Mind the Gap

As our work continues with the drainage installation project, you will be seeing more and more fairways with lines of seed and soil. These areas, like the expansions, must be avoid by any traffic or play. We have run rope along the length of each line to keep carts from crossing over them and we ask that foot traffic be kept off them as well. I would hope that there is no need for these areas to be completely enclosed with rope and stake; that one line of rope indicating that they are there will be enough. Please do not prove me wrong!

See you on the course!
Elliott Dowling

The New Aerification Schedule

With yesterday proving to be another washout I have no confidence that we will be able to complete our aerification by Thursday.  This would be an unrealistic deadline even if we could have begun this morning, which could not happen with the course still trying to drain more than an inch and a half of precipitation. I have discussed the issue with Dave Gould and he agrees that there is no point in attempting to continue at the cost of member access to the course when we would not be able to finish regardless.

As such, the course will be open Wednesday (today), Thursday and throughout the weekend as normal. 

Aerification will begin Monday October 3rd and continue into next week. I will be working with Wally to ensure that the Ladies Road Runner event on Tuesday has nine holes to play. Outside of this event the golf course will be closed Monday and Tuesday of next week, with the goal being to have nine holes open by Wednesday.

Even the best laid plans can easily fall prey to the whims of mother nature.  The forecast for next week is clear and hopefully it will stay that way.  We thank you for your understanding and patience while we adapt to whatever the weather throws at us.

See you on the course!
Elliott Dowling

Turf Advisory Service Report

Early this month the U.S.G.A. head agronomist for our region, Ty McClellan, payed a very enlightening visit to Cress Creek Country Club. Anyone who was able to accompany us was treated to an informative tour of the property.  He has since sent me his formal report (called a Turf Advisory Service Report) and I am posting a link that will allow you to read it in it's entirety. I strongly encourage you to not only read it, but share it with any of your fellow members who many not follow the blog- and while your at it, get them to start following the blog!  Please feel free to contact me with any questions you may have.

Turf Advisory Service Report

See you on the course!
Elliott Dowling

Rain!

What was a small chance of rain at the end of last week became a malevolent force by Sunday night, washing out what was meant to be our first day of aerification week. What's more, tomorrow's forecast is not offering much of a respite, calling for rain throughout the night and a 60% chance of rain during the day. For now we can make no promises about the schedule for the rest of the week.

If we can begin tomorrow, it has been agreed that the course will be closed Tuesday and Wednesday of this week. Our goal will be to have at least 9 holes open for play come Thursday. I want to make it clear that even if tomorrow does not prove to be a wash the more time consuming requirements of this week, namely the solid tine aerification of the fairways, will not only go on during play but will most likely spill into next week.

David Gould and I will be emailing and posting updates as they come. We thank you for your patience and your understanding.

See you on the course!
Elliott Dowling

A Turfgrass Medley

Certainly some of you have noticed that the area between the final pair of fairway bunkers as Eighteen fairway meets the approach is a collection of three or four different varieties of turfgrass. As the temperature has changed, each of these varieties has responded according to it's own natural programming, which has made the differences much more prominent than they were at the height of the season.  These variations have also helped bring to light the fact that these separate varieties are not coincidental transplanting; they were laid as sod in prior years. The picture below shows clearly the almost perfect right-angles that mark the edges of sod.

It is because of this that our typical approach of weakening invasive species and allowing our bentgrass to out compete them will not be affective here.  Our only option is to strip the entire area and sod it with the proper turf. This means a small amount of extra work, but it is unavoidable if we want to make this area right. 

See you on the course!

Elliott Dowling

Strange Bedfellows

Heavy rain may have washed aerification out today, but we still managed to get a bit of work done. The image above was taken on the right side of one approach. This is yet another instance of sod from previous years having been laid directly atop gravel. There is only one thing that can result from this, and that is the slow death of sod. I'm sure most of you can remember how this area looked before we stripped it- just like every other area where sod and gravel have been laid together.  Number one is the just the latest on the list of areas like this that we have stripped and repaired- and it is far from the last.

See you on the course!
Elliott Dowling

Scouting Report for September 23

~~The following is the C.D.G.A. scouting report as posted by Derek Settle, PhD~~


September 23, 2011 Scouting Report

Sunshine Course Hosts iTurf Expo: We String and Sign Turf Research Plots, Dollar Spot Ebbs, and Tim tells of a Multi-State Evaluation

Chicago/Northern Illinois Update: Derek Settle

As I write, today is Friday, but it's not just any Friday. At 4 am it quietly became fall when most of us were still alseep and it was dark out. It means our summer season is offically over and our golf courses now have a look that is not just green. For example, I've begun to notice yellows, oranges and even occasional hints of red quietly arriving on deciduous tree branches (as fall begins I like to watch maples and honeylocusts). It means the landscape is about to wrap up this growing season. On Sunshine Course we wrapped up our year of turfgrass research by hosting an event called the iTurf Expo for the Illinios Turfgrass Foundation. Thanks to Chris Painter and Niki Munroe, Sunshine Course had become a green gem of paradise and it sparkled as guest speakers arrived from Wisconsin (Dr. Jim Kerns), Indiana (Dr. Aaron Patton) and Missouri (Dr. Lee Miller). They would complement speakers from across Illinois. Let me tell you that story...

Illinois is a state with a shape different than where I grew up - Kansas. North to south, Illinois is longer than wide and that has significance as we enjoy more than one zone of plant adaptation. That is why we feel a turfgrass research field day in Lemont is strengthened by representation of turf scientists from each distinct region. It allows us to discuss and learn of our similarities and differences of turf research efforts from southern (Dr. Ken Diesburg), central (Dr. Bruce Branham) and northern (CDGA) Illinois. To everyone who has helped the CDGA Turf Program this year with the necessary encouragement to keep doing what we do, we say THANK YOU!

Click here to view the September 23, 2011 Scouting Report. 

Enjoy your first weekend of fall. I am.

Derek Settle, PhD
Director of Turfgrass Program 

Self Inflicted Wounds

The pictures I am posting are of the expansion on 17. Not only are there clear golf shoe prints across the seedlings and mix, the ropes were removed and left on the ground. Put plainly: I cannot help Cress Creek unless Cress Creek helps me. These expansions can be damaged to the point of failure, it will not take much.

As I posted earlier, many of our repair plots have had the matting removed to allow more sun for the infant turf developing there, but these areas must still be left alone. Please respect the rope boundaries we have erected around these sensitive locations. For the good of the course they must be allowed to develop and thrive. Please watch yourselves and each other, police your guests if you must. We cannot destroy our own creations.

See you on the course!
Elliott Dowling

An Error on Yesterday's Post

I wanted to take a moment to correct a mistake with one of the dates sent out on our blog posting yesterday. Aerification will begin on Monday the 26th with the course being closed both Monday the 26th and Tuesday the 27th. Again, our hope is to have the process completed by Thursday the 29th- weather permitting.  I apologize for any confusion.

See you on the Course!
Elliott Dowling

Aerification Proclamation

Aerification week will be proceeding as scheduled.  Beginning Monday the 26th we will be aerifying the entire course. That Monday and Tuesday the course will be closed to all play. It is our hope that at least nine holes will be open for play on Wednesday and that the entire aerification process will be completed by Thursday the 29th. Though as of now the forecast for next week is clear, weather will be a factor in our completion. Any time we lose to rain will have to be made up.

Suffice it to say that this will not be a good week to bring guests and/or give first impressions.

See you on the course!
Elliott Dowling

Worth a Thousand Words

This picture, taken on Monday, is a perfect illustration of what has been going on with our fairways throughout the year- and even farther back if what I'm told is true.  In it we see number two fairway after the rain the course received on Sunday night. The importance of the picture is not that areas of the fairway are flooded, rather that it is the same areas that have flooded repeatedly for the entirety of the year and eventually either boiled or drown.

The next time you find yourself (or anyone else) debating whether our need for drainage is real, please settle the argument with this picture of areas that died from flood damage- once again full of water. As I've said many times before, seed and sod are temporary solutions when it comes to problems like this. It is my hope that all of you are tired of temporary solutions.

See you on the course!
Elliott Dowling

Thank you sir may I have another?

With the major work on the expansions complete we are wasting no time moving on the next entry in our project agenda: Drainage. For any of you who didn't come across us on thirteen fairway, today marked the kick off our drainage installation project. Though we chose to work on thirteen fairway first because of it's proximity to the shop and it's status as a repeat offender when it comes to flooding, this fairway is far from the last that will know our trench diggers touch.

Over the fall season we will be installing more than 3,000 feet of drain tile over numerous fairways. This tile is intended to collect and direct water as it moves through the soil, helping us to reduce the amount of flooding we see on the same fairways year after year. While no amount of drainage can make any course immune to flooding, if we can increase the amount of water it takes to cause a flood then we can reduce the amount of flooding the course will see.

Similar to the housing market with the mantra: "Location, Location, Location", the golf course version could easily be: "Drainage, Drainage, Drainage!" Even at 3,000 feet, this will not be the end.  My current plan is to be installing at least some additional drainage every year.  No course can have enough, and we are already behind the mark.

Here's to dirty shovels.

See you on the course!
Elliott Dowling

The Seedling Round-up

Though touch-ups should be expected in any seeding project, the bulk of our work on the expansions is now complete. Below are pictures of the first expansions we completed at the start of our project. Please do not let the hearty appearances of these areas fool you; they are still easily damaged and are to be avoided at all costs! 

The right side of three 11 days after seeding.

 The right side of two 13 days after seeding.  Look at it go!

See you on the Course!
Elliott Dowling

Scouting Report for September 16

~~The following is the C.D.G.A. scouting report as posted by Derek Settle, PhD~~

September 16, 2011 Scouting Report Cog Hill hosts PGA's BMW Championship: We Volunteer, First Frost, Rust Disease, Dollar Spot, and Tim meets PGA's Paul Vermeulen Chicago/Northern Illinois Update: Derek Settle Ready or not our fall season is just a week away. I looked it up and fall officially begins on Friday, September 23 at 4:09 am. However, fall seemed to begin this week - an early arrival of cool temperatures came true. For some in northern Illinois, the experience would occur smack dab in the middle of Cog Hill's #4 Dubsdread. It was Thursday, September 15 and I was awake bright and early as a turf maintenance volunteer at Cog Hill. The PGA Tour's BMW Championship had begun in the southwest Chicago suburb of Lemont but an early morning frost meant the turfgrass crews scattered across 18 golf holes would wait. It was 2 hours until the go ahead was given at 7:30 am, because that's exactly how long it took the rising sun to melt ice crystals which otherwise damage turf when trafficked. Together outdoors, we had the look and feel of a different season as we assumed our appointed duties with jackets, hats and gloves on. The early hour work schedule was no trouble because we were helping our neighbors, course 4 superintendent Scott Pavalko, director of courses Ken Lapp and PGA agronomist Paul Vermeulen. It was a spectacular experience and along the way we were able to take in all the sites and sounds associated with a PGA Tour Event. Scott, Ken and Paul thank you for sharing and teaching what you do. Next week, when we officially welcome a new fall season, I will always remember where it began for me - Cog Hill's #4 course on number 1 green at 5:30 am. Click here to view the September 16, 2011 Scouting Report. Have a great weekend. Maybe we'll see you in Lemont! Derek Settle, PhD Director of Turfgrass Program

Let the Sun Shine In

Front right expansion of number one green after it's first mowing.

Germination- we've got it! As you can see above, expansions worked on last week are already showing good coverage for being nearly a week old. At only 9 days since seeding the front and back right on number one green both received their first mowing today. So far, so good. To help these and other areas showing strong germination, we will be removing some of the covers that currently protect these newly repaired areas.  Our hope is to allow them additional sunlight, further encouraging their growth.

Though the areas will be uncovered they remain closed to all play and traffic. Please respect the rope boundaries as these areas are far from hearty as of yet.

See you on the course!

Elliott Dowling

For Your Consideration

I have been trying to think of a way to explain more clearly the night and day difference between the kiln dried sand we are removing from beneath the greens expansions and the custom blend we are replacing it with.  In the end, however,  the simplest way to compare and contrast is to see the two things you are considering side by side. To that end, I will be leaving a small sample of each material in the men's locker room tomorrow morning.  Please feel free to examine and touch each one.  Hopefully the difference will immediately become clear.

The expansion repairs are coming along nicely, with the work on schedule for completion by the end of the week.  As always we ask that you please respect the rope and stake boundaries we've erected around each of the finished areas, as they will remain even after the construction phase is finished. Again, any traffic on the mats we've laid over our work areas could damage or kill the tender seedlings growing beneath them.

Remember: the expansion you damage could be your own.

See you on the course!
Elliott Dowling

The Seedling Round-up

With so many areas across the course in various stages of being re-seeded, I wanted to share some pictures of our progress.

7 green is already showing huge improvement.

At 6 days after seeding, 1 green is showing a very strong rate of germination!

See you on the course!

Elliott Dowling

Expansion Repair for Dummies

With our work well under way, I thought it might be nice to show everyone what's going on underneath all those green mats. So I am going to take you through the process step by step.

Step 1: Remove Failing Sod
Our first step in the repair process is to remove and discard the suffering sod. As with the drainage areas we'll be working on later this year in the fairways, to simply re-seed or re-sod and then walk away would be treating the symptom instead of the disease.  Removing the sod allows us access the true source of the problem.

Step 2: Excavate the Kiln Dried Sand Beneath
It is the installation of this unamended sand that has spelled doom for our  expansions every year since. Once we have uncovered it, we remove it in it's entirety.

Step 3: Install New Growing Medium
Once the unamended sand is removed, we install our custom blended growing medium.  This blend is made up predominantly of soil, with sand and a small amount organic matter. It was mixed specifically to match samples taken from our greens.  This blend will be the biggest difference in the new expansions.  It will help these areas avoid being saturated for days at a time when they receive heavy rainfall, and there for help the expansions to remain healthy through the years to come.

Step 4: Seed and Cover
With the new medium in place we seed and fertilize the area.  Finally we cover it with the green mats you've seen on the back of 7 green, and by now many others. This mat protects our seed from birds and other animals that may want to eat it, as well as from being washed away should they weather a heavy rainfall.

Step 5: We Wait!
Always the hardest part of any project!  We will see germination (tender, small seedlings) at around 7 days.  Beyond that it will be a matter of keeping them healthy, moist, and untrodden upon.

See you on the course!
Elliott Dowling

Scouting Report for September 9th

~~The following is the C.D.G.A. scouting report as posted by Derek Settle, PhD~~


September 9, 2011 Scouting Report

22 Sep Sunshine Course hosts iTurf Expo: Soil Temps Drop to 60s, Poa annua Roots?, Dollar Spot, and Tim says Bewitched! 

Chicago/Northern Illinois Update: Derek Settle - DSettle@cdga.org/Weather Blog 

It now quickly feels and looks like fall. How do I know? You see I looked out my apartment window this morning and there it was. I found a yellow color decorating a favorite tree of mine. It was thornless honeylocust and it had begun to develop fall color - overnight it seemed. The Chicago nighttime temps must have gotten to it this week - we logged a couple 40-somethings. How do I know? In the human environment; by day our air conditioning is off more than it is on, by night our windows are closed and we are back into the closet so we can sport light jackets. In the turf environment; bentgrass is as healthy as we've seen all year, superintendents are poking holes (aerification), and greens are lightning fast. That's all positive news. It tells you we are getting beyond the thrashings of a summer called 2011. But are we? I didn't mention Poa greens did I? Well, they continue to give us some trouble. This week they still didn't look quite right in Chicago. I was asked to rule out anthracnose basal stem rot a couple of times - it was not. Instead, the problem was the inablity of Poa annua to respond to cooler soil temps with new healthy roots. Be patient, with cool-season turf, there is a lag time after shock therapy - summer 2011. Under the microscope this week I saw new roots and a sudden appearance of root hairs. It tells me it's going to be OK. In fact, the best Poa plant health on greens was centered directly over needle-tine holes that were made very recently. I'm speachless? Not really...roots! 

Click here to view the September 9, 2011 Scouting Report. 

Enjoy your weekend...without the winds of Lee! 

Derek Settle, PhD 
Director of Turfgrass Program 

A visit from the U.S.G.A.

Today, Ty McClellan paid a four hour visit to Cress Creek Country Club.  Ty is the United States Golf Association's head agronomist for our region.  He came out to take a tour of the course with all the board and greens committee members who could find time to come along, and filled every minute of his visit with valuable insights from his many years of turf experience. For those of you who could not join us, I will be sharing the written report that he submits to the club. 

Being offered ready access to a brilliant mind like Ty's is an invaluable experience. To have him tour the course and offer his thoughts is something we stand to gain greatly from. I thank him on behalf of Cress Creek Country Club for spending the morning with us.

See you on the course!
Elliott Dowling

Only one week later seven green shows noticeable improvement

As a reminder, the grounds department will begin work on the greens expansions tomorrow.  As stated before, the ropes we will be putting up in our wake require your utmost respect if we are to see premium results.  Any roped off section of a green should be avoided at all costs.  Cress Creek needs this project, and we need your support to make it work. For the most part the ropes on seven green were obeyed and as you can see from the photo above our work has already begun to pay off.

I would also like to make it known that the skilled crewmen I am assigning these tasks will be under orders to continue working under any conditions.  They will be on the green with you.  My men will be as respectful as possible, but even with players in the proximity the work will continue. Time is of the essence if we are to have these seedlings ready to weather winter's fury; to that end we must minimize delays.

A bit of discomfort now will bring us healthy expansions later!

See you on the course!
Elliott Dowling

Scouting Report for September 2nd

~~The following is the C.D.G.A. scouting report as posted by Derek Settle, PhD~~

September 2, 2011 Scouting Report September Arrives: Another Hot Holiday Weekend?!?, Anthracnose on Poa Greens, Dollar Spot, Summer Patch, and Tim says Festuca arudinacea Chicago/Northern Illinois Update: Derek Settle - DSettle@cdga.org/Weather Blog Having endured a difficult summer again what did we learn? One thing is certain. The difficulty of a humid environment like Chicago should not be underestimated. For the second year it brought turf leaf blades to their knees - not to mention us. Unfortunately, Chicago's cool, humid environment can drop a lot of rainfall within one summer. Some seasons we've been lucky and the deluge occurred outside of midsummer or when cooling temperatures were nearby. Last year and this year, thunderstorms have brought horror of horrors so to speak. For example, in this growing season we would achieve our most significant flooding during our hottest summer period in July. It was as if Mother Nature didn't like us anymore. If you were a superintendent, the price you paid varied. If you collect water for the surrounding community you're likely going to flood somewhere - lowest fairways usually take the hit. If you have large bodies of water or streams that meander in a delightful way across your golf course - nearby turf will definitely be in harms way as banks overflow. The point is that in certain summers we can understand a very logical sequence of events that will negatively affect a property prone to flooding. Perfect turf is no longer perfect and, if you are the unfortunate superintendent, you've become the talk of the town. But really who's fault is it? As we move forward in September our soil temperatures will begin to drop from the mid-70s. When we leave that threshold we will once again see terrific root growth. The last time we saw optimal temperatures for root growth, let me check my weather records, was June 15 when little Sunshine Course recorded 69.9° on average at a 2 inch depth. Since that time our soils have been 70-80° with a peak reading of 85.5° on 21 July or two days before a 24 hour record rainfall event. All I can say is Happy Labor Day! Click here to view the September 2, 2011 Scouting Report.  Have a great holiday weekend - we can now look forward to cooler outdoor temperatures. Derek Settle, PhD Director of Turfgrass Program Timothy A. Sibicky, MS Manager of Turfgrass Research