What is the difference between storm drains and sewer drains? How much oxygen do salmon need when they are spawning? Under what pH does grass need to thrive?
These are some of the questions Laurel Nyquist’s 7th grade students pondered on their field trip to Glendale Golf and Country Club in Bellevue on May 5.
Through First Green, local golf course superintendents host students on field trips where they test water quality, collect soil samples, identify plants, design plantings, assist in stream bed restoration and are involved in the ecology and environmental aspects of the golf course. The students also are introduced to many other aspects of golf.
The more than 50 students at the event visited four learning stations around the golf course. They tested the water in Kelsey Creek, the tributary that runs through the golf course, for pH and temperature, and learned the optimal conditions for salmon and salmon eggs. Using water from the golf course’s pond, students raced each other to find macro-invertebrates. They also learned about storm water and what they could do at home to protect water quality.
Jim Myers, Greg Hall and Craig Benson, superintendents at The Plateau Club, Fairwood Golf and Country Club and Meridian Valley Golf & Country Club, showed the students how to test the soil for pH level, and why that is important.
After the learning stations, the students were able to go onto a putting green for a putting contest.
Laurie Devereaux from the City of Bellevue guided the students through their macro-invertebrate hunt and taught them that the presence of macro invertebrates (in quantity and diversity) indicates water health. Melani Baker of Nature Vision addressed how water quality impacts salmon.
“The trip really helped the students make real world applications to our classroom lessons," said Nyquist. "I had some nice discussions with my students when we returned to school about water quality, soils and effects of pollution on water and habitat.” said Laurel Nyquist.
More information about First Green is available online at http://thefirstgreen.org.
Source: www.pnwlocalnews.com
May 26, 2011
Three golf courses swing for zero waste
A service club, a nonprofit and the county are teaming up to turn the three county-run golf courses into zero-waste operations.
The effort was kicked off by the donation of two vessel composters from the county Integrated Waste Management Authority. The composters cost $10,000 each and will be used to compost all of the food waste, grass clippings and landscape byproducts from Dairy Creek Golf Course near Cuesta College.
The project aims to take waste from the golf course and turn it into organic fertilizer that can be used not only at Dairy Creek, but also at Morro Bay Golf Course and Atascadero’s Chalk Mountain.
“Ultimately, I want to eliminate all waste into landfills,” said Josh Heptig, superintendent of county golf operations. The project is not costing the county any out-of-pocket expenses, only staff time.
As part of the project, a zero-waste demonstration project is being set up at Dairy Creek. It includes food-waste composting, vermiculture — the use of worms in composting — and the production of compost tea, in which water is steeped in compost to give it fertilizing and pesticide properties.
The county is being assisted in the effort by the Eco-Rotary of Morro Bay and Environmental Protection Associates, a San Luis Obispo-based nonprofit.
Source: www.sanluisobispo.com
The effort was kicked off by the donation of two vessel composters from the county Integrated Waste Management Authority. The composters cost $10,000 each and will be used to compost all of the food waste, grass clippings and landscape byproducts from Dairy Creek Golf Course near Cuesta College.
The project aims to take waste from the golf course and turn it into organic fertilizer that can be used not only at Dairy Creek, but also at Morro Bay Golf Course and Atascadero’s Chalk Mountain.
“Ultimately, I want to eliminate all waste into landfills,” said Josh Heptig, superintendent of county golf operations. The project is not costing the county any out-of-pocket expenses, only staff time.
As part of the project, a zero-waste demonstration project is being set up at Dairy Creek. It includes food-waste composting, vermiculture — the use of worms in composting — and the production of compost tea, in which water is steeped in compost to give it fertilizing and pesticide properties.
The county is being assisted in the effort by the Eco-Rotary of Morro Bay and Environmental Protection Associates, a San Luis Obispo-based nonprofit.
Source: www.sanluisobispo.com
April 28, 2011
How golf courses are getting greener
Blame it on Augusta and the advent of colour television. Up till then, most golfers were content to play around the odd weed and didn’t get overly upset if skunks dug up turf.
But starting in the late 1960s, colour broadcasts of the Masters Tournament at the Augusta National Golf Club in Georgia showed the world a meticulously-maintained course shimmering like an ethereal Emerald City. Golfers turned green with envy.
“We call it the Augusta syndrome,” says Rob Witherspoon, director of the University of Guelph’s Turfgrass Institute and Environmental Research Centre. “The expectation of standards used to be lower. Golfers saw that and said ‘Why doesn’t our golf course look like that - blemish-free, no weeds?’”
But such standards come at a cost to the environment. Fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides and astounding amounts of water are all necessary ingredients.
And so, over the past half-century, environmentalists have come to see golf courses as green scars on the landscape.
They point to phosphorus-based fertilizers, which run off into local lakes and streams during watering and rainstorms, causing algae blooms that suck up oxygen and kill aquatic life. And because turf is mowed to very low heights, grass is stressed and vulnerable to pests, which leads to greater pesticide use.
And then there is the issue of water use. Washington, D.C.-based World Watch Institute – an environmental research organization - estimates the amount of water used per day to irrigate the world’s golf course at 9.5 billion litres. The same amount of water would support 4.7 billion people at the UN daily minimum.
“Golf courses are inherently wasteful,” says World Watch Institute spokesperson Russell Simon. “You’re taking up huge swaths of land and watering and maintaining it. I like golfing, and so do a lot of other people, but there’s only so much you can do in terms of greening a golf course.”
Yet Audubon International staff ecologist Jim Sluiter maintains that in urban areas, a golf course can, in fact, be more environmentally-friendly than a housing development or a shopping complex. And in rural areas, it’s often less harmful than an industrial farming operation, he says.
“If you look at a golf course from a bird’s perspective, you get a different view. Most of these golf courses may increase habitat as opposed to a subdivision where you’ve got greater inputs [of chemicals] and fewer wooded areas,” says Mr. Sluiter.
In an effort to green golf courses, his group created the Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary Program in 1991 to certify those that meet certain standards for water use, chemical inputs and native vegetation.
Of the roughly 2,400 courses in Canada, 89 are certified and another 160 are in the process.
The Ballantrae Golf Club just north of Toronto is the only one in Canada to have met the Audubon’s certification for building a course that’s green from the ground up. In 1999, the owner, the Schickedanz company, broke ground on the course and lifestyle community on the Oak Ridges Moraine, shortly before Ontario brought in its Green Belt Plan restricting development in the area. “We couldn’t build it today,” says general manager John McLellan.
But Mr. McLellan says the company was already aware of the environmental sensitivity of the moraine, which contains the largest concentration of headwater streams in the Toronto region and filters local groundwater.
That’s why the course uses its irrigation water over and over, instead of letting it – and the phosphorus it contains – find its way into local waterways. An underground drainage system collects water and diverts it into five interconnected, watertight ponds.
The course has about 100 acres of turf, 30 per cent of which is made up of intensely managed tees, greens and fairways. The other 70 per cent is planted with fescue grass, is not irrigated, and staff apply only very small amounts of herbicides or pesticides.
“It’s a misconception that we use a lot of chemicals,” says Mr. McLellan. “All our herbicide spraying is spot spraying now. It’s in a backpack. Years ago you’d fill up a 300 gallon drum and spray everything wall to wall.”
But there is one chemical that all northern courses must use to control a destructive mould that lives under the snow. “If you don’t use a fungicide, you’re susceptible to snow mould that can actually destroy your course. We can’t do without,” he says.
While golf courses are exempt from Ontario’s 2009 ban against using pesticides and fungicides for cosmetic purposes, the legislation does require staff to be trained in the judicious use of such chemicals. Starting this June, they will also be required to report online how much they use, information not currently publicly available.
Lisa Gue, an environmental health policy analyst with the David Suzuki Foundation, is hopeful Ontario’s reporting requirements will highlight the issue, forcing a decrease in pesticide use across the country.
“Every province that has introduced restrictions on cosmetic pesticides has exempted golf courses from those bans,” says Ms. Gue.
Meanwhile, at the Highlands Golf Course near Vernon, British Columbia, owner Barbara Mitchell has taken a different tack to greening her property. In 2009, she installed a 10 KW wind turbine, which feeds into B.C. Hydro’s grid.
While the turbine has attracted interest from high-school science classes, it hasn’t caused much chatter among golfers. “I was frankly surprised by how many people didn’t even notice the wind turbine,” says Ms. Mitchell. “I doubt there will be people playing a course simply because it’s green. Golfers play where they want to play.”
But at Golf Griffon Des Sources in Mirabel, Queb., superintendent Alan Morton says his golfers do, in fact, care about playing on an environmentally-friendly course.
His club has strategically-placed wooded and naturalized areas throughout the property, providing wildlife corridors for the likes of coyotes, fox and deer. He also applies liquid compost every two weeks, which contains beneficial bacteria and microbes that reduce turf’s vulnerability to disease, allowing him to cut back on chemical treatments.
In fact, Mr. Morton says given everything that he and other superintendents do, he feels defensive about environmental criticisms.
“Environmentalists should be realistic and responsible,” he says. “One of our greatest concerns is the environment and its sustainability. Our seminars and our conferences are based on learning new technologies to minimize the human footprint on the environment.”
Source: www.ctv.ca
But starting in the late 1960s, colour broadcasts of the Masters Tournament at the Augusta National Golf Club in Georgia showed the world a meticulously-maintained course shimmering like an ethereal Emerald City. Golfers turned green with envy.
“We call it the Augusta syndrome,” says Rob Witherspoon, director of the University of Guelph’s Turfgrass Institute and Environmental Research Centre. “The expectation of standards used to be lower. Golfers saw that and said ‘Why doesn’t our golf course look like that - blemish-free, no weeds?’”
But such standards come at a cost to the environment. Fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides and astounding amounts of water are all necessary ingredients.
And so, over the past half-century, environmentalists have come to see golf courses as green scars on the landscape.
They point to phosphorus-based fertilizers, which run off into local lakes and streams during watering and rainstorms, causing algae blooms that suck up oxygen and kill aquatic life. And because turf is mowed to very low heights, grass is stressed and vulnerable to pests, which leads to greater pesticide use.
And then there is the issue of water use. Washington, D.C.-based World Watch Institute – an environmental research organization - estimates the amount of water used per day to irrigate the world’s golf course at 9.5 billion litres. The same amount of water would support 4.7 billion people at the UN daily minimum.
“Golf courses are inherently wasteful,” says World Watch Institute spokesperson Russell Simon. “You’re taking up huge swaths of land and watering and maintaining it. I like golfing, and so do a lot of other people, but there’s only so much you can do in terms of greening a golf course.”
Yet Audubon International staff ecologist Jim Sluiter maintains that in urban areas, a golf course can, in fact, be more environmentally-friendly than a housing development or a shopping complex. And in rural areas, it’s often less harmful than an industrial farming operation, he says.
“If you look at a golf course from a bird’s perspective, you get a different view. Most of these golf courses may increase habitat as opposed to a subdivision where you’ve got greater inputs [of chemicals] and fewer wooded areas,” says Mr. Sluiter.
In an effort to green golf courses, his group created the Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary Program in 1991 to certify those that meet certain standards for water use, chemical inputs and native vegetation.
Of the roughly 2,400 courses in Canada, 89 are certified and another 160 are in the process.
The Ballantrae Golf Club just north of Toronto is the only one in Canada to have met the Audubon’s certification for building a course that’s green from the ground up. In 1999, the owner, the Schickedanz company, broke ground on the course and lifestyle community on the Oak Ridges Moraine, shortly before Ontario brought in its Green Belt Plan restricting development in the area. “We couldn’t build it today,” says general manager John McLellan.
But Mr. McLellan says the company was already aware of the environmental sensitivity of the moraine, which contains the largest concentration of headwater streams in the Toronto region and filters local groundwater.
That’s why the course uses its irrigation water over and over, instead of letting it – and the phosphorus it contains – find its way into local waterways. An underground drainage system collects water and diverts it into five interconnected, watertight ponds.
The course has about 100 acres of turf, 30 per cent of which is made up of intensely managed tees, greens and fairways. The other 70 per cent is planted with fescue grass, is not irrigated, and staff apply only very small amounts of herbicides or pesticides.
“It’s a misconception that we use a lot of chemicals,” says Mr. McLellan. “All our herbicide spraying is spot spraying now. It’s in a backpack. Years ago you’d fill up a 300 gallon drum and spray everything wall to wall.”
But there is one chemical that all northern courses must use to control a destructive mould that lives under the snow. “If you don’t use a fungicide, you’re susceptible to snow mould that can actually destroy your course. We can’t do without,” he says.
While golf courses are exempt from Ontario’s 2009 ban against using pesticides and fungicides for cosmetic purposes, the legislation does require staff to be trained in the judicious use of such chemicals. Starting this June, they will also be required to report online how much they use, information not currently publicly available.
Lisa Gue, an environmental health policy analyst with the David Suzuki Foundation, is hopeful Ontario’s reporting requirements will highlight the issue, forcing a decrease in pesticide use across the country.
“Every province that has introduced restrictions on cosmetic pesticides has exempted golf courses from those bans,” says Ms. Gue.
Meanwhile, at the Highlands Golf Course near Vernon, British Columbia, owner Barbara Mitchell has taken a different tack to greening her property. In 2009, she installed a 10 KW wind turbine, which feeds into B.C. Hydro’s grid.
While the turbine has attracted interest from high-school science classes, it hasn’t caused much chatter among golfers. “I was frankly surprised by how many people didn’t even notice the wind turbine,” says Ms. Mitchell. “I doubt there will be people playing a course simply because it’s green. Golfers play where they want to play.”
But at Golf Griffon Des Sources in Mirabel, Queb., superintendent Alan Morton says his golfers do, in fact, care about playing on an environmentally-friendly course.
His club has strategically-placed wooded and naturalized areas throughout the property, providing wildlife corridors for the likes of coyotes, fox and deer. He also applies liquid compost every two weeks, which contains beneficial bacteria and microbes that reduce turf’s vulnerability to disease, allowing him to cut back on chemical treatments.
In fact, Mr. Morton says given everything that he and other superintendents do, he feels defensive about environmental criticisms.
“Environmentalists should be realistic and responsible,” he says. “One of our greatest concerns is the environment and its sustainability. Our seminars and our conferences are based on learning new technologies to minimize the human footprint on the environment.”
Source: www.ctv.ca
April 18, 2011
Writing articles, what we need, when we need them
Thanks for all the emails about the Stempmeter article we have been running for about three years now. From the responses everyone seems to enjoy reading about what other superintendents are doing on their courses. As always we let the Superintendent pick there own topics, of course we are hear to help when the cogs get clogged, we know how it is to get to many things going at once.
We would like to let everyone know that we are going through a few changes here at The Golf Course Trades and are now using more then just articles written by golf superintendents and are accepting articles written by other industry professionals that have something they think golf superintendents should hear.
If you think you have an article that would fit our publication please send it to us and we will look it over and get back with you just as soon as we can. Please call about deadlines.
Send comments, ideas, or articles to layout@thetrades.com or ken@thetrades.com I get both of these.
Send comments, ideas, or articles to layout@thetrades.com or ken@thetrades.com I get both of these.
March 30, 2011
March 29, 2011
7th all time season snowfall totals
Well, with Friday/Saturday totals of 4.9" of snow, this season zoomed into 7th place all-time snowiest.
Hopefully, we will not receive another 3.9" tomorrow to move us up another spot in the rankings. Drug the greens today and got a mow in finally and bunkers were raked. Greens are continueing to heal from the aeration. Warmer weather to come later this week.
That's a lot of snow Joe!
Glen Echo Country Club Golf Course Management
36.7"
Hopefully, we will not receive another 3.9" tomorrow to move us up another spot in the rankings. Drug the greens today and got a mow in finally and bunkers were raked. Greens are continueing to heal from the aeration. Warmer weather to come later this week.
That's a lot of snow Joe!
Glen Echo Country Club Golf Course Management
Cold Weather Slows Course Opening
The combination of last week's cold temperatures and this week's predicted cold weather has caused the golf course to take a step backward. In order for the golf course to open, we must first be certain that all frost has left the ground. Traffic on frozen turf and soil, even foot traffic from golfers, can cause a significant amount of damage to the plants themselves. The turf at NSCC is very susceptible to damage at this point in the year. Until the plants are once again growing, they are unable to recover from any damage that they may receive from play. The golf course maintenance staff is eagerly watching the forecast in anticipation of course opening. To date, our activities on the golf course have been limited due to the frozen conditions. While some course clean-up has been completed, much work remains to get done. As the frost leaves the ground, the golf course maintenance staff will begin preparing the course for opening. Activities such as bunker repair cannot be completed until the bunkers are free from snow and the sand is no longer frozen.
The picture above helps to illustrate how fragile turf can be when the ground is frozen and the plants have not yet begun to grow. The brown tire tracks are clearly distinguishable in the photo taken of 8 Blue fairway. While the picture was taken recently, the damage was done in December when we applied black sand to fairways in order to melt the ice. Imagine for a moment the potential damage that could occur should golfers be allowed to walk on frozen fairways, tees, and putting surfaces. This picture not only illustrates how the decision to remove ice should not be taken lightly, but also how sensitive the turf can be during the winter and early spring. Many areas such as this exist throughout the course which will be noticeable upon course opening. In most cases this damage seems superficial and the turf should quickly recover following a couple weeks of growth.
As the forecast indicates, temperature appear to warm significantly toward the end of next week. These temperatures coupled with the hard work of the golf course maintenance staff will allow us to open the course as soon as we are able. Both I and the turf thank you for your patience.
North Shore Country Club Golf Course Maintenance
March 24, 2011
A View Inside an Eagle's Nest
This is a great find here thanks Paul!
EAGLE CAM-Get a rare look inside a bald eagle nest in the wild
This has got to be one of the cooler things I have seen on the web in a while. The Norfolk Botanical Garden has installed a live feed camera on a bald eagle nest to observe all the stages of the fledgling process.
The Bear Trace at Harrison Bay Golf Course Maintenance
EAGLE CAM-Get a rare look inside a bald eagle nest in the wild
This has got to be one of the cooler things I have seen on the web in a while. The Norfolk Botanical Garden has installed a live feed camera on a bald eagle nest to observe all the stages of the fledgling process.
The Bear Trace at Harrison Bay Golf Course Maintenance
A Perfect Visual of Why We Strive for Bentgrass
On numerous occasions I have written on this blog explaining the many reasons we strive for predominantly bentgrass playing surfaces. Yesterday I happened upon the photos shown below. These are photos of a green that is made up of probably 90% Poa annua.
The superintendent at the course did everything right in helping these greens to make it through the winter in great condition. During the winter they experience a warm up (50's) followed by an immediate drop in temperature to well below freezing. The Poa flat out could not take it and it died. What is so strong about these photos is the contrast between the dead Poa and the completely healthy bentgrass. Both plants experienced the very same conditions, one died, one goes on as if nothing happened. This is why we favor and manage for bentgrass.
Northland Country Club Turfgrass Management
The superintendent at the course did everything right in helping these greens to make it through the winter in great condition. During the winter they experience a warm up (50's) followed by an immediate drop in temperature to well below freezing. The Poa flat out could not take it and it died. What is so strong about these photos is the contrast between the dead Poa and the completely healthy bentgrass. Both plants experienced the very same conditions, one died, one goes on as if nothing happened. This is why we favor and manage for bentgrass.
Northland Country Club Turfgrass Management
Strobes for Geese
We recently placed strobe lights in both ponds – the entrance pond and the pond bordering the 12th hole – to discourage geese from nesting along the shores and raising their young in the surrounding areas. The solar powered yellow strobes are anchored in the ponds and automatically activate in darkness (evening through sunrise). The blinking yellow light is very disturbing to the geese that overnight in ponds or along the banks, encouraging them to move on and take up residence else where.During the day, we chase the geese using other methods. Some of these are running Apollo (Joel’s dog) and Rocky (Heather’s dog) and scaring off any geese that might land. We are also using radio controlled boats to chase the geese off the waters where the dogs can’t go, or can’t swim fast enough to get close. A lead goose will break off the main flock and “tease” the dog away by swimming just out of reach and away from the flock, eventually tiring the dog. The geese aren’t so clever with a boat....the boat can get up to 30mph and so this teasing doesn’t work.
Our goal is not to hurt the geese...but just to give them reason to move on. Besides their droppings (up to 3lbs per day per goose) that make a mess, the geese will eat turf down to its crowns, thinning and killing turf areas. By moving them on, they will find other, and hopefully, more natural breeding areas. That’s best for all of us.
The Greate Bay Country Club Greens Department
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