Benefits of Golf Courses and water use

Here is a great article from the South Florida Sun-Sentinel on the benefits of golf courses and water use. Finally!

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/broward/fl-boynton-golf-course-aquifer-20130713,0,4142715.story?track=rss

What the heck are all these puffballs on the greens?!

We face many challenges here at golf course maintenance and the summer season brings with it a multitude of issues we face each and every year. From the endless rains and Tropical Storm threats, constatnt pressure from invasive weeds, to keeping up with mowing due to the fact the warm temps and rains keep the grass growing non-stop couple this with the fact our equipment is in constant need of attention to keep it preforming at high levels and you have the makings for an interesting summer! The summer also brings with it conditions that are perfect for diseases to infect our wonderful turf, especially our greens which are the most intensely manicured, if you will, areas on the course. One disease in particular is hitting us hard this year and that disease is Fairy Ring (FR).

I know we’ve all seen the little puffball mushrooms that popped up on the greens in the last two weeks these puffballs are a result of a group of fungi classified as FR. This is a fungus that lives in the soil and is found almost everywhere in the world! There are three types of FR we deal with, types I and II, which we normally deal with here in the spring before the rains start  and the temperatures start to rise, like drier conditions. These types show their symptoms as dry rings or arcs of weak, brown or yellow turf. Now I want to take a minute to let you know that FR doesn’t attack the turf itself but affects the soil in a matter that makes it hard for the turfgrass roots to function properly by making the soil repellant to water or hydrophobic. If the roots can’t take up water then they can’t take up nutrients either thereby weakening the plants. What we have seen pop up on the greens over the last couple weeks is type III FR which likes the wet, cloudy conditions we have been dealing with most of the summer. While type III is the most benign as far as the health of the turf is concerned the little puffball mushrooms, which are the fungi’s fruiting bodies, are a little more than annoying when they pop up on the close mowed turf of the putting greens.

Rest assured we have been trying to get these pesky little buggers controlled since they first started popping up a couple weeks ago. There are only a few control methods that can be implicated to get rid of the fungus. One method we were using to rid the greens of this menace to a smooth putting surface is actual physical removal of the mushrooms using a small knife or ball mark tool. This is quite labor intensive and very inefficient. The only other way to rid the greens from the mushrooms is by chemical controls. Our agronomic program on the greens calls for preventative fungicide applications every 14-21 days throughout the year to control a myriad of pathogens that affect our greens year round. FR has specific products that have to be applied at the right time in order to suppress the disease. The products also have to be applied in a manner that will see the product moved through the turf canopy and into the soil where the fungus is active and thriving. We applied two applications of products specifically aimed at FR earlier this spring and were successful at beating the type I and II FR we had, but when the weather changed in favor of the type III those preventative applications were already gone from our soils. Needless to say we applied a FR specific fungicide two weeks ago and will be making another application this week and we will be going to a seven day application schedule with a rotation of products, until the problem has been taken care of.

I know that these puffballs are a real nuisance but we are doing what we can to rid the greens of this issue. The fungicides used to treat FR take some time to kick in and the application we made a week and a half ago should now be kicking in full gear and we should see the mushrooms subside soon. I appreciate everyone’s patience with this problem and like I said before, we deal with FR every year during the spring and early summer, we just have more type III this year than in years past. I hope everyone has a great holiday weekend and as always if you have any questions or comments please don’t hesitate to flag me down and ask!

Here is a link about FR with some great info on this disease:

http://www.turffiles.ncsu.edu/diseases/Fairy_Ring.aspx

HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY!!!

Skip Connolly

Golf Course Superintendent

TPC Eagle Trace

Aerification 2013Update

Well here we are, one week removed from the dreaded "Greens Aeration" and we are showing some great recovery despite Mother Nature's best efforts to screw it up. We started the process last Monday 3 June and we got through with out a hitch, we were able to poke the holes, topdress, fertilize and clean up the  despite a poor weather forecast which called for a lot of rain due to the approach Tropical Storm Andrea from the Gulf of Mexico. Nothing like getting our first Tropical activity 4 days after the start of Hurricane Season eh?! Once Thursday came along we were receiving some rain activity as a result of the feeder bands from TS Andrea. Never the less we were able to get the first "post aerification" mow on Thursday afternoon and  things were going well into Friday after noon at which time we received more, a lot more, rain from the passing storm, 7 inches to be exact.

Close up of holes on #18 today

While the rain was definitely a set back for the bunkers and rough mowing, the greens weren't affected as much. The sand from the topdressing stayed in place and we were able to mow them everyday. On Monday we let we gave them a break from mowing and put a light verticut, this is where we use reels with vertical blades on them which has multiple beneficial effects, on them to help get the holes closed faster. Tuesday we mowed one last time with the 'sand' reels to clean up after the verticut and Wednesday we got to mow with fresh reels. You should have seen the grass we cut! The fresh reels really helped to smooth out the greens as we were able to get a nice cut on the Tif Eagle.

Aeration holes last Tuesday

As we stand today the holes are roughly 85% healed which is great for it being only a week since we punched the holes. We will continue to mow and roll and we plan on bringing the heights of the greens mowers down this weekend to start bringing the green speeds back up. 

 Please be advised that the green speeds will be slower than normal through the weekend. It looks like the rain should stay away and we should have some great golfing conditions for this Father's Day Weekend!

Skip Connolly

Golf Course Superintendent

Rain Event Update

The South Florida Water Management District supplies us with the the water we need to keep the course's moisture levels adequate for healthy turf growth. They are constantly having to adjust the water levels through their distribution system which supplies all of South Florida  This week is a great example of the District in action with the big rain/ storm event that moved in during the middle of the week the SFWMD has been working hard to keep the water levels low enough to try and avert any flooding associated with the large amounts of rain the system dumped over all of South Florida.

The link below is to a SFWMD bulletin concerning the storm and its effects.

http://my.sfwmd.gov/portal/page/portal/xrepository/sfwmd_repository_pdf/nr_2013_0503_rainfall_update.pdf

Invasive Species

26 April 2013

Bermudagrass mutations #10 green

We’ve had some members ask about the different types of grasses they see intruding on the greens from the collars, step cut and roughs. When the greens were renovated back in 2001 they were planted with a pure stand of Tif-Eagle Ultradwarf Bermudagrass. In the years since weeds have been trying to infest the tif-eagle and infringe on our smooth playing surfaces. Weeds being defined as any undesirable plant growing amongst our desirable crop, in this case, our putting greens. Most of what we see are mutations of the 419 bermudagrass which makes up the remainder of playing surfaces at TPC Eagle Trace. These mutations along with some other grassy weeds develop into different varieties of the “parent” grasses over time and become a strong enough to take over some of the weaker tif-eagle and cause problems with smoothness due to their inconsistent growth habits. Some of the mutations grow faster than the tif-eagle and some slower. This unevenness causes a non-uniform surface which can effect ball roll and cause ugly visuals on the greens. Some of you may remember the goose grass that popped up on greens #3 and #7 last year affecting some putts due to the goose grass growing faster that the tif-eagle.

Beginning in May, when the growing season is in full swing, we will embark on our plan to remove these areas through the use of chemical herbicides and physical removal of the undesirable areas followed by the replacement of these zones with clean grass from our nursery. You will notice some yellow areas and some more plugs on the greens as we move forward with this project over the summer. This shouldn't cause too many issues as the warm weather, ample water and sunshine, which tif-eagle loves, will promote fast healing and healthy greens all around.

As always feel free to contact me with any questions you may have and keep those scores low!

Skip Connolly

Golf Course Superintendent

TPC Eagle Trace

Summer Recovery

Here is a great link from the USGA concerning this past summer and the transition into winter here across Florida. Our fairway are making great strides and improving from their weakened state due to the rough summer and fall we had. Enjoy!


USGA Green Section

It's been a while...TPC Eagle Trace Course Update

Dear Members,

            Dear Members,

Greens rolling smooth and true

            It’s hard to believe we are full swing into the golf season and Christmas/ New Year’s is right around the corner! While the holiday season has snuck up on us, there has been a lot happening at TPC Eagle Trace over the last few months!  The departure of Heritage Golf Group and the addition of Century Golf Partners/ Arnold Palmer Golf as well as hosting the Final Stage of Champions Tour Qualifying School in November have certainly kept us busy. Much has gone on and I feel the club has come through in good shape and we are poised for much improvement in the future.

            Here at Golf Course Maintenance we are full in to our “In-Season”/ wintertime cultural practices. While we have made it to the winter months, the weather lately has not been our typical South Florida winter.  The warm day and night temperatures coupled with high humidity have led to some much needed growth in the fairways but have also produced some challenges with disease and algae pressure on the greens.

            Some of our winter maintenance practices include monthly, instead of twice monthly, light topdressing on greens. We lower the frequency of the topdressing to limit the damage to the turf which doesn’t grow as much in the winter. We also mow the greens at higher heights of cut to allow for more leaf surface to harness the light from the sun, which there is less of in the winter, to make food. We will roll the greens more frequently to counter act the higher mowing heights which helps keep the green speeds remain where we want them. We have also been able to complete two full mowing cycles on the main rough and the outside St. Augustine rough on a weekly basis. We continue to mow the fairways, tees, and approaches three times a week. We will also be implementing more frequent fertilizing of the fairways and tees utilizing lighter application rates.

            Lately I have been getting questions as to why we don’t overseed the golf course like some of the other courses around South Florida. Aside from the fact it is a done purely for aesthetic purposes, it actually hinders the play ability of the golf course. This is the main reason we discontinued the practice when we were still with the PGA Tour. There is also a substantial cost associated with the practice due to purchasing seed, copious amounts of water use, preemergent herbicide applications for the non-overseeded areas, and additional labor just to name a few. Don’t forget, due to the heavy watering needed to get the new grass established, the golf course would need to be played under Cart Path Only conditions for two to three weeks.  Perennial ryegrass is the cool season grass most used to overseed in South Florida and our normal climate here does not provide the optimum growing environment for this grass. To successfully overseed, you must have the cooperation of Mother Nature. The warm temps and high humidity we have seen recently is more suited to the Bermudagrass that blankets our golf course.  If we had overseeded lately, the ryegrass would have become weak and then taken over by the Bermuda. We’d then be left with both species being weak when the weather returns to the normal cooler, drier days we are used to in the wintertime.  The end result would be having had our play ability affected even more so than not overseeding at all. These are some of the more prominent reasons for not overseeding here at the club.

A new day dawns over ET

In closing, I would like to thank everyone for their patience over the last few months as we made the transition to Century Golf. We have been instituting a new culture here around GC Maintenance and the future is looking bright for the golf course and the club as a whole. I hope everyone has noticed the vast improvement to the course conditions and rest assured we will continue to improve and maintain the course to the higher standard you as members crave and deserve. As always feel free to stop me on the golf course or contact me here at Golf Course Maintenance if you have any questions at all regarding anything going on around the club. I hope everyone has a Joyous and safe Holiday Season and a Happy 2013.

Oh and I almost forgot, after a short absence from posting content on the site  we will be putting pictures and other goodies up on our Golf Course Maintenance Blog. Feel free to follow us at http://tpcgm12.blogspot.com/ for some good stuff in the upcoming months.

Take care,

Skip Connolly | Golf Course Superintendent
TPC Eagle Trace
Tel: 954.344.5635

Fax: 954.341.4562
wconnolly@tpceagletracegc.com
www.tpceagletrace.com

SkipConn@twitter.com