Managing for the Greatest Common Denominator

Over the last few years much of our turf management philosophy has focused on managing for the greatest common denominator. It’s a topic I have spent a lot of time discussing with a friend and fellow Golf Course Superintendent, Chris Tritabaugh of Northland Country Club in Duluth, Minnesota. During these discussions we have both concluded that many of us manage for the lowest common denominator. This is to say as superintendents our ultimate job is to maintain the golf course in such a manner that we never lose turf. No matter what the species, no matter what the cultivar, our job is to see that no turf is lost.

So what does that really mean? Basically there are two types of turf that Superintendents in the northern region of the country manage, creeping bentgrass and poa annua. We all know that creeping bentgrass is the stronger species of turf and poa annua is the weaker species. However, on average most Superintendents will manage for the weaker grass type, poa annua. Why? If poa annua is the weaker grass why do we manage it, support it and spend thousands of dollars keeping it alive when a stronger species is also present?

Many in the golf industry know that for the past 3 years we have been working with the consulting firm of Greenway Golf and have been implementing many ideas and concepts from Marc Logan, all in an attempt to promote and manage for, on our greens, tees and fairways, creeping bentgrass. Many of the concepts have been around for decades, Marc has just been able to incorporate some old concepts with new technology. The philosophy is based on cultural and nutritional concepts that encourage the promotion of the greatest common denominator, creeping bentgrass. Good, solid, practical greenkeeping.

It’s quite interesting if you really think about it. Superintendents go out of their way every day to make sure they don’t lose the weakest strand of turf on their fine turf areas. Extra water required to keep the plants alive during the heat of the summer, or additional fertility necessary to feed and maintain the weaker species and frequent fungicide applications insuring disease does not kill the less healthy plant.

Over 15 years ago I worked for a Superintendent by the name of Scott Austin. Scott had been the Super at Midland Hills Country Club in St. Paul, MN for 20 years. His greens were firm, fast and made up of a majority of creeping bentgrass. Greens were single cut with Toro 1000’s at .125”, never rolled and stimped around 10’ to 10.5’ daily. One thing we never did in the 4 years I worked for him was hand water greens. His theory…"if we start to syringe greens in the afternoon, that plant is then going to become conditioned to receiving this water and we don’t want that to happen.” Deep infrequent watering cycles was how he managed. Sure there was poa in his greens, but even the poa was conditioned and evolved to accept those conditions.

After my time at Midland Hills, I made the move to Minikahda, this was 15 years ago. The poa plants on our greens had been conditioned to the point if the sun was high and shining, you better have a hose in your hand or you were going to lose some turf. My goal in the first 5 years I was the Supt. here at Minikahda was to try and find a way to condition the poa to not be so weak. Find a way to reduce the dependence on daily hand watering and nightly water cycles. Find a way to reduce the dependence on high fertility inputs, namely nitrogen.

Now fast forward to the past 3 years. Out goal since hiring Greenway Golf is to slowly transition our greens to a predominately creeping bentgrass stand. How are we doing that? We are doing this by favoring the stronger grass species through cultural and nutritional practices; managing for the highest common denominator. Acid based fertilizers, deep infrequent watering cycles, and reducing surface disturbance to the finer turf playing surfaces are all a part of our philosophy.

This past summer through no one’s fault but my own, I got a little aggressive in trying to force the growth of the creeping bentgrass population. In the process we lost some poa annua. Did we lose it all, no, but we did lose bio-types of poa annua, which were typically the ones which we had to “baby” to make it through the summer. We lost the bio-types we always worked our butts off to keep alive. We lost the lowest common denominators.

As we progress through our journey to manage for the stronger species, I know there are many out there who are nay sayers, they shake their heads, they think to themselves, what we are doing can’t be done. You’re always going to have poa to deal with. I say fine, your right, poa annua will always be around to deal with. In fact we have some very strong and resilient bio-types of poa annua in our finer turf areas. Great, if they are the strongest type then they deserve to be here right along with our stronger bent varieties. In the meantime as we transition, there may be times when we may lose some poa annua. If by chance those bio-types can’t handle what we are doing, then they probably don’t belong to be in the mix with the greatest common denominators.

The evolution of turf species on a green can be quite interesting to watch. If the turf is over managed, meaning over-watered and over-fertilized, it’s my feeling that those plants then become dependent on those inputs to survive. Reduce or remove those inputs and those plants will struggle to survive under the same maintenance regime. If those same inputs are slowly weaned from the system those plants adjust and evolve to accept those changes and during the process, the greatest common denominator (creeping bentgrass) begins to become the dominant species as it requires less inputs than poa annua.

Our ultimate goal of a dominant stand of creeping bentgrass on our greens and fairways will take time. There is no magic formula, just persistence and patience. But in the long run through our change in philosophy we will continue to provide excellent playing surfaces as well as provide a sustainable managed golf course.

Cross Country Ski Trails

As with every winter here at Minikahda we try to provide the very best for a cross country ski trail. Late last winter we were able to get an upgrade in grooming equipment, making the grooming process much more efficient. Below is a picture of the new snowmobile and Ginsu groomer, capable of laying a cut track for inline skiing and a corduroy track for skate skiing.

This year Mother Nature has provided us with more than enough snow so far to have some great trails. With close to 4 miles of ski trails, there is more than enough room for inline and skate skiers to enjoy the trails. See the map below for the available ski and walking/snowshoeing routes. (click on the map for an enlarged view)
There are three entry points for the ski trails:
A. lower parking lot
B. bath house parking lot by #18 green

C. cartpath by #9 green tee

ENJOY THE TRAILS!!!

Chimney Swift Tower

As environmental stewards, we always look to continue and improve upon our Audubon program. Joining Minnesota's Audubon "Chimney Swift Conservation Project" would be another great addition.

The bird, Chimney Swift (Chaetura pelagica), often called the "flying cigar", has seen a 50% decline in population over the past 4 decades. The Chimney Swift typically has only one brood per season in our area beginning sometime in May, with most clutches having 3-5 eggs. After an incubation period of about 3 weeks, the hatchlings are practicing flight inside the tower and flying outside the tower by the 4th week. Although a tower will only house one nesting pair per year, many other Chimney Swifts (up to the hundreds) will use the tower as a roost. We have routinely seen Chimney Swifts flying around the grounds of Minikahda during our annual "Bird Watch", mostly during the dawn and dusk times of day.
Since 1995 the Texas-based Driftwood Wildlife Association has been in charge of monitoring and promoting the conservation of these birds throughout North America. Our contribution to the project would be to construct a Chimney Swift Tower and install it somewhere on the grounds of Minikahda. After doing some additional research and talking with several other people who have already installed a tower, a site was chosen here at Minikahda and the construction process began. With some luck we'll have a nesting pair next spring.

More information about the project and Chimney Swifts in our area can be found here: at Minnesota Audubon Chimney Swift

The link below has some great photos of the entire nesting cycle from an inside the tower view, hopefully this will occur in our tower at Minikahda next year.

Cornell Chimney Swift nestcam

Below is the process of building and installing our tower here at The Minikahda Club.

The three tower sections constructed.

First tower section concreted into the ground.

The three tower sections put together.

The finished Chimney Swift tower, standing just over 14'6".

The Golf Course Trades Magazine Article

In the December issue of The Golf Course Trades magazine, I was fortunate to write this issues featured article. If you have a moment please read the article titled, My Turning Point. The article gives an inside look into how and why we have changed our management philosophy towards managing our finer turfgrass plants.

There's more to our Gardens then Deadheading and Watering

Maybe one of the most under appreciated members of our staff and an individual, if not for his work, would almost go unnoticed (and that's really the way he likes it). Dick Axum, Head Gardener (our only Gardener) has been a member of our Grounds Staff for the past 21 years. In a way Dick works behind the scenes, quietly and diligently going about his work attending to one plant at a time.

The back bone of the gardens, the basis for Dick's madness, is built behind the compost which he makes every fall. For the past 15 years Dick has been making his own compost to add to gardens throughout the golf course and around the club house. All material used for the compost is generated on the property. Compost materials include all of the annual flowers that are removed each fall, Halloween outdoor decorations such as corn stalks, straw bales, and even food scraps that Dick brings from his house each week to deposit on his pile. The backbone to his composting is about 5 loads of leaves collected from the golf course in the fall.

Dick will spend about 4-6 weeks in the later part of November and the month of December grinding leaves and building his compost which will be used next fall. Typically once the leaves and other organic material has been ground and piled, the pile will sit for about 9 months before any of it's used.

One amendment which we would like to begin adding to his pile this year will be coffee grounds from the club house. We want to be able to utilize as much material from our facility as possible to recycle and we feel coffee grounds will be a good place to start. Coffee grounds have a very good nutrient analysis and is a excellent amendment to add to our compost pile. Since we will be using coffee grounds from the club house, this will be a team effort by the waitstaff to save the coffee grounds for our usage. Initially it will take some work to get in place, but like most changes it will only take some time to make the adjustment and the commitment.

No matter the conditions, Dick works through it to make sure his compost pile is made. Quite a determined and focused individual.

Hundreds of tulip bulbs are planted each fall in the front bed.

Multiple containers are positioned around the clubhouse. Dick does a wonderful job keeping the flowers in bloom all season long.

Pool and snack bar area.

The clubs rose gardens are spectacular. Dick invests a great deal of care and attention to each rose plant and it shows. Many of these plants are at least 20 years old.

Dick really has a relationship with his gardens and the soil. He knows and understands how each garden is different and knows what can and will grow, or will not grow in each location. As I watch Dick develop his compost and care for the soils I am reminded of a paragraph from Joel Salatin's book The Sheer Ecstasy of Being a Lunatic Farmer,

"Take a handful of good compost, full of microbes. Bury your nose in it and inhale deeply. Now take a handful of any drug, pesticide, any chemical fertilizer. Bury your nose in it. Inhale deeply. Which relationship would you rather have?"

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving to all. We have so much to be thankful for.

Wiley Coyote

After several neighbors and the neighboring country club (Interlachen CC) saying they had seen a Coyote in the area, he/she finally decided to show up here at Minikahda. While filling our bird feeders i got this picture of "Wiley" by the #8 green. With the large volume of rabbits and squirrels around the neighborhood, it is really no surprise that a Coyote is around, as small animals is their main food source. In some cases there have been reports of small packs of coyotes taking down a whitetail deer, but that's pretty unlikely around here. Another great specimen of wildlife roaming the grounds of Minikahda.

Whitetail buck video

The other day i posted about a Whitetail buck and that we had seen several on the golf course. Last Friday John Jarosz and I got to see one of the other big bucks, but got no pictures. Today i was ready with my camera in hand as i walked to work. I was treated with the picture and video linked below. I was literally 6 feet from this monster Whitetail buck, i still can't believe it happened.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x5EhdRNAz6E

Minikahda Buck

Last year we posted about a large whitetail buck on the grounds of Minikahda, well this year is no different. Only a few days after putting up our bird feeders we have visitors. Today at about 11am this whitetail buck decided to literally knock over two of the bird feeders so that he could fill his belly with our wild bird seed. Not the intent of our bird feeders, but exciting to see none the less. One of the reasons you see deer this time of year is that it is rutting season, when mating takes place. The rut typically lasts for about three weeks, ending sometime around Thanksgiving in most of Minnesota. Recently we have seen as many as six does running around the golf course, the exact reason why we have now seen the bucks. Below is a couple pictures of the buck seen today.

Pesticide Container Recycling

Recently i found a company that will recycle your pesticide containers for free. The company is Container Services Network and they have many locations around the country mostly for the agriculture industry. Only a few requirements were necessary: triple rinse all containers and place the small containers in the large bags that they provide, contact them a few days prior to drop off and sign a few documents. Today we loaded up the 1 ton dump truck (see the picture below) with all of the pesticide containers that we have stockpiled from this year. It was quite the load. It is always nice to do things like this, as these plastics that would last for many, many years in a landfill will now be turned into other products. It also saved us money by not paying for a dumpster.

Six Tee Step Installation

This week the much requested steps were installed on the 6th hole. These steps lead golfers down the slope from the white tee to the green tee. West Lake Landscape, from Hopkins, did a great job with the installation. I know when the golf season rolls around next spring this will be a nice surprise for the men and women who use the green tee.


One interesting surprise during the installation. While the contractors were digging in the soil, they uncovered a very old animal bone. The bone is quiet large an appears it could be from a cow or an animal of that size. Interestingly the tee area on six was built in the fall of 1996 with soil from the pond on 6 when the old liner in the pond was removed and the pond was dug to it's current depth. So we are assuming when this animal died, it died around the pond. The bone is in very good condition and of course we have no idea how old it is. But since the golf course was built over 111 years ago, this is what we believe to be an old bone.

Tree Management-Often Goes Unnoticed

Tree management is a critical aspect of properly managing any parkland style golf course. Here at Minikahda we have close to 2000 trees on the property that require maintenance. We are fortunate to have a budget that allows us to properly maintain our vast stand of trees. Tree trimming is the bases for the majority of the budget expense, but along with properly trimming we also incur expenses for treating our crab apple trees in the spring for apple scab, treating close to 75 American elm trees for Dutch elm disease and now we are looking at treating our Green ash trees for Emerald Ash bore and miscellaneous tree and brush removal (all hardwood material is removed from the course, we do not chip any of the wood on site).

One of my goals 9 years ago was to methodically work our way through the entire golf course making sure that every tree was able to get properly trimmed. We reached that goal two years ago. We are now in our process of making our way through the golf course for the second time. During the first stage, there were many trees trimmed where it was obvious they had never been trimmed before. Now that those trees have received a trim I expect that the second go round might not take us a full 7 years to complete as the second time through should take our trimmers less time.

Trimming the Oak behind #17 tee

During the summer months when storms roll through or during periods of sustained winds is when the greatest benefits of our tree management program can been seen. In the past the golf course would be a complete mess from debris that had fallen from the trees. Now with a more complete tree trimming program in place the amount of clean-up is minimal. An organized well planned out trimming program pays dividends.

For the past 30 years, Tim's Tree Service, has been the main tree service utilized for all the tree removals and trimming projects. Its great to have a contractor that we can count on, knows the course, knows what we want and is willing to drop everything to make sure our needs are met. One thing we have learned over that past few years is, the earlier we can have Tim's here in the fall the greater the production. In years past we were scheduled for work in December or January. With colder temperatures and usually snow on the ground, there is no doubt that the same amount of work was not being accomplished for the same dollars.

The left rough of #17

This year our main focus of our tree trimming will be on holes 15, 16 and 17. I am hopeful we will be able to complete the trimming of all the trees on these holes before we use up the allotted budgeted amount for our fall trimming.

Since the majority of our tree maintenance work is completed in the fall, after the golf course is closed, most members never see the work that is completed or realize the benefits gained or the work that goes into maintaining a healthy stand of trees.

Course Closing

This Sunday, November 7th will be the last day for golf this season. Daylight is getting shorter, temperatures are getting colder and frost delays are more prevalent. This time of year we are asked almost daily when the last day for golf will be? Usually this becomes a day to day decision, but this year we have picked a day. By selecting a specific day, this allows the golfers to plan accordingly and it also allows us to plan more precisely when we will make our final fungicide applications, begin covering the greens as well as inform seasonal staff as to when their final days will be. Not only is this important for our staff but it also helps the golf shop with their jobs and staffing arrangements as well as the club house and any decisions they have to make.

The month of October was a wonderful month for golf and I hope many of you were able to enjoy the weather and the golf course.

The End of the Season Preparations

In a few days we will have reached the end of October. After the 31st of October any days of golf in November are "extra" days. Once the 1st of November arrives we are typically able to keep the golf course open through the 1st weekend, after that, I like to say anything goes and once we see a change in weather conditions for the worse we have the ability to close the course as soon as required to place covers on the greens. Once that process is in place, that's it, we are officially closed for the year.

Next Monday, the 1st of November, we will be blowing out the irrigation system. We have around 1200 irrigation heads that need to be blown out and the entire process can take anywhere from 6-8 hours. Following the blowout of the system we will then be focusing on applying our final fungicide applications to the golf course. This application to greens, tees and fairways is to protect the plants from pink and gray snow mold. We typically want to make these applications as late in the season as possible and definitely after our final mowing of the season.

We also try to time the covering of our greens as late as we possibly can. We don't to cover the greens when the soil temperatures are too warm and the plants are still growing, we wouldn't want to encourage growth or fungi from growing under the cover. We also need a calm day to cover. As little as a 5 mph wind can create quite a stir and make the process of applying the covers quite difficult. Because of this, it can take us up to 3 days to cover 19 greens, if we have to stop and wait for another day when the weather cooperates.

Juvenile Balded Eagle Injured

I just came across this information when a volunteer from the Raptor Center posted a comment on my blog about the rescue of the juvenile bald eagle from a neighbors chimney. Apparently it was caught in the chimney and had broken it's leg in two locations and had some torn tendons. I have placed a call to the Raptor Center in St. Paul and am hoping to soon have an update on the condition of the bird. Once I have that update I will let you all know the status of the bird.

Collecting Moisture Readings on Greens

This summer we purchased a moisture sensor from Spectrum Technologies. The TDR 300. This mobile tool allows us to take moisture readings anywhere on the golf course. With the purchase of additional probes we are able to take readings at 1.5", 3.5" and 8". Currently we are taking readings on greens at 3.5".

As of this past week we implemented another job for the individual who changes the hole locations. It's during this time in the morning when we will take 9 readings on every green, every day. When turned on the tool resets itself and for each of the 9 reading it will also tell the accumulative average. So each morning we are able to have the average moisture reading of each individual green. We will use these numbers to base our irrigation practices after and it will provide us with the information to know what greens will require water first and how far we can push the greens before they reach a wilt point.

After working on the course for the past 14 years I did not need this tool to tell us what greens are our wettest and which ones are typically our driest. But now with the information we have we can do a better job of fine tuning each green and do a better job of matching moisture from green to green. We are also going to have a better idea of how far we can stretch irrigation cycles before we need to re-wet the profile.

Bunker Work at #3

Last week Nick worked on the left green side bunker on #7, this week he is repairing and adjusting the bunker edge on #3. With the original construction there was a small collection area in this bunker that left the golfer with a real difficult shot. We are adjusting the edge of the bunker, bringing it in slightly. Our hope is now if your ball is in the bunker the player can stand in the sand to take the shot and not have to be standing on the turf about 18 inches above the ball.

In the past 8 years a great deal of sand has been blasted onto the face of the bunker. You can see anywhere from 12-18 inched of sand has built up. We are not going to remove all of the sand. This would entail totally rebuilding the face of the bunker and I don't think we want to do that since the turf is very healthy.

And speaking of healthy, the roots of these plants are growing all the way through the sand. Who say's you need to have balanced soils to a healthy plant system?

The finished product.

More Fall Projects

Today Nick completed the repair of the front left bunker on 7 green. Over the past 8 years the face of the green side bunker was beginning erode from golfer wear and tear. In the process of rebuilding the bunker we wanted to make sure we mimicked the original construction by our architect Ron Prichard. In order to do that we had to create the edge of the bunker using burlap bags. The slope of the bunker was then back filled and the top of the burlap bag was covered with soil. It should also be noted that the bags needed to be filled about 3/4th full of soil and tamped into place with a square edge.
Once tamped and back filled, the sod could then be laid over the soil and rolled over the burlap bag and into the bunker edge. The sod is then left covering the bag and sand is pushed up to cover the sod. As the sod roots into the soil and the bag we are then left with an edge that provides the laced edge look. A classic bunker look to a classic golf course.

Tree Root Pruning

Trees on a golf course, love them or hate them, either way they need to be managed. When most people think tree management they usually think about tree trimming, pruning of the branches, or managing for disease or insect infestation. As a turf manager we also need to address the impact trees have on the turf. Tree roots although they remain unseen, they can create a great deal of damage to the turf. Damage that usually seems to be a secondary issue, but quite frankly can be the root (no pun intended) of the problem.

Tree roots can grow right into the greens and rob the turf of the water and nutrients needed to grow properly. This past week Rick trenched around the 5th green on the left and back side of the green. There is a large American elm on the left, 2 large oaks and a basswood to the back of the green. As Rick trenched he cut thousands of feeder roots as well as roots measuring 1-2 inches in diameter. After trenching a barrier fabric was installed in the trench so the tree roots could no longer grow in the direction of the green.

For years we have struggled with the health of the turf on the 5th green. Hopefully by cutting the tree roots the health of the turf will gradually improve over the next few years.

Seeding Bentgrass into Fairways

This past week we slit seeded bentgrass into some of our weaker fairway locations. Of course these weaker fairway turf areas are made up of predominately poa annua. During the course of the summer the weaker, shallower rooted poa annua in many areas on the edges of our fairways around our fairway bunkers checked out. A combination of heat stress as well a loss of poa annua from a disease called Summer Patch, we were left with some pretty thin turf.

During the week of aeration we core aerated the weaker turf areas. This week we slit seeded bentgrass into these same areas. It's getting a little late in the season for seeding bentgrass, but we are hopeful we will see some germination as well as establishment. For the next few weeks we will keep these areas roped off. We want to keep cart traffic off the seeded areas as much as we can so we can increase our chances of success.

Over the past 3 years we have seen a huge swing in our bentgrass population on fairways. So much so that now the majority of our clean-up pass areas (the area where our fairway mower cuts the edge of the fairway) have converted to creeping bentgrass. The only areas where we still have a good stand of poa annua is the edges of fairways next to fairway bunkers and on only a few locations where the fairway and the approach intersect. In another 1-2 seasons I expect the majority of all of these areas to have fully converted to creeping bentgrass. With a few adjustments to our management practices in these areas know we can turn these areas around.

Aeration Week

Looks like the weather is not going to cooperate for us today, drizzle and 15-30 mph winds. The course is closed today so we can begin the process of aerating the course. Today we are in the process of topdressing and deep tine aerating the greens. Unfortunately with the wet weather we might not get the sand broomed on the greens. If this is the case we will wait until tomorrow to complete this process.



For the fairways we are solid tine aerating so there are no cores being pulled. This cultural practice works basically in any weather condition. Although this process is less disruptive for the golfers we will try to complete this task as quickly as we can.



Areas on fairway edges where poa annua is the dominant species we are core aerating these areas. The cores are being removed and then we will over-seed these areas with creeping bentgrass and heavily topdress with sand. These areas will also be roped off to keep our staff as well as golfers from driving in these locations.


For many many years, every year we aerate the 18th fairway there is a section that runs across the fairway that we can't aerate due to an old irrigation pipe that is buried in the fairway. We finally decided to dig the pipe out of the fairway. Once this 4" galvanized pipe is removed, Rick will begin installing drainage into this location on the fairway. If all goes well Rick should have this project completed by either today or at the latest, tomorrow morning.



Due to the cool wet weather we have been experiencing, but fairway bunker faces have become quite thick. Since the course is closed today we are using this opportunity to trim the bunker faces down. Once the fescue is cut down another crew rakes the debris and cleans the bunker area. This task will take the crew the majority of the day to complete.

A View From the Passengers Seat

In this months The Minikahda Columns September Newsletter, my dog Pepper took over the duties of writing this months Eagle Eye column. I think she did a great job. If you get a chance to talk to her make sure you mention the column, she loves to get positive feedback.




A View from the Passengers Seat
By Pepper Hemmingway

I’m back at the computer giving the boss break so he can spend some time on the course and less time in the office. It seems to me last year I started my article writing about the cool summer we were having, well it looks like this summer was quite the opposite. I know because it was sure hot at the end of July and the first two weeks in August. Now, I have only been around for 12 years and the boss has been in the business for almost 20 and if he says he can’t recall a stretch of weather like we just had, then it must have been a rough stretch.

Apparently when there are extended periods of hot humid weather and nighttime temperatures stay in the 70’s and dew points remain in the 70’s this creates ideal environmental conditions for disease incidence. The boss and staff were busy treating greens, tees and fairways for fungal pathogens during this period of weather. I know, because when the boss hops on a sprayer, I’m relegated to my office bed until he comes back. There was a great deal of chatter amongst the staff about diseases such as brown patch, summer patch, dollar spot and pythium. It appears they’ve got it all under control. It also helps when the weather conditions changed for the better, disease pressure is reduced and the need to apply fungicides is not so necessary.

Not only have we had a hotter than normal summer, there has also been a great deal of rain, sometimes a little too much rain, in the form of downpours. This is not something the boss enjoys seeing, but he doesn’t mind as much with the new bunker design. No longer do the bunkers wash out to the degree they used too and there is little to no contamination from the silt and dirt which just creates a muddy bunker.

Due to all the rain and high humidity the dependence on irrigation water to maintain the golf course has been reduced this season. On average the golf course will require from 25-30 million gallons of water in a season. This summer, year-to-date, only 12 million gallons have been utilized. As we head into fall season the plants requirement for water decreases. By year end the boss expects our total water usage to be well below previous years.

The rain has definitely helped reduce water usage, but another factor is the overall increase in creeping bentgrass on the fairways. This turf species requires less water than the shallow rooted poa annua. Through management techniques of deep and infrequent watering, creeping bentgrass plants can develop deeper roots. Deeper turf plant roots equates to less water and less water helps provide firmer golf conditions and can reduce disease incidence. A deeper rooted plant also requires less fertility inputs. It sounds like there are many benefits to continue to encourage creeping bentgrass as the dominant turf species on the golf course. I may be just a dog but you didn’t know I knew so much about turf management did you?

Fall is a great time of year and a great time to play some golf. I love it because the squirrels are busy storing food for the winter and everyone knows me and my pal Cooper the Yellow Lab, love to chase those squirrels. Remember to check out the boss’s blog sight at www.minikahdagrounds.blogspot.com and follow him on Twitter for course condition updates at www.twitter.com/MinikahdaTurf. Until next year, I will see you on the course.