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.

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.

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.

Waking Up The Sleeping Giant

 Well the Boston Bruins have woken up to make it a series in the Stanley Cup. But in relation to the golf course, groundwater has also woken up and is saturating some areas of the course. The main difference between this season and last, was the amount of snow along Vail Mountain. There is a significant amount of snow up top and it is going to take some time to run off.
We are managing areas with sandbags, pumps, digging ditches, and providing temporary bridges for access.
Currently we have the front nine closed but will have 18 open shortly. Cooler weather has moved into the valley and the river has dropped a bit from the other night. The temperatures have dropped recently and it will help with high water.

The 5th tee is nearing completion with the new netting. All of the posts are in the ground and the cables are in place. Thursday we will be removing the rest of the dirt from the posts and place mulch under the netting. The net is en route to Vail and will be installed ASAP. A little more clean up is needed in the area, but we are targeting to have the tee box open Friday.

Casual Water

 Here we go again. Nothing unusual actually, another typical spring. With over 500 inches of snow this year, the water will probaly stick around just a little longer this year. A few early morning golfers were amazed to see the amount of water near the first tee. We are managing golf just fine and there are no alterations to the course due to high water so far. Carts can slowly creep through the paths with water on them safely. Small access bridges have been provided to access dry land for walkers.

 Have you noticed all that water coming through the parking lot? More run off above the 18th hole is getting onto the utility path and running into the parking lot. No this is not a water break from the homes nearby.

 The 10th Annual Teva Mountain Games began this week. Each year on Saturday, kayakers and paddle boarders take to the Gore for time trials. This is a sport I need to try, paddle boarding. It looks like a lot of fun, but I probably won't make my first run on the Gore, I would need calmer waters.

Here is a competitor kneeling down on his paddle board to clear the new bridge on 17. The new bridge has slightly more clearance for recreation on the creek. There are a number of bridges these paddlers need to maneuver through during the race.

In Bloom

 Usually by this time of year, most plants are in bloom. This is a good shot of some lilacs, turf and aspen trees in the background near the pumphouse.

May was difficult, with the average high temperature at 53 with an average low at 28 degrees.

We received just over 2.5 inches of moisture with only 6 inches of snow, but the moisture was spread out over many days.

Tuesday we recorded soil temperatures and greens averaged out to 49 degrees. Rooting depth was 4-6 inches which isn't all that bad for poa coming out of dormancy. All disease activity from the winter is now inactive and plants are beginning to bloom. You can see the hillsides filling in with aspen buds. The willows around the course are showing signs of life, as well as the lilacs and dogwoods.

Even at 5 tee things are starting to pop. Today Judge Netting installed two of the seven posts to go into the ground for a new net. These are 12 inch diameter steel poles. This will be a polished enhancement to the old net that was installed in the past. The posts are buried 10 feet deep and will max out at 40 feet in the air. The first two holes we an easy dig, now they are getting into rock, which of course is no surprise. The project should be completed by the end of next week.

Stumbling Into Spring

Thank God May is over. We have done more today than most of May. Lots going on now that decent weather has arrived, call it crazy, but we are making improvements to the course everyday.
Areas are drying out, soil temperatures are increasing and most areas of turf have broken dormancy.
We are just getting around to mowing everything on the course and most areas are recovering well. The irrigation system has been fully pressurized and will certainly be a boost for turf conditions.
Plenty of projects going on outside of the basic day to day maintenance: re-surfacing of 3 cart path, new net installation at 5 tee, 7 tee re-build, Vail Valley Drive water mainline (water district), new bridges on 11 & 17. The only project completed is the lightning shelter near 11 green. There is some landscaping to complete in that area, which we plan to get to once the bridges are complete.

Today through Friday, we will be preparing the cart path tie-ins on 17. We are taking the opportunity to correct a few issues. By replacing all of the path from the bridge back to the tee we will be able to lower the path slightly, improve drainage aesthetics and turf conditions. Our asphalt contractor began this afternoon removing the old path. I found 6 plus inches of asphalt with some road base underneath. The old path was overlaid once and created some drainage issues on the sides of the paths. You can see how the path has failed over time with the large crack through the middle of the path.
Finally we had overnight temperatures in the low 40's last night which is rare for these parts in early June. Cloud cover tonight will lead to another warm night in the valley which will certainly help with turf conditions, yet speed up melting up in the hills. Only in Vail can you say 40 degree overnight temps are warm!

Watching the flow

With the cooler weather this week, stream flows have dropped. Currently, Vail Mountain has close to 30 inches of snow water equivalent still sitting up top. The average this time of year since 1979 is close to 20 inches. We are just hoping it takes its time melting off.
Streams and rivers are measured in cubic feet per second. All bodies of moving water vary in size and flow. CFS readings are different for each body of water, for example, when the Gore is running at 1000 cfs, that is considered high. However, downstream in the Eagle River, 1000 cfs is a much calmer flow because the river is larger and can handle more water.
The USGS has a few detailed web pages on how rivers and streams are measured. It is an interesting process that interpretes data for all creek managers and those who use the creek for recreation.
This week the Gore almost reached 270 cfs and we noticed a rafting company taking a trial run. Unfortunately they did not make it too far. Today we are at 176 cfs and when the sun comes out, plan on that number jumping up significantly.
When the Gore reaches 350 cfs you will certainly start to notice more activity on the Gore. Mountainbuzz.com is a good website for kayakers and the local gauge from the USGS.

USGA Green Section Report

Derf Soller is a Northwest Agronomist for the USGA. Formerly the Superintendent at Breckenridge Golf Club, Derf is quite familiar with mountain golf course maintenance. He has been on the prowl checking out courses as they emerge from the white stuff. Click here to read his latest update on courses that have been affected by the amount of snow this winter and critical tips on preparing the course for the summer.
Vail Golf Club has been able to aerify greens already, however aerifying tees and spiking fairways remain. We are looking forward to drier weather to accomplish these practices. We will most likely have to balance play and cultural practices.

Assistant's View: The New Kid

It has been nearly a month since I have started my new position as an assistant superintendent to Mr. Steve Sarro at Vail Golf Club. Moving from Iowa in April, I was told that I would have two springs this year but had no idea that I would be watching snow fall towards the end of May. I think it is pretty cool but I am as excited to get this season in “full swing” as everyone else.


A few things I have experienced here include: training new staff, clearing greens of snow, sand bagging the Gore Creek, and how quickly the weather changes in a moment’s notice. Having most of my work experience in the Midwest, mountain golf course maintenance will be a new concept I am excited to learn. I am interested in the different types of plants and animals, climatic changes, agronomic principles, and the lack of turf pests and disease pressures.

So far, everyone I have met that works for Vail Recreation District (VRD) is very nice, supportive and up-holds a team player attitude. The VRD provides an excellent working environment and I look forward to becoming more involved in all aspects of the organization.

Hope to see you on the course soon,

Andy Unrau

Questions

As a golf course superintendent I am used to questions. They come in every shape and form and from everyone, I mean everyone. Some questions are good, others not so much, but I deal with them. A large part of my job is education, I get it, you want to play and I need you to play, so I am glad to help whenever I can.

So what is going on out there?

Good Question! Lots actually. Let me preface this by saying that all of these projects are way overdue and are products of deferred maintenance. We are not only correcting safety issues on all of these projects and but we are setting a new standard for Vail Golf Club.

So let's start with the bridges. The bridges themselves are pretty close to being done. Some final tests need approval before allowing vehicular traffic. However getting on to them is another story. We are in high demand for dry weather for finish work and tying in the cart paths to the bridges. A few spots remain wet and soggy and the short term forecast is not looking favorable for workable conditions. Since you can't shape mud, we are making efforts to turn the soil to dry it out as much as possible. Let's touch base next week for more information.

To no surprise there is nothing easy with the 7th tee project. Squeezed in between homes and the Gore Creek, managing a large hill side for a patch of grass has been a challenge from the beginning. Engineered walls like no other on the property take a little time to have completed correctly. Here you see Ground Engineering performing a compaction test on the soil. Passing these tests are a must to build walls so we are not back here in a few years replacing them again. The weather has certainly set us back a bit. New moisture will prevent us from setting in stones for new walls. We have been working closely with Landscapes Unlimited to get these done as quick and as safe as possible. Now that we are making some good progress on these walls, I will begin to post more about them.
We also have finishing touches on a new lightning shelter near the 11th green, new cart path to replace on 11, a new potential net going up at the 5th tee, plenty of clean up and of course more sand bagging on the course.

When will these areas be open for play?

Bad Question! Time lines on all of these areas depend on weather right now and we are doing everything possible to speed up the process. We will however have some golf available real soon. Keep it here, our facebook page and http://www.vailgolfclub.net/ for the latest on course openings. Get busy with the sun dance!

Preparations

 

Each spring, before the golf season begins, we prepare the greens for a grueling summer of more than 24,000 rounds of golf and all of the other environmental stresses of a golf season. If you have been paying any attention to this blog, you know how much thatch in the putting greens can be a problem. During the shoulder seasons we take advantage of the down time to get aggressive on removing thatch.
A few years ago I purchased some scarifying reels. They are deep vertical blades that help remove some of that organic matter in the soil profile. It is less invasive than pulling aerification cores and is easier with less labor to accomplish. In no way does scarifying replace core aerification, but it helps.
After pulling out some material, we run the aerifiers out on all the greens with solid tines to spike and vent the greens. Every 2 inches there is a 5/8" hole that allows the soil the breathe from a long cold hard winter.
We finally add sand topdressing and drag them into the holes. The sand has multiple benefits such as diluting thatch, creating a firmer surface, smoothing out the surface, helping ball marks and promoting growth. Once a part of the soil profile, the sand eases compaction rates from traffic, allows for better air, water and nutrient movement.
The recent weather has slowed us down with accomplishing all of these tasks, but we hope to finish this all be the end of the week. Keep your fingers crossed.