Monday After First Week on Heat

I walked the greens this morning very much encouraged by what I saw ... the greens are beginning to fill in on the transition areas and our greens repair is in full swing.  This year the main areas on the greens that got hit were found in the front nine and with the exception of 6's green (a heavy shaded green) most of the damaged areas can be directly linked to the tree roots that are encroaching the greens.  The good news is that we have cut all of those roots in mid May thus once the damage is corrected we should be stronger next year.

 Indian Wells Green - Lots of Poa Triv

I have had a few questions about the golf course and of course comparing the conditions to others in the Valley.  On Friday I went to Indian Wells CC and Desert Springs Marriott both of which have push up greens and common bermudagrass fairways ... this is what I saw.  They had the same amount or less of bermudagrass (see pictures) as we do here at Avondale.  But why do they look different and better?  Neither golf course has aerified their greens as of yet; neither have sprayed out their ryegrass thus both require much more water inputs just to keep the ryegrass alive as the temperatures rise; due to less trees Indian Wells transitions better without the need of chemical inputs ... here at Avondale we do not thus years of holding on to the ryegrass led to death of significant amount of the fairways before my arrival and better, USGA cultural practices were utilized.  Look up USGA Greens Section article "Spring Transition: Going, Going, Gone" from March / April 2005 if you think I am wrong.  USGA Article

Desert Springs Where They Have Allowed Transition

The good news is that the temperatures are rising and the bermudagrass is filling in.  As per the Board's request last year (which was a good one) we sprayed out the approaches and surrounds this year for the first time so we will get the same excellent results that we got last year about mid July about the fairways.  Last year, the members did not like the transition either but during July they (the ones here in the summer) were raving on just how great they were ... this too shall happen this year.  The best news is that by taking care of the course correctly our overseedings have become better and better each and every year.

Upcoming Drill & Fill in July

Drill & filling of the greens will start in the next few weeks.  To try to give you an idea of what this process involves please watched the attached videos.  The course will not close but the hole that we are drilling plus the hole that we are cleaning will be closed until they are finished.

As you can see this is a slow process that is completely necessary for the deep percolation of the greens, and is usually completed within two days.

General Update

I started to see a couple of bermudagrass runners today in the fairways which is a very good sign that transition recovery is on the way.  This week the temperatures will hover around 105 to 110 range which will be great for turf growth.  In addition, we are seeing a slight recovery in the greens along some of the edges.  Greens repair is in full swing and along with verticutting and fertilizations we should see their recovery sooner than expected.  Then we will start addressing the loss of green speed issue to get them ready for the remainder of the summer.

We skipped raking the bunkers today to finally address the cleanup of Country Club Drive which sorely needed our attention.  By noon today it should be completed and we can focus our attention back to the golf course where we need to finish the leaf cleanup.  During the summer months as the temperature increases numerous of our species of trees start to lose their leaves due to stress and the fact they are not suited to the desert environment.  If we are lucky we should be caught up on the cleaning of the course, edging of the tee & fairways plaques, and the weeding & edging of the bunkers by tomorrow or Friday at the latest.

Speaking of bunkers, due to vacations, transition needs, days off and labor reduction (until new replacement employee is hired) we will be skipping the raking of the bunkers on Thursday to be able to put our team members in other areas where their need is greater.  We will be still raking the bunkers on the weekends as agreed upon with the Board with limited exceptions such as drill & fill and aerification.

The Heat is On!

Today, the temperatures are going to exceed 115 degrees and summer has finally arrived to Avondale.  Due to the cooler temperatures in May and June transition from ryegrass to bermudagrass has been greatly reduced thus leading to a very slow and bad transition.  For the first time since converting to bermudagrass greens with are experiencing a "spotty" transition of their surface.

Every year we always have an area or two on the greens that require extra attention; however, this year we have a couple of greens that will struggle a couple of weeks due to the timing of the transition.  The worst of the greens is 6, followed by 8 and 12.  So what are we doing to address these issues?  Well besides of course aerification which finally removed the remaining Poa Triv we are verticutting the greens twice per week, fertilizing twice per week (once foliar, once granular) and repairing bad areas that have limited turf in them.

As to date we haven't seen any runners (the stolons that run on the surface of the soil from the internode of the plant) but with the temperatures increasing we should be seeing them within a week.  With the verticutting and fertilizations recovery of the greens will be with two to three weeks.  Now green speed will take a bit longer to to recover due to the same reasons we are getting them to recover.

Upcoming Timelines -- July

Timelines:

a.      Upcoming Week:

a) Jun 27^th foliar spraying greens.

b) Jun 28^th verticutting greens.

c) Jun 29^th fertilizing greens with 21-0-0.

d) Jun 30^th verticutting greens.

e) Jun 30^th fertilizing fairways with 21-0-0.

b.      In Next Week After:

a)  July 4^th week limited crew due to Holiday.

b)  July 5^th start aerifying the roughs.

c)  July 5^th foliar fertilizing greens.

d)  July 5^th verticutting greens.

e)  July 5^th fertilizing tees & fairways w/21-0-0.

f)  July 6^th 21-0-0 the greens.

g) July 7^th start aerifying the tees & fairways (depends on Holiday).

h) July 7^th verticutting greens.

i)  July 7^th or 14^th fertilizing fwys & tees w/21-0-0.

j)  Weekend of July 9^th limited crew due to aerification.

c.       In Near Future:

a) Weekend of July 9^th limited crew due to aerification.

b)  July 11^th start drill & filling the greens – cont. wall-to-wall aerification (course open – certain holes closed).

c) July 11^th foliar fertilize greens.

d) July 14^th verticutting greens.

e) July 14^th fertilizing greens w/21-0-0.

f)  July 15^th spraying Cascade & X-Sodis on greens.

g) Weekend of July 16^th limited crew due to drill & fill.

h) July 18^th foliar fertilizing greens.

i)  Starting July 18^th spot fertilizing as needed over remainder of July.

j)  July 19^th verticutting greens.

k) July 21^st verticutting greens.

l)  July 25^th foliar fertilizing greens.

m) July 26^th verticutting greens.

n)  July 28^th verticutting greens.

o)  July 29^th topdressing greens.

Hawks & Birds of Prey

Every year we have one to two nesting hawks or birds of prey who raise their young in the tall trees at Avondale.  Over the past three years these nest have been located on holes 2, 9 and 14, and have led to conflicts between the golfers and the birds.  This year the nest's location can be found on 6 just before the rightside fairway bunker.

Once the eggs have hatched the adults become very protective of their young and will do almost anything to defend them.  In most cases they "swoop" at the golfers who venture under the nesting young's tree trying their best to warn the golfers to leave the area.  In cases where the golfers continue their presence under the trees in question the hawks become more aggressive and have been know to make actual contact on the golfers.  Under the Decisions on Rules of Golf 1-4/10 (1997) under a dangerous situation inferring with play the golfer can get relief without penalty.

As far as the maintenance staff or others that work for the maintenance department inferring with the hawk by damaging the nest, killing the young or the hawk itself, this is something we will NOT do.  Not only is it harming an innocent animal but it is highly against the law to cause any harm to a bird of prey which is not only punishable by hefty fines but by jail time as well.  If you have any concerns please contact Animal Control for their ruling on the issue.

June's Aerification

We have finished the aerification process including the greens and all went well on the golf course.  Now we are in the cleanup mode which will hopefully will be done completely over the upcoming week.  It will take a bit longer to regain green speed since the sand from the aerification dulls the greens mowers blades quite quickly.  During the course closure we additionally had all the palm trees trimmed (first time in three years) and two dying trees removed.  Next week we will be addressing the oleanders along El Dorado.

Transition is in full swing and the sprayed ryegrass in the fairways and tees, and in the greens.  If you look at the tees you made notice that it seems that there is much more bermudagrass than on the fairways ... there is two major reasons for this look.  The first is that the tees do not experience cart traffic thus healthier turf, and second, the main reason, is because the tees are 328 bermudagrass and the fairways are common bermudagrass.  Common bermudagrass takes longer the the hybrid bermudagrasses to recover, but they will indeed recover quite nicely.  Thanks to aerification the greens will heal quite quickly from transition with needing only minor repairs.

Bunker "Lips"

Recently, and in the past, I have heard questions about the "lips" or edges on the bunkers and why are they there.  Well, lets first discuss why they are there ... every two weeks we edge and remove bermudagrass runners from the edges of the bunkers which leaves an "lip" on the bunker.  We use to pull the sand back up on the edge but due to the lack of sand in the bunker this ended up causing a groove along the rake line that our members did not enjoy. 

After several discussions with our Green & Golf Committees it was decided that we needed to address these grooves which inferred with the playability of the bunker.  We decided to treat the edges of a bunker in the same manner that we address the the cleanup pass on the greens ... we do not rake them every day.  Instead we go in rotation from pulling the edges out, then no edge raking, then pulling the edges in, and back to no edge raking.  We continue this pattern all the time now and during the last Green/Golf Committee meeting the net effect was enjoyed.  I should note that over the past two years quite a bit of effort has been put to reshaping and addressing these bunkers at little to no additional cost to the Club.

Back to the "lips" on the bunker again.  Every attempt is made to ensure that the edge of the bunker that experiences your back swing stays flush to the turf near it.  The reason for this is because if during your back swing your club strikes the bunker's edge it counts as a penalty stroke.  As far as the front lip or the one closest to the green we do little to correct this lip because it is not a penalty if your ball strikes it on the way out of the bunker if you hit a "line drive" instead of lofting your ball out.

One day we will add and rebuild the bunkers but sadly that day is today.  The good news is that we do rake them every day and put as much effort into them as we can to keep them attractive.

Transition & Why We Don't Compare Courses

Last week we finished spraying the ryegrass on the fairways and tees.  One look at that dark green stripe on 9 that we missed spraying will show the difference in the health of the rye.  Transition is an ugly time of year no matter what and can vary from course to course.  With the weather being cooler than normal some courses may at first look better than others than are chemically transitioning but over time they will look worse and will be less healthy than those who force their transition.  The overall goal is to get at least 100 days of good growth without completion for the bermudagrass to ensure its health for years to come.  Weather, trees (or lack thereof), age of irrigation and nozzles all become factors in the speed and quality of the transition.  This year, although great for the golfers, the weather has not been our friend in aiding the growth of the bermudagrass.

Upcoming Aerification

Starting this upcoming Monday (June 6th) we will be starting to aerify the roughs.  This is quite a large undertaking and I should note that the plugs will be left to be cut up by the mowing.  During this process the plugs and their holes are considered "grounds under repair" and under the rules of golf free relief is allowed.  Note: This holds true also for the areas that we are currently "scuffing" in the fairways to remove the dead ryegrass if not swept or blown.

We have finished spraying out the ryegrass and its death should occur soon.  Between heavy fertilization's and aerification (with a little heat from Mother Nature) we should be seeing some recovery soon and in no time have our fairways and approaches back to healthy bermudagrass.  With the June's aerification starting on the 13th of June you will see our new plan go into effect.  We will be close the 13th to the 15th with the back nine ONLY open on the 16th and the front nine ONLY open on the 17th.  The entire golf course will be opened on the 18th ... which will have a limited crew size due to the personnel needed for the aerification.

Be aware that that greens will be quite sandy for a couple of weeks but we will be doing all that we can to get them back playable as soon as we can.  Aerification is a necessary evil that neither equipment nor members enjoy but the greens love.

Cup Setter

I have heard that a few members over the years believe that my set up team member doesn't use the the cup setter ... let me assure you that he does use it everyday and every time he places a new cup in the green.  So what happens to lift a edge of a cup on a green -- this can be several things from a greens mower team member being too lazy to get off their machines to remove the flag thus pulling the cup up slightly to what I see happening often is a golfer pulling the flag stick while walking and thus lifting the cup and thus the lip.  Even dull blade on the cup cutter itself can lead to an issue but this one is fixed when the cup setter is used.

We do everything we can to limit these problems but if you happen to find one lifted please contact me with the hole number so we can address.  Usually when this problem happens it is just one cup or two at the most.  That being said, I have found on numerous occasions the problem is the turf itself and a slow putt speed at the cup.