Thursday, April 28, 2016

Blown Away and On The Way!

Hello and welcome to "The Greenkeeper"!  Today is Thursday, April 28th and it is time to bring everyone up to speed with what has been going on in my department and what will soon be going on as May arrives.  May is one of our busiest months at Carolina Golf Club with two major events just two weeks apart, not to mention other golf related activities about town!

 When we last met here we were on the verge of spring putting green aeration.  That process took place March 14th and 15th without any hiccups this year from Mother Nature (2014 Aeration).  With cooperative spring weather the stars seemed to be aligning themselves for a speedy recovery, and I truly believe we definitely managed to get off the starting blocks quickly, but then something bizarre occurred.  Cool, northeasterly winds began to blow across the region and quite frankly, I didn't think they would ever stop.  For over a month you could have easily referred to Carolina Golf Club as the "little course on the windy hill".  
Now what does that have to do with putting green recovery you ask.  Quite simply the ever present winds continuously dried things out, stressing the turf and making it difficult for the holes to completely close over. This symptom occurred most noticeably on the interior of the golf course and along the ridge where greens 3, 15, 5 and 7 are positioned, but all greens with severe humps, bumps, and spines would show excellent recovery in the lower lying portions while those areas more exposed to the constant breeze lagged behind.  
April 9th, Green No. 4
April 9th, Green No. 11


















Greens 11 and 12 healed up completely as much as ten full days before all others on the course simply because they are located in an area of the property sheltered from most breezes (this is why those greens have fans in the summer).  In the end everything turned out just fine as the greens have been back to normal for quite some time now, I even heard a rumor they were a little too quick for some's taste this past weekend.

With a new season upon us it means we have new staff members here to help beautify Carolina Golf Club for your enjoyment.  Once again we are hosting six young lads through the World International Student Exchange. This year's group is from Vietnam and they are all very pleasant, eager, hard working young men.  

Front row L-R is Minh Hau, Quang Hai, and Tien Manh.  Back row L-R is Van Loi, Huy Quang, and Van Tien. They are all agriculture majors back home.  They arrived March 21st and have now spent over a month getting acclimated to the course and their new surroundings.  Some of their English is still a work in progress in case you encounter one or more, but they are very friendly and very eager to please. I sincerely hope you will help me make them all feel welcome and appreciated over the course of this year as they are very far from home.  

 Recently we removed the last few lingering dead trees from last season.  Monday we had all stumps ground and the staff spent a couple days earlier this week hauling away stump grindings, back filling holes with soil, compacting, and seeding.  With all the removed stumps located in natural/native areas it made the work easy to accomplish without disrupting play.  If your ball should encounter one of these recently seeded areas please take free relief from the Ground Under Repair.  While on the subject of trees, the large Oak located left of the path approaching No. 5 green is exhibiting some bizarre stress symptoms.  

You may recall it did something similar last year that lead to us selectively removing the effected wood.  Our consulting arborist was here to examine the tree this past Monday morning and a climbing inspection has been scheduled in order to get a closer look.  Please know we are working very hard to accurately diagnose and treat this specimen and making every attempt to preserve it.

 Next week is the Wells Fargo Championship at Quail Hollow Club and that signifies May's arrival in the Queen City.  I'm sure most of you will head out to watch the best players on tour try to tame the Green Mile.  Course Superintendent Keith Wood and his team have the course in fabulous tournament condition, and I wish them all the best.  The following week we will host our annual Member-Guest (May 12-14) and then two weeks later it will be time for the annual Memorial Day Four-ball, our 54-hole Member-Member Championship concluding on Memorial Day!  We also have our first Dogfight of the season, our first 9 & Dine, and the OMEGA team is back in home course action in May.  Wow, I haven't even flipped the calendar and already next month is full of lots of activity.  And finally, the new championship tee for hole No. 10 received its first mowing today.  Tips players, don't be surprised if you find the markers placed there real soon.

 See you on the course,

 Matthew Wharton, CGCS
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Saturday, March 12, 2016

El Nino, Waking Up, Greens Aeration, Event Lawn, and Groucho!

Hello and welcome to "The Greenkeeper"!  Today is Saturday, March 12th and I can't believe it has been over a month since my last update.  My sincere apologies for losing track of time, seems like just yesterday we were still in the grips of winter and then BOOM, it's an early spring and things are happening fast.  In fact things are happening so fast our first official event of the 2016 season is taking place as I write this.. The Donald Ross!
Donald J. Ross
While 64 players representing teams Muirfield and St. Andrews battle it out today for the Donald Ross Challenge Cup, please permit me to briefly explain the impact of this winter's El Nino.  The effects of the El Nino (warming of the equatorial Pacific Ocean waters) have been far reaching this year. In a typical El Nino winter, low pressure systems travel across the lower portion of the United States and bring us above average rainfall.  This started here at Carolina Golf Club in early fall and continued through the end of February.  On average the city of Charlotte receives about 40 inches rainfall per year.  At Carolina Golf Club we received 31.73 inches rain between October 1st and February 29th (leap year).  Now, think about that statistic for a second.  We had approximately 75% of one year's worth of precipitation on the golf course during a 5 month span when things are not quite actively growing!  I can understand if you thought you were being punished because golf cars were constantly restricted to the paths, but this truly was the wettest the golf course has ever been since the 2008 restoration.

 Thankfully, the El Nino is weakening and in fact is predicted to transition to the opposite La Nina (cooling of the equatorial Pacific Ocean waters).  During a typical La Nina period our region experiences warmer and drier than average weather, so don't be surprised if we go from one extreme to the other (seems like that is the "new normal").  Currently spring like weather is early with above average temperatures and the dormant bermudagrass is beginning to show signs of new life.  When you think about the past two winters it is nice to see the bermudagrass responding positively to nature's cues.  At this point you are all wondering the same thing, "Matthew, did the collars survive the winter?" and I certainly don't blame anyone for asking.  I for one have nightmares about the "ring of death" at times, but I can say during my travels around and across the course thus far my inspections have all appeared promising.  
Front Left 6 Green
Back Left 16 Green


















Back Right 16 Green
New Green Leaves Back Right 16 Green


















There have seen signs of a healthy, dormant canopy throughout most of this past winter, and now early greening.  I believe we may have escaped the bulk of nature's wrath this year (we deserved a break after the past few years anyway).  Seeing new green leaves emerge in areas that were resodded the last couple years really does wonders for a golf course superintendent's spirit... just saying!  Granted we are not completely out of the woods as the majority of the turf is still yet to break dormancy and fully green up, but the early outlook is positive.

 Well, if I'm talking about an early spring, bermudagrass breaking dormancy, etc. it must be time to aerate the putting greens.  Historically we have aerated the greens on the 3rd Monday of March but this year that is late (March 21st) so we moved it ahead one week to this coming Monday and Tuesday (March 14th and 15th).  After nearly 6 long months of close mowing, rolling, high traffic volume (have you seen the tee sheet on the weekends lately) and well above average rainfall, the turf is ready for a breather, pun intended.  ;) 

 This coming Monday morning you will hear me exclaim "I love the smell of aerator cores in the morning!"  I know, the putting surfaces at Carolina are absolutely fabulous right now, but they need to be in order to tolerate the mechanical stress imposed by the aeration process.  Aeration is a mechanical cultural practice that creates more air space in the soil by decreasing bulk density.  It removes excess thatch, alleviates compaction and promotes deeper rooting helping the turf stay healthy.  In most cases it's done by removing small cores (approximately 1/2-inch diameter) and the space is filled with sand.  The topdressing helps the soil retain the precious air space making it easier for roots to grow.  

Like so many things, the quality of a good putting green is more than skin deep.  In fact, the quality of the putting surface has more to do with what your eyes cannot see.  In order to grow and maintain quality turf maintained at 0.110 inches or less you have to have deep, healthy roots.  Good roots demand oxygen and in good soil they get the oxygen from tiny pockets of air trapped between soil and sand particles.  Over time the traffic from golfers' feet (as well as mowing and rolling equipment) compacts the soil under the putting green.  When soil becomes compacted, the air pockets on which the roots depend are crushed and the roots are left gasping for air.  Without oxygen, the grass plants eventually wither and die.  The bottom line is aeration is a necessary practice and I sincerely hope you will think of it merely as a short-term disruption with the best long-term benefits.

 Earlier this week we finally broke ground on an approved renovation project that El Nino delayed for months.  The Event Lawn is being reshaped by our good friends at Golf Course Services.  The project is remedying a drainage problem we had due to an improper elevation on the lawn in relation to the clubhouse patio.  When complete everyone will have a larger, smoother lawn space for outdoor seating, and the tenth hole will get its own true and proper championship tee incorporated into the toe of the slope near the bottom of the lawn.  My team worked hard to assist in removing the existing sod and we have plans to reuse in areas requiring attention after we wrap up greens aeration next week.
Golf Course Services, Inc.
Hardest Working Team in NC!

Grading Has Begun!
Digging Out for Championship Tee No. 10
Kris Spence was on site yesterday to check on the progress of this project and we should wrap things up before Easter Sunday.  It is very important to note although the lawn will be sodded when the project is complete, the new sod will not be ready for traffic and thus the entire lawn space will be off limits during Easter Sunday.  We apologize for the inconvenience, but we would hate for someone to potentially ruin their Sunday best!

 Before I go I want to share with you a wonderful story about the cutest little Great Horned Owl you ever saw, Groucho!  It seems back on March 1st Groucho became separated from its family and was wondering around the golf course (you see Groucho is only about 4 weeks old and too young to fly right now).  Spotted by several members including Chris Hughes, attempts to locate and rescue Groucho were implemented.  Members of my staff contacted Marsha Gaspari and after spotting his beautiful yellow eyes she took Groucho to the Carolina Raptor Center (CRC) to be checked out.
Hiding to Avoid Predators!
What a Cute Face!


















After receiving a clean bill of health, folks from the CRC returned Groucho to the golf course the next day in hopes to reunite Groucho with its parents.  Here is a link to the story posted by the good folks at the Carolina Raptor Center on their Facebook page. CLICK HERE 
Renested Near Hole No. 5

 Considering our proximity to the city center, after all we are very much an urban golf course, it always does my heart good to see the variety of wild life that call Carolina Golf Club home.  Golf courses are typically viewed unfavorably by the general public when it comes to the environment, but the reality is we (golf course superintendents) are highly educated and well trained scientists that make every effort to preserve and protect the environment.  When animals such as owls, hawks, herons, ducks, turtles, rabbits, squirrels, deer, and even coyote all call Carolina home, I cannot help but feel we must be doing something right!  That's all for now.  If you would like more information or have any questions or comments about any of today's topics don't hesitate to send me an email or just ask next time you see me on the course.  

Until next time,

Matthew Wharton, CGCS
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Monday, February 8, 2016

Civic Pride, the USGA, and GIS!

Hello and welcome to "The Greenkeeper"!  Today is Monday, February 8th and a lot of folks in the Queen City right now are feeling blue!  Our hometown Carolina Panthers may not have been victorious in Super Bowl 50, due in large part to the impressive defensive performance by the Denver Broncos, but the Carolina Panthers did give the city of Charlotte and all the Carolinas much to be proud of this season.  The magnitude of civic pride on display the past few months has been awe inspiring and I'm truly thankful for the opportunity to live here and witness it.  And although our team lost, the sun did rise over the Queen City this morning thus signifying life goes on... so we Keep Pounding!

 Last week Assistant Superintendent Ben Albrecht and I traveled to Pinehurst for a workshop sponsored by the USGA Green Section.  The topic was fairway colorants and the program brought together several superintendents that have been painting fairways for a number of years.  It was a great opportunity for us to see first hand and learn tips and techniques from guys that have been doing it better for longer (this is year two of coloring fairways at Carolina).  Anyway, I found the workshop to be very informative and hopefully you will notice improved results in future applications as we continue to strive for high standards.

For golf course superintendents managing cool-season putting greens in the humid southeast (a.k.a. transition zone) the start of football season usually signifies cooler nighttime temperatures and an end to summer wilt watch.  Weekend afternoons begin to revolve around cheering for your favorite team rather than chasing the end of a hose and stress levels switch from worrying about turf survival to worrying about stopping your opponent's blitzing linebackers.  With the conclusion of yesterday's big game comes the realization winter is slowly coming to a close and the busy growing season is just around the corner.  And just like the onset of football season means something to professional turfgrass managers, the end of football season also signifies something of great importance too, the Golf Industry Show (GIS).    

 The GIS is the single, largest assimilation of education and turfgrass management product showcasing in the world.  Presented in partnership by the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America and the National Golf Course Owners Association the GIS brings together folks from all over the professional turfgrass industry for lectures, seminars, presentations, and a one-of-a-kind trade show.  This year's GIS is taking place in San Diego, California where I will be joining my fellow superintendents later this evening.  Over the next several days I will be attending seminars, meeting with industry representatives, and networking with fellow superintendents from all over the country.  I even managed to schedule a couple of up close turfgrass inspections before I return.  Who would have guessed when John Morley helped found the National Association of Greenkeepers of America in 1926 for the purpose of establishing a brotherhood of camaraderie and information sharing it would eventually become our present day GCSAA and we would gather together annually at the GIS.

Tomorrow morning I will attend two seminars, Preparing for and Managing Turf through Water Shortages and Drought and Optimize Soil Health to Enhance Turf Growth and Quality.  I know, riveting and exciting but think about how appropriate that first seminar is considering last summer's severe drought and our irrigation water supply.  Tomorrow evening is the Opening Session where many superintendents will be recognized for their leadership, stewardship and advocacy and Herb V. Kohler, Jr. will receive the Old Tom Morris Award for his contributions to the game.  Wednesday is a full day of the trade show but I carved out time to attend this year's #GCITweetup16 to show my support for this year's winners of the Super Social Media Awards.  As a recipient last year it's important to continue to engage and help grow the community.  Besides, I think I nominated half of them. CLICK HERE FOR LIST OF 2016 WINNERS! 

Before I go I would be remiss if I didn't share this tweet below.  It has been an absolute privilege working with Steve Stahl at Carolina Golf Club.  His passion for instruction and the youth of the game comes as no surprise and I know everyone here is proud of him for this achievement!  Steve was recognized by US Kids Golf as one of the top 50 instructors at the 2016 PGA Merchandise Show in Orlando, Florida just less than two weeks ago.  Way to go Steve!



That's all for now, time to set the obligatory Out-Of-Office reply on my email, grab my bags and head to the airport.  Here's hoping for a smooth flight and a productive week with all the best in the business at #GIS16.  Feel free to follow along as I post updates from the Golf Industry Show.  I'll be back next week so until then stay warm and Keep Pounding.

See you on the course,

Matthew Wharton, CGCS
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Friday, January 15, 2016

Extreme WX, Catching Up, and Technicolor!

Hello and welcome to "The Greenkeeper"!  Today is Friday, January 15th and much has changed since my last update.  First let me start by wishing each of you a Happy New Year!  I assume if you're reading this you are not one of the three Powerball lottery winners, so let's cut straight to the chase.  If you thought December was one of the most extreme weather months ever experienced in this region with above average temperatures (hooray) and above average rainfall (boo), you are not imagining things.  This weather graphic from December 30th clearly depicts the bizarre nature of things.
Courtesy of Brad Panovich, WCNC

 In fact, December 2015 will go on record as the largest departure from average for any month in Charlotte history (weather records for the Queen City go back consecutively 137 years). 
Courtesy of Brad Panovich, WCNC

 What a cruel twist of fate it was to have temperatures in the 70's F for nearly a week around the Christmas holiday and yet it rained so much the golf course was unplayable the majority of the time. In fact all the rain from November (10.43") and December (8.84") combined at Carolina Golf Club totaled 19.27 inches!  Think about that for a second, over 19 inches rain fell on the golf course in the final two months of 2015.

 One impact that much rain had on course conditions (other than the obvious restricting golf cars to the paths) was to our sand bunkers.  Heavy rain after heavy rain would wash out the edges and compact the sand to near concrete firmness.  Attempts to maintain playable conditions quickly fell behind schedule as the unseasonable rains coincided with the departure of seasonal staff and full-time members taking holiday leave.  Things were definitely tricky to say the least.  I am happy to report we recently spent several days doing our best to check all bunkers for proper sand depth, redistributed sand when possible, and added new sand where necessary.  
I believe we may still add more sand to a handful of bunkers, but hopefully you will find the overall playing condition much improved than recently experienced.

 Earlier I mentioned the above average temperatures last month.  Did you notice how the golf course greened up during the last week of December?  The warm conditions caused previously dormant bermudagrass (dormant from early season frost in late October) to begin the process of breaking dormancy and greening up.  Granted this was predominantly in the rough as our closely mowed areas had managed to avoid dormancy for the most part during the late fall.  But with the changing of the calendar a north wind began to blow across Carolina Golf Club on January 4th bringing cold, Canadian air to the region and freezing temperatures.  The natural green color our closely mowed areas had maintained slowly succumbed to winter last week.  
The photo in the tweet above from January 5th, as well as the photo below depicts just how green (natural color) the closely mowed turf remained deep into the off-season.  That natural color would slowly fade away last week after several mornings with temperatures in the low 20's F!
Bermudagrass Color Fading Away

 In fact by this past Sunday we were once again "biscuit brown" as my good friend Tony Nysse (Golf Course Superintendent, Old Marsh Golf Club, Palm Beach Gardens, Florida) would say!  Look closely at the upper left photo captioned Jan 11.  Since last year's experiment with coloring fairways was well received (seems most of you prefer some color contrast in order to provide definition of the golf hole), we initiated applications Monday of a turf paint from Geoponics (Endurant TC) to green things back up quickly.
In fact, when you compare the last tweet above to the one posted in the beginning of the last Greenkeeper update CLICK HERE you get an even better sense of the impact color and definition have on the perception of the golf hole.  I am hopeful this year's treatments will persist longer than last year, and our color will be even more enhanced once we make a follow-up treatment late next month.  The goal being to absorb some UV radiation and hopefully enhance the survival of the turf and natural green-up come spring!

 That's all for now.  Here's hoping for a Panthers victory Sunday and a history lesson for those of you geeky like me wondering why WX is a common abbreviation for weather.  Seems it goes all the way back to the early 1800's and Samuel Morse.  CLICK HERE FOR HISTORY LESSON courtesy of Brad Panovich, WCNC.

 See you on the course and Keep Pounding!

 Matthew Wharton, CGCS

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Tuesday, December 22, 2015

Where's Winter, Decemblur, New Assistant, and Merry Christmas!

Hello and welcome to "The Greenkeeper"!  Today is Tuesday, December 22nd and last month I posted CLICK HERE about how the continuing education season gets busy when the growing season is behind us.  Guess someone should have told Mother Nature because I'm pretty sure the golf course shouldn't look this green this time of year, at least not naturally.
Last year's painting of the dormant turf canopy (AKA #LiquidOverseed) was a huge hit, and we made arrangements to do the same this season using an even better product.  Now if winter would just arrive we could proceed according to plan.

Just last week Mrs. Greenkeeper wondered when I was planning on assisting her with some necessary Christmas shopping.  It seems half the month was already gone and I hadn't realized it. You see, the first two weeks of December were a blur as I was afforded not one, but two amazing opportunities to represent Carolina Golf Club.  First I attended an event called the Golfdom Summit sponsored by Golfdom Magazine.  This event brought together 50 superintendents from all across the country along with 15 industry sponsors for some meetings, discussions, candid conversations and amazing networking opportunities.  It was truly a one-of-a-kind experience and it was an honor to be invited and included with so many great superintendents.  I even managed to meet a true legend and arguably the single greatest female golfer of all time, Annika Sorenstam.
Following the summit I made a brief stop in Pinehurst for the final two days of the annual Carolina Golf Club Ross Retreat.  Then I was off again, this time to Wake Forest University and the phenomenal Graylyn International Conference Center to attend the 2015 Syngenta Business Institute. The SBI is an intense professional business curriculum tailored for golf course superintendents.  The class was limited to 26 attendees and we were selected based on our applications and written essay. I applied last year and was not selected but fortunate enough to make this year's roster.  The experience was truly one-of-a-kind (I know, I said that earlier).  These two events could not be any more dissimilar, but both were extremely rewarding and worthwhile.  Over the first 10 days of December I met some truly fabulous superintendents and we shared loads of information with each other.  It's an interesting bond we have, a brotherhood if you will.  For those interested here's a brief SBI Recap by another one of our industry publications, Superintendent Magazine.

 In other news, please welcome David Sherwood to the Carolina Golf Club family.  David joins my team as 2nd Assistant Superintendent.  David is originally from Breckenridge, Michigan (about 30 miles west of Saginaw).  Although a Michigan man at heart (Go Blue), David is a graduate of the renowned turfgrass program at Michigan State University.  
David Sherwood
Prior to relocating to Charlotte in 2014 with his wife Rebecca and daughter Arianna, David worked at The Ridge Golf Course in Breckenridge, Twin Bridges Golf Course in Merrill, and was Assistant Superintendent at The Sawmill Golf Club in Saginaw.  For the past year David has been on staff at Quail Hollow Club as Assistant-In-Training.  I am excited to have David on my team and look forward to him boosting our operations at Carolina Golf Club! 

 Well, that's all for now.  It's time to head home and pack as Mrs. Greenkeeper and I hit the road tomorrow for Virginia to spend Christmas with family.  For those of you looking to sneak in a round of golf either Christmas Eve and/or Christmas Day the weather looks warm, but rainy.  Make sure you don't wear your new golf shoes because conditions are already saturated (over 3 inches rain this month) and tomorrow is supposed to bring even more heavy rain to our area (2015 will go down as one of the weirdest weather years in memory).  I will return Monday, December 28th and until then my family and I would like to wish everyone at Carolina Golf Club a very Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!  

See you on the course,

Matthew Wharton, CGCS
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