Monday, October 25th, 2010

Course Conditions

Last weekend brought our first good storm of the fall season. Not only did we receive close to two inches of rain we received quite a bit of wind as well. Once the sun comes up I will get my first good look at the course to see how it weathered. Adam sent me this picture of the pump house. It looks like the roof took a shot through the eve. A loose branch was hiding up in the firs and decided to come down with the wind. A little bit further and the meter could have been damaged. This is a good example of why our ongoing tree program is so vital. This grove has been neglected since it was not in play. You can count on it getting some attention this winter.


With the recent rain and the wet forecast this week chances are that we will be restricting the carts to the paths. We managed to complete all the fall cultural chores last week and are now focusing on hitting the details. We are still mowing quite a bit. We had one good frost early last week but that wasn't enough to completely put the breaks on the growth. The bunkers have all been trimmed but now appears that we could go back and hit the ones on four and seven again.

Sunday afternoon I was picking up Adam from work and noticed this cart that came in late in the day. Obviously it was out in the conditions and it didn't look to good. It appears the wind is blowing the side curtains so hard that it is blowing them clean off the mounts. Miles said he found three carts in this condition in the two hours that he had been working when I spoke to him. Adam said one came in earlier. We may need to make some adjustments so this doesn't continue to happen.

Jason and Rick are moving right along on the  fifteen cart path project. If the weather cooperates today they are hoping to pour the second phase of the concrete walls. If we can get it done there is a good chance we could make the final pour on Wednesday, which is the only good day in the forecast this week. I really like how the new path is going to look. I don't think we will be having any more mishaps after this is done.

Oregon's Golf Economy

Last Wednesdays Oregon's Golf Economy Media Day, which was held at Stone Creek, was a great event. It is good to know that Oregon's golf economy is estimated at $1.2 billion and contributes more than 27,000 jobs and has a total impact of over $2.5 billion annually.
Dr. Peter Ryan of the Stanford Research Institute International provided the details of the study. He said "The importance of golf in Oregon extends beyond the golf facilities themselves. With $1.2 billion of of direct economic activity in 2008, the sheer size of the game of golf makes it a major industry in its own right and a significant contributor to Oregon's economy."

Greg Lyman, GCSAA 

Greg Lyman, Environmental Programs Director from GCSAA was present at the meeting and focused on the stewardship of the environment. He also pointed out that Oregon, per capita, has on of the highest percentages of Audubon Certified golf courses. If you read the news release that is about all you are going to see. What they didn't print was the discussion that talked about the growing pressures that superintendents are feeling from regulatory agencies. The fact is there are groups out there that are trying to take away all of the tools that we use to manage the courses in the wonderful condition that the golfers have grown to expect. What they don't know is that most golf courses only apply pesticides regularly on putting greens which only make up 2% of the property on a typical golf course. Here at Stone Creek we have been testing our surface water regularly and have never seen these compounds enter the water. My point is, it is important to understand what our economic impact is as an industry but we must also be aware of what is making this industry tick. Course conditions! Course conditions are what separate a good golf course from a successful golf course, and typically what is behind that successful golf course is a talented superintendent that has been educated at a first class university such as Oregon State.

Superintendents associations across the country have been supporting their perspective turfgrass programs through donations from superintendents themselves and much of it comes from the allied industry such as Toro, Jacobsen and John Deere. This is no different in Oregon. We happen to live in the grass seed capital of the world and are in position to grow the turf program at OSU to where it will become the leading program on the west coast. We just recently hired Dr. Rob Golembieski to take Tom Cooks position following his retirement. Rob has spring boarded the program from what Tom had built and is poised to take the program further than before. All the program needs is financial support. The Oregon State Turf Program is headed in a direction that will only make our golf courses better by providing pertinent research that superintendents can utilize to save money and help make their properties operate in a more sustainable manner. At the same time Rob will continue the fine tradition of  educating qualified future superintendents.

With the economy the way it is, it is getting harder to find that financial help to to sustain turf programs. I wish there could be a way to find dollars outside of the typical giving circle. Can another parts of our industry help provide support? There is a direct connection between the success of our industry and the level of support that Oregon State can receive. Tom Cook started the turf program back in the late 70's. Since then, look how far golf course conditions have improved, it is by no means an accident.

Click here to read the Oregon Golf Economy Summary Report.

Wednesday, October 20th, 2010

Course Conditions

We are still holding on to the nice weather and the forecast is still looking great. If anyone has had thoughts about playing before winter now is the time to do so. The course is in magnificent shape, it is not every fall in which we get this kind of weather past the middle of October. Today should be in the high 70's.
 Jason and Rick have begun the bridge project. Stay tuned for photo updates

Education
I just returned from the Inland Empire Golf Course Superintendents Association's annual meeting in Coeur 'd Alene Idaho yesterday. Lori Russell, their Executive Director always puts together a great program and this year was too good to pass up. I heard Bill Griffith from Walla Walla Community College speak on knowing your image as a superintendent and how to be aware of how others are perceiving you. Bill always does such a great job with his presentations and this one was no different.

I also heard Greg Lyman, Environmental Programs Director from GCSAA. Greg made two great presentations, one on environmental trends and solutions and the other on an environmental  assessment  of your operation. I have known Greg for years and his enthusiasm never wavers. He always provide so much information and is great in engaging the audience.

Finally, the key note speaker was Ron Calhoun, Ph.D from Michigan State University. I have never heard Ron speak in person and have always wanted to take one of his seminars at conference. The title of his presentation was Plant Growth Regulators: Physiology and Application in Cool-Season Turfgrass. A couple years ago I decided to go pretty much go off plant growth regulators due to some unexpected consequences that occurred. Ron's presentation helped me understand what happened and gave me a good understanding of the mode of action of the different classes of PGR's. This won't mean that I am going to start a new PGR program at Stone Creek but I will certainly consider some options and will weigh the benefits of some limited use. I do believe there are good uses that will help us maintain consistent speeds throughout the day and will also enhance our turf quality. I certainly hope the Oregon GCSA can find a time to have Ron come out to present to our association. He has done much research on growth regulators and herbicides and is a great speaker to listen to.

Ortho Images of the Golf Course

We have been concerned for the heath of some of our large fir trees around the course and the county decided to employ some of the technology that they have used for evaluating their forest land. They hired a company called Eagle Digital which flew over the golf course and took a number of orthographic images. These photos were taken August 2nd. They are able to use different filters which will enhance areas of interest. Here are two, one which is the golf course as seen with our eyes and the other is an enhanced infrared which highlights areas of lush growth. This one is my favorite in that it highlights the tress that are healthy showing the darker red. But what stands out is the turfgrass. What impresses me is the fairways. It is showing a uniform light pink all over. This is telling me that our irrigation system is functioning correctly and most of all we are not over watering and over fertilizing. Compare the color to the homeowners lawns along the bottom of the photo. I think the color speaks for itself.

I think this technology will be very useful in evaluating the effectiveness of our irrigation system as well as the health of our turf and trees. As a tool we can have the same picture taken next year at the same time and compare it to evaluate the effectiveness of our plant health programs. The best part of this is that it only cost $500. Click this link to see more images. Ortho Sideshow

We will also be able to use this photo to overlay our irrigation map and have our heads located within the photo.

Today Stone Creek is hosting the Oregon Golf Alliance Media Day. They are going to present the Economic Impact of Golf in Oregon study  which was done by the Stanford Research Institute. I will have more on this in my next week's report.

October 11th, 2010

Course Conditions

"It's ridiculous how good of shape this course is in." Said Steve Dodds of the Men's Club Saturday morning. I must agree with his assessment, This place has really taken shape. I owe it all to my staff who treats this place as if it is their own backyard.
We had another great week. The weather has really cooperated this fall. We just hope that it can hold on a couple more weeks as we finish up a few more projects. Last week we were successful in completing the fairway topdressing and this week we will be aerating the tee boxes Tuesday and Wednesday. We will probably be reversing the 9's on Wednesday.

The greens are going to get a bite to eat on Monday and we are finally going to fertilize the fairways on Thursday. We are not sure how much nitrogen we are going to give the greens yet but as of today they have not received any in 34 days. That is pretty good given that they normally get a tenth of a pound every two weeks. I attribute this to our greens fertility program which is from Redox. This program focuses on building the soil so that it can function on its own with fewer inputs. It promotes microbial growth which will in turn start manufacturing it's own nitrogen.  Once the microbial action slows down with the cooler temperatures we will then reintroduce nitrogen to promote growth once again. This is our second year on the program and this is the same situation we were in last year. If we were to feed them any nitrogen then we would be over feeding them. The best part of this program is that it fits nicely within our philosophy of reduced inputs. We not only reduce our nitrogen and phosphorus inputs but we have saved half the cost of one of the more popular greens fertility programs out there.
This year we sprayed the Redox product called H-85 on our fairways in combination with our Primo application. H-85 is a chelating and complexing material for fertilizer which is made from 85% organic acids. Our first fertilizer application of the season was in June in which we applied a pound of nitrogen with methylene urea and this product was to prolong the nitrogen release. We never saw an instant green up but what we did see was a steady release of nitrogen through out the season to the point where we still don't think we need to use very much going into this fall. We are in a learning curve situation at this point but eventually I would like to only have to apply fertilizer on the fairways only once a year instead of twice. I really think we may soon be able to do that as we work out the timing.

Projects
Our next big project will be the cart path relocation on the fifteenth tee. Since we have had a rash of unexplained cart accidents where customers have driven off the path and into a deep hole, we have decided to abandon the sharp turn in the path and construct a bridge which will cut the corner. Specialized Construction will once again be assisting us on this project. Construction will begin this Tuesday and we should be close to completion by the end of the week. I have contacted Portland Road and they will be able to tie the asphalt in without a problem. The only glitch is we will need to order a larger amount so the load will retain heat. So with the extra we figure we will pave the cross over between the paths on 11 and 3.

I purchased a new rake the other day and put it in the small bunker next to the 18th green. I would like everyone to take it for a spin and let me know what you think. It is a 24" rake head and really does a nice job. I think it would be a nice addition to the course. Perhaps we could get more players to rake their tracks! Then again....

One of the best jobs on the course which I am sure many of my peers would agree is walk mowing greens in the morning. Last week I happened to have my camera with me and saw this shot. I absolutely love mowing when it's dark and a good dew is on the grass. This shot pretty much just sums it up.







Gordon Update
Gordy played well at the Senior PGA National Championship but unfortunately he missed the cut on Friday by just a few strokes. I have a funny feeling that he is going to be back again next year. Good job Gordy! BTW Happy Birthday today!