Pro-Super Classic

Steve Hammon, Traverse City (MI) Golf & Country Club:

"Thank you to the 52 players who joined Roger and I last Thursday for the Pro-Super Classic! The weather was wonderful and everyone had a blast. For those who missed the event, below are a few examples of our unique day on the golf course. I think the talk of the day was the large holes on three of the greens and where some of the crazy pin locations are placed.

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

Expanded roller theory...

Mark Kienert, CGCS, Bulls Eye Country Club, Wisconsin Dells, WI:

"Several years ago I had a discussion with a person who asked me pointedly why I wanted greens mower cutting heads with roller brush attachments when so many other golf courses didn't specify them with their new mower orders. Yes, they're a "pricey" option but the pictures speak for themselves.

As clippings stick to the roller it expands swelling it and making it larger. As the roller expands the bedknife (actual cutting surface) is lifted higher off the turf, raising the effective height of cut. A quick check with a height of cut gauge confirmed a difference of .010" to .030" with debris on the roller vs. a clean. With that said, if you are trying to maintain 1/8th of an inch cutting height on greens, adding .030" to the roller is giving you 5/32nds of an inch height of cut. That was a "low" height of cut for a green back in the '70s! Now I hope you can see why I specified them on our fairway units too."

With roller brush attachment.

Without roller brushes!

Visit Mark's blog at bullseyegreensblog.blogspot.com.

Working on next year already...

Ken Thompson, Greate Bay Country Club, Somers Point, NJ:

"As the weather cools, we have been doing some 're-hab' to the course. These past weeks we have aerated, fertilized, and overseeded the tees.

"For the greens department, it is the beginning of the 2012 season. The work we do now benefits the course this year, but it really pays off the next..."

We fertilized the fairways and are in the process of overseeding areas that have thinned a bit due to the elements and everyday wear and tear. We are sodding the few areas on collars that suffered from the summer's heat. We are catching up on tree work and repairing cart paths too. Soon we will be overseeding and aerating the rough.

For the greens department, it is the beginning of the 2012 season. The work we do now benefits the course this year, but it really pays off the next.

Note: The months of August and September have been the area's wettest ever since weather records have been kept."

Visit Ken's blog at greatebaycc.blogspot.com

Frost on the Pumpkin...

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

"I worked at a club a few years back in Sun City and the Pro, Tom, would call me up in the mornings when it would actually get to freezing and say, 'There's a little frost on the pumpkin, huh.' I always think of that saying as the weather begins to get a little colder.

During the times of cold winter weather we will need to delay traffic on the turf until frost is melted. We want to avoid frost damage, because recovery is very slow this time of year. Damage from a cart or a walker can take weeks to recover. The damage will start out purple in color and turn to a straw brown as the leaves begin to dry.

I like to use the analogy of a piece of glass shattering, when I explain frost damage. When the leaf blade of the plant is frozen and becomes crushed by a tire or a shoe it is basically like a piece of glass shattering into many pieces. Microscopically when the leaf blade sustains the damage the cells shatters into pieces. The pieces move through the plant destroying cells in its path. Once the plant begins to thaw the plant fluid leaks out and the leaf blade and will look water soaked and purple. This is the grass basically bleeding out. The leaf blade is now dead and will turn brown. Rarely does this damage affect the crown of the plant so the plant itself is not dead. The problem is that growth is slowed during cold weather, which makes for a slow and painstaking recovery.

With that being said with my turf nerdy twang, we ask that walkers and cart traffic avoid turf while it is frozen to protect the grass. If there are any questions about frost and how we make the decision to delay golf please contact me."

Visit Justin's blog at indiansummergolf.blogspot.com