September 2010 Supernews
Executive Director Report
- Bob Hamm
Watch for your membership renewal invoice in the mail - early August. Please check the address, phone numbers, etc. and make any corrections so that our records are up-to-date, and be sure to enclose a copy of your current pesticide license it you are a Class A, B or B1 member.
Participation at meetings this year have been great.
Good you see you at the various
 
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Regional Reports
REMEMBER
To call ahead and
book your tee time
with the Superintendent
when visiting other courses.
Bel Acres
Bel Acres reports another busy tournament season and the successful completion of another Pro Am. With all of this season’s rain, the course is looking green and consistent. The tournament schedule stretches a little further into September than usual so it will be a scramble to finish up the fall prep. The first tee is due for a renovation this fall as part of Chuck Harris’s practicum project. This will include shaping, irrigation, turf, and a retaining wall. There are also plans to clear some bush and create a new wedding area between the 1st and 3rd holes near the clubhouse. As usual, the irrigation upgrade to the golf course is on hold for another year. The carrot never seems to get any closer.
Submitted by: Greg Mitchell
St. Charles Country Club
July has been pretty favorable for the game of golf and for golf course maintenance. We had minimal disruption from rains and we actually had several weeks in July where we could mow all prime playing areas for the entire week. We have topdressed greens 7 out of the last 9 weeks and hope to continue every week. The only week we will not be topdressing is tournament week. From a CN Canadian Womens Open update set up of tournament structures began on July 26th and has been exciting to see property transform with the grand stands and sky boxes created around a green site. The property over the next 3 weeks will change drastically with all the tournament structures for the event and give this old site a new look for a week! There will be over 1 acre of ground covered with some sort of structure. All the best with everyones summer run here!
Kerry C. Watkins, AGS
Elmhurst
Dan had mentioned that the qualifying round for the 2010 CN Canadian Women’s Open went smoothly at Elmhurst.
This year he has been a struggle with the amount of disease on greens more than usual. Summer Patch has been a real problem in some of the greens, as well some of the newly expanded putting greens (holes #5 and #14) have been infected with Take All Patch and Dollar Spot is the worse than normal on the golf course. Their sod nursery has also been hit very hard by Take All Patch, which is making repairs to some of their diseased areas on greens very difficult.
He has also mentioned that the restoration work performed over a year ago on holes #1 and #10 holes is coming along nicely. The Fescue that has been seeded into the faces of the new fairway bunkers does look impressive. It also definitely increases the severity of the hazards.
Aeration to there greens begin in late August to which they will be using the cores to expand their existing sod nurseries.
Transcona
Greg said things are going well, however he is looking forward to the end of the season. He mentioned that in the 20+ years he has never seen Dollar Spot so bad. Along with the Dollar Spot and after some research and sending in a sample, he has found that a disease that resembles other patch disease is actually called Waitea Patch.
This fall Greg will have his hands full with trying to patch the ice damaged areas from last season. He figures there is about 4500 yards of sod needed to fix up those areas.
Beauty Bay
Bob has been happy with the year overall so far. He had a little Crown Hydration this spring but nothing to complain about. Since we were last up at Beauty Bay for our MGSA monthly meeting, they have been working hard on making cart paths throughout the entire course. As of right now they have only a couple more to go. With that being said, they did see quite a bit of rain throughout the month of June. Since then I guess Mother Nature has been working on his side as it has slowed down and only seems to rain when they actual need some. Bob
will be busy aerating everything soon as well as dethatching their fairways before implementing a topdressing program.
St. Boniface Golf Club
Darren is looking forward to the end of the year as is many other supers. The disease pressure this last couple of months saw the worst case of Dollar Spot on his tees and fairways that he has ever seen. With pressure to fix the problem, he sprayed all his fairways and tees over a couple of days with Eagle WSP and a shot of iron fertilizer. It has fixed the problem, but lowered his chemical budget substantially for the rest of the season.
In the next few weeks, aeration is on the block. He was very happy with having his back 9 greens deep tined for the very first time last year and is going to continue with the front 9 this year. He hopes to continue switching back and forth between the 9’s each year.
Darren is contemplating what to put down on his fairways this fall. He along with other supers noticed that what they had used last year just didn’t seem to have the longevity after the spring melt. You can probably catch him sitting at the local bar down the street after work contemplating his decision.
Maplewood
This summer has shown much better growing conditions and allowed for a solid fill-in of the back 9, restoring the course back to its original 18 hole form. We are continuing working on patching up and getting some weaker areas of the rough and fairways to fill in. Fall projects planned are the construction of a new nursery green and a few minor irrigation installations including two new satellites. All things aside the course is looking good and we are very happy on what we have been able to accomplish this season.
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Tree Geek Speak, Bill Schroeder
Dutch Elm Disease (DED). A disease most of us are all too familiar with. For those of you who are not familiar with the pathology of this disease, here is the Coles version. DED is caused by a fungal pathogen (Ophiostoma novo-ulmi or Ophiostoma ulmi) that is either, vectored by European (Scolytus multistriatus) or North American (Hylurgopinus rufipes) elm bark beetles (they carry the fungi on their backs) or through root grafting from an infected Elm. Symptoms differ slightly between root graft infection and beetle infection in that leaf yellowing, wilting and dieback progress upward with root graft infection and top/outside, down with beetle infection (fig. 1). Dead leaves from DED infected trees often remain on the branch for extended periods of time. Root graft infected trees are generally untreatable and die much quicker as the infection begins in the roots and main stem of the tree. The DED fungus produces brown staining in the vascular system of infected trees. In beetle infected trees it is more noticeable in the smaller canopy branches while root graft infection can be found in the roots and in the cambium of the trunk.
Thousands of Elms trees are removed in our province every year, many of them on your courses. Considering the amount of red dots we all see on our courses, roadways and back yards, one might think that DED is getting out of our control. While spring and summer conditions the past few years have contributed to above average spread of the disease, I suggest that DED is not as epidemic as it is made out to be.
I have submitted approx. 50 elm tree samples to the lab for diagnosis over the past few years and the results were surprising. To be clear, all the elm trees sampled showed classic signs of DED, as described above. Anyway, the exciting results of my years of elm testing concluded that only about 30% of the samples came back positive for DED. You may ask, “So what IS stressing out my stately elm, oh tree geek of knowledge?!” Well, chances are if it looks like DED it could very well be one of the following disorders.
Dothiorella Wilt, is a canker disease that is (understandably) almost always mistaken for DED. Leaves will prematurely turn yellow, wilt then brown but usually do not remain on the branch as long. It also has the identical brown staining under the bark (in the sapwood) (fig. 2). Some unique characteristics include infected branches becoming shrunken and reddish brown. On the surface of these branches, flat cankers with dead bark can also be observed. The fungal spores are spread by wind, rain, insects and birds and in spring, after hibernation, the invasive spores enter the system via insect wounds, leaf stomata etc. There is no cure for this disease. Pruning out the infected branches does help (if caught early enough), but as with most diseases, preventative maintenance and proper health care, such as regular fertilizing, deep soil aeration and watering during periods of drought are your best defense.
Verticillium Wilt, is another fungal disease, though born in the soil and enters the tree exclusively through the roots. Like DED and Dothiorella, it attacks the water conducting tissues of the tree and therefore the symptoms are similar. Discoloration and wilting of the leaves and staining of the sapwood. As well branch dieback may occur during the dormant season. There is no cure for this disease either and some trees can live with the infection for years while others may die shortly after infection. Be sure to never plant a similar tree in a site that once held a tree stricken with Verticillium, as these fungal spores can live in the soil up to 15 years. Again, a proper health care approach can significantly decrease the chances of contracting this disease.
DED is a devastating disease and we will be battling it for years to come but I am sure that many of you have lost valuable assets to wrong diagnosis. Demand lab testing if you are faced with loosing a valuable commodity on your course and more importantly, protect them with the health care program they deserve.
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WASH RACK BLUES
by LARRY W. GILHULY
Director, Western Region, USGA Green Section
Reprinted from the USGA Green Section Record
1993 January/February Vol 31(1): 9-10
DRIP, DRIP’, DRIP? You have heard it thousands of times, at thousands of locations. With the possible exception of the air we breathe, no other compound in the world is more necessary or valuable than water. Its components provide the very lifeblood to virtually all living creatures. To golf courses, it is the single most important part of a successful operation. It also represents the greatest hazard!
The greatest what? How can such an important aspect of a golf course be
a hazard? It can if you are not paying attention to a potential time bomb of environmental concern - the wash rack area.
The Problem
During the past several years, the USGA has committed considerable funding to answer questions concerning golf courses and the environment. Do the pesticides we use pose a real threat? Are nitrates from golf courses entering potable water sources and causing problems. While answers will be derived from this fundamental research, the one area that has received far less attention is the maintenance facility. More specifically, the area where mowers are cleaned and sprayers are washed represents one of the greatest potentials for nutrient and chemical escape into nearby streams or water sources.
For a moment, consider the conditions of the wash area. Rarely is there turf to capture fertilizer washed from spreaders. There is no thatch to
immobilize residues from sprayers. Often there is nothing to catch the clippings washed from mowers. In short, if you currently have a wash area that allows water to flow freely into a waterway or simply “disappear” into the soil, you are facing a potential problem. With this situation in mind, consider the following types of wash areas.
Lost and Forgotten
Unfortunately, this type of wash area is among the most common. They usually are characterized by the lack of a permanent surface, with water and residues entering a stream, forest, lake, or the soil. These wash areas must not be forgotten. They must be eliminated and lost! For those who possess this type of wash area, steps should be taken to improve the situation. These could include:
• Establishing multiple on-course wash sites. Nearly every golf course has several areas that can withstand the washing of mowers and spreaders for approximately one week.
These sites can be assigned on a rotational basis to minimize accumulation
of clippings.
• Minimizing sprayer cleaning. The old practice of dumping the remains of a
spray tank should long ago have gone the way of the dinosaur Many golf
courses now rinse their spray tanks with water and apply the diluted mate-
rial back onto the best fi lter available - turfgrass. To expedite this operation, the use of a single, high-volume nozzle can empty a 150-gallon sprayer in a matter of minutes. The tank then can be rinsed with a neutralizing agent at the wash area. Obviously, this does not apply to certain herbicides that can cause damage to the turf.
The Honey Pot
Ah, the sweet aroma of accumulated clippings that are cleaned from the
wash area after one or two weeks of 90°F temperatures. The smell can
best be described as ripe! This type of wash area usually has a permanent
base of asphalt or concrete that directs all water, clippings, and residues to
a catch basin. In some cases, they drain into a leach fi eld, but often the
end result is water movement into waterways or into the soil. Fortunately,
various types of screens and baskets are used to capture clippings for
disposal or composting.
This wash area is preferred to the previous type; however, it also is
usually associated with chemical residues fl owing with the water.
Minimizing potential problems with this type of wash area includes establishing on-course cleaning sites and a spray tank cleaning program with rinsates sprayed on turfgrass areas.
The Newer Sewer
The previously mentioned wash racks comprise the great majority of
those found on most golf courses. Both are inherently fl awed due to
their limited ability to capture various chemicals or nutrients derived from
mowers, spreaders, sprayers, and petroleum products. Both can be
signifi cantly improved if there is access to a sewer or if a more refi ned method of fi ltration is added.
Some golf courses are linking into sewer outlets with simple, yet effective,
fi ltering systems. This type of wash area is comprised of four important
components.
1. A large concrete apron to collect all water, clippings, and residues from
chemicals and petroleum products.
2. A catch basin or series of basins to capture all clippings. These are
cleaned on a weekly basis.
3. An oil/water separator. The removal of petroleum products is another area that should be addressed. These can be easily installed and the fi lters replaced on a regular basis.
4. Access to a sewer. Even if a sewer is not available, careful cleaning of spray equipment, capturing clippings, and filtering petroleum products will minimize potential problems.
The Future
There is a very high probability your golf course has one of the previously mentioned types of wash racks or a variation. In one form or another, all have the potential to directly impact water resources. So what can be done to address this situation? Easy -don’t let any of the water escape from the wash area.
As with other facets of the golf industry, manufacturers have heard the call of environmental awareness. Prefabricated units are becoming available that can capture all of the water for reuse. The advantages of these systems include:
• No movement of water from the site.
• Complete capture of all petroleum products by an oil/water separator.
• Complete capture of other fertilizer residues and chemicals.
• Reduction of water use.
• Improved cleaning by the use of a pressure washer.
• Improved efficiency for the mechanic, chemical applicators, and mower operators.
• A reduction of unpleasant odors.
• Total spill containment by combining a pesticide storage building and petroleum waste building. This represents the ultimate in minimizing or completely eliminating the escape of chemical residues from the maintenance facility. What does the future hold for wash areas? Don’t be surprised if this becomes the next area of regulation. To avoid a situation of being forced to comply, consider the following steps now:
1. Educate those responsible for funding.
2. At the very least, install a wash pad with a catch basin or series of basins to collect clippings.
3. Use areas on the golf course to maximize turfgrasses as an effective filter.
4. If possible, install various filters to minimize the outflow of petroleum products and pesticides.
5. Seriously consider a self-contained system to greatly reduce the potential for a problem.
It is true that water can be hazardous, but you can control what happens at one of the worst outflow areas on the golf course. Don’t you be caught singing the “Wash Rack Blues.”
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Competition Report - Greg Mitchell
Clear Lake Golf Course was a superb location for the June 16th meeting. The weather was nearly perfect and so was the golf course. We played a two man format with 6 holes Best Ball, 6 holes Alternate Shot, 6 holes Scramble. Kelly Watkins and newcomer Andy Kollar emerged victorious by more than a few shots. Dale Overton and Karl Hutchison had lady luck on their side winning the random scorecard draw to round out the prizing. Thanks to the entire Clear Lake staff and CGSA President Greg Holden for hosting us and on a job well done. Special thanks to Ryan Myers for his hospitality on the course and around the bonfi re the day before the
event. If anyone needs a chipping lesson be sure to call Hutchy or Al
Haufek, what a clinic.
The John B. Steel Championship was held at scenic Granite Hills on July
15th and the winds were howling off the lake. It was a challenging and enjoyable day. This was the third consecutive MGSA event this year with over 50 participants. This was also the event where we welcome our Greens Chairs if you are unlucky enough to have one. Jamie McCreedy took home the low Greens Chair honors. After crushing his provisional for long drive but being honest enough to tell us it wasn’t his first shot, karma took over and Dan Gregoire of Lorette winning the Closest to the hole on #12. The real long drive prize went to Richard Van Gende of Pinawa. Great Drive! Though it did not garner him a prize Justin Jones fired an impressive gross score of 82. Nice Score! The almost story of the day was Ralph
Schofield hitting the stick on the par 3 4th hole and almost staying in for a Hole in One. Nice 4 Ralph. Last but not least the now two time winner
of the John B. Steel championship is Kerry Watkins. His solid gross score
of 99 was the second highest winning score in history. He felt no shame for
his 10 or either of his 9’s on his way to a Calloway score of 71, two better
than his closest competitor. Congrats Kerry! Thanks to Jeremy Sokal and
his staff for a phenomenal day. The course was awesome. Special thanks
also to Brian Gould for giving us an early morning tour of Black Bear and a
beer before 8am.
This years MGSA Turfgrass Research Tournament was held out in La Broquerie Manitoba at the La Verendrye Golf Course on August 13th, 2010. Even though a little rain sprinkled on us, I don’t think you could have asked for a better day or turn out for the 28 teams that came out to support Turfgrass Research. Host Super, Darren Dundas and his staff had the course in immaculate shape and was a pleasure to play especially
the par 6. If you were on the green in 2, which I don’t know if anyone did
do, you deserved to win the Research Tournament. Wow what a hole. With
being such a monster of a hole, a draw for a trip to Vegas was up for grabs. Congratulation goes out to Craig Atkinson from Clear Lake Golf Course who won the trip.
This years tournament was one that will not be forgotten by one of the guys on the Kenora Team who rolled one in for a hole in one and walked away with the prize of a John Deere Gator donated by Geurtin Equipment while also sticking his shot closest to the pin for another prize of a Toro lawn mower donated by the guys over at the Mazer Group. Congratulation goes out to Mike Tivy.
Other winners were Mike Trager for longest drive, Dale Kalyniuk with a
closest to the pin chainsaw package prize donated by Alliance Tree and
Todd Thompson for the putting competition. This years winners of the
MGSA Research Tournament were the group of Craig MacLeod, Mike Trager,
Joe Chartrand and Reid MacLeod. Congratulations to all winners.
A big thanks goes out to everyone at the LaVerendrye Golf Club once again
for hosting a great tournament and putting out a great meal, the volunteers and last but not least all the guys on the MGSA Board of Directors as well as our Executive Director that helped make this tournament a big success.
Finally, we are happy to announce that next years Research Tournament will be heading back to Winnipeg at the St. Boniface Golf Club August 11, 2011. Darren is looking forward to having everyone come out and enjoy a great event.
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As The Worm Turns
By Bob Vavrek, Senior Agronomist, June 16, 2010
Golfers throughout the upper Midwest have noticed a considerable amount of earthworm activity on fairways and approaches during the past few weeks of rainy weather. Worms are beneficial organisms that feed on various forms of soil organic matter, such as partially decomposed leaf litter. Soil-plus-organic-matter goes into one end of a worm and then soil-minus-some-of-the-organic-matter comes out the other end. They mostly feed at night, and the small dollops of worm waste, called castings, are deposited on the playing surface over the burrow The dawn patrol of mowers and carts will smush down the soft, wet casting into quarter- to half-dollar size spots of flat, mud-smothered turf. Lately, worms have been so active on fairways that golfers have found themselves playing on surfaces that are more mud than turf. This might be the ultimate tight lie for some players, but there aren’t many golfers who feel comfortable or confident hitting a delicate shot from a slippery tabletop.
Some golfers and superintendents believe that worm populations have increased over the years, but that observation is difficult to validate without a baseline for comparison. A more plausible explanation is the fact that fairway mowing heights are significantly shorter now compared to 20 or even 10 years ago. Higher heights of cut mask earthworm activity, which is why they seem to disappear at the intermediate rough. Mild, rainy weather keeps worms active and near the surface, while hot, droughty weather drives them deep into the soil, so playing conditions will improve as the weather heats up. However, there is relatively little that can be done to address this issue in the short term. Some superintendents elect to mow fairways during the afternoon when the turf and castings are dry, but fairways can turn into a jungle while waiting for the castings to dry during a stretch of wet weather.
There are no pesticides labeled for earthworm control, but there is a glimmer of hope for earthworm control in the future. Dr. Dan Potter has been studying the effects of tea seed pellets for earthworm control in turf at the University of Kentucky. Tea seed pellets are a byproduct of tea oil processing operations. In a nutshell, this product contains triterpene saponins, which are compounds toxic to earthworms. Water was applied to plots treated with tea seed pellets, and earthworm activity (castings) was suppressed for five weeks. Information about the tea seed pellet research can be found in the following link.
http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/123217588/abstract?CRETRY=1&SRETRY=0
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Consolidated Turf Equipment
Club Car
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Advertisers in this issue
Agrium
Alliance Tree Care
Brett Young
Consolidated Turf
Eljay Irrigation
Even Spray & Chemicals
Grant Golf
Greenject
Guertin Equipment
Gusta Sod Farms
Hilderman Thomas Frank Cram
Keso Turf Supplies
Pembina Landscaping
Pickseed
RiverCity Stumpers
Specialty Turf Services
Stephenson Equipment
Syngenta
Tamarack Equipment
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Reminder to Members
The practice of using your MGSA card for golfing privileges around
the province is just that, A PRIVILEGE. It has been brought to the
attention of the board on numerous accounts that some members may
be abusing this privilege, and not following proper protocol.
As a courtesy to the golf course and its superintendent, you are
required to contact the super where you wish to use your card prior to the
day you wish to golf. It is not acceptable to show up unannounced at a
pro shop, flash your card and expect to get free golf.
As a board we feel that the repeated use of your card at the same golf
course is not an acceptable practice, and is not what the card is for. So
please, call ahead. And as a super, don’t be hesitant to refuse someone if
they haven’t made arrangements with you before hand.
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