Friday, September 18, 2015

A Difficult Time!

Hello and welcome to "The Greenkeeper"!  Today is Friday, September 18th and there is much to discuss about the golf course, recent weather, and upcoming agronomic activities, however there is something I need to say first if you will permit me this opportunity (I promise I will try to be brief). When I started this blog in November 2011 the purpose was simple, to share information about golf course maintenance activities and course conditions with you.  But, I didn't want to bore you with dry scientific lingo about growing grass (believe me, I once wrote a Masters Thesis), so I have tried through the years to weave and inject my personality and sense of humor into the words.  Over time, I think people have gotten to know me through the blog and I have appreciated the opportunity to express myself.  

 In December 2013 (CLICK HERE) readers of "The Greenkeeper" were introduced to the most special man in my life, my grandfather John M. Hankins, Jr.  What many of you don't know is my mother and I lived with my grandparents and to say I was raised by my grandparents is an understatement.  I will not bore you with all the details of my life, but needless to say my love for the grand game of golf flowed through him, and I owe my entire college education to him (he always said, "Matt, you can't have too much education.").

 One week ago today the world was reflecting on the events of 9/11.  I changed holes early that morning then returned to the office to code invoices and update the blog.  Many people were posting inspiring messages on Twitter last Friday and one I saw in particular from Terry Davio* inspired me to include my whereabouts on that fateful day in my blog post. 
I started writing and was nearly finished recounting my experience as an Assistant Superintendent of Augustine Golf Club in Stafford, Virginia (about 50 miles south of Washington, D.C.) when my phone rang.  It was my mother and she called to tell me my grandfather had passed away, and the world once again stopped turning!

 Needless to say I never completed what I was writing as my wife and I hurried to Virginia.  I received many condolences via text, email, and tweets the past week and each has been special (it is good to know you have friends in this world that truly care about you).  They say you can count your true friends on one hand, but a close friend of my grandfather told me at the visitation, "Matthew, Johnny didn't have enough hands!"  

 I'm happy to be back at Carolina and thankful I have a wonderful team that worked so hard in my absence.  One of the certainties about being a professional turfgrass manager is grass doesn't know what day it is.  Those of us in the business that share the passion call it turf life, and I wouldn't trade it for the world.  As of this week, the USDA Drought Monitor unfortunately reveals more of North Carolina under abnormally dry or moderate drought conditions than one month ago, but the good news is Mecklenburg County has been downgraded from severe to moderate status.

In fact, with the recent rainfall the past two weeks (1.95 inches) you wouldn't realize the golf course had been enduring severe drought conditions if not for the dying trees scattered around the property. The drought has really taken a toll this year on red oaks.  Last month we removed nearly a dozen dead trees from the golf course and currently there are nearly a dozen more in need of removal. Before my staff can begin safely removing dead trees we have some major work to accomplish first.

 This coming Monday and Tuesday (September 21st and 22nd) the golf course will be closed all day for greens aeration.  This is a major agronomic event involving the removal of large cores, topdressing heavily with sand, and knowing when the greens heal they will once again be the best in town.  I can hardly wait!  We will also take advantage of this time Monday and Tuesday to wrap up our sod project.  The staff has been busy this week "buttoning up" random areas throughout the golf course with new turf, most notably cart path edges because it's human nature to "pull over" when parking thus always driving over turf with two tires.  Maybe someday I will make a capital request for concrete curbing around tees and greens, but until then turf is going to wear out and need to be replaced.  Of course, not all the sod is being used to repair worn areas adjacent to cart paths.  Some of it was used to replace a cart path.

 Upon completion of greens aeration it will be time to make our fall pre-emergent herbicide application in order to prevent poa annua from inhabiting our dormant turf canopy this winter season.  We also have one more fertilization treatment to make to all bermudagrass areas, so you can see this is a busy time in Golf Course Maintenance.  It is my goal to complete all necessary projects in a timely fashion so you may enjoy some of the best golf conditions of the year. After all, nothing could be finer than fall golf at Carolina!  

 See you on the course,

 Matthew Wharton, CGCS
*Terry Davio is a graduate of NC State and previously worked at Greensboro Country Club.  He is now golf course superintendent of Lake St. Catherine Country Club in Poultney, Vermont.
Posted by at No comments:

Wednesday, August 12, 2015

Chicken Little and Severe Drought!

Hello and welcome to "The Greenkeeper"!  Today is Wednesday, August 12th and there was exactly 0.40 inch rain in our gauges this morning thanks to the final line of storms that passed through the Queen City last night between 9:00 and 10:00 pm.  This rain event was our single largest since receiving 0.45 inch on June 27th, exactly 45 days ago (Dog Days).  To say the Dog Days were hot and dry this year would be a huge understatement as we only managed to record 0.88" total rain with nothing substantial to soak the ground and definitely nothing to generate runoff into our irrigation lake.  We'll talk how the drought status and irrigation lake level are impacting current turf management practices and what it all means for course conditions as summer slowly winds to a close.

 Tomorrow play begins in the 97th PGA Championship at Whistling Straits, a golf course Pete Dye designed on the Wisconsin banks of Lake Michigan to resemble an Irish links per the request of owner Herb Kohler.  Although unconfirmed, I personally think the Whistling Straits logo resembles Mr. Kohler too much to be coincidence.

This is the final major championship of the year, and here's hoping the action gives us another compelling and dramatic story to go along with what has already been a terrific year of major championship golf!  Of course I'm pulling for Jordan Spieth but I believe the Wanamaker Trophy will most likely go to one of the tour's bombers this week. Look for guys like Bubba, DJ, Henrik Stenson, and even Rory if he knocks the competitive rust off to be there come Sunday.  Also, don't be surprised if there is a playoff as both previous PGA Championships contested at Whistling Straits (2004 and 2010) required extra holes to determine a winner.

 Carolina Golf Club is fortunate to have a full membership and waiting list.  Believe me, there aren't many clubs across the country that can boast such a statement at this time.  Sometimes I find it difficult to remember many of you (more than half) joined the club after we reopened following the 2007/08 restoration.  This explains why many of you have been asking me and my assistants lately about our irrigation water supply.  Questions like, "when are we going to run out of water", "have you ever seen the lake this low", and "how long will it take to fill up the lake" have become far too common.  Allow me to put this current drought into perspective and hopefully ease your concerns.

 Prior to the restoration the golf course only contained the two upper ponds (flanking either side of number 18 cart path).  The pump house was located to the right of the cart path at the foot of the 10th tees (area now behind number 2 green).  The two upper most ponds are fairly shallow and as such it was not uncommon during prolonged periods of dry weather to purchase water from the city for irrigation.  The construction of the irrigation lake was for the purpose of eliminating that need.  

 The dam was constructed creating an irrigation lake with 7.4 surface acres at full pond and storage of over 21.5 million gallons.  The riser and spillway is 20 feet, 6 inches in height and the pump intake is located five feet above the bottom providing us access to approximately 15 feet and a very generous amount of water with which to irrigate the golf course in times of need.  
Lake Level on Aug 7th
This year has seen two extremes as the golf course exited winter dormancy with damage and injury from cold temperatures.  When warm weather conducive for bermudagrass growth finally reached our region in May rain literally stopped falling (0.11 inch total rain in May).  As we were attempting to push bermudagrass to regrow and fill-in those areas affected by cold temperature injury we were forced to irrigate more than we would have liked.

 June saw record heat in our region as the temperature reached 99 or 100 F numerous days with little rainfall.  We finally caught a break at the end of June when we received 0.95 inch on June 26 and 0.45 inch on June 27!  That was the first and last rainfall of significant impact prior to last night since April.  The rain from those two days did wonders for turf recovery as the blistering heat took its toll on the golf course, but the dry ground soaked up every drop and we did not gain any runoff into our reservoir.    
Lake Level at Spillway Aug 7th

 July brought the arrival of the Dog Days of summer and as I stated above, they set in dry.  We only managed 0.64 inch rain the entire month (all of the "nickel and dime" variety).  This season has been taxing to say the least on our irrigation source.  As this abnormally dry weather coupled with abnormally high temperatures has continued to persist our drought status has slowly worsened.  Last week portions of Mecklenburg County, including Carolina Golf Club were finally upgraded to Severe Drought status. 

During this time we have made constant and numerous adjustments to our management of the golf course.  We have continued to irrigate as needed but run times have also been reduced in order to conserve.  Hand watering and the use of wetting agents on putting greens is common place, but this summer we have resorted to these tactics on tees to prevent turf loss.  Also, most people understand raising mowing heights on bentgrass greens in the summer to ensure plant health and survival, but did you know we raised our height of cuts on all bermudagrass areas for the same reasons.  Tees, fairways, approaches, and green surrounds all adjusted to provide the turf with a greater capacity for photosynthesis, all in effort to reduce the environmental stress on the plant.  Finally, lack of sufficient rainfall is an amazing plant growth regulator (how frequently have you been mowing your lawn this summer) and as a result we have scaled back our typical mowing frequency, again in effort to reduce stress on the plant.

 Last night's rain brought about the first positive movement in our lake levels in three months.  We are back to approximately 8 feet below full pond meaning we still have another 6 feet plus at our disposal. There are exactly 325,851 gallons of water in one acre foot.  The current lake footprint is conservatively 4 acres (down from 7.4 at full pond) thus 4 x 325,851 = 1.3 million gallons.  Multiply that by the conservative depth of 6 feet (1.3 x 6 = 7.8) and you get approximately 7.8 million gallons of irrigation water remaining.  As the Dog Days come to an end and with football season right around the corner, there is lower demand for water to sustain plant health with shorter days and cooler average temperatures.  In other words our already curtailed water use will be curtailed even more prolonging and preserving our supply.  Not to mention a change in our weather pattern means we may finally see a greater likelihood of receiving rainfall less infrequently.

 To answer your question, yes I have seen the lake lower than this... much lower.  The restoration grow-in during 2008 was very difficult as we were in the midst of the worst drought on record.  As for how long will it take to fill the lake back to capacity, that depends.  The watershed area for our lake is 129 acres.  If one inch rain ran off all 129 acres it would generate 3.5 million gallons.  Over the years I have seen small, severe thunderstorms raise the lake level several feet and I've seen large volume soaking rains do little.  The good news is every day I do not irrigate the level is rising as we have continuous flow from our two upper ponds spilling across into our reservoir.  Despite the somewhat shocking appearance I assure you the sky is not falling and I believe our lake has served us very well this difficult and challenging season.

 One final note, despite all the factors mentioned above I believe we have managed to maintain and present a golf course for your enjoyment that exceeds expectations, especially when viewed in the context of this year's climate challenges.  The golf course has played extremely firm and fast, and quite frankly the putting greens have never been better this time of year.  I sincerely hope you have had the opportunity to get out and enjoy the course because who knows, this time next year we may all be crying about too much rain!  

See you on the course,

Matthew Wharton, CGCS
Posted by at No comments:

Friday, July 17, 2015

Course Update, Junior Campers, Staff Update, and The Open!

Hello and welcome to "The Greenkeeper"!  Today is Friday, July 17th and second round of the 144th playing of The Open Championship at St. Andrews is back underway after a lengthy weather delay this morning.  But before we talk about The Open I want to bring everyone up to speed on recent course projects, our irrigation water supply, a fun experience I recently had, and introduce you to our new Equipment Manager.

 Over the past two weeks my team and I have topdressed all fairways and approaches with 10 tons per acre of sand.  This is just the first of many applications over the coming years.  It is our intention to only make these applications during the active growing season for bermudagrass (June-August) with the goal to apply a minimum of 30 tons per acre annually.  
Over time the sand will accumulate making a well drained layer sustaining our fairways and other closely mowed areas.  Another benefit with regular topdressing is the smoothing of the surface as minor dips and other imperfections are slowly smoothed out with sand topdressing making for a tighter, firmer playing surface.

 During the same time span we core aerated all tees and collars.  We removed the cores, fertilized, and topdressed with sand.  The removal of cores is to alleviate the compaction from these high traffic areas in an effort to promote new growth and deeper rooting.  These cultural practices are key components to building stronger, healthier turf in advance of next winter.

It doesn't take a meteorologist to figure out we haven't received much rainfall in recent months.  One needs only to look at your neighbor's lawn, I know mine looks like toast!  Since the end of April we have received less than 3 inches rain here at Carolina.  Considering the warm temperatures we have been experiencing this summer, it is no surprise to see the lower irrigation pond level.  
Cove Right of Number 2
The cove running along the right side of number 2 fairway is actually shallow (about 5 to 6 feet).  The bulk of our water supply lies in the main body where depths range from 12 to 20 feet deep.  As of today we have used approximately 14 million gallons water irrigating the golf course year-to-date.  To put things in perspective we only used 18 million gallons total in 2014!  
Current Water Level at Spillway
If you were not present during the construction and grow-in during 2007 and 2008 it would be easy to be alarmed by the current water level.  My team and I have been and continue to be very conscious water users as we have been implementing conservation methods all season (hand watering, reduced run times, wetting agents, etc.).  The reality is there is more water remaining in the lake than used to this point and although it may be less attractive, the purpose of constructing this lake was to supply water to the golf course when needed.  The good news is my sources indicate a significant change to our current weather pattern could be in store by the first of next month trimming temperatures and increasing our chances of some beneficial rainfall.
  
Last week the Golf Professional Staff conducted the second of this summer's three Junior All Sports Camps.  I want to thank the Golf Professional Staff, and especially Steve Stahl for inviting me to address last week's participants.  
It was truly a thrill for me to have the opportunity to speak to the campers and provide a little "show-and-tell" with some of the tools of greenkeeping.  Hope to do it again someday!

 You may recall I announced on June 1st Bob Hall, formerly of Skybrook Golf Club had accepted the offer to become Equipment Manager of Carolina Golf Club.  Bob originally hails from Andes, New York (in the Upstate) and is a 1995 graduate of SUNY, Delhi with a degree in Turf Management.  Prior to moving south Bob worked at both SUNY Delhi Golf Course and Ouleout Creek Golf Course.  He and his wife Maria relocated to the Greater Charlotte area in May 2001 when he started with Skybrook Golf Club.  
Placing Fairway Unit on the Lift
Checking Height of Cut and Sharpness
They reside in Kannapolis and have a 5-year old daughter named Abby.  When not ensuring our fleet is in top condition Bob enjoys Abby's baseball games and is a devoted family man!   

 In the beginning I mentioned a significant weather delay at this year's Open Championship.  In case you were not yet awake here is a highlight.
As an avid golf historian I am pulling for Jordan Spieth to do something that has only been done once before (Ben Hogan, 1953) but there are many great players in the mix and regardless of who wins I am certain the conclusion to this most cherished championship will be thrilling.  I sincerely hope each of you enjoys The Open!


See you on the course,

 Matthew Wharton, CGCS
Posted by at No comments:

Wednesday, July 1, 2015

One Down and Two to Go!

Hello and welcome to "The Greenkeeper"!  Today is Wednesday, July 1st and the first month of meteorological summer is now in the rear-view mirror, and what a month it was!  June 2015 goes into the Charlotte record books as the 10th hottest June ever.  Several new record high temperatures were established along with a streak of consecutive days 95 F or above (13 days). 

Courtesy of Brad Panovich (@wxbrad)
We even managed to reach the century mark (100 F) five times in the month of June, and that typically only occurs four times in an average Charlotte summer (June-August).

 So why am I bombarding you with these weather statistics?  You see, five years ago we endured something very similar.  In fact June 2010 still ranks as the 8th hottest June ever in Charlotte, and it was definitely the most difficult and trying period of my professional career.  As this year's heat wave approached a few members that remember 2010 all too well voiced some concern, but the lessons learned from that experience led to adjustments of our agronomic programs and we picked up some new tools along the way.

 When the heat wave of June 2010 arrived there were three fans on the golf course (1, 12, and 16).  We quickly realized the need for better air circulation along the perimeter of the golf course property and acquired five additional fans later that summer (located on holes 7, 8, 11, 13, and 14).  In 2012 we began using soil moisture meters (CLICK HERE) to help us better manage water applications to the putting surfaces.  I now have three of these devices and they are used daily.  In 2013 I changed wetting agent chemistry and since we have enjoyed drier, firmer surfaces.  In other words, there are numerous differences between now and then, each of which playing an important role in allowing me and my staff to produce more desirable conditions today.

 Here's a look back at the ugly that was 2010 compared to where we currently stand with two more months of summer to go:
8 Green July 2010
8 Green July 2015




8 Green July 2010














8 Green July 2015














7 Green July 2010














7 Green July 2015














7 Green July 2010













7 Green July 2015















Professional turfgrass management can be a very humbling profession.  Despite numerous advances in science and technology Mother Nature always wins.  I am very proud of the work we accomplished over the past month, but I am also smart enough to realize we caught some breaks along the way.  Being dry was the best thing that could have happened to us during this year's heat wave.  Many of you always comment to me during wet summers, "You must be loving all this rain!"  The answer is no, no I don't.  If it is going to be 100 degrees then I want to be in control of moisture, because nothing kills bentgrass roots faster than saturated soils on a hot day.  Summer is by no means over and we still have longer to go than what we have endured, but I am very pleased with where we are and I sincerely hope you are too!

 See you on the course,

 Matthew Wharton, CGCS
Posted by at No comments:

Thursday, June 18, 2015

The U.S. Open and a Letter to the GM!

Hello and welcome to "The Greenkeeper"!  Today is Thursday, June 18th and the 115th United States Open finally starts today!  I am excited and looking forward to watching the best players in the world undergo the sternest examination in championship golf.  Chambers Bay Director of Agronomy Eric Johnson, Golf Course Superintendent Josh Lewis and their team of 177 staff and volunteers from all over the world have given the USGA the firmest golf course since the Open Championship was contested at Royal Liverpool (Hoylake) in 2006!  After browsing some of the information being shared via social media the past few evenings, the next four days of this championship are shaping up to possibly be a thrill ride! (see what I did there).


But enough about Chambers Bay and the U.S. Open, the reason I am writing today is to share with you a message I sent earlier this morning to our General Manager and Greens Committee Chairman.  The past few days have seen Mother Nature really crank up the heat and I know some of you are probably wondering what impact the temperature coupled with the lack of rainfall may have on the golf course.  I assure you we are doing everything we possibly can to preserve and protect your golf course here at Carolina Golf Club.

Memo
To:          Roger Wolfe, CCM
From:     Matthew Wharton, CGCS
Cc:         Stephen Woodard, Greens Chairman
Date:      June 18, 2015
Re:         Course Condition Update

I want to take this opportunity to update you on current course conditions and the measures my staff and I are taking as we continue to manage the golf course under difficult and challenging weather extremes.

Although we were not completely unscathed by winterkill, compared to our neighbors in other parts of North Carolina we were very fortunate.  As of this time we have replaced exactly 25,000 square feet of bermudagrass turf with new sod (15,000 in and around the putting surfaces in early April and 10,000 two weeks ago in the fairway and rough of holes one, nine, ten, and seventeen).  We still need to replace approximately 5,000 square feet more in the rough of holes four and fourteen, along with a few bunker slopes affected by Spring Dead Spot and some random cart path edges.  We will do this work next week.

The month of April brought near record rainfall as we accumulated almost six inches (5.89”) in twelve measurable events.  You recall the near daily golf car restrictions and the difficulty we endured just trying to mow the golf course as the bermudagrass emerged from hibernation.  May dawned with a drastic change in our weather pattern bringing much needed warmer temperatures but little rainfall.  The golf course only received 0.11 inch rain the entire month of May and only 1.03 inches has fallen in June thus far.  This lack of sufficient natural rainfall is slowly beginning to take a toll on the golf course.  Traffic from golf cars is something my staff and I have to monitor much more frequently.  I would like to remind everyone the club’s posted policy regarding golf car use states golf cars are to be operated only in the fairway.  Please avoid the rough during play of the hole after entering the fairway. 

We have been irrigating nightly to keep up with plant needs, but irrigation alone is only supplemental and isn’t capable of replacing natural rain.  Wetting agent is something we use regularly throughout the year with putting green management, but recently we applied a wetting agent to all tee complexes.  We have used approximately 8.5 million gallons of water on the golf course over the past 50 days (< 200,000 per day) to maintain plant health, and the course is playing firm and fast with limited turf stress for now.

The past several days saw a return of the dreaded dome, a high pressure system sitting over the southeast pumping extreme heat and humidity into our region.  Yesterday was the third consecutive day the high temperature in Charlotte reached 99 degrees (the first two of which set new records) and we may finally reach the century mark today.  In order to preserve and protect our bentgrass putting greens fans are in place, we are closely monitoring soil moisture levels multiple times daily, hand watering when and where necessary, monitoring canopy temperatures and syringing when and where needed, and closely monitoring soil temperatures.  Also, I raised the height of cut and we are spraying preventatively for increased disease pressure.  

It is my understanding this current unseasonable heat wave is expected to remain in place for another couple weeks before we may see significant relief.  Thus far the mood in my department is upbeat.  We are pleased that despite all we have endured in 2015 we currently have a golf course that presents itself very well to our members and their guests.  It is not my intention today to be alarming, but merely remain out front with regards to member communications in case we are forced at a later date to make difficult decisions with regards to golf car use, course accessibility, or water supplies.

Thanks,


Matthew Wharton, CGCS 


Posted by at No comments:

Monday, June 1, 2015

The Month of May and a Tearful Goodbye!

Hello and welcome to "The Greenkeeper"!  Today is Monday, June 1st and an extremely busy day on your golf course.  It's been just over a month since my last post and believe me I never would have guessed after the deluge that was April (7th wettest April in Charlotte history) May would be so dry (3rd driest May in Charlotte history).  Important to note these weather records for the city of Charlotte go back 136 years!  Here at Carolina Golf Club we received 5.89 inches of rain in April (12 recorded events) and only 0.11" in May (2 recorded events).  In fact, May ended up being the single driest month in my tenure (previous was October 2013 with 0.50").  But enough about the weather let's talk about the golf course.

When last we got together bermudagrass was struggling from the prolonged winter and many areas of the course were unacceptable (CLICK HERE FOR LAST POST).  I met with the Greens Committee the first week of May and explained to them the two main issues at play.  One, prior to May the weather (sorry) had not been conducive for bermudagrass growth and development.  The colder than average temperatures were limiting the turf and making it impossible to accurately predict what areas may or may not fully recover.  Two, we had a very busy month of golf activity scheduled with Member-Guest, Member-Member, and several lucrative outings. Based on these factors I believed our best course of action was to be patient and allow warmer temperatures an opportunity to give the bermudagrass a fighting chance.  Also, from a playability perspective the winter injured turf areas were more playable than new sod roped off and kept wet.  Thus the decision to wait until the completion of the May tourney schedule was agreed to.  

 Good news is the Month of May was above average temperature wise.  The warm conditions made a huge improvement in encouraging bermudagrass regrowth in slow to recover areas.  Unfortunately the lack of rain has meant we've had to rely solely on our irrigation source as bermudagrass needs water in addition to warmer temperatures in order to grow and spread laterally.  As you can see from the photos below each of the most severely affected areas have demonstrated great recovery (some more than others).  We can now accurately predict what does and does not need replacing.
Rt Side #1 Fairway (5/24)
Rt Side #1 Fairway (Opposite View 5/24)



Rt Side #10 Fairway (5/11)
Rt Side #10 Fairway (Opposite View 5/11)




















Left Side #18 Fairway (6/1)
Left Side #18 Fairway (Opposite View 6/1)




















With tournament golf now in our rear view mirror we can begin to encourage these areas over the next several weeks even more with a little aeration, topdressing, and fertility.  Areas like those depicted above on holes 10 and 18 will continue to improve with little turf replacement necessary.  As for number one, the task of replacing dead bermudagrass turf from winter kill commenced today.  Earlier we began to strip and remove dead turf from the right side of number one fairway.  Sod has been ordered and we are expecting delivery later this afternoon.
And finally some sad news as we said goodbye last week to Equipment Manager JR Bailey.  JR had been a very loyal member of my team since 2008 and he was one of the most talented turf equipment technicians I have ever encountered. 

JR Inspecting Mowing Quality 2014 NC Amateur

Arghhh!
JR decided to pursue other interests in the field of manufacturing, but he left an indelible mark on this course and my department, he will be missed.  We wish JR the absolute best in his future endeavors. My search for his replacement received some good news just a short while ago when Bob Hall of Skybrook Golf Club accepted my offer to become Carolina Golf Club's next Equipment Manager.  I hope to have more information to share about Bob Hall in a future edition of The Greenkeeper.

 See you on the course,

 Matthew Wharton, CGCS
Posted by at No comments:
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)