Venting Greens

From time to time, you may observe our staff performing a process called "venting" on our greens this summer.  Just like you and I, the greens need to breathe and the venting process is a way for us to get oxygen back into the soil profile and promote healthy gas exchange between the soil and the atmosphere.  In order to produce tournament-caliber green speeds we have to subject the greens to a lot of mechanical traffic with our mowing and rolling equipment.  Combined with heavy foot traffic from golfers, this creates compaction and can over time, seal off the surfaces and create an unhealthy anerobic environment for the turfgrass. 

The imapct on the playability of the greens surface with the venting process is very different than the traditional "aerification" process that we peform ever Spring and Fall.  During the traditional process, we remove a 5/8" core and topdress heavily with sand which makes the green bumpy. 

The difference with the venting process is that we use a solid tine comparable to the size of a pencil that does not remove any material from the green.  Many of you won't even notice that we have done the process because once we run our greens roller over the surface, any visual evidence of the holes disappears and the surface rolls just as true as it did before.  That's it.  Nothing to it!  Here are some pictures to illustrate:



Running the pencil tines over the green with our aerifier.



On the left, is what the green looks like right after it is vented.  On the right is what it looks like after we rolled the green after venting.  You can't even tell we did anything.

 

Here is a picture of an aerification hole that we found in our soil profile.  The Area between the red lines is a channel from the aerification process last Spring.  You can see that the roots in this area are bright white, healthy and happy.  This shows how important oxygen is to the roots of our greens.

Experimenting with Tenacity



You may have noticed a few of our bunker faces have suddenly developed spots of white, bleached out looking grass.  Once again, this is something that has occurred intentionally through our own doing.  We have been experimenting with a  new product called Tenacity, a selective herbicide on a handful of bunker faces  in an attempt to eliminate a weedy grass called velvet grass (Holcus genus).  This weedy grass is coarse, ugly and does not blend well with our finer textured turf.  It has been difficult to control over the years due to the limited number of selective weed control product options for this particular type without harming the desirable turf around it.   As a result, the population has multiplied quite a bit over the years and can be found on many of our bunker faces and certain areas of our roughs.   

We obtained a small sample of Tenacity from our chemical rep to play with and applied it about two weeks ago with a backpack sprayer on some of our worst bunker faces (behind #6 green and #12 green) to see what it would do.  It is kind of cool the way the product works as you can see in the pictures.  My product literature from Sygenta explains how it works as follows:

"Tenacity is a new turf herbicide with a novel mode of action based on a naturally produced compound from the bottlebrush plant which prevents formation of carotenoids in susceptible plant species.  Without carotenoids, light energy and by-products of photosynthesis destroy cholorophyll and cell membranes resulting in bleaching of leaves, followed by necrosis and death of the plant."

Our plan is to continue to monitor the results, learn from what we see, figure out what type of over seeding we need to do if any and make an educated decision on if and how we may formulate a plan using this product for the golf course moving forward.  This type of work will likely need to be done in the spring or fall to get the response/recovery that we need to be successful.  Either way,  so far this product looks like it is pretty cool and I am looking forward to figuring out the best way to possibly incorporate this into our agronomy plan for next season.

Staff Training & Embark, 29 Days Later...

So far, this season's agronomic plan is coming together nicely which is reflected in current course conditions.  A big part of that is, we have been working hard to get our crew trained/retrained for the season.  Some of the things we have been emphasizing include cause/effect of our decision making skills, attention to details and promoting pride in one's work on the golf course.  Like the old saying goes, there is always room for improvement.  Here is a photo of Assistant Superintendent, Danny Vandecoevering going over the details of today's tasks with our team. 

You will notice in the background, that we have a flat screen TV with a picture of #2 tee complex displayed.  Both Assistants, Danny and Jose have been utilizing our Apple TV on a regular basis (new this year) to show the crew photos of specific things on the golf course that we need to work on doing better. 

There is never a day that we go home at the end of the day and think, "Boy, what a great day, everything is just perfect and completely done!"  There is always something to do, a project to work on, something to improve or polish up.  Regardless, we are getting closer and closer to our goals and look forward to checking more things off the list while building the BEST agronomy team that we have ever had here at TPC Snoqualmie Ridge.

On a different subject, in the photos below, you can see that the results of the Embark treatment that was applied on April 2nd is looking amazing.  Check out the following pictures, this is what the fairways look like 29 days after treatment- greener, denser and seedheads are not a major player anymore.  If you do not know what I am talking about, check out my previous post! 



#9 & #10 Complex




#14 Fairway.  Compare this photo to the one in the previous post that showed this fairway 14 days after treatment.  I think you will notice a difference!




#12 Fairway.

Embark

Some of you have asked about our fairway turf looking "bronzed" lately.  Would you be surprised if I told you that we sprayed a chemical to do that on purpose fully aware that this would happen?  Because, we did.  On the 2nd of April, we applied a plant growth regulator (PGR) called Embark.  If you don't remember us doing this last year, it is because this is the first year that we have ever treated the fairways with this PGR.  Some of you may think, well doesn't the bronzing effect contradict what many would call nice green turf?  The answer is yes, but only temporarily.  In our case, the application of this chemical serves three different purposes:

• Seedhead Control:  Our fairways are over 90% Poa annua.  With that, comes the spring flush of white seedheads that suck the plants dry of valuable carbohydrates (energy) which weakens the turf.  If we can prevent seedhead production, the plant is able to divert carbohydrate production to root and shoot health rather than ugly seedheads.

• Turf Color and Density:  While the fairways may look bronzed, this is only temporary and a slight side effect worth overlooking because the dividends are great.  Basically, the cool thing is, after about 30 days from the initial spray, the color change reverses and the turf sprayed with Embark is greener and more beautiful all season long than the turf that was untreated.  (I will post pictures of side by side plots of treated/untreated turf later).  We are also able to partially mask the effects of the bronzing with a couple applications of Iron in the weeks following the initial treatment of Embark.

• Wet-Season Growth Regulation:  When the fairways are wet, it is extremely difficult to mow and maintain them with our heavy equipment.  Therefore, for the 30 days that the grass is under the regulation of Embark, we can pick and choose our days to mow to fit weather conditions and not be forced to play our hand too soon and cause unnecessary damage with our mowers.  (By the way, total rainfall on the golf course was 5.5 inches in March and as of today, the 23rd of April, we have recorded 9.10 inches of rain since the 1st of April!)



Spraying Embark.  We added a green pigment to help mask initial bronzing.



Bronzing effect, 15 days after application.



Greens Aerification...Check!

It is funny, every year right around aerification time I usually get asked the question, "So, are you guys excited to aerify greens?" as if we eagerly count down the days until we are able to go and punch a billion holes in the greens and bury them in sand.  The truth is, no, I do not get my jollies from this contrary to popular belief.  It is kind of like going to the dentist every six months for your cleaning; you know it is good for you so you do it but you do not necessairly look forward to it. 

In terms of grass, this translates to: we do it because it is a necessary cultural practice to maintain healthy grass and promote good playing surfaces.  The process is a lot of work and stress on myself and the crew but let me tell you, when all is said and done it feels GREAT!  This year's weather for greens aerification was fantastic (aside from Tuesday's constant fog/mist), we had the dry days that we needed to get the sand into the holes, pulled a great plug, nothing broke down and the crew worked hard and did a fantastic job!   

Here is a great two minute video from the USGA that gives a little bit more detail on the aeration process along with a few pictures from our own aerification.

Aerification Plugs pulled from the putting green

Beautiful morning for punching!  This was what the weather was like on Monday.

Blowing the sand into the holes in difficult foggy weather on Tuesday.

The sun came back on Wednesday and helped us (dry sand goes into holes better!) and helped us finish up!

What are those Purple Spots?

First, let me say, No . . . Harold and his purple crayon did not pay a visit to our golf course.  Remember this classic book from your childhood?  I read this to my three-year old son Knox at bedtime last night and in the book, everything is purple.  Kind of like those funny looking spots on our greens and fairways.



Anthocyanin pigmentation on a green 


I thought I would take the opportunity to explain what exactly is causing these spots to suddenly appear as of late.  This phenomenon is brought on by swift temperature changes between day and night or mild weather followed by colder periods.  Sounds a lot like our weather in March and April doesn't it? 

Typically, our turf is green thanks to a pigment inside the plant called chlorophyll.  However, when we experience fluctuating weather patterns, another pigment called anthocyanin temporarily replaces cholorophyll as the main pigment in the turf.  This pigment is found in many other colorful plants throughout the plant kingdom such as the purple petunias that we hang around the clubhouse in the summertime or the red geraniums on your back patio. 

Anthocyanin pigmentation on a fairway.

Not all grass plants demonstrate the effects of anthocyanin as it can be limited to certain bio types of turf (we have thousands upon thousands here at TPCSR) which becomes even more apparent as the changes in pigmentation kick in.  Those biotypes that turn purple are producing sugars in the leaf on those relatively warm, bright sunny days.  However, when night rolls around, temperatures drop significantly and the plant is unable to move these sugars down into the plant.  With these sugars stuck in the top portion of the plant, they bind to our friend, anthocyanin and displace chlorophyll (the green pigment) causing the turf to temporarily turn purple.

This biological phenomenon does not harm our turf and is simply a part of Mother Nature's quirks.  It is also interesting to note that these spots tend to appear with stronger intensity on our more exposed areas which makes sense because these areas experience the greatest temperature fluctuations.  (Think wide-open North end putting green versus sheltered #2 green).  Once the weather patterns stabilize towards May and June, chlorophyll will once again become the main pigment in our turf.

Wiedenmann Super 500 Service Work

Coming up in the next month or two, you will begin to notice the agronomy staff doing a number of things to our fairways- aerifying, verticutting and sanding.  The weather during March and April is very touch-and-go with the days jumping from nice and dry to miserable and wet in the blink of an eye.  Weather is the primary factor that determines how fast all of the aforementioned practices occur not because we don't like to work in the rain, but because our equipment is heavy and we do not want to cause any unnecessary damage to the turf.  

Experience has taught us that we must be ready to take advantage of ideal weather conditions at a moment's notice.  This is why our head mechanic, Rick has spent the last month readying every piece of equipment involved in this process.  Every Spring and Fall when we send this equipment out, things get worn out- belts, tines, blades, bearings, chains and so on.  It is amazing how hard our golf course can be on our equipment and our mechanic.

  

Rick taking a look at the condition of our blades and paddles on the drum.

Here is a quick look at the blades from our Wiedenmann Super 500 that we use to verticut fairways.  Rick spent three straight days replacing all of these blades and paddles on the drum inside the machine.  Very tedious work as he had to clean the threads of each nut and bolt of dirt and rust for each individual assembly, remove the old stuff, slide on the new one and then bolt on the new blades and paddles.  All of this had to be done in a 6" wide access point, making for some challenging work with hand tools.  The blade on the top of the picture below is brand new and the one on the bottom is a worn-out blade that was replaced.  Notice the difference between the two?  It is pretty apparent that we wore these out pretty good last fall.  Thanks for all of your hard work Rick! 

Worn out blade vs. brand new blade from the Wiedenmann Super 500 verticutter.

Here is how the blades and paddles are arranged on the drum inside the machine.