A change in plans....

 I have awoken from the winter slumber and decided it would be a perfect time for a Blog entry, so off we go. Since the decision was made to convert our greens to MiniVerde this summer, the maintenance staff changed its direction on bent grass greens maintenance. Below are a couple of tweaks to the Agronomic Plan:

1. No March Aerification: Once the course is closed and before the No-Till Renovation we will do an aggressive aerification. Therefore, we eliminated the spring aerification to promote play and create a better member experience.

2. Limited inputs of fertilizer: The spring fertilizer application was eliminated; normally this would strengthen the greens for the summer heat and stress. Since, we are killing the greens for the No-Till Renovation this was not a necessary application. Also, limiting the amount of fertilizer will greatly increase ball roll and speed.

3. Limited/No inputs of fungicide: We will treat for insects and disease on a curative basis only. The fumigation process will eliminate any/all pests; we have eliminated our preventative spring fungicide/insecticide applications.

4. Reduced PGR applications: Our spring fertilizer application coupled with the cool weather the greens are usually growing and glowing this time of year. We use Plant Growth Regulators, to reduce the vertical growth of the grass and increase the lateral growth. These PGR’s help us maintain speed and drive the energy of the plant to the roots. Since we have limited our fertilizer inputs to the greens they are not growing as aggressively and therefore we eliminated our PGR applications. However, we have seen a downside, the PGR we use (Cutless) also helps control Poa. We have seen an increase in the Poa populations since removing Cutless from our plans. The Poa is an awful eyesore and we made the decision to reintroduce the PGR program until the conversion. This will help us control the Poa until we spray the greens out with Roundup on June 10^th.

Let me know if you have any questions and please follow us on Twitter @stivescc_vcsup

Hydroseeding

Here are a few pictures of the Hydroseeding process. In continuing to minimize our pine straw footprint, the incorporation of native beds is a must. The seed chosen was mixture of Little Bluestem, Love Grass, Switch grass and Indian Grass. These combinations of grasses are warm season, drought tolerant and require little maintenance. The stand of grass will be between 2 and 3 feet tall, which will provide definition between the Bermuda grass rough. The benefit of Hydroseeding to Dry Seeding is in the quality of germination. We expect a germination rate greater than 90%, we previously saw a percentage of around 40-50% through Dry Seeding. As the native areas germinate, please provide feed back.

Photos of "No Till" Greens Renovation

Many thanks to Trey Cutshall at The Farm for sharing photos of their renovation last summer.

The Farm "No Till" Greens Renovation

A few pics from AAC pulling covers

Here are a few action photos courtesy of The Atlanta Atheltic Club pulling covers on their UltraDwarf Bermudagrass Greens.

Pre-Post Emergent Weed Control

The maintenance staff is out spraying for weeds. This application will cover all Bermuda or Zoysia on property. It will add a block any new weeds from germinating and kill any existing weeds that broke through our earlier Pre emergence application. If the weather cooperates we should finish by Jan 21.

Greens Renovation Information

I will provide information on the FAQ's (Frequently Asked Questions) for the Greens Renovation. I will update this list as we progress through the year. Keep checking the blog for new information or questions regarding the conversion. Also, if you have a question you want answered email or post in the comments section and I will try my best to provide an answer.

AND OFF WE GO.....

Right now a lot of the information with be basic knowledge of the new variety of grass we will be planting in June. Mini Verde is a type of UltraDwarf Bermuda grass, the reason we chose Mini Verde over other types of UltraDwarf Bermuda grass (Champion or TifEagle) is for its Agronomic benefits.

1. MiniVerde® Bermuda grass variety 'P-18' has been the number one rated Ultra Dwarf in trials in the United States and Australia. Years of independent research has proven that.
2. Ultra Dwarfs MiniVerde® Bermuda grass variety 'P-18' requires less cultural practices which include verticutting and topdressing.
3. Putting green speeds can be easily maintained between 10 and 12 on a Stimpmeter.
4. MiniVerde® Bermuda grass variety 'P-18' can handle foot traffic better than all other Ultra Dwarf varieties and its recovery from injury is outstanding

FAQ

Why are we converting the greens, anyways?

Currently, St Ives has Crenshaw bentgrass on the putting surface (greens). Bent grass is a cool season turf that thrives in temperatures that range from 50F-75F. Since Atlanta is in the Transition Zone, Superintendents, have been able to "fool" bent grass that it is in an optimal environment. This would include syringing, fans, subsurface cooling systems and around the clock baby sitting. UltraDwarf bermuda grasses are a warm season turfgrass which thrives in tempatures that range from 75F-90+F. St Ives does the majority of play in the Spring, Summer and Fall and Mini Verde will allow the club to provide the membership with the highest quality putting surface available during our peak usage months.

How many times a year will you "Punch" the greens?

The Maintenance Staff will Aerify the greens 1 time per year, this will be an aggressive punch that will consist of Aerifing 2 directions and Verticutting 2 directions. The recovery time will be 10-17 days, depending on the weather. There will also be weekly groomings and topdressings that will be non disruptive to play (ball roll).

I heard you never have to water the greens again! (I know it is not a question)

I wish!!!

MiniVerde is still a turfgrass plant and the turfgrass plants are 85% water no matter what species. However, MiniVerde is adapted to warmer climates and its wilting (death) point occurs at much higher temperatures. In order to maintain really good greens, whether cool season or warm season, a lot depends on water management. We will keep the greens on the firm side, so therefore we will still have to do hand watering daily (before play) and run the overhead irrigation 3-4 times per week. We will eliminate hand watering (wilt watching) in the afternoons during play, which should enhance your round.

What are you going to do with all those beautiful and quiet fans?

We will be removing the fans and selling them to courses in the South East that still manage Bent grass greens. They are not cheap and are in demand this will help us offset our cost for the renovation.

Ryegrass Fertilizer

The maintenance staff is spraying fertilizer on the driving range tees and targets. When the temperatures drop the grass plants do not take up a lot of nutrients via the soil. To get a growth response from the turf we spray with a foliar application. This will ensure quick absorbtion of nutrients.