Odds and Ends, Interns, No Wheels and What They're Saying!

Hello and welcome to "The Greenkeeper"! Today is Friday, May 17th and finally we have some bermudagrass growing weather!  Funny I say that now considering earlier this week we had morning low temperatures of 41 and 44 degrees respectively Monday and Tuesday.  Temperatures that low this time of year will zap the color right out of bermudagrass (especially the roughs) and like clockwork we were looking peakid by Wednesday.  I swear this has been the strangest spring... it has been so weird I took a photograph of some brown patch in the approach of number 18... in May!



Brown Patch

This is only the second time in my career I have seen this turf disease affect bermudagrass in the month of May (the other was 2002 at my previous golf course in southern Maryland).  Some of you regular readers may recognize this foliar blight from a post back on December 9, 2011 where I mentioned how the fungus, Rhizoctonia solani occurs naturally in the soil and only affects warm-season grasses during times of continuous cool, damp weather (hence a post with pictures in December).  It is also the same fungus that affects your tall fescue lawns every summer as warm, humid conditions are what this fungus needs to affect your cool-season turfs.  With conditions ideal for bermudagrass growth and development moving in to our region I suspect this will be a distant memory.

Freshly Mowed

Interns Applying Sand

Earlier this week we applied a light amount of sand topdressing to the putting surfaces in our continued efforts to manage our organic levels. Light topdressing on a frequent basis works into and below the turf canopy and helps dilute the thatch and organic layers keeping them at acceptable levels. The topdressing also keeps the surface smooth and firm making for perfect putting conditions. Here are some photos I took the other morning of the 18th green as we made the applications.



Our two turfgrass student interns made the applications using small push spreaders calibrated for the right amount.  We followed that with a quick two-minute irrigation cycle to help move the sand down into the turf canopy and then the green was ready for play.

Watering It In

Ready for Play

In other news, have you ever wondered how we mow the turf growing on the sides of the bunkers.  I mean, some of the bunkers have some really steep slopes.  To be honest it is one of the most labor intensive tasks on our course and our seasonal staff from Hidden Creek perform it weekly throughout the growing season.  We use machines commonly called hover mowers or fly mowers.  These mowers do not have wheels but are designed to float on a cushion of air which allows them to be moved from side-to-side without too much difficulty yet their weight and the steepness of the slopes along with the force of gravity make this job a real muscle builder.  Here are a few photos from this week's mowing.

Flymowing

You may not be able to tell the difference from this photo but the two mowers are different in color.  We mow the outside of the bunkers to match the height of cut of the primary rough.  We mow the steeper inside bunker faces lower in an effort to prevent golf balls from remaining on the bunker face.










Teamwork!

The process becomes more challenging and time consuming during the summer months when the bermudagrass grows more vigorously.  We even apply growth regulating compounds to the bunker faces in efforts to assist with the challenge of this task.











Blowing Clippings

As you can see from the photos we use two guys flymowing the bunker faces and two guys flymowing the outer portions surrounding the bunkers.  Two more team members follow blowing the grass clippings from the bunkers and raking out the footprints.  It is a time consuming process for 6 guys to maintain the grass surrounding our 77 bunkers and 2 practice bunkers (close to 60 man hours weekly) so if you have the chance please let them know you appreciate their efforts.





As I wrap up this edition I wanted to share with you a few things I found on Twitter shortly after the PGA qualifying tournaments.  It seems we are well thought of and a few individuals decided to share their thoughts with the rest of the digital world.  Now I am not a Twitter follower but I believe each of these tweets are good things.

Played Charlotte qualifier today at Carolina GC, an old Donald Ross course. Nice to walk off greens straight onto next tee, rare these days!
— Nick O'Hern (@nickohern) April 30, 2013

View from 10 tee looking towards downtown Charlotte in the background twitter.com/fieldingPGA/st…
— Fielding Brewbaker (@fieldingPGA) April 24, 2013

Carolina Golf club has hands down the best Bermuda fairways I have ever played out of. No competition. Courses could take a lesson.
— Bryan Bigley (@bryanbigley) April 25, 2013

See you on the course,

Matthew Wharton
Golf Course Superintendent

In Case You Missed It, Refresher and Don't Do That!

Hello and welcome to "The Greenkeeper"! Today is Friday, April 26, 2013 and it is still cold.  Okay, maybe not cold but considering May is just 5 days away it sure felt more like October this morning than late April.  I guess many of you must like the Rolling Stones because my last blog post shattered the record with 208 online views (the previous high was 152 back on October 5th).  Thanks for reading and I hope everyone got the "Paint It Black" reference.  It has been three weeks since my last post but now with The Masters behind us, the PGA Pre-Qualifying Tournament in the books and Men's Guest Day about complete now seemed like a good time to catch my breath and catch you up on a few things.

Although it doesn't feel like spring today, a couple of weeks ago the Yoshino cherry trees in the parking lot were in full bloom.  I snapped a couple of photos early one morning before anyone arrived to share in case you were not able to make it out to the club during that glorious period.

Special Blossoms!

Dawn of a Glorious Day!

My wife and I lived in Northern Virginia for 5 years after I completed graduate school and I remember each spring the local news in Washington D.C. would go crazy about the cherry trees surrounding the tidal basin and when the blossoms would be at their peak.  On this morning I thought our trees looked just as spectacular as those around the tidal basin in our nation's capital.  By the way, I am extremely happy to be in Charlotte and do not miss those days at all!

Moving on, last time I mentioned how everyone should utilize the range space provided and manage their divots by hitting balls placed at the back edge of the divot made from striking the previous ball.  I even shared the following public service announcement:

On the morning the range tee opened for use (April 11th) I took the liberty of hitting 20 balls from two adjacent stalls using the above methods and taking photos with my phone.  I used a 6 iron for each shot and primarily focused on taking a divot more so than striking the ball (funny how that seemed to create excellent contact).  Anyway, the results are below:



20 Balls Total

10 Balls Each Strip!

The long strips will heal more quickly as the turf grows in from both sides and I have left more turf for the next person.  The "shotgun blast" depicted on the right leaves less good turf for the next person and more closely resembles someone in need of a lesson.  Give this method a try, it not only will help the turf on the range tee but it may also improve your ball striking!

Before I wrap up I want to mention a few things about the course.  Despite the abnormally cool spring and lack of rainfall the past three weeks (0.59" total the past 21 days) the golf course is in excellent shape for the current conditions.  The fairways are firm and fast with lots of ball roll.  The greens are firm, yet receptive with smoothness and good speed.  The grasses in the natural/native areas are beginning to seed and overall the golf course is slowly waking from a long winter's nap and coming to life.  I know right now the forecast looks bleak for the qualifying tournament this coming Monday but my staff and I are still planning on presenting your golf course in it's best shape possible.  We will be working late Sunday evening with a full mowing scheduled as we prep the golf course for tournament conditions. 

One final note, be mindful of where you drive your golf cars as traffic is one of the biggest deterrents to bermudagrass green-up, growth and development.  If you don't believe me just pay attention next time to areas that were roped off most of the winter compared to others.  Also, please do not park your golf cars near teeing areas unless you are permitted as a flagged rider.  This person is providing an excellent example of something you should not do:

Don't Park Here!

See you on the course,

Matthew Wharton
Golf Course Superintendent

The Rolling Stones, Divot Management and Irish Luck!

Hello and welcome to "The Greenkeeper"! Today is Friday, April 5, 2013 and what a difference a week makes.  This time last week the trees were bare and the course was dormant brown.  Now the trees are either blooming or beginning to produce leaves depending on species and the bermudagrass is beginning to wake from one of the longest winter hibernation periods in decades.  A colleague of mine told me this morning he heard a report this was the 3rd coldest winter on record for our area.  Of course the rapid breaking of dormancy by the bermudagrass this week was assisted thanks to some perfect timing and near perfect conditions.  You may recall during the warm March experienced last year we treated our tees and fairways with Iron Sulfate in order to darken the turf canopy (paint it black).  The darkened surface absorbs the energy from the sun and raises the soil temperatures, which in turn aids the process of bermudagrass green-up (kind of like the effect you feel on your back when wearing a black or navy shirt on a sunny day).  Anyway, the process works best when the turf canopy is wet (the near 0.75" rain that fell over Easter weekend produced the right moisture conditions) and abundant sunshine is available (Monday seemed like the first sunny day in ages). 

 

We sprayed all the fairways this past Monday.  This picture taken on the 5th hole looking back towards the tees shows the effect in the early stages as depicted by the irregular spray pattern along the fairway/rough margin.  The level of darkening has increased each day this week.

 

#5 Fairway

We sprayed all the tees this past Tuesday and again the picture below depicts the effect along the edge of treated vs. untreated.  You can also clearly see a significant amount of green leaf blades in just a short period of time.

 

#5 Back Tee

We received over an inch of rain last night so once again we enter into a weekend with golf car restrictions but the forecasted temperatures for Saturday and Sunday (65 and 71 degrees respectively) along with some sunny skies should continue to produce mass greening of the short cut turf on the course.  These temperatures are also a welcome change for the recovery of our bentgrass putting surfaces.  It has now been 2 1/2 weeks since aeration and the cold conditions kept the grass in check and prevented healing in a timely fashion.  Our mowing this morning was the first where we collected more grass than sand in the buckets so we have turned the corner and I expect rapid healing between now and next weekend!

 

Although the driving range tee appears to be the greenest place on the property when viewed from the back of the clubhouse (it too was treated with iron sulfate this week) up close you can see it needs a little more time before we unleash everyone.  I have discussed the matter with both the Greens Committee and the Golf Professional Staff and we will open the grass tee line on Thursday, April 11th (coincidentally day one of the Masters).  I want to thank everyone for their patience and understanding this year as we have all endured a longer than normal winter for a change.  I also want to take this opportunity to share a photo with you that depicts the proper way to use the range with respect to taking divots.

The Preferred Method!

If we can all utilize the range tee with the divot pattern depicted above we will have the best conditioned range tee in the city!  This method maximizes the use of the entire tee surface and also grows in faster.  So think long, narrow strips!

 

Finally, last time I mentioned I would share more information on the new seasonal staff so I would like to introduce them to you.  These guys come to us from Hidden Creek Contractors, Inc. in Bakersville, NC (the same service provider we have used since 2010). 

Hard Working Lads!

From left to right we have Roman, Anatolie, Viorel, Ion, Paul and Fionnbharr.  Roman, Anatolie, Viorel and Ion are from Moldova while Paul and Finn are from Ireland.  Finn is a very experienced golf course employee having worked for nearly five years at a course back home in his native land.  These guys have been working extremely hard for nearly three weeks and I am most pleased not only with their efforts and work ethic but also their pleasant demeanor and personalities!  Earlier this week they spent close to three days reworking every bunker on the course to ensure proper sand depth, firmness and smoothness to the bunker floors.  I managed to play Wednesday afternoon and unfortunately found myself in multiple greenside and fairway bunkers.  Although this was hazardous (pun intended) to my score it provided the opportunity to test their work and I found the bunkers to be fantastic (firm and smooth with proper depth to play the shot required).  Next week they will be trained to walk mow greens and as the growing season fast approaches so does their responsibilities and duties.  These guys are all far from home but in good spirits so please let them know you appreciate their being here to help me provide you with the best playing conditions in Charlotte!

See you on the course,

Matthew Wharton
Golf Course Superintendent

March Madness, Turf Nerd and Cinderella!

Hello and welcome to "The Greenkeeper"! Today is Thursday, March 21, 2013 so turn in your brackets and let the madness begin.  With the arrival of spring (the equinox occurred yesterday) and the NCAA basketball tournament that means we just wrapped up our first aeration of the putting greens for the year (traditionally the 3rd Monday in March) and the process was ... a process!  I arrived at the course this past Monday to discover potentially heavy rains were forecasted for later that day.  With the new seasonal staff on hand (more on these guys at a later date) the decision was made to focus only on the aeration and core removal tasks and get as much accomplished as possible (topdressing would be postponed till the following day). 

 

Cores Pushed Into Rows

Aerating the Last Surface!

The staff worked really hard in the cold, damp conditions and we were able to aerate all 22 bentgrass surfaces (1-18, practice green, chipping green, warm-up green and nursery green) and remove all cores on Monday. 

 

Removing the Cores

It started to rain pretty steady as we were wrapping up our last green about 5:30 pm and overall I felt pretty good about what we accomplished.

 

Day 2 started with discovering 0.75" rain in the gauge from the overnight line of storms along with foggy conditions.  In order to topdress with kiln dried sand the surface needs to be dry (this allows the sand to be worked into the holes) and thus we had to wait until the sun finally came out around 9:30 am and the breeze kicked up before conditions were satisfactory for topdressing.  Also, the bright, sunny skies were a welcome change to the cold, grey day before.  Once we were able to topdress the crew worked diligently all day hand brushing the topdressing.  This ancient method ensures all holes are filled completely.

 

Hand Brushing the 5th Green

Ensuring All Holes are Filled

We wrapped up the day around 7:00 pm and still had 14-18, the practice green, chipping green and nursery remaining.  Fortunately we were able to start right away yesterday morning with dry conditions (no morning dew) and completed 14-18 by lunch time and then completed the remaining surfaces before closing the book on this project.  All the greens were fertilized and heavily irrigated to help settle and compact the sand.  

 

Although the aeration took 3 days (mostly weather related) I am excited about the results it will yield with regards to the performance of our putting surfaces this coming season.  You see, as putting greens age there is a natural accumulation of organic matter in the upper one to three inches of the root zone (as depicted below by the darker region of the upper root zone).  This comes from the natural death and decay of older plant leaves and roots over time and this accumulation if left unchecked can lead to severe problems down the road (poor water infiltration, higher disease incidence, poor gas exchange in the root zone, etc.).  Our greens were established in the spring of 2008 (five years ago) and thus we can no longer treat them as if they are brand new. 

 

Organic Accumulation and Old Aerator Hole

The secret to great bentgrass putting greens in the humid, southeast is core aeration!  You may be able to get by with less core aeration in other parts of the country but multiple core aeration is imperative to the health and survivability of bentgrass in our region.  My goal was to have the greatest impact to the putting greens while simultaneously minimizing the total surface disruption.  The USGA Green Section recommends core aeration impact 20% of the total surface area annually.  I selected a tine that would impact as close to 10% of the surface area as possible (remember we repeat this process annually each September).  Add our pencil tine aeration in late May/early June and you get 20% thus we are on target.  The sand will smooth and firm the surface, dilute the thatch and organic matter and create channels in the aeration holes which will promote greater water infiltration and allow oxygen deeper into the root zone!  In other words, our aeration process will make our great greens even greater!

 

So far this has been one of the longest and coldest winters I can remember.  Okay, maybe not the coldest as far as extreme cold temperatures are concerned but coldest in the sense that temperatures have been below normal for many more days than not.  I blame Cinderella! 

 

Not This Cinderella

This Cinderella



March, 2012 saw 10 days of 80 degrees or more and the two days of greens aeration last year were 83 and 82 degrees respectively with morning lows of 55 and 59 degrees.  This year we have had zero days of 80 degrees or more thus far and the two scheduled days of aeration we experienced high temperatures of 46 and 66 degrees respectively with morning lows of 40 and 39 degrees.  This morning it was back down below freezing (I swear I believe Mother Nature has run off with Old Man Winter).  Anyway, this time last year the bermudagrass was greening up and the greens were growing rapidly which assisted in their recovery from aeration.  Although I am thrilled with the results of the putting green aeration I am disappointed the weather is unseasonable (according to WCNC's meteorologist Brad Panovich the temperatures will most likely remain well below normal until sometime after Easter which is still over one week away) and this will directly impact how quickly the greens grow and recover from the aeration.  As my good friend Charlie Brown would say...Good Grief!

 

Old Man Winter

Mother Nature

Another unfortunate aspect of this continuation of winter is the impact on the bermudagrass turf.  Although we have not reached 80 degrees yet this year last weekend did see high temperatures of 79 and 77 degrees respectively.  This warm weekend was enough to kick-start the bermudagrass wake-up period and many southern facing slopes on the course are starting to green-up.  This will be short lived with temperatures tonight expected to drop into the upper twenties.  Expect the bermudagrass to hit the snooze button!

 

Believe me when I tell you my staff and I are ready for warmer weather, green grass and more golfers.  It is time for the long cold winter to give way to spring blooms and robins nesting.  We are ready to trade cabin fever for spring fever so hopefully March Madness will usher in a glorious start to the 2013 golf season at Carolina! 

 

See you on the course,

 

Matthew Wharton

Golf Course Superintendent

Education Month, It's Never Easy and Visiting Hours!

Hello and welcome to "The Greenkeeper"! Today is Friday, March 1, 2013...where does the time go?!  Many years ago my grandfather told me you can never have too much education!  Considering his only two daughters were both school teachers (Mom is now retired but my Aunt still teaches) I guess the desire to learn and instruct runs in the family.  The staff and I spent a good deal of time last month attending numerous continuing education seminars.  I started everything off when I attended the GCSAA Education Conference & Golf Industry Show in San Diego February 4-8.  In addition to the normal eduaction sessions available I attended two specialized seminars.  One was called Greens Aerification and Water Management by the Numbers and the other Management of Fine Fescues for "Native" Rough Areas of Golf Courses.  Both classes were very informative and I learned some things we can apply to Carolina to make our current putting green management even better and also improve the performance of our natural/native areas. 

 

On February 20th I sent one of my assistants to Golf Irrigation Service School sponsored by Toro and their local distributor Smith Turf & Irrigation.  The one day seminar instructs attendees on electrical and controller troubleshooting, wiring and grounding issues, radio communications, central control system overview and hands-on sprinkler repairs.  They also provide an open discussion for any specific repair and troubleshooting issues that you may be experiencing on your own course.  This one day course is a great refresher and at least one member of my management staff has attended this seminar the past four years.  On February 21st the North-South Turfgrass Association sponsored a Carolinas GCSA Regional Seminar at Myers Park C.C.  Both assistants attended the two half-day seminars.  In the morning Dr. Dara Park from Clemson University lectured about the different effects poor quality water can have on turf and the turf environment when used for irrigation in her seminar Irrigation Water Quality.  I do test our irrigation water periodically and we immediately collected a sample for testing the next day.  In the afternoon they heard Dr. Bert McCarty from Clemson University give his presentation Managing Bermudagrass Golf Courses and Greens.  I asked them to attend this session as an opportunity to gather information with regards to bermudagrass putting green management.  This does not mean Carolina is converting or thinking about converting.  However, with many courses in North Carolina converting their bentgrass putting greens to the newer hybrid ultradwarf bermudgrasses it is important to stay abreast of current industry trends.

 

Superintendents and assistants aren't the only people who get to have all the fun going to school.  Equipment Manager JR Bailey just wrapped up two days of classes and seminars sponsored by Toro

JR Bailey

and Smith Turf & Irrigation.  On February 27th he attended Hydraulic/Electric Troubleshooting where he received a comprehensive review and evaluation of hydraulic and electrical systems and components commonly found in outdoor power equipment.  They discussed and demonstrated effective techniques, component identification, evaluation and testing.  The next day was Greensmasters where the new Greensmaster 3300 series and Flex 2100 mowers were on display (we use the Flex 2100 mowers to walk mow greens at Carolina and the 3300 series to mow tees and approaches).  Attendees got dirty as they went through maintenance, adjustment and test procedures of both units as well as their dual point adjustment cutting units.  I truly appreciate the opportunity to continue education and training not only for myself but my staff.  Our industry is constantly adapting and evolving and it is important to take the time to learn in order to not fall behind.

 

If you skipped down to this paragraph thinking you were missing the weather update, sorry.  February wrapped up with 3.63 inches total rain and we have received 12.23 inches precipitation over the past three months (note, the first three weeks of December were very dry thus that three month total is really within the past 10 weeks).  All of this rain has led to elevated ground water levels and saturated soil conditions.  This means it takes only a small amount of rain to puddle on the surface and create unplayable conditions.  Especially during the winter months when dormant turf and dormant trees are not taking up water and lower temperatures, shorter days and low sun angles greatly reduce evaporation rates.  This makes for a very challenging situation as we are trying to treat the golf course with preemergent herbicide.  Every year at this time we treat the bermudgrass (tees, fairways and roughs) with Ronstar, a preemergent herbicide to prevent crabgrass and goosegrass from invading our playing surfaces during the spring and summer.  The product is sprayed onto the leaf surfaces and then either irrigation or natural rainfall washes the chemical compound off the turf canopy and moves the product down below the thatch into the upper portion of the soil.  Here the chemical compound adheres to the soil and forms a barrier that prevents crabgrass and goosegrass from successfully germinating and establishing.  Our challenge is both getting the course to dry out enough to tolerate the traffic from the sprayer and apply the herbicide accurately without it being washed away as opposed to watered in considering the current state of our saturated soils.  Fortunately the cold weather is keeping soil temperatures lower than normal for this time of year so we still have a few more weeks before we have to play beat the clock.

 

This morning I witnessed some deer hoof prints on the 13th fairway.  I saw some tracks on the 10th hole a few days ago so I guess we have some visitors wandering around at night.  I actually saw two

Deer Tracks!

deer near my shop one weekend morning last month but was unable to capture their picture.  It never ceases to amaze me what a diverse population of wildlife we have on the golf course considering our urban location.

 

 

See you on the course,

 

 

Matthew Wharton

Golf Course Superintendent

Brief Respite, Snow Day and Flag Gate!

Hello and welcome to "The Greenkeeper"! Today is Monday, February 18, 2013 (President's Day).  It was recently brought to my attention my weather fascination isn't met with enthusiasm by all readers and some folks just skip over the opening paragraph or two of "The Greenkeeper".  I appreciate the feedback and will make an effort to minimize my talking about the weather in future posts...however this is not one of those times.

 

According to the National Weather Service thunder snow is reported annually throughout the entire United States on average about twelve times each year making it one of the rarest weather phenomenons!  This past Saturday saw Charlotte receive thunder snow late that afternoon (between 4:30 and 5:00 pm at my house).  Ironically I was supposed to be in Pinehurst with Roger Wolfe, Jeff Peck and 17 esteemed members for the annual Ross Retreat thus I "should" have missed it.

 

If you are unfamiliar with the Ross Retreat it is an annual weekend trip where Roger, Jeff and I take a sizeable group of members to Pinehurst during the "off-season" to stay at the famed Pinecrest Inn (once owned and operated by Donald Ross) and play golf at classic Ross layouts such as Pine Needles, Mid-Pines and Southern Pines.  The group dines together Friday and Saturday nights and a draft for the next day's teams is conducted with much good natured ribbing.  Saturday dawned just shy of 40 degrees with mostly cloudy skies.  The first tee time was 9:30 am at Pine Needles and after breakfast the group made the short trek from the Pinecrest down Midland Road.  Large snowflakes began to fall as the groups warmed up for their round and when Jeff Peck's group made their way to the first tee precisely at 9:30 am things looked like this...

Putting Green at Pine Needles

My group was third in line and by that time I knew the course was not playable and sure enough Jeff led his group back in from the first green to explain to everyone the greens were unputtable.  The conditions looked like this...

Putting Green (foreground) and First Fairway at Pine Needles

Unfortunately everyone determined this year's event would have to be cancelled with the piling snow and bone chilling forecast for that night so the majority of the group returned to Charlotte.  When I arrived back at Carolina Saturday it was just a little past 1:00 pm and there were several groups on the course.  I stopped by the office briefly before heading home and taking Solomon for an afternoon walk.  I swear I thought the sun tried to come out briefly between 2:30 and 3:00 pm but by the time he and I arrived back at the house just before 4:00 pm it was much colder and there was something familiar in the air.

 

Early yesterday morning my faithful companion and I traveled around Carolina to check on the course and view the awesome beauty that is a golf course covered in snow!  We made sure everything was ok and got in a little fun before heading home.

Solomon inspects the course conditions

View from behind 4th green

 

 

Play time!

It is difficult to believe this snow event happened on the heels of an absolutely beautiful Friday in the Carolinas.  Friday was sunny and mild with temperatures in the lower 60's and gorgeous skies!  Unfortunately, the golf course had received rain Monday, Wednesday and Thursday last week and was not able to accept traffic from golf cars despite the beautiful conditions.

 

Restricting golf cars to the paths is never a fun decision because you know you are directly affecting the golfing experience of a member and their guests, yet ultimately it is my responsibility to preserve and protect the integrity of the golf course.  Sometimes this means making unpopular decisions.  Carolina has a policy permitting those with needs to display a flag to designate their ability to exit the cart paths and ride portions of the golf course when others cannot.  There are times when we inform the golf shop the course is too wet to permit flags.  Recently on those days when flagged riders are permitted we have been experiencing occurrences with other riders displaying flags for convenience.  This directly contradicts the establishment of the flag policy.  If you truly care about the golf course then please observe the policies in place to help us preserve, protect and maintain your golf course.  On the other hand if you are a flagged rider that does not mean you are given cart blanche to go where no man has gone before.  It is imperative you exercise caution and extreme care when exiting the cart path and riding the golf course under adverse conditions.  You need to use common sense and avoid low lying areas and ride the high ground.  Stay in the rough as much as possible and do your best to operate your golf car in a manner to minimize surface disruption and damage.  If you are unable to do so we will have no choice but to prohibit your use of flags on marginal days.  Thank you for your cooperation!

 

See you on the course,

Matthew Wharton
Golf Course Superintendent

 

What Drought, New Equipment, Fairway Topdressing and Led Zeppelin!

Hello and welcome to "The Greenkeeper"! Today is Friday, February 1, 2013 and I am happy to inform everyone I was finally able to upload the photos to my blog post from January, 17th (No Pictures...).  I updated the title to reflect the change (No Pictures...Wait a Minute!) so be sure and check it out down below.

I will be brief here but you recall Mecklenburg County had reached severe drought status last month.  Since that time we have received considerable rain.  December ended with a grand total of 4.15 inches and our most recent event Wednesday night brought our monthly total for January to 4.45 inches.  So, how did all this rain affect our status?  Here is a refresher of the map from December 18, 2012 depicting Mecklenburg County under severe drought status:

Mecklenburg County Under Severe Drought

Last week was the first time Mecklenburg County was depicted in a downgraded category of moderate drought (with some portions labeled abnormally dry) and you can tell from the current map released yesterday conditions have improved across the entire state:

Improved Conditions

According to my files this was the 4th consecutive year in which I presented a State of the Golf Course presentation at the Annual Member's Meeting.  I want to thank those individuals in attendance for your time and attention as I appreciate the opportunity given me by the Board of Governors and General Manager, Roger Wolfe to address the membership in that forum.  One of the items I mentioned in my annual presentation is an update on the new equipment we will be receiving as part of our lease package.  For those unfamiliar with the club's protocol with respect to turfgrass maintenance equipment, the club made the decision just prior to the course reopening following the restoration to lease the "meat and potatoes" of our turf equipment fleet.  In other words, if an item goes out the door on a daily basis (e.g., utility vehicles, greens mowers, tee mowers, fairway mowers, etc.) we lease it and if it is specialty equipment or equipment with a long "shelf life" (e.g., tractors, skid loaders, sprayers, aerators, etc.) we purchase those.  One of the benefits to the leasing program is every four years the older equipment is replaced with new making us able to take advantage of changing technology.  2013 is the year we replace all utility vehicles and walking greens mowers.  Toro has made some technological advancements to their walking greens mowers and utility vehicles in the past four years so it is exciting to both have new stuff and also know the new stuff is state of the art!



Mid-Duty Workman

Heavy-Duty Workman

Flex 2100 Walking Greens Mower

Last time I mentioned we would soon be topdressing fairways with the old bunker sand removed during our bunker renovation project.  I am happy to report just prior to Wednesday evening's storms we were able to start this project.  We spent the better part of Tuesday and Wednesday of this week applying sand topdressing to key portions of fairways where the soil structure needs the most improvement.

Topdressing 8th Fairway

The topdressing will help modify the soil characteristics over time transforming the red clay to more closely resemble a loamy soil which is ideal growing medium for turf (note: this will take years and tons of sand).  We topdressed either all or a portion of the following fairways: 4-11 and 13-18.  We will also topdress tees and soon reapply topdressing to the same fairways mentioned above.

And finally, next week I will be attending the 2013 Education Conference and Golf Industry Show of the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America (GCSAA) in San Diego.  I will be meeting with vendors and industry representatives learning about new products and technologies to help us grow better turf.  I will be attending accredited seminars and lectures on a variety of topics as well as viewing the largest collection of golf course maintenance needs on display at the Golf Industry Show.  My classes this year include "Management of Fine Fescues for Native Rough Areas of Golf Courses" and also "Greens Aerification and Water Management by the Numbers"...  I know, sounds absolutely riveting doesn't it!  I look forward to taking in all the show has to offer and learning new tips and techniques to apply to Carolina when I return.  Until then...

See you on the course,

Matthew Wharton
Golf Course Superintendent