75 Days Left of Summer

The Summer of 2017 started off with an intense heatwave here at Granite Bay. The six days between June 28th and July 2nd we averaged 106 degrees for a high. This is the type of heat that will leave a mark on the cool season turf that comprises most of the playing surfaces here at Granite Bay. We did experience a reprieve as the heatwave was thankfully followed by some much kinder weather ushered in by the beloved delta breezes, but the intense heat did leave behind some isolated damage and we have another similar heatwave predicted for this week. Below are a series of pictures that chronicle some of the issues the golf course is currently dealing with along with what the golf course maintenance department is doing to mitigate the damage.

From afar the golf course looks good, has many areas of dense turf and really good color.

However up close in some areas you can see typical heat related issues. Above picture depicts a disease called Southern Blight that we treat proactively for. Obviously our proactive treatments were not enough for this specific patch of Fairway turf on #16.

The heat also plays havoc with cart paths in some areas. Cart path buckling here is caused by soil expansion underneath. The above picture depicts the area directly after the forward tees on #5. There is another raised area on #9. The soil on #5, #8, #9 is somewhat different then the rest of the course in that it has a higher clay content then decomposed granite. The three paths on these three holes are the only paths we have experienced this type of heat related lifting. We will repair by using a concrete saw and remove a 3" section of concrete creating an expansion joint. 

Putting surfaces took a hit from the intense heat as well and are now starting to exhibit the stress from root loss particularly the poa annua patches. The past few summers we have not experienced the type of heatwave we experienced the beginning of July and the poa on our greens fared pretty well. But as I said, 106 average highs temps for 6 days will leave a mark. Above Miguel is hand spiking and seeding weak areas with bentgrass seed on the practice green. In fact we closed the practice green on Friday 7/7/17 as much of the high side of it is thinning. Tilleys practice green is still open.

#7 green has thinned out at the back of the green as well. All of the greens have been spiked to improve air exchange in the root zone and this one has received additional spiking  and seeding as well as placing GUR ropes around the weakest area at the back.

Additionally we have put out the portable fan to help with surface air movement on this troublesome green and have tree trimmers scheduled to thin the Live Oaks behind the green creating more air movement. The past few summers #7 has been pretty good and we thought we might have turned the corner with it. However the heatwave we experienced has highlighted our vulnerabilities and proved there is more work to do. 

The #3 green is at least for now proving to be a success story. Tree thinning allowing for substantially more air movement in the area has really paid dividends on this chronically bad green in the summer months. However if you look really close even in this picture you can see a yellowing of the poa annua patches which is all related to root loss and heat stress.

#3 fan up and running during the summer months contributing to the greens success story.

Many tee boxes on the course were the first visual casualties of the heatwave. The perfect storm of intense heat and traffic took it toll on several tee levels. Picture above depicts the granite level on #1 at the conclusion of the heatwave. 

GCM re-surfacing. We also took the opportunity to expand this level and have plans to expand the level below in the hopefully near future. 

#1 granite level growing in. Hopefully it will be ready for some use in a few weeks.

The granite and club levels on #5 took a hit from the heatwave as well. The hole will play short for you granite and club players while we re-surface.

These tee boxes needed to be leveled and expanded as well. We will finish the expanding and leveling process next week and install the sod.

Your GCM staff will continue the good fight and battle to mitigate further setbacks as we not only deal with issues from the early July heatwave but future heat that the next 75 days of  summer (as of 7/8/17) is bound to bring. Summers are hard on turfgrass in the west and particularly hard on cool season golf course turf.  We cant control the weather but we can manage the irrigation, prevent disease and insect damage as much as we can, re sod areas when able and live with some damage when we have to. 

It's Only 75 Days !

Summer 2013

Golf courses such as Granite Bay with predominately cool season turf inevitably will have issues in the summer months. Not all summers are the same and 2013 will go down as a warm one to be sure. Thankfully the delta breezes have surrounded the heatwaves and kept things bearable. However starting Saturday 6/29 we experienced 7 days over 102 degrees and from Monday 7/2 we never recorded highs below 105 degrees with low temperatures in the 70's.

                                                  date         low             high

                                                 6/29   73.00 102.54

                                                 7/1     72.72 104.00

                                                 7/2     70.65 105.40

                                                 7/3     77.16 105.48

                                                 7/4     71.42 106.30

                                                 7/5     74.71 106.07

                                                 7/6     69.85 107.10

Number 3 Green

Unfortunately this heatwave in late June and early July took it toll on our precarious #3 green. If I knew the absolute cause of this greens seasonal troubles and hence the remedy to fix it once and for all I would have recommended the solution and we would have done it. I can tell you what we know resulting from soil testing both physical and chemical along with pathology (disease) testing along with all of the options we are looking at moving forward to solve this greens chronic summer decline.

Pathology Testing

The heat heat of course was the impetus for decline but why always this green? It has been a indicator green for disease in the past but I did not suspect disease based on the knowledge of the disease prevention we had in place prior to the heatwave on all of the greens. That being said after the greens decline we sent a pathology sample to a lab to either confirm or rule out a disease infection. pathology report did come back positive for a disease called Take All Patch. We naturally treated for the disease because of the positive diagnosis however this disease is normally associated with new bentgrass greens in cooler weather with a high soil Ph none of which was the case for our #3 green.

Pictures from the lab that are kinda cool to look at if you are a plant pathologist.

Chemical Soil Testing

We do annual soil testing to determine where we are at with soil chemistry. In conjunction with the pathology testing we  did after our issues on #3  we opted to do some more extensive soil testing on not only #3 but #14 and #7 which also incurred some stress during the heatwave. This testing included site specific saturated paste testing which reports what elements are available in the soil to the plants at that time. The saturated paste test indicated, that despite having adequate calcium in the soil determined by standard soil testing, the available calcium in solution is currently low. 

Physical Soil Testing

We did physical soil testing on #3 green last year which test for things like infiltration rates, air and water porosity (pore spaces) along with organic matter content. This testing was done down to the gravel layer above the drainage system of the green. Testing showed substantial progress in the organic matter reduction in the top 3" of the green. The middle section of the green tested good for infiltration  but the very bottom layer of  green next to the gravel layer infiltration rate is slow. 

Irrigation Water Testing

Our situation with water here at Granite Bay is enviable. It cost's us allot less then many courses in our geographical area and substantially less then course nation wide. Our water originates as snow melt from the Sierras and is void of many of the salts and minerals that are present in much of the ground water in the Sacramento region. Its problem is that it is too clean which believe it or not prevents it from infiltrating as well as water that has some sodium or calcium in it.

".....Green #3’s 2nd tier infiltration rate at 42.69 in./hr. and air porosity of 27.85 percent

shows the potential of the underlying root zone mix; unfortunately the 3rd tier infiltration rate at

only 6.92 in./hr. despite a similar OM content & particle distribution highlights the impact of the

ultra pure irrigation water. Treatment of the water and/or soil amendments that emphasize the

replenishment of calcium, bicarbonates, carbonates, salts, etc. will continue to play a key role in

managing the impact of the water." (ISTRC system report GBGC 10/10/12)

We have injected various compounds into the irrigation system keeping our water condition in mind with varying successes. Injecting fertility compounds into the irrigation water have helped supply nutrients to the turf and helped the irrigation water penetrate better but side effects such as the staining of non-turf surfaces and excessive growth has caused us to look at other options such as injecting gypsum as a calcium source

Observations and Conclusions

The location of #3 green is unique to others at Granite Bay. Air movement is limited in the area particularly during high pressure weather systems. This is something that is shared to a lesser extent with #7 and #14. 

The third green easily drys out and  easily gets wet. And when it gets wet it stays wet. Probably a combination of its capacity to drain and limited air movement. During the heat wave it started showing drought stress on the slope in the middle of the green which we of course remedied by watering. The green then got wet, it got really hot, we reacted to the high canopy temperatures by slightly cooling down the green with light applications of water which even though they were light, added to soil moisture and we are right back to where we land most summers with this green.

So what do we do from here?

• Continue aggressive core aeration in the spring and the fall.
• Start applying more calcium in  many different forms and methods. Foliar applications, granular applications at aeration and during rain events in the winter to drive the calcium down deep into the soil profile along with injecting calcium into the irrigation water. Further balancing of the soil on this green will help with water management moving forward
• Continue fine tuning water management. The fine line between too wet and too dry is difficult on this property in general and critical on this green. 
• Possibly install a high velocity greens fan near the green that will alter the environment during the hot still periods of summer along with helping with drying the surface out. Fortunately we are close to power and have installation locations that can be hidden nicely.
• Get some drill aeration done in addition to and conjunction with on this and some of our troubled greens.This process drills deeply into the green with little to no disruption helping drainage deep into the subsurface of the green.

• Do some tree trimming around #3 along with continued trimming around #7 & #14  increasing more morning sunlight on the surfaces which is the most important light a putting surface can have. The walk-on portion of the #3 green is in shade until 10:30 AM at this time of the year. Temperatures can be approaching 90 degrees by then beyond the optimum temperature for putting surface to make food for itself through the photosynthetic process. 
• Potentially re-build the green. There are allot if issues involved with re-building. Consistency, timing, member inconvenience during the process just to name a few. My greatest concern is not solving the reasons why #3 struggles so consistently during the summer, re-building and have the same thing happen. Doug Miller, director of Golf Course Maintenance for ClubCorp is paying a visit later this month and will be looking at the situation to help us weigh all of our options.

For those of us who take care of Granite Bay this is a very difficult thing to keep going through. We want more then anything to provide the playing conditions our Members want and deserve. We feel progress has been made but overshadowed by the issues on these greens to some extent or another every summer. 

The Dog Days of Summer 2012

"The Summer Demands and Takes Away too Much."

John Ashbery

The  Ancient Romans who associated the Dog Days of Summer  with the rise of the "Sirius" or the "Dog Star". According  to Wikipedia they even sacrificed a brown dog in an attempt to appease the rage of Sirius believing the star was the cause of the hot, sultry weather. Although my research has led to differing dates of the "Dog Days", I consider them right now, the next 50 days between the beginning of August till the Fall equinox in mid to late September. 

These are the days  that the cool season turf at Granite Bay  can start to fade and thin in areas. The time in which certain opportunistic weeds start to emerge and take hold and disease pathogen's thrive. The time in which the bentgrass in our fairways start to get soft and the hybrid bermuda on our tees thrive. In short,  the Dog Days always have been, and always will be the most stressful period for this golf course requiring an all hands on deck approach to get us through with a minimum of casualties.

Irrigation Management Improvements 

Granite Bay GC weather station.
Our own weather station which collects hourly / daily
high / low temperature readings, humidity, wind speed and
solar radiation (Langley's)

Thankfully so far the summer season of 2012 has been fairly mild. We have had three periods of triple digit temperatures through July but they have been followed by cooler weather ushered in by the delta breeze and most importantly low evening temperatures. This type of weather certainly makes the battle easier, but we still have cool season turf  that would prefer maximum temperatures in the 80's growing in heavy decomposed granite soils. We still have to irrigate nightly and although we have great water quality to irrigate with, it still does not readily move through the heavy native soils. This requires an intense micromanagement of the irrigation system that I believe our GCM staff has gotten much better at and with future infrastructure improvements can improve even more.

Granite Bay of course has an automatic irrigation system which has a central computer that assimilates  weather data provided by our weather station and in turn calculates a  irrigation replacement quantity based on what is known as an evapotranspiration rate. This central computer has a software program called Cirrus which has a myriad of ways to apply this calculated ET rate to the site specific areas of the course. But it is not as simple as turning on a switch and letting the computer take care of everything. On a golf course there are  different types of playing surfaces, different species of turf and different sub and micro climates. Examples are shady area's  versus a south facing  hot bank's or hillside's. Topographical differences of a mound versus a low lying area of a fairway along with  different native soil types on one property and the modified soil types (sand blends) of the greens and tees are examples as well. All of these micro climates have different irrigation requirements that have to be taken into consideration. Sometimes the same irrigation heads or stations cover adjacent conflicting areas that have distinctly different irrigation requirements. All of this necessitates an intense micromanagement of the irrigation system. 

Screen shot of  "program detail" from our  Rainbird
Cirrus Central irrigation Computer located in the GCM offices.
This central computer is the brains of the irrigation
system and is where all run times are calculated,
adjusted and started.

Therefore one of the best management practices we have developed for Granite Bay, and are continuing to fine tune are daily individual station adjustments to the  automatic irrigation stations and heads throughout the golf course. Through the Cirrus software in the irrigation computer we can manipulate percentages of ET up or down based on conditions on the ground of individual stations and heads. In extreme situations where an area has become over wet or dry we can temporarily adjust the station up or down or off for a specified amount of time again based on these conditions. Stations are grouped in the software by golf course nomenclature such as greens, tees, fairways and rough and are put in programs that can be adjusted by area type and hole as well. The first line of micromanagement of the system is making these adjustments on a daily basis based on that days conditions. 

Jogi making daily irrigation adjustments to individual
stations and sprinkler heads via an IPad

IPad connects to the central Ranibird computer
wirelessly allowing for efficient, real time changes
 on the course exactly where we need them. 

We typically maintain program averages within Cirrus below our the ET rate that is calculated by the weather station. At Granite Bay we have found that  maintaining these percentages at the calculated ET rate results in undesirably wet conditions. Running programs below the adjusted ET rate necessitates the second line of irrigation of micromanagement, hand-watering. We have made a tremendous amount of infrastructure improvements to the irrigation system the past few years improving irrigation coverage and have more planed in the future. All of these changes have improved conditions throughout the course and have taken the strain off of our hand-watering regimen. That being said there will never be a substitute for a man on a hose. Irrigation systems at best can be 60 to 70 % efficient as compared to rain and if we purposely water below adjusted ET rates to avoid overly wet conditions at Granite Bay we must supplement with guys on hoses putting water exactly where it is needed.

Hand watering is the backbone of  micromanagement
of the irrigation system. There is no substitute for a
guy on a hose

Screen shot of our weather / irrigation tracking
which showing 2012 YTD water usage below the
adjusted ET rate. In the past when this line has been
closer or even over the ET rate the course has
been too wet.

Watering Putting Surfaces based on Volumetric Water Content

Another industry wide best management practice is the use of moisture sensors to determine volumetric water content or VWC and irrigating based on this data. The use of property wide VMC as a substitution to ET based program's could change the way we look at irrigating golf course turf but are still aways off from perfection.  However the use of hand held meters checking the VWC of putting surfaces has been noted as a best management practice by the USGA Green Section for some time. We have been using a Spectrum Technologies Field Scout TDR 300 soil moisture meter diligently for the past couple of months and are starting to experience good results from it's use. We check the putting surfaces in the morning and record VWC averages and note highs and lows and hand water and adjust individual heads according to the data we collect. Additional readings are taken in the afternoon giving us further data to work with. We started using the meter in reaction to inconsistencies and a nagging pythium root rot issue. Even though the daily use of the meter has added to our maintenance program, I believe that the data collection and adjustments based on  this VWC data will be a big help with surface consistency and health moving forward.

Gama checking and recording VWC data.
This has become a every morning task.

Spectrum Technologies Field Scout TDR 300
soil moisture meter.

Granite Bay's Irrigation Future

We have many plans for the future having to do with the irrigation system. We hope to finish all of the irrigation coverage issues this coming winter. When Mitch works his magic with corporate and gets the capitol funding we submitted released early,  we will be off to the races this winter and will get this work completed before we start irrigating in 2013. As I have stated many times before, without exception every place we have completed this irrigation enhancement work has resulted is superior turf and a much reduced need for labor intensive hand watering. Secondly we have some irrigation as-built mapping to take care of that will give us the kind of information we need for further 2014 irrigation enhancements which will give us single head coverage enhancing even further our ability to micromanage. More on this to come.

Given the importance of irrigation here at Granite Bay all of these type of improvements will help us micro-manage the irrigation system creating better conditions in the future Dog Days of Summer. And the one thing we can count on every year is that the Big Dog will be back.

"I purpose to fight it out on this line if it takes all Summer."

Ulysses Simpson Grant 1869

Putting Surface Disease Activity

In mid February we started to notice some small areas on some of the putting surfaces here at Granite Bay that were thinning out and reminiscent of disease activity. Some diseases that effect golf course turf are relatively easy to identify and others not so easy. Thankfully we have many tools at our disposal to deal with the uncertainties that nature throws at us on occasion. One of those indispensable tools are diagnostic labs that provide positive diagnosis of  disease and root zone conditions. 

Sample sent to Dr. Phil Colbaugh from Texas A&M.
Proceeding pictures were provided by Dr. Colbaugh
in his diagnosis of Pythium Root Rot here at GB.

Our first suspicion was that the turf on the greens were a little hungry and needed some fertilizer. Typically we don't want to encourage unnecessary growth at any time of the year particularly in the winter as this has a direct certain disease susceptibility's,  further excessive organic matter development and most importantly putting quality. That being said we knew we were a little on the "lean" side so applied an application of fertility hoping it would cure the symptom's we were observing. To be on the safe side before making this fertilizer application we took a sample of  a suspicious area on a green to send to a lab for diagnostic analysis.

A magnified root showing Pythium spores embeded in the
actual root.

It is a good thing that we did because the sample came back with a positive diagnosis for Pythium Root Rot, a pathogen that starts it's infection in roots and infects other roots below the surface. Root diseases are a lot different then foliar diseases in that by the time you see symptoms the damage is already done because roots have been effected and no regeneration or re-growth is possible from those effected plants. 

These washed roots actually represent a follow-up sample
to make sure we have control of this stubborn disease.

The strategy after a positive diagnosis is to stop the disease pathogen from its continued spread and then do the cultural things required for regeneration. Stopping a root disease is somewhat tricky as fungicide applications have to be applied in high volumes of water to reach the root zone where the disease activity is active. Our applications after receiving a positive diagnosis on Monday 2/20/12 were made on Tuesday 2/21/12 and the following Monday 2/27/12 when we were closed.

At this time in early March we have control of the disease and are starting to see recovery. Recovery strategies include a slight increase in the height of cut on our greens mowers, stepped up fertility regimen, increased spiking to allow air exchange and now that we have achieved control we will add seed to the effected areas on our greens particularly on #1, #5 & #6. Although we have not decreased our greens rolling frequency, putting surface speed have decreased as a result of the above mentioned practices. 

Follow up root magnification showing Pythium
currently under control.

Core aeration is scheduled for the first week in April so we are currently  four weeks away. With the current weather patterns and our recovery strategy we could very well see complete recovery before aeration. The aggressive aeration program we initiated last year has paid off as these surfaces are not nearly as soft under foot as they were previously. However we still have a highly organic layer in our top 2" which definitely contributes to their susceptibility to these types of diseases. Bottom line is we need to continue our aggressive appraoch when it comes to core aeration which will go along way in creating healthy conditions that are not as susceptible to these type diseases and perform in the fast and firm manner which we all desire.

Southern Blight Update

The Southern Blight infestation that we experienced primarily around green surrounds in July could have been much worse. However the below normal summertime temperature's in both mid July and August helped stop the disease threat, and actually allowed us to germinate cool season ryegrass seed which is normally a difficult thing to do in the summer.

As I explained in an earlier update, we treat around the greens preventively for this disease but conditions became favorable even with the protection. The weather change and another curative treatment allowed us to get the pathogen under control and the unseasonable weather facilitated recovery sooner rather then later.

However some of the areas were close to greens and with the associated traffic along with the importance of the area we decided to re-sod the area. The areas we addressed with sod were #7, #10, and #17 greens. We still have a patch to do at the right bunker on #4 and we will address that next week.

Southern Blight area behind #2 green early July

Recovery of the same area mid August

The Return of Southern Blight

I am of course stating the obvious that the summer season is a taxing one on the turf here at Granite Bay. Any golf course with primarily cool season grasses will inevitably have some issues July and August. Granite Bay is no exception. Of course our main issue through July so far has been putting surface decline and the resulting performance or putting inconsistencies as we reacted to the decline. When the greens “go south” every other issue seems to magnify. One of those issues that we are battling is a pretty decent outbreak of a disease called Southern Blight (sclerotium rolfsii).

Southern Blight infestations have been steadily increasing here at Granite Bay for the past six to seven years. We typically see the disease in higher mowed turf or “rough” around greens, tees and fairways. It is a nasty looking disease pattern which has really taken a toll this season at the same time, to add insult to injury, the putting surfaces were in decline.

We treat areas that have a history of the disease preventively but we had a stretch of perfect conditions which facilitated infection in new areas. We treated again once new infection became evident and the disease spread has stopped.

Southern blight has small fruiting bodies that over winter in the thatch and explodes when environmental conditions become right. I think I have mentioned that thatch is not only an issue in our putting surfaces but also it is an issue through out the turf here at Granite Bay. There is no guarantee that going aggressively after the thatch in rough and green surrounds would eliminate the threat or infection of Summer Patch. It does however make sense that by removing the excessive organic matter that the pathogen over winters in and creating a healthier environment for the plant, that disease pressure would be mitigated. Bottom line is excessive thatch is the common to most of the problems we have with our turf here at Granite Bay and we must get more aggressive at removing and controlling it.

"Sclerotina" or fruiting bodies of Southern Blight in the thatch layer

Souther Blight behind #2 green