The Art of "Dialing it in"

Yes there is an art to green keeping and an art to what I like to call "dialing it in". Getting the golf course in top condition and maintaining that form throughout the summer. Superintendents' all went to school to learn the science but the art of green keeping quite frankly comes from experience, it comes from within the individual, it comes from a team all working towards the same goal, providing ideal conditions day in and day out. A goal of exceeding golfers or in our case, members, expectations.

For us in the Midwest, dialing it in, is a process we must go through year in and year out. Our number one obstacle is always Mother Nature. This year we were fortunate to emerge from winter with no winter damage and an April that was one of the warmest on record. For our course, we are also in the process of converting our greens to creeping bentgrass and our goal is impact the surface with as little disruption as possible. Late April is when we typically aerate greens, so for the month of April we left heights of cut on greens higher than normal .125". It was during this process the bentgrass was out growing the poa annua, in fact the poa annua was really not growing at all, and because of the differences in grass type our greens were bumpier than we would have liked.

Once aeration was completed it was at that time that we could then begin to bring the height of cut (HOC) down to our standard mowing height of .085". Additionally at the time of aeration we used an organic based fertilizer on the greens. This application is intended to be our base for the season. Typically about the 3rd week in May we will make our first growth regulator application. The timing of this is based off past history when we know temperatures will be warm enough for us to make the application. Since the product we use can be detrimental to bentgrass if the weather is too cold, which can happen in May, we chose to wait so we do not cause any self inflicted damage to the greens. This year happened to be one of those years when we waited too long before we made the growth regulator application, the weather was too warm and the fertilizer released too soon and thus the greens were growing too much and that equaled slow greens. This is where the art of green keeping takes place. Apply the regulator too early and we could get burned by a cold weather snap, apply too late, which was the case this year and we were burned by the fact the weather warmed up too quickly.

Golfers need to remember we are dealing with a living plant and we are always dealing with Mother Nature, and most of the time Mother Nature will win. Its our job to manipulate Mother Nature and use our experience to try and out smart her.

Many times golfers return to the course in the spring hoping for perfect conditions and due to the weather, aeration, fertility applications, or the natural growth habits of the plants, they are left wondering why are the greens not good yet. I have to say, it takes time for us to get it right, and quite frankly it's not going to be great until late May. Our goal is to set the plants up so they are ready for the season. And during that process we are not always going to have the greens in great condition in the spring. Our goal is to condition the greens to run a marathon. We are not running a sprint. We're not trying to hurry up and provide good greens for a few days and then back off and rest the greens and then come back and do it again. Those are the times when inconsistent greens are provided. Running a marathon takes time, commitment and planning. Even a marathon runner doesn't run a marathon every time they train, they're bodies would crash from exhaustion. So too is the case with our greens, we want them to make it the distance and in the process there will sometimes be some obstacles we need to overcome before we reach our goal so we are ready to run the race.

For us the time has come and we are now ready for the season, we are ready to run the race.

Quite Possibly the Most Imortant 45 Minutes of the Day

The first 45 minutes of the day could quite easily be considered the most important 45 minutes of the day for us. Nick Folk, First Assistant Superintendent arrives at 4:45am each day along with one of our assigned Interns to stage all of the equipment that is scheduled for the morning activities. The staging process can take up to 30 minutes and the remaining 15 minutes allows Nick to greet staff members and put the final touches on the board and adjust for any changes that might need to be made. The daily task list is written the night before so it's ready in the morning. Many times changes in jobs, absent staff, weather issues all can affect what happens each morning and being prepared can make or break the start of the day.

All staff assemble in front of the board daily before heading out on the course. Usually only about 5 minutes is needed to run through the jobs, but it gives us the time to make sure all are in attendance and all are clear about their specific assignments. The meeting starts promptly at 5:30am and by 5:35am our staff is heading out the door with little to no wasted time. Clarity and preparation reduces the chaos, makes for a smoother operation and shows your staff that you are organized and prepared for the day.

A Busy Time of Year

As you can see early May was my last post. Since the topdressing application to the fairways there has been a steady stream of day to day activities that has kept me from making a post.

One of our major accomplishments this spring was the new planting to the front entry bed. For over 40 years, two Linden trees graced the front entry to the club house and annual flowers beginning with tulips and followed by Impatients filled the bed. In the fall of 2009 the Linden trees were removed due to their poor condition. It was at that time we hired a landscape architect, Bob Harvey from Edelweiss Design, to develop a new plan for this area. Our goal was to install plant material that would provide more season to season texture and color. As you can see from the photos between the shrub roses, Taunton yews, Endless Summer Hydrangea, Peonies, and the annual flowers were will have excellent color from the beginning of the season right up the end.

Since the completion of the course restoration project in 2003 we have been adding plant material to the perimeter of the course to aid in providing screening and privacy to the course. Today the guys finished planting over 275 Dwarf Honeysuckle, Honeyrose Honeysuckle, and Black Chokeberry. It will take some time before this plant material is screening to the degree we expect. With some proper watering and a little fertilizer it will not be long. As the saying goes, "first year sleep, second year creep, third year leap.


Last week we replaced 3800 sq.ft of fairway grass that was contaminated with poa annua and perennial ryegrass with creeping bentgrass. Rick and the crew were able to complete the job over the course of two mornings. The ropes will remain in place for at least another week before we remove them. Golfer can play off the turf, but we are leaving the ropes up to keep cart traffic off the area.

Fairway Topdressing

This week we topdressed and solid tine aerated fairways. This marked the first year that we have ever topdressed fairways. We've been topdressing approaches for the past 5-6 years and the quality of the playing surface has improved dramatically. We now want to extend that quality to the fairways. We started with 500 tons for 26 acres. That equates to 20 ton per acre. Though that may sound like a lot of sand, the sand was easily worked into the profile of the turf. An additional 20 tons in the Fall would be ideal, but I'm sure it's not in the budget this year.

After the fairways were topdressed we followed the process by solid tine aerating using 5/8" tines and then brushed the remaining sand into the profile. After a slow start on Monday morning we were able to have the entire process completed in only 3 days. Maybe with a second topdresser next year we can cut the time down to 2.5 days.


The sand topdressing on fairways will aid in creating a firmer, drier playing surface as well as a great cutting surface for our mowers. It took about 4 years of serious topdressing on approaches to get the firmness we were looking for. At our current rate of topdressing on fairways, the process is going to take just a little longer and patience will be required before we feel we are making good progress.

Refining the Leaf

Thursday we will make our first application of ferrous sulfate to the greens. At this time of year there is an obvious difference between the leaf blade of the creeping bentgrass and the poa annua. Based on the soil temperatures as well as our limited fertility regime at this time the creeping bentgrass blades are quit wide and appear almost succulent. Additionally following our granular fertility application the poa plants are little too succulent for our liking.

This will be our first application of ferrous sulfate on the greens this season. It's always an interesting application to make and watch the reaction of the plants. This application will begin the process of refining the leaf blade which will narrow the widths of the blades, its almost like we are shrinking the leaves and in a way we are as we drive out the excess moisture with the ferrous sulfate. We will start at 160z/M, a modest rate for this time of year and work our way to 24oz/M by the end of the month. The players should be pleased as well as this will aid with increasing green speeds.

2 Weeks Later, Another Linden

Saturday I received a call from the Golf Shop staff, informing me that the Linden tree located by the starters desk had a large crack in the trunk and I needed to come in to secure it. That was no lie, from the crotch of the tree to about 18 inches from the root flare the trunk was cracked the entire way. Our greatest fear, the tree would split and either fall on the club house or worse, injure someone severely. The tree was quickly secured using ratchet tie straps, in three different locations until we could properly and safely remove the tree.

Late this afternoon, Tim's Tree Service (the best in the business) was here to safely remove the tree from its location. This tree will be greatly missed. It provided wonderful shade to golfers and diners who preferred to dine on the patio on our beautiful summer evenings.

The Landscape and Garden Committee will be meeting this week to evaluate the situation and access what the proper steps will be to replace the tree as well as the landscape situation since the plant material in place was all shade tolerant species. The shade has now been compromised and even after a tree is planted, it will be quite sometime before we have the quality shade so many once enjoyed.