Thursday, February 28, 2013

Bees and trees

It's no secret that bees love trees, but did you know that they really like cypress trees? Cypress trees have natural hollow spots that make great places to build a hive. Occasionally I will find a hive in a valve box, but most times when I find one it is in the base of a cypress tree. To eliminate the hive is a pretty simple process...seal up the void an the hive will die.

The first thing I do is cut a piece of screening material to plug the void so when the bees get angry they can't come shooting out and get me. Then I take expanding foam insulation and start pumping it into the void. The foam keeps expanding and I keep filling until the entire void is sealed off. The remaining bees will fly off since they can no longer enter their old hive.





Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Golf goes to the hill

Last week the golf industry went to Tallahassee to speak to the legislators.  Did you know that golf in Florida is a $7.5 billion industry? With all of the economic benefit golf brings to the State, the golf industry wanted to make sure it was getting recognized.  All of the major professional golf associations and trade associations, including the Florida Golf Course Superintendent's Association that I am on the Executive Board of, created the Florida Golf Alliance to have a unified voice to the legislators about how important golf is to Florida's economy.  Click the link below to watch The Golf Channel's coverage of the event.


Video coverage of Florida Golf Day on The Golf Channel

Saturday, February 23, 2013

A mid season reminder from the USGA


MID-SEASON BLEMISHES
By Todd Lowe, senior agronomist, Florida Region
February 20, 2013


Thin turf conditions are common on high-use tees during the peak golfing season.
In Florida, the peak winter golf season reaches its climax at this time of year and many facilities are producing a record number of rounds. Increased play combined with lower temperatures are taking their toll on golf course conditions, and the recent cold snap will further slow the recovery of traffic wear patterns.
Putting Greens: Ball marks are prevalent this time of year, as the turf grows slowly. It is each golfer’s responsibility to repair ball marks, and a properly fixed ball mark may only take a few days to recover whereas an unrepaired ball mark that is scalped by mowers may be a noticeable blemish that lasts for several weeks.
Tees: Turf thinning is a particularly important issue on teeing grounds come February. Especially problematic are high-use tees and par 3s where iron shots (and divots) are taken. Oftentimes, only the middle section of tees becomes thin as golfers tend to acclimate toward the center of the tee markers. On wider tees, it may be necessary to narrow the distance between tee marker placements and relocate them closer to teeing ground edges. Doing so will encourage complete usage of the entire teeing area. There must be adequate time between tee stall rotations for complete recovery, and teeing grounds may simply be too small for the amount of play received during the peak season (see article Tailor Made for more information on tee size requirements).
Fairways and Roughs: Tight fairway lies are common at this time of year and it is not caused by lower mowing heights. In fact, fairways are generally only mowed once or twice each week, mostly to remove divots. Semi-dormant conditions along with 200+ daily rounds cause the turf to become matted down. Fairway spray programs (see Liquid “Overseed”) are helpful, as they not only improve turf color but also encourage growth and overall quality.
Cart traffic and cold weather are also problematic on golf course roughs this time of year. Turf discoloration and tufted playing conditions are common on golf course roughs in Florida during the winter months, especially in high-traffic areas. While the goal is to produce a dense and uniform turf canopy, inconsistent turf growth rates and traffic make it an impossible task at times.
In the big picture, increased wear and tear is a good sign of the viability of the game of golf, but it is important for golfers to understand what can be expected at this time of year and ways they can help minimize turf stress.
Source: Todd Lowe, tlowe@usga.org

Friday, February 22, 2013

Have any Yellow Cassia Trees in your landscaping?

A message from our University of Florida extension agent.....

Are your yellow-flowering, blow-over trees looking?
Please see attached fact sheet and Youtube video on this new cool-season disease.

Doug

-----------------------------
Here is the link:

http://youtu.be/2IofTt2BwZw

To really enjoy the show make sure you watch it in the highest definition!

Under the picture is a little gear. Click on this and choose highest number from the list. The video will play in crystal clear detail. It’s amazing!

Doug

Doug Caldwell, Ph.D.
University of Florida
Collier Co. Extension (a Public Services Department)
Commercial Landscape Horticulture
Landscape Entomologist
14700 Immokalee Rd.
Naples, FL 34120
office: 239-353-4244 x203
cell: 239-273-0073
fax: 239-353-7127

http://collier.ifas.ufl.edu/CommHort/HomeCommHort.shtml



Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Clubhouse putting green

Some of the clubhouse putting green perimeters are thinning out and showing signs of stress. For a new putting surface, this is a pretty common issue, especially ones with very little area outside of the green like our clubhouse putting green.

One of the compounding issues is the immaturity of the grass. Remember, we planted the grass only 6 months ago. This is exactly why major golf tournaments are rarely played on freshly renovated courses, they need time to mature. Another part of the problem with the thinning perimeter is that it gets trampled with more wear than any other part of the green. When the putting surface is cut the mower cuts to the edge (that's one trampling), turns around and goes the other direction, and ultimately the perimeter gets it's own cutting (that's the second trampling). Additionally, we roll the greens almost every day (that's the third trampling).

To combat the wear issues on the green's perimeter I do several Superintendent tricks to help abate some of the abuse. One common practice is to skip the cleanup cut all together. Unless the grass is growing vigorously the layman will never know the perimeter has been skipped. Another trick is to create a false collar around the thin areas. The false collar means the area will not be mowed at all at green height, thus being allowed to grow higher. Remember, the longer the leaf, the more sunlight the plant can capture, the healthier the plant is, and ultimately the more wear the plant can withstand.

On the big putting green I am having the false collar trick done. The thinning is just a temporary issue and will go away once the warm Spring days arrive. If it gets too bad I will have the areas plugged out.

Taking the patient's temperature is step one

Just like people, the grass plant's temperature is very important. More precisely, the root system temperature is what is more important. Research has shown that as long as the root system stays within it's optimal temperature range, ambient air temperature has little effect on plant growth. This is why Augusta National has installed heating an cooling pipes under their greens.

So what does this mean for CCN? It means that we are at the mercy of Mother Nature when it comes to plant growth and recovery. Bermuda grass's optimal root temperatures are approximately 70-95 degrees. Thats basically late Spring before the real dog days of summer and early Fall before temperatures fall out. Within that range the plant grows vigorously. If its too hot the plant will still grow but at the expense of the root system. If its too cold, the plant will just shut down all together. At 55 degrees the root system of Bermuda grass completely shuts down.

Below is a screen snapshot using our wireless soil monitor system of 16 green. The flat line part is from when we had the monitor out of the ground for pencil tining the green. The top part is the percentage of water in the soil and the bottom is temperature.  As you an see the temperatures are well below the optimal growing points. Although the temperature creeps up during the hottest parts of the day, that's like have an "A" in a class room full of D's and F's, the bell curve is still pretty bad. The soil's buffering capacity is such that it takes several days of very nice weather to get those roots kicked into the growth mode.

On the positive side, it's nearly March and although for a lot of people that means NCAA basketball tournament time, for me that means good growing weather time. I have all the fertility systems primed and ready to go once the soil warms up.

Monday, February 18, 2013

Meet our new Equipment Manager

To take care of a golf course you have to have a lot of equipment, very specialized equipment. With the average cost of a fairway mover comparable to a mid level Mercedes, it's important to have someone who knows how to take care of the machines properly. That's the job of the Equipment Manager.

We recently hired a new Equipment Manager named Roy Snorf. Roy has a tremendous background in golf course equipment maintenance built from working at fine establishments such as Bonita Bay, Twin Eagles and Royal Poinciana. We are very fortunate to have him on our team and he's already made a positive impact in the shop and with the crew.

Roy is originally from Tampa, but grew up in Naples where is lives with wife Dreana and daughter Cheyenne.  Upon graduating high school Roy immediately went to work at Royal Poinciana in the shop.  As he puts it, "Every job I have ever had has to do with turning wrenches on something."  If you see Roy out and about please say hello and welcome him to the Club.



Cart path touch up

With last week's 2 inches of rain, all of the areas in the cart paths that hold water really popped up. Today I have my staff out adding new cart path material to the wet areas. First we haul out the new aggregate, spread it, then my guys rake it out smooth. We will concentrating this week on doing all the paths.



Friday, February 15, 2013

Chemical Damage update

Everyone knows we suffered an unprecedented incident with a course wide chemical application that resulted in a severe decline in course conditions.  Although the majority of the damage has gone away, a few areas are still visible.  Areas that are still recovering continue to be treated with kid gloves.

 
 
These areas receive extra fertilizers and sanding.  The fertilizer is to promote growth and the sanding is to fill in the small voids that create a dimpled surface. 
 
 
 
 
The course won't fully recover until we have sustained high temperatures that promote the grass's full growth potential.  Even if I had an unlimited budget for fertilizer, our limiting factor right now is that it's winter.  Although we've had a warm winter, soil temperatures still need to climb another 10 degrees before the grass kicks into overdrive.   Applying massive amounts of fertilizers right now could potentially make the course regress even more.  It has been documented over and over again that the last thing you want to do to a weakened plant is to over feed it.  The plant could exhaust itself while gorging on the food. I have been fertilizing the course, but in a way to nurse it back without causing more damage.  Also remember  the chemical damaged the root system so severely that massive applications of fertilizers could potentially be wasted because there is a limited root system to absorb the nutrients.  It's $8-10,000 to fertilize the whole course,using round numbers, so I don't want to waste your money.  Once the soils warm up, the course will bounce back. 
 
On a positive note, I have been successful in negotiating with Bayer to cover all of the costs associated with the remediation process.  This includes all of the sod, any additional day labor help, all the chemicals, and all the in house labor used.  If you add it all up, it's well over $45,000.