The Recovery Process

In early March we rented a skid steer with a snow blower attachment to clear the snow from the greens.  The goal, as it is every year,  is to expose the ice on the greens but not expose the bare turf.  Usually the process take about two days as most of the greens only have ice in the low points.  This year was much different.  It took me close to six days to expose all the ice. Every single green had three to four inches of ice. Here's a link to a video I took during that process.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCGTFea0syk&feature=youtu.be

As you can see there was complete coverage of ice all the way around the green, which meant trouble.

Right around Christmas time there was period of three or four days where the snow melted and reduced down to puddles on any low lying areas on the course.  Because the ground was frozen the water remained at the surface it eventually formed thick layers of ice.  That followed by some rain events in early January and we end up in a situation of complete ice coverage.  The damage associated with ice is usually dependent on the duration of coverage, and from Christmas to April it was just too much for the turf.

April 12 2019, three green.

 The bleached areas are the places where the ice had sat and choked out the turf.

Little to no turf left in the ice damaged areas

 There damage was pretty wide spread, with only 18, 9, 10, the chipping green, 1 and 2 with minimal damage.  3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 13, 14 had sever damage and the rest moderate damage.  By mid April we were planning the recovery process.

The first step was to remove the rest of the ice, we did so with black sand.  It absorbed the heat from the sun and melted the ice with out damaging the turf. Once all the ice was gone we assessed the damage and planned out route for action.

The steps were as follows;

1. Aerate the greens with 1/4 inch solid tines to create holes for the seed to reside. We did this in four different directions on each green.
2. Apply the bent grass seed at 1.5 lbs per 1000 ft squared in two different directions for a total of three pounds.
3. Top dress the greens with Usga approved sand
4. Brush seed and sand into the holes created by the aeration
5. Roll the greens for good soil to seed contact.
6. Top dress with black sand to draw heat and increase temperatures.
7. Fertilize with liquid and granular fertilizer.
8. Cover the areas with breathable tarps that would passively magnify the suns heat and speed up germination.
9. Water two to three times a day for a short period.
10. Wait for mother nature to help out.

 Here's a link to a video of some of those things.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bw3SeJXcqhA&feature=youtu.be

By April 28 we had all of the problem areas seeded and were waiting to germination to happen.  Unfortunately, temperatures just weren't there.  The germination has been sporadic and thin.  While the tarps help elevate the day time temperature the nights are just too cold. The pictures below show some germination but not enough to back fill the voids.

We have made some progress, here's 14 green over the last two weeks

April 26, 2019. 14 Green, the first green we seeded.

May 3, 2019. 14 Green

May 17, 2016, 14 Green

 Mother Nature is simply not helping us out.  As of today we have put the tarps back on and they will remain there until Tuesday, although the forecast doesn't look great. I've taken some comparison photos to see the different and will share the results when the tarps are removed. Here are this weeks.

Number three. May 17 2019

Number 8. May 17, 2019

Number 16. May 17, 2019

Number 8. May 17, 2019

This has been a difficult spring for myself, the staff and our clients.  While we would like to have the course open as soon as possible, its clear that we still have some distance to go. To be responsible to the golfers and the course, its necessary to keep play off of the course to get some establishment in place prior to stressing the plants.  I will be updating this blog often so you can follow our progress, if you have any questions pleas feel free to comment, or contact me directly.  I will also post frequently on Twitter at @WestHillsSuper.  Stay Tuned!

Winter and Golf Course Conditions

 I think by now it has become painfully obvious to anyone is the East Coast that this past winter was long and difficult.    It developed early in October and really got going in November, a full six weeks longer than the average typical to the region.  Add to that the slow spring and the snow lingering to mid April and we had a full six months of winter.  The video below was taken early April from the left side of two fairway.  Even then the amount of ice concerned me.

Winters in general can create some challenges for golf course superintendents.  There are various forms of damage that can occur based on the environmental dynamics through the winter, although typically it manifests itself in three forms. 

During the winter the environmental conditions at ground level are conducive to fungal growth that thrives in wet and cold.  Pink snow mould will form with 2 months of snow coverage and Grey Snow mould with three months coverage.  If left untreated these two fungi can devastate a golf course.  As part of the prevention program a fungicide is applied late in the fall to protect the turf beneath the snow. 

This is the left side of 17 green, down from the green. Note the turf on the right side of the image was protected from snow mould by our winter application of fungicide, and the left side shows how much pressure from disease there was this year and the damage if left untreated.

Another form of injury to the turf from the winter is that which occurs from prolonged ice coverage.  The injury varies in severity based on the species of turf and the duration of the ice coverage.  Poa Annua, an invasive native turfgrass, can only survive ice coverage for about 60 days.   Bent Grass, the turf species used in most northern green’s construction, can survive longer stretches of ice coverage, almost twice that of the Poa.  In very general terms, the ice encases the plant and suffocates it.  Our greens at West Hills were seeded to T-One Bentgrass and have yet to be invaded by Poa Annua, so ice damage is less likely in a typical year.

This picture typifies the damage from ice remaining on the turf for too long.  In very general terms the ice suffocates the turf  causing a bleached depresses area.  This the cause of 90 percent of the winter damage at West Hills this year. This is 16 green from the back.

Winter damage also comes in the form of Crown Hydration Injury.  This typically occurs during the late winter and early spring portions of the year.  Plants generally slow to a form of dormancy that aids in winter protection, remaining until temperatures are once again high enough to begin the spring growth period.  Similar situations are evident with trees and shrubs, buds start to form, and the plant wakes up.  Occasionally we have a few warm days in March or April that fool the turf into believing the its time to get started.  The crown of the plant (where the leaves grow from) flood with cellular activity and the plant begins growing.  Unfortunately, these warm days are usually followed by a very cold night or two and the plant basically freezes, the cells break, and the plant desiccates.  As with ice damage, the severity of crown hydration injury varies with the species, mainly based on what temperature that species emerges from dormancy at. Poa Annua will begin cellular function at 8 degrees Celsius, making it much more susceptible to injury from an early spring warming period.  Bent Grass will hold out until 14 degrees Celsius before cellular active begins, making a more resistant to this type of injury.  This was not a contributor to the damage at West Hills this year.

For all the courses in the Capital region this winter pretty much hit every point I’ve just listed.  The extended winter posed heavy disease pressure. The short melt we experienced at Christmas created ice which covered the plants for in excess of  four months, and the few warm days in early spring devastated the Poa when the temperatures dropped in later days.

As a superintendent I follow other supers both in Canada and the US on social media, and this winter has caused a great deal of damage from Ottawa to Minnesota to Moncton.   It would be irresponsible for me to discuss the details of how other golf courses in the area have faired over this winter, but it very likely that we are all in the same boat. 

If you would like a Superintendents perspective, follow me on twitter @WestHillsSuper and subscribe to my blog, and you can observe as we strive to get the golf course back into shape for the spring. Stay Tuned!

Introduction

This is my first blog entry as the Superintendent at West Hills Golf Course, but not my first blog written from the the perspective of Superintendent.  Prior to taking the position of Superintendent at West Hills I was the Superintendent at Oakfield Golf and Country Club, and ran a blog dedicated the maintenance team there.
I've decided to start a blog about my time as a Super in Fredericton to share information about the workings of the golf course from my perspective.  Hopefully you folks will gain some incite into our efforts and maybe learn about how we function.
With the devastating winter we have had, the timing seems appropriate to share how we arrived in this situation and how we plan to overcome the challenges that came with it.  Please subscribe to the blog or follow me on twitter @WestHillsSuper to get updates on the golf course.