G&G Blog: April - July 2022
We hope everyone is enjoying their summer wherever you may
be. Monsoon has arrived in the Valley, and it has been very hot and humid these
past couple of weeks. We haven’t had any significant storms at PPCC yet but
have been seeing many storms in the area.
Overall, the summer transition to our bermudagrass base has
gone very well. Once again, we focused very early on promoting transition
during the months of March, April, and May. Through lower mowing heights, and bermudagrass
targeted fertilizer and herbicide applications we were able to recover the bermuda
with minimal challenges. We are very pleased with the transition and recovery
of the bermudagrass around the bunkers and in the areas of disruption from the
2021 bunker renovation project.
There are some thinner high-traffic spots around bunkers,
exit points by the greens, and to the sides of the approaches that will need a
little bit of care, but we are very confident we will get these areas filled in
soon with the help of the humidity. One of the most interesting things we see
is the slightly more difficult transition of the overseed intermediate cut
between the fairway and roughs versus the fairway. Just the slightly higher
height of cut has had a big impact on transition as compared to the lower
height of cut in the fairways.
We are currently closed for our 12-day planned maintenance
period. During this time, we will be doing our aerification, de-thatching, and
fairway topdressing of the bermudagrass. These processes are critical this time
of year for transition and for the health of the bermudagrass year-round. Healthy bermuda year-round is the building
block of a good overseed and continued successful transitions.
Since late May, tree fertilization has been performed during
Monday closures. Bartlett Tree Company has been applying targeted root feedings
to the eucalyptus and pine trees. These annual feedings help to strengthen larger trees as they age and enter the monsoon season.
Bartlett Tree Company will also be surveying the entire golf
course, updating our GPS inventory, and tagging of all trees. This inventory helps our
golf course architect and arborist monitor the tree's health, species,
additions/removals, and location. Golf course architect Andy Staples will
continue helping us with a master tree plan upon the completion of the
surveying.
Contract tree trimming is also underway. During the 2021 BRP
we did a significant amount of trimming and do not see a need for as much
trimming this year. We will also be removing 17 trees this year. These trees
are all in poor health, dangerous, and unattractive. Several of the trees have
been on the removal list for several years and have a backup replacement tree already
planted. We will also be adding 15 trees back in place of some of the removals
and several other locations. Our arborist from Bartlett Tree Company, Eric
Belcher, and golf course architect, Andy Staples were consulted in the process
of removing these trees.
Now that monsoon has arrived the challenges of higher
humidity, higher dew points (60+), high night-time temperatures (85-90+) and
higher soil temperatures (80 at night and 95+ daytime) will create very oppressive
conditions and challenges to our bentgrass greens. For example. Bentgrass soil
temperatures are ideal in 50-65 degree temperatures. From late June to late September,
we consistently maintain 50% higher soil temperatures. This is the cause of
root shrinkage and turf density loss. The bentgrass is literally baking in the
soil for a sustained 3-month period. The root shrinkage and turf density loss
will then cause the recovery of ball marks to be a challenge. The greens will
also begin to feel softer as the loss of root and turf density progress into
August and September. The fans you see on
several greens this time of year are aimed at helping with these
challenges.
This year, four new fans are in the process of being added
to the golf course. Fans have been placed on #1, #7, #8, and #18. #1 was
installed last year during the BRP but we postponed the use of this fan due to
the disruption from the BRP. We are still waiting for our electrician to return
to run the remaining wire and anticipate having the fans operational the week
of July 25th.
Many of the practices and applications we do from January - June
are focused on creating the largest root mass and highest density turf canopy
we can before the challenges of summer arrive. In short, we try to outgrow the
loss that we know will occur. Additionally, during the stressful period, we
will raise the height of cut to reduce the stress of mowing along with alternating
between mowing greens one day and rolling the next. We spray fungicides and
plant health products beginning in June as part of a preventative disease and
stress program. We will also fill the ball marks with green painted sand/bentgrass
seed mix during the most challenging months when the existing turf will not
fill in. G&G will be performing this task in the mornings when mowing
greens and the golf shop and outside service will also be helping during the
daytime.
We monitor moisture levels in the greens every day throughout
the day. We use a TDR Meter from Spectrum Technologies that tells us the
percent of moisture in the soil. This practice is performed year-round but is
much more intense during the summer months. These numbers help us to know when
to water and how much to water. Most of our watering is performed by hoses
daily, every 3-4 days we use the irrigation system to do a deep and infrequent
watering when the hose watering is not sufficient. Please bear with us as we
navigate the challenging summer conditions and protect the health and
sustainability of our greens.
In addition, you may see a white or discolored ring on the
outside of the collars of the greens. This is intentional. We apply a specific
herbicide that will target the bermudagrass and slow its growth almost completely
so that it will not invade the collars and putting green surfaces. Inevitably,
the bermuda will invade the collars over time. Our goal is to keep it minimized to
the outer half of the collar and re-sod the collars every 3-4 years as needed
to keep the invasion out of the putting surfaces. The outside half of the
collars were re-sodded last year to take advantage of the closure during the
BRP.
As many of you have seen on the news, the supply chain has
been a challenge across all industries. Fertilizers, pesticides, and seed specifically
have been hit hard. Fertilizers and pesticides are a double impact due to the
process of needing oil to produce them and diesel to ship them. The seed market
for ryegrass has been hit very hard in the last 2 years due to increased demand
from the residential market. We’ve seen price increases from 50% up to 200% on
a few products and availability continues to be a challenge. We have secured
our seed for this year's overseed and are on track to overseed as we did this
past season. We continue to communicate with the board, Green and Grounds
committee, and GM Doc Belitz, to ensure that we are meeting these challenges.
The committees and BOD are committed to continuing to provide the same level of
conditions despite these challenges.
Recently well #1 showed a significant reduction in
productivity. Well #1 normally operates around 1200 gal. per minute. It was discovered
the well was only pumping about 700 GPM. Upon further inspection by our well maintenance
company, it was determined that the bowl assembly at the end of the well shaft was
no longer functioning properly. Well #1
has been in the ground and operating year-round for 14 years, far past its life
expectancy. Since it was required to remove subsurface components of the well
to repair the bowl assembly it was determined that the best course of action
was to completely rebuild all underground components of the well while they
were out of the ground. The work has begun on the rehabilitation. All equipment
has been removed and inspected and found it necessary to replace all columns,
drive shaft, and bowl assembly. In addition, the well has been inspected by
video to the bottom of the well casing for structural damage. All video has shown
the well casing is in good structural condition and will now need to be
scrubbed and cleaned. The cleaning will remove build-up on the outer perforations
of the casing that allow the water to be drawn into the column and pumped upward.
Our vendor is currently performing the cleaning process. Upon completion, the
well will be inspected by video once more time before installation of the new
pumping equipment. We anticipate that the well will be operational by the 1st
or 2nd week of August. Currently, the water level is a depth of 650
feet. The good equipment is set at a depth of 960 ft deep. The total depth of PPCC
well #1 is 1200 feet deep. For perspective that is 2 ½ George Washington
Monuments.
We would like to welcome Jason Gray, who has recently joined
our G&G team as our new assistant superintendent. He began June 13 and
comes to us from Blackstone CC where he was an assistant for the past 2 years.
Jason and his wife have 3 children and are expecting another addition to their
family this September. Please welcome Jason to the PPCC family when you see him
on the course.
Enjoy the remainder of your summer and we look forward to
seeing you at the Club soon!
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