Drainage Project On 16 Green. Will Prevent Future Winter Problems.

The long, cold winter was very tough on our golf course turf, specifically the areas that do not drain.  The pictures above show the middle of the 16th green on April 15th.  Notice the damage which is a result of water standing and freezing on the green since early last winter.  This green has a low spot in the middle that does not drain much at all.  Every rain event we are out there pushing the water off the green.

The remedy for this will be the installation of some drain lines 18" down in the green.  There are companies that have done this type of drainage for clubs such as Oakmont and Baltusrol, so it is a know practice for old style push up greens.  We will be performing the project with our staff in the near future.  We will trench the pipe material into the green and run the drain off the left side of the green underground to a sump in the rough.  We will then be replacing any weak grass on the green with healthy grass from our nursery greens. The link below is the type of drainage material we will be using in the green.  Also, I have provided below, a link to a good article from the USGA on the widespread damage being seen throughout the Northeast from the long cold winter.  Most of the damage here at Bellevue is associated with the week Poa plant.

http://multi-flow.com/Menu/golf_courses_app.html

http://www.usga.org/course_care/regional_updates/regional_reports/northeast/You%E2%80%99re-Not-Alone!---April-2014/

Mike O'Neill, GCS

Long Winter, Will Show On Course Turf.

The long winter is finally starting to let up a bit lately.  We were, just yesterday, able to see some of the turf under all the ice and snow present all winter.  Yesterday we made a drastic move in trying to remove the ice and snow off of the 6th green.   As shown above, we used the front end loader to remove snow from the frozen green.  We need to get oxygen to the green as soon as possible., so with the upcoming temps , we decided to remove as much snow while we can.  The lower picture of 6 green is just with 1 day of thawing. The green had on average, 2' of snow on it yesterday, so we probably saved a few days by physically removing the snow.  The bottom picture shows the middle of the 16th green where water tends to collect and sit.  The ice present there all winter has severely stunted the turf in the low spot.  We can expect this area will take longer this spring to fill in and green up.  We still have yet to see under the ice of the 6th green but we are hopeful that when it thaws the turf will be fine.  Any thin or stunted areas on the greens will be overseeded and pushed to fill in with all means necessary going forward.  Let's think warm temperatures!

Mike O'Neill, GCS