Here is my upcoming Piper article, Enjoy:
Grass Clippings
September 2016
Brian J. Stiehler,
CGCS
2016 will be known as the summer of extremes when it comes
to the weather. From the first week of
June through the third week of July, we've had about 1” of rainfall. Starting in late July, we received over 6”
within 10 days! Keep in mind, we live in
a temperate rain forest that averages 8-10” rain/month. Because of that, many plants in the area,
including turf, tend to be shallow rooted.
When we get into extreme weather patterns, it makes maintaining quality
turf all that much harder.
Prior to the 2016 US Open at Oakmont CC, the USGA used
several venues to push the “brown is the new green” philosophy. Quite frankly, I don’t buy it. After all, natural healthy turf is green, and
brown turf suggests there is some pathogen, or lack of water at work. However, during that stretch of drought, we
did have our share of some brown spots.
So, what happened in these areas?
First, HCC is an 88 year old golf course comprised of bentgrass and poa
and a host of other grasses including individual mutations of each plant
species. All of them are different when
it comes to water needs, rooting depth and heat tolerance. As a superintendent, we are limited by several
factors during times of drought. First
is the quality of the irrigation system and how precisely we can distribute
water. At HCC, we have a major
disadvantage. In fact, we are at such a
disadvantage, it requires lower standards.
1985 technology simply doesn’t deliver 2016 expectations. In order to water roughs, we have to
overwater the fairways, making playability a factor. Second, how much physical labor can we
dedicate to dragging hoses to out of play areas. Of course, the 1st factor leads to
a greater need of the 2nd factor.
The third and final factor is the environment and the biology of grasses
themselves. Our fairways evolved the way
they did over time because of cultural practices and the weather. Poa annua for example, adapts to any environment
but prefers wet environments and mild temperatures (Sounds like Highlands!).
Bentgrass, a deeper rooted species, is much more tolerant of drought and heat. In order to keep the Poa annua green and
healthy requires overwatering the bentgrass.
A grass plant turning brown is its way of conserving energy. When a plant is transpiring (they do this to
cool themselves off like we sweat) and consumes more water than is available to it in the
soil, it wilts and ultimately triggers dormancy. This is no different than Bermudagrass in the
south during winter or even the response deciduous trees show in the autumn. When rain or irrigation resume, new grass
shoots will emerge from the crown of the plant.
Soils types around the course also factor into the environment. Certain soils hold more moisture than
others. For example, a sandy soil will
dry out faster than a clay soil. As
soils dry, they can be very difficult to rewet and the result is something know
as localized dry spots (LDS). We see
this a lot on #10 and #17 fairways. Wetting
agents that reduce water tension are applied to help allow water back into the
soil.
Drought also wreaks havoc on another living organism at the
Club- Fish! Trout are a cold water fish
with ideal water temperatures ranging from 55*-62*F.
They like cold, running water because it is high in dissolved oxygen
content. The basic science concept to
understand is that as water temperature increases, dissolved oxygen decreases. At 75*F, the water is nearly depleted and
fish start to die. On the 10th
hole this past summer, our water temperatures topped 80*F. While this is extremely rare for Highlands, it’s
something we need to understand. The dam
renovation at the Ferguson home above #10 didn’t help things since they
continually cut water flow off to this creek multiple times. Overall, we lost a very small amount of fish.
The fish headed upstream on #10, in
search of colder water. In response, we
opened the irrigation drain valve to increase water flow. However, this doesn’t do anything for
temperatures, only circulates warm water.
Most of the time, trout survive in the lake just fine. If we knew future years would be similar to
this year, transitioning to largemouth bass may be a better fit. They prefer the warmer water but are not available in the size and quantity of our rainbow and brown trout.
2016 pushed the staff to the limits and as expected, they
performed brilliantly. We started the
year with severe labor challenges but the core group rose to the occasion. Our primary objective continues to be to build
a sustainable, consistent work force to deliver the high expectations we all
desire. In Highlands, that is no easy
task for all Club departments because of the small labor pool and seasonality
of the business. In golf course maintenance
it is also challenging finding individuals who are willing to complete various
tasks centered on a need of adequate physical fitness, long hours, early hours
and many times, less than ideal weather conditions. It certainly isn’t a job for everyone and one
that is geared towards younger aged folks.
This is the most challenging yet rewarding aspect of my job!
Fall color will soon be upon us and with it, some of the
finest golfing days. Please be aware,
September 6th, the greens will be “DryJect” aerified. This is the system that fires dry sand into
the rootzone, firming the surface and diluting the organic matter. While fairly clean, it can be slightly
invasive. All major aerification will
wait until the golf course closes. We
will be doing two more DryJect procedures on November 7th. Greens will be done 2x and approaches
1x.
In the meantime, please call if there is anything I can do
to make your time in Highlands more special.