Golf Course Update; Late Winter

All weather patterns are difficult to predict, but Michigan weather takes the cake.  Supposedly one of the colder states, Michigan just endured a very mild winter with below normal snowfall.  In fact, the previous 12 months have seen record breaking weather as well. 

Rainfall events by month are well over the average, along with temperatures.  The winter of 2011-12 was the 6th warmest on record and the 4th out of 111 recorded that did not see consistent frost.  We hope that this pattern does not continue, golf course playability and agronomic health suffer when high temperatures, humidity and rain combine.  A cool to warm season with average rainfall would be a welcomed relief. 

Unpredictable weather is as certain as life, death and taxes.  Not as certain, was the general health of the covered greens.  The winter covers are designed to protect the turf from extreme cold temperatures, ice and heavy snowfall.  The concern being that the mild winter would lead to intensive microbe activity.  Decomposition releases toxic gases, that if contained by say...a cover, could lead to turf injury.  However, the "bubble wrap" kept air flowing near the green surface and the covers themselves actually insulated the turf and soil from warming up to the point of concern. 

Late fall aerification, a cultural practice implemented for the first time last year, seems to be yielding promising results.  No spring aerfication will be necessary (we hope the members are as excited about that as we are) and besides a small amount of recovery time and slight bumpiness, the greens are in good shape and health.  The crew also installed drain tiles on the 14th green (over 1800 feet of tile) and re-grassed 8 different green complexes.  The new grass will benefit both playability and aesthetics.

Out of an odd 125 acres at Meadowbrook, 122.3 of them are not greens.  While those 2.7 acres see the most action, other parts of the course sought our attention as well.  The pond off the 1st fairway was cleaned and the remaining geo-bag full of pond muck and silt will be shaped and seeded this spring.  The extensively damaged Austrian pines between the 12th green and 13th tee were removed and replaced with 25 foot white pines, beautiful specimens.

I walked the entire 18 the other day and was very impressed.  From tee to green, I saw little evidence of turf injury, a great way to start the 2012 golf season, I rate the golf course coming out of winter with an A- .

Green Committee

The Green Committee is an integral part of golf course management at any country club.  Under chairman Tom Doyle, the committee will continue its work on golf course improvements in regards to architectural design as well as other aspects of general course management.  The new committee is listed below.

Tom Doyle-Chairman
Frank Uller-Managing Director
Jeff Mills
Ron Bonatz, Jr.
Randy Holloway
Jim Kohl
Barb Maibach
Joe Ruicci
Mike Anderson
Jim Eathorne
Jeff Johnson
Tom Guy

Special thanks to Bill Vandermass and Brian Mills for their service on the Green Committee in previous years.

Tree Replacement

During the course of the season, the Austrian Pines behind the 12th green showed symptoms of declining health.  Many factors could be attributed to these symptoms (disease, extreme heat, chemical exposure) but the simple fact of the matter is that they had to be removed.  The Austrians protected the 13th tee from errant shots at the 12th green, so new, large trees are needed to replace them. 
Winter usually provides ideal conditions for tree transplant and replacement.  The equipment that removes and carries these 20 feet trees weighs over 25 tons.  Considering the root ball itself can weigh 5 tons, a superintendent has to be either extremely brave to let this type of equipment out during the season, or wait for winter.  The ground is usually frozen solid to a depth of a 5-6 inches by this time of year and will support the heavy tree-spade and root ball without leaving deep ruts around the course.   Transferring during the dormant season (winter) means that the tree has little need for water and when that need arises, plenty will be available due to snow melt. 
Unfortunately, the winter of 2012 has been very unpredictable.  With constant thaws the ground has not been able to freeze completely.  To make sure that as little damage is done as possible, the crew worked in the cold hours of the morning and placed large plywood sheets around highly visible and crucial areas of the golf course (the 13th tee and its surrounds), to enable the tree service to cut holes and place the 4 new white pines and 1 new river birch in the selected areas.  The white pines will provide adequate protection to the 13th tee and are impressive specimens, with the potential to grow over 60 feet tall.  Planting during the winter season also allowed the crew to not worry about disrupting golfers, an easy thing to do when transplanting 25 foot trees.



The slide show documents the process of placing these new trees.    

Northville Historical Society; A Tribute to Meadowbrook Country Club

Founded in 1916, Meadowbrook Country Club is one of the oldest clubs in the Detroit area.  Originally it consisted of just 6 greens and 125 acres.  Now, with over 180 acres and remodels done by storied architects such as Donald Ross, MCC remains one of  Detroit's elite clubs.

It's hosted a number of PGA Championships and other tournaments including the Motor City Open.  Prominent names such as Byron Nelson, Bob Hamilton, Ben Hogan and Cary Middlecoff have tee'ed off here.  Nelson and Hamilton hold the 18 hole record, posting scores of 63 in 1946 and 1949 respectively.  More than a decade later, Mike Souchek shot a 63 during the second round of the Motor City Open in 1959. 

Andrew Bertoni, superintendent at MCC from 1952-1968, recovered a scrapbrook pieced together from old newspaper articles and PGA literature that highlights the clubs rich history.  The following is an article from that source.  It was written by William H. Ashton, who served as the club historian and Green Chairman.

Winter Preparation

As Michigan gears up for winter, golf course superintendents are doing the same.  An important aspect of turf management is preparing the grass for the extreme climate changes of winter (freeze/thaw cycles and heavy snow fall).  There are many different tasks that are part of winterizing a course and the major ones that da' Brook performs are explained in the following article.

Dormant Feeding:
Dormant feeding is an important element in this preparation.  It entails a heavy rate of solid fertilizer applied to specific areas of the course.  MCC applies a granular fertilizer to its tees and fairways at a rate of 350lbs of product per acre.  The fertilizer formulations for dormant feeding usually include a small amount of nitrogen coupled with a large amount of potash (Potassium).  Potassium is an important plant nutrient at this time of year because it provides strength to cell walls.  Long periods of cold temperatures or abrupt freezes and thaws are extremely detrimental to the turf.  Ice crystals, formed by cold temperatures can puncture cell walls in a weakened condition.  During a thaw, the plant can actively take up water, hydrating the turf.  The water will than freeze puncturing cell membranes from the inside, which will result in the death of the cell.  This process in known as crown hydration, and while not completely unavoidable, dormant feeding does provide some relief from it. 
The summer of 2011 left its mark on some of the fairways, in the form of voids or bare spots in the turf.  The crew hopes that the dormant feed will assist in the recovery of these spots before the snowfall and carry the benefits into the spring.

Snow Mold Control:

The biggest threat to turfgrass during the winter from a disease standpoint are the snow molds; Pink and Gray.  Pink snow-mold is the most common in Michigan (Gray requires a long, heavy snow-cover that southeastern Michigan does not see consistently) and before the snow comes, superintendents try to spray the vital areas of the course with fungicides.  The norm for snow mold prevention and control has become a combination of products that contain active ingredients from different chemical families.  On a side note, PCNB, a very effective fungicide for snow mold applications was taken off the market to edit it's EPA Label.  It recently has re-entered the market and superintendents are thankful for its return. 

Winterizing the Irrigation System:

To avoid pipe and sprinkler head damage brought on by water expansion during freezing, the irrigation system of golf courses are winterized in late fall.  This entails the shut down of the pump house and the use of a large air compressor to blow the remaining water out of the lines.  The irrigation lines themselves contain thousands of gallons of water but with the use of the large compressor and experience of the first assistant and irrigation tech, the task can be completed in a day.  This is also an excellent time to check sprinkler heads for malfunctions (with thousands of yards of pipes, wire and numerous sprinkler heads it stands to reason that something might go unnoticed). 

Winter Covers/Green Winter Preparation:

Meadowbrook CC is in the process of trying a new management practice in regards to prepping the greens for winter.  Instead of aerifying the greens in early fall, the crew waited until mid-November.  The greens were topdressed heavily with over a quarter inch of sand than aerified, leaving a large amount of sand on the greens surface.  The theory is that the surface sand will provide some insulation/protection to the green during the winter months and the aerification holes will aid in removing water from the greens surface, which can damage turf when it freezes. 

Due to the orientation of some greens, more protection is needed.  Greens that are exposed to northern winds or heavy snowfall are covered with bubble wraps and heavy tarps.  The bubble wraps are similar to the packing material and allow for air exchange between the green surface and atmosphere (to prevent the build up of toxic gases).  The heavy tarps are placed on top of the bubble wrap and protect the green from winds, snowfall and surface water.  The combination of these two is an effective mechanical practice in preventing winter damage. 

Everything the crew does at this time of year is geared towards having a healthy golf course come spring.  Hitting the ground running in late March and April is a huge advantage when the golf season starts.  We hope the members have a pleasant winter and happy holidays.  Enjoy.

Deep Tining

This soil profile taken from a MCC green shows the distinct topdressing and native soil layer.  As you can see the topdressing sand stops at about 4" down.  Traditional aeration machines cannot reach below this depth and to acheive better drainage into the native soil layer, deep tining is used. 

Deep tining requires a special set of tines and machine that most grounds crew do not have in their arsenal.  So here at MCC, the task is contracted out.  With a contractors specialized aeration set they can alleviate compaction issues and penetrate soil layers that regular aeration methods will not achieve.  Tining into the native soil will allow for better surface drainage which translates into firmer and faster greens, even after periods of rain.  It is an important cultural practice, specifically for native soil greens that do not have the USGA recommended sand layer of 12 inches (most older courses do not have this recommendation due to the fact they were built before the recommendations were released).

The process is similar in all aspects to a regular aeration/topdressing application.  The greens are deep-tined following a heavy application of topdressing sand.  The sand is than worked into the holes using turbine blowers and a specialized brush attached to a golf cart.  The goal is to fill all the holes to brim, creating channels for more effecient drainage.  The contractor can complete about 12 holes a day so the entire process will only take a day and a half.  We hope to see a benefit in the form of playable greens after heavy rains, which is key in the spring when members are itching to play and mother nature is ready to dump large amounts of precipitation (the spring of 2011 was one of the wettest on record).

Topdresser and Deep-Tine Tractor in action

Drainage Project on 14th Green

The few members that braved the colder temperatures this week had to deal with a temporary green on the 14th hole.  The green itself is in the process of having drainage lines installed.  The installation of these tiles will be a benefit in regards to playability and maintenance. 

The right side of the green has a slight depression that collects water after most rain events, making cup placement around the area difficult.  Members may have noticed that the approach to the green also collects water, making the area unplayable.  With the completion of these drainage tiles, members will enjoy a better playing surface after rain events.  The staff will appreciate the construction as well.  Standing water makes maintenance practices impossible, not to mention that disease pressure skyrockets during the summer months when an area of turf is completely saturated for extended periods of time.

The diagram above shows the general design and layout of the tiles.  Installation of a tile requires hard work and steady hands.  The sod is removed, the trench cut with a Ditch Witch and the spoils have to be hauled off-site.  Than the tile itself (2"drainage pipe) has to be laid and the trench back-filled with a special blend of soils.  The mix consists of 60% sand (for infiltration and firmness), 20% peat and 20% soil (for its water and nutrient holding capacity).  The mix has to be tamped down to ensure that the tile lines do not settle beneath the existing green surface.  Finally, using a masons trowel to smooth and level the soil at the top of the trench,the sod is replaced and tamped extensively to ensure a true putting surface. 

Over 1200 linear feet of tile will eventually be laid, requiring over 30 tons of mix to re-fill the trenches.  Any construction on a green requires a knowledgeable and attentive crew, so hat's off to the members of the staff participating in the project.  As always, we appreciate the members patience and we hope to have the green open soon.  Enjoy. 

Slide show of 14th Green Drainage Project