New Tee Markers

Each winter we bring in all our green and tee equipment (GTE) for it's yearly maintenance. This is a pretty extensive process. In evaluating our tee markers and seeing the sad state many of them were in, we needed to make some changes. Our current fake pine log markers are expensive and with the amount that are damaged, I didn't want to spend the cash replacing them; we have far too many other areas we want to spend the money.

Several courses in the area are completing their winter tree work, so we ventured over to Whitford Country Club to pickup some pine logs to begin making our own markers. They are turning out fantastic!! Our new markers will be the same pine logs, but these will be real and give a new authentic look to our tee boxes. These markers will be significantly larger and short of someone having a chainsaw in their golf bag, will not break. I would hate to see the first club that meets one of these markers. Below are a few pictures from our process. These will be put on the course for the beginning of the season on April 1st.

Article by David Feherty

David Feherty recently published an article in GOLF Magazine titled, Modern Greenskeepers are the real PGA Tour Magicians Great article! Also, nice to see the notoriety.

I will post some more specifics of these new UGMO sensors. It is important to fully understand how these sensors work and how, why and when to incorporate them. When we don't receive over 65 inches of rain, we keep Hartefeld National dry firm and fast. Nothing in my opinion will ever take the place of a good soil probe.

USGA Regional Update

Below is the USGA Regional update. This is exactly what I blogged about just about a week ago.

Roots Are Not Elastic!
By Darin S. Bevard, Senior Agronomist
January 15, 2010



WOW! The mercury pushes above the freezing mark for a couple of days in much of the region, and the questions regarding winter play have come rushing into our offices. The negative impacts of winter play are hard to quantify, which is what makes the topic so controversial. However, it is generally accepted that golfer traffic on dormant, frozen greens can create problems, even if only early in the growing season.

A bigger concern is playing on greens during freeze/thaw cycles, which are the conditions that are occurring right now. In recent days, the surfaces of greens have thawed, but underlying soils are still frozen within one or two inches of the surface. Under these conditions, the potential for root shearing is greatest. How much this actually occurs in debatable, but it is best to err on the side of caution and keep greens closed until thawing occurs deeper in the profile. Remember, if the underlying soils are frozen, water infiltration will not occur, thus keeping the greens spongy and more prone to mechanical damage from foot traffic and ball marks. In some instances, the need for revenue may trump caution, but beware of potential problems of subjecting greens to winter play.

Conditions vary greatly throughout the region. Northern portions of the region are still under snow and ice cover, while snow cover has melted in other areas. The bottom line at this point is we simply do not know the probability of potential winterkill. We may get some answers on the northern push of bermudagrasses that have not traditionally been considered winter hardy. Time will tell as winter injury to Poa annua populations in the Pocono Mountains, Pittsburgh, and other areas are a concern as well.

Keep in mind that additional snow mold applications may be needed with the current thaw. At the very least, review your application records and the ten day weather forecast to help determine if another application is necessary before spring.



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Open Today on Delay

We will open today for play at approximately 10:30am. Due to the thawing we will be restricting carts to path only with the use of Blue Flags.

Have a great day of golf!!

Attending the GIS show?

Since I have several followers of this blog that are fellow industry professionals, I thought I would post this today. If you are attending the GIS Show and don't have any seminars picked yet, consider "Taking Control of Your Career, Make it Magic!" This is held on Tuesday morning from 8am to noon. I was asked by GCSAA to assist in teaching this with Carol Rau, PHR. Carol and I have finished developing the program and it promises to be exciting and informative. Learn to bring value to your current club and utilize technology to advance your career. I am very excited to have this opportunity to teach with the GCSAA.

Not making any seminars, then be sure to stop by the Test Drive Technology Lab on the Trade Show floor. I will be completing a demonstration of the iPhone. Showing Superintendents and other industry professionals how to maximize your daily tasks with the use of this smartphone. Featured iPhone apps will include, Weather Tracking, vewing and editing word and excel email attachments right on your phone and how to maximize your course or properties irrigation with apps from RainBird and Toro. Many other applications will also be demonstrated. Currently, I am unsure what time I will be in the Test Drive Technology Lab, I will post updates on here and Twitter when I have further details.

Last but not least, are you a Twitter user? If not, start now! This years GIS Show will be huge on Twitter!! @BASFTurf_us has already made several announcements via Twitter and most likely during the week of the show via Twitter. @GCM_Magazine discussed creating the hashtag #GIS10 for all communication for the GIS 2010 show. If you are a part of GIS be sure to include this tag on all your posts regarding the show.

Looking forward to seeing you all there....Safe travels!

Looks like the snow will be leaving us!

Well.....temperatures look promising for the remaining snow to melt. Forecasters are calling for temperatures in the 40's which will surely allow the snow to melt and golf to return. Don't wait too long to get out, snow is forecasted for Sunday! Since we have had temperatures barely reaching 30 degrees over the last several weeks, we have had a hard freeze. We needed it bad!! We haven't had a winter like this in 5 or so years. This hard freeze helps reduce Poa annua populations, reduce some of our insect levels and fungal spores that will survive those mild winters.

When the temperature begins to rise, the ground will begin to thaw and we must protect it. To hep mitigate any damage from play over the next few days, we will be topdressing the greens. This will help with ball mark and foot traffic. One of the biggest concerns for a Superintendent during a thaw after a hard freeze is root shear. When the top part of the rhizosphere or soil begins to thaw, this portion can shift over the deeper frozen layer. When these two surfaces, which contain our ever important root system, shift over one another, root shearing will occur. If we experience excessive shearing, the grass will die. To help with this situation, along with the topdressing, we will be holding off play like a frost delay to allow greens to thaw deeper. It is vital to protect the turf over the winter. Our greens are extremely vulnerable this time of year because it is dormant and not growing. Any damage is irreversible and will cause issues when trying to push green speeds in the spring and summer. This is the reason many private courses will utilize temp greens over the winter. Since we will not be utilizing temp greens, we must take other precautions, like those listed above to protect our most important asset.

New Blog...Check it Out!

As my experience over the last 8 months in the blogosphere has grown, I got the itch to create an additional blog - iTurf Apps. After I had the privilege of having a feature article done in Golf Course Industry Magazine - Mobile Mileage, I thought about starting another blog. Things were too hectic. Over the last 2 nights I watched 2 specials on CNBC, "Welcome to Macintosh" and "MacHEADS", the itch got stronger and I launched the new blog this morning.

I wanted to make sure my initial objectives with this blog remained. I didn't want to stray. I encourage everyone to follow both, share your thoughts and experiences.

iTurfApps

Happy New Year!!

Well, Im back!! I thankfully was able to take sometime off over the holidays and spend some much needed time with my family. The first few days were exciting, we were able to take my son sledding for the first time....he loved it!!! We are taking him to Disney in a few weeks and look forward to seeing him on many of the rides.

The golf course is doing well and with each day, continues putting it's "winter coat" on. We have plenty to keep us busy over the winter, tending to the many odds and ends we are unable to do in the heat of the season, no pun intended. This time for us is also a bit slower. It is often difficult to switch gears, but this year was tough and I am very much looking forward to getting to see other industry peers at trade shows and seminars over the next couple months.

With the slower season, my goal is to post more to the blog. It may not always be regarding the conditions at Hartefeld, but it will always be geared toward our great industry.

Happy New Year to all!!