Course Update 5-28-14

Yesterday the course was closed and our staff worked from daylight to near dark, getting the course ready for the week, after a busy Thursday-Monday Memorial Day weekend. So many people were out playing and it's great to drive around talking to people four days in a row.

We have been fertilizing, topdressing, and mowing as much as possible over the past few weeks now the course is in full growing mode. It's been a busy time for our staff and I know we are all happy to start seeing the results of warm weather.

The pic below was taken late afternoon as we were watering in the topdressing along with a fertilizer application.

Tight shot and such a beautiful view.

Golf's winter woes reach into Georgia

Great article on the winter of 2013/2014

Golf's winter woes reach into Georgia

For those thinking that the troubles related to the severe winter of 2013-14 have been limited to golf courses in the northern U.S. and Canada, think again.

Courses as far south as Georgia and Florida have experienced varying degrees of turf loss this spring because of the unusual spells of cold weather that stretched into these areas. And now, according to a news release from the Georgia GCSA, superintendent's ability to quickly repair these areas of dead turf is being hampered by a critical shortage of sod, which means golfers emerging from hibernation are finding straw-colored blotches littering their fairways and green surrounds.

“It really has been a perfect storm,” says Ken Mangum, CGCS at Atlanta Athletic Club in Johns Creek, which hosts the U.S. Amateur Championship in August.

A significant number of sod farms in the Southeast closed during the recession and most others reduced their acreage. For those survivors, golf is generally a sideline behind demand from the commercial and residential sectors. As the economy recovered and construction resumed, golf’s supply was already being squeezed.
“But we also had cool, cloudy and wet conditions last summer that extended into the fall,” Mangum adds. “So a lot of farms weren’t able to establish new sod after their harvest last year. Now we have all these golf courses that suffered badly because of the winter. And even if you do find some sod, good luck trying to secure a truck to deliver it.”

Mangum, who has prepared the golf course for two PGA Championships and a U.S. Women’s Open at Atlanta Athletic Club, will be inducted into the Georgia Golf Hall of Fame in January. He says the past winter was the worst he could recall since 1977 when “we stayed frozen for six weeks straight and it killed a lot of grass everywhere.”

The most susceptible areas on a course are north facing slopes, persistently shaded areas and areas with poor drainage.

The good news is that the greens at most facilities came through mostly unscathed. Bentgrass is relatively cold tolerant and most courses with warm-season bermudagrass greens now use covers when temperatures plummet. But on fairways, around the greens and in rough areas which are grassed almost exclusively with warm-season turf in Georgia, superintendents can do little but cross their fingers.

Officials from the Georgia GCSA have asked for patience from golfers while their courses recover, which will happen, eventually. But without sod at the ready, recovery will require consistently warm temperatures and clear skies with plenty of sunlight. Sub 50-degree nighttime temperatures, like those experienced this week, do not help.

“Still, the situation is getting better every day,” Mangum says, wryly. “It’s just that the days go by too slow.”

Course Conditions May 2014

It's nice to start seeing the golf course respond, finally, to the warm weather. As most of you know, winter in Atlanta has brought some less than desired conditions to many courses in the area. If you've had an opportunity to play outside of Laurel Springs then you have probably seen acres upon acres of Bermuda at area courses did not make it. This is due to the extremely low temperatures that seemed to linger for weeks. We faired much better than other area courses that I have either personally seen or have heard about and we all should be thankful that our course came through the winter with very little damage. My initial estimate is about 3000 sq ft of sod that needs replacing. Sod availability in Atlanta is incredibly low and virtually non existent at the current time but we will take care of this as soon as possible.

The greens are doing very well and the health is a directly related to the covers being applied this winter. The covers raised the ground temperature just enough to keep them from detrimental turf loss. I know of one course whose cover blew partially off a green during one of the coldest nights and the turf that was exposed did not make it. As young as our greens are, I'm very satisfied with their health.

The spring dead spot that we deal with year after year is recoving and we should see marked improvements to our fairways if the temperatures stay where they are. Mid to upper 80's are certainly our friend. 

Our Champions Invitational is this weekend and I look forward to seeing everyone out on the course.

If you have any questions please feel free to contact me at

wesley.michielsen@ourclub.com

Slit Aerification of Fairways

This week we are aerifying fairways on the course. After this is completed all areas of the course will be fertilized again to promote heavier growth. The aerification is performed by a slit aerifier that pushes a large blade into the soil to open the turf canopy, reduce compaction, and stimulate growth. This process is very effective and doesn't impact play as much as a traditional core style aerification would.

The task will be finished by Friday of this week and then we will start on the same process for the tees.