Start of a New Season

After a short frost delay we were off to complete our final preparations for opening the course... now trying to stay ahead of golfers! From the moment the frost ropes were removed, golfers were rushing to the first tee. No penalties were called, but I did tell one individual to keep his elbows down or he'll be in the box for 2... Just kidding. The weather cooperated and it turned into a beautiful sunny Kamloops day, perfect to open the course.

The past couple of days have kept us busy with preparations. Leading up to opening day we rolled our greens with Salsco Rollers fitted with brushes to help push our fall topdress into the turf canopy. The rolling also helped to remove frost heaving on the greens, as well as firming up the putting surface quite well. We followed rolling with a first cut with a Toro Triplex at .150" and then cut again opening morning at the same height.

16th Green

The greens are looking to be in very good shape for mid March, now it is our job to keep them healthy and happy. We plan to do a preventive fungicide application when the soil temperatures reach between 12 and 18 degrees Celsius, this will attack the Take-all Patch pathogen when it is most active. We will also be applying manganese sulphate to improve the plants resistance to disease, and magnesium sulphate to help adjust soil pH to favor the plant over the pathogen. Aeration and topdressing is also an important cultural practice to help combat this disease as it helps promote root growth and reduces thatch. This is very important when dealing with Take-all Patch as the root infecting disease prevents the plant from taking up water and nutrients, while the thatch layer prevents water and nutrients from reaching the soil, compounding the plants inability to take in water and nutrients. The thatch layer is also responsible for a soft and often wet putting surface. Water is not able to penetrate this heavy organic layer and gets caught up in the top inches of the profile. Water is prevented from percolating down into the soil, giving the putting surface a spongy wet feeling. Aeration creates pathways to bypass the thatch, allowing water and oxygen to reach the roots. While topdressing dilutes the organic thatch with sand, eventually allowing water to penetrate. It will also help to create a smoother, firmer putting surface.

Reviews from members and greens fee'ers on Opening Day were that the course was looking and playing great. When asked about the greens they commented that they were rolling smooth and true, but slow. Most of them are aware that it is only March 15th and understand that greens will be slower at this time of year as we slowing bring our height of cuts down to summer levels.

We are definitely off to a good start for this season and are looking forward to bringing the course into optimal playing conditions, while maintaining a healthy stand of turf.

18th Green approach

 

Looking Forward to March 15th

After a winter of heavy snow cover the course is looking to be in good shape as we approach spring. All the snow has melted from the course and recent winds have helped to start drying things out. Our fall fungicide application and heavy topdress have proven effective in protecting the Greens, Tees and Fairways and are all looking good to start the season. Our Rough areas however, have sustained a large amount of snow mold. (Our rough is not sprayed with fungicide as the cost would be far too high). The snow mold we are seeing is a result of the heavy snow cover which blanked the course from early December till late February. Combine this with the late leaf drop in the fall and you have a recipe for disease as the leaves decay underneath the snow. We expect the Rough to fill itself back in with-in 1 - 2 months of spring growing period. For the time being the Rough may be thinner and patchy in areas, but this is not something out of the ordinary for our Club, and I believe many other courses will see similar disease patterns in their Rough this spring.

The good news for everyone waiting to dust off the old sticks is that we are gearing up to open the course for Friday March 15th! As this date fast approaches we will be cleaning up the mess winter left behind. Blowing and sweeping up leaves for the Bunkers, Fairways and Rough. Mulching leaves and debris, clearing catch basins, removing snow fences and taking the course accessories out onto the course. We will also be charging our Irrigation system and beginning our Spring Fertility Program, as well as final servicing of our equipment.

We also have seeded our Chipping Green and Nursery last November and are already seeing some germination of the seedlings. We covered both of these areas with a permeable cover after seeding to protect them from the cold of winter and traffic from geese and other critters. Today we removed the cover from the Chipping green so we can apply irrigation to this newly seeded area. We plan to remove the Nursery cover in the coming days and may recover them if we predict the temperature to drop down below freezing. Below is a picture of the Chipping green after we pulled the cover off today.

We are looking forward to the start of this season and seeing everyone out enjoying the course. See you on the 15th!