Molding The Future

This time last year we had snow on the ground, instead, warm weather in the high 60’s, low 70’s this year. The variation in weather is an example of what we deal with annually when we maintain the turf. Temperature is a key factor between growing healthy thriving turf, to doing what you can to keep it alive. That is how much of a role Mother Nature has in affecting how easy or how tough our jobs can be. I want to take a little time to explain what we have done to begin paving the path toward the successful future of our club.

This is the start of my fifth year with The Rim. Of course, you could probably guess what the first item on my list of important procedures ‐ aerification. Anytime we can get oxygen into the soil profile, we increase the breakdown of thatch. Better yet, adding sand into the open holes mixes with the thatch to create a healthy soil profile. The third dimension to this process is building a soil profile, which we have been lacking for many years. There is no getting into the decomposed granite; our only choice is building our own soil through repetitive punching and topdressing to build a new profile on top of the existing granite.

Water adjustments and savings have been another player in our quest for healthy turf. When you don’t need to put the plant under as much drought stress or, like years ago re‐seed everything in the fall, you give the turf a season to build up healthy carbohydrates and much needed energy for the next summer. Three seasons ago we attacked the irrigation system and made changes in all facets from computer programming to field adjustments to effectively save water.  Since this major revamp we have undergone the driest monsoon in many years, but still we were able to maintain the driving range and golf course under healthy conditions. The turf will continue to become healthier each year.

Our Integrated Plant Management Program incorporates the use of degree day modeling, insect trapping, and effective scouting to properly time our applications and successfully control pests that compromise the health of the turf.  I have mentioned how our climate is one of the more difficult climates in the state and this solution has given us the ability to avoid the devastation we had in years past when we did not control for any of these pests. This is our road map to healthy and successful turf management.

Integrated Plant Management is not just controlling insects or disease with chemistry, but rather a well‐rounded approach that takes into account cultural practices that are required to promote healthy turf. Raising the height of cut is a good example of an integrated approach to healthy turf. The longer turf has the advantage toward weed competition and withstanding some disease and insect pressure. A larger plant can create and store more energy for the tough times like summer. Grass is just like us. When you are weak the pathogens can take over and when you are healthy you have the strength to fight off illness. Nutrition, water and sunlight are the basics for healthy turf. The items listed above are all designed to make the basics readily available.

We are keeping the basics in mind as we plan for the future. The most common saying I have heard over the past two years throughout my trade is, “we need to do more with less”. The actions we took three and four years ago are starting to payoff and make that statement a reality. Continuing to bring fresh ideas and new management strategies into our daily operations will increase our future and the sustainability of The Rim Golf Club.

I am always open to comments and concerns that anyone may have about the golf course or our maintenance staff.

If you have any questions or comments please contact me.

 

Justin Ruiz, CGCS

Justinr@therimgolfclub.org

Did you Know Vol. 1

Did you know that the mowing equipment we use to cut greens is adjusted to thousandths of an inch?
Yes, the mowing equipment used on the greens is adjusted with a tool called an accugauge.  This tool measures the distance from the bedknife to the bottom of the rollers in thousandths of an inch.  For example the greens are currently cut at 120/1000".  In the past, to get the greens speeds fast for tournament play, the greens have been cut as low as 80/1000".

When the mechanics set the greens mowers up, they have many variables that apply to their adjustments.  They must maintain a 5 degree angle on the face of the bed knife for the mower to properly stand the leaf blade upright for cutting.  The must obtain the proper clearance between bedknife and reel at .002" to allow for heat expansion under operation.  And finally they must maintain a parallel relationship between the reel and the rollers to ensure an even cut across the width of the mower and to avoid uneven wear of the reel causing a cone shape.

With that being said it is imparitive that the mowers are checked daily for adjustment.  Quality of cut and proper height of cut can be compromised by loading and unloading the mower or even a small particle of sand can cause havoc on the cutting integrity.

Now, with the importance of proper adjustments made daily to the mowing equipment also affects the turf as well.  Turf when mowed with a sharp mower is much more healthy.  The plant has a better opportunity to heal and a better ability to sustain the damage caused by mowing.  As for a dull mower, it will leave the leaf blade shreaded.  The plant uses energy made from essential nutrients to repair the damage.  All grasses prefers the production of leaves over roots.  So in the case of dull mower damage the plant will expend it's energy trying to produce more top growth to ensure the efficient production of energy made from photosynthesis. "Shoots before Roots"

What does that mean?

The plant will then use more resources to make this process happen.  The plant will require more water, more fertilizer and more plant protectants to outgrow any stress that the plant is under.

So, back to the important role of our equipment managers.  These guys are critical in the overall health of the golf course.  In turn the health of the golf course will dictate nutrient and water needs.  We rely on their precise and persistent adjustments made everyday to the mowing equipment.

Probably a little more than you needed to know about mowing equipment, but none the less it is an integral part of our golf course maintenance.

If you have any questions please feel free to contact me.

Justin C. Ruiz, CGCS
jruiz@therimgolfclub.org

Poa Annua, Taking Over?

Poa annua is the number one talked about grass in America. Courses throughout the country experience Poa invasion at all levels. The Northwest golf courses are nearly all 100% Poa annua including greens. We are currently looking at about 30% contamination on the golf course and less than 1% contamination on the greens.

Poa has been slowly invading the golf course since the construction. Poa is a very efficient annual grass plant. A prolific seeding capability has generated a substantial seed bank over the years since construction. The turf was compromised by disease three and four years ago giving the Poa a great opportunity to germinate with less competition.  This has in turn given us enough of a population to become more noticeable each season.

We have used Trimmit, a plant growth regulator that regulates the Poa plant enough to give a slight advantage to the host turf, the idea being to potentially out compete the vulnerable Poa. We have tried increasing rates of this product, but have only succeeded in making an uneven playing surface in the spring from the patches of Poa being sunken into the surrounding turf. I have not seen the expected regression on the larger patches of Poa. Now, on the greens we are nearly 100% clean. I would have to say Trimmit has some impact on the smaller patches within the creeping bentgrass. We also use hand picking for the small plants in the spring. Trimmit has done a great job on the pinky sized plants on the greens and we have been successful in keeping the bentgrass clean.

The question becomes, what do we do or what can we do now? My opinion on this subject is more of a realistic approach rather than my normal optimistic approach. Depending on how aggressive our membership would like to tackle this issue, we will have continual spread of the Poa. Using chemical control becomes very expensive and results in less than satisfactory results when it comes to complete eradication of the Poa. We can try to manage seed head production in the spring to not get the puffy broccoli looking turf, but we would be kidding ourselves if we thought that we were making a dent in the Poa seed bank that has accumulated over the years. This would be a purely aesthetic approach for a great deal of money.  Growing up in the Poa capital (Pacific North West) and working on relatively new courses I have seen every kind of control exhausted on Poa and I have yet to see one successful in complete eradication. Some have wiped out a lot of grass, but then you are stuck with trying to beat the Poa from germinating and filling in the spots left from the old dead Poa. It is a very difficult task.

Folklore surrounding Poa is that it will die in the summer heat. This is a common misconception. There is no doubt Poa is a little less drought tolerant than other grasses due to the smaller root structure, but in our climate Poa will not die unless something out of the ordinary happens. There is no doubt Poa has a smaller root system then it's competition but it is a pretty resilient plant, it has started to take over in a pretty difficult growing media and is good at out competing the resident turf. Poa isn't as weak or quick to expire as some of the folklore explains.  (Joe Vargas, Proffesor MSU)

What I can say is, Poa control is very expensive and will only prolong the inevitable. Spending valuable resources on Poa may not be the best answer at this time. If you are not getting complete (100%) control on seed head production or simple eradication, Poa will always prevail. Being a logical thinker, I look at the hundreds of thousands if not millions of poa plants growing on the course, if I spend valuable resources to get 80% or even 90% control then we still realize that we have hundreds of thousands of plants still producing millions of seeds that season.

The seed head production will subside later in the spring and the playing surface is not bad at all. Pebble Beach and Cypress Point are both 100% Poa tee to green. I grew up playing and putting on Poa surfaces and the lie you get on a patch of Poa is like placing the ball on a tee. The greens on the other hand we will make adequate efforts to ensure that they stay as clean as possible since Poa patches on putting greens make putting bumpy and inconsistent.

Discussion will continue about Poa. It comes down to playability and presentation, which is more important, how aggressive do we want to get, and do we feel that some type of control is necessary? This issue will become increasingly more noticeable as the years continue..

If you have any questions, please contact me.

jruiz@therimgolfclub.org

April 2010 Monthly Report

Course Condition

With the weather being cooler than expected this month we are about a week behind on green up and healing from aerification. We even had some snow!

Projects Completed

We have completed the aerification of the Greens. We used ½” quad tines. The USGA recommends that we remove 20% of the surface annually. These tines got us a little over 9%. We are right on track with the Fall aerification planned with larger tines.

The Fairways have also been completed. The tines used were 7/8”. The spacing on the holes is a little farther apart then the greens so we are right around the 9% with our removal.

Recently we installed Barley straw bails in the lakes throughout the golf course. The theory behind the straw is that as they sit in the water they exude a chemical that eliminates algae from growing. Soon, we will spray the existing algae since the bails will not kill algae already surfacing.

Projects in Process

After our fairway aerification was completed, we had many areas that had excess sand. We are working on spraying the sand out of these heavy areas with water. Once the excess sand is removed the affected area recovers quickly. To alleviate this problem for the late summer aerification, we will apply less sand to avoid the build up. We will have some open holes, but we can then come back later and apply another light application to fill the holes and avoid the majority of the sand build up.

We are still working on #13 storm damage on the left side of the hole. We repaired the clogged line and with the heavy winter moisture the area stayed saturated enough to restrict access for our backhoe. Now that the area has dried we are finally putting the project to bed. There was some supplemental drainage that had been installed a few years back that was also clogged and we abandoned the latter section and are going to tie that into our new drainage pipe. This project will be finished shortly.

We have been slowly making our way around the course edging and cleaning out the sprinkler heads and valve boxes, checking pressure at the heads and making any necessary adjustments on the part circle heads.

The weeds in the landscaped areas are also getting sprayed on a daily basis. We are carrying pump sprayers to get weeds as we see them.

Projects Planned

The warmer soil temperatures will be ideal for new seed to germinate and grow. We will target any thin areas in fairways, rough or green surrounds to slice seed a ryegrass/Kentucky bluegrass mix to help these areas move along.

Of course the irrigation system will be a huge part of our jobs this summer as is every summer. We are continually scouting for improperly working heads and heads operating out of specification. The irrigation system is the lifeline for the course. It is important we have everything working properly as quickly as possible.  Read More

Integrated Pest Management

We have controlled for the Billbug adults at around 300 growing degree days. This should reduce the population of reproducing adults and in turn reduce the pressure of larval damage.

This month we are also on the verge of spraying our first preventative application for summer patch. We are monitoring soil temperatures to accurately anticipate pathogen activity.


Read More

Poa!

There is definitely some Poa out there on the golf course. This year it has become much more noticeable with the wet winter. The Poa has been around since the course has opened. We will continue to have Poa in the Tees, Fairways, Approaches and Rough. The greens, we will take every measure to make sure we do not start to get contamination. Poa may stand out like a sore thumb in the spring but once the seed heads die down in the early summer it will yield a decent playing surface. I think we all know some of the best courses in America are 100% Poa.

Side Notes

I again was invited on the cover of another magazine for the month of May. The magazine is Golf Course Trades Magazine. This article is dear to my heart and it meant a lot to be able to write.  Read article.


Our National Association, GCSAA is sending out the GCSAA TV crew to film The Rim Golf Club and feature the Case Study written last year on our efforts for water conservation. We may also be highlighted on Turfnet TV. This is a national Website with many members throughout the United States. GCSAAtv


If you have any questions, please contact me or Dan.


Justin Ruiz, CGCS                                                                 Dan Devere, CGCS
jruiz@therimgolfclub.org                                                      ddevere@chaparralpines.org

Monthly Green Committee Report February 2010

Monthly Greens Committee Report

Presented to The Rim Greens Committee

By

Golf Course Superintendent

Justin C. Ruiz, CGCS

January, 2010

Course Condition

The cold weather has come back for a little while and the course remains dormant. Spring is just around the corner though and it won’t be long before we begin greening up.

Projects Completed

This month we have focused on trying to recover from the massive storm we had last month.
We finished fire-wise along the right hand side of #11.

You may have seen us over by #18 approach digging up a valve. We thought the valve was leaking, but the soil was so saturated in that area from the storm, water started to fill the valve boxes. Ground water was finding the least amount of resistance to surface, which was right at the valve. Luckily, no irrigation leaks.

Cart drive offs have been covered with new, finer, mulch and the rocks defining the paths have been removed. We are still looking into a more permanent fix for the rough conditions over time.

Projects in Process

The storm damage on #13 has become our priority. The large amount of water mixed with DG plugged the drain pipe. At construction they installed a 6” drain pipe that then reduced to 4” pipe toward the end of the drain. It is like coming down from the Rim on 260, Sunday afternoon; everyone races through the passing lane and then when it merges back to one lane everyone is hitting the brakes. All the water had to go somewhere so it washed out the whole trench containing the pipe.

The left side of #11 and #6 are currently getting fire-wised during frost delays.

Projects Planned

Once #11 is completed, the right side of #6 will be fire-wised.

Removing excess DG in drainage areas will take place this next month.

With frozen conditions letting up we can get back to working on pressure adjustments to the sprinklers.

Divot and Ballmark Repair Party

We completed another repair party the 26th of February. The members that volunteered their time were able to complete all 18 fairways and greens in a little over an hour. A big thanks goes out to those who -olunteered. It helps our staff and the course out tremendously.

Integrated Pest Management

March 1st will begin our degree day count and start our trap monitoring for this season’s insect pests. We will also begin checking soil temperatures to plan our control process for the root infecting disease, Summer Patch. If you would like to read about our IPM practices, click here.

Aerification Notice read more

Greens Aerification April 12th.

Fairway Aerification April 26th.

Side Notes

The Golf Industry Show took place at the beginning of this month in San Diego. I was lucky enough to get a portion of the conference and show sponsored by some of our vendors. I took a class about irrigation auditing to continue to make improvements on water conservation. read more I spoke about our water conservation efforts over the past three years to nearly 200 golf course superintendents in the innovative superintendent session.

Dan had mentioned in a previous newsletter about my use of twitter and blogging to increase communication to our members and with other superintendents in the industry. The February issue of Golfdom has a great article on the use of twitter in our industry. view article

Storm Damage #13 Vol. 1

About a month ago we had a week long storm that dropped 11 inches of precipitation.  The start of the storm yielded heavy rains while the tail end of the storm ended up dumping nearly a foot of snow on the golf course.  With that much rain we knew we were going to have our work cut out for us.                                         

Shortly after the snow melted we were able to assess the damage.  We had some fairly large DG deposits on the golf course that needed to be cleaned up.  There were a couple drains plugged that needed some attention but most of all, left of thirteen fairway had some serious issues.

To the left of #13, at the bottom of the "bail out" area, was a large washout in the turf.  The perforated drain pipe was clogged with DG.  When the large volume of water was stopped by the DG in the pipe, the easiest way for the water to go was out the perforations.  It also didn't help that it came to a screeching hault when the 6" pipe was reduced to four inch at about the same place as the clog.

The water literally bursting out of the pipe, began undermining the DG soil and pushing it down the original drainage trench.  This caused the turf above to collapse and all the soil to end up at the bottom of the hill in bubbles under the turf.

We are working on fixing the problem with the pipe reduction and the perforation.  I will keep everyone posted on the progress of this project, but as for now the left side of thirteen is a mess and is also roped off completely.  Please take care and look for our staff and we will make sure we watch for you so we do not get in the way.

If you have any questions about #13 or the drainage that will be installed please contact me.

Justin C. Ruiz, CGCS

justinr@therimgolfclub.org

Growing Degree Day Usage Explained

Ok, I will explain the process from the beginning. You can skip ahead if you already know the basics.

First off a degree day is a unit you can calculate using a base temperature and a maximum threshold temperature. Some insects or weeds (poa) can have different min and max temps for calculation.

Example would be Masked Chafers have a lower max temp than billbugs. This temperature is important only when the high for the day is greater than the threshold.

These parameters are the limits of that insect or plant’s active development. That is what we are trying to measure so we can anticipate optimum stages to control with either cultural or chemical practices.

Once you have the starting date to begin GDD measurement of the specific insect or plant which is usually March 1st, but can also be January 1st, then you are ready to get started.

The basic way to measure degree days can be calculated as follows:

Take the daily low and the daily high and add them together. Then divide them by 2 to get the average for the day. Take the average and subtract your base temperature. If the number calculated is positive then you have accumulated degree day units. If the number is negative then zero is accumulated. You take this measurement daily starting at your scheduled date March 1 or Jan 1. Each days accumulation is added together to get the overall collected GDD’s.

The number from this calculation is a decent way to figure out your degree days but it is not as accurate as the sine wave method.  The sign wave method takes in account the time during the day that the temperature is within the optimum development temperature. This calculation is done with a complicated formula programmed into a computer.  The website that I have used, with this option accesses a weather station very close if not on your property. http://www.uspest.org/.

You can make use of the maps and zoom into your property and find a nearby weather station. An ideal situation would be on your property but over a few years of data collection you can get really accurate keeping track of when insects emerge or locating them at the ideal stage of development for control.

I used the internet to look up the insects that we deal with annually. I looked for growing degree day models for each insect and found a lot of info that was useful.

For billbugs we use growing degree days to anticipate spring emergence for contact control and egg hatch for larvae control. We also match this data with pitfall traps and adult count to see if we are on track. Usually you can get pretty close at recognizing a peak in capture numbers and degree day accumulation. That is when we use a contact product to reduce the population heading to mate and lay eggs. I am hoping we can get to a point where this is all that is required and we can accept minor damage from the survivors. We continue to accumulate GDD’s to anticipate the most vulnerable stage at which we can get control with a systemic. I also forecast this number to allow time for the chemical to enter the plant and move through the plant using phloem and xylem, if that is how the chemical works in the plant.

Cutworms are a little different. We use light traps to observe peak flight. Once we have collected a peak in capture numbers then we begin our degree day count to anticipate the proper instar stage to get the greatest efficacy from our chemicals or my goal is to begin using nematodes. Once you get the hang of anticipating these insects with great accuracy then we can think about using biological control that may only be in the soil for days or weeks rather than getting a synthetic chemical with long residual.

Above, I mentioned trapping. I use pitfall traps for billbugs and a light trap for Masked Chafers and Cutworms.

Pitfall traps are placed a couple paces from the native areas, parallel to the maintained turf edge, and located in severely damaged areas in the previous years or a south facing slope because it will warm up the quickest in the spring. I also slightly angle the pipe downhill so there is a slight elevation change to drain water and make it an easy trip for the billbugs to follow to the collection can. I use an eight foot section of 2” pvc with a slit cut down the middle about a ¾ of an inch wide. The action threshold is a judgment made by you. If you collect 5 or 50 it is up to you to determine what is too many. I have also collected cutworms in these traps. We were surprised to find them.

We have also set up a light trap. I had a horrible time last year trying to keep it running through the summer with the battery dying at night. This year I have a better plan and will have more consistent results. I ordered this trap from http://www.bioquip.com/. You have your choice between a 12volt or 110volt ballast. I was told that if you can locate it in the middle of your course and in a fairly open area so they don’t have to go through a lot of tree cover to get there. For this reason I went with a 12volt system but I am now thinking about finding a fairly central clock and using the 110volt plug at the bottom for more consistent use.

The trap works well at collecting a ton of insects so I placed a pest strip at the bottom to kill the insects once trapped so they don’t beat themselves up beyond recognition. I use the wings to look for obvious cutworm characteristics. The few days I could get a full night of operation, the trap worked very well. I had to ultimately result to old school curative applications. My goal is to get to where I can apply a contact surrounding the greens and never see them on the green. As we know cutworms lay there eggs on the leaves of the plant. We mow greens daily making it very difficult for survival on the greens surface but the surrounds are a different story and if you spread your green clippings you are also spreading the eggs. Once they hatch they make there way to the green. I have noticed as well that they also favor areas with nearby lighting.

As for Masked Chafer’s the same rule applies. Once peak flight is observed degree day count is collected and then chemical control can be predicted. Again, common sense is used to understand that south facing slopes are usually the worst. Mapping is also very helpful, if you are getting some damage in areas you did not spray. They have some prediction models that you can use to anticipate peak flight but if you have the light trap it seems more accurate and then you can make your own model specific to your course.

The moral of the story is degree day models are just that, a model. They are mostly accurate because growing degree days are calculated according to climate. So, across the country a billbug in Ohio and one here in Arizona may develop at different calendar dates but same degree day counts. It gets you away from the adopted method of following a date, set 30 years ago by some guy spraying mercury based chemistry, to spray April 1st every year. What if you warm up early or get a cold snap. You could potential miss the entire control window or just get horrible results.

If you have any question, please feel free to call me.

Justin Ruiz, CGCS

justinr@therimgolfclub.com  

Spring Aerification

Spring is the time for us as Turfgrass Managers, to start thinking of the new season that will be upon us in just a few short months. It is an important time to prepare the turf for the stresses of the summer heat, and relentless pest pressure. To prepare the turf, we use a combination of cultural practices including the most important one, core aerification.

The turf grows in a unique environment, getting nutrients and life support from the soil. An ideal soil system is 50% insoluble material, while the other 50% is made up of 25% water, and 25% oxygen. If you noticed, I mentioned “ideal.” Over the winter months the soil has become saturated with water, and since the insoluble material cannot be displaced, oxygen is pushed from the soil system, leaving the turf in a less than desirable situation.

With that being said, as turf managers, we make the decision to core aerify the turf. The goal is to balance the soil’s three part system, while also removing unwanted thatch, created by the natural attrition of the shoots, roots, and stems. The process also enhances nutrient uptake, while beginning the root driving process. We remove about 10% of the turf’s surface. To offset thatch buildup, removal of 20% of the surface per year is recommended by the USGA. That gives us the reasoning behind the need of twice per year. Click here for the recommendations of the USGA.

Core aerification is a disruptive process. Playing conditions will be affected for up to four weeks, depending upon weather. An application of fertilizer, one week before aerification day, will get the plant growing rapidly. Expect reduced green speeds coming into aerification. The day of aerification, after we have filled the holes completely with sand, we will apply another application of fertilizer. The purpose of increased fertility during this process is to speed up the healing process and give the plant the nutrition it needs to grow roots.

During the spring, we will aerify greens, tees, fairways, and approaches. The tees that were damaged by the dethatching process last fall will be addressed at this time. After we pull plugs on the damaged tee surfaces, we will spread an 80/20 mixture of Kentucky Bluegrass and Perennial Ryegrass. This mixture approximately matches the mixture growing on the course today. Depending on weather, the tees will need an extra cycle or two of irrigation to promote germination. We will also move the tee markers accordingly, to eliminate traffic on these selected tees, while they germinate and fill in.

I have been asked many times over the winter if skipping the aerification process last fall will cause problems. My answer to that question has been, skipping the process once, will not cause major problems, because of our use of the hydroject, and planet air. If the process is skipped repeatedly, then problems begin to occur that are not easily corrected. My analogy to help understand this answer is; if you are healthy and you eat French-fries once, it will not majorly affect you. If you begin eating French-fries at every meal, then you are looking at combating major health issues, even after you get back to your healthy diet.

2010 Aerification dates

• April 12th, 2010 Green Aerification
• April 26th, 2010 Fairway Aerification
• August 23rd, 2010 Fairway Aerification
• September 20th, 2010 Green Aerification

If you have any questions, pleas feel free to contact me.

Justin C. Ruiz, CGCS
justinr@therimgolfclub.org

Golf Industry Show, 2010

It was a great week in San Diego at the Golf Industry Show.  I have gone to the conference and show for a number of years now and I have always went for the great education opportunities offered.  This year with the new schedule coupled with the innovative superintendent presentation, I was unable to take as many classes as I usually do. 

The two days set aside for the trade show gave me more time to roam the floor and talk to the vendors and view the newest technology offered in our industry.  I was able to look at new products for controling fungi on the course.  I was able to learn about interesting products like fully biodegradeable grease and hydraulic fluid.  Products that can reduce our carbon footprint.

The theme of the show was sustainable golf course management.  That has been coined as the catch phrase for 2010.  I think the industry has gone the right direction in pushing environmental awareness. For our work that had been done on water conservation, I was invited to the Environmental Leaders in Golf award breakfast, where I was lucky enough to meet the leaders in conservation.  I was able to ask questions on how they have successfully conserved resources at their facilities. 

The innovative superintendent session was also a great place to learn real life issues that superintendents were dealing with and the solutions that they had come up with.  Being a presenter myself I was able to connect with these superintendents and get an understanding of their issues and how they dealt with them.

Overall the show was a week of filling my motivation bucket.  It is nice to be surrounded for a week, by superintendents that share the drive for conditioning, and the passion of being better at what they do.  When you can be in the company of people that share your passion for a week, it does nothing but stoke the fire that burns in my belly, to solve more problems, and top the previous year's accomplishments, with even better feats. 

If you have any question about my trip to the GCSAA Golf Industry Show please feel free to contact me.

Justin Ruiz, CGCS
justinr@therimgolfclub.org

Golf Irrigation Auditors Class, GIS 2010

I am in San Diego enjoying the opportunity to enhance my skills as a golf course superintendent.  Today I finished the first day of the Golf Irrigation Auditors class.  It is a one and a half day class that focuses on taking a more scientific look at your irrigation system and logically make it more efficient.

Water is a hot topic for The Rim Golf Club.  We have had several years where the course suffered from a lack of attention to the irrigation system.  Water became the limiting factor when fine tuning the presentation and playability of the golf course.  Three years ago, when I was employed the course was very wet.  The course was over watered in the spring leading to drastic conservation efforts in the hottest months of the year.  The range and rough became victim to the water reductions.  Since 2006 the water usage has reduced and the course has improved. Click here to read a previous blog post explaining this in detail, or read the case study on the Environmental Institute for Golf Web Page.

The amount of work during the 2007 season that was put into the irrigation system came with huge benefits.  This class is just an extension to help us dig deeper into the programming and equipment efficiency with mathematics.  I learned the math in college but was never able to get an opportunity to apply it before it became a distant memory.  This is the next step that will help us make the irrigation system apply water more efficiently and possibly increase playability, while reducing water usage.

The Golf Industry Show has always been a great educational learning experience that keeps superintendents up to date on leading edge knowledge.  I would compare it to the conferences that doctors go to where they can learn about the newest technology and procedures to help them be better at their job.  I have yet to walk away from a golf industry show where I have not learned anything.  Staying on the leading edge is a must in our industry.  Turf maintenance has evolved over time and requires superintendents to evolve with it. 

If you have any questions about the show, Golf Irrigation Auditors Class, or any general questions please feel free to contact me.

Justin C. Ruiz, CGCS

justinr@therimgolfclub.org

Spring is Around the Corner

The Rim Golf Club Maintenance Department is now thinking of spring.  It won't be long before the weather gets warmer and the grass begins it spring green up.  The recent weather forecast of snow possibilities makes spring feel like a far away thought. 

The upcoming months are important for our team to ensure a healthy stand of turf going into the stress of summer.  To acheive our goals, common cultural practice must take place. Spring aerification, water management, nutrition and grooming/vertical mowing are some of the practices that are important.

Spring aerification opens up the soil for the turf's first big breath of the season.  The soil profile is made up of three different parts; soil (decomposed granite{fairways}, sand {greens}), water and oxygen.  A healthy soil is 50 percent soil and 50 percent water and oxygen, preferrabley equal amounts water and oxygen.  The wet winter has changed this ideal balance with excess water in the profile.  Since soil cannot be reduced in the system oxygen must go.  With that being said, pulling cores and introducing the system with much needed oxygen is key to building a healthy stand of turf for the stressfull months during the season.

That brings me to water management.  Spring can be tricky with weather being unpredictable.  We can have warm spells for a few days straight followed by cooler weather. This increases the importance of weather prediction and the ability of being one step ahead of Mother Nature.  Our goal is to anticipate the weather and apply water accordingly.  Unpredictability can make for an interesting spring.  To help combat the spring roller coaster I have gathered the water usage data from the previous years and averaged the monthly usage to create a guideline or budget to stay on track with our water usage.  Of course, weather will be the defining factor in our actual water needs. With a guidline in place we can monitor our usage closely and better prepare ourselves for the critical months of June, July and August.  

When the soil temperatures begin to rise the grass begins to green up.  Our late fall application of fertilizer was done for the sole purpose of giving the plant available nutrition during this period.  Once the grass begins to green up the roots will be looking for nutrients to support the production of new leaves.  Our late fall application was a blend of organic (slow release) and synthetic (quick release fertilizer). The quick release helped retain some of the color through the winter months while the slow release remains in the soil profile until the temperatures rise starting the breakdown process from various bacteria converting the nitrogen into plant available nitrogen.  We have plenty of light, water and oxygen, food is the limiting factor.

Vertical mowing and grooming is the process of cutting the lateral growth of the plant.  The greens consist of Bentgrass.   Bentgrass uses stolons (above ground stems) to fill in thin areas.  As they move along the surface they shoot roots out creating another source for nutrient harvesting.  If we cut these stolons it forces the cut section to grow and start a new plant.  This helps thicken the turf as well as making room for the new leaves that are making their spring appearance.  Consistent grooming results in healthy upright turf that produces smooth playing surfaces.   

The Spring season is not far away.  Cultural practice planning is important to build a healthy stand of turf that can withstand the stressful conditions of Summer.  Our plan is to have another successful year keeping the course playable and prepared for what Mother Nature will bring.

If you have any questions about our Spring program or just have questions please contact me.

Justin C. Ruiz, CGCS

justinr@therimgolfclub.org        

Winter Course Clean Up

The winter months have given us a chance to do much needed clean up on the course.  Since the temperatures have dropped and the grass has had little growth in the last few weeks, we are able to focus more on trimming and thinning than mowing.

Removing Cattails out of the water feature on 7,8,9 was our first winter effort.  We are also going to try to get the Cattails out of #10 lake before they get out of hand.  Cattails may look natural at first along a lake or in a creek, but soon they take over the entire creek or boundary of a lake.  The creek can become obstructed from view of our members.  This overgrowth can compromise the lake's liner and make the water around the Cattails become stagnate which aids the bloom of algae.

Fire wise is of course our main focus this winter.  The surrounding lots on the course have done a great job thinning the vegetation on their property and we are making a strong effort to thin out the golf course native areas.  We have finished the fifth hole and the next area on the schedule is the 11th hole.  I know I have lost a few golf balls on the 11th hole in the dense manzanita on the left and right of that hole. 

We are nearly finished with the landscaped areas around the proshop, resturant, bathrooms and select tee and greenside areas.  We have been trimming back the ornamental grasses and woody ornamentals to get them ready for the spring season.  These annual trimming excercises will keep the plant healthy and give it the ability to show its true colors come spring and summer.

Lane and I are trying to accomplish some small projects this winter aside from the major clean up that is taking place.  We have worked on the drive off after the bridge on seven by installing large flat sided rocks to level the area travelled.  We are also taking a look at the walking trails from tee to fairway and green to tee that have been eroding over time.  We plan to try to make all the paths passable with pull carts if possible.  We are also looking at the drive offs from the fairways to the cart path.  Some have become incredibly bumpy and we are working at getting those more smooth if possible.

Overall this winter has been productive.  Even with a reduced staff we have been getting a lot of work done.  Last year we had more staff but be pulled in many different directions we tried to get too many projects done all at once and spread the crew too thin.  This year I have been keeping the crew on a better schedule to finish a project before another starts.  We will keep you, the members posted on our progress and we will try to get as much as we can before mowing consumes our daily tasks.

If you have any questions please contact me.
Justin C. Ruiz, CGCS
justinr@therimgolfclub.org

January 2010 Monthly Report

Monthly Greens Committee Report

Presented to The Rim Greens Committee

By

Golf Course Superintendent

Justin C. Ruiz, CGCS

January 2010

Course Condition

Yet again, the golf course was covered with snow from the recent storm that hit The Rim. We had nearly a foot of snow cover the golf course, with a total of 11 inches of precipitation for the week. That is nearly the total amount of rain recorded in 2009.

Projects Completed

This month we completed trimming the plants and bushes around the pro shop, spa, and course bathrooms. We also finished work on #7 drive off, after the bridge. There was a large bump at the cart path’s edge.

Projects in Process

Projects that we are working on right now are as follows:

We are spending all of our time doing course clean up. Large amounts of rain we had last week carried a lot of debris and rock onto the course. We had a couple drains get plugged and we worked on getting those to drain, so the potential of water damage to the turf would be reduced.

We lost a couple of trees on the course. One tree was down on the left side of 16. The other tree was on the left side of 9. The trees were both in the native areas, bordering the holes. Read more.

We are also working on trimming and thinning the bushes on both sides of whole #11. Before the storm hit, the crew finished the pro shop trimming and began to trim #11. Our goal is to get this hole completed during the winter months.

Elk

This month we faced quite a bit of an elk problem. We had chronic problems with the gates on the west side of the fence. The Elk seemed to figure out that the gates were our weakest link. They began just walking up to the gates and pushing through them. With Lane’s re-design of the gates we have yet to have a problem. Click here to see Lane’s solution to our gate problems.

Projects Planned

Future winter projects that we are looking at are as follows:


- Storm Cleanup.

- #11 Fire-wise.

- Walk path and drive off repair.

Divot and Ball Mark Repair Party

The divot and ball mark party, held earlier this month, was a huge success. A big thanks goes to the Paczkowski’s for letting us all meet at their house after our repair party. Read the article in Golf Course Industry Magazine.

Side Notes

Last report, I mentioned that I would be on the cover of Golf Course Industry magazine. Well, here is the magazine in digital format.

I am also getting ready for the Golf Industry Show. I will be going to a water auditing class to hone my skills on irrigation system management, view the latest technology for golf course equipment, and do a presentation to 500+ people on our efforts for water conservation (similar to the case study in last month’s report).

During the month of August The Rim Golf Club will be featured on the Environmental Institute for Golf website. Next month Arizona Golfer News (the paper in the lobby of the pro shop) will feature an article about the work done at The Rim Golf Club.

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact Dan or me.

Justin C. Ruiz, CGCS                                           Dan Devere, CGCS

justinr@therimgolfclub.org                                    ddevere@chaparralpines.org

928.951.3421                                                        928.951.3272