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!