Wear and Tear on the Practice Green.

The above photo was taken recently of the flag pole practice green next to #1 tee.  The picture shows the extensive wear this green receives because of excessive foot traffic in and out of the clubhouse.  We struggle throughout the summer just to keep this green alive because the wear and tear on the left side looking at the clubhouse becomes relentless.  It is a convenient area for golfers to walk across to get to the first tee instead of taking the meandering blacktop path.  What happens is the left side of the green near the patio gets worn out and then the diseases move in when the plant gets weak.  We are then forced to spray the green much more than the other greens just to keep the different diseases at bay.  The two pics above clearly show the worn out area, while the bottom picture shows how healthy and beautiful the other half of the green is that receives just normal golfing practice.  I try to avoid using the unsightly ropes near the clubhouse as this substantially detracts the visual appearance of the golf course from the clubhouse.  My suggestion for our membership and guests would be to be conscious of this issue and try to access the 1st tee going around the practice green to alleviate additional wear on the green.  I understand our outings sometimes add to the wear load as well on this practice green. 

Mike O'Neill
Golf Course Superintendent

Aeration...A Necessary Evil

We all know no one looks forward to the date on the calendar that states when greens aeration will take place.  The truth is, greens aeration is critical in maintaining healthy greens.  The above pics show darker green spots where the aeration took place on the thin collars on holes #12 and #14 a few weeks ago.  The increased air for the roots is the key in addition to better water movement as a result of the holes.  The area on 12 and 14 was sodded and the rest will fill in after we aerate in a week or so.  We will also introduce seed into the thin areas to further promote the grass to fill in.  I once had a mentor at a very prestigious club tell me, "If your not losing any grass on your greens every year, you aren't pushing them hard enough"  This statement is very true in that we could easily provide lush, green, 100% healthy greens every year, but the consistency, firmness and speed would not be up to snuff for the demands of  today's golfers.  We would probably read 8 on the stimp meter daily, instead of an average of 9.5 to 10 daily where we are here at Bellevue.  So in essence, aeration allows us to be very aggressive through the year to provide the conditions every golfer craves...fast, firm and consistent greens.  If we didn't aerate in the spring and fall, we would not have much grass left on the greens by the end of the summer the way we manage them.

Mike O'Neill
Golf Course Superintendent

Maintenance and Major Golf Events, Not a Real World Situation.

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Most golfers don't realize the work to prepare for a major tournament takes a tremendous effort. This level of conditioning cannot be sustained week-in and week-out without tremendous support. Also, such is the case for our recent member/guest, the greens are cut lower and rolled to the point that the greens would not live if we kept up the schedule for a week straight.  Hosting a U.S. Open involves many extra volunteers (many of those who are superintendents from nearby clubs) who help the maintenance staff accomplish countless tasks to put the course in shape. And thanks to the support of equipment companies who donate the extra needed mowers and machines to get the job done.

The following information was taken from the Congressional Country Club who hosted this year's U.S. Open:

GREENS FACTS:
• All greens were rebuilt in 2009 to USGA spec in preparation for the Open.
• Greens mowing height 0.10 inch
• Target Green Speed: 14-14.5 feet
• Only hand-watering on greens. The goal is to achieve firmness without compromising the health of the grass.

BUNKERS:
• New sand was added to all bunkers this year and rebuild 2 years ago.
• All bunkers are hand raked.

MAINTENANCE CREW:
• The Congressional CC crew size is 55 (we have 11 here at BCC)
• 3 mechanics were on staff during the Open
• Number of volunteers: 120. Most are experienced golf course superintendents and assistant superintendents who volunteer their time for the week.
• Volunteers are housed at nearby American University.
• Maintenance crew and volunteers are fed breakfast, lunch and dinner by chef at Congressional.
• Typical hours worked during championship: Morning shift 4 a.m. to 8 a.m. Afternoon shift 4:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. Staff is on property throughout the day in case of rain.

EXTRA EQUIPMENT ON HAND:
• 6 walking greens mowers
• 8 turf rollers
• 4 walking collar mowers
• 19 fairway mowers
• 6 rotary rough units
• 2 mechanical bunker rakes
• 22 maintenance carts
• 36 squeegees

MOWING SCHEDULE
• All principal in-play areas will be mowed every day.
• Greens, tees and fairways are mowed twice a day.

Recipe for Fast Greens Speed

Since the member / guest is underway here at beautiful BCC, I thought I would give the ingredients necessary to have fast greens.  First of all, the greens need to be dry, a well hydrated grass plant will not yield fast greens because it is thick and puffy.  Also, a dry green is a firm green which also reduces friction on the golf ball as it rolls across the green.  Last, to groom, verticut or brush the greens to get every grass plant to stand up and not lay over,  this also reduces friction and increases ball roll.  Putting the roller on the greens smooths out any inconsistencies and again reduces friction between the ball and the green.  So really to have fast greens, it is not even that necessary to mow if the plant is under a growth regulator, which we apply weekly.  In today's golf course management world, we do not even associate mowing or double cutting with fast greens speed, as it is not that necessary with the advances in rolling equipment and growth regulators.  Less mowing is also beneficial in reducing stress on the greens which can facilitate diseases and cause more chemicals to be applied to combat the disease.  The bottom line is dry, groomed and rolled greens is the way to produce stimp meter readings over the 11 feet mark.

Mike O'Neill
Golf Course Superintendent

Old Bunkers and Excessive Rain!

The recent rains cause major problems with the golf course, especially bunkers, as seen from the pictures above.  The heavy rain washes the sand down the faces and to the bottom of the bunker.  Not only does the sand get misplaced and moved, but the silt and soil under the sand also washes down the banks and sits on top of the sand at the bottom.  This is the A#1 reason why we do not have consistent bunkers.  Some bunkers wash and others don't.  This contamination of soil cause the bunkers to get filled with rocks and debris, making it impossible to remove from the bunker sand.  The process pumping the water out, sorting out the silt and pushing the bunker sand back up where it belongs is obviously extremely labor intensive.  The pics above were taken 24 hours after 1.5" of rain fell, so we can seen they do not drain well.  New bunkers today are installed with a geo-textile liner in the bottom under the sand so siltation and contamination does not occur.  Also, bunkers are installed with drainage to move the water out of the bunker to keep the sand consistent the whole way around the golf course.

Mike O'Neill
Golf Course Superintendent

Irrigation fun!

The current irrigation system on the golf course was installed in the late 60's and early 70's.  Irrigation professionals in this industry state that a typical lifespan of a properly installed irrigation system is somewhere in the 20-30 year range.  We are into the 40 year range for our system that was not installed properly, as the above 3rd photo down depicts.  We are constantly fixing and repairing leaks and breaks throughout the season.  The repairs add up to a significant labor expense every year just to maintain the system.  The above pictures represent the struggles we encounter with our aging irrigation system.  The first pic is that of iron deposits and calcification on the inside of a pipe we had to pull out to repair for a leak.  The buildup represents a big loss in pressure as friction would be increased over the bumps and ridges inside the pipe. Sometimes the leaks we find are subtle and other times the leaks more than obvious as the bottom picture shows. The leaks we don't see are the ones we worry about.  If we take a pin sized leak, it doesn't seem like it would be much water, but when the pin sized leak is under 120psi and runs 24 hours a day 7 days a week, that adds up to a lot of lost water and money.

Mike O'Neill
Golf Course Superintendent

Profile of a Healthy Green

The above Picture is a profile of our 8th green.  This picture shows a history of what has been done to the greens.  It is obvious to see the 2" layer of sand we have accumulated in the upper thatch area since my tenure started here.  We have been on a bi-weekly topdressing program for going on 6 years now and this makes the green almost act like a sand based green with the accumulation of this much sand in the profile.  Also note, the sand channels, these channels were created by our core aeration program and remain there as an avenue for air and water to move through the root system.  Air, primarily in the root zone is the main ingredient in having consistent, healthy greens.  So, if anyone sees me out there with this tool in my hand, I would be glad to show you what we have accomplished with our greens program first hand.

Mike O'Neill
Golf Course Superintendent

Trees and Turf

Last winter 2 Norway Spruce trees were removed next to the pump house near 8 green.   I knew these trees were limiting the morning sunlight to the 8th green.  Morning sun is the most important sunlight the grass plant, or any plant for that matter, receives.  This green has been a major problem since I have arrived here with the stress disease known as Anthracnose.  This disease shows up when the grass is at its weakest and will kill the grass very quickly.  We have struggled with this green thinning out year after year in August and we would apply numerous chemicals to combat the disease. This year I was anxious to see how the improved light to the green would help after we removed the trees. The green now is literally our healthiest green on the golf course.  This is a true testament to the fact that sunlight is crucial to a greens health.  The above pic was taken Tuesday August 2nd, looks pretty good to me!

Mike O'Neill
Golf Course Superintendent