Making the Turn

The weather has turned again and Saturday has given us plenty of sunshine. On Sunday, November 1st, the Nordic Season officially begins. The golf course is currently closed but will re-open for the Coal Bucket as long as the snow recedes. If or when the golf course opens at the most holes 1,2,8-12, 16-18. The driving range is closed for the season.

We'll let you know when the coal bucket will be as soon as a date is announced.

Coal Bucket?

So with the threat of a large snowfall on the horizon the only ones excited about activity at Vail Golf Club are the Nordic skiers. So far as of days end on Wednesday, about 2 inches fell followed by high winds and a little bit of sunshine but very cold. Not very good conditions for golf or skiing.

Fall Practices

On Monday I was asked through a comment on this site about the cultural practices that we can do on the golf course to provide quicker spring green up. Though there are many ways to prepare the golf course for the winter and spring, this climate mostly depends on Mother Nature. After four winters on this course, it is rare to find an area that comes through consistently year after year. Spring green up mostly relates to soil temperatures and how quickly they can rise, however there are a number of ways we can promote healthier turf when those temperatures do rise.

Much like our own bodies, stress relief is one of the best ways to prepare a golf course for the winter. In other words, we want to pump up each plant and make it as healthy as possible to survive the stresses of winter. The plant has slowed down in growth significantly and is beginning to go into dormancy. This is the period where plants do not respond to much, mainly because soil temperatures are too low and there is not as much sunlight for photosynthesis.

You will notice many areas of the course where the turf is longer than normally maintained. This practice allows as much plant tissue intact to store carbohydrates through the winter. A fall fertilizer such as Ammonium Sulfate is a cheap an easy way to accumulate carbohydrates to ease the stress of winter. Due to this fertilizer's high salt index and burn potential it is critical to apply when soil temperatures are below 40 degrees and the plant has slowed in growth.

Aerification and topdressing also help with winter preparation. Open aerification holes help with drainage and help reduce ice damage. The melting snow helps sand topdressing get into the soil profile and protect the crown of the plant. Leaf clean up is important to prevent molds from forming through the wintertime.

One of the most critical areas we pay attention to and spend significant dollars with are fungicide applications. With prolonged snow cover, snowmold can be a severe disease to golf courses in the north and can do a lot of damage. Snow mold is a soil borne pathogen that can attack the leaf blades of turfgrass plants and many times can be fatal. The control for this disease can significantly make or break a golf season in the mountains.

The proper application can leave the plant "untouched" through the winter and allow us to pick up where we left off. If chemical applications are not done correctly, we are then forced to play "catch-up" with seeding, sodding, applying more fertilizer, using more water and even using more herbicides as weeds begin to creep into areas that turfgrass once was.

Other practices we do prior to winter is keep carts on paths by the middle of October, use "winter cups" (having multiple cups set on a green to vary pin locations to relieve stress), rope off greens to prevent skiers and use reflectors to scare away elk which has been an increasing problem in the winter here in Vail.

Topdressing Fairways

Thursday, we began topdressing fairways. This is a once a year program that we do to incorporate sand into the soil profile. The benefits include smoothing out any small depressions, filling in divots, dissolving the thatch layer, reducing compaction and improving root health.
Fairways 9,10 and 18 were done yesterday.

Planting Trees

Last week we had over 20, 4th and 5th graders from Red Sandstone Elementary School come to the golf course to plant trees. Thanks to Bill Carlson with the Town of Vail for partnering with the golf course to plant 36 new trees around the golf course.

Each student was able to plant their very own 12 inch Blue Spruce tree at various locations around the golf course. They learned how to prep the soil and plant the tree correctly for optimum growth and survival. There was a lot of teamwork going on and they all left the course with dirty hands.

Vail GCM staff members Stephanie Bibbens, Justin Miller, Dustin Wester and Chris Devine were on hand to help the students with the planting process.

In the spring we will install a drip line irrigation line to each tree so that they can continue to thrive on the property.

Vail Golf Club has planted 78 new trees in 2009 including Aspen, White Fir and Colorado Blue Spruce.

Other Changes

Does anyone want to guess where this picture was taken at Vail Golf Club?

Just a few more minor changes going on out here.

Building new tees

We are underway to construct a few new tees on the golf course and make some revisions to another. Pictured here is the beginning of a new "yellow" and a new "green" tee box on the 4th hole.

The first step is removing the old sod and putting it aside to re-use in the future. The second picture shows the location and the view from the green tee.

The second step is to lightly till the area to break up any other turf and root structure to provide a better profile for the new tee box. We are currently bringing in new soil to build up the level of the two tee boxes.

While the soil is brought to the location we will begin doing a rough shape to the tee box.

Once the rough build is done, sand is brought in and tilled into the profile for a better medium for turf health, much like what was done on #3 tees this spring. We will have Landscapes Unlimited come in and level out the areas and prep for sod. The edges of the tee box will be sodded with the previously cut sod. In the spring, short cut bluegrass sod will be planted for the tee surface.

The tee surfaces will end up being approximately 25 feet by 25 feet, plenty of room for teeing grounds. In a nutshell, they will be a tad smaller than the new forward tee on #3. The distance for the green tee will be 285 yards and the yellow will be 310 yards.

We also plan to re-build and widen the green tee on #8 and widen and level the blue tee on #9.

Hopefully the weather will cooperate with us to get these done.

In the spring, the Colorado Golf Association will re-rate the golf course with the recent changes.

Postponed for a day

With about 2 inches of snow that covered the golf course, we were forced to push aerification off for one more day. By day's end most of the snow melted off, however it began to snow again once I left the course. 

Weather Permitting

Monday Vail Golf Club is scheduled to close for greens aerification. However, the weather is threatening that schedule right now. Stay tuned to this site to find out the progress of aerification. We are also scheduled to have nine holes open for play Tuesday and Wednesday. Any type of moisture will delay this schedule. It is critical that we accomplish aerification properly as soon as possible to get the turf plants as healthy as possible going into the wintertime.