The Club is looking at installing a new state of the art Irrigation system.  I know there will be a lot of question concerning why we would need a new system.  Below I have written a synopsis of our current systems faults and the proposed new system advantages.  I hope this will give you some idea of what we have here a FCCC.  The new system that is propose will transform this golf course to a higher level.  All playing areas will be elevated to a higher level.  Washouts, rough areas with no or little grass will be transformed to health turf.  If you have any question please don't hesitate to contact me.

Our current irrigation system has a total of 434 heads. Holes #1-2, and #4-6 have Toro electric heads that were installed in 1992, and holes #8-17 have Rain Bird Impact heads that were installed in 1989. Holes #3, #7 and #18 have the original Toro hydraulic heads that were installed around 1965. These heads are installed in a mixed configuration. We have some holes that are double rowed, with irrigation heads running down both sides of the fairway supplying water to both the fairway as well as the rough. The remaining holes are setup with either single rowed configuration – a single row of heads down the fairway – or a mix of single and double. All of the supply lines running into these heads are PVC pipe starting with a 10” mainline that runs from the pump station, which reduces down to 8”, and then 6”, and then eventually 3”. The current limitations of this setup are as follows:

 

• The spacing between irrigation heads is too far apart leaving areas of the golf course without adequate coverage. The fairway heads are separated by 80-90’ and the green heads by 70’.
• The mainlines are undersized. This makes it difficult and in some cases impossible to run multiple heads simultaneously without losing pressure. This reduction of pressure correlates to a reduction in water coverage.
• A proper irrigation system is installed in loops, meaning each point on the golf course has water being fed from at least two directions. This creates a more efficient system overall. How is our current system setup?

◦     Holes #1-3 are looped together, but water is only being fed from one direction. The farther you get from the mainline the less pressure there is.

◦     #4-6 are not looped and each result in a dead end. Water comes in and stops once it reaches the end.

◦     #7 is not looped (dead end).

◦     #8, #9, and #18 are looped with water coming from two directions (good!).

◦     #10 is not looped (dead end).

◦     #11-13 is looped together but again water is only being fed from one direction.

◦     #14 and #15 are not looped (dead end).

◦     #16 and #17 are looped with water coming from two directions (good!).

            As you can see our current irrigation system is a mixture of dead ends and single fed loops with   only a few holes setup with proper loops. Having water come from at least two directions       allows for the entire golf course to be irrigated more efficiently without a loss of pressure. 

• There are very little isolation points for our current system. Any leaks in a fairway require shutting down entire holes, if not multiple holes, just to make a repair. If an extensive repair is required this means large areas of the golf course could go without adequate irrigation.
• PVC pipe has to be installed in sections, and these sections need to be glued together. Over time this glue eventually breaks down causing leaks and blow outs. We spend on average $5000-$6000 a year on mainline repairs. The average lifespan of PVC is 20 years.
• We have a mixture of irrigation heads on the course. While most are electric heads we still have 3 holes that are older hydraulic heads. The front 9 are Toro and the back 9 are Rainbird. Having 2 different brands and also different styles of heads causes us to have to stock separate replacement parts for each.

 

 

The new proposed irrigation system will include roughly 1000 RainBird heads allowing for a more efficient “wall to wall” irrigation setup, making sure every playable area on the golf course gets adequate coverage. Every head in the system can be individually controlled allowing for a more versatile system. This eliminates the need to have multiple heads running for a single dry area. This also adds the flexibility of running multiple heads for different durations. There will also be a considerable increase in the amount of valves on the course making it much easier to isolate a repair. Instead of closing down entire holes, we would be able to close off just a single line of heads. All supply lines and mainlines will be replaced with HDPE piping (high density polyethylene). This pipe is more flexible and all the joints are welded together allowing for it to be installed in one piece instead of in sections. This removes the need for glue which creates a much more robust system overall. The lifespan of HDPE pipe is 50 years. The mainlines for the new system will not only be larger in diameter, but they will also extend farther out from the pump station. This will increase water volume and pressure allowing us to irrigate multiple areas of the golf course simultaneously. Below are some general questions regarding the new proposed system:

 

• What are the head spacing's of the new system?

◦     Fairways – 70’

◦     Roughs – 70’

◦     Greens – 50’

◦     Tees – 50’

• What are the diameters of the new piping?

◦     12” from the pump house, reducing to 8”, down to 6”, and then eventually 4”.

• How does HDPE pipe compare to PVC?

◦     HDPE pipe is more flexible. As water surges through the system the pipe will naturally expand and contract slightly; HDPE pipe can handle this stress while PVC, being a stiffer plastic, will weaken over time.

◦     The joints of PVC are also glued together. This glue tends to break down first. HDPE pipe is “heat fused” together essentially creating one long piece of pipe. This heat fusing seals the pipe together like a weld and this seal is actually stronger than the pipe itself.

• How are the pipes installed?

◦     12”, 8”, and 6” pipes will be trenched. The 4” and 2” pipes will be pulled in by a vibratory plow

• How long will the installation take?

◦     Weather permitting, 2-3 months.

• How disruptive will the installation be to playing conditions?

◦     Using a vibratory plow on the 2” – 4”  pipe makes for a cleaner end result, eliminating the need to back fill a trench. The plow essentially pulls the pipe into the ground and the remaining hump is smashed down. This means there will be no trenching through fairways.

 

• Will the old system be removed?

◦     All the old heads, valves, and satellite boxes will be removed. All the old PVC pipe will remain in the ground (unused).  

• Will the existing wells have the capability to supply the new system?

◦     Yes, as long as all three pumps are operational.

• Does the new system come with a warranty?

◦     All heads and swing joints have a 1 year warranty. Pump station has a 3 year warranty. All workmanship is warrantied up to 10 years depending on the installer.

• Are there any other golf courses in the area that have this system?

◦     Meadowbrook Country Club

◦     Berry Hill

◦     Ballwin

◦     West Wood Country Club

Been few years since I published anything on my blog.  Here is a article I submitted to my local Chapter.  It is my journey battling Nematodes.  I hope it might help others that are having the same trouble I was having.

Living with Nematodes         

            I have been a superintendent for 38 years, and in that time I have had my fair share of ups and downs, but nothing was quite like my battle with nematodes. What started as a minor annoyance ended up becoming a full-on tug of war spanning six years, and filled to the brim with peaks of hope and valleys of utter frustration. I went through many products, most of which had little to no effect, sat through many hours of seminars and webinars, and showed dying turf to anyone who wished to see it in hopes of collecting as much advice as I could both personally and professionally. After discovering nematodes were at the center of my problems, and not just any nematode but Lance, I searched out anyone who had any information about them and more importantly how to get rid of them, but as I would slowly begin to learn Lance is a tricky adversary, and if I was going to succeed in this journey I would need to be well prepared. I committed myself to endless amounts of research and trials until finally arriving at a solution that I have been implementing now for three years with tremendous success. It has been a long road through a grueling storm, but I can confidently say that I am on the other side of it, and that the grass is much greener over here.

            In 2008 Nemacur was discontinued, and little did I know how much of an impact that would have on me moving forward. Back in the day if you had a nematode problem you could throw down some Nemacur and be good to go; so Nematodes as a pest never concerned me much. In 2005 I arrived at Franklin County Country Club excited and determined to make this the best course I possibly could. As the years went by I began to notice a pattern developing in a few of my greens; I was losing turf in the same small areas year after year. I thought it might be isolated dry spots so in 2012 I purchased a moisture meter and to my surprise the spots were not dry at all. I plugged the small affected areas and continued to monitor, and it wasn’t until 2015 when things took a turn. A couple more of my greens began showing these weakened patches of turf, this time much more severe. This had to be disease I thought, and sent some samples to Dr. Miller at the University of Missouri. They all came back negative for disease, but he did find a Root Knot nematode in the roots. He sent the sample to the nematode labs and those results came back with Root Knot and Lance right below threshold levels. Dr. Miller thought having two species of nematode near threshold levels was too much and advised I spray Avid. After the Avid application everything went back to normal. Success! No, the battle was just beginning.  

            In 2016 I went on the Syngenta Avid and Heritage program. I purchased enough products for three applications, May-July. At the end of my last application things were not going well. I was confident this had to be disease; after all, I was on a preventive nematode program. I sent some samples to Dr. Miller and once again, no disease. At this point I had large areas of turf dying, so on a whim Dr. Miller sent my samples to the nematode lab. My results came back with over 1200 Lance per 100cc of soil. That’s ten times over the threshold! The Avid wasn’t working, and I had to find a solution quickly. I began researching Nematicides that could control Lance nematodes, but there was only one other, Nemacur. I was able to find five bags locally and within two days of the application my infected greens were improving. I was hoping this would be the end of my troubles. I would plug the areas of dead turf and by next year it would all grow in leaving a nice playable surface with not one single nematode in sight. Wishful thinking I suppose, because by 2017 they all returned, and I was out of Nemacur. I needed an alternative.

            While researching Lance nematode control I came across Nortica from Bayer. Dr. Crow from the University of Florida had done testing with Nortica and it showed outstanding results. I also reached out to other golf courses that were having nematode issues and through them I discovered Rev by Dakota Peat and Worm Power.  Using a combination of these products I had good success, but unfortunately it was short lived. In 2017 Bayer sold Nortica, and Worm Power became too expensive. I was back to square one.

            Syngenta came out with Divanem in 2018. This was a more concentrated form of Avid, and after using up my supply of Nortica, I needed something to fill those shoes. In 2020 I sat down with Syngenta at the golf show in Orlando and they confirmed that Divanem would kill Lance nematodes. I took their advice and went on the Divanem and Heritage program, but this time with a twist. What if I needle tine greens before putting the product down? That way I could get the Divanem down closer to the Lance, take the fight right to their doorstep. I filled up my sprayer with confidence. This was going to be it, this was going to work, I thought. The battle commenced, and once again Lance proved to be more resilient than I originally anticipated. I was left with eight greens in bad shape, as I limped through the remainder of the summer plugging, seeding, and topdressing, tail tucked firmly between my legs. Not only were they infested with Lance, but I also had Pythium Root Rot which is common in nematode infested root systems. I was losing, and it was happening fast.

            In August of 2020 I sat in on a webinar with Dr. Crow. I needed to learn everything I could about Lance and why it was so hard to get rid of. I asked Dr. Crow about applying Divanem after a needle tine and he informed me that the control of Lance cannot be achieved with Divanem because Divanem binds to organic matter. So while you may kill the nematode close to the tine hole, the nematodes between the holes can still party on. On top of that bombshell he also said that regular use of Divanem will give you higher levels of Lance, because while the other species of nematodes are affected by the product, the Lance is not, resulting in an environment with very little competition, which is an open invitation for infestation. I was shocked. This whole time, I was making my problems worse.

            With the news from Dr. Crow I had to rethink my approach to nematode control. I started looking for natural products that could manage nematodes while also building a healthy root system. My thinking was if I could build the best roots possible maybe that would help curb some of the nematode damage, because as far as I was concerned I was going to have to learn to live with these worms. During my research I came across a promising option; chitin. Chitin is found in the shells of crustaceans and insects, and it is shown to have outstanding soil building properties. Digging a little deeper I found other chemicals that toot the same horn. Chitosan, Quillaja, Yucca, and Harpin Protein.  Chitosan is a liquid version of Chitin and encourages various bacteria and fungi, some of which feed off of nematodes and their eggs. Quillaja acts as a wetting agent, but it is also antagonistic towards nematodes affecting their nervous system. Yucca is a wetting agent and feeds soil microbes, while Harpin protein acts as an elicitor, sharpening the natural defenses of the plant. Harpin Proteins have also been shown to suppress nematode egg production. Using all of these ingredients together creates an environment that is not only hostile to nematodes, but also promotes and encourages a healthy soil biology.

            As for the products, there are many out there that contain these natural ingredients. Early in my search I came across a green grade fertilizer by Ocean Organics called Sea Blend that contains kelp, fish, and crab, but that was the only product at the time that was available for the turf market. I had to shift my focus to the agriculture and landscaping markets to fill out the rest of my arsenal. Terra Biotics was one of the first companies I found that makes micronized sprayable products that contain fish, crab shell, and other natural and biological ingredients. This provides beneficial microorganisms and the necessary carbon and nutrients to allow this biology to thrive. A company out of Georgia, Organisan Corporation, makes a natural nematicide called Nemasan. It contains Chitosan and Quillaja. They also make a natural wetting agent, OIIYS; a combination of Chitosan and Yucca. These products were marketed towards the agriculture market, but for the past two years Organisan has had a booth at the annual Golf show. For my Harpin Protein I found the company Plant Healthcare who distribute ProAct. I went this route because they offer a larger twenty ounce package. After receiving all of my products, and building a game plan, I looked towards the 2021 season with a slight hesitation. This had to work, I was running out of options and if I had a repeat of the 2020 season, I would more than likely be looking at early retirement. My back was against the wall, and I was down to my last strike.

 

            2021 was the first year I put my new program to work. My goal was to control 25-40% of the nematode population while also focusing on establishing the best root system possible. No conventional Nematicides were going to be used. To say I hit a home run might be a little dramatic, but I definitely didn’t strike out. I cruised through the 2021 season with zero nematode damage and greens that were improving by the day. I continued taking nematode assays the entirety of the year and to my surprise I still had some greens with nematode counts above threshold levels, but no symptoms were present. Dr. Crow informed me that when they do a nematode assay they not only count living nematodes, but also dead ones. Regardless if what I was doing was killing them outright, or simply making their lives a living nightmare, it was working, and after three years on this program my greens have never been better. They are firmer, denser, and more drought tolerant, but above all else, I have had zero nematode damage. I spent a lot of time battling these nematodes, devising many different plans of attack and using many different chemical products that had no affect on the nematodes themselves, and later I discovered actually did more harm to my soil biology than good. It wasn’t until I shifted my focus away from the nematodes and more towards my soil as a whole that I started to see results. Instead of trying to bomb these pests out of existence and while doing so disrupting the natural micro organisms in my soil, I began to promote and stimulate these organisms. Some of them are good at harassing nematodes, while others simply take up space not giving the nematodes enough room to infest and take over. A balanced ecosystem thrives, naturally setting its own checks and balances. Without this balance in the soil things can become chaotic very quickly, which is not a pretty sight on greens, trust me. I had to learn how to live with nematodes, because they too have their place. A diverse soil biology that is encouraged and maintained may be the biggest advantage over the control of nematodes.

 

 

Winter Golf

     I know weather has been very mild for November and December.  We have had a few frost delays but not many.  Here is a good video from the USGA that explains the damage walking on frosted greens can do.  Remember when we have a frost delay all members must start on hole #1 no exceptions.  If you jump to #4, #7 or #10 you will reach greens that still have frost on them.  Playing from #1 all green will have time to thaw before first golfer reaches them. 

https://www.usga.org/content/usga/home-page/course-care/green-section-record/59/issue-20/frost-delay-its-worth-the-wait.html

Cart Paths

      We have been busy replacing some bad cart paths.  Dobsch Construction is doing an outstanding job.  All sod work is being done by my staff.  So far we have done #18 from top of hill all the way to green.  #1 bad spots coming up to green and then around curve up behind green.  #15 at the bottle neck no more dip in path.  We still have to do #5 green, "#12 cart path up by 13 white tee and the rest of #18 and the cart path down to #9 green and #7 tees.  We are not going to stop with these paths I hope to add more.  I am looking at fixing #7 path from bridge to 8 tees and replacing # 8 path all the way to new path at green.  Our goal is to take out all the old 5 foot wide paths and replace with 6 foot. Most of our 5 foot paths are on the back nine which is the hardest paths to access with concrete.  Here are a few picture of our work.

Removing old path #18

It took 7 truck loads to pour the entire length of #18.

                                                                       

    #18 path is finished  

 #1 first part completed

#15 looking back to tees.

#15 completed

Greens

      

     Big difference a year makes.  We have been getting numerous positive comments on the condition of our greens.  My staff and I appreciate it very much.  Summer is not over yet and Nematodes are still present in our greens profile.  We need to make it through August and we are home free.  So what has changed from this season to last season.  One big difference is I stopped trying to kill Lance Nematode with conventional  Nematicides.  This did not work and only made the problem worse.  The years up to the time we found out we had a Nematode problem we did not treat our greens for Nematodes.  We would have a few problems during the summer the greens would repair themselves or we would plug the bigger areas.  I always thought those problems were from drought stress.  We now know it was Nematodes.  Once I found out trying to kill Nematodes with Nematicides was hurting me I looked for biological controls to fight this pest.  The biological products I found have some activity on the Nematodes and there eggs.  These products also have an added benefit they help build soil biology which give the Bentgrass plant deeper and stronger root systems. Chitin, Yucca, Harpin protein and compost are the products I add to my program.  Chitin is the first product I found that builds soil, tricks the plant to defend itself.  Chitin is ground up Crab Shells.  I am using this in the liquid and dry form.  We are using 6 different products that have liquid or soluble Chitin in them.  My greens granular fertilizer we use after aerification has the dry form of Chitin in it.  I am also using a product that has Harpin protein in it that helps reduce Nematode eggs and it also helps build soil biology.  Yucca plant extract is a natural wetting agent and it also builds soil biology. The last product we are using is compost.  I am mixing compost with our aerification sand and incorporating it in the green profile when we aerate greens.  The compost helps build our soil biology and it has a fungus in it that feeds on Nematodes. As of today this program is working.  These products are not in the main stream golf course fertility and pesticide warehouses.  It is sort of like taking a supplement or herb instead of a pharmaceutical pill to treat some disorder. This golf course is a testament that these products have a positive effect to our greens.  If we can get to September without significant damage This will be the best year we would have in a long time.  These products will also work on your landscape, garden and house plants.  Google Crab Shell meal or extract, yucca plant extract or harpin protein.  Thanks for reading my blog.

Course update

     It has been awhile since I last updated my blog.  Lots of thing have been going on.  Spring is here and summer is not far off.  Over the past winter we cut down 40 trees and cleaned up the tops of 10 trees to the right of #1 green.  I can tell you this my staff and I are tired of cutting timber.  These tree removals will improve playability of the golf course.  We still have work to be done.  All of the stumps have to be remove.  My stump guy has us on the schedule.  When stumps are cleaned up we will sod cart paths at #1 green and #10 green.  This will be a big improvement to these 2 areas.

     The Driving Range Tee, #4, #6 and #9 Black tees got a makeover this month.  We stripped all sod off the tees, tilled them up and laser leveled all four tees.  It took almost 2 weeks to get new Zoysia sod.  The rain kept sod farm too wet to cut zoysia sod.  We laid sod and then it decided to turn unseasonably cool.  The zoysia on the tees is finally sending roots down.  We are trying to get these tees open by end of May. 

                               Tilling up Tee                                            Laser leveled tee

                                                                           

laying sod

completed

    We just had Commercial Turf here to root prune all trees along fairways, tee and greens.  This will help our turf in all areas.  Trees will out complete turfgrass for water and food.  We will need to redo this about every 2 to 3 years.  The machine has 2 knifes 12'' apart cutting 9 inch deep slit.  This does not harm the trees.  We were cutting feeder roots just on the edge of the drip line.

  

Big Freeze

      It is that time of year.  With the bitter cold temperatures the ground has frozen solid.  Later in the week we will have temperatures climb up to near 50 degrees.  Greens need to thaw to at least 2'' before play is allowed.  The green surface needs sunlight to help in the thawing process.  Snow cover will slow this process up.  When snow melts we will be checking greens multiple times a day when we have at least 2'' of thaw in all our greens we will open.  Root shearing can cause severe turfgrass problems.  Diagram below show how root shearing is done by playing on thawing greens.  Thanks for your cooperation.