Do You Know Where Your Water Goes?

Sure we all track our irrigation water usage, right? We know how many gallons of water we use in any given year, any given month and for many any given night.  For those of us in Minnesota, the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) requires that we record our monthly irrigation usage.  We then pay a fee (aka. tax) based on the monthly usage along with our yearly permit.  But do you know exactly where your water is going and the amount being applied to your surfaces by the nightly irrigation cycles?

For the past 6 years we have been keeping close tabs on the volume of water being applied to the majority of our fine turf areas.  Based on the irrigation programs we created through our Toro Site Pro irrigation control system we have been able to get a fairly accurate account of our water needs as well as where the majority of our water requirements ultimately end up.

We have a wide variety of programs we use to meet our course's specific needs.  Superintendents understand there can be variability from year to year for irrigation requirements.  Those factors are based on elements surrounding weather and how that affects our turfs needs as well as the playing conditions players expect at that particular course, grass varieties, quality of the irrigation system, number of trees on the golf course, soil types as well as an whole array of factors that are really too numerous to list.

For the past 5 years our irrigation numbers have consistently ranged, from 24.1-31.3 million gallons.  This past year (2012) we saw a significant increase in our water needs, 44.5 million gallons.  There is certainly a reason for this increase. First was the grow-in and establishment of our practice facility.  Sodded bluegrass has a greater water requirement, establishing of a bentgrass tee as well as the 2nd hottest summer since records have been taken, all factor to the water requirements for our new practice facility.

The other issue affecting our large increase, I'm assuming but do not have the data to back...yet, was the loss of our main irrigation pump at the end of July.  The loss of the main pump which provides 900 gpm of water reduced us to using only our second pump which only has a 400gpm capacity.  We went from a combined capacity of 1100gpm to 400gpm for 58 days.  During that time frame we were unable to water to our normal philosophy of deep and infrequent cycles and were forced to water light and frequent to keep up with the plants water demands during the extreme heat of the summer.  I'm very interested to see how our water needs will be met this coming season with full pump capacity and if that translates into more of a normal water usage for us? This past year water used strictly on the course was up by an additional 10 million gallons compared to the average of the previous 5 years and I do not view this as an acceptable number based on past years history.  I'm hopeful the 2013 year will see our volume usage more in line with the previous 5 year history.  

One area where we seem to have less control and lack the specific knowledge to where the water goes is what we call miscellaneous or waste water (I dislike the term waste water as no water is intended to be wasted). We are unable to calculate how much water is used for syringing fine turf areas, watering in product, irrigation leaks, filling spray tanks, washing equipment, filling the pond on our 6th hole to maintain a static water level and the watering of the Har-Tru tennis courts. But based on the graphs we have a very good idea of what is being applied to our turf from year to year.

If you are a course Superintendent, do you know and have a good understanding of where your water is being used?  I view this as a valuable tool.  Planning for the unexpected is always a good idea.  That's why we buy insurance, right?  Are you prepared to address your Green Committee, Board or Owner if the DNR, city or county places water restrictions on your golf course?  If you are asked to reduce a percentage of total use, do you know how you will go about dealing with the changes required?  Knowing how much water is used and where it goes provides you with a great deal of valuable information you can use as a tool to aid you, your course and the industry, if and when those tough decisions are placed on you and your club. 

"Success Occurs When Opportunity Meets Preparation" Zig Ziglar

"People don't plan to fail, the just fail to plan."

"A goal properly set is halfway reached"

Zig Ziglar

I'm always a sucker for a good quotation. In fact I keep a little booklet in my office of favorite quotes assembled by Zig Ziglar.  Knowing how important planning is for the upcoming season, I spend a great deal of time developing a thorough and comprehensive maintenance schedule for the upcoming season (just in case you are wondering what I do in the winter season).  Utilizing successes and failures from  past experience, information shared from fellow Superintendents', continuing educations seminars, self-research, and assistance from local vendors are all avenues which are considered when formulating a comprehensive maintenance schedule.

Developing a blueprint for the upcoming season takes a great deal of thought and consideration.  All cultural and nutritional practices need to be considered.  When first developing our schedule I consider the timing of applications, products that will be used and rates of the products being applied and how they fit within the golf calendar.  Once that has been established I am then able to develop a calendar of events based on these applications. All potential application data can then be entered into our SPaRKS web based program.

There are many aspects that need to be considered when developing a strategy for each area of the golf course. As we enter the season I want to make sure we have a comprehensive plan and schedule in place, because even though we have a specific objective there are times we need to vary from the plan based on weather, growing conditions or changes to the golf calendar. By developing our applications now we know what products we expect to use, how much we estimate will be utilized and the cost associated with the implementation of the programs.  When planning, I typically design the program for a worst case scenario with rates and frequency of use, ultimately being more than we will need to use that season.

The areas that require planning are as follows; greens, collars, weak greens, tees, weak tees, fairways, fairway weak spots, green banks, bunker banks, intermediate rough, rough, high traffic areas, the practice tees, practice fairway, practice range rough, gardens, large cotoneaster hedge, and club house lawns. Within those areas we need to consider topdressing applications (for greens, tees, approaches, fairway weak spots) soluble fertility applications, granular fertility apps, fungicides, insecticides, wetting agents, growth regulators, core aeration, solid tine aeration and deep tine aerification practices. 

Once each individual application is scheduled on the calendar, then the tedious task of developing each individual fertility and fungicide application begins.  I utilize a program called SPaRKS Superintendent Version software (very inexpensive) that is tailored to golf course operations.  Through this software I am able to develop each application in advance.  Once all the data is entered, I can then use that information to make sure our expected fertility applications are at the rates we desire and within the budget we have been allocated. The software also allows us to print application sheets for each individual application, record the information as well as print reports that show us fertility rates, final product costs and usage.  I can then utilize this information for future planning and ordering of product based on past years needs and requirements.

The beauty of it all, we have a solid comprehensive plan in place before the season begins.  But, even the most well thought out plans change.  As Superintendents we know changes occur and we need to adapt to the environment.  We work in an ever changing environment so this is nothing new for us.  But I feel better knowing what products we plan on using, the timing of the applications, the total expected cost for the season and we have the calendar in place to help us remember what our plan is. Once we go into battle its very easy to lose focus of plans we made in January and having a plan keeps us on track so we can provide the best product we possibly can for our members. 

"Our daily objectives should include an honest effort to improve on yesterday."

Zig Ziglar

Setting the Height of Cut on a Greens Mower

The importance of setting the proper height of cut (hoc) on a greens mower is critical towards providing exceptional daily conditions.  Having the proper tools to set the hoc and making sure the tools have been calibrated on a yearly basis insures mowers will be set up properly day in and day out. This video does a great job explaining how and why only a .001" can make a big difference in the quality and health of the turf on greens.  Setting the HOC link

Time for a Spit Shine

Winter is the perfect time to spruce up the equipment.  Isaac has been busy thoroughly pressure washing each piece of equipment, then placing the finishing touch to the body.  Between the sun oxidizing the paint and the hard water from washing the equipment, the outer bodies of the equipment needs to be buffed and waxed.  Isaac will complete this work on our 4 Toro fairway mowers, 3 Toro Sidewinders and 2 Toro 4000 rough mowers. Once finished the restored bodies look like brand new.

 Hard water stains are very difficult to remove.

Either by hand or by buffing, time and patience is required to restore the original showroom look and shine.

The Winds of Change...

A big change is coming to the Grounds Department. After 23 years as the  mechanic in the Grounds Department, Head Mechanic, Ken Diethert is resigning.  Ken and his wife Nancy have decided to move to Colorado so they can be closer to their children and grandchildren.  Ken will continue in his current line of work as the mechanic at Blackstone Country Club in Aurora, Colorado.

Kenny began his long career at Minikahda in 1989 under the tutelage of former mechanic Bob Olson.  Following Bob’s retirement in 1995, Kenny became the lead mechanic.  We are very happy for Ken and his wife Nancy, but we will greatly miss his knowledge, his leadership and his skills as a mechanic. Kenny leaves us with some big shoes to fill and finding his replacement will be no small task.  We wish Kenny all the best as he begins a new chapter in his life. Finally, thank you Ken for your dedication and commitment to Minikahda for the past 23 years.

It's Winter Time

It's winter time and that means its time to change gears and focus on our winter tasks.  Mechanic's Kenny and Ryan are fully engulfed in stripping down equipment, replacing bearings and other worn our parts and making sure each and every piece of equipment is ready for spring.  Kenny has begun grinding fairway unit reels and will be consumed with this task for the next few week.

Prepping course accessories for the upcoming season is a long and arduous task.  Over 400 cart blocks have already been pressure washed and stained and as you can see from the photos there are a boat load of bunker rakes (over 300) that are sanded, pressure washed and stained all by hand.  The guys (Rick, Johnny and Isaac) are about half way complete with this task and by the end of next week should have this process complete.

 Sanding almost complete

Isaac Kasper-winter orientation

Nick Folk is our project man in the winter.  Nick is very skilled at carpentry and is up for any task we put in front of him. This years task, build a shoe storage area for the staff for under their lockers.

I really enjoy touring other maintenance facilities and this idea came from Hazeltine National.  We have a small locker room and there is never enough space for everyone's gear.  At Hazeltine they built an area under the lockers for the staff to store their shoes.  I thought this idea would work perfect in our small locker room.  Nick wasted no time in building, painting and installing the shoe shortage area for the staff, complete with runner carpets to absorb any moisture.  Once the carpet gets too dirty, we can either wash them off with the pressure washer or just cut new carpet pieces.  

Tree Removals

A few hazardous and unhealthy trees needed to be removed this fall.  Probably the most noticeable are three large willows next to the pond on 6.  The willow trees were around 30-40 years old.  After 30-40 years these trees served their purpose.  Willows are a short lived trees and these particular trees had a great degree of rot and decay throughout their structures.  

 Before

After-We now have a great view of the 7th hole.

Below is a photo of a Green ash on the hillside left of the 5th tee.  It's quite obvious this tree needed to be removed before it unexpectedly falls.

Covering Greens

The golf course closed yesterday.  Today we will begin the process of covering greens.  This morning we have frost so the staff will not be able to begin the process until the frost lifts.  If the wind stays light we should be able to cover half the greens today and the other half on Friday. Next week tree trimming and tree removals will begin as well as landscape work to the front drive as well as finish clean-up of a few gardens.

Fall Tree Removals

Trees are an important part of the landscape on a Parkland golf course, but all living things have a limited life span.  When that life comes to a close, no matter how attached we may be to a specific tree or trees, whether the tree is dying, diseased or has become a hazard, it must be removed.  That time has come for the three large Weeping willows by the pond on six.  You can see from the photos below, the trees have large cracks in the trunks, branches have numerous shelf mushrooms emerging, which are indicators of decay, and the trunks are completely rotted throughout.

Large trees in the middle will be removed

At this time the Grounds Committee has decided not to replace the trees.  We will also be removing the cattails from the pond.  This will open the view of the pond as well as the view of the 7th hole from the 6th green.

Green ash tree behind 12 green in the no-mow area.  The trunk of the tree is rotten which makes this tree hazardous.  We will be removing this tree in November.

Another view of the same ash tree.

American elm to the right of the 8th tee will be removed. 

Bur oak behind the 17th tee will be removed as it has become a hazardous tree.

The base of the tree has split and the cavity of the tree has decayed.

Tim's Tree Service will be here beginning the week of November 5th.  They will start with tree removals and then the remaining budget will be utilized on trimming.



Fall Projects

Last fall the construction of the new practice facility as well as the addition of three bunkers and three tees consumed our time as a staff.  This fall we are construction free, but not project free.  There's always detail work that needs to be accomplished.  One of the largest projects we undertook during the past two weeks was the rebuilding of various bunker faces in need of repair.

10" of sand had accumulated on the face of this bunker on the first hole.  That's 1" of sand for every year since the restoration

 The bunker face on #1 was brought back to the original contours 

Prepping the bunker on #5

The finished product on #5

Over time bunker faces begin to show the stress of daily wear and tear and repair work is required.  Damaged turf on bunker faces on holes 1, 5, 7, 12, 13 and 16 has been stripped and sodded.  Sodded areas have been painted Ground Under Repair and are roped off.  Please stay off of these areas until the ropes are removed.

A Tribute to Man's Best Friend

On September 13th our dog Pepper lost her battle with cancer.  It was only a month ago when I took her to the vet, as she was not her usual self.  The test came back as cancer and it took its toll on her quickly.  Pepper was almost 14 and she spent here whole life here at the golf course.  It was her favorite place to be.  After a weekend of being at home she could not wait to get back to the course.  As we would make the turn from France Ave. onto 38th Street she would whine with excitement as she knew we were getting close to work.

Stalking Geese

There weren't many animals she hadn't chased or tried to tangle with on the course.  The squirrel population definitely was diminished during her early years (her best day was 3 squirrel kill in a time span of 30 minutes) as her herding ability allowed her to turn on a dime.  Her mix of Border Collie and Australian Cattle dog provided her with exceptional speed, agility and of course intelligence.  She pursued many raccoon's (one time just a little too close costing here the tip of her ear, a trip to the pet hospital and $250 for me) and chased many deer.  One morning while touring the course Pepper got a little too close to a fawn and was subsequently pursued closely by a doe that was not too pleased with Pepper.  This may be one of the funniest things I have ever witnessed; seeing a dog get chased by a deer.

For almost 14 years she rode everyday next to me on my cart.  Sometimes she was relegated to the office and usually for reasons she did not understand.  Pepper wanted to be where the action was. Sunday evening cart rides were always a treat and she would sit right between me and my boys.  Most mornings we would stop at the club house; for me a better cup of coffee and for Pepper a blueberry muffin and if she was really lucky fresh bacon from the kitchen.  Her final ride was on September 13th.  I knew she was not feeling well.  She laid on the cart all morning.  I was in my usual morning rush, rolling greens and hurrying around the course.  She didn't seem to mind.  I'm pretty sure neither one of us knew that day was going to be her last ride, but I did find time to talk to her as I usually did and tried to comfort her as I knew she was not well.

Continually working, looking for something to herd

The ride for me is a little lonelier now, but I have many wonderful memories of my fury friend.  Having grown up on a farm, we always had dogs, and many of them, but Pepper was by far the BEST dog I have ever had.  Her first place ribbon from obedience class has a permanent a place in my office and she will always have a place in our hearts.  Thank you to the members of Minikahda for allowing me to have Pepper roam the grounds and earn her keep maintaining the golf course free from geese. We had a good run Peppergirl.

After a long run on a hot summer day, nothing like cooling down in a mud puddle.