Excess Organic Matter is NoLaughing Matter at The StraitsWhen you strive to provide 100% customer satisfaction,it can be a challenge to incorporate important but disruptivemaintenance operations into the turf management program.

BY DAVE SWIFT

The Straits and Irish Courses atWhistling Straits, along withthe Meadow Valley and River

Courses at Blackwolf Run, make up the72-hole golf resort designed by PeteDye known as Destination KoWer inKoWer, Wisconsin. The Straits hostedthe 1999 PGA Club ProfessionalChampionship and the 2004 PGAChampionship, and it is scheduled tohold the 2007 USGA Senior Open.

The Straits is a rugged, links-typelayout with extensive dunes and morethan 1,000 bunkers located along twomiles of Lake Michigan coastline thatcan play more than 7,600 yards from theback tees. This unique public facility isa walking only course that averages30,000 rounds of golf annually

THE CONCERNConstruction of the Straits started in1995, and the course opened in July of1998. The greens were built to USGArecommendations and seeded withProvidence creeping bentgrass. Duringconstruction and grow-in, importantcultural practices for new greens, suchas topdressing, were sometimes placedon the back burner in an effort to com-plete the project in a timely manner.

Extended periods of cool, humidweather during spring and fall arestandard fare along Lake Michigan. Ahealthy stand of bentgrass naturallyrecycles organic matter into the uppersoil profile of greens when roots,

14 GREEN SECTION RECORD

Cleaning up the cores is the most labor-intensive stage of the aeration operation.

Buffalo turbine blowers are used to move dry sand into the holes. Keeping brushes and dragmats off the turf causes minimal injury to the putting surface.

shoots, stolons, and other plant parts arereplaced throughout the season. Thenatural soil microbial processes respon-sible for organic matter decay aretemperature dependent. Consequently,the cool microclimate along the lakeproduced ideal conditions for thatchaccumulation .

Mter hosting the Club ProfessionalsChampionship in 1999, we started toaddress the concerns associated withexcessive organic matter accumulationthat had developed in the upper inch orso of the greens. Problems with scalpingand Faa annual moss encroachmentincreased as mowing heights werelowered to increase green speed,especially across severe undulations.

THE SOLUTIONDuring the next three years a mainte-nance plan was developed and fine-tuned to prepare the greens for the

2004 PGA Championship. Our goalswere:• Reduce organic matter accumulationin the upper rootzone to providegolfers smoother and firmer greens.• Eliminate moss and reduce Faa annuaencroachment.• Achieve these goals while causingminimal inconvenience to golfers.

From 1999 to 2002, various manage-ment practices were assessed to managethatch. We would lightly topdress greensmore frequently throughout the seasonto prevent further thatch accumulation,but we needed a way to remove theexcess organic matter that had alreadycreated a layer in the soil profile. Ideally,we needed to develop an aggressiveaeration program without closing thegolf course or reducing green fees.

By trial and error we found thatwhen nine or more greens were culti-vated at one time, we received an

unacceptable number of complaints andrequests for reduced green fees. Withthis in mind, we implemented a sched-ule of cultivating only six greens at atime using quarter-inch hollow tines.When the first six greens would healcompletely, six more were cultivated,and then the last six greens weretreated. Furthermore, the sequence ofcultivation was staggered so that only afew consecutive holes were affected atanyone time. Complaints practicallydisappeared.

The program was started during thespring of 2000. The goal of significantlyreducing organic matter was not beingachieved despite two to three aerationoperations per season. More aggressivecultivation with the Graden verticalmower was employed twice during thefall of 2001 to modify the upper soilprofile. The unit removed considerablymore material from greens than the

JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2005 15

A backpackblower is used

to eliminatethe buildup of

sand thatoccurs at the

interfacebetween the

collar andthe rough.

quarter-inch aeration, but the increasednumber of complaints from guests wasunacceptable.

Using the Green Section Record article"Core Aeration by the Numbers,"found in the July/August 2001 issue as aguide, the decision was made to uselarger tines in a closely spaced patternto affect a greater percentage of thegreens per cultivation. The goal was toimpact 30% to 40% of the green's sur-face area during 2002 and 2003 inpreparation for the 2004 PGAChampionship.

THE CURRENT PROGRAMThe Ryan GA 24 unit equipped withquadratine holders is used because therelatively slow speed of the unit pro-duces a clean, vertical hole. The tineholders are machined to accept half-inch-diameter hollow tines. One pass ofthe unit affects approximately 9% to

16 GREEN SECTION RECORD

10% of the putting surface. Each greenwould need to be cultivated three orfour times a year to achieve this goal ofimpacting 30% to 40% of the green'ssurface.

Greens are cultivated twice duringApril before the course is opened andonce during early September. A few ofthe problem greens that were contami-nated by soil from washouts duringconstruction are aerated three timesduring spring. Most superintendentswould cringe at the thought of thedamage and bruising to greens causedby three back-to-back aeration opera-tions during April - a time when turfgrowth is typically slow due to cool soiltemperatures. The key to success iskeeping brushes and mats off theputting surface.

Fertilizer and a moderately heavyrate of sand are applied to greens dur-ing late fall. This sets the table for

aggressive cultivation the followingApril. The dark topdressing absorbs heatfrom early spring sunlight and the turfgreens up quickly. Early green-up andthe availability of nutrients help theholes heal over quickly in spite of theaggressive cultivation. The heavy layerof sand also helps support the aerationand topdressing equipment that couldeasily rut the soft, wet greens duringspnng.

Mter the first cultivation, the coresare blown to the center of the greenswith Buffalo Turbine units. This shakessand loose from the cores and mini-mizes the wear that would have beencaused by scraping cores off greens withsnow shovels. Sand from cores and sandfrom last fall's topdressing begin to fillthe holes. The tufts of turf and thatchthat remain are removed. A little addi-tional sand is applied to the greenswhere needed, and it is blown into the

partially filled holes. The use of drysand is an absolute necessity. The greenis rolled after the holes are filled andthen the process is started all over again.

During early September the processis repeated once, but only six greens arecultivated at a time to minimize theinconvenience to golfers. Cores areremoved as soon as they are ejectedfrom the tines. Heavier applications ofsand are made to fill the holes, but theturbine blowers are still employed towork sand into the holes. The ability tokeep brushes and dragmats off theputting surface greatly reduces turfdamage and accelerates the rate ofrecovery. Again, dry sand is a must.

If we had tried to brush or drag sandinto the holes, we would have likelybruised the turf and added several moredays to the healing process. Anotherbenefit to using blowers is that anyexcess surface sand on the greens is sentinto the roughs. A clean surface causesless damage to mowers.

Double aeration during springrequires about four days for 20 greenswith dry weather. Our weather is prettychilly in early April and sometimes wehave had the plugs freeze to the green.The operation requires two aerifiers,one or two turbine blowers, one top-dresser, one roller, and a crew of 15-18

Dry sand is stored in a silo. Moist sand cannotbe moved into aeration holes efficiently.

employees. The September operationtakes approximately three weeks tocomplete.

It takes about three weeks for thegreens to heal over during spring and aweek or two to heal during September.Greens aerated twice in spring take thesame amount of time to recover asgreens aerated three consecutive times.

Mter all, the holes are all the same size;only the spacing varies.

So far, the only drawback with theturbine blower method has been excesssand accumulation along the outsideperimeter of the collar where the shortbentgrass collar meets the higher finefescue rough. The sand buildup due tooveraggressive blowing operationsresulted in occasional, but significantscalping injury to turf due to theuneven change in grade. Elevated turfneeded to be aerated by hand toremove excess sand and was then rolled.N ow we spend much more time withbackpack blowers along the perimetersto remove excess sand accumulations.

How successful is the program?Complaints are few and far between.The greens are firm and smooth, andthey drain rapidly after heavy rainfallevents. Root growth is excellent. Wantmore proof? The noticeable improve-ment in putting surface quality on theStraits Course has prompted the man-agement team at Destination KoWer toapprove these operations for the otherthree courses at the resort.

DAVID SWIFT, golf coursesuperintendent)arrived at Whistling Straits in 1999) straight

from the golf course management program atPenn State University.

Above left: An appropriate amount of topdressing applied to new greens during and after establishment eliminates organic matter layers in the upper soilprofile. Above right: Excess organic matter can accumulate quickly in the upper rootzone of new sand-based greens unless an aggressive topdressingprogram is initiated during the grow-in.

JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2005 17