Cart Traffic

This week you may have noticed our grounds staff core aerating areas in the rough that have been worn down by heavy cart traffic. Cart traffic can cause serious damage to all playing surfaces if not properly dispersed. With that said, the damage can also be easily avoided by paying closer attention to where we all drive and park our carts. For example #18 fairway had to be roped off because it was being used as a way to travel from the pro shop to the practice area. As a result the fairway received heavy amounts of unnecessary stress directly in the landing zone. This has led to us having to water this area almost 3 times as much as we normally would have. Obviously this leads to undesirable softer playing surfaces and overall unhealthy turfgrass plants. We've also witnessed
our ropes being taken out by caddies, cut with knifes, and stepped on so carts can travel directly on the stressed turf. This is obviously discouraging and counterproductive to what we're trying to accomplish. Regardless, we hope this blog post leads to better understanding of why we use rope and traffic markers. Which reminds me, please pay close attention to the red and green traffic markers at the end of each fairway. As you would guess the green marker is where you should exit the fairway. Also know that we are very encouraged with the overall health of the playing surfaces. Though this may seem like a small issue after enduring the tough conditions of the last few years, every little detail matters when trying to restore a historic golf course to proper health.  

Bacterial Wilt

In the past several weeks we've encountered some irregular patches of stressed turf on our putting surfaces. We first discovered this problem on number 3 green shortly after the winter green's covers were removed. Since that time we've seen the problem spread to several other greens, most noticeably number 14. As many of you know we then made the decision to close number 14 green until the turf had the proper time to recover. During this time we closely monitored the affected putting surfaces and several samples were sent out to turfgrass diagnostic labs. Basically, we did everything in our power to properly diagnose the affected turfgrass plants. We already knew that whatever was causing the turf to decline was only happening to a certain species of turfgrass, poa annua. Therefore, we focused on issues that normally affect poa annua including- winter kill, wind dessication, drought stress, pink snow mold, and many other fungal pathogens. We knew that there was a very small chance that our greens had been affected by a fungal pathogen because we haven't had the necessary weather conditions. Then after many hours of research and phone calls to turfgrass scientist, we discovered that the problem was actually a disease called bacterial wilt. Bacterial wilt is the only known bacterial disease of turfgrasses in the United States. The disease was originally discovered on Toronto creeping bentgrass by Dr. Joe Vargas at Michigan State University in the early 70's. Dr. Vargas then discovered the same disease on poa annua putting greens in the late 80's. Since that time no known chemical or culture practice has been found to be effective in controlling bacterial wilt. To explain that point further we included a paragraph from msuturfdiseases.net:

"Culturally, there is little that can be done to manage this disease. Mowing can be implemented in the afternoon, once the turf has dried to discourage the spread of the bacterium on wet turfgrass. Mowers should be dedicated for use only on affected greens and should be disinfested with bleach after use. Mowing height should be increased and mowing frequency decreased. Abrasive cultural practices, such as vertical cutting, topdressing and aeration, should be avoided when the disease is active. Greens chronically affected by bacterial wilt should be reestablished with resistant cultivars. All of the seeded cultivars of creeping bentgrass have so far been resistant to bacterial wilt caused by X. translucens". 

 We also included a paragraph on possible chemical controls from an expert plant pathologist, Dr. Nathaniel Mitkowski:

 "If bacterial wilt is already present, there is no easy solution. When we deal with fungal diseases, there is no end to the "quick-fixes". Fungicides are in abundant supply and they are extremely effective. There are no "quick-fixes" for bacterial wilt. The chemicals we do have only slow disease spread but do not eliminate it".

With that said, bacterial wilt is obviously a very serious problem that cannot be remedied overnight. We've been fortunate in that the weather has cooperated in the last few weeks so that nearly all affected areas had a chance to recover. Number 14 is still not fully recovered but it's come a long way in the past week or so. Regardless, as we continue to push for faster green speeds there's no question that the disease will eventually resurface. As the only way to completely solve this problem is to re-grass our greens with resistant bent grass cultivars. This has already been done on number 8 green and as you can see the green has remained in nearly perfect condition throughout the Spring.

For more information please read the attached article- www.turf.uconn.edu/pdf/research/factsheets/Disease_Bacterial_Wilt.pdf

Thank you for your time and please feel free to contact us at anytime.

Drill and Fill

On Monday, April 29th we will start our spring greens aerification with a process known as drill and fill. Drill and fill consist of several 8 inch drill bits that literally drill into our putting greens root-zone. Once the drill bit removes 8 inches of organic material, the hole is completely filled with sand. We do this for several reasons, all of which are critical factors in maintaining high quality putting surfaces. The first and possibly most important reason is to drastically reduce soil compaction. Soil compaction occurs on heavy clay native soil putting greens like we have here at Midlothian.

The Great Flood

Here at Midlothian CC we received around 4.5 to 5 inches of rainfall between Wednesday night and Friday morning. To compare this rainfall to April of 2012, the whole month last year only saw 2.72 inches of precipitation. We received that much on Thursday alone! As you can imagine, that much precipitation leads to some soggy conditions on the course. This large amount of rain will give us wet playing conditions for a few days to come. The drainage on the course is backed up and not going anywhere very soon. There are pools of standing water on several fairways as well as many areas of the rough. Even the gravel path by the practice green has been washed into the rough. Turf all over the course is going to grow quickly with the rainfall causing everything to play a little slower than usual. It may take through the weekend to get caught up mowing everything but we will be back on track soon. The greens are dry in comparison due to their higher elevation and should firm up much faster than the rest of the course. With some wind and a few dry sunny days we should be back to normal.

Hole #3 closed

Some unusual discoloration on #3 green has been discovered, and as a precautionary all traffic should cease on #3 green for the time being.  We are currently diagnosing the problem and think it is in the best interest of the golf course to be cautious this early in the season.  The short game par 3 will be used in place of the third hole, thank you for your patience and understanding.  

Winter Tree Removal

Emerald Ash Borer Larva

Tree removal is a necessary practice for nearly all golf course grounds departments. The reason for this is because trees are living organisms that constantly change depending on age, climate, nutrient availability, soil compaction, accidental wounds, and insect damage. For example, one major issue we encounter in the Midwest is life threatening insect damage on ash trees. This is caused by an insect known as the Emerald Ash Borer, an invasive species that only feeds on ash trees. Since its accidental introduction into the United States and Canada in the 1990s, and its subsequent detection in 2002, it has spread to 14 states and adjacent parts of Canada. The Emerald Ash Borer has killed at least 50 to 100 million ash trees so far and threatens to kill most of the 7.5 billion ash trees throughout North America.