How often does a course need to be "maintained"?

[Joe Hancock]

Craig, Michael, et al,

The practices that Donnie is alluding to are wonderful, but your questions are legitimate as well.

For instance, Craig mentions his course does 55k rounds per year. How much of that play is riding vs. walking. It all makes a difference. It comes down to a balance of inputs, whether natural or applied by man, to sustain life in the grass plant. IMO, cart traffic is the biggest detriment to full implementation of Donnie's maintenance regimes at more clubs. Obviously there is also that "green" perception problem, but until more people walk the course and lessen the traffic pressure, the superintendent's hands are tied to some extent.

Donnie:

I hope you do take the time to go full boat on your philosophies, even if it is something to be distributed through email to those that want it. Veterans like me can learn from guys like you!

Thanks,

Joe

[Donnie Beck]

Ok so now our greens are firm and smooth what do we have to do to them to maintain them? Nutrition is key. I have recently changed my opinion on how much N is required. In the past I would apply a ½ lb. granular fertilizer in the spring and another ½ lb. in the fall right after aerification. I would then spray about 1/10th of a pound N through the spray tank every other week for a total of just over 2 lbs. N for the entire year, but I started noticing a correlation between low nitrogen and anthracnose. Fortunately Anthracnose has never been a major problem other than the occasional outbreak, but with some of the horror stories from my peers it was a concern whenever it appeared. I started noticing whenever I would see any signs of it it would be following topdressing when we were near the end of a spray cycle. This past year I tried upping the granular to ¾ lbs. In the spring and fall and ½ lb. organic dormant feed in the winter and continuing the 1/10th lb. every other week for a total of about 3 1/4 lbs. and saw no signs of the disease the entire year. If this was a coincidence or the change in nutrition time will tell. Once the greens are actively grow I start a biweekly spray program. For the most part I take a holistic approach to my spraying and only spray pesticides when needed. I can get away with this practice more than most due to the environment I am growing grass. My greens receive plenty of sunlight and lots of air movement, so I don’t knock guys that are on a preventative spray program. If I were growing grass in a hot humid region without a lot of air movement I would be doing the same thing. The only two constants in my spray tank each time are liquid fertilizer and Primo. Primo is a great product for growth regulation. Even though we mow greens on a daily basis with the exception of Tuesdays (spray one week, topdressing the other) Primo does a great job of reducing clippings and helps the greens maintain their speed for afternoon play. Another benefit of Primo is the way it reduces clipping. Basically it takes the energy that the plant would use to create leaf tissue and redirects that energy to the roots and shoots and creates a healthier denser turf.

Mowing….GREEN SPEED.. Everyone has an opinion of this. I prefer fast greens, but that is just me. There are many, many, many factors that influence green speed. There is no right or wrong height of cut, but the most important thing everyone has to understand is that your greens are living plants and you can’t have the conditions you see at the US Open on an everyday basis.  It is not brain surgery the lower you cut the faster the greens. I think many of you would be surprised if I told you the height of cut at this years open at Shinnecock was higher than many of your clubs everyday mowing heights. In most cases you can gain a foot of speed by using tournament rollers after mowing. This effect is temporary and will last up to 6 hrs or so, but another benefit is the smoothing effect of the roller. The next biggest factor is moisture the drier the faster and you can gain up to a foot or more by drying them out. Purple is great… brown for and extended period of time (more than a few days) is very very bad. Other factors are topdressing and grooming practices mentioned earlier in this post. Talk to your Superintendent he knows your turf best. In my case we can maintain greens that roll between 9-10 on an everyday basis at a height of .125 (1/8”) and tournament conditions of 12ft at .110 without the use of rollers.  Every golf course is different and what works for us might not work for you, but remember it is living grass and has its limits.

[Donnie Beck]

Craig,

The basic's would be the same no matter what part of the country. You still need to prep the soil by removing thatch no matter how many players or the temperature of the region. The only difference I can think of is other parts of the country might not be able to get away with watering greens only once per week. But no matter what the region the you would still want to water heavily and allow the green to dry out before watering again. I try to water monday or tuesday evenings so the greens will be in their best condition for weekend play. I can pretty much leave them alone until thursday or friday we will start hand watering dry spots in the morning as needed. By saturday and sunday it is usally a must in the summer months.

[Marc Haring]

Since this subject of perhaps more minimal maintenance of a golf course is on the table I'd like to know exactly and technically why the following is true---

I'd often read that the course Alwoodley and perhaps Moortown and some others over there had fairways way back when that were sometimes referred to as "springy" underfoot. This was clearly referred to as quite a delightful condition. When I played Alwoodley in the summer (Sept actually) of 2003, a very dry year in England) those fairways most certainly were noticeably "springy" underfoot.

Why is that?

Tom. Good question. I think that the fairways at Alwoodley are slightly springy because of the thatch at the surface. The thatch would not be deep because they don't feed or water them, or at least hardly, but the thatch would be dense and quite coarse. This is due to a) the acidic nature of the soil which inhibits microbial action on the thatch and b) the especially high cellulose content of the native fine fescue grasses. These are highly resistant to biological breakdown.


One other thing, I agree totally with Donnie and his methods. They are the ones that I and so many others aspire to and they do create firm and fast. I agree with firm as it is essential IMHO for the full strategic value of the course. I just wonder about 'fast'. Is it so necassary to the enjoyment of the game or is it a macho thing amongst competing clubs that has just got out of hand?  

[Craig Sweet]

Donnie, twice you have mentioned grass roots. In your earlier post you said:

"Grass roots will grow to the depth of water. So under ideal conditions it is best to water greens heavily once per week and thoroughly fill the soil profile. The profile will dry from top to bottom and the plant roots will grow deeper trying to find water producing a healthier plant."

And in this last post you mentioned Primo and how it helps the plant direct energy (carbo's?) to the roots and shoots creating a healthier, denser turf.

Where I live in Montana we recieve about 12 inches of precip. and there is very little humidity. My experience (I have 17 years of horticulture experience) has been that once, maybe twice a week, slow deep waterings are better for turf (and trees and shrubs) than frequent, short (and thus shallow) waterings.

However, I notice that at my course we water our fairways for about 26 minutes per set every night (beginning in mid June??) and I'm  pretty sure the irrigation time is similer for the greens.

Considering we have such heavy play, I would think longer, less frequent irrigation would be better for the turf?  I'm sure the course would be a tad less green and members might complain initially, but better turf should be the goal.

Do any of the Rocky Mountain supers that frequent this site have any experience with cutting back on the frequency of irrigation and kicking up the amount of water being put down?

[Donnie Beck]

Craig,

Craig what you said is 100% correct. I do not have any experience growing grass in your area, but it sounds to me like your turf could benefit from less water.

You can tell a lot about how a course is maintained by only playing only a few holes. Things I look are what happens to the diviot in the fairway. How does the ball react when it hits the green. Can you find your ball mark exc..

[Eric Johnson]

Craig,
Did you write 26 minutes/head/day on fairways?  and greens?  Not knowing all the factors (grass type, soil type, water quality, age of your system, precip. rate of sprinkler heads, ET rate, etc.) regarding your saturation, my gut would say that may be excessive.  Do you soil probe these areas in the morning to determine if they require water after an irrigation cycle?  

Not trying to second-guess, the irrigation run time just seemed a little high for daily use.  

[Donnie Beck]

APPPROACHES..  If you are going to maintain firm greens it is of utmost importance that you maintain firm approaches. No one wants to strike the ball well and watch it hit the green and bounce over the back, nor do they don’t want to hit it short expecting it bounce up and have it plug or check. You have to leave them an option to the green.. I follow many of the same practices on approaches as on greens. Whenever greens are aerified approaches get aerified. Ideally when greens get topdressed approaches should be topdressed. The Primo/fertilizer program is much the same. The watering schedule is identical although the approaches should not require as much hand watering as the greens. The biggest difference is frequency of cut. Our approaches are only cut Monday, Wednesday, and Friday unless there is a tournament or special outing going on.

FAIRWAYS….  Under no circumstances attempt to suddenly shut the water off to your fairway, unless you are looking to lose a lot of turf in a hurry. That doesn’t mean that can alter your water management practices. The same principles that apply to greens/approaches should be used in fairways. Fairways should be watered deeply and infrequently and allowed to dry before watering again. The biggest reason for over watering in fairways is poor irrigation design. There is always going to some areas that get over watered and others that do not receive enough. It is much easier to chase these areas on 5 acres of greens than it is to chase them on 28 acres of fairways. The fairways at Fishers can withstand the lack of irrigation for several reasons. One of the reasons being that the fairways consist of  60% fescue / 40% colonial bent which both do extremely well in drought conditions. Another and what I feel the most important reason is the fact that the course is built on sandy soils and the turf and easily root to depths of well over a foot. If you can only spray Primo on one part of your course I would highly recommend it be on the fairways. You will be amazed at how much it tightens your lies.

[Donnie Beck]

Hey Eric,

Good to see you here !!!

[TEPaul]

"I agree with firm as it is essential IMHO for the full strategic value of the course. I just wonder about 'fast'. Is it so necassary to the enjoyment of the game or is it a macho thing amongst competing clubs that has just got out of hand?"

MarcH:

Whenever I speak about firm and fast conditions I always make the point and a real distinction between "through the green" and the green itself. If I don't  do that I find about 90% of the time people think I'm only talking about the greens.

To me firm and fast "through the green" is basically that the ball will hit, perhaps bounce relatively high and run a long way.

I do happen to like fast greens but don't really think that's of that much necessity. What is really necessary to me, though, but mostly given the type and style of architecture is the exact firmness of the green surfaces, and that can and probably should be quite variable between basically a course that offers lots of ground game approach possiblities vs a more modern mainly aerially approach designed course.

The ideal green surface firmness, in my opinion, for the ground game style of design is just a very light dent in the green to a well struck aerial shot---never a divot that actually pulls up dirt.  
 
 

[Eric Johnson]

Hey Eric,

Good to see you here !!!

Donnie,
must be winter!  Rain, hail, high winds are keeping me inside.  Besides that, another Oregon Coast winter day.  

How are things on the island?  

Great writing, isn't it something that a lot of what we talk about (firm and fast) is not really covered too much in turf books.

See you in Orlando?

[Donnie Beck]

Eric,

Same here rained all day turning to freezing rain now.. I will give you call. we will have to hook up in FL.

[TEPaul]

Donnie:

What's the set up with the fairway irrigation system these days at Fishers?

And what-all do you have on those greens at Fishers? Grass, that is.

[Donnie Beck]

Tom,

Fishers has irrigation on holes 3,4,6,8,13 although it is rarely used. Only under the most extreme drought conditions. We have a hodge podge of grass on the greens. Varieties I know of are poa, Seaside, Seaside II, Mariner, Astoria, PennCross, some patches of velvet, L93, and next year I will overseed with A4.

[Willie_Dow]

Mel has suggested that I cut the fairways at Salters 3Xper week.  After looking at Jim's Eriel'land and reading Mark Frost's "Greatest" my mowing pattern will be minimal.

[W.H. Cosgrove]

Donnie thanks for the primer oncourse maintenance!!!

You are using growth regulators and watering infrequently....are you utilizing and wetting agents?  What are your thoughts on them?

[Donnie Beck]

W.H. I use growth regulators on greens,tees,approachs,and fairways. I have tried them on bunker banks, but found it was too much labor for the results. Just didn't slow down the growth enough for the ammount of hassle it was to apply. Yes I use wetting agents, but only on greens.  I used a product called Rely from simplot partners and have been very happy with the results. We usally make out 1st application in May and continue through september.

[Gary_Mahanay]

Donnie,

   Do I remember right that you said one time that you had gone to school in Sherman, Texas?  Did you attend the turf school there at Grayson College?  I may be completely confused so forgive me if I am.  

Gary

[Donnie Beck]

Gary,

No problem at all..  I went to Grayson from 91'-92'

[TEPaul]

Donnie:

A wetting agent? I assume it technically helps irrigation effectiveness somehow but specifically how does it do that? What does a wetting agent look like and how do you apply it? What's the general expense of the product and an application cycle? Is a wetting agent basically used for hydrophobic or compacted soil or just to do with the plant itself?

[Donnie Beck]

Tom,

Most wetting agents basically lower the surface tension to allow water to more freely enter the soil profile. If you ever tried to wet very dry soil you will notice the soil will have a tendency to repel the water. They come in a lot of different formulations, but the type I use looks like a very thick liquid soap. It is not very expensive per application. I do not have an invoice in from of me now, but I could figure roughly what it cost per ft2 in the morning if you like. Some guys try to apply wetting agents when the soil is hydrophobic, but I find they work best if you apply before that point and prevent the soil from ever getting to that point.

[Donnie Beck]

Most of the time they are applied by sprayer, but there are some granular formulations that can be applied by spreader. I find the liquids work a little better though.

[TEPaul]

"Most wetting agents basically lower the surface tension to allow water to more freely enter the soil profile."

Donnie:

I think I know what you mean. Obviously a very dry soil profile will repel surface water until it gets damp enough or to some extent allowing it to pull water into it more easily, right? And a wetting agent simply allows the soil profile to in effect seem damp enough to do that more easily, huh? It's just that the wetting agent gives the soil profile the effect of not drying out as fast, right?

[TEPaul]

Donnie:

There's some technical agronomic stuff and some terms in some of the posts above I'd like to cut and paste onto posts and ask about if you don't mind. Obviously most all supers on here understand those terms but not necessarily the laymen. Unless some of us completely understand what those technical terms mean in layman's terms and what they actually accomplish we'll never really get some of this stuff as well as we should.

I hope we can keep this thread going for that reason and in the end I'm going to print the whole thing out for reference so I don't have to ask again in the future.

I bet you didn't expect to be teaching a virtual agronony class on GOLFCLUBATLAS.com in the middle of the winter, huh?

[Craig Sweet]

We apply wetting agents in June. During July and August when we see some isolated dry spot we drag out the hose and put down a wetting agent with our hand watering. It looks like a short fat candle and goes into an attachment on the hose end. It is somewhat soapy.

The interesting thing here is when the soil (sand in this case) is hydophobic you can't imagine how much water you have to apply to change that situation.  You water and water and water, and when you think you have applied twice what you need, you double your efforts again.

In the case of isolated dry spot the hydophobic action is caused by a fungus that essentially attaches to the sand particles...I believe...and Don if that isn't correct...please set it right...like I said, I'm still a novice at this