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84" Boxed Coast Live Oak Installation...
Brian Boyer, Cinnabar Hills Golf Club, San Jose, CA:
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 "Yesterday we had the pleasure of receiving an 84" boxed Coast Live Oak tree that our owner Lee Brandenberg picked out a few months back. It was selected for the wedding patio where we happened to lose a tree similar in size four years ago. This tree will be a major improvement for the aesthetics of the wedding patio and will also provide ample shade for the summer weddings.
According to the team at Arborwell, the tree we got should have been in a box of at least 120". Being that the Oak was in its 84" box for what is guesstimated at a minimum of 5 years (18" trunk size!), the wood that made up the box was rotted out. That meant that we couldn't even pick up the tree with the crane from its original packaging. The Arborwell team quickly made some new walls using some 3" x 12" bridge planks that we had on-site. With the new walls up, the tree was easily lifted from the truck and up the hill to its final resting place on the wedding patio.
I specifically mention the team of Arborwell so much because I was really impressed with the work they did. The Arborwell group had a long relationship with the crane operator and the crane operator had worked with the hauler on many other tree installs. Everybody knew how everybody worked and it couldn't have gone any smoother. See the time lapsed video of the install to see just how smooth it went."
Visit Brian's blog at cinnabarhills.blogspot.com/
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Champion Greens Update...
Steven Harris, CGCS, Brier Creek Country Club, Raleigh, NC:
 "The new Champion ultradwarf greens have held up very well to the foot traffic and play that we have received this fall. They are as durable as advertised! We have received overwhelming support for our decision to switch the greens from bentgrass to Champion bermuda. Everyone has been very happy with the conversion.
Some things that you may have noticed in the first couple of months playing on the new greens (these are my observations and comments I have heard from others)...
- They are not anywhere near as firm as most thought they would be. We took some steps during the renovation to ensure they would still be receptive to shots and not be 'hard as rocks'.
- Ball marks are significantly reduced.
- The putts don't seem to break as much as the old bentgrass did. I have noticed this as well, and my only explanation is that there is a thicker stand of turf and it is very upright so there is more friction on the ball, thus holding it on a tighter line.
- The greens putt very smooth and true. We will continue to aggressively groom and topdress in season to maintain the true surface.
There are some things that you may also notice in the coming days, weeks and months ahead...
- The greens look shaggier. This is true, we have slowly been raising the mowing heights to prepare for winter. As the grass goes dormant, if the mowing heights were very low the greens would be so fast by February that they would be unplayable. We raise the heights to combat this.
- On Monday 11/5, the greens will 'change color'. We will be spraying the greens with a pigment and anti-dessicant to get them ready for winter. The Champion variety is a bermudagrass and thus a warm season grass like the tees, fairways and rough. This means that as we begin to get frost, the grass will turn brown. We will be spraying the greens with a pigment that will be absorbed into the leaves and provide a green color as the plant goes dormant. We will also spray an anti-dessicant at this time. This will help protect the greens from the cold, blustery winter wind.
- If the temperatures are forecasted to be in the mid 20's over night, our crew will be out late in the afternoon pulling covers over the greens. This will help protect the warm season grass from winter injury. Depending on the long range temperature outlook, these tarps may be picked up the next day or be folded and left directly behind the green if they will need to be put on nightly for several nights in a row."
Visit Steve's blog at briercreekgcmaintenance.blogspot.com.
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TurfNet Bandon Dunes trip 2012...
Paul Carter, CGCS, The Bear Trace at Harrison Bay, Harrison, TN:
 "Day One: The much anticipated TurfNet trip to Bandon Dunes resort began today with a cross country trip from Atlanta to Portland. We started the trip off with a quick nine hole warm up round at Colwood National Golf Club. Nice course but we only got to play eight holes in because it started raining. Black sand in the bunkers was a unique sight compared to our traditional white bunkers in the South... more »
Day Two: We had the great fortune to play a beautiful golf course in Oregon City, Oregon today. Stone Creek Golf Club was a pure treat for all of us. The golf course was in excellent condition and we would like to thank Mike Turley and his staff for welcoming us to play. The morning started out with a typical northwest rainfall but quickly moved out and brought a very nice rainbow stretching across the golf course. Rock outcroppings and man made piles of rocks moved during construction dot the landscape of the golf course but never get in the way of the playability of the course. more »
Day 3: After a "quick and safe" drive down from Portland we arrived at Bandon Dunes Golf Resort around 11:00 this morning. After checking in we went to Bandon Trails for the first of four rounds. Great customer service and we were off. we were fortunate to play with Mr. Shawn Potter of Syngenta (our sponsor for the TurfNet trip) and Mr. Ken Nice, the Director of Agronomy for the entire Bandon Dunes Golf Resort. We had a great time playing and being able to have Ken along telling us inside information about the construction and future improvements to the golf course was an added bonus. more »
Day 4: Second day at Bandon Dunes Golf Resort was a wonderful day playing the original golf course, Bandon Dunes. The golf course plays out to the ocean and back in a traditional links style design right out of Ireland. Our playing partners today were Mr. Walter Montross and his son Geoff from Virginia. Mr. Montross just retired from over 40 years in the golf course industry and his son is an Assistant Golf Professional and can really play golf. more »
Day 5: Our third day at Bandon Dunes Golf Resort had us on the Old MacDonald golf course. A very wide open, free flowing old style golf course and of course it was in wonderful condition. Old MacDonald is a very forgiving golf course with very forgiving and wide fairways. It was great to just hit the ball and go find it, and hit it again. Only one ball lost today. more »
Day 6: Our final day at Bandon Dunes Golf Resort has us on what we are told is the most popular golf course of the four, Pacific Dunes. A more challenging golf course with more demanding terrain and deeper bunkers. Today's round was played in the rain and wind for the most part of the morning but we can't complain because of all the great weather and times we have had so far. more »
Day 7: Our last day on the TurfNet Bandon Dunes 2012 Trip took us to Eugene Country Club. This is officially my favorite golf course that I have ever stepped foot on. The trees at Eugene Country Club are amazing and majestic. Many of them are over 100 years old and just tower silently over the golf course. The different textures and hues of the trees and the landscape are one of the features that make this golf course so absolutely stunning. Special thanks to our host, Mr. Chris Gaughan, CGCS for allowing us to play this magnificent golf course." more »
(Editor's Note: As TurfNet Superintendent of the Year 2011, Paul and his guest Robin Boyer were hosted on the Bandon Dunes trip by Syngenta.)
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Fall Projects...
Shawn Fopma, asst supt, The Wakonda Club, Des Moines, IA:
Our current sand pile.
The new ProAngle bunker sand in #16.
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 "Our new ProAngle bunker sand continues to roll in from Ohio. To this point, we have received approximately half of our expected amount of sand. In the coming weeks, the full amount will be delivered.
Country Landscapes continues their work on the rock wall on #17. In the previous week, their work has been slowed by rainfall; however, yesterday they got back up to full speed.
Last year we installed new drainage and liner in the greenside bunkers on #13 and #16. The old sand was gently removed from these bunkers by hand and then the liner was blown off with back-pack blowers. Finally, the new ProAngle sand was added to finish the bunkers. These bunkers are currently ready for play.
Today, we will remove sand from our final bunker before we refocus our efforts to installing the new drainage, liner, and ProAngle sand in the remaining bunkers."
Visit The Wakonda Club blog at wakondagrounds.blogspot.com.
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Poa annua Trial: #5 and #11 Greens...
Steve Wilson, CGCS, Meadowbrook Golf & Country Club, Overland Park, KS:
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 "This fall we have continued working with an experimental Poa annua elimination herbicide that I blogged about in the spring. We really did not see much results from our spring applications, so at the direction of Dr. Xi Xiong with the University of Missouri we have increased our rate this fall. We recently made our 3rd application of the fall and are definitely seeing some results now.
The Poa annua in our small test plots on #5 and #11 greens is definitely thinning out and has died out in some areas. The bentgrass does not seem to be affected by the applications. This is the goal of this herbicide if it gets EPA registration. This would allow older greens like ours with substantial Poa annua infestation to make a slow transition back to the preferred pure stand of creeping bentgrass. For our uses, the question remains as to whether we have too much Poa annua in our greens for more widespread application of this herbicide. We will keep working with it and keep you updated as to how the trial turns out."
Visit Steve's blog at meadowbrookccturfgrass.blogspot.com.
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 The Old and the New #6...
Joe Wachter, CGCS, Glen Echo Country Club, St. Louis, MO:
Throw out the old #6.
Enter the new #6. AWESOME!!
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Visit Joe's blog at geccgcm.blogspot.com.
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Dont rake those leaves, mulch them into your lawn...
Rick Tegtmeier, CGCS, Des Moines Golf & Country Club, W. Des Moines, IA:
 "Every fall I get the question, what do you do with the leaves at Des Moines Golf and Country Club? My simple answer is that we mulch them in place and leave them in the roughs. Here is a great article about leaves from Scotts:
'It's great to have big shade trees in your yard. But, come fall, you can start to resent them. Those big trees drop leaves, and that means extra work, hassle, and lost time. However, there's good news. A recent study done at Michigan State University shows that you can forget about raking, blowing, and bagging leaves. Instead, just mulch them with your lawn mower and feed your lawn with a good fertilizer. It'll save you work, improve your soil, and add nutrients. Here's how to do it.
Chop those Leaves with your Mower
Take the grass catcher off your mower and mow over the leaves on your lawn. You want to reduce your leaf clutter to dime-size pieces. You'll know you're done when about half an inch of grass can be seen through the mulched leaf layer. Once the leaf bits settle in, microbes and worms get to work recycling them. Any kind of rotary-action mower will do the job, and any kind of leaves can be chopped up. With several passes of your mower, you can mulch up to 18 inches of leaf clutter.
Feed your Lawn to Speed Up the Process
Microbes do a better job recycling carbon from leaves when they have nitrogen. A nitrogen based fertilizer can help break down your mulched leaves faster. So your grass will grow better, and your microbes will work harder, when you feed your lawn after mulching those leaves.
See Great Results in the Spring
When spring arrives, you'll notice something. The leaf litter you mulched up in the fall will have disappeared. Your rake will look dusty and neglected. And your grass will look greener than ever.
Mulching: a Better Use of Resources
When you rake your leaves, it costs you. Your local taxes pay for trucks to sweep up your leaves or pick up your leaf bags, which often end up in landfills. If you burn leaves, you're just sending up clouds of carbon into the atmosphere. Mulching leaves simply recycles a natural resource, giving you richer soil for free.'
Visit Rick's blog at dmgcc.blogspot.com.
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About our Blog Aggregator: Many superintendents are now hosting private blogs to better communicate with their golfers and/or members. Beyond local weather and course conditions, there is a great deal of information about projects, methodologies and techniques that would be of value to other superintendents — hence our Turf Blog Aggregator. As every blogger struggles occasionally with content, we also include posts intended to educate golfers about turf maintenance for others to use as a template for their own blogs.
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