Ford Assistants Volunteer at The Wyndham Championship

Assistants Jared Nemitz and Brooks Riddle volunteered for the PGA Tour’s Wyndham Championship at Sedgefield Country Club in Greensboro, North Carolina (Figure 1).   Their primary job for the week was taking moisture meter data to maintain consistent moisture in the greens (Figure 2).  This was an integral part of challenging the best players in the world with firm, fast and consistent playing surfaces.

Figure 1. View of #16 green and grandstands from #15 green.

Figure 2. Brooks Riddle taking moisture meter readings on a green at The Wyndham Championship.

 

Working with the staff at Sedgefield, other industry professionals and directly with the PGA Tour Competition Agronomist was a great experience. Furthermore, Jared and Brooks felt the most valuable part of the week was getting to observe firsthand the different management practices performed at a PGA Tour Event.

Purdue Pathologists Stops By Ford!

Dr. Rick Latin, professor at Purdue University and author of the newly released book "A Practical Guide to Turfgrass Fungicides" visited the Ford Plantation on Wednesday. He took time from his busy book tour to meet with Jared Nemitz for a course tour and an afternoon of golf. Dr. Latin and Jared discussed various topics ranging from disease pressure at the Ford to chemical application techniques. It is always helpful to have industry professionals and professors visit to discuss various turfgrass issues that are dealt with at the Ford daily basis.

Richard Latin, Ph.D. Purdue University, at the GCSAA Show signing his newly released book, “A Practical Guide to Turfgrass Fungicides".

Turf Team Attends GCSAA Show in Orlando, FL

Last week our turf management team attended the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America Industry Show (GIS) in Orlando, Florida. Nelson, Jared, and Brooks participated in a wide variety of continuing education classes where they learned the latest research and management practices being used in the industry. 

The GCSAA Show offers many seminars ranging from turfgrass related educaion to professional development.

Along with taking multiple seminars, Nelson teamed with Dr. Eric Ervin from Virginia Tech and Troy Fink from the Country Club of Virginia to teach a one day seminar on organic matter control on putting greens. Leading this seminar was a great experience for Nelson and the three were honored by being asked to present their seminar twice at next years show.

Jared took a variety of seminars as well, but the highlight of his week was teaching a seminar on networking for assistant superintendents. This was Jared’s first time teaching a seminar at the GIS show and he has been asked to present this seminar again to superintendents in a webcast next month.

Brooks felt the most interesting part of the show was the trade show where he learned of the newest pesticides, equipment, and fertilizers among other things. Coupled with taking several educational seminars, he felt like it was a great GIS show.

Researching the newest equipment and advances in technology on the trade show floor is one of the highlights of the show.

Assistant Matt Sumpter participated with his alma-mater Purdue in the collegiate turf bowl competition. This is a four hour examination which test participants in comprehensive golf course management including, but not limited to; turfgrass ID and management, pest identification, business, and mechanical knowledge. We are happy to announce out of 85 teams, Matt’s team finished second.



Matt helped Purdue place 2nd at the 19th Annual Collegiate Turf Bowl Competition.



Superintendent and Assistant Invited to Speak at the GCSAA Show in Orlando, FL!

Nelson Caron and Jared Nemitz have been invited to speak at the Golf Course Superintendent's Association of America Golf Industry Show in Orlando, FL next week.

Nelson will be speaking in the seminar "Greens Aerification and Water Management by the Numbers" with Dr. Erik Ervin from Virginia Tech and Troy Fink from the Country Club of Virgina. Nelson will be discussing how to optimize the health and playing performance of putting greens through sound aerification, topdressing, verticutting and hand-watering techniques.

Jared will be giving a talk aimed at current students and assistant superintendents on the importance of building relationships and networking in the golf course industry. His presentation is titled, "Networking Your Way to the Top: The Importance of Building Relationships".

Although Nelson and Jared have spoken at various conferences at seminars this will be the first time they have spoken at the Golf Industry Show. They are extremely excited about this great opportunity.

GIS SHOW WEB LINK

Putting Greens Are Now Painted!

The putting greens at the Ford Plantation were painted last week. Painting greens adds aesthetic beauty and contrast to the golf course when the bermudagrass goes dormant. This is the first year all the greens have been painted.  Last year we experimented with painting #17 green and were very happy with the results. After the success of #17 green last year we decided to paint all the greens this year. It took two days to complete all 21 greens.

Jared Nemitz paints #7 green, feathering in the edges ensuring even distribution as he moves across the green.

 Figure 1. Greens were painted from one side of the green to another requiring two people.

Figure 2. Left: Painted green; Right, Green before painting

While painting greens provides an aesthetic enhancement it also proves to be agronomically beneficial. Research conducted at Clemson University (Figure 3) showed that painting greens raised soil temperatures three degrees compared to an unpainted green, a significant difference. Obtaining warmer soil conditions for the putting greens during winter months is something we are always striving for. Similar to covering our front nine putting greens, painting our greens helps keep soil temperatures warmer.

Figure 3. Soil temperatures taken at a depth of 3 inches on March 25, 2007. Left, painted; Middle, overseeded; and Right, no overseeding or painting (Courtesy of Clemson University).

Hope you enjoy the newly painted greens and the look it adds to the golf course.

Aeration of the Greens is Complete and Healing Fast!

After the holes have been punched the men push broom sand into open aeration holes. This is the process used to dilute organic matter in the upper root zone.

Before and after sand topdressing.

Greens healing.

The interns and and Assistant Superintendent Ray applying additional topdressing to smooth the surface.

Below, a quick aeration video. The process that we use here at Ford is unique to our department. I don't know of any other courses in the country using our method to clean cores. Basically, we clean cores directly behind the aerator and really limit the mess and labor involved in cleaning cores. Furthermore, we find that the process is much less abrasive on the putting green grass, a real plus in accelerating healing time. Take a look. This process was invented by our own Assistant Superintendent, Ray. In the video is Assistant Jared operating the aerator and Assistant Matt leading the crew.

Fans Deployed at Greens Sites with Poor Air Circulation

A few week ago, as you all know, our irrigation pump station failed. As a result, many of the greens went through a stress period and got thin in several areas. Not surprisingly, the areas that were most hurt were in the worst growing environments (pocket greens, with limited sunlight and limited air flow). To attempt to encourage these areas to grow back more quickly we have deployed fans powered by a generator at the "weak" sites. The increased air circulation should help eliminate or reduce some limiting factors of turfgrass growth in these areas. We will continue this process and monitor the areas for improvement remarking on the fact if air movement is as large as a limiting factor to turf health as suspected. This process is very common on bentgrass greens and totally overlooked on bermuda greens for reasons I do not understand. This test should be educational.

We simply point the fans in the direction of the weak grass areas to promote healthy air circulation.

Upcoming Major Agronomic Maintenance Practices

The 2nd Fairway Aeration... July 26-30, 2010

The course will remain open but machines will be out operating