First snow of the season

Successful Day of aerating

Today we aerated all 20 greens.  I think that is a first in the five years I’ve been here.  Everyone on the staff really worked hard to accomplish it and Mother Nature helped out too.  Hopefully she is kind to us again tomorrow so that we can finish topdressing the last 11 holes.   The aeration process is a necessary evil for a green.  We start with a deep tine aerator which has a solid tine and goes up to 10 inches into the soil.  It fractures and loosens the soil deep in the profile.  Then we pull cores which helps to further reduce compaction, release gases from the soil, allow oxygen to reach the roots, and break up soil layering.  After the plugs are removed we top dress with a heavy layer of sand.  Some of the sand that you see on the green will work it’s way into the holes, the rest will settle into the turf canopy protecting the crown of the plant during the winter months.  As detrimental as this process seems it is very important to the health of the green throughout the growing months.

Looks like another beautiful weekend at the Vail Golf Club.  Fairway aerification was a success.  Everything went smooth and they came out great. The Course will be closed on Monday for deep tine and core aerification.  We hope to have the front nine open on Tuesday and all 18 opened by Wednesday morning.  Once the greens are finished we will aerify tees which will have little to no impact on play.  The driving range will remain open during any course closures. 

Fall Aerification

Monday we started the fall aerification process. Aerification has many benefits for the turf. It lessens compaction, allows air and water to penetrate into the soil profile and helps thatch to break down. All of this is very important to the health of the turf and help to provide great playing conditions year after year. We start with fairways during the last two weeks of September. The first week of October we hope to get greens and tees completed. Aerification is a weather dependent practice that we are not able to accomplish when it rains, or dare I say the ‘s’ word, snows. This week looks good and has started out a very productive week. By the weeks end we should have 1,9 and the back 9 fairways completed. The schedule for the rest of the season is shown below. On October 3rd we will be closing the course to deep tine and core aerify all greens. The back 9 will remain closed to finish the aerification process. During course closures the driving range will remain open.

Tuesday – Fairways 10, 17, 18

Wednesday – Fairways 12 & 16

Thursday – Fairways 13 & 14

Friday – Fairway 11

Monday 26th – Fairways 2, 7, 8

Tuesday 27th – Fairways 4 & 5

Wednesday 28th – Fairway 6

29th and 30th – These two days will be used to make up any rain day cancellations we may have.

Intern's View

As an intern you are pulled in many directions. Finding your niche can be difficult. At the Vail Golf Club I was given the opportunity to be in charge for the week. I must say, it was an unbelievable experience. As well as a humbling experience.


With the club championship two days away the weather decided that it did not want to cooperate. Almost an inch of rain fell in the day leading up to the championship, including the first day of the tournament. To watch the crew work in pouring rain for hours was inspiring. They came together as a team and I there leader for that brief time. It is an experience i'll never forget. "Attitude reflects leadership", and for that short time I was the captain of the team. I am proud to say the course was in fantastic condition. Not only for the club championship, but also for the 18 hole shotgun the Friday of that week. I am thankful that the crew respected and worked extremely hard for me. I am greatful for the opportunity that was allotted to me. Hopefully one day I can do the same for my intern.

Mike Martic

Steve's last day

Today is Steve’s last day as superintendent at the Vail Golf Club. He has helped the golf course accomplish a lot during the last six years. There have been many improvement projects completed including the installation of a new irrigation system, new bridges and the rebuild of #3 and #7 tee. He has also helped raise the standard of expectations. The staff and I would like to wish him all the best in his new venture at Pinehurst Country Club in Denver.


From all of us thank you, farewell and good luck.

On Friday we spiked most of our greens and finished the remaining on Saturday morning. The picture shows the piece of equipment that we use. It has two spiked rollers and is weighted by water to help the spikes penetrate two to three inches into the soil. In the fall when we get into a wet weather cycle it's easy for the soil to become anaerobic and the health of the turf can decline rapidly. Slicing greens is an important practice that helps to relieve compaction and open up the soil to allow oxygen in. Another benefit that occurs from slicing is stimulated root and shoot growth. Slicing is a good alternative to aerification since it is less disruptive and allows the greens to smooth out more quickly.

Leading The Pack

Yesterday was officially the beginning of the end. The most important part of maintaining this golf course is properly preparing it for the long winter's nap. Vail Golf Club will be one of the first golf courses in the country to arrive at winter, so here is what we are doing.
We applied our greens and approaches with Iprodione and Cholorthalonil fungicides to prepare for the winter stress. They are both contact fungicides which will assist keeping the plant clean as we approach periods of moisture in the fall. Over time, we have seen the best results with early applications.
Our second application in approximately 30 days, will consist of  a systemic and contact fungicide. The systemic brand will help protect the plant from the inside before the plant shuts down for the winter. After aerification, about the middle of October, a final application will be made per usual for greens and approaches to prepare for the long winter.
Different products will be used on the fairways and tees. Those applications will come in October.

Golf For Rivers

Monday, September 26, the Eagle River Watershed Council will be hosting their first ever benefit golf tournament. Join us for a great day at Adam's Mountain Country Club in Eagle for an 11am shotgun start. The Cocktails as well as fishing and golf contests follow the round. Many prizes will be given out to participants as well as a hole in one contest for a chance at $10,000.
The cost for the event is $275 per person or $1100 per foursome. The day promises to be a fun event at one of Colorado's top private facilities.
To sign up call 970-827-5406 or click here to sign up online.

The Eagle River Watershed Council advocates for the health and conservation of the Upper Colorado and Eagle River basins through research, education, and projects. We provide a forum where everyone can gain a greater understanding of the Eagle River environment. Said another way, our mission is "Preserving our quality of life by protecting the Eagle and Colorado Rivers in Eagle County."

Golf Course Industry : The cold facts about snow mold

It is always hard to think of the winter for any golfer or superintendent in August, but in the mountains you always have to be prepared. I came across this article the other day and we believe that there is a lot of truth to what they find in this article. This might be more of an article for turf managers, but highly important for golfers to understand.
Click here for Golf Course Industry article.

US Pro Cycling - Vail Time Trial

Not every day do you have the best cyclists in the world racing by your golf course. Vail certainly embraced the time trials yesterday and proved to be an excellent host. This stage was a 10 mile individual race up hill. The winner finished just under 26 minutes. Here are a couple of videos.

Intern's View: Sand Trap Improvements

As some of you may have noticed, we have begun the process of improving the bunkers. We begin by taking deep pockets of sand in the bunker and transferring it to the shallow portions of the bunker. We then go through the process of wetting it down, compacting it, adding new sand, and finally raking it out so it is aesthetically pleasing and fully playable. If you come across the staff working in a bunker it may be treated as ground under repair.


I would like to take a moment and explain that this is only a temporary fix. The master plan outlines new sand traps throughout the course. Many factors play a part in this decision. Some of those factors being the size of the bunker, the location, and the drainage of the bunker for example. Bunkers are much more than holes in the ground filled with sand. When constructed properly they can be a work of art designed to enhance playability. Hit em' straight and enjoy the new bunkers.

Mike Martic - 2011 Vail Golf Club Intern
Rutgers University

The Balancing Act

What you are seeing here are earthworm castings in the 5th fairway. You probably have noticed these tiny patches of soil on fairways, 2,4,5 & 6.
If you remember your biology classes in school, you remember that earthworms are good for the soil and plant growth.They benefit the soil by providing simple aeration as they feed on organic matter. Organic matter is typically found close to the surface in the thatch or mat layer. When the worm processes the soil, it leaves behind these castings of soil. This is where they can be detrimental to a golf course.
These castings can impede ball roll and playability. They can also create problems to mowers when the soil cakes on and disrupts their operation.
Managing these holes is certainly a balancing act. There is so much rock beneath these fairways that the root structure is limited in depth. These fairways require light and frequent irrigation as well as carefully timed fertilizer applications. We also use growth regulator chemistry to promote lateral growth and increase density.

When conditions become dry on the course these castings can become more noticeable. Balancing irrigation is certainly a challenge. Often times these areas require hand watering to efficiently irrigate where it is absolutely necessary. Pictured here are two staff members watering drier areas on the course. When hand watering, the staff will probe the soil to determine if the soil needs moisture or not. The new irrigation system has certainly helped decrease hand watering, but if you are not hand watering, you are over watering.

How do you prevent earthworm castings and why don't you see them on the greens? Studies have shown that earthworms are very sensitive to sandy soils. The soil profile in greens mostly consist of sand and some organic matter. The sand is abrasive and is uncomfortable as they move through the profile. Greens typically have less organic matter to feed on compared to a fairway.

Sunday Morning

For those of you playing Sunday morning, please give yourself some extra time to get to the course. Vail is hosting a women's half marathon that goes past the golf course. For more details click here.

Fixing Ballmarks

Truman says, "Fix your ballmarks to help keep the greens rolling at their best."
A ballmark tool should include long prongs to get into the soil profile. Push in or turn slightly to help smooth out the area. DO NOT lift up the roots as it can cause damage and death to the plant.
Finally use your putter or foot to smooth out the blemish.
Thank you!

Assistant's View: Noxious Weeds

I’m not sure what looks better, the Gore Range in the background or the Canada Thistle curling over dead!  Noxious weeds are non-native plants disturbing the native ecosystem.  It’s more obvious that some are weeds while others disguise themselves as flowers.  These non-native plants have made their way here by many different modes of transportation traveling as far away as other continents.  

Noxious weeds thrive because they have no natural controls in their new habitat.  They also produce an abundance of seeds that can last as long 50 years or more in the soil.  Grass seed, when stored properly, only last for a few years.  Some noxious weeds create shade and can make it difficult for the native plants to survive others can consume massive amounts of water depleting a water supply.   You may have noticed in the last few weeks the native areas on the course have been getting sprayed with a three way herbicide to help control these weeds such as thistles, oxeye daisies, common mullein, bindweeds and more.  We will continue to spray as much as we can to help control the weeds. Click here for a great website to help you with noxious weeds in Colorado.

Justin Gompf, Vail GC Assistant Superintendent

Frosty

This past weekend we had our first frost of the late season. I always laugh each year when people are surprised to see the frost during the second week of August, but this happens every year.
The days are getting shorter and the night time temperatures are beginning to get cooler and into the 30's. The day time temperatures are still great and can reach into the high 70's. We still have two more great months of golf weather in Vail. 

The early morning tee times begin to go away with frost and it is important that traffic is kept off the turf. Especially this time of year, frost damage can be lethal to the plant and there is no more time for recovery before winter. Please allow time for the day to develop and allow plants to thaw before maintenance and golfing to occur. We adjust tee times through the season to reflect frost delays, however it is not a an exact science where extra time should be allowed if necessary.

Live from the PGA Championship

I asked Kasey Kauff, a good friend and current Superintendent of the Highlands Course at the Atlanta Athletic Club, to put something together for the blog as he is preparing for the PGA Championship next week. He submitted a short video about the golf course. It is excellent. Enjoy.

Vail Athletic Field Repairs

The Vail Athletic Field is getting plenty of attention for maintenance these days. The rainy days mixed with lacrosse in July was the recipe for disaster for turf. Today we began preparing for sod through the middle of the field. Three areas were cut and the old turf and thatch was removed. 

The grades were measured to pitch the field for proper surface drainage.

Kramer is back, you may recognize this man and machine. He leveled out the new tees on 3,4 and 8. First these areas are being tilled up to mix in the remaining organic matter and sand. The mixture will provide a better medium for root growth. Here you see the box blade that is used to bring the area to the proper grade and prepare for sod.

Preparing Another Major

It has been a good year for my former interns. Three of them are hosting major golf championships this year. Two of them being at The Broadmoor this year and the third is preparing for the PGA Championship in a few weeks at the Atlanta Athletic Club.

Kasey Kauff is the Superintendent at the Highlands Course at AAC. I was privileged to have Kasey working for me during the summer of 2003. That season, I realized that Kasey was going to be a star someday in this profession. Follow this link for a neat video on preparing the course for a major championship in the south, in August! http://turfnet.com/tv/latest.php

For all of you that are green about turfgrass management; ultra dwarf bermudagrass won't survive in Vail.

Soil Conditioning

Since our customers would have a real big problem if we tilled our fairways each year, we spike them instead. Getting oxygen into the root zone is highly important for root growth. Spiking also allows water to penetrate into soil profile. We began on holes 7,8,9, and 18 on Wednesday. Today we will continue on the back nine, starting on the 10th hole.

Using an irrigation pin flag I can measure how deep the spiking goes into fairways. This leatherman tool is 4 inches long. We are getting about 6 inches of depth, the fairway root zone is about 5 inches in depth.

The Road To Recovery

The golf course couldn't be playing better right now. We are in the process of recovering from the flooding areas. Many of them, (like this picture of the 9th fairway) will rebound with fertilizer and time. Other areas are being replaced with sod.
Yesterday we cut out a number of areas on holes 1,2,7,8 & 9. Today we will begin to sod these areas. It is much nicer to hit off grass!

Setting The Course

Back when this course was originally constructed, the tees were not built square with the landing areas.
Sometimes it creates a challenge for mowers and even golfers to aim correctly on some tees. Our master plan and the tees that have been constructed over the past three seasons correct this issue.

You wouldn't believe how many people do not take the time to aim properly when they approach their tee shot.

This tool is something any superintendent can construct to help line tee markers correctly. Most supers have the PVC parts laying around the shop. I picked up the idea while setting the course at the Broadmoor East Course a few weeks back for the Women's Open.

It is fool proof and this tool is used each morning to get players off in the right direction. We just can't hit the ball for them.

What We Are All About

 Today was the first time I witnessed the range tee completely full. The weather was perfect as we topped out at 75 degrees. Days following a heavy rain in the mountains always seems to be cooler. It is hard to publish these weather conditions considering every other Superintendent across the country is dealing with extreme heat. I can not complain about the weather even the moisture, but now is the time to visit Vail Golf Club and get out of the heat.

The course is finally beginning to dry up. We'll spend the next couple of weeks recovering from minor flood and water damage. Most areas will rebound nicely, but some sod and seeding will be required. Today we hosted the CJGA with the 14-18 year olds. The event went smooth and the course was a nice test for this group. They just need to work on their pace of play. A five and a half hour round for this course is not exactly the greatest way for the younger players to develop their game. But today is over and tomorrow we'll be back to our normal four hours and seven minute pace.

When The Best Irrigation System Goes Wrong

First of all, the best irrigation system is rainfall. We have four points of collecting rainfall at Vail Golf Club. Each  rain event they record within one hundredth of an inch. That is as consistent as you are going to find and far better than any man made irrigation system. Vail Golf Club does have one of the best man made irrigation systems around, but it just can't top Mother Nature.

However, in this climate when she decides to dump 2 inches of moisture on the Vail Valley within 6 days, it is not exactly the best for one's golf game. I heard a lot of comments about how long the course was playing today. Honestly, the course looks great, fantastic as a matter of fact. The course is green, the turf is lush, but the ball isn't rolling far under these conditions.

Fortunately, we live in Colorado at 8,000 ft above sea level and when she wants to dry things out, she can rather quickly. So give us a couple days of drier weather to get this place rolling again.

The creek is dropping and the water is beginning to subside. We will have all hands on deck with mowing, seeding, topdressing and doing whatever possible to have the course to normal conditions as soon as possible.

Thanks for all of your patience and let's play golf.

Details

Catching up on some details today with edging irrigation heads on fairways, approaches and greens. Keeping the irrigation heads clean and neat allows for efficient irrigation applications. Most heads on the course have distance markers to the middle of the green. Keeping the heads clean allows players to read distances clearly.

Filling fairway divots throughout the course. It is important to fill a divot with sand to encourage new growth and keep the surface flat. When filling a divot, do not mound up the sand. Use your foot to smooth out the surface. Doing this allows for better ball roll and prevent damage to mowers.

The Practice Rounds

There is something magical about major golf tournaments. Maybe it is because I just love the game, but putting on a show for thousands of people around the world is special.

 I began my week back on my old stomping ground, The Broadmoor East Course. You can catch coverage on NBC this weekend as the best women golfers in the world try their luck on the old Donal Ross design.

  Here is 14 West green being mowed at dawn. This green is used as a practice green for back nine starts on the East Course.

Tuesday I helped with setting the course. Pictured above are USGA officials using a measuring instrument to square tee markers correctly. This is a neat idea I picked up and will incorporate something similar into our tee set up daily in Vail.

Pictured here are the same USGA officials and a couple of Broadmoor employees setting the cup and researching future pin locations for the tournament. They check speeds all over the green and find the right challenge for each round.

Christie Kerr teeing off the 3rd tee on Tuesday.

When Will The Water Recede?

Honestly? With the weather patterns we have been experiencing, we will most likely see water on the golf course into August. The creek is running at an average of 1000 cfs which is almost 200% of normal. When the creek is full it can only take on so much water. Even pumping water to the creek is not a sure thing because there is more ground water behind what is being pumped.

On top of the large run-off we have seen .8" of moisture in the last 20 hours at the golf course. Even under dry conditions the golf course struggles to maintain playable conditions after a rain event such as that one.

So bare with us, we are doing everything we can do to make the round as pleasant as possible.

One final note: Yes, the master plan does address some of the drainage issues we are experiencing. However, we are finding some more areas that need attention. We have begun looking at solving drainage problems for the future. Even though this is the worst flooding the course has seen, I am a believer that it will happen again some day.

Exposed

Tuesday evening, quite a storm rolled through the valley. There was a lot of rain further down valley but mostly wind attacked the golf course. By 5 pm, we lost two trees on the course. Shortly after that a second wave came back through and knocked down eight more trees. Our weather stations clocked winds at 80 mph.

When a golf course sustains those kinds of winds it is normal to lose that many trees, especially in a golf course setting. Open areas such as fairways can leave trees exposed to become victims of powerful winds.

Cutting up and cleaning tree debris was not exactly what we had in mind doing Thursday morning, but the staff responded very well. Most of the debris was cut and cleaned before golfers had a chance to view the mess.

2011 US Women's Open Preview

Guest Blogger: Zach Bauer, Broadmoor West Golf Course Superintendent.
Zach was an intern of mine on the East Course at the Broadmoor a number of years ago. He was one of my best interns and has certainly deserved the position he now holds. I asked him to tell us a little about what is about to happen in the golf world in Colorado Springs next week:

Greetings fellow golf enthusiasts of Vail Golf Club. Steve has asked me to write a guest blog for Vail Golf Club and what better topic could I write about but our own US Women’s Open that’s coming up in 6 days, yes 6 days! The preparation for this year’s US Women’s Open has been a three year process that started the day after the US Senior Open we held at The Broadmoor in 2008, literally! The Monday following the final round of the US Senior Open the USGA’s US Women’s Open Committee was present to make sure it was the type of facility they wanted hosting the US Women’s Open Championship. Fortunately the East Course had finished major renovation work before the Senior Open and the amount of work required was minimal. One of the projects the East Course has worked on in the last few years was selective tree removal around greens to reduce shade stress during the winter months. Both East and West courses have begun allowing access for sunlight to putting surfaces during the winter to reduce ice damage.

Since 2008 it has pretty much been a waiting game up until the last few months when we started to really get things looking good for this year’s championship. There has been a lot of seeding, sodding and fertilizing going on to help fill in the our roughest areas on the golf course for the championship, but everything has come together nicely and the course is looking great. The final setup for a major championship takes more time than most people realize. Our grandstands starting going up around May 31st and with only a few days left until the Open we are still putting up scoreboards and the finishing touches on our tents. One of the key components to the grandstands, tents and T.V. towers construction is managing the irrigation around all these. For one thing the stakes used during this process are about three feet long and our irrigation manager has to ensure that our irrigation lines are not hit with one of these. Another is managing the irrigation heads around all the tents and grandstands. A lot of fully rotational irrigation heads need to be adjusted to part circle heads and this is utilized by removing parts from the West or Mountain courses and replace these with the ones on the East course throughout the championship. With all this preparation that goes into making a championship, there is always an end to it all. After the championship is over all three courses at The Broadmoor are fully open the very next day for guest and member play, no days off! The tear down of all the grandstands takes about another 4 weeks to complete while the entire time we are dealing with daily play and tournaments, such as our club championship.

With all this work associated with hosting a major championship I must not forget the help of volunteers. During championship week we will have another 60-80 volunteers helping out our Broadmoor staff of 55 each work shift. Yes that’s over 100 golf maintenance workers on 18 holes at one time. It always humors me when I hear the golfers say they want their respective courses to play like a US Open course every day. Now you know how many people it would take to provide those conditions. For example, we will have 12 greens mowers, 6 tee mowers, 15-20 crew handwatering and 8 fairway mowers just to give everyone a glimpse of our crew numbers on one shift. Here at The Broadmoor we are definitely looking forward to hosting another USGA Championship and also returning a great golf event back to the state of Colorado. Come on down and check out the tournament!

The Beginning of the End

 After almost 4 years of research, various plans, one engineer firm, one golf architect firm, hundreds of survey stakes, numerous compaction tests, soil testing, board meetings and town council meetings we are now days away from a finished product at the 7th tee.
The greatest safety issue on the golf course has been solved and we are almost ready to show it off to golfers. Yesterday sod was installed on the tee surface. Large sod rolls were used to reduce the amount of seams on the tee. The tee should be ready for play in the next ten days.

Surrounding the tee, there still is some work to complete. Justin has been working extremely hard getting the irrigation completed in the area. It hasn't been easy working around Landscapes Unlimited while they finish the tee. He has designed and installed irrigation for the tee surface as well as the native areas that will include new pine and fir trees as well as rose and serviceberry bushes.
Around the woody material, native seed will be used and a straw seed mat will prevent erosion and enhance seed growth.
There are a few more trees that need to be removed in front of the tee boxes from the site. A plan is in action to remove them as soon as possible according to town specifications.

Sod Day

A crew from Emerald Sod Farm near Denver was here early on Saturday morning to get sod down in various places of the course. Finally we can begin putting these projects behind us and get on with the golf season.
Pictured here are large rolls of sod being rolled out along 11 cart path. Areas that were sodded were around 11 bridge, 17 bridge, the lightning shelter near 11 green and the 7th tee surface.
Prior to sod, all areas received an application of starter fertilizer which supplies nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium to the root zone for adequate uptake and quick recovery. Also, we apply a granular wetting agent (Reservoir) which keeps moisture in the root zone longer than normal.We used this formula during the irrigation install after the mainline was re-sodded and had huge success.

USGS Real-Time GORE CREEK at RED SANDSTONE CREEK AT VAIL, CO

Here we go again. Last night the Gore Creek reached as high as it has all season. The wet weather followed by higher temps has filled the banks of the creek. Click the following link for the graph that details how the creek has reacted to the weather over the last week.

USGS Real-Time Water Data for USGS 09066325 GORE CREEK ABV RED SANDSTONE CREEK AT VAIL, CO: "Discharge, cubic feet per second
Most recent instantaneous value: 1,350 06-25-2011 04:45 MDT"

The biggest reason why there is much less water on the course especially around the 1st and 10th tee, is due to the fact that a lot of Vail Mountain has melted off. Most of the water on the course is related to the Gore Creek and run off from the Gore Range.

Assistant's View: Fusion

The electro-fusion machine is our newest irrigation tool.  This machine will allow us to repair our HDPE pipe.  The way this machine works is there are two electrodes that stick out of the repair coupling that are connected to wires that run around the inside of the coupling.  This machine heats the electrodes and wires to a temperature that will melt the HDPE and weld the coupler and pipe together.  Each coupler has a bar code that the machine reads to determine how hot and how long it needs to heat  the coupler to get a perfect weld.   It’s very important that the pipe and couple are clean and free of debris to get a good weld.  The first step in fusion is to scrape the HDPE pipe to get a fresh layer of material visible.  Then I clean it with isopropyl alcohol to remove any oil that may have been left behind from handling it.   Once the pipe is clean I can then slide the couple on and make sure everything is lined up properly.  I then use the optical pen to read the bar code that tells the machine what size and density the pipe is. The last step is to hook up the electrodes and hit the start button.  For two inch pipe it takes about 45 seconds and it’s done.  The first project that I have used this machine on is repairing irrigation lines around the new bridge construction on 11 and 17.  We will be using it next on 7 tee to install irrigation on the newly built tee.  With all the construction going on here this will be a very useful tool to be able to repair pipe or add new irrigation when needed.  

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One Down

 One of the first projects of the season is complete. The 5th tee has a new net and it looks great. The contractors finished up on Friday and now we can pay attention to turfgrass details in the area.

Often people ask me why we use some much plywood during our projects. The picture below is proof of why plywood is so important. Without it, these irrigation heads would have been destroyed. Now that the area is getting more sunlight and water, they will bounce back quickly.

US Open Week

I found the information below in my inbox this morning as all golf eyes begin to focus on Maryland this week. After reading this information it still "wows me" to think how many people don't understand the amount of work that goes into a major golf championship.

In a few weeks, I will be taking part in similar activities to prepare for the US Women's Open at The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs. When I think of Congressional however, I will never forget how they walk mowed all of the fairways for the Open in 1997! I heard it took up to 27 people to mow one fairway. It could have have been the pinnacle of how ridiculous maintenance can be for a major golf tournament.

Click here for the USGA Course Fact Sheet at Congressional Country Club by the USGA Green Section staff

Assistant's View: It Must Be The Start Of Summer In Vail

Well the water table is rising and we have high water on various areas of the course, it must be the start of summer in Vail.  Now that we’ve had about 10 days of good weather we are trying to get in to a rhythm of course maintenance.    

Due to the weather we are about two weeks behind schedule on fertilizing.  I began this week with a liquid application on greens.  I will continue the rest of the summer every two weeks with this application.  We do this “spoon feed” of liquid fertilizer to help keep the greens consistent.  Each application has small amounts of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium key nutrients for healthy turf.  The tank mix also includes micronutrients and biostimulants which is also highly important in finely groomed turf.   We add about five different products to each tank to help create the healthiest greens we can.  The combination of these products help increase stress tolerance, build stronger deeper roots, aid in cell division, and aid with plant recovery from stress. 

Justin Gompf

Assistant Superintendent 

Rolling Greens

If you were paying attention to the blog this spring, you know how soft the greens were while clearing them of snow. For those of you who are new or can't remember last week, such as myself, here is the story.
Due to the early snow fall, the greens did not harden off and turn completely dormant for the winter. While the snow continued to pile up, temperatures stayed warm enough in the root zone for disease activity and even shoot growth!
Once we began clearing, we immediately notice how soft the soils were and the snowblower would occasionally cause depressions into the surface and create ruts. We clear the greens to prevent or lessen snow mold and ice damage (winter damage).
So now we are left dealing with the lesser of two evils; smoothing out the surface.
The 13th and 1st greens were the worst overall. This week we rented a 3,000 lbs. vibrating roller and it seems to be working great. This could be an annual tradition, in fact. I won't tell you the ruts are gone, but they are much better. Spiking and aerification over time will completely heal them. Next week we will be doing just that.
We liked this roller so much, it ended up on all of the greens. Yesterday, our intern Mike (Rutgers) stimped the 2nd green before, during and after the rolling. Before the rolling, they read 7.2. After the first roll the green measured at 8.5. After the second and final roll we measured it at 9.
Also, the greens heights were lowered for the final time in preparation for the season today.