Rocky Bayou Country Club

It’s Friday the 12th of February and raining again.  A great day to catch up on office work.  I took a short break to watch some GCSAA TV.  GCSAA TV is part of the national Golf Course Superintendents Association of America websight.  As a supporting member I have access to these short GCSAA TV “blogs”.

In particular I watched a short clip from a presentation given by a PhD in psychology.  The speaker was presenting information on behavior patterns and made an interesting  observation comment.  The comment simply was “golf is a form of restorative restoration”.

How true is the statement “golf is a form of restorative restoration”.  The fact is golf as restorative restoration has many different meanings.  People need golf to restore comradery, to restore a competitive nature, to restore social interation in the clubhouse, or simply to start a new form of personal restoration.

My point is this, sure it has been raining and cold more than anyone enjoys.  But think how much restoration each person will get to catchup on when the weather cooperates. 

To outside guest I promise you will not find a better draining golf course than RBCC.  To our members, don’t get discouraged because weather has not allowed average playing time for the month. Anticipate the restorative restoration you will experience with your fellow members. A restoration that can only be shared on the grounds of RBCC.

Have a Great Day!!!

This past week, Tuesday the 12th of January, the ladies had a special breakfast event in the clubhouse.   Afterwards there was lots of food left over and the ladies thoughtfully invited RBCC staff to enjoy some goodies.  This was one of many instances when members of RBCC think of the staff and shows appreciation to staff members. 

I also want to thank everyone who graciously participates in the end of the year employee Christmas bonus program.  Many staff members utilize this added bonus to purchase Christmas gifts for their families. Of course I have to thank all the members who bring Christmas goodies to the maintenance shop as well, MMMM!!!!  Please forgive me for the belated thank you but these acts of gratitute truly mean a lot.

Again,

THANK YOU

Here is some interesting information from GCSAA concerning frost delays and frost damage.  Sorry that it is hard to read.  Just click on the image to get a larger, more readable version.

This week we will be applying our winter pre-emergent herbicide.  Please be patient with Tim our spray technician as he will be concentrating on this task.

Next week starting Monday the 9th we will overseed our driving range tee.  Should not be an inconvenience to anyone but we will water the range tee whenever it is vacant.

This month I want to discuss our frequency of spraying putting greens. In particular, what is in the sprayer and why the products require such frequent application?

In general, there are four types of products applied to putting greens.  Listed in order of most the frequently applied would be liquid nutrients, fungicides, insecticides, and herbicides.  In agriculture, there are 16 essential nutrients a plant needs to perform at maximum potential.  Some nutrients are needed in much higher levels than others but all 16 nutrients contribute to the performance of a plant.  I believe there should be balance between granular nutrients (applied by spreader) and liquid nutrients (applied by sprayer).  Comparatively speaking, granular nutrients are applied in bulk to condition the soil where liquid nutrients are applied in concentrated amounts to directly feed the plant.  Turf managers refer to this practice as “spoon feeding.”  Spoon feeding nutrients to our putting greens is done at least twice a month.  We also apply a wetting agent or moisture manager to putting greens twice a month to maintain perfect soil moisture content.

The application of fungicides is typically discussed as curative or preventative.  Curative meaning making fungicide applications after a disease occurs.  Preventative meaning making fungicide applications before a disease occurs.  Preventative fungicide applicationsare typically based on disease pressure history and changing weather conditions.  I hope the answer is obvious.  I believe in preventative programs and I believe fungicides should be applied on average of once a month.  The application of insecticides and herbicides are done as needed and solely based on sight inspection.  Insecticide applications are preformed to control worms and mole crickets.  Application frequency for insecticides has the most variance, making it hard to predict.  Herbicides are rarely applied to putting greens.  In fact, in a typical year  herbicides are applied to putting greens only twice.  Once in the summer for control of nutsedge and once in the fall to control Poa annua.  Here are the key points I wanted to make with this information.  Obviously, we dedicate many hours spraying putting greens.  On average, we may spray putting greens twice in one week.  I am, also, aware of the visual interpretation a player may have when witnessing a spraying application.  I want to assure members that, in most cases, we are simply applying nutrients or products to maintain a healthy plant.  I often refer to putting greens as a well conditioned athlete.  During  the Olympics it was reveled that Michael Phelps ate and drank constantly to take in 10,000 calories a day.  In a way that is exactly what we are doing to keep our putting greens at peak performance.

Other practices that may be noticed is implementing our fall fungicide and fall herbicide program.  Every October preventative fungicides are applied to the putting greens for the hopeful control of winter and spring turf diseases.  Then in late November all turf is treated with preemergent herbicides for the control of winter weeds.

This is also the time of year when more time is dedicated to plant bed management.  In October as always we will rotate our annual plantings in conjunction with the fall season.

Finally before the month of October is over, I plan to have the trees surrounding greens 11, 15, and 16 trimmed.

Everything the maintenance staff does, from plant bed management to managing putting greens for maximum performance revolves around seasonal climate changes.  Of course, our goal is to implement these practices and seasonal changes for the enjoyment of every member at RBCC.

As of September 23rd immediately following the ladies tournament all mowing height (except rough) was raised.  There are two main reasons for raising mow-ing heights. The first reason is to grow as much turf as possible before the first frost.  The second reason for raising mowing heights is to increase root growth as much as possible.  As I have said in the past shoot growth is directly related to root growth.

I am also sure everyone has noticed we have completed our fourth and final aerification for the year. Again, there is no cultural practice implemented today that is more productive for increasing root growth than aerification.