Two-Way Traffic...

Shane Conroy, Asst Supt, Park Ridge Country Club, Park Ridge, IL:

"Phase one of the cart path widening project on holes one and 18 is complete and open to traffic. Phase two has already begun on the rest of the path near the ladies tee on the first hole. We have removed the remaining asphalt and have the rough grade of our gravel base layer set. We will begin to put sand down today to reach our final grade before we lay the rest of the bricks."

Removing the asphalt near one ladies tee.

With the asphalt gone we can set our gravel base.

Visit the Park Ridge blog at parkridgeccgrounds.blogspot.com/

Coloring the Champion Greens...

Steven Harris, CGCS, Brier Creek Country Club, Raleigh, NC:

"This past Monday we sprayed the greens with several products in order to color the Champion greens going into winter. There are two different ways to color bermudagrass greens. The first method is to use a latex based turf paint. This method simply paints the leaf blades green. The other method is to use pigments. Pigments are dyes that are absorbed into the leaves of the grass. At Brier Creek we decided to use pigments vs. paint. The reason for this is that the pigments provide a more natural color, while the paints often look "fake green". The pigments tend to last a bit longer than paint. Additionally, the paints are very thick and put much stress on the pump for the spray rig and can cause expensive repairs.

The pigment was sprayed in a similar fashion to how we sprayed the round up on the bentgrass when we started the conversion process back in June.

The green color is not overwhelming and dark but as the rest of the bermudagrass goes completely dormant the greens will have a very green appearance and should provide and nice target for winter golf.

There are several agronomic benefits to coloring the greens in addition to the visual aesthetic benefits. By coloring the greens it makes the leaves darker. The darker color leaves will absorb more heat energy from the sun during the winter. This will keep the temperature higher and will speed the green up in the spring. One of the products that we put into the mix is an anti dessicant. One of the dangers of the winter is the cold dry wind that blows. The anti dessicant will protect the leaves from drying out and help avoid winter damage.

We will repeat this process several more times throughout the winter in an attempt to maintain the color while the Champion goes fully dormant. More than likely we will repeat the spray every 6 weeks or so. On these days we will send emails to the membership reminding them that the golf course is closed on Mondays and that we will need the golfers to avoid the greens in order to not track the pigment off the greens."

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

Out of Turn Four...

Mark Kienert, CGCS, Bulls Eye Country Club, Wisconsin Rapids, WK:

"I've always felt that when the oak leaves fell we were coming out of turn four heading for the finish line and to the checkered flag of yet another golf season. As of today, fairways have been treated with snow mold protectants and we've just finished de-watering the irrigation system. Soon our attention will turn to finishing up snow mold applications to greens and green banks. Sanding to protect the turf crowns from winter dessication, and greens roped off to prevent cross country ski damage will take another day or two to complete. Minor details like removing golf course accessories are left to finish before our attention turns to removing the 90 plus dead trees known standing on the course.

Recent weather patterns of bitter overnight lows and their duration coupled with low daytime highs brought about discussion of course closure. We're starting to see frost lasting well into the afternoon on teeing and putting surfaces not to mention any portion of the course that is under shade. The frost is migrating into the soil to a depth of an inch as I write this. With the 15 day weather forecast of much the same, my recommendation to close the course for the season was approved by the green and executive committees. The last day for golf will be Sunday November 4th, 2012.

"The golf season of 2012 was as rough if not worse than 2011 from my perspective...."

Bull's Eye has seen back to back years of winter injury on putting greens. Cold spring weather has minimized inter-seeding recovery success and summers of excessive heat has taken toll in its own right. It is never more important than now to close the course before inflicting greater wounds through play and mechanical injury. I've often questioned at what point is the use leaf blowers/Sweepers to clean playing surfaces over semi frozen turf creating turf losses only seen the following spring.

The golf season of 2012 was as rough if not worse than 2011 from my perspective. It'll be nice to sit down after we've put both courses to bed and compare both years weather wise. Notes will be compared, stuff that didn't work will be abandoned and what worked reinforced with changes made to mitigate turf loss in the future. That's called planning and before you know it, the green flag will drop and another golf season will be heading into turn one. With climate change I pray that the backstretch is a lot better than the two previous circuits around the sun."

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

To Lime or Not to Lime...

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

"Today lime was applied to the fairways. Soil tests taken late summer revealed that the pH had dropped over the past few years and a correction was needed. The availability of certain nutrients to a plant is directly dependent upon pH. Acid soils tie up some nutrients while basic soils tie up others. Plants thrive with and/or without certain nutrients which is why the soil pH is very important to what particular plant is being grown. Turf – most turf – grows best at a pH of 6.5.

"So we have to thread the needle very carefully to balance pH to get the best environment for the turf and the worst for the fungi...."

That seems simple enough, but an ideal pH is not always ideal. For example, some diseases — summer patch in particular — are more prevalent and destructive at a pH of 6.5 than a lower, or more acid pH. So we have to thread the needle very carefully to balance pH to get the best environment for the turf and the worst for the fungi. For our plants and disease history, a pH of 5.7 to 6.0 has continually given us the best growth and least disease pressure. This best case pH may be different for another course.

Not all lime is the same. There are two common types - high calcium lime, and high mag lime, which contains a high percentage of magnesium. The level of these nutrients found in the soil test will determine which type should be used. Sometimes the soil needs one or the other, or like in our case, we need to use both. To that end, today we are spreading high cal lime as half our lime requirement, and early next spring we will spread an equal amount of high mag lime.

What causes our soils to need liming every so often? Why does pH drop? Certain fertilizers and nutrients cause acidity, as well as irrigation water (yes, we keep an eye on that too!), rain, types of organic matter (like the mulched tree leaves), topdressing materials, etc. Soils are ever evolving, which is why it is so important to monitor them and make nutrient and pH corrections very regularly."

Visit Ken's blog at greatebaycc.blogspot.com.

Forward Tees...

David Dore-Smith, Copperleaf Golf Club, Bonita Springs, FL:

As part of the future golf course renovation review, it has been suggested by many of the Architects interviewed, including our selected Architect, Kipp Schulties, that Copperleaf is a 'very long golf course'.

Golf courses that are being renovated these days are providing tee locations that provide for between 4,000 and 4,500 yards. These tee locations are intended to provide a more enjoyable golfing experience for the higher handicap golfer or for golfers new to the game. It also follows the "Tee it Forward" program being promoted by the PGA of America.

Our current forward tees total 4,770 yards. After further review with Kipp Schulties, 10 new tee locations have been proposed for construction in 2013 that would bring the total yardage to approximately 4,500 yards.

"After reviewing the women's handicaps at Copperleaf, over 60% of our players have a handicap of 30 or more..."

The CLGA has been involved in these preliminary discussions and have been asked to provide their input regarding the tee locations and the proposal in general. Interestingly, after reviewing the women's handicaps at Copperleaf, over 60% of our players have a handicap of 30 or more. Using guidelines provided by the PGA, a course of below 4,500 yards is suggested for these golfers. Not only will the golfing experience be improved but the pace of play will also improve as a result.

In an effort to identify the exact locations of the proposed tees, temporary tee markers have been placed on the course. These tee markers will only be used for a few days in an attempt to get some feedback from the players. "

Visit David's blog at www.copperleafgcm.com.

Sandy, trees, vacation and looking ahead...

Frank Tichenor, Forest Hill Field Club, Bloomfield, NJ:

"First and foremost I would like to thank my staff for the outstanding job they did this past week getting the course back to playable for the weekend. Sandy packed a wallop and while we lost some trees it pales in comparison to the suffering many others are going through. The photos provide a snapshot of what we, the green staff, have been dealing with.

The cleanup from Sandy will take us well into the winter as many of the uprooted trees will have to have the stumps dug out and graded. We suffered some damage to our irrigation communication but we are somewhat lucky as irrigation is not being used presently. There is never an ideal time for this but in our case with playing slowing down it was probably the best time. A large percentage of leaves came down with the storm so leaf cleanup will actually be quicker this year. Our biggest concern right now is fuel. We are close to empty on our gas so we have been siphoning gas from equipment that is not presently being used. After that...

I was lucky enough to be on vacation when the storm hit but was in constant communication with Chris DeSalvia. Again Chris and the staff did a wonderful job getting the course playable again. While Sandy was wreaking havoc on FHFC I was at Bandon Dunes on vacation. I guess I get lucky once in awhile! For the golf purist this resort is about as good as it gets. The resort has four 18 hole courses all ranked in the top 50 modern courses and a 13 hole par 3 course that is as much fun as you can have.

Sandy changed my travel plans and I was detoured to Atlanta where I was able to play East Lake Golf Club which was the home course of Bobby Jones. When playing East Lake I was overwhelmed with the history the club has associated with it. Truly one of golfs treasures.

Moving forward the staff will continue cleanup throughout the weeks ahead. many accessories have been pulled in from the course for the winter so load up on water if you need it at the turn. While the cleanup is ongoing we are also starting to prepare for next year. Equipment rebuilds, refurbishing accessories, agronomic plans, crew training aids, and shop organization will be our focus till the end of the year."

Visit Frank's blog at fhfcgreendepartment.blogspot.com.

A New Opportunity, A New Challenge...

Chris Tritabaugh, Northland Country Club, Duluth, MN:

"Dear Northland Member: Late last week I received and accepted an offer to become the new Golf Course Superintendent at Hazeltine National Golf Club in Chaska. The personal and professional decisions to make this move were not taken lightly, but in the end the time was right for my family and myself to take on this new and challenging opportunity.

"I will forever be indebted to this club for having faith in a 28 year old who had never before taken the reins of a top level private club..."

My time at Northland and our time as a family in Duluth will always be very special. Six years ago Northland gave me the opportunity to realize my dream of becoming a golf course superintendent. I will forever be indebted to this club for having faith in a 28 year old who had never before taken the reins of a top level private club. As a family, Duluth was the beginning of many things for Lindsay and I: our first home, the first years of our marriage and the beginning of our family. Having been born here, our daughters, even though they may still be too young to realize it, will always hold Duluth close to their hearts.

On Monday, I rode around the golf course removing the cups and flags for the final time as golf course superintendent. Northland is such a special golf course and for that reason, this move is very bittersweet. No matter where my career takes me I do not know that I will ever have the opportunity to work on a better golf course. I have played and seen many great golf courses, all over the country, and Northland is right at the top of my list.

I am very proud of what we accomplished at Northland during my six seasons. Ultimately, I feel I am leaving the Northland Country Club Membership with a much better golf course than the one I found six years ago. I do not know if there is much more a club could ask from a departing superintendent. Finally, I will leave you with a quote from the author Seth Godin. I came across the quote on Twitter last month and I feel it sums up my tenure pretty well.

"Connect, create meaning, make a difference, matter, be missed."

Thank you all for a wonderful six years. I hope Northland Country Club is as proud to call me a part of its history as I am to call it a part of mine."

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