Greens Management Stratagies at The Sagamore Club Video

STORY:Maintaining championship greens at Sagamore Club: presented by Tee-2-Green from GCSAA TV on Vimeo.

This is a short interview that was done last Fall pertaining to our greens management strategies at The Sagamore Club. The video was done in conjunction with Tee-2-Green who supplied the grass varieties that we our currently using on our green, tees, and fairways. The Sagamore Club will also be featured in a calendar that they produce every year.

Why do we aerate greens?

I still think there are a lot of questions out there on my we aerate a golf green.  I found this video that really explains the benefits of aeration and the reasons why we must aerate to have a successful putting surface.


I have also answered many questions on why our greens are so slow to heal after aeration.  There are two main reasons that our greens are slow to heal.  The first is the timing of aeration.  We have pushed aeration back until late September/ early October when the turfgrass plant has slowed day with top growth and is putting all of it's energy into root growth.  The second reason is the variety of grass on our greens.  Our greens ar 100% A-1 which is a slow grower and takes a long time to heal in aerification holes or ball marks.  These two combined produce slow healing after aerification.  We do our best to produce a great putting surface after aerification is complete.

This November, turf managers and homeowners will be making late fall fertilizer applications with the hopes of improving turf vigor, color, and recovery from winter injury next spring. The main purpose of late fall fertilization is to enhance spring green-up without the excessive growth that often accompanies early spring fertilization. This green-up often will last into mid spring, so an early spring fertilizer application is not needed. A fertilizer application in mid to late spring is usually required to sustain turf color and growth into the summer months.

Research has shown that late fall fertilizer applications do not force as much leaf growth in spring as equal amounts of early spring nitrogen fertilizer, thus carbohydrates are not exhausted as quickly. Carbohydrates help turf tolerate environmental stress and recover from disease injury during spring and summer. The result is a slight advantage to the turf in the form of better heat and drought tolerance and recovery potential.

One reported advantage of late fall fertilization is increased root growth during late fall and winter. The theory is that roots are still growing at a time when shoot growth has ceased, thus allowing the roots to make full use of the fertilizer. However, root growth is very slow at this time of year, and if the soil is frozen, roots do not grow at all. Consequently, the benefit of increased root growth in response to fall fertilization is questionable.

Late fall fertilization should take place when foliar growth stops (or slows to the point that turf no longer needs to be mowed), grass is still green, and before the soil freezes. In Indiana, this period usually occurs around Thanksgiving. Application timing may vary from year to year depending on weather conditions.

Late fall fertilizer applications can be put down on most lawns at rates of 1 to 1.5 lb of nitrogen/1000 sq ft. Just about any source of nitrogen can be used for late fall fertilization, but slow-release sources may be a better choice than soluble sources on sandy soils because of reduced potential for leaching. Nitrogen fertilizer should never be applied to frozen soil due to the increased chance of nutrient runoff. Although application timing is not as critical with phosphorus and potassium as it is with nitrogen, these elements can benefit turf when applied in late fall. Application rates for phosphorus and potassium should be determined according to soil test recommendations. There is no need to apply either of these nutrients if they are present in the soil at sufficient levels.

Why do we aerify greens?

Preventative maintenance is an integral part of successful golf course management. Golfers view aerification as an inconvenience that takes the greens out of play for a day, pulling cores from the greens and leaving holes that can affect putting for many days before healing. To add insult to injury, aerification is best done in many part of the country during mid-summer, at the height of the playing season and when most greens are in prime condition.

But a golfer needs to understand how important aerification is to producing healthy turf.

Aerification achieves three important objectives. It relieves soil compaction, it provides a method to improve the soil mixture around the highest part of a green’s roots and it reduces or prevents the accumulation of excess thatch.

Like so many things, the quality of a good putting green is more than skin deep. In fact, the condition of a green has a lot to do with what goes on below the surface. In order for grass to grow at 3/16-inch, it must have deep, healthy roots. Good roots demand oxygen. In good soil, they get the oxygen from tiny pockets of air trapped between soil and sand particles.

Over time, the traffic from golfers’ feet (as well as mowing equipment) tends to compact the soil under the putting green – particularly when the soil contains a lot of clay. When soil becomes compacted, the air pockets on which the roots depend are crushed, and the roots are essentially left gasping for air. Without oxygen, the grass plants become weaker and will eventually wither and die.

Aerification is a mechanical process that creates more air space in the soil and promotes deeper rooting, thus helping the grass plants stay healthy. In most cases, it’s done by removing ½-inch cores (those plugs you sometimes see near a green or in fairways) from the compacted soil, allowing for an infusion of air and water that brings a resurgence of growth. The spaces are then filled with sand “topdressing” that helps the soil retain air space and makes it easier for roots to grow downward.

Older greens often are constructed of soils with significant amounts of silt, clay and fine organic particles that are prone to compaction. Filling aerification holes with sand improves drainage and resists compaction. The periodic introduction of sand to a green’s top layer can over time, avoid or postpone expensive rebuilding or renovation of greens.

Finally, growing of turf adds to a layer of organic matter on the surface. This layer, called thatch, is an accumulation of dead stems, leaves and roots. A little organic matters makes for a resilient green, but too much invites diseases and insects. Topdressing with sand can prevent thatch buildup, and aerification is one of the best ways to reduce an existing layer and prevent an excess of thatch from becoming established.

Other aerification techniques use machines with “tines” or knives that simply poke holes through the soil profile. A new technique even uses ultra high-pressure water that’s injected through the soil profile to create small holes that relieve some compaction but heal quickly.

There are many types of aerifying machines with different attachments that address different problems in the various stages of the life of a green. So the next time you’re ready to scream when the aerifiers are brought on the course, remember that a little preventative maintenance produces the best greens over the long haul.

Stimpmeter

The Stimpmeter was invented in 1935 by Edward Stimpson and its purpose was to test the consistency of the speed of putting greens. Unfortunately today’s use of the device is for speed purposes or bragging rights as to how fast the greens are. I use the Stimpmeter daily for several reasons such as; consistency from green to green (the original intended use), to help with the timing of fertility applications, Growth regulator applications and eventually speed measurement. These daily speeds all affect the aforementioned applications timings that ultimately dictate green speeds. Follow this link to the USGA’s website for an animated clip that shows the use of the Stimpmeter.We utilize the stimpmeter to monitor greenspeeds on a daily basis. We strive to have smooth, consistent greens and the stimpmeter allows us to monitor this. My assistant records a stimpmeter reading for 2 different greens each day. These readings are taken from the same location each day. The readings are then recorded into a excel spreadsheet and graphed at the end of each month. We consistently analyze the readings to monitor how close we are to our target green speed. If readings fall below this level then we react and change our agronomic techniques to increase green speed. If levels get to high we back off on some of our agronomic techniques. These readings also allow us to analyze how weather, topdressing, rolling, and mechanical maintenance effect green speeds.

Changing Hole Location

Changing the hole location has one of the largest impacts on how the course plays each and every day. It can have a negative affect on pace of play if multiple holes locations are overly difficult or unfair. It is for that reason that we try to have our most knowledgeable staff members in charge of daily course setup. For tournament setup I will be the one to determine on the specific hole locations based on the event and Golf Shop input for specific needs. A good setup is one that mixes easy to hard hole locations throughout with a nice flow from one hole to the next. The animation below show the hole changing process.