes because of frost. We have faced a few days of frost over the last several weeks but it has only been present on the rough grass and has melted away before any players were attempting to start their rounds. Frost early in the season might only require a few minutes delay but as the temperatures become increasingly colder, the restrictions could last an hour or two.
Any delay will include the practice green as well so no practice putting until the restrictions have been lifted on the putting green. There are occasions where #1 is still frost covered and the PG area has cleared off.
The USGA has a great animated explanation of frost delays in the link below.
The last couple of days we've experienced some light frost in the rough. The frost was not heavy enough to cause a delay but is a gentle reminder that colder morning temperatures could begin to affect start times in the next few weeks for our early playing members. The average frost date in our area usually occurs around October 7-10 so we are not too early with the first frost. The first killing frost(when temperatures go below 32 degrees) for St. Louis is around November 1st. The earliest killing frost on record was September 28, 1942 and the latest occurred last year on November 27th. Since temperatures are going to moderate over the next 7-10 days, I will wait for a couple of weeks to discuss frost delays and why we have them.
In the meantime, enjoy the great weather we are going to experience over the next few days. Greens are fast and getting faster with our 3rd week of verticutting, sanding, brushing and mowing. Additional growth regulators have been applied to reduce overall growth and to begin to slow poa annua.
Frost on the rough near the Sassafras tree and #2 tee on Monday
