Welcome Winter

Winter has finally arrived bringing cold temperatures that are driving the bermuda grass into dormancy. The roughs are almost completely dormant while the short grasses are still holding a little color.

In the grounds department this winter, we are operating with the smallest crew in our history, 11 people. That includes 2 managers, 2 mechanics, and 7 on the crew. This number is down significantly from the past when we would staff 20 guys in the winter. We are trying to staff strong from March -November when our season is busy, then really back off when our play drops.

The winter tasks of this eleven man crew includes:

• Blowing greens
• Check bunkers
• Clubhouse and tennis maintenance
• Blow and clean up leaves
• Spraying for winter weeds
• Irrigation and drainage projects
• Preventative maintenance of equipment
• Grinding of reels for the mowers
• Hydrojecting of greens
• Mowing grass if needed
• Filling divots on driving range tees
• Cleaning of shop and equipment
• And other miscellaneous tasks

We thank everyone for another great year and look forward to the year to come.

Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

Nick Cauley and the Grounds Staff

Grooming the Greens

topdressed green


groomer in action

this is what it looks like after the groomer has passed

It seems summer is coming to an end and fall is right around the corner. The temperatures and sun angle have changed, so the days are becoming more comfortable instead of miserable. Yesterday we groomed the greens for the last time this year. This was a process we did every Monday to help control surface grain and to work sand into the turf canopy.

The process goes like this:

1. topdress
   
2. groom
   
3. brush with mechanical broom
   
4. roll


5. mow


6. gypsum application
   
   

We have changed the order of this process since the first of the summer. Now we brush and roll before the mowers. We find that this makes the surface a little firmer so the mowers do not dig in and cause damage to the turf.

Tee Box Contamination and Renovation

The lime colored grass is zoysia, which came from the 10 acres of zoysia we have planted through out the golf course. the rest of the grass on this tee is 419 from San Antonio



we sod cut then removed the grass and organic matter

tee box being raked out and sprigged, the sprigs were cut from another spot on the golf course that consisted of a pure stand of turf, the white pipe is temporary irrigation that was installed for watering through out the day, we had to water the sprigs a bout 6 times a day to keep them moist

After 3 weeks of growing, looks pretty good, the grass is starting to knit together

After 3 weeks, about 80% coverage, to this point these tee boxes have received 1lb of nitrogen a week to assist them in growing over

When Squire Creek was built earlier this decade everything was sodded, except for the greens. The turf of choice was 419 bermudagrass, and most of this was brought in from Tifton, Georgia. The tees however are different story, the grass on those were brought in from San Antonio, Texas.

Since the tees have a sand base they used washed sod. Washed sod is where the soil is removed from the sod to create a bare root product. This also is used to eliminate sod to soil incompatibilities, help the sod knit to the soil faster, and reduce shipping costs.
When you use a turf from two different fields there are going to be some differences and it can present contamination problems. This is why we have chosen to re-sprig 4 of our tees.

If all goes well the tees should be open for the D-Cup and we may choose a few more to do next year.

The Army has Arrived

single worm down in the grass on #4

several armyworms in grass hanging from leaves

damage in grass on #9, coming out of tree

The armyworm has arrived at Squire Creek and all other nearby pastures. Their eggs are deposited on trees, flagpoles, and grass in groups of 100 or more. The eggs hatch into worms in 2-10 days. The larval body is dull black with several stripes alongside the body. There is a distinct inverted light-colored Y on the front of the head.During there growth cycle they curl up in leaf sheaths, suspend themselves from plants by threads, or crawl about on the ground. Sometimes a large number of larvae may suddenly appear moving across a golf course like an army, hints the name armyworm. When this occurs, large areas will simply disappear overnight, leaving only the thatch, crown, and root system behind. In our area, the fall armyworm is the most destructive turf insect we encounter, especially to bermudagrass.

We have several other grass types in the developement including; centipede, st. augustine, and zoysia. The armyworm does not seem to affect these grasses.

Stormy Weather

Bunker #6 greenside after last Friday's rain


#3 greenside bunker with new sand, I believe that rain was as back as it can get, as you can see this bunker could be raked out, the question is will this sand percolate like this in 3 years?

Lightening strike 4inch irrigation pipe at driving range

the pipe the lightening struck

the pipe repaired with 4inch pipe and 4inch knock-on,

if you look closely you can see red and yellow cables under the pipe, these hopefully were not affected by the lightening

The storms late last week brought much needed rain to our area. We ended up getting .75inch on Wednesday, .25inch on Thursday, and 3.5inch on Friday. The rain we received on Friday was a flash flood type downpour with a lot of lightening. When we receive this amount of lightening we run the risk of it striking trees, irrigation lines, and irrigation cables.

We are now in the process of picking up after the storm. If we do not get any more bad weather we will hopefully be back to normal on Wednesday.

Aerification

greens aerification 5/8 inch tines 1x1 spacing

tractor w/rolling aerator

This shows the whole process

Over the past three weeks we have been very busy on the golf course. Since we only aerify once a year, we get very aggressive on the turf when the time comes. The aerification process is a long, slow process that is very necessary from the health our turfgrass.

Aerification is done for several reasons:

• release of toxic gases from the soil


• improve wetting of dry or hydrophobic soils


• accelerated drying of persistently wet soils


• increased infiltration capacity, especially where surface compaction or thatch limits infiltration


• stimulated root growth within the holes


• increased shoot growth atop the holes
  
• disruption of soil layers resulting from topdressing


• control thatch, especially where soil cores are reincorporated or where topdressing follows coring


• improved turfgrass response to fertilizers
  

With this being said our process goes like this:

1. Greens- we aerify them with 5/8 inch tines on 1x1 spacing, this removes 32% of the surface per year (USGA recommends that you remove 20% of the surface per year).


2. Approaches and Collars- we use the same machine as the greens


3. Fairways- we use a rolling, pull behind machine, we try to go over them 4x and drag the cores in soon after


4. Roughs- same machine as fairways, we go over these areas 2x
   

I know what everybody thinks about aerification, but what we need to understand is how important it is for the health of our turfgrass.

Fairy Ring

The white marks are mushrooms that are produced by the fungi


notice the dark green arcs

the area right off the green arc has become hydrophobic

Whenever you play Squire Creek you will notice several dark green rings on all of the greens, this is known as fairy ring. Fairy ring is a disease that is caused by soil- inhabiting fungi. It appears as circles or arcs of dark green grass, often with thin or dead grass just inside or outside the rings. These rings become more visible when the grass starts getting hungry(low on nitrogen). It is not a problem that we need to treat or feel concerned about.

Tee Aerification

ga-24 in operation on #1 tee box


Spacing 1x1, with cores


The time has arrived for our annual tee aerification. We have decided to start a week earlier on tees to make next week a little easier(greens aerification on July 5-6th). The machines we use on the tees are the same as we use on the greens, but the process is a little quicker.

The process goes like this:

1. We aerify the tee box with the ga-24, it has 5/8 in. coring tines on 1x1 spacing.(removes 31% of the surface)



2. Let the cores dry and then proceed to drag them with a steel mat.(this breaks the thatch apart from the sand)



3. Then we take a blower and blow off the tee surface into the rough



4. Next we will roll the tee 2 different directions



5. The following day we will topdress the tee box with sand, brush, and roll again

The benefits of coring include:

• Release of toxic gases from the soil



• Improved wetting of dry or hydrophobic soils



• Increased infiltration capacity, especially where surface compaction or thatch limits infiltration



• Stimulated root growth within the holes



• Increased shoot growth within the holes



• Disruption of soil layers resulting from topdressing



• Control of thatch, especially where soil cores are reincorporated or where topdressing follows coring
  

The process should be complete tomorrow and the tees should be back to normal before you know it.

Vitex

The Vitex is also know has the Chaste Tree. This blue flowered summer blooming tree likes full sun and moderate to regular water. These drought tolerant, pest free plants combine blue summer blooms with leaves shaped like an open hand. They grow in almost any well drained soil. In most areas this tree grows fast to make a multi trunked tree with a broad, spreading habit about 15-20 foot high and wide.

These showy trees can be seen all around the course, with majority of them lining 3 tees.

V-Cutting the Greens

V-cutter working sand down into the canopy


After picture, you can see the stolons disrupted



Last Monday, we vertical mowed the greens after the tournament. Vertical mowing is a cultivation procedure involving the use of vertically oriented knives mounted on a rapidly rotating, horizontal shaft. I like to call it grooming the greens. We are attempting to nick the turfgrass canopy and cut the stolons to help reduce the grain that occurs because of the bermuda grass growing habits. The vertical mower blades are set at even and then we proceed to make a pass in one direction across the green, we then turn around and come back down the same pass. We do this because the grain changes directions on the greens, so if you go down and back on the same pass you will have a better chance to disrupt the surface grain.

The process goes like this:

1. Topdress Greens (let the sand dry so it does not stick to the machines)


2. Vertical mow (at even, change directions every week)


3. Mow with reel mowers
4. Roll
5. Brush with mecanical broom
6. Spray and/or gypsum application

This is a process that is essential for our greens and is completed in about 5 hours on Mondays.

Dollar Spot

Tee box with dollar spot


Rough with dollar spot

mycelium on infected turf in morning hours

Pathogen- Rutstroemia Floccosum formerly known as Sclerotinia Homocarpa

Hosts- Bahia, Bermuda, st. Augustine, Zoysia, and several other cool season grasses

The spots you see all over the course are called dollar spot. This disease is characterized by round, bleached-out or straw colored spots, ranging from the size of a quarter to the size of a silver dollar. The spots appear as sunken areas in the turf. The spots are very visible in the morning when the grass is still wet, the grayish white, fluffy mycelium of the fungus can be seen sitting on top of the grass. This disease can be spread by mowers, humans, animals, and other maintenance equipment carrying the mycelium and infected tissue. This disease occurs when the temperature is between 60 degrees and 90 degrees. There are many different vegetative compatibility groups within Rutstroemia Floccosum that caused diseases at various temperature and humidity regimes.

Cultural management of dollar spot involves regulating the nitrogen level in the plant. One school of thought states, the number of infections will be greater with high nitrogen levels, but damage will be less severe than if nitrogen levels are low. This is the situation we are in, our nitrogen levels are keep very low, so the outbreak is widespread. Dollar spot can be managed with the use of many contact and systemic fungicides like myclobutanil, fenarimol, propizonazole, boscalid, and triadimefon applied every two or three weeks, or contact fungicides like chlorothalonil applied every seven to ten days.

This bottom line is this disease is not fun to look at, but it will not kill the bermudagrass. We will apply a little nitrogen to the course and we will be grown out of it before you know it.

CUTTING BACK

example of a whorled growth pattern

this is an azalea we have pruned, it should leaf out in a matter of no time.

Once again the azaleas produced many bright and brilliant colors giving the golf course a great back drop. The flowering has ended and now the pruning has begun. Although it's not a pretty transition, it's a practice that needs to be performed in order to have a thriving bloom the following spring. The azaleas on a few holes have become too tall and dense due to their vigorous growing habit. They are being thinned and pruned to about two feet tall.

The azalea plant has what is called a whorled growth. This means that each year new growth can be determined by a stem with several other newer stems branching off it. Pruning azaleas is simple. To keep bushes compact, tip-pinch frequently, starting after flowering ends and continuing until mid-June. All pruning will be complete on the golf course by June, weather permitting.

Lace bugs can cause a major problem on azaleas. Native to Japan, the female will lay eggs on the underside of leaves along the mid rib. The azalea acts as a host supplying nutrients for the insect, and in return is very injurious to the plant.

To control lace bugs from infecting and feeding on the azaleas, a granular insecticide is spread. On the grounds crew we find Merit, a systemic insecticide, works exceptionally well on all azalea plants we maintain. Systemic is defined as; absorbed and circulated by a plant or other organism so as to be lethal to pests that feed on it. A systemic insecticide will give longer residuals controlling the insects for a longer period of time throughout the year. The azalea will absorb the granular Merit within itself to defend against lace bugs that try to feed on the plant tissue. The active ingredient in Merit is Imidacloprid at 0.5%. As of today, all of the azaleas at Squire Creek have had the annual application of Merit. They are now prepared and ready to defend against an attack from lace bugs.

All the necessary procedures have been taken to insure a healthy bloom. So just sit back and wait to see what the azaleas have in store for next spring.

Annuals

Front of clubhouse, the shorter plants are foxglove and others are larkspur


clubhouse entrance, top plants are poppies and petunias, bottom plants are petunias

tennis courts, yellow is coreopsis, poppies are red and purple, to the left of the coreopsis is the dianthus ( deep pink in color)

The annuals beds around the grounds are absolutely beautiful at this time and we can expect them to be in full bloom over the next couple of weeks. Everything you see now was planted late last fall. A general rule of thumb is you plant a season ahead. For example, we planted pansies last fall for winter and early spring color. We have now pulled the pansies and planted petunias for late spring and summer color.

Annual beds consist of:

• Coreopsis-member of the sunflower, yields a profusion of yellow flowers over a long bloom season, likes full sun


• Poppy- they provide bright spring color, like well drained soil and full sunlight, can be used as cut flowers (when used as cut flowers sear the cut end of the stem in a flame before placing in water)
  
• Foxglove- erect plants that are about 2-3 feet tall, form low foliage clumps topped by spikes of tubular flowers shaped like fingertips of a glove; color include purple, yellow, white, and pastels, blooms attract hummingbirds, they prefer a light shade


• Dianthus- form an attractive evergreen mat or tuft of grass-like green, gray-green, blue-green, or blue-gray leaves. Single, semi-double, or double flowers in white and shades of pink, rose, red, yellow, and orange; many have a rich, spicy fragrance. Main bloom period for most is spring into early summer


• Petunia- These flowers have lost some popularity in the south because they have performed poorly in the hot, humid weather. In the past few years they have made a comeback mainly because of several new heat tolerant types, such as the trailing wave series, the new hybrids are low-growing, bushy to spreading plants with thick, broad leaves that are slightly sticky to touch. Flowers vary from funnel-shaped single blooms to very double, heavily ruffled one reminiscent of carnations. The color range is phenomenal.


• Larkspur-this plant grows 1-5 feet tall, flowers are up to 1.5 inches wide, borne on vertical spikes above deeply cut, almost fern-like leaves; blossom colors include blue, lilac, purple, pink, rose, salmon, and white. seed in the fall and plant in full sunlight

Topdressing

topdressing application


Everybody wants to know, what is with all the sand on the greens? The answer to that question is, topdressing sand. Topdressing sand is a prepared sand mix added to the surface of a turfgrass and worked in by brooming, matting, raking, and/or irrigation to smooth the surface. This also firms the turf by working soil in among stolons and thatch forming materials, and enhances thatch decomposition.

We topdress greens for several reasons:

• smooth the playing surface


• control thatch development


• promote recovery from injury and disease


• protect the crown of the plant from desiccation
  

The days proceeding a topdressing you will see us brushing and rolling the greens to help the sand penetrate the turfgrass canopy. Please do not be confused, topdressing is a cultural practice that is vital to the health of our turfgrass .

The Colors of Squire Creek

Flowering Dogwood

Eastern Redbuds

Mayapples

Flame Buckeye

Fisher Pink

After the long hard winter a sign of spring has finally arrived. The temperatures have been great and the flowering plants are showing off their true beauty. Here are a few of the plants you will see around the course this time of year:

1. Flowering Dogwood- (Cornus Flordia) This has been called the most beautiful native tree in North America. The flowers are white and the cover the whole tree. Most dogwoods take full sun, but will tolerate light shade. They make excellent lawn, patio, or understory trees. They like moist, acidic, well drained soil with lots of organic matter. The pruning of this tree is seldomly necessary except when their is a need to remove weak or crossed branches.


2. Redbud- (Cersis) This deciduous tree or shrub is one of the most charming native trees we have in our area. The redbud is valuable for bridging the color gap between early flowering fruit trees (peach, plum) and the late flowering dogwoods and cherries. The flowers are small and rosy pink or lavender in color. Redbuds are effective as a specimen or understory tree.


3. Mayapple-(Podophyllum) New growth pushing up through leaf litter is one of the earliest signs of spring in the wooded areas. Mature leaves of mayapples are 1 foot wide, divided into 5-9 lobes, and are shiny dark green in color. The plant then produces a white flower under the leaf. Mayapples spread very quickly and produces a great contrast to the woodland bottoms around the course.


4. Flame Buckeye- (a. pavia) Native to the eastern U.S. this bulky shrub grows 3 -20ft tall and just as wide, with an irregular rounded crown. This plant bears narrow, erect 10 inch clusters of bright red flowers. Buckeyes do extremely well in warm, humid climates.


5. Azaleas- These are arguably the Souths favorites shrubs. Azaleas need acidic, well drained, organically enriched soil that should neither get too dry nor too soggy. An azalea loves the ph to be between a 5-6, this is the main reason they do so well in our area. When you plant an azalea you always need to plant the root ball slightly above the soil level. These plants have an extremely shallow root system. It is very important when watered to wet the roots and the foliage. In the spring after the bloom fade, you can feel free to prune, mulch and fertilize them. Some of the different azaleas we have are: Fisher Pink, Formosa, George Lindsey Taber, Mrs. G.G. Gerbing, and Sunglow

Gypsum Application to Greens

50lb bag of Gypsum

Pellets on 18 green

Application of 18 Green

Last Monday we applied Gypsum to the Greens. Gypsum in a mineral or rock composed of Calcium Sulfate Dihydrate that can be pulverized into micro capsulated pellets and bagged for easy to use applications. This was applied to help flush unwanted sodium build up in our sand base greens. The calcium in gypsum replaces the sodium from the soil exchange sites, which can then be leached with water. This build up occurs when we have to resort to using the water from our water treatment pond. This is considered effluent water and is very high in sodium. In addition to applying gypsum to our greens, we also apply it to all the areas at the clubhouse that are irrigated with city water. The city water is high in bicarbonates and sodium. This destroys the structure of the soil and makes growing high quality turf a difficult task.

Weed Control with Preemergence Herbicides

Example of a weed not treated with a root inhibitor preemerge

This is a weed that was treated with a root inhibitor preemerge,

Look closely and you can see the clubbed roots,

This particular preemerge was barricade(prodiamine)

Another example of clubbed roots

At Squire Creek we apply two application of Preemergence herbicides a year. Preemergence herbicides are applied to the turfgrass site prior to weed-seed germination and form a barrier at, or right below, the soil surface. Most preemergence herbicides prevent cell division during the weed seed germination as the emerging seedling comes into contact with the herbicide. Weeds that already have emerged at the time of application are not controlled consistently by preemergence herbicides because their primary growing points escape treatment. With this in mind you all can see how important the timing of the application has to be.


Preemerge herbicides are broken into 3 categories:

1. Root Inhibitor-These herbicides inhibit the steps in plant cell division responsible for chromosome separation and cell wall formation. Roots are relatively few in number and club shaped. They bind to soil colloids and are unlikely to leach. These root inhibitors do not translocate. (ex. prodiamine, oryzaline,pendimethalin)
   
2. Shoot Inhibitor- These herbicides can be applied to seedling grasses, some broadleaves and suppression of some perennials from tubers and rhizomes. This group is a very volatile and can be used in preplant situations. (ex. oxadiazon)


3. Shoot and Root Inhibitors-These herbicides effect the shoots and the roots. (ex. dithiopy)

Tee Boxes

The question everybody wants an answer to is, what are the red lines for on the tee boxes? The answer is, those are going to be the new tee boxes. We chose to do this for several reasons:

1. Straighten the tees and align them with the fairway properly
   
2. To have consistent sizes through out the course ( we have marked all the tees 21 feet wide, except for the par 3's and we left them as large as they were)
   
3. Simply to reduce maintenance cost (mowing, top-dressing, aerifying, and pesticide usage)
   

I think these few modifications will improve our tee boxes aesthetically and save at the same time.