What Happened To The Trees?

"What happened to the trees?" was a common question during league meetings this spring. In reality over the 27 holes we cut down 9 trees so we still have 400 left without counting the sections of unmaintained woods. One ash on 2, three ash on 16 and the most noticeable ones were the five silver maples behind the 8th green.

The silver maples on 8 were too close to the green and causing quality programs due to the root system going under 8 green but we cut them down only because they were nearing the end of their lives and becoming brittle. Each time we had a decent wind a good sized live branches were falling down with the potential to injure a golfer.

The removal on 8 left quite a opening behind the green and that opening looks barer than it is because the rest of the trees on 2 and 8 do not have leaves yet. Once the other trees leave out the look will really change and there will be a background to the green again.

I did find it odd that when we removed the maples around 27 green 3 years ago the very undulating green looked flatter but when we removed the trees on 8 the green the previously flat green looks more sloped from back to front and left to right.

Hole 8 with the Silver Maples.

Hole 8 with the trees removed early this spring. The
look will change as the background trees leave out.

The second common question this spring is what trees are you going to plant to replace those trees on 8? Although we appreciate the many suggestions it is not our goal to have trees right on the green bank. We have planted 3 trees away from the green that will grow up to give background to the green without the agronomic problems.

The trees on 2 and 16 were ash trees that were also brittle and near the end of their lives but did not show any sign of the emerald ash borer that has been  found near the golf course.

Regardless of the lack of any current signs of the borer on our property it is probable we will lose all our ash trees in the next 10 years. Most of the ash on the course are nearing the end of their useful live anyway so we have decided not to treat those with insecticides. 

On the other hand the few ash we have planted in the past 10 years are small and easy to remove and replace with a better species before we invest in treatment for the life of the tree.

Rolling Meadows has almost 200 ash trees along fairways and behind greens. We will be replacing trees but not on a one to one basis. A few less trees will open up the course without eliminating the challenge the trees bring.

For mature ash trees that add value to your home or property there are new insecticide treatments you may want to consider now before you trees start showing signs of decline. The sooner they are treated the more successful the treatment will be.

It is thought the Emerald Ash Borer came to North America from Europe or Asia as part of crating or pallets.  Without treatment it will kill every ash in Wisconsin just as it has in Michigan and Illinois.

The adult Emerald Ash Borer
 

The damage from the larvae
under the bark kills the tree.

The D shaped hole on the trunk is a sign of the adult borer.

Early opening

Many courses in the middle of Wisconsin were able to take advantage of a early warm spell and a week of sunshine and open for play early. In Fond du Lac with our clay soils it is rare we are one of the first to open. However with little snow and no rain the course went from white to firm enough to play in just a few days. The Fond du Lac area had a less snow than courses to the south that typically open early.

The main factor to determine when to open is when the greens are firm enough for traffic. The greens go from mush to firm when the frost leaves the upper surfaces and the greens drainage system can take away any extra moisture.

The first rounds of spring are exciting for golfers and staff alike. It is fun to be open and see customers return to the links. Due to the sand we "topdress" the greens with in fall we do not mow in early spring but we brush the greens to smooth any water or windblown sand and then roll them. We also change cups and this year raked the sand bunkers that did not have snow in them.

You will notice most of the holes are still dormant and brown as are many lawns in the area. Soil temperatures at 3" are still in the mid 30's and there is still frost in the ground below 12". A warm rain will help to warm the soils and green up the turf.  It looks like we are in for a cooler spell but we look forward to seeing you on the warmer days during this bonus early spring golf season.

When the wind, humidity and play allows we do a prescribed burn to some of our long grass or no mow "gorse" areas to reduce the organic matter from last years growth. Burning allows for a cleaner look and reduces the chance of smothering any new growth while reducing unwanted trees and weeds in the native areas.

Burning needs to be taken seriously as it can be dangerous to people and other properties. First we need the relative humidity to allow burning or we are just wasting our time. Second we need to have winds under 15 mph to keep the fire under our control. Most importantly we need to have enough staff to control the fire and ensure players are out of the way from the fire or smoke.

Burning the long grass mounds behind the approach bunker on hole 12.

The black burnt mounds are a stark contrast to the still dormant playing surface on the 25th green.

What The Heck Do You Do All Winter???

What do you do in the winter is a common question for golf course employees and the simple answer is "work" the joking answer is "play cards" and the proper answer is "a variety of things."

First of all we are often working outside to Thanksgiving putting the course to sleep, applying sand topdressing to greens and tees, cutting down dead or dangerous trees, winterizing the buildings and irrigation system along with putting everything away and getting ready for winter maintenance.

We use up some vacation around Christmas and starting the first of January really get into equipment breakdown. The first part of my winter is spent in the office making sure parts and supplies are in order along with finishing record keeping from the previous year.

Records for weather, maintenance practices, purchases and time sheets of work done to the golf course are kept to provide a historical comparison. Some recordkeeping is mandated by state and federal rules. Some of those include our fertilization plans and records, chemical applications and storm water run off inspections and training to reduce suspended solids in the water ways.

Other work includes placing orders for this year and a big part of that is comparing specifications and obtaining quotes to ensure we get a good product at the best price.

Office work is a necessary evil both in ant out of season.

Winter is also a great time for education to learn new technologies or methods along with new products and laws or rules that may be coming our way. Some educational sessions we attend in person but more and more great sessions are offered via webcast either live or by recording. It is a another great benefit of membership in trade groups such as the Wisconsin Golf Course Superintendents Association, Golf Course Superintendents Association of America, Wisconsin Turfgrass Association and Turfnet.

Continuing education sessions provide new and renewed ideas while the
breaks provide for networking with others in the industry.

Our main winter activities include equipment and building maintenance. In the clubhouse Jeremiah touched up the paint and layout of the golf shop while Tiffany spruced up the Bar and Grill with a fresh coat of paint. In maintenance we painted the concrete floor in the heated shop. We also made a cover for our air compressor. In the past we couldn't talk to each other while it was running due to the noise.

Equipment maintenance is a big part of winter. We use reel type mowers on greens, tees and fairways. Reel mowers give a better cut at lower heights but they also have a increased level of maintenance. Each year every reel is ground to the proper angle and the bedknive is replaced or ground to the proper angle. This grind allows the blades to cut the grass cleanly providing for a healthier plant and better playing surface.

The equipment hoist is key to proper inspection and maintenance.

After maintenance a wash and wax has this 14 year
old mower looking new and ready for the season. 

This year it is time to take the 20 fairway mower reels (4 mowers - 5 reels each) fully apart and paint them, replace the bearings and seals. This is a time consuming process and makes mess in the shop with parts in piles all over the place. But in the end it is the best way to get a long life from the units. We do one type of reels each year and after three years we will be back to the fairway reels again.

One of our first jobs each winter is to put up our temporary paint booth so we can paint without fumes or overspray all over the building.

Our off season preparation allow us provide a quality product during the season.  Feel free to contact us by person, phone or email if you have any questions about what we do in or out of the golf season.

Late Summer Post -

The cup changers "tools of the trade". At Rolling Meadows cups are moved 3 to 5 times per week depending on events and the time of year.

It is hard to believe fall is only 9 days away. From my perspective it has been a interesting season so far. The cold wet spring followed by a cool summer with ample moisture made the entire summer feel like May. Rain was common and with the exception of ten days in July when we gave the irrigation system a workout and stopped mowing the non-irrigated rough, the rest of the year was mow the course, turn around and mow it again.

Electricity costs will be down because the pumphouse was not used very often but gas and diesel costs associated with mowing are up a equal amount. In August we watered fairways once and spent most of the month praying the rain would stop so the course would firm up and be more enjoyable and mowable. A couple days each week it was too wet to mow without doing damage and the other days we played catch-up mowing all we could around the players.  

The wet and humidity along with cooler than normal temperatures allowed the turf disease dollar spot to flourish throughout the course. Usually a disease of closely mown greens tees and fairways this year it infected the roughs. It is cost prohibitive to treat the roughs due to the acreage and recovery will happen naturally when the weather conditions change. In the rough dollar spot is mainly a aesthetic problem but on greens and fairways it can reduce playability.


Above is a small area of untreated fairway (check plot) we do use to see how bad the disease would be if we did not treat with fungicides. You can see the result is not good aesthetically or for playability as a ball can sink in the lesions.

This picture shows a fairway treated with a fungicide according to the label should last 21 days on day 22. The lesions are smaller and do not affect playability. When disease pressure is low a 21 day product may last 21 to 28 days or longer. When pressure is high it may last 14 to 21 days. In this case disease pressure was high and we applied a new treatment the next day to stop the current lesions from growing and prevent any new lesions.

 

As I wrote this spring the bridge collapsed on hole 19 and with no other options to get players from hole 19 to 20 we had to act quickly. The new culvert on hole 19 has been well received and cuts off quite a bit of distance for walking golfers as they go to 20 tee.

 

The second culvert was installed in summer to replace the walking bridge of Rays Creek on hole 17 and allow a more natural flow for golfers while reducing the visibility and ball flight problems caused by the railings from the walking bridge. We still have to remove the supports from the walking bridge but for the most part the bridge replacement project is finished.

 

The plaque for Rays Creek was moved from the bridge railing to this rock placed near the culvert crossing. Ray Puddy was a long time county board member and chairman of the Parks and Recreation  committee as well as a avid golfer.

 

 

The drainage swale project on hole 2 is complete and we will start on the final grading and seeding of the new red tee soon. The swale will allow rain water to enter the pond system faster without flooding holes 2 and 9.  

 

My next post will be on the greens aerification process. Hopefully we will have great weather to do this unpleasant job and the process and greens healing will be quick.

June grooming and projects

It's the first week of June and in some ways it feels like it should be April 15th and in others ways it feels like August. For the turfgrass you play on and the trees if feels like early May with July rapidly approaching. The course has matured a lot in the past ten days as ample rain, warm nights and days filled with sunshine have allowed growth to peak.

Monday, June 2nd we verticut or thatched the greens on all three 9's despite the 3" of rain before and after the job. Holes 1-14 were done and topdressed with sand before the heavy downpours and for golfers it is hard to tell we did anything because the huge rain drops pounded the sand into the turf. For holes 15-27 and the extra greens we were not as lucky and gofers will see some sand although it should not effect ball roll. The verticutting and sanding are key to providing smooth and consistent greens though the season. The cutting action from the verticut blades fills old ball marks and other small inconsistencies on the greens.

Last month I discussed the bridge collapse and am happy to say despite the wet weather we were able to get a culvert crossing in place to replace the bridge. In a ideal world we would have had time to engineer a new bridge but with that being the only way to get carts from hole 19 to 20 time was of the essence. Future plans are to add a second culvert crossing for hole 17 to replace the walking bridge over Ray's Creek.

Our work continues on the drainage project on hole 2. The damage from the haul road has been graded and seeded but every time we final grade the swale itself we are blessed with heavy rain before we can get it seeded. The project will help reduce flooding on hole 2 and 9.

The new family tees are installed on each hole and the brass plates are marked with a gold or blue flag so they are easy to see. I have seen a few groups using the tees and they will see more use when the junior programs start. The gold tees average 2065 yards per 9 and the blue 1520 yards.

We are lucky to have great staff members in both the clubhouse and maintenance departments and it is nice to see the students back to help us serve you.



Spring Fling!

Golfers and golf course staffs were spoiled by the early spring in 2012 and have been cursed by the late cold springs of 2013 and now again in 2014. Although we were able to open on April 5th the course has been cold and slow to green up.

Fortunately the recent increase in temperatures and helped dry the course and green up the playing surfaces. As I write this on May 6th the trees are just starting to bud out and the rough is just starting to grow. Some new things you may notice on the golf course include:

On hole two we changed the route for water draining from Trowbridge Drive into the pond by the tees. Last fall we dug a new ditch to allow the water to reach the pond via a culvert under the cart path. As part of the project mounding is being built left of the tee and right of the fairway bunker and a new forward tee will be added. Disappointingly they fall rains and early winter put a halt to the project so the areas will need to be graded and seeded this spring.

The rains stopped and the winds cooperated to allow us to mow about half our gorse or natural no-mow areas. Controlled burns reduce weeds and promote healthier growth of the grasses. Burning also returns nutrients to the soil while improving the overall visual quality of the no-mow areas.

 

Burning reduces last years matted vegetation.

 

The marsh grasses on hole 14 burn quickly.

In a bit of bad news part of the bridge used to go from holes 19 to 20 and 17 to 18 collapsed on May 5th. Due to the importance of the creek crossing we have to move fast to provide a passage way for the carts. We plan to install two 24" culverts side by side to the back right of 19 green for traffic going to hole 20 and a 36" culvert on hole 17 near the walking bridge.

Both of these crossings will be more convenient and a shorter route to the next hole. It may take a few weeks to bring in a air compressor and jack hammer to take out the old bridge and abutments so we appreciate your patience.

The right span of the bridge behind 19 green collapsed. It will be

replaced with a culvert crossing.

Fall Activities

Late fall is usually a good time for getting work done and playing golf but the wetter than normal and cooler than normal weather has put a little damper on that.  Since mid-October is seems as though if it isn’t raining it is windy. The weather usually averages out so perhaps the recent cool spell will be replaced with a few nice days to get the last rounds in.

We have a few things going on besides leaf cleanup on the course.

 

BLOWOUT – On October 30/31 we “blew out” the irrigation system. We rent a 750 CFM air compressor and set it up by the pumphouse. We then use the compressed air to “blow out” any water that could freeze in winter causing pipes to burst. We work in all directions away from the compressor to push the water to the ends of the course.

Although it rained both days it made the job quicker because we did not have to look out for golfers when turning on heads. Due to the size of our pipe system we blow out the system 3 times with time for water to settle to the low areas between each shift. This ensures a complete job and no problems next spring.

HOLE 2 DRAINAGE – You may have seen the dump truck and backhoe working over on the left side of hole 2. When we have medium and heavy rains the water that comes down swale on the left of hole 2 backs up onto hole 9 because our underground piping cannot handle all the water at once. We are extending the swale all the way to the pond so the drainage system will handle the water from the golf course and the new swale will handle the water coming from Trowbridge Drive and the Industrial Park.

The spoils or dirt from the new swale is being used to build a mound on the right side of hole two for a visual effect for holes 2 and 9. The mound is in the natural area and considered. The new portion of the swale will be out of play for most golfers and runs right along the out of bounds. It will not be marked as a water hazard but it may have casual water in it at times.

NATURAL GRASS AREAS – We hope to burn most of our natural areas this fall or next spring to reduce organic matter and mat that builds up from the leaf tissue. We have mowed the areas that are too close to buildings or the neighbors to burn but the others we will leave with hopes a low humidity weather window for burning will happen before spring growth.

Burning in fall usually provides a hotter more complete burn while spring burning is cooler because the ground is cool and wet.  With the industrial park and roads around the course we need the wind to be in different directions for burning different areas so it takes a few days to complete the job.

NEW TEES – Through the US Kids Golf Program Rolling Meadows is going to create a “PGA Family Course” with two additional sets of tees per hole. For a few years we had our “yellow tees” in the fairways. Those will be replaced with a blue and gold set to yardages recommended to allow juniors and beginners to use the same variety of clubs longer hitters use.

At this time most of the tees will be placed on the edge of fairways and marked with PGA Family Tee markers. The tees will not be limited to juniors or beginners as we expect some of our seniors to use them and hope other players will use them in the spirit of “Tee It Forward” to play a shorter course.

 

The graphic shows that if the average white tee player uses a driver/7iron to reach the green the Family Course Tee player will do the same.

We will mow greens, tees and fairways one more time to clean them up so we can spray winter fungicides on them. Greens will then be top-dressed with a heavy layer of sand to ensure a smooth surface for next year and to reduce thatch levels.

I hope to see you out on the links a few more times before the snow flies for good.