Part Deux, Puffy, and Overlayed

 As meteorological summer began in June, we thought we were in for a hot and dry summer. The end of June and into July brought copious amounts of rain.(As wise men once said it never rains in July). Along with the rain storms came tremendous damage to THEM things which created some issues for our staff but they stepped up and handled the situation as best could be expected.(As seen on Social Media I will not use the word Trees as I now refer to them as THEM. Its a coping mechanism so work with me here)

Well, Part Deux happened again last week but luckily to a smaller extent.We struggled a bit through some horrific weather last week but have made it through to the other end. We hope to have the rest of our mess cleaned up for the holiday weekend including getting some support posts put back up on the tennis courts to stop any further damage. The new wind screens are being removed for the season to reduce any further damage to the existing structure until we get it shored up and strengthened for next year.

 1 green after tree fell on irrigation system causing 2 heads to come on. I came back to turn off irrigation not knowing this had occurred. Happy I came back.

 Over the last few weeks, our greens have struggled from soft and puffy conditions. Temperatures have averaged more than 3 degrees above normal including that all important night lows which has not allowed recovery time of our turf. Consistent and regular rainfall on our greens which do not have drainage has led to soft surfaces and fat/lazy grass plants who do not like to give up additional ball roll out. We have been forced to not mow greens on a number of days because of the rain or damage which has occurred on the course. We have also had issues with scalping out in the middle of greens and over the top of our hole locations. We use a plate that we stand on which reduces the heaving of the greens as we pull out the 8" plug from the green but we continue to have issues. Also, with an inch or two of soil at the bottom of our hole this creates great suction when the greens are wet. We attempt to reduce this suction using various techniques but sometimes to no avail.

                              This has been experienced many times this summer at Glen Echo
 

 Heat and moisture leads to high microbial activity in our sub surface's and the release of additional nutrients for plants. We attempt to control this growth by the use of regulators but that has been very difficult for us to accomplish over the last few weeks. High heat shortens the window of the chemical's useful life and then chaos hits the course either in 1-2" rainfall and or high wind conditions and we've missed some of our windows for spraying. One of the chemicals is a product which has to dry on the greens and the other must be watered in which also creates its own set of issues. When you are already wet do you add more moisture and possibly make your greens sick just to control growth. Sometimes you just have to do nothing until the environmental conditions change. We anticipate with cooler weather the next 7 days to get back on track with sand topdressing, brushing mowing and rolling. 

 

We are looking forward to more of this!

  We had hoped to have some cart paths back filled with soil and sod added in the worst areas between 1 tee and 4 but have not been able to accomplish this to date. We hope to begin this process as time allows. To a man and women, we are much appreciate of the effort to clean up our cart paths. You can do all you can to have great turf but having your equipment banged around with heights of cut set at thousandths of an inch can lead to issues on our best surfaces. I see staff members driving down the middle of a fairway to avoid the rough nature of our paths. Some have mentioned, why not concrete? Well, if we had a choice of course we would go with concrete but the cost is astronomical in comparison. Our local superintendent has a text thread where we throw out questions or look for guidance. Been told by a reliable source that has been doing concrete over the years that replacement of asphalt and going to concrete would be easily into 7 figures. I would like to have the most modern bent grass on our greens and complete drainage in each green but it can't happen right now. 

                                                                 The old and the updated!

From November through March, we have a tendency to have some large equipment on our paths.Our dump truck is 7'10" wide. An 8' cart path leaves you no room for error. An 8'4" cart path basically the same but does give you just a little wiggle room. Our backhoe is over 7' wide and our lift is nearly 8' wide and heavy. We work in the winter during freeze and thaw conditions which is the norm around St. Louis since we don't stay nearly as cold. As we are driving on our existing roadways you literally see them flex up and down.creating more path repair work the next season. Kind of makes you sick to your stomach knowing to accomplish your work you have to tear up something and create more work. Over laying these paths will help to strengthen our existing surfaces and allow us the time to continue to improve our facilities to the best we can make them.

We of course focus our efforts on our daily work but our biggest event of the season if coming up rather quickly. The Invitational 2021 opening round is about 403 hours away. I anticipate you will see some ever changing conditions over the next 16 odd days. I hope you have pleasant day.

 

Hazelwood Tornado/Course Conditions

Hasekamp twin's home was hit last night by the tornado in Hazelwood/Florissant.  Jeff and Joe work on our seasonal crew.  Uprooted a large tree and lifted it on the house and into their parent's bedroom via through the roof.    Everyone was heading downstairs when the storm hit and is okay.  

Course had no issues that we can see in our initial assessment.  Just a few small twigs and limbs down.  Staff will be blowing junk off greens, tees, and out of bunkers with just some minor hand pushing of sand along the edges.

Hasekamp home with large tree lifted into the bedroom.

A slight bit of washing off the face of the left bunker on #4.  Fairly easy to repair compared to bunkers full of water and bunkers being almost unplayable for 3-4 days.

Course update

We still have snow covering many areas of the golf course.  Some greens are beginning to clear but most have snow on them and are completely saturated.  The practice green still has a little snow on it but is still saturated with moisture.  The driving ranges are clearing but the hitting stations still have snow on them as well as the walks ups leading to the area.

We will probably have good melting over the next day or two but I do not know if it will be enough to get the facility open by Saturday.  Sorry for the inconvenience this is creating for you.

The view back through #5 tee, #7 into #10.

The view across #10, 16, 15 and beyond.

Isaac and bunkers

Hurricane Isaac left his mark on Glen Echo.  3.09" of rain came for the most part between 10 a.m. Friday and 5 p.m. on Saturday with 1.25" occurring in a cloudburst around 6:30 p.m on Friday evening.  Lakes have filled twice in a week which is good for the water bill.  Looks like the 30 day period between August 13 and September 13 will be at or very near normal which is a good for all of us.

Isaac filled bunker on Saturday morning.

We are less than 14 days from the beginning of our bunker renovation project.  Nervous anticipation is beginning to make its way into my system.  Confidence is high for a successful project but there is always some anxiety leading up to the start.  After a couple of weekends of pumping bunkers, I know the staff and I are really excited about getting this project started!        

Storm Cleanup

The staff will spent most of the day today putting the course back in order after Saturday night's storm.  The blowers are out windrowing the leaves for the vacuum sweeper to pick them up.  Bunkers are having to be blown out and the sides pushed up as usual during heavy rain events.  Even though the construction work will be difficult, it will be GREAT to have new bunkers this fall so we can spend time on other areas of the course! 

Blowing twigs and leaves from bunkers.  The faces all must be pushed up with the bunker rake and then hand raked smooth for play.

Tom operating the leaf vacuum.  The area to the right was swept clean.  Time for the mower to get out there before the next rain comes in.

Storm update

The rolling of the greens helped smooth out most of the damage we experienced from last night's storm.  There are a few spots that left a smaller ball mark but overall we escaped a bullet from what I saw on the news last night.  Hail that can break through sky lights and car windows would have severely damaged our greens.  I think we will see some slight browning from the tips being damaged from the mark but no worse than normal ball marks.  After a few days of mowing and growing, the marks should go away.  We might have to spend some time repairing a few of the larger marks over the next couple of days.

The leaves had to have been raining down like confetti all over the golf course during the storm.  Should create no problems for the trees.  Most of them were fully leafed out so they should recover without any issues.  Very little damage from high wind.  Just a limb here and there.  Hopefully the rain will stay away long enough for us to  get the fairways blown off and some windrows leaves that were knocked off the trees.  We will mulch them with mowers as well as pick them up with our leaf vacuum.

Another 1.81" of rain from yesterday's three separate rain events.  Bunkers area a disaster again but were all pumped out today by about 1:30 p.m. for those adventuring out on the course.  #14 bunkers look great.  Just a very slight bit of erosion on the top side of the bunkers but overall in good shape.

You can see some of the marks on green #3 before they were rolled.  For the most part, the rolling smoothed over most of the damage from the hail.

Looking back toward #18 tee. Just a sample of some of the our leaf issues.  If you have trees in your yard and experienced some of the hail, you can look out onto your yard and imagine how many leaves were knocked off of the 1,000 or so trees we have between the fences on the property.  

Storm Clean up update

The crew worked yesterday morning to remove and grind the tops off of the two large trees that blew over on #9 lake dam.  We still have to cut up the main part of the trunks but waiting for it to dry for another day so we can use the loader to haul  them out.  Once those duties were completed, two carts hauled in branches all day that were all over the golf course.  We began blowing off fairways yesterday morning of twigs and leaves and then started mowing yesterday afternoon.  Baled(mowed) the rest of the fairways this morning and will be cutting them again once the blower has blown off the excess clippings that accumulated after not being able to mow for 5 days.  Began pushing bunkers yesterday, completing the task today and they will be raked.  Rough mower, tee mower, intermediate mowers are all out today attempting to catch up from the mowing that we were not able to do on Monday and yesterday.

Stump grinder was here for a few hours and ground out a few stumps we needed removed. Material will be hauled away and sod replaced where needed.

The staff working on cutting the top off of the second tree yesterday morning.

View of the first tree after it was topped.

Course clean up near completion

The staff worked most the day yesterday cleaning  up the golf course after another wind event blew through Monday afternoon.  Backpack blowers were used to blow off greens and bunkers.  Fairways were blown off with our large blower.  Pile after pile of limbs were picked up on the course of all sizes.  The guys made a great deal of progress of cutting up and removing the 3-4 trees that came down.  The rest are being worked on as I type this message.  Still some limbs that have to be picked as well in various places but we should be in fine shape for the rest of the week and holiday weekend.

Jeff, Russ, Jason and Demarcus chipping brush from #4.  Skip and Tom not pictured were involved as well.  Nick pick up limbs all day and Tom M. blew away the material from the fairways.

A majority of the tree that fell from the creek into the golf course was cut up yesterday, chipped and hauled away.  The remaining logs are waiting for the staff this morning after our first morning jobs were completed.  The chipper is in the background near #1 green preparing to chip the Silver Maple that fell through the fence line as well.

Storm Damage/Straight Line Winds

The course experienced a fairly substantial wind event today around 12:30 p.m.  We've lost at least 4 trees in which 3 are in main play areas.  Large limbs fell out of a couple of other trees which need to be evaluated for potential removal.  Debris and limbs are down on every hole.  The course will be closed on Tuesday until about 12:00 noon to allow our staff time to get the playing surfaces in reasonably good shape and to begin the removal of some of the downed trees.   

Little Leaf Linden behind 16 green along the road.  Ironically, I had a tree service injecting insecticide into this tree just a couple of hours before the storm.  Our tree service person suspected that the tree would be falling due to root girdling.  His premonition was correct.

A large oak that fell across the fence line onto # 1 underneath the large white oak on the right side of the hole.

Large part of a silver maple which fell on the right side of #1 before the green.

Almost 1/2 of a large pin oak on the left side of #4 that fell across the path into the fairway.  This beautiful oak tree will need to be removed due to this large section falling off of the tree.

Storm damage Part Deux

 My brother Ed who is superintendent at Franklin County Country Club in Washington sent me some pictures regarding his straight line wind damage from the other night.  We ended up lucky in comparison to his problems.  Over 40 trees down.  Here are a couple of pictures.

Storm Damage

No major damage from the early morning storm that passed through the area but there were a couple of mid-sized trees that that were damaged.




The view from the 11th cart path looking over toward #4.  There was another small Ash on the right of #12 that was blown over as well.

There is a Spruce on the left of the path along #2 that had two central leaders.  The top of one of these forks

was snapped off.  The tree should be ok for now. 

Storm Damage(Saturday night)

Sorry for the delay in posting this blog regarding the storm damage we experienced Saturday night at the course but things have been a little busy cleaning up the mess.  There have been stronger storms to run through our area but when I arrived at the club Sunday morning preparing to shape up the course for member play, I realized very quickly we had a pretty significant clean up task ahead.  The staff went about trying to get the course set up for member play.  Junk had to blow from every green and tee, holes were changed and greens were mowed.  I began preparing saws which would help us begin the clean up.  Once the guys got the initial jobs completed, it was time to tackle our biggest obstacle.  The large oak at the top of the hill on the right side of #3 green had snapped off at about 25' in the air landing on the path and stretched out almost to the fairway.  Once the oak was sufficiently cleared away from the area, the fairways had dried enough from the rainfall to begin blowing off the debris that were strewn across the fairways and into the rough where the small material would be ground up by the rough mowers.  The rest of the brush and sticks would have to be picked up by the staff over the next few days.  

Another large oak next to the property line near #12/4 teeing area lost a significant side which fell onto the fence and into the cemetery.  A large oak in the club lawn snapped at the base and a few other small trees were toppled over on property.  Trees limbs of all shapes and sizes littered the roughs.  Along with the clean up came more rain which has now pushed us to 5.18" of rain since July 18th which has placed us behind in our mowing and other work on the course but with a few dry days we should hopefully begin to catch up a little.  This rain also has come at a time when some pretty intense heat and humidity continues to place some severe stress on our greens.    

It appears that almost the complete top half of the tree fell to the ground.  The tree is lying across the cart path and almost reached the fairway.

Russ sawing and Tom L. pulling branches to the chipper.  It was like a jungle going into the tree.  The braches were heavily covered in leaves which were wet from the evening before's rainfall.   You knew you were going to get wet from sweat anyway so you just had to dive in and get it over with.

Tom M. doing the chipping of the ash tree just below the oak which a large limb ripped off.  We pushed the pile of logs over to the side so the cart path was cleared and the boys could go home for the day.  This was at 2:00 p.m. on Sunday.  We also wanted to get out of the way of our members and guests who had to listen to our chipping and grinding all morning long.

This is the large oak at the corner of #12 tee that sits on the property line between our course and the cemetery. It is a large stately oak that had a pretty significant portion of one side of the tree blown off

This side limb of the tree is about 2 feet in diameter.  A pretty massive limb.

A majority of the damage has been picked up except for the tree along the cemetery. 

We've chipped at least 4 dump truck loads of debris from this storm which will be utilized on the course next season. 

Course Conditions

As we go through some winter thawing, I wanted to update those of you who are anxious to get back out onto the golf course with some pictures to show you the current status of the golf course. We have had some nice melting of the snow over the last few days but still have 6-8 greens with some level of snow still on them. To compound our issues, the greens are completely frozen with just a very thin layer on top beginning to thaw. With the greens being frozen, there is no where for the moisture to go but remain on or just below the surface or slowly roll off of the green. As the temperatures continue to stay moderate, thawing will continue but is slowed when there is no sunshine to help warm the surface of the green. Rain does help to thaw the turf a little quicker and has a tendency to make the surface a bit more firm. Right now, all of our turf areas are very sloppy and unplayable; tees, fairway, rough and greens.

I expect that the course will not be opening this weekend Jan 16-17 and will stay closed through the next week until our greens begin to drain the water away from the surface. We will monitor the conditions on a daily basis and will keep the pro shop informed when we might potentially open.

4th fairway and the front part of the green with snow.

The 3rd green with snow cover and in the foreground you can see the water sitting on the green surface with no where for it to go except to drain off of the front of the green.

11 green with snow and water on at least 1/3 to 1/2 of the green surface.

Here you can see water coming up around my boot as I push down on the surface. Where the greens are thawing, they are like a sponge completely filled with water.

13 green with snow and water on the surface

10 green complex with more snow and ice on its surface.

I have posted a section of Ty McCllellan's USGA regional agronomist report below which discusses thawing and frozen conditions of greens. The second article is from Ohio State University discussing the different turf conditions we face throughout the winter season and the impacts that winter play has on our greens.

By Ty McClellan, Agronomist, Mid-Continent Region January 7, 2010
Oftentimes, golfers think winter is vacation time for the golf course maintenance staff, and they fail to realize the number of jobs on the golf course that are carried out through the winter. We are all familiar with the more common tree pruning and drainage work, but there are other key items to consider.
Winter Traffic Management
We have witnessed significant winter freezing this year and our winter is just beginning! Traffic management is critical on all grasses, but many golfers think that the dormant bermudagrass is dead and traffic will not hurt it. Superintendents recognize the potential pitfalls, but golfers need to as well, so education is critical! The freeze line in the soil profile can create a shearing of roots or rhizomes if the turf is thawed at the surface, but still frozen just below. This must be closely monitored, on a daily basis, when extreme winter conditions persist.(OUR CURRENT GREEN TURF CONDITION)

Looking Ahead: Winter Golf Play a Difficult Decision
Nov 24, 2007

Opening the golf course for winter play is one of the more difficult decisions a golf course superintendent or owner will make. Many golf courses just close for the winter while others remain open. In these situations, there is little worry since the decision has already been made. However, if you are caught somewhere in the middle, winter play decisions are difficult and often times result in political consequences. Whether to allow play or not are often late winter/early spring decisions. However, with the relative mild winter this year these winter play decisions are being made now.
In general winter play is not good for turf, especially golf greens because of little if any turfgrass growth. The repercussion from no growth is little if any recovery from traffic or wear (especially on greens). Also, divots, ball marks and generally tearing up the turf become potential"beachheads" for the development of winter weeds like annual bluegrass (Poa annua).
I have ranked the various situations from least to worst for winter play. I would say that any play on frozen turf (leaf blades, plants) should be avoided. Immediate damage will occur to the plant similar to playing on a frosted turf. In addition, golf greens will be subject to the most intensive traffic so use temporary greens where possible.
Possible scenarios:
1) Play on dry unfrozen soil - Although wear injury is always a potential problem this is situation will result in the least damage.
2)Play on frozen soil - Most likely will result in wear injury to the turf but little soil compaction. This condition is not occurring. Some thawing at the surface layer is occurring.
3)Play on wet, unfrozen soil - The potential damage under his scenario is significant soil compaction can occur but less wear injury.
4)PLAY ON A THAWING SOIL (UNFROZEN (WET) ON THE SURFACE, FROZEN BELOW) - This situation can result in both wear injury and soil compaction. This type of situation should be avoided. (OUR CURRENT GREEN TURF CONDITION)
The problems associated with winter play will affect spring play. Once the spring season begins the condition of the course (hard, worn, etc.) will not be at the level of golfer expectation.

Posted by Karl Danneberger

Updated storm information

I was preparing to walk out of the shop this morning to check on our greens when I heard a yell and a loud crash. I had no idea what I was going to find when I went around the corner. One of our old native oaks came crashing down the hill hitting across part of our dump truck and slightly grazing the side mirror of an employees car. No one injured thankfully. The tree basically uprooted out of the ground from the wet conditions.
The tree resting on part of the dump truck.














The uprooted base of the tree. Note the lack of rooting for a tree that has a circumference of 7' and is about 2.5 feet in diameter.












Here is the real problem for this tree. Over 1/3 of the base was dead and decaying leading to less overall rooting holding the tree in place. Over the next few years, we will probably be making some tough decisions regarding weakened and or damaged trees that are potentially unsafe like this tree. Basidiocarps are mushroom type growths that you see at the base of Oak trees that have Root and Butt Rot. I found a good article from North Carolina State regarding this type of disease. Most trees with this disease are older trees that are in decline.http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/pp/notes/Ornamental/odin30/od30.htm










Here is a view of the tree where it split open to show a cavity inside. Bees have taken up residence in the tree with their queen which might potentially create a problem when we try to remove the tree. Maybe they will move on their own or we can get a beekeeper to come by and move them for us.












12 fairway where we had just laid sod last week. Oh well, we found the sod down on 3 fairway at the beginning and will try to lay the sod again when it dries out.