We have waited as long as we can for grass to come back. It's time for us to make a change. These areas will be resoded by the end of the day.
I have been receiving questions about late season Aerification that we do at Glen oak. This is not a new practice. In fact, this was done at the end of the year since I have been at Glen Oak. The reason that we have done this practice since 2005 was to leave areas for water to channel off the surface of the green. This is a practice that was suggested by the USGA and has work well. This was not the reason why we had winter kill. If that was the case we would have had damage on 4, 11, 12 and 14. Those are all flat greens that the water sat on all winter. The reason we had winter kill is because we have Poa greens that do not like extremely cold temperatures. The past two years have been abnormal compared to the previous 8 that I have witnessed. 2013 and 2014 have recorded average temperatures 10 degrees colder than 2011 and 2012. Poa is a winter annual weed. This is the reason you cannot find Poa seed anywhere. This is the reason you never see a new course with Poa greens, it is not a strong varitey of turf. I hope this helps explain this issue. Poa can last 40 days under ice compared to bentgras which can survive at least 120 under ice. Bentgras is a much stronger variety of Turfgrass and the proof is on the greens this year. Within the dead areas are patches of bentgras that have no damage what so ever. We have gone through a very good warm spell but now we will be back into cooler temperatures. I feel that we can not wait anymore on re growth. All of the spots would heal them selves but it will take too long for that too happen. So we will start plugging and sodding all areas on greens. We will start in the centers of all greens and work our way out. Areas on the outside of the greens will be seeded to use all sod on the centers of greens. We hope to have all of this work completed by the end of the week to give it time to knit in to the existing soil. I will post pictures as the process is completed. Thank you again for your patience. Key Facts about golf to share as part of Earth Day (April 22)
Lawrence, Kan. (April 17, 2015) - When American writer Mark Twain pronounced that a round of golf was “a good walk spoiled,” he clearly didn’t have all the facts. Today, we know that walking a round of golf can burn more than 2,000 calories. Here are 5 facts about golf that promote the sport and the environment as part of Earth Day April 22. Earth Week is April 20-24. 1. Golf courses are professionally managed landscapes where environmental stewardship is important – from using water and nutrients efficiently to implementing better methods of erosion control. 2. In general, the golf industry is striving to deliver firm and fast playing surfaces that are better for everyone and improve the bottom line. More than two-thirds of golf courses report that they are keeping turfgrass drier than in the past. 3. The golf industry is continually investing in research to identify drought-tolerant grasses, promote water conservation and improve best management practices. 4. Golf courses provide habitats for wildlife, including protected species. 5. Many golf courses have recycling programs to reduce and reuse. This green, I feel, had the most damage from winter. Water built up through the center and killed any Poa that was there. We made sure this will never happen again by installing winter tolerant bentgrass. The sod that we installed is predominantly A-4 bent grass taken from our A-4 nursery that we built 2 years ago. This type is not affected by winter damage. We will continue to add sod and plugs to areas of greens that recieve the most damage to help prevent it in the future. Take after the cover was pulled back. Taken today. This is when we pulled the covers off. This is today. We still have some time to go and lots of plugging work to do but we will get there. Thank you for your continued support. Patience is the key. This is today. We still have some time to go and lots of plugging work to do but we will get there. Thank you for your continued support. Patience is the key. Today we are starting the replacement process on greens. We will be installing hundreds of plugs and some sod strips on most of the greens. We hope to have it completed by the end of the week. These areas will take some time to heal and will need to be topdress weekly to even out with the rest of the green. On a better note, most of the areas are filling in well form the winter damage. We will be applying sprayable fertilizers, amino acids and proteins to help the immature grass recover. These areas will be ready soon now that the temperatures are higher. I ask that everyone please stay off of the damaged greens. Foot traffic will add 2 to 3 weeks to the healing time. Thank you. Today was a beautiful day and a great one for healing the greens. We pulled over 200 plugs from the nursery to prepare for installation tomorrow. 17 will be the first green to repair followed by 5. The other greens are healing more and more everyday. We hope to have all greens repaired in a weeks time. They would be playable a few days after that. |
Superintendent
Gino Marchetti Assistant Superintendent
Les Lear Assistant Superintendent
Brandon Wisnosky Assistant-in-Training
Melinda Wesley Foreman
Bill Noll Mechanic Jim Saslo Past Employees
Drew White - Superintendent of south course at Westchester Country Club Patrick Moran - Superintendent Berwick Country Club Josh Dixon - LA Country Club Related Links
GCSAA Pocono Turfgrass Association USGA Glen Oak Country Club Penn State Turfgrass Science Penn State Turf Management Mark Mungeam - GOCC Archeitect Total Turf - 10 &18 Tee Project 2013 White Construction - Bunker Project 2013 Maintenance Calender
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