Is that dead grass?

Joel Kachmarek, Tacoma Country and Golf Club, Lakewood, WA:

"We started getting sod again this week and NO, it is not dead. This turf is just in a winter slumber. Remember our sod source for this project is a farm in eastern Washington. Why? Because the price is right... and they're the only farm growing the fescue blend we need for the bunker eyebrows.

Anyway, eastern Washington is a high desert and it has been frozen solid over there for the last 60 days. That is definitely normal and so I have every bit of confidence that this turf will come out of dormancy and look just fine in a couple weeks."

Visit Joel's blog at www.tacomaturf.com.

New Intern Housing...

Kevin Peck, asst supt, Country Club of Detroit, Grosse Pointe, MI:

"New this year is a dorm style house for students that are completing internships for their college degree. The dorm is capable of housing six students completing a professional internship as a requirement for their degree in higher education. These interns will come with an interest in various areas of private club management: golf course maintenance, inside management, cullinary, tennis, and future golf professionals. The dorm consists of a full kitchen, six bedrooms, two bathrooms, and a common area.

Here in the Greens Department, we are excited to announce that we have our first intern lined up to start in late March. Bryan Kiel is a student from Michigan State University in the Turfgrass Management program. He will be with us for nearly five months getting as much on the job experience as he can. Our goal is to be the "launching pad" for Bryan and hopefully many more like him to follow. Be sure to check back throughout the season to learn more about Bryan's experience at CCD."

Visit the CCD blog at http://ccdgreens.blogspot.com.blogspot.com

The Green Approach...

Justin Ruiz, CGCS MG, Indian Summer Golf & Country Club, Olympia, WA:

"We have made some pretty big advancements in our efforts to become a little more environmental friendly. The side effects of our efforts have been some real money savings. The past challenges of the economy has made everyone look at their spending. Sometimes it is easy to look over the reoccurring expenses like electricity and gas and try to reduce spending elsewhere. My General Manager Trish and I took a look at those so called "constants" and figured out a way to save.

My team has been working on a large scale compost pile to manage our waste on the course. We have expanded our efforts and are now composting all of the fresh kitchen waste as well. We are composting the waste and then planning to re-use the compost when we plant annuals in the spring and summer months. We are also building a compost tea brewer to offset or potentially replace our fairway fertilizer program through the season. The savings is not calculated fully, but the potential is a healthy savings in our waste disposal and fertilizer budget.

Our mechanic, Geoff, is looking into converting the diesel equipment into burning used vegetable oil. At $4 plus dollars per gallon this could be a huge savings in fuel costs. He has also started looking at getting a used oil heater to heat the shop rather than relying on the propane heat we currently use. The savings would be from reduction in propane usage and eliminating the cost of waste oil recycling.

Geoff has also came up with a great idea to take a portion of the money we currently spend on annual flowers for the landscape areas and invest in a greenhouse. We can then grow our own annuals each year using our compost and cheap seeds. We will have the flexibility of changing color schemes, plant variety and timing of when we can plant. This savings will large since we pay quite a bit of money on annual plantings each year.

The clubhouse lighting was our first savings improvement. We took advantage of the corporate rebate benefits from Puget Sound Energy to upgrade to LED lighting. Some of the lighting was basically free with only the cost of tax. The rebates gave us nearly a 70% discount on lighting costs.

My first challenge was to match the lumen output of the bulbs. We have over a hundred 90watt flood lights that light the banquet rooms, restaurant and lounge. They do a good job lighting the rooms and the highest output LED bulbs weren't rated quite as high in lumen output. I bought one bulb to compare in our banquet room with the same color and it turned out to look actually brighter.

Once we saw the LED lights were capable of producing the same amount of light we replaced all the bulbs that we could. Small sconce bulbs, regular lamp lights and large flood lights. It all came to a real savings of roughly $650 per month. Lights that were using 90watts went to only using 18watts. 45watt bulbs went to 3.5 watts. Even the smallest bulbs that you might pass over were close to a 90% reduction in power consumption.

I am proud to say that Indian Summer Golf and Country Club has increased the carbon credits that we currently produce. After all, the course surrounds, what is considered by the state, the highest quality wetland in Washington. We work hard to protect our beautiful surroundings with sound practices."

Visit Justin's blog at indiansummergolf.blogspot.com.

Let the Melting Begin... Slowly

Chris Tritabaugh, Hazeltine National Golf Club, Chaska, MN:

"As we prepare to turn the calendar to March, golfers in Minnesota start to think about green grass and golf course openings. Case in point: on my way home from work I drive past the Golf Zone indoor range in Shakopee. The number of cars in the lot is increasing by the day.

The sun is also getting stronger by the day, and regardless of the temperature snow melt is taking place during the middle part of the day. No doubt we will see more snow fall between now and opening day, but when the snow does melt, a slow consistent melt is best. A quick melt results in a lot of surface water running across the turf, breaking it from dormancy and creating the potential for freeze thaw damage. Sunny days and temps from 32-40 will result in less surface water and less potential for freeze thaw damage.

"Another one of the many reasons we strive for bentgrass playing surfaces is bentgrass' ability to hold onto dormancy and thereby withstand early freeze thaw events..."

Another one of the many reasons we strive for bentgrass playing surfaces is bentgrass' ability to hold onto dormancy and thereby withstand early freeze thaw events. Poa annua is very easily tricked into coming out of dormancy at this time of the winter. Free water, running over the top of Poa will wake the plant from dormancy. When this happens the plant begins to take up water; leaving plant cells susceptible to freeze injury. Bentgrass on the other-hand has a much stronger dormancy. Free water running over bentgrass at this time of the year generally does not break bentgrass dormancy, thereby keeping bentgrass less susceptible to freeze thaw injury during the the late winter and very early spring.

A fast melt might get you excited for spring and the golf course opening, but a slow melt will result in a much better course when opening day does arrive."

Visit Chris's blog at hngcturfgrass.blogspot.com.

Sustainability vs. Social Conventions...

Michael Stachowicz, Turf Specialist for the National Park Service, National Mall and Memorial Parks, Washington, DC:

"If the sustainability movement on golf courses ever had a real chance of becoming the industry norm, it would have been now. In the past decade, the popularity of links courses have skyrocketed, the USGA has started their 'brown is the new green' education campaign, the top of the top 100 lists are dominated by links traditional courses, grounds budgets have been cut (bringing into question economic sustainability in addition to environmental sustainability), and the internet has allowed for information exchange and education on this to be spread quickly throughout the industry.

"Expectations have not adjusted, even with budgets getting cut. Sustainable continues to be what it has been for two decades... an Audubon membership."

Why has it been so difficult to make headway on this? In fact, there are many private clubs who have doubled down on high cost maintenance despite declining interest in memberships. The past two decades, with all the successes of the minimalist architects and courses that have gone back to their historical roots, have not translated into a new standard of maintenance for the vast majority of courses. Expectations have not adjusted, even with budgets getting cut. Sustainable continues to be what it has been for two decades... an Audubon membership.

There is science behind why this is happening. It comes down to the fact that as a society we have a skewed and literal view of what a healthy landscape is. A neat landscape fertilized to be bountiful and full with a very orderly arrangement of plant types is certainly pleasing to the eye, but not necessarily ecologically valuable or sustainable.

"There are two types of landscapes that touch us as humans; one that offers exploration (golf courses, trails, parks) and the other is one that is manageable, understandable or orderly."

It is important to understand what role culture plays, forcing us to keep our landscapes simple and within convention. There are two types of landscapes that touch us as humans; one that offers exploration (golf courses, trails, parks) and the other is one that is manageable, understandable or orderly. The American neighborhood and yard are meant to be the latter. People believe that a yard should look a certain way. It is difficult to break away from this convention for social reasons, as people tend to create landscapes around their home that their neighbors would approve of. This cultural dynamic tends to create a homogenous landscape... this is why the ideal lawn looks ideal no matter what part of the country in which it exists. A healthy environment is not nearly as valued in our society as wealth, neatness, and safety.

Sustainability flies in the face of this convention. A wild and naturalized yard is not neat, understandable, orderly, and may not be perceived as safe for its ability to hide criminal activity rather than something more manicured. By going against convention we are affecting wealth in the form of property value. Owners of such a yard may be perceived as not having wealth, not being a good neighbor, faulty at managing a home, or not being socially in tune... how we maintain our yard says something, rightly or wrongly, about us. I don't think it is that much of a stretch to say that this translates very easily to the golf course.

But a golf course can be a transitional aid...

A good course design shares attributes of both landscapes (explorative and understandable) as they are complex (rich, intricate), mysterious (with something yet to be

"It is an expedition into the wilderness, but with training wheels... it is mysterious and wild, while being safe..."

discovered), all while being understandable: both coherent (orderly) and legible (accessible to finding one's way). Golf courses offer a landscape that is understandable, coherent, and legible (one knows to travel from tee to fairway to green) through the routing of holes. Golf courses give millions of people the opportunity to travel through landscapes that are dynamic (mountains, desert, dunes, forests) but in a familiar way (tee to fairway to green, repeat). It is an expedition into the wilderness, but with training wheels... it is mysterious and wild, while being safe. It seems that a golf course is a great way to change people's perspective on what is a socially acceptable landscape. Unfortunately, so far golf courses have done it in way that includes unrelenting emerald green, forest ecosystems with no understory, unnaturally clean ponds with fountains, and perfect fescues that do not reflect any local fauna.

The golf industry has always been a leader in how landscapes are maintained, driving us to where we are today on our our own front lawns by inspiring homeowners to maintain personal properties that are more and more manicured. Because of TV, the ubiquity of broadcast championships, golf, and the cultured American standard for lawn care, courses will have a difficult time allowing nature back into the design. The home lawn may now be driving expectations now in our landscape culture just as golf did last century.

We are at the precipice of a cultural shift... the home lawn becoming the standard and driving the landscape culture away from sustainability, or can golf courses show leadership by focusing ego driven tendencies to limited areas of the course while allowing nature and sustainable practices back

"Right now that is what golf courses and greenkeepers are hostage to... egos."

into the property. But this means golf course memberships and clientele need to start valuing ecology over wealth and status. Right now that is what golf courses and greenkeepers are hostage to... egos. Landscapes can be a result of culture and landscapes can affect culture... golf courses have been through both. Golf courses as landscape icons used to be in the position to decide what is cool and valuable, but they may be losing that, which is not good for any of us who care about the environment, golf culture, and the health of the game."

The following research was used in developing this post: "Culture and Changing Landscape Structure" by Joan Iverson Nassauer, Department of Landscape Architecture, University of Minnesota.

Visit Michael's blog at http://mstachowicz.wordpress.com.

Geese...

Steve Cook, CGCS MG, Oakland Hills Country Club, Bloomfield Hills, MI:

"Geese will choose a mate when they are about three years old and will stay monogamous for life, raising new families together each year. If one mate dies, the other mate will sometimes wait several years before choosing a new partner or might even stay single.

Geese have a very strong instinct to return to their general area of birth to mate and nest. They will either return to the exact site or to a nearby pond or other body of water. Migratory geese will even fly 2,000-3,000 miles to return to these sites. Geese like to build their nests on the ground at isolated sites near water.

The female goose will build a nest and line it with down plucked from her body. She will lay one egg each day until the full clutch of about 5 eggs is obtained. After all the eggs are laid, she will sit on her nest to incubate the eggs, which takes about 28-30 days.

During this time, we participate in the nest destruction program through the state of Michigan. Taking the eggs and destroying the nest prevents the geese from returning next year."

Visit Steve's blog at ohccturf.blogspot.com.

Looking like new again!

Gary Myers, CGCS, The Sagamore Club, Noblesville, IN:

"Every year at this time we begin the cleaning process of all turf equipment. Two of our greatest assets are our staff and our equipment. Without these two items working at peak efficiency we could not operate at the level that we demand.

Maintenance equipment carries a tremendous cost to our operation and that is why we spend so much time keeping it looking and operating the best that we can. The process includes degreaser, hot water pressure wash, lots of scrubbing, then another pressure wash. Once dry the unit gets detailed with baby oil and vinyl care products."

Visit Gary's blog at sagamoreturfgrass.blogspot.com.

More good looking blogs!

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