Scouting Report for June 22

Better late than never! ~~The following is the C.D.G.A. scouting report as posted by Derek Settle, PhD~~ June 22, 2012 Scouting Report June Sees A Little Rain: Dollar Spot, 1st Japanese Beetles, Anthracnose BSR, Peter's Billbug versus Kentucky Bluegrass and Tim is still saying Waitea Chicago/Northern Illinois Update: Derek Settle It was hard to keep a ballcap on a few days this week, whether near the striped turf of a baseball diamond (Cubs/Sox) or near the striped turf of a fairway (us). Hot wind meant turf ET climbed to outrageous levels, but our saving grace was rain which had made a dent on a dry landscape (0.5" last weekend for most of Chi). June's third week had brought some change. First, June 21 was hailed 'officially' as summer. Whatever. Second, high humidity returned. Drip, drip and that's not rain. Third, it was super-hot and Chicago scored more highs of 90-something. By Wednesday we had counted thirteen 90° days...and it wasn't even summer yet. Fourth, the good men I know as golf course superintendents began to look oven-baked? To lighten things I use small talk. "What's with the hair?" "You got dark all the sudden!" "Look, deep roots!" "Are you thirsty?" So, how's your summer going? If you are a kid pool-side, you smile. If you are a golfer now experiencing ball roll speeds of your life, you smile. If you happen to be a superintendent you're taking it all in (pats on the back). But, an occasional observant club member has begun to notice something. The Super's smile lost some of it's (broad) character. June just became July, it's Hot! Click here to view the June 22, 2012 Scouting Report. Have a good weekend and we are about to catch another break (cool-down). Whew! Derek Settle, PhD Director of Turfgrass Program

Trees Approved, Rakes Removed

Tuesday night the Board of Directors approved the greens committee's recommendation to remove three willows that inhabit the bank of 15 tee's pond.  These willows have been shedding material for some time, as they are nearing the end of their life cycle. The willows will be brought down Monday (June 25) with the intention of having the area ready for invitational. This fall and spring, we will be installing additional bald cypress at that location, our hope is that more bald cypress will tie in with the existing bald cypress on the south side of the pond, bringing more cohesion to the area.




Also approved was the removal of an Elm on the left side of hole number five where the fairway begins. This tree was suggested for removal because the main body has already begun to split. Should this division be allowed to run it's course a rather large piece of the tree would fall leaving what remains unable to recover, not to mention the chances for property damage and injury. Better we should control when the inevitable fall occurs and minimize the risk.

Lastly, the Board of Directors voted to repeal the bunker rake placement rules made earlier this year that required the rakes to be placed inside the bunkers after use.  The rakes are now to be placed in the rough on the far side of the bunker from whatever feature said bunker may inhabit, be it a green or fairway. The grounds crew has already made the change.

See you on the course!
Elliott Dowling

The 2012 Drought

By now you've all noticed just how dry the course has been over the last few weeks. The word “drought” is no hyperbole. We are currently more than four inches short of the average rainfall for this time of year, while temperatures find a way into the nineties each week. This is the season we find Cress Creek in at the moment: July’s temperatures, July’s watering needs, July’s hours- in May and June. Add to this our early start and you have a recipe for one thing: Stress.

Believe it or not, the temperatures have been working with us as much as against us for the most part.  Though the daily highs brought summer-like heat, the nights were still making it down into the forties and fifties.  These night time lows are perfect for the cool-season turf on the course, and as such have saved us from even more wilt and burnout then we are already seeing.  Unfortunately, the daily lows are slowly creeping up the thermometer- as they are known to do in June. beginning Friday the forecast calls for a week straight of night temperatures in the mid to high sixties, and I have little hope that this trend won't continue or rise in the weeks to come.

As such I am writing to make you aware of the things you will be seeing (or seeing more of) from grounds staff. You have already undoubtedly noticed the increased presence of men with hoses on the greens, tees, and fairways. Expect to see even more of this. We will be running irrigation heads and hand watering all over the course, and while we will -as always- endeavor to stay out of the way of play, we ask for your understanding of our increased presence.

Another thing you will notice is an increased amount of dormant areas in the out of play rough. Any irrigation system is a proxy for true, natural precipitation. And as such it will never water as thoroughly and efficiently as rain can. A perfect example of this is our fairway irrigation, which is set up in three parallel rows running the length of each fairway.  While the middle row delivers water to only the fairways, a primary function of the outer rows is putting water into the rough. While all of these heads are called "fairway heads", the outer rows comprise the majority of our rough heads in this "double-duty" manner.

Pair this with the knowledge that blue grass requires more water than bentgrass and a revelation comes to light. The design of our irrigation is such that the outer row heads cannot be allowed to distribute the maximum amount of water that the blue grass can handle, for fear of drowning or making soggy our bentgrass fairways. And since our array of dedicated rough heads is limited, we are left with some areas in the rough that the irrigation system either won't fully irrigate or cannot irrigate period. Were the rough our only concern hand watering could address this easily, but hoses and the men that operate them must give priority to greens and tees first- a sentiment that I'm sure any member would echo.

The application of wetting agents, the suspension of potentially stressful maintenance procedures, alterations to our irrigation system practices; all of these and more are things already being done to help the course through this drought. While I am prepared to begin more drastic measures to ensure the health of our greens through the coming trials, I do not feel they are necessary at this juncture. Should that time come, and it very well may, I will keep you all informed.

See you on the course!
Elliott Dowling

Scouting Report for June 8

~~The following is the C.D.G.A. scouting report as posted by Derek Settle, PhD~~ June 8, 2012 Scouting Report June is Nice: Very Dry, Optimum Turf Health, No Dollar Spot, Take-All of Bent Fairways, Peter's Nitrogen Timing and Tim's Kentucky Blue versus Crabgrass Chicago/Northern Illinois Update: Derek Settle If you enjoy the outdoors, this week felt like heaven. After a record plunge in temperature, we began our week and the remaining 7 days and nights provided us with an uncanny cool-season perfection of the turf kind. Though still dangerously dry from a simple reality that it just will not rain, our dry soils also go further back. Back to a winter that lacked snow and an early spring that was way too warm -one could argue evapotranspiration began earlier than ever recorded. It means our soils are dry, something we can take in June when moderate near-ideal temperatures are the norm. So far so good, but in the back of a plantsman's mind something is brewing. What's a dry, hot summer this July and August going to look like? Be prepared for turf color of the brown kind - from experience on golf courses we know inner roughs will be especially hard hit. But, I'm getting ahead of myself again. It's June and birds are singing, animals are playing and things like Hydrangea macrophylla are putting on a show. The other obvious thing I saw this week? Golfers just kept smiling as did turf managers. Our current issues are minor at best. It's just things we've not seen for a number of years, like a root disease of creeping bentgrass called take-all. Like localized dry spot showing us the weak rootzone links beneath. But, we were sort of expecting a dry summer this time around. In 2012, a Chicago without dew was due! Click here to view the June 8, 2012 Scouting Report. It's gonna be a hot weekend, but thankfully it won't last long. So Enjoy! Derek Settle, PhD Director of Turfgrass Program

The Monday Minutes, June 4

This past Monday saw much more ongoing business then new business.  Long running projects like the verticutting of the fairways were continued, as well as the finishing touches being put on our parking lot sod project. As with last week, the greens were dusted with sand which was then washed into the profile with irrigation. My aim is to see this topdressing occur every week, though there will inevitably be Mondays where time constraints from outings simply do not allow for it.

The Fairways and Tees both received their bi-monthly treatment of disease prevention and nutrient products. As we enter into the more stressful months of the season, this mix will be altered slightly to increase the delivery of nutrients when we spray.  While turf can be over fed just like any other organism, the right blend and amount of nutrients can assist in it's ability to cope with the heavy traffic that comes with peak season play. 

The coming week is forecast to have warm but mild highs and cool evenings; also known as good recovery weather. When the mercury climbs into the 90's this weekend, we'll be ready!

See you on the course!
Elliott Dowling

Scouting Report for June 1

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

June 1, 2012 Scouting Report Cool Rain as June Begins: Take-all patch of bentgrass, Fairy ring on fairways, Wet Restarts Dollar Spot and Microdochium, and Tim says that 'W' Word Waitea Chicago/Northern Illinois Update: Derek Settle In a week we were the driest in quite some time - like several years. Of course, my eyes were on the turf and less than normal rain continued to be the look. The brownest looking lawns had appeared very early - it was May! Memorial Day weekend did the trick when a combination of heat and wind dropped a hammer on the landscape and maybe even your head if you manage portions of the outdoor landscape for a living. It was a big thump, but sprinklers and hoses lessened it into a thud (our 1st of the season). You see, last Sunday saw temperature highs approach 100° in Chicago, very unusual during any summer month up this way. But, the best part of our recent 7 day story is that it had a silver lining (two parts). Part I: Long-awaited rain did arrive and it's timing was beyond good as rain has been kinda rare in May -March and April for that matter. Still, Kentucky bluegrass and creeping bentgrass continue to enjoy their deep roots of a 2012 spring without overly saturated soils and flooding. What about Poa did you say? Well, she's been looking a little yellowish. Part II: Then yesterday, things suddenly looked up for whimps like Poa annua given our high temp hit 50-some degrees. Seriously? So, here's to June, the month that lets us say SUMMER. Although we remain confused, on the exact season, our rain gauges are full (momentarily) and our faces are smiling (end-of-week-cool-break-thing). Click here to view the June 1, 2012 Scouting Report. This weekend, keep smiling, with your jacket on. Derek Settle, PhD Director of Turfgrass Program

Post Memorial Day Deeds

Twenty mile per hour winds? Nothing we can't handle. Even with the weather not quite cooperating we managed to get quite a bit done on the course this past Tuesday, though we may have lost a few hats in the process.

After verticutting, before mowing.

 One project that we have been looking forward to finally getting into is the verticutting of the fairways.  This requires a special kind of reel (called a "verticutter"), meant to thin out over grown canopies as well as remove surplus thatch.  Mowing the fairways generally takes two mowers carrying five reels each four or five hours to complete; for this project we must use one mower that carriers only three of these specialized reels. As if that didn't make this process long enough, once they've been verticut the fairways must be mowed again with our standard mowers so as to remove any leaf blades left "standing" by the verticutters. And as a final measure the fairways are blown to remove any debris. Suffice to say this will be an ongoing project, spread across the next few Monday's available to us. In the mean time we ask that you pardon any temporary disruptions in the appearance of the fairways.

Verticutting Reel

The greens received a bit of extra attention as well in the form of an aerification using the smallest tines we have in house and a very gentle topdressing, with only a light dusting of sand being applied.  Where as topdressings are usual followed swiftly by brushes, brooms, and/or blowers, the aim of this light topdressing was to apply a minute amount of sand that could be worked into the soil profile using irrigation alone. The over all goal was to limit disruption as much as possible and keep the process barely noticeable to players. The greens were also sprayed.

Continuing our past few weeks of sod installment, the fairway expansions that have languished since their installation have been sodded into rough.  This has meant a slight re-contouring of the fairways in question but an overall improvement to playability and ease of maintenance. Until these areas have had a chance to root they will remain roped and closed to all play and traffic.

With another full day planned for tomorrow, I wanted to make sure I kept all of you up to date on what we do when you're not around.

See you on the course!
Elliott Dowling