WINTER PREPARATION

One of the things that Superintendents do behind the scenes is our winter preparation.  Our changing seasons in Kansas City bring many challenges to golf course managers.

IRRIGATION PREPARATION
One of the things that we have to pay close attention to is our irrigation systems.  We have approximately 1500 sprinkler heads tied together with approximately 40 miles of irrigation pipe ranging from 12" mainlines to 2" lateral loops.  These lines can freeze and break if we don't prepare them correctly.  At Staley we choose to drain our irrigation system instead of blowing it out with forced air.  We use many criteria to determine weather our system is a candidate for draining verses blowing it out with compressed air.  I evaluated the system and looked at the presence of drain valves in many of our low areas that enable us to open the drains and drain a fair majority of the water out of the pipes.  Forced air puts some fatigue on the irrigation system and I try to drain if I can to avoid the adverse effects of forced air hammering pipes as we blow out.  Draining also allows us to quickly charge the system back up in the winter months to water turf if we need to.  With 50 acres of Bentgrass we are susceptible to winter burn and desiccation that injures our sensitive Bentgrass.

CLUBHOUSE PREPARATION
Many of you that have been members at Staley Farms for a few years know that we have had some issues with winter pipe freezing at the clubhouse.  We have worked diligently to overcome this problem.  We spent all day at the clubhouse the week before the winter cold arrived draining lines and we are confident that we have our waterlines prepared for the winter.  We invited Doug Mason with Absolute Fire to help us prepare the fire system for the winter cold.  Doug installed an antifreeze loop in our banquet room and is going to add some drainage loops in our bar area that will ensure many years of trouble free winters at Staley Farms.  We are excited to get these alterations completed so we can sleep better at night knowing our beautiful clubhouse is safe from pipe freezing and winter breakage while offering excellent fire protection.

TURF PREPARATION
We obviously completed our greens aeration earlier this fall.  That is a very important fall cultural practice that we do to ensure proper drainage, compaction relief, and soil preparation for next season.  We fertilized greens three times after aeration to help the greens heal from aeration.  Fall fertilization also feeds the grass plant when it is preparing for winter.  The grass plant stores carbohydrates in the root system this time of year.  Proper fertilization this time of year ensures a good spring green-up and a healthy start to 2015.  We also fertilized the fairways, tees, and roughs this month.  We will top-dress the greens when the weather warms up a little bit.  We use strait sand and this will protect the greens from winter desiccation and wind burn.

MOWING NATIVES
It is our goal to mow all of the native areas before the snow falls.  Snow will mat these areas down and not allow us to get the proper cut that we want.  Winter snuck up on us but we think we hope we will still get a few good weeks to mow the remaining native areas.  This is a critical component to keeping our natives as clean as possible.  This helps cut down on the volunteer trees and unwanted weeds that grow in our natural areas.  We will treat this spring with a two herbicides to prepare these areas for the 2015 golf season.          

EXCITING OPPORTUNITIES

I am sure most of you are aware of the recent addition of a few clubs to our Great Life Kansas City family.  Canyon Farms (formerly The Golf Club of Kansas) and Drumm Farm will be part of our Kansas City golf group.  We are excited to add these great facilities to our portfolio that now consists of Levenworth Country Club, The Oaks (9 hole golf course affiliated with Levenworth Country Club, River Oaks, Canyon Farms, and Drumm Farm, and Liberty Hills Country Club.  I hope that many of you are able to take advantage of the golfing privileges that come with your Staley membership.  Please contact Tamera, Charlie, Jeff, or Chris to discuss the advantages that you will have being part of this group of golf courses.  

IRRIGATION DETAILS

We are continuing to evaluate our irrigation system in an effort to water the golf course the most efficiently and consistent way possible.  One of the areas that needed the most attention is the left side of the fairway on hole 13.  The left side of the fairway is shaded and always stays wet while the right side of the fairway is in the sun and wind resulting a much more arid climate growing environment.  The challenge with our irrigation system is that our sprinkler heads in that area are configured with one station turning on two heads (one on the left side of the fairway paired with one on the right side of the fairway).  When we would run these stations it would be wet on the left and dry on the right.  We needed to find a way to water the right side of the fairway more than the left resulting in a consistent playing surface.  The solution to the problem was to re-wire and re-configure the entire control box for hole 13.  This was a tedious process that should result in a much more enjoyable playing surface on hole 13.  We will move on to other areas on the course with the same issues.  We are always looking for ways to be better and this will make an impact.  It is another step toward making Staley Farms the best golf club in Kansas City.  

COURSE UPDATE

PYTHIUM BLIGHT

Pythium Blight has attacked some of our fairways and tees. #13 fairway, 4 tee box, and 11 fairway are the areas that have been hit the worst. I have changed our watering habits to water in the early morning in these areas to try to minimize the optimal conditions that we have experienced int he past few weeks. We have treated these areas with a fungicide to stop the fungus in it's tracks and allow the grass that remains to thrive and fill in the voids.

PYTHIUM FACTS:
Pythium blight may develop when night temperatures exceed 65°F and leaves are continually wet for 12 to 14 hours for several consecutive nights. For this reason, severe Pythium blight epidemics are commonly observed the morning after a late afternoon or early evening thunderstorm in the summer. Daytime temperatures above 85°F also encourage Pythium blight development, possibly due to increased stress on the turf. Excessive soil moisture and succulent foliar growth also favor disease development.

Perennial ryegrass and annual bluegrass are most prone to Pythium blight and can sustain significant damage in 2 to 3 days when conditions are favorable. Creeping bentgrass and tall fescue are more resistant to the disease, but can be severely affected if conditions are conducive for prolonged periods.

DRIVING RANGE TEE

The driving range tee is another area that has been hit hard with the heat and traffic. We have identified several irrigation issues on the tee box. We are working hard to repair these wiring and sprinkler head issues so we can recover the tee box as quickly as possible. We will seed next week and we will determine the best plan for member utilization of the turf tee box while promoting seed germination and recovery for our long fall season. We plan to close the turf tee for two weeks. The golf shop will communicate the opening date to you once we have determined the best plan for fall recovery.

GRUBS

We saw our first grub damage last week on the course. It is optimal time to see the grub damage as they are eating the roots of our turfgrass and we can see the brown areas from the turf starving for water. The most evident sign that you have grub problems is the racoons and skunks dig the ground up looking for the grubs to eat them. We treated our bentgrass fairways, greens, tees, and collars with a preventative insecticide. These areas will be fairly clean, but the roughs have not been treated and you may see areas that the little critters are chewing away at our grass. I will treat the higher profile areas that they are damaging such as the rough on the left side of 8 fairway. You may see a few areas in the bentgrass (3 and 5 approach) but we will treat these areas with an insecticide to manage any breakthrough from the preventative treatment.

If you see grubs at your house and want to treat them, you can purchase bayer grub killer plus. It is available at gardening stores. Apply it according to the label and make sure you water it in thoroughly.

YELLOW NUTSEDGE

This is a nasty little weed. You see it all over the golf course. It is a difficult weed to kill as it has a nut located in the ground that it stores nutrients in and when we kill the leaf blade it is able to regenerate from the nut at a later date. We have it everywhere and we are treating it as we can. It is very expensive to treat and we are focusing on the worst areas. The areas in the fairways and on the tees are not going to be treated until next week as I don't like to treat bentgrass with herbicides when it is as hot as it has been. We will focus on these areas next week and you should see improvement in the next ten days or so.

The weather will break this weekend and we should be able to recover quickly from the banged up turf areas we have right now. A little cool weather and a nice rain will help us more than anything. I will seed 13 fairway in the worst areas and I will seed all of 4 tee box. These areas should make a rapid recovery and we will have all fall to enjoy our Bentgrass as that is when it is at it's best.

MOSS ON GREENS

We have moss on some of our greens.  Moss has been a recent phenomenon on putting greens.  It has really made a presence in the past 10 years.  It is related to many things that we do to our greens to make them putt nice and smooth.   Things such as mowing short, low fertility, rolling, and double cutting all promote moss.  We have been spraying a herbicide since I started at Staley to suppress the moss.

We are going to ramp up the program starting to try to eradicate this nuisance.  I have spoken to many colleagues that have overcame this problem and I am going to take a few tricks I have learned and apply them to our greens.

The aeration program that we have should improve the upper tier drainage of the greens helping us keep this pest at bay.  

I expect to see weekly improvements with ultimate success in a few months.  Once we shrink the moss the bentgrass will fill as it does  with ball marks.

Now that we have moss on the greens we will always treat with a herbicide too keep it suppressed but you shouldn't see any major infestation next year.

HOW MUCH WATER

Water is a critical component to managing quality turf.  Especially Bentgrass and we have 50  acres of bentgrass including tees, fairways, and greens.  All turf requires water and different turf species require different amounts.  Zoysia and Bermuda require the least amount, followed by tall fescue, then bluegrass, and finally bentgrass and poa annua having the highest requirement especially mowed at 1/2" and shorter.

We use different tools to determine how much water the turf needs to survive each day.  We break it down into daily needs and try to supplement each day what the turf requires to maintain healthy turf.  One of the first things we look to is Evapotranspiration.

Evapotranspiration-
Evapotranspiration (ET) is the loss of water from a vegetative surface

through the combined processes of plant transpiration and soil evaporation
(ET is equivalent to and frequently referred to as consumptive use). 
Both environmental and biological factors affect ET. Important environmental
factors include solar radiation, temperature, atmospheric dryness (vapor 
pressure deficit), wind and soil moisture.  Biological factors affecting ET
include type of vegetation, foliage geometry and foliage density.  Paul W. Brown Extension Biometeorologisthttp://ag.arizona.edu/azmet.

On average in the summer months we see daily ET numbers between .10" to .25".  

Precipitation Rates-

We must determine the precipitation rates for our sprinkler heads.  Precipitation rate is the amount of water the sprinkler head  puts out in inches per hour.  Knowing this number is critical to managing water.  We look to the manufacturer of the sprinkler head to find the precipitation rates and other data for the sprinklers.

Calculations-

We know how much water we need and we know how much water our sprinkler  heads put out.  For example if we need to apply .10" of water and our sprinkler heads put out .6" of water per hour we will water 10 minutes to replenish the water loss for that day.

Calculating water need after a rain event can be tricky.  If the rain comes hard and fast sometimes it doesn't soak in.  I have seen a .5" rain event and the turf required watering within 24 hours.  I have also seen a .5" rain last three days before turf needs water again.  I scout the  golf course following rain events to evaluate irrigation needs paying special attention to the mounds and low basins as the two will be vastly different in the water needs after a rain event.  Typically we can go a day or two after a rain event before we water resume irrigating after a rain event.

I use a 4" screw driver to determine the water content in the soil.  I push the screwdriver into the soil paying attention to how much force it takes to sink the screwdriver in the soil.  Extremely dry soil is nearly impossible to get any penetration. Saturated soil the screwdriver will go in with ease.  I target somewhere in the middle.  

Central Control System-

We have an elaborate system that controls our sprinkler heads.  The majority of our sprinkler heads are valve in head meaning each sprinkler head has its own self contained shut off valve.  We have satellite controllers on the course  that are wired to the sprinkler heads.  The satellite controllers have computer components in them that are capable of communicating with the central control computer that is located in my office.  This irrigation control package allows us to operate the sprinkler heads from a smart phone, in the field with the satellite boxes, or from the computer.  The central computer that is located in my office is the brain of the system.  We built the central computer this spring loading into the control system database extensive information about the system including sprinkler head type for each station including precipitation rate, flow rate in gallons per minute, radius arc of the sprinkler head, nozzle type and how many heads are wired to that station.  We are continually editing this database and each day we get a little more detailed in our data entry.  We are now to the point that we are determining soil types for each zone and dialing the system to account for clay or sand soils that drain differently requiring different irrigation needs.  This is a work in progress but we are making progress each day.  Our next goal is to upload an aerial image of the golf course and map our irrigation heads on this map so we are more detailed in our management of the sprinkler heads factoring shade and other components that factor into the irrigation requirements.  We hope to have the mapping portion of the database completed this winter.

Water Flow Management-

Another important task for the central control system is to manage how much water flows through the pipes on the course.  Engineers determine the safe flow rates for irrigation pipes.  They use a rule of 5 feet per second for safe water flow through a pipe.  Our central control system takes this into account when it runs the sprinkler heads on the course.  We have a pump station that is capable of pumping 2500 GPM.  Each golf hole is capable of flowing approximately 200 gallons per minute with the pipe size that we have supplying these holes.  Flow management is a critical and proper flow management reduces irrigation leaks with less water hammer and supplies the sprinkler heads with adequate pressure to optimize the performance of the sprinkler as it irrigates the turf.  

Greens Water Management  

We micromanage greens.  We use TDR meters to manage moisture in our putting greens.  I have used these meters for three years.  They are the industry standard for managing moisture in putting greens.  The meter tells us the volumetric water content in the green.  We test the top 4" of the green and the meter tells us the VWC number.  We know that a golf green that has approximately 15%-20% VWC holds approach shots well and has proper water to air balance in the open pore spaces in the sand based root zone of the green.  We also know that our greens will wilt if they drop  below 10% VWC.  We water with our sprinkler heads to target a 20% VWC each morning and then we supplement the dry areas of the greens with a water hose (hand watering) to achieve a consistent 20% VWC across the entire putting green.  I have followed this program for three years with tremendous success.  Following this program we rarely see greens wilt under drought stress and we have dramatically reduced the need to syringe greens in the afternoons improving playing conditions and member satisfaction on the golf course as we are not interfering with play syringing greens in the afternoon.  

PUMP STATION

The pump station is the life blood of the irrigation system.  It is designed to be very reliable and offer many trouble free years of operation.  Unfortunately during the last rain event we suffered a lightning strike to the pump station damaging the computer control module for the pump station.  We called Clint Gillis from ABA Pump Station.  He is working to determine the damages.

UPDATE- 7/8/3-24
We have determined the VFD (variable frequency drive) is out of the pump station.  This is basically the computer that tells the pumps when to turn on and how many rpm to run so we can maintain pressure and supply adequate water to the course without exceeding the pressure limits of the pipes damaging the irrigation system.

We have developed a work around for the pump station  to get us running water until we are able to bring the station online and operating properly.  It requires us coming to the golf course and manually starting the pumps each night at 9:00 p.m. and monitoring the station as it starts up.  This is not going to be fun but we are pleased that we are going to be able to run water.  

UPDATE- 7/9/2014
We installed the new VFD drive and still have issues.  The PLC (programmable logic control) needs replaced also. This is the entire control module for the pump station.  This will have to be replaced by the factory and it will take a few weeks to build and then we will put it in.

UPDATE- 8/2/2014 
Parts were back ordered and it took longer to get  the PLC than they estimated.  As of today we have the new PLC installed and we should be going strong wit the pump station repaired.

UPDATE 8/5/3024
After some tweaking and adjusting to pressures and settings over the weekend we are good to go with the pump station running at maximum capacity and efficiency.  After 30 days of babysitting the station it is a good feeling to have it online.  I will sleep better at night.