Bunker Renovation

Jeff Johnson, The Minikahda Club, Minneapolis, MN:

"This past week our staff stripped and re-sodded four bunker faces. Bunkers where turf was replaced was on two fairway bunkers on 5, the approach bunker on the left of 9 and the first fairway bunker on the right of 16. The turf on these south facing bunkers was in tough condition thus forcing us to replace the turf. Rooting of the sod will take a few weeks. In the mean time the bunker faces will remain Ground Under Repair and will be roped off. Please do not walk on the faces of these bunkers! Once rooted properly we will then remove the rope.

The sod consists of a majority of Creeping red fescue (varieties are Epic and Shoreline). By placing a fescue blend on the bunker face we are placing a turf species that will be better able to tolerate the drought conditions which the south facing slopes natural will have. This turf is also very consistent with the species of grasses that exist on the bunker faces surrounding all of our greens. Additionally on these particular bunker we will not be allowing the shoulders of these bunker to grow to seed head height. All of these bunkers will be mowed on a regular basis and will ultimately become a very dense stand of turf."

Visit Jeff's blog at minikahdagrounds.blogspot.com

Why is the grass white?

Brandon Collins, Country Club at Woodmore, Mitchelville, MD

"In some areas around the golf course, I am sure that you have noticed several large spots of the turf that have turned white. No, we did not spill bleach on them as one member suggested. This is a side affect of a herbicide known as Tenacity. We are using this herbicide to help to control the infestation of Bermudagrass in the rough. The herbicide will not kill the the Bermudagrass (no product has been shown to be 100% effective for this) but it will severely injure these plants. It is our hope that if we send the Bermudagrass in to dormancy this winter in a weakened state, we can reduce the populations heading in to next season."

Visit Brandon's blog at ccwoodmoregcm.com.

Member Improvments: Zoysia grass approaches

Pat O'Brien, Hyde Park Country Club, Cincinnati, OH

"The final pieces of Zoysia Grass have been laid on the approaches on holes #2, 13 and 17. As you may have noted the new Zoysia grass looks and plays different than the mature stand on the fairways. With the cooler temperatures arriving, the Zoysia will develop slower and will come out of dormancy behind the established Zoysia areas in the spring. Depending on the weather, this turfgrass will mature and show similar playability to the established areas in May and June when the temperatures become more favorable for warm season grasses such as Zoysia grass."

Visit Pat's blog at hydeparkgolfandcountryclub.blogspot.com.

Deep-tining Fairways

Jason Hooper, QClub, Quilchena, British Columbia:

"Recent budget cutbacks forced us to eliminate the previously scheduled core aeration on our fairways. I anticipated that the sandy profile we've created over years and years of continuous topdressing would still allow them to drain well enough to avoid forming any standing water and that they would still remain relatively firm and fast. Unfortunately, this is not the case and I've been quite concerned with what I'm seeing on our fairways recently. Recent rains, some heavy and some not, are not penetrating our thatch layer as quickly as we'd like, which is resulting in standing water on many of our fairways. Some standing water is forming in areas where we have never seen it form before. I've also noticed an increased presence of dollar spot, a turf disease that like many fungal infections, thrives under cool and moist conditions.

Benefits of Deep-Tine Aeration

That being said, we have struck a deal with our aeration contractor, FarmTek, to complete a deep-tine aeration on the fairways on one of our upcoming scheduled Maintenance Mornings. Monday, October 17th, FarmTek will be bringing in 4 deep-tining tractors to complete the process well ahead of the first tee time at 11am. The deep-tining process creates channels 10"-12" deep and 3/4" in diameter that will allow moisture to penetrate the thatch layer in our fairways and work its way into our extensive drainage system. These channels will eliminate the majority of the surface water and will help the fairways continue to drain efficiently over the rainy winter months.

If the weather on October 17th is not suitable for completing the deep-tining, we will do so immediately as the conditions improve. The good thing is that this process can be completed under less than ideal conditions, just not during torrential downpours on already saturated turf."

Visit Jason's blog at qgolfclub.blogspot.com