My Time at Stone Creek Golf Club

Frost Delays

This post is reprinted with permission from Golfdom and Puttin' Down Roots".

Frost Delays

Frost is a common reason for morning tee time delay. The reason for the delays is the damage that can occur from foot or equipment traffic to the turf when frost is present. Generally speaking, nice fall golfing days and frost go hand-in-hand. With more frost days expected, this is a good time to look at the conditions favorable for frost.

Frost occurs on clear cold nights when turfgrass plants re-radiate heat (exothermic reaction). As the plant loses heat to the atmosphere the plant leaf cools. If the plant temperature is cooler than the air temperature then moisture from the atmosphere will condense on the leaf. If the leaf temperature drops below freezing then the water freezes and frost forms. This will occur even if the air temperatures are slightly above freezing. At this time of the year it is not uncommon to have frost form even if the air temperature is in the mid to high 30s.

Frost itself does not cause damage, but injury does occur with traffic on frosted areas. Turf damage is generally superficial. This is not to say that traffic should be allowed on frosted turf. If traffic occurs, whether it is foot or mechanical, damage caused by crushing the leaf blade will occur. Initially the symptoms will appear purplish to black in color (almost like an excessive Iron application). The damaged turf will then progress to a straw color. If no damage occurs to the crown, recovery will occur from the generation of new leaves.

Editor's note: "Puttin' Down Roots," an e-newsletter from Golfdom and sponsored by BASF, focuses on plant health. Each month, Golfdom provides readers with a useful plant health tip so they can do their jobs easier.

Karl Danneberger, Ph.D., Golfdom's science editor and a turfgrass professor from The Ohio State University, can be reached at danneberger.1@osu.edu

Monday, November 28th, 2011

Shane and Brad heading out to the 1st tee

The holiday season is officially under way now that Thanksgiving and Black Friday are under our belt. It also signifies that the winter golf season is officially under way. Last week we had a few days of solid rain which we only saw a handful of golfers. Once again, I must tip my hat to those golfers that can brave the elements for four and a half hours on a wet and miserable day. I found these two hardy soles on Wednesday heading out to the first tee. The week wasn't all bad. On the days that it didn't rain, the tee sheet seemed to be packed until early afternoon.

Steve Mathre is never short of anything to do. Last week he spent some extra time on our equipment trailers installing extruded matting on them to protect the drums of the green and collar mowers.

Last week Steve also took the initiative to clean out his shop. During the season he is so busy that there is hardly time to keep up with the details. When I walked in the door following my vacation the entire shop looked amazing.

Steve Pearce on 18

Our deciduous trees have dropped and there are just a few remaining pockets of leaves to clean up. Even with the couple rain outs last week, the crew has managed to keep the course in fantastic shape. Friday I managed to get out and snap a few shots of the course and the guys mowing greens for the first time all week.

Blowing the needles off 17 before mowing

We are looking forward to some favorable weather this week. We will be finishing up the drainage on 18 and will look to begin a new project either on 11 or 5.

If the week stays dry and the conditions allow, I would really like to see some sand applied to the greens. The greens will be due for a shot of fertilizer as well. We are seeing some holes appear on a few greens which are the result of cutworms. Cutworms will inhabit the aerification holes where the sand is soft and will come to the surface to feed around the edges. So far the holes are worse on 11 and 12. We will be monitoring the greens and will probably need to make some spot applications to prevent further damage.

Stone Creek's GBH

Final Fall color

Monday, November 21st, 2011

Pinehurst #2 lives up to its reputation!

Last week my trip to Pinehurst North Carolina topped my all time golfing experiences. Being able to play #2 following the highly touted renovation by Ben Crenshaw and Bill Coore was an experience I will not soon forget. First of all, Pinehurst is so steeped in golfing history it made my head spin simply walking to my hotel room. The golfing legends who have played and the championships that have taken place are immense.

I cannot say enough about the renovation performed by Coore and Crenshaw. Learning about the history of Pinehurst #2 and how a renovation in the 70's lead to a wall to wall grassing of the course made me cringe. All Coore and Crenshaw did was to put it back to the original intent of Donald Ross and what resulted was a masterpiece. It is so ridiculously simple it was brilliant. The total number of sprinkler heads were cut in half as well as the irrigated acreage. Bob Farren told me that the amount of water delivered to the course was also cut in half. The fairways are simply sprinkled with a single row of heads right down the middle of the fairway. There is no longer a rough cut. There are only two heights of cut, the greens and everything else. As a 13 handicap I found the course very playable from the white tees. However, the championship tees would present a much different challenge. I have a feeling this course is going to present itself well to the 2014 US Open.

I had the pleasure of playing with Clark Throssell and Anthony Williams, CGCS. We had an amazing time. We all made some pars and a birdie or two even found its way on the card.

Anthony Williams, CGCS

Clark Throssell Ph.D

David Phipps (That's a birdie 4!)

I must not forget to mention why I got to go to Pinehurst in the first place. I was invited by Golfdom Magazine to participate in their first annual Golfdom Summit. The Summit was an event for superintendents, suppliers and dealers of golf course maintenance products and provided a means for them to meet on a one on one basis. We attended board room style presentations which allowed superintendents to give open feedback as well as industry representatives were able to ask direct questions of superintendents.

Reese Jones

We also had an impressive line up of key note speakers. The first night we heard from Ken Magnum, Superintendent of Atlanta Athletic Club. He spoke of his experiences hosting this years PGA Championship as well as the decision to convert the greens from bent to Champion Ultra Dwarf Bermuda. Also speaking the first night was Reese Jones. He talked about the renovations that he has taken part in and how he earned the name "The Open Doctor". His remodeling skills have been applied to seven U.S. Open venues, seven PGA Championship courses, four Ryder Cup and two Walker Cup sites. Not a bad list of accomplishments! Bob Farren of Pinehurst spoke the following day on the renovation of #2 and really gave us an insight into the process of the renovation.

I must thank Golfdom for their wonderful hospitality and vision for hosting this unique event. This is the first of its kind event and I feel privileged to have been a part of it. I met so many great superintendents and look forward to keeping in touch with them.

I leave this post with some more photos from the trip. I hope you enjoy them.