Progress!

Today is Friday June 14, 2019.  On Tuesday of next week we will be opening four of our 9 closed greens.  Numbers 4, 13, 16, and 17 will be open for play first thing in the morning.  The greens have progressed to the point where we are comfortable with allowing the stress from daily play and maintenance to move them back into rotation. 

Here's a rundown (in pictures) of the current situation with comparison photos;

Number 4, June 14, 2019.

Number 16 May 6th, 2019

Number 16, June 14, 2019.

Number 13, May 8, 2019

Number 13, June 14, 2019

Number 16, May 2, 2016.

Number 16, June 14, 2019

Clearly the greens have improved from the results of the challenging winter.  When playing the recently opened greens you will note that there are some areas not yet at 100 percent.  As mentioned before our benchmark for opening the greens was to have the pinnable areas at 80 percent.  There will be spots where the turf is still thin and most of these areas have been seeded. If possible and convenient please avoid walking in these areas as the turf  recovers.

Number 5, June 10, 2019.  Here are the staff seeding the weak areas on number 5.

Number 5 June 14, 2019.  Even after only four days from seeding, the warmer temperatures have increased the percent and rate of germination.

 The remaining closed greens, numbers 3,5,6,7 and 8, will be assessed on Wednesday of next week to see when they can be opened.  The weather over the last two weeks has been exactly what we have been looking for.  The warmer temperatures at night and day have increased the germination rate and percentage.  I have notice a remarkable difference in recovery from the June 3rd until now, and fully expect the healing to rapidly progress from this point forward.

We have also freed the cart restraints to allows for travel on the fairways.  Number one, four and 12 are still in recovery mode so they will be cart path only for a while.  While the cart restrictions have been lifted, we are asking folks to voluntarily avoid fairways when possible as the the less traffic the better.

Again, please be patient with us and the process as we move to recover the golf course. Stay tuned!

Weather and Temporary Greens

Measuring the weather is an important part of maintaining a golf course.  I often rely on historical and typical weather to determine what to expect from various aspects of our maintenance regime and when to time them.  Because this year has been such an outlier from the typical trends its been difficult to follow our application plans.  Our known trends have been pushed back by at least two weeks, maybe even three.

Most biological functions in our climate are based largely on how our seasons change from one to the next.  Everything from bears hibernating to mosquitoes hatching to plants beginning to bud are affected by the temperature and photo period.  As a culture we often use biological change as a marker to indicate where we are in the season.  I know that when crocuses and tulips break ground the soil temperatures are up, and when the black flies hatch summer will get going very soon.  Ask anyone with allergies and they can tell exactly when trees are pollinating. While these measurements are anecdotal, they have enough value that a scientific method was developed to measure these changes, these are called Growing Degree Days.  

In essence GDD measure heat units that plants require to start various stages of development, growth, fruiting, and harvest.  For example, by measuring the GDD each spring and watching to see when a Sugar Maple buds, we can determine when they will bud in future springs.  GDD plays an enormous role in farming, as corn requires a certain amount heat units to grow, mature, and be ready for harvest.

Conner Mooney, one of our staff members this year is studying Environmental Science and is tracking the GDD for us.  He put this chart together to illustrate the spring GDD (by the way he's also looking for a job in the environmental industry, so contact me if there are any leads).  

    

The difference is significant, so significant, that it may effect the food market in North America.  Potato plantings in PEI are way behind schedule. Corn plantings in the US as of last week were only at 36 % of the normal 90% by this time of year. To quote a fertilizer manufacture and friend of mine, "if this keeps up, the price of tortillas will go through the roof."

In terms of the golf industry, understandably, it means the whole machine has slowed down. It explains how seed remained dormant, fertilizers didn't breakdown, and growth has been less than expected.

There were a couple of times where I was convinced summer had just started only to have the temps drop back to well below the norms.  As of  Monday last week the temperatures have become some what closer to norm, and judging from the number of mosquitoes harassing me on Wednesday night, I think (fingers crossed) it's finally here.

As the temperatures improve and the growth is spurred on we will see a great improvement in the damaged greens.  Already this week has shown a visible improvement and germination rate has climbed.  This is a critical time for recovery, if put back into play to early, the greens will go backwards and remain sub par for the summer.  

One suggestion was to open part of the green and rope off the damaged section.  Unfortunately this would hamper the the recover for a few reasons.  We need irrigate the seed on a regular basis, which would obviously conflict with play.  The closed greens are cut at much higher length and less often then the open greens to alleviate stress and compaction.    The seed at this point is very tender and quite susceptible to damage. Even foot traffic, especially with spikes, will cause the process to slow. 

From a distance the greens look playable.

As you get closer, the gaps are more evident, however there has been visible improvement this week.

And even closer you can see the very small seedlings taking off.  Continued stress from mowing, foot traffic and compaction would surely set back our efforts. 

 Having the greens closed also allows us to continue to work on them without interfering with play.  Most of the work is done by hand, rather than machine, to reduce stress on the plants.

Here the guys are hand aerating number seven, where I felt the seed catch was too slow.  Do to the minimal impact we also use this technique on open greens ahead of play to seed weak areas.

Basically a board with nails in it, the aerator creates the perfect hole for the tiny bent grass seed.

After seeding, the greens are top dressed, and the sand is worked in using this rake called a lawn level.  Normally we would tow a brush behind a cart, but it would probably tear out the seedlings.

 Everyone I've spoken to have been very supportive regarding the less than ideal situation, please continue with your patients as we continue strive to restore the quality of our product.  Stay tuned! 

End of May Update

On Monday, June 3rd, the golf course will open with 9 temporary greens, they are 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 13, 16, and 17. As a superintendent, one of the most depressing things you are forced to do is cut a temporary pin.  We take pride in offering the best conditions possible to our clients and, unfortunately, the harsh winter followed by a cold spring has hampered our efforts to get the greens back into shape.

The temporary pin on 7 green.  The temp green sizes will be outlined in yellow paint and the two putt rule will be in effect.  If you land inside the paint line count two putts and pick up. 

The last month has been trying for the east coast golf course community.  Our staff have been fighting cold temperatures and a significant amount of rain during the recovery process.  If you visit the Weather Office for Environment Canada, the weather records are available for May (for you data/weather buffs there's some really neat stuff here). Click Here to see May 2019 weather.  With a mean temperature of 8.9 and an average max high of about 14.5, this year is considerably colder than average. In 2018 the mean was 11.6 and the average max high was almost 20 degrees.  In terms of propagating Bent grass (Agrostis Stolenifera), the important factor is the mean. The mean temp directly affects the soil temperature, and seed germination is directly related to that metric.

In general terms: Colder soils, less germination, warmer soils more germination.

Other factors included; seeding rate, moisture levels, seed species, depth of seed, seed to soil contact and some biological stuff that can get pretty dry as conversation.   

Germination is referred to as a "catch", and a good catch is where a larger portion of seed has germinated. The more boxes checked in the list of environment conditions as mentioned, the more germination we will see.  Obviously this year some elements are missing to create the conditions for a large catch, with the consistent soil temperatures being the main detractor.

One of the tools in our toolbox to help with the process are germination tarps.  These are plastic permeable tarps that allow water and gas exchange, while creating a green house effect above the turf. The tarps certainly do improve the daytime temperatures but do little to retain warmth during the night. As the air temps drop off at night the soil temps follow, reducing the consistency of temperatures necessary for a good catch.  At this point we have stopped using the tarps. As temperatures get into the 20's they can cause excessive heat and in effect "boil" the seedlings and the existing grass. For the most part we used the tarps from the onset of seeding, but continued use might set us back.

We began seeding the greens in late April, anticipating that the temperatures would be typical spring in the East Coast.  Germination usually occurs within 7 to ten days, however I expected a longer time frame due to the lower temperature.  There was little germination.  By mid May I decide to reseed, taking the approach that by increasing the seed population we would improve our catch.  Between the marginally warmer temps and the tarp use the germination was triggered but still not happy with the results we seeded again this week.  To date we have applied about 250 lbs of seed to the weak areas on the greens.

The good news in that while there is some seed loss, as temperatures improve there will be more and more seed germinating.  This week seems to be the turning point, and I am encouraged by the changes from Sunday to today.

This is five green today at 1 pm (June 1, 2019). If you zoom in you can see many small seedling beginning to sprout. At this stage they are very tender. 

The temporary greens will remain in place until the turf on greens has recovered enough to withstand the stress of the play.  I expect as things warm up, we will see improvement very quickly.
Please feel free to take a look at the greens as your playing, but mind the seeded areas and watch out for sprinklers, they are running about every two hours.

Number eight green, watch out for the irrigation!

Here are some comparison photos.

16 Green May 2, 2019

16 Green June 1 2019

Here is number one fairway, May 2, 2019. Christian and Conner are seeding the weak areas on the fairways using walk behind seeders. Although time consuming, it is much more accurate. To date we have used about 2600 pounds of bluegrass seed over approximately 14 acres.

Number One Fairway, June 2, 2019.  Note the germination beginning in aeration holes and the green hue.   

The fairways are beginning to recover as the seed germinates and the fertilizer starts to release.  Due to the amount of watering and the tenderness of the seedlings carts will be restricted to the cart paths.

We are working hard to return the golf course to the conditions that our clients are used to.  Please be patient and we will get there. Stay tuned!