Winterization Process

As a superintendent, I will be one of the first to admit that our golf season is far too short here in Alberta.  Just when you feel as though you get the property where you want it, you need to start thinking of putting it to bed for the winter.  We had a tremendous season here at River Bend that gave us some beautiful days to roam the links, but alas the season has come to an end.

 



Following closing of the golf course, staff are very busy.  All fairways, tees, surrounds, and approaches are core aerated.  Core aeration is done to these surfaces to remove unwanted thatch as well as to reduce compaction.  Less compated soils and reduced thatch levels better allow air to enter the root zone which improves the soil structure and root density.  Tees, surrounds, and approaches are hand shovelled to remove the aeration cores.  Fairways are drug with a core buster mat to break apart the aeration plugs and then the remaining thatch is vacuumed by our turf vac.

 

Once aeration is cleaned up, greens, tees, surrounds, approaches, and fairways are treated with chemical fungicide to help our turf combat the high disease pressure from Pink Snow Mold (Michrodochium nivale) and Grey Snow Mold (Typhula incarnata and Typhula ishikariensis).  It is an unfortunate reality of our climate that nearly 50% of the year we are covered with snow, which provides an ideal growing enviroment for both diseases.
 

Finally, a heavy topdressing is applied to all the surfaces.  The topdressing helps in two ways.  On greens, it a way to protect the delicate crown (growing point) of the grass and reduce the likelihood of it from freezing in the winter.  On tees, surrounds, and fairways, the heavy topdressing replaces the removed material from aeration as well as helps firm the playing surfaces.  Sand naturally breaks down thatch levels which then lead to firm, more consistent playing surfaces.

In addition to all this work, staff are busy vacuuming up the seeming endless amounts of leaves that are on the ground that we did not get to while the course was open.  We must also winterize the area for our Nordic season.  Snow fence is installed to prevent unwanted traffic in delicate areas.  Equipment is thoroughly washed and repositioned to make room for the equipment utilized in the winter.  Finally, tree maintenance that was put off throughout the busy golf season is attended to.  Trees that have died, or that have become unsafe on the property are removed to open areas up which also improves vistas and growing environments.

All this work is a race against the snow.  The longer the winter can hold off the more of this work we can accomplish, leaving us farther ahead in the spring.  The ultimate goal is to put the golf course to bed in the best possible shape as we can so that it has every opportunity to come out in the spring looking great.

Recovering from Snow Mold Damage

Pink Snow Mold (Michrodochium nivale) and Grey Snow Mold (Typhula incarnata and Typhula ishikariensis) are the diseases that plague golf courses and test the resolve of superintendents across Canada.  These fungi naturally live in the soil/thatch.  Our harsh winter environments are ideal growing environments for the fungus which incubates under the snow throughout the winter.  The longer the winter and more consistent the snow cover, the more severe the damage can be.  This past winter, snow arrived in late October and didn't leave the property until late April (very heavy snow mold pressure).  As turf managers, we combat this perennial problem through chemical applications.  Fungicide is applied to playing surfaces to protect the grass from the resulting injury.  Here at River Bend we applied fungicides to our greens, tees, surrounds, approaches, and fairways to provide the turf adequate survival capabilities through the winter.  Areas that were treated wintered very strong and came out in the spring looking very good.  Unfortunately due to the cost of these products not all fairways were treated.  This resulted in some severe snow mold damage this spring in the areas that were untreated when compared to those that were treated.

 

 #6 Fairway (UNTREATED)

 

#7 Fairway (UNTREATED)

 

#9 Fairway (TREATED)

 

#10 Fairway (TREATED)

 

#8 Approach / Fairway

 Left:  UNTREATED                      Right:  TREATED

 

The issue now becomes recovering these fairways to reasonable playing conditions.  How do we do that?  Our cultural practice schedule has us verticutting, aerating and/or topdressing fairways throughout the season.  The reason we do these processes is it to reduce the thatch levels, introduce air into the soil profile (root zone, and encourage vegetative (lateral) growth.  The heavy levels of thatch in our fairways not only reduce firmness, water penetration, and fertilizer efficacy, but also provide an ideal location for this patogen to sit and wait until the next snow cover.  In conjunction with verticutting the fairways we are also overseeding them to provide new seedlings that will eventually, over time, fill in the voids on the fairways.  This is by no means a quick fix.  It takes time to reduce thatch levels and get grass to grow into these vacant spots.  This process will take place a couple times throughout the season to provide a good seed bank as well as encourage lateral growth.  With warm temperatures scheduled to hit and adequate moisture maintained we will hopefully see marked improvements by season's end.  At which time, if revenue allows, we will attempt to treat additional fairways with fungicide inevidtably giving the turf a better fighting chance this upcoming winter, which will help improve our conditions the following spring.

 

Fairway Verticutting Results

Fairway Overseeder

 

Seed Lines (in slits)
 

 

Fairway Verticutting

Along with our greens verticutting program here at River Bend, we have also incorporated a tee and fairway verticut program.  The rational behind this is the same as it is for greens verticutting.  To do this to the fairways we brought in a demo verticut/vacuum.  By removing the unwanted thatch that has accumulated over the past 25 years we create more avenues for air, water & nutrients to reach the soil surface which in turn will improve plant health.  Stronger plants are better able to handle the stresses of a busy golf season, as well as survive the difficult winters we are accustomed to in Alberta.

Demo Verticut/Vacuum

Results following verticutting

Removal of the excess plant material also provides space for sand topdressing to help break down the thatch and firm up the playing surfaces. The firmer fairways will roll & react to play much better, tees will become less puffy and turf cover will become more consistent. You can't change things over night, but as the process continues we will gradually improve course conditioning.

Fairway Topdressing

Greens Aeration

One week ago, the greens here at River Bend were aerated.  Comments are always the same.  The greens are so nice, why are you going to punch holes all over them?  Believe it or not, the reason greens perform well is because of this process.  As a golf enthusiast, I can understand the less than ideal putting surface that results the first few days following an aeration event, however I also know that a heavy played golf course like River Bend needs this process to alleviate the stresses that result from our intense season.  Relief of compaction, improved water penetration & percolation, better air movement withing the soil, as well as the removal of unwanted thatch are all things that aeration accomplishes.

Golfer satisfaction is directly linked to the putting surface, therefore we attempt to minimize the time it takes to recover following aeration as much as possible.  Through pre and post fertilization practices we encourage growth; heavy topdressing and brushing helps fill the holes; and rolling trues the putting surface.  Weather also drastically impacts that speed of recovery, which unfortunately, despite my best efforts, we have no control over.  Warm, sunny days encourage faster recovery, however cool, damp weather will cause holes to remain niticeable much longer.

Here is a link that explains the agronomically benefits in much more depth.

http://gsr.lib.msu.edu/article/bevard-putting-3-4-11.pdf

Below are some photos of the lengthy process that took place last week.

Hollow Tine Aeration

  

Manually shovelling of aeration plugs

 

Green following aeration (1/2" holes at 2" spacing)

Topdressing sand following aeration.

 

Drag brush to matt in sand and fill holes left by aeration.

 Roller smoothing the putting surface.

River Bend Verticut Program

As many of the River Bend patrons have noticed, their has been a delayed start time to the tee sheet on Tuesday mornings this year.  The reason for this is to allow grounds staff the opportunity to conduct necessary cultural practices to the greens.  The weekly verticut/topdress program introduced this season was implemented to help improve the turf quality of the aging greens on the property.  The first and most important aspect fo the golf experience is the putting surface.  The nemesis of all putting greens is organic matter (thatch).  Thatch is naturally produced by all grass species and if not kept in check, can severley decrease the turf quality.  Thatch is composed of excess stem and leaf tissue at different stages of decomostion between the turf canopy (playing surface) and the rootzone (soil).

The primary grass species on River Bend's greens are Creeping Bentgrass (Agrostis stoloniferia) and Annual Bluegrass (Poa annua) which are very high thatch producers.  Excessive thatch can lead to spongy putting surfaces which in turn decreases the overall quality of ball roll.  This sponge will bind up water and fertilizer  inhibiting its ability to reach the soil surface.  Thatch is also a host for many plant pathogens to live and develop.  High thatch levels therefore increase the likelihood of localized dry spot, poor nutrient uptake, and disease pressure.  In order to maintain a CONSISTENT and TRUE putting surface, organic matter (thatch) must be managed.

Verticutting is the physical removal of thatch. This process rips out the unwanted thatch creating voids for air, water, and nutrient movement. It also provides space to dilute the layer with sand topdressing. Sand helps break down thatch as well as produces a firm, consistent, true putting surface. Below are some photos of the process taking place on a Tuesday morning at River Bend.

Verticutting Machine

 

Result following verticutting

Sand topdressing following verticutting

Drag brush to move sand into the thatch layer

We are already seeing significant improvements in our turf quality as a result of this process.  By continuing our cultural practice schedule we will undoubtebly promote better turf health.  The resulting stronger plants will provide a more consistent putting surfaces throughout the property as well as improve our chances of wintering well.

Fairway/Approach Expansion

Over time with varying fairway operators and design philosphies, fairway shapes can change drastically from their original design.  As a result, they can shrink and/or expand significantly.  Just over a week ago we finished our re-conouring and re-defining of the fairway perimeters.  The restoration to the original design will help speed up play, produce a smoother, more natural look to the fariways, as well as provide more shot options.

#15 Approach prior to expansion

As the above photo of #15 shows, several of the approaches to the greens had shrunk over the years, limiting the shot options.  By widening theses areas it will provide the option to play the bump-and-run instead of always having to hit the high lofted shot.  Widened approaches will also entice golfers to go at Par 5's in 2, increasing the risk reward strategy.

Below are photos of us actually expanding the fairway and then what the finished product looks like.  It will take a few weeks for the fairways to green up in the areas we expand, but soon it will be difficult to remember what it used ot look like.  Prior to the approach on #15 was only 12 feet wide.  It is now more than 40 feet wide.

Cutting down the rough to expand the approach

New approach on #15

Course Opening

The golf course opened today and golfers were blessed with a tremendous day for golf.   The course has dried out very well over the last few days.  Only a few wet spots remain.  Grounds staff have been working hard to prepare the course for the season.

We completed construction of the 1st tee walkway and flower bed last week.  Our verticutting of tees removed a significant amount of unwanted organic matter from the turf canopy and soil surface.  We hope to topdress them soon to help dilute the thatch that has built up over the years.  This will help firm up the surfaces as well.  Staff continues to edge and clean-up bunkers from the winter and with good weather expected, this will be completed soon.

You will notice a number of greens to have extremely green coloration.  The greens that were tarped this spring essentially experienced greehouse-like conditions which allow for soil temperatures to rise and kick starts the grass for the season.  With help from Mother Nature the rest will follow suit.  We have not yet pressurized the irrigation system, but hope to late this week.

Below are some pictures of the ongoing work of on the golf course over the past few weeks.

 Placement of paving stones for 1st tee walkway.

1st Tee Completion

Verticutting of Tees

Evidence of what warm soil temperatures will do to the grass.

Left side under the tarp.  Right side exposed.