Agronomy Department and Course Weekly Update

January 26, 2016

It has been busy over the past few days, despite the “Snow” storm that crippled Atlanta! The team was able to paint our greens/driving range tees/driving range targets, cut miscanthis on #4 and continue spraying our Pre/Post Emergent herbicide application. They accomplished all these tasks during breaks in the weather. The Pre/Post Emergent spray is approximately 75% completed and depending on the weather this week, we should easily have it wrapped up by next week. Once all the spray is completed and the grasses are trimmed up we have leaf removal and #12 creek dredging on our agenda. These jobs are a challenge as they require heavy equipment on the turf, so, it is absolutely necessary that we wait until the turf is dry before we start. The staff understands the importance for both leaf removal and creek dredging and the impacts to playability and aesthetics; therefore it is on the top of our priority list.

I have spoken a lot about the “why’s and when’s” in regards to greens covers. When deciding to pull covers, we study the forecast, network with peers and look at our current weather data.

Our typical rule of thumb is the following:

1)      25 degrees or colder for two consecutive nights

2)      Soil temps less than 40 degrees

3)      Daytime High less than 50 degrees

However, soil temperature duration is the most crucial element in dealing with greens covers. Our protocol is to check AM and PM soil temperatures daily; this allows us to know how soil temperature reacts to weather patterns. As an analogy, you would not expect a steak placed in the freezer for 10 minutes to become frozen solid because the duration of the exposure is too brief. We will always make the right call to protect our greatest asset, our MiniVerde Greens.

Rugby just turned 9 months and is a certified Goose Nut. He lives for chasing the geese and the money I spent training him “off leash” is paying dividends. On our morning ride, after checking on the staff, he is off to find any geese on property. It is a thrill to see how much he enjoys chasing them out of the pond at #7 Tee complex; I know he will have his work cut out for him this spring as he continues to remove all the unwanted geese from St Ives CC. Go Rugby!!

If you have any questions, please feel free to email me at kmacdonald@valleycrest.com and for more information follow us on Twitter @stivescc_vcsup and the Blog: http://vcgmstivescountryclub.blogspot.com/

See you on the course,

Kyle Macdonald, GCS, Class A