Greens Mystery Solved!!

This year we notice some issues on greens and areas that historically do not exhibit issues during transition such as 1, 6, 5 & 8.

Knowing that this wasn't the norm we pulled a sample to be tested in the lab to find out what it is so we could treat the area.  Fungicides are an expensive application we wanted to know exactly what we we attacking before any application.  While we were waiting for the results we began the repairs on the greens knowing these areas would not return on their own or recovery quite slowly.  Today the results came in.

It appears that that during the spring or early spring we have been attacked by bermudagrass decline (BGD) in which the treatment is to replace the infected area and treat the infected greens.  The replacement program is still going strong and we will spray fungicides this week.

We should see improvement quite quickly and for next year we will be better prepared before transition.

Aerification is Finished!!

We have finished up the aerification of the fairways and tees today thus there will not be any more aerifications until mid-August.  Enjoy the month off from maintenance.  In addition, we have just finished the drilling & filling of the greens and by week's end should be close to having the greens at 100% again.  Once all of the minor repairs have been completed we will be starting to working on green speed.  I should note the recovery time from the August aerification is very quick.

Starting tomorrow we will start the sod repairs around the greens in those areas we believe would not normally recover this year.  I have been asked about what is going on in select roughs which it is the transition of the areas we did not chemically treat.  They (meaning the roughs) will continue throughout the summer transitioning since they still have ryegrass in them.  The good news is the tees, fairways and greens will be completely transitioned within the month.  Presently, the fairways are 85 - 90% transitioned and in some cases over 95%.

I am very pleased on how well the transition has gone this year ... much quicker than I thought given the weather conditions in June.  It is a time hated by all but good for the overall health of the golf course ... and every golf course I was told was much better (i.e. Desert Springs, Indian Wells CC, Lakes, Bermuda Dunes, etc.) were either in the same condition as us or going to be soon since now of those courses had chemically removed their ryegrass ... thus their transitions are still coming.

Drill & Fill, and Well on 6

Drill & fill went great today with us completing 12 greens.  In addition, we were able to finish aerifying the fairways and tees of 12 - 18, 5 & 8.  The front nine tees have been completely finished and we should be almost finished tomorrow.  Tomorrow, the drilling order will be 4, 3, 11, 10, PG, CGs, 1, 2 and finishing with the small PG next to 3's tee.

Tomorrow you will see a crane working on the well on 6.  This morning the well stopped producing water and we are unsure the cause.  All simple potential issues have been addressed now it is time to look at the pump and bowl assembly themselves.

Drill & Fill Starts Today

This morning in a couple of minutes we will be starting the drilling of the greens.  Our plan is slightly changed where we are going to start on 4, then 8, then 13, 12, 14, 15, 17, 16, 18, 9, 6, etc.  Along with drilling the greens we will be attempting to also aerify the fairways and remaining tees so we will disrupt play as little as possible.  Since this is the first time we have tried this it may not work as planned.

Bermudagrass Runners

I was asked yesterday about "what was the stringy grass that was growing in the fairways and around the course?"  See picture below - double click to enlarge.

These "stringy runners" are actually called stolons that are produced by the bermudagrass plant which is the part that fills in the weaker areas.  In addition to the stolons there are rhizomes which grow under the soil line thus further aid in the filling in of these weak spots.  They are the number one reason we kill the ryegrass so these runners have a place to grow without completion and thus producing a healthier turf in the fairways.

Blue Lines Around the Greens

On the Large PG and the front nine greens you may have noticed some blue line boxes.  These boxes are areas starting on the 13th of July that we are going to sod cut and then re-sod with 328 bermudagrass.  Since this is the first year that we have chemically removed the ryegrass around the green there is a chance that we can get the bermuda to establish before the overseeding season.  These areas will be considered grounds under repair until the roots tack down.  Once the front nine is finish we will be starting the back nine, thus before the last week of July all repairs will be completed.

Rough Aerification Today, Tees & Fairways Tomorrow

Today we should be finishing the aerification of the roughs (round two) and starting in the afternoon tomorrow we will be starting select tees & fairways.  Since in July we do not close the golf course for this process it takes us longer to complete the aerification than normal.  Ideal situation we will be done by mid-week of next week and will start the the touch up sodding around the greens where hopefully we can glean some long term repair.  I should note that the sodded areas will be considered grounds under repair; however, you must ask the pro shop for a local ruling about the aerification plugs and holes.  The rules of golf do not cover the issue about aerification.

Least Than Month & Transition is Progressing Well

When we started the transition on 6-15-11 during the first aerficaition we knew that with the cooler weather than transition this year was going to be an ugly one.  As with other golf courses around the Valley that are lucky enough to have common bermudagrass instead of those easier transitioning turfs such as 328, Tifsport and 419 Tifway transition is always for us at first an ugly process.  But as with the other bermudagrasses we will and do catch back up to their level in about a month ... and we are here too.

                                           6-10-11 (5's Fairway Before Transition)

At first due to the weather being cooler the fairways that were chemically treated looked quite ugly and appeared to only have 40% turfgrass coverage (See picture 6-20-11) but this is not the reality ...

                                           6-20-11 (5's Fairway Just Starting Transition)

the ryegree starts to die giving the fairways a "browning" color and then the bermudagrass which is under the ryegrass is given a chance to grow back though ... but this doesn't happen overnight and for two weeks actually becomes worst looking until all the ryegrass finally dies.

                                                  6-30-11 (Finish Ryegrass Death)
Once that happens the bermudagrass fills back in (such as what we are seeing right now) and is given a chance to grow for the 100 days required to to continue to have healthier turf for the rest of the

                                          7-4-11 (5's Fairway Filling in with Bermudagrass)
summer and for the future.  Currently, 19 days into this transition process we on average have 75%+ recovery of our fairways and 95% recovery of our greens.  Once we get through next week's drill and fill of the greens we will start the process of speeding them back up for the remainder of the summer.  All of this is in just over ONE month ... not the entire summer.

Aerification / Drill & Fill

I know it hard to believe but we are starting the rough aerification today for the second round.  Due to the holiday next week and our efforts to save the Club monies in payroll we will be limited staff; however, we still will be working on the aerification of the roughs and select tees & fairways.  The drill & fill of the greens (no aerification this month) will start the week following the holiday week -- July 11th.  During this process we will not be closing the golf course but we will be closing certain holes that are being worked on at the time.

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.