DMGCC, Golf Course Grounds Department

Winter Precipitation!!!

2012-01-24T11:45:00.001-06:00

Well after 2 smaller snows and some rain I can say that I am sleeping a little bit better than I was a couple of weeks ago.

I attended the State of Iowa Turfgrass Conference last week and there were a lot of superintendents talking about the lack of precipitation and that they too were out watering some dry grass.

Since then we have had 2 precipitation events and there is some adequate moisture around the crown of the plant and we should be out of the woods for now. That doesn’t mean that we still wouldn’t see some desiccation in some areas and you never know what February will bring to us.

Here is a photo taken out of my office window this morning. I like seeing the white stuff on the ground!

Staff Changes in the Golf Cousre Maintenance Department

2012-01-16T14:56:00.001-06:00

Congratulations to Greg Willman, North Course Superintendent. Greg recently accepted a position as Golf Course Superintendent at Panther Creek Country Club in Springfield, Illinois.

Greg has worked at Des Moines Golf and Country Club since 2004. Greg originally started as the Assistant Golf Course Superintendent on the South Course and later moved up to the South Course Superintendent. He has been the North Course Superintendent for the last 2.5 years.

Greg will be starting his new role in February. You might recall that former DMGCC Golf Professional Matt Ruehling also went to Panther Creek a few years ago. Matt is Panther Creek’s current golf professional.

We wish the best to Greg, Amber and their family. Greg has done a wonderful job for us and we know he will carry that same quality and work ethic to Panther Creek.

Willman’s replacement on the North course will be Nate Tegtmeier. Nate has been working his way up through the chairs starting on the North as an intern in 2006, then on to 2nd Assistant and for the last 2.5 years he has been the 1st Assistant on the North Course.

Ty Boley will also be promoted from 2nd Assistant to 1st Assistant Superintendent. Ty had a very successful stint in the Marine Corps and then attended Iowa State University where he graduated with a Turf Grass Management Degree. Ty has been with us for the past 2 years.

Winter Drought Continues

2012-01-10T14:40:00.000-06:00

Things have not been getting any better in our area. There are some golf courses that have re-charged their irrigation systems trying to put down some much needed water. Most of these areas that need water are greens that have no winter covers or protection. Last week we hauled water to the target greens on the west range and east ranges. Those targets are not covered and they were very dry. We also checked every green and watered all high spots or knobs trying to be proactive and get down some much needed moisture. Here is a photo of us out watering by hand with a water tank. You can see the turf is very dry, this photo was taken on January 4, 2012.

Now fast forward to today and here is the forecast for West Des Moines. This type of weather can really hurt turf if it is not protected or if there is not enough moisture in the crown area of the plant. First it is very warm and then the temperatures drop dramatically with blustery, dry winter winds.

We don't have enough greens covers to protect the target greens on the west and east ranges so today we decided to do some old time greenkeeping. We topdressed these greens with a very heavy application of sand. This was common practice many years ago before greenscovers became popular. We did both ranges with the heavy applications of sand. We hope that the added "layer" will protect the target greens through the cold and windy forecast that is predicted.

We are really hoping for some rain or snow!

January Employee of the Month

2012-01-06T12:54:00.000-06:00

Nate Tegtmeier is the January Employee of the Month. Nate has been an full time employee since March of 2007. He is currently the 1st Assistant Golf Course Superintendent on the North Course.

Nate was nominated for his efforts in helping to repair a recent domestic water line leak that we experienced at the Club. Nate and a co worker hand dug and repaired the water line leak in 10 degree weather. Much of that time Nate was in the water working on the repairs.

In his spare time Nate loves trying to improve on his golf game skills. He is an avid outdoorsman going hunting and fishing with his friends and family. Congratulations Nate!

Winter Injury

2012-01-03T07:16:00.000-06:00

I know I made a posting last week about winter injury but I thought I would copy this for all of you to read. It is a posting on January 2nd from Dr. Nick Cbristians at Iowa State University. Please read it, it is a very good posting.

Nick Christians

January 2, 2012

While this mild winter has been great for holiday travel, it will probably not be good for golf course superintendents. Surprisingly, it is the hard winters that are generally good for the golf course. Snow cover and cold temperatures through mid to late winter protect the turf from desiccation and the golf course emerges in the spring in good condition. It is the open, mild winter with windy conditions like we are getting today that results in drying of the turf (especially bentgrass) and causes damage that can persist well into the spring and even to early summer.

The last few winters have been anything but mild. The white Christmas has been the standard for the last few years and heavy snow cover has been common in many areas of the Midwest. Winter desiccation has been rare and we tend to forget about it. Unless the weather changes soon, this will be one of those springs where severe desiccation is common. In my experience here in Iowa, it is the northwestern part of the state that gets the worst damage because that area lacks tree cover and is exposed to the northwest winds of winter.

So what can you do about it? Greens covers are part of the answer and those of you who covered your greens a few weeks ago should be fine. But, there are many uncovered golf courses in the state. Fairways and tees generally go uncovered and these areas can be badly damaged even on courses that cover greens. Winter watering can be useful if you can do it. When I worked in Colorado years ago, winter winds would kill bentgrass greens and tees if we did not get some water to them during mild winters. It was too cold to charge the irrigation system. The courses had water trucks and it was typical to spray water over the greens every couple of weeks to keep them hydrated.

Topdressing is another way of protecting greens. In the 80’s and 90’s we did some work on this. I will post some information from that work in the next few days. The last couple of weeks I have had some questions on whether it is too late to topdress in January and if it is not, how much topdressing should we apply. I don’t know the answer to those questions. If the mild weather continues, we will try to get a quick trial together at the research station to look at these issues. I’ll keep you informed about the work during the spring.

Winter desiccation on bentgrass.

Winter Injury to Turf

2011-12-30T06:45:00.000-06:00

I know that with all of the warm weather we have been getting a lot of questions if we are going to take the greens covers off and open. I am sorry to say that the answer to that question is no. I would like to take this space to post an article on winter play that was written by a USGA Agronomist back in 1987. I did not include the entire text from Jim's article, just pertinent information for us in our climate. Make sure you read the last part of the article. Thank you.

Politics Religion and Winter Play on Greens
By James T. Snow
Director, Northeastern Region, USGA Green Section
Reprinted from the USGA Green Section Record
1987 November/December Vol 25(6): 1-4

It is common knowledge that three topics are simply too controversial for polite conversation, and should never be brought up at social functions: politics, religion and winter play on greens. Not familiar with the last? If not, then you apparently haven't spent much time at northern golf courses during late fall and early winter.

Few subjects raise such an emotional response from golf course superintendents and golfers alike. Golfers can become irate at actions restricting their access to regular greens during late fall, winter, and early spring, while superintendents are just as unyielding in their view that play should be kept off the greens at those times.

Who's right?

As with most topics of this nature, qualifications have to be tacked on to any firm answer. It is safe to say, however, that winter play can only harm the greens, and in many instances it has a significantly negative impact on the health and playability of the turf during the following golf season.

Repercussions of Winter Play

It is not hard to understand why many golfers are sometimes skeptical about claims concerning the negative effects of winter play, because to them the turf on greens that have been played throughout the winter usually appears the same as the turf on greens that have been closed. The effects of winter traffic, however, need not be obvious and dramatic to have significant and long-lasting repercussions.

Direct wear injury

Thinning of the turf due to direct wear injury is an obvious and important result of winter traffic. Unlike during the growing season, when turf is able to regenerate new leaves and stems to replace injured tissue daily, winter weather completely halts turf growth; the grass is continually thinned throughout the winter in direct proportion to the amount of traffic. This thinning of the turf canopy can, and often does, encourage the establishment of such weeds as Poa annua, crabgrass, goosegrass, moss, algae, pearlwort, spurge, and other weed pests during the spring and summer. True enough, weeds can indeed be a problem on greens that aren't subjected to winter play, but winter traffic causes them to be just that much more abundant and difficult to control.

Soil compaction

Soil compaction is a more subtle and perhaps more important consequence of winter traffic. Because of the cold winter temperatures and lack of active turf growth, the loss of excess soil moisture through evaporation and transpiration is greatly reduced. In addition, frozen sub-surface soils may completely block the movement of excess moisture through the soil profile. During the summer, a very heavy rainfall often creates soil conditions that warrant closing the course for a day or two until the excess moisture is eliminated by the way of evaporation, transpiration, and downward percolation through the soil profile. Because these moisture losses are often non-functional during the winter, saturated soil conditions can persist for weeks or longer. Yet the golfers who can appreciate the need to close the course during the summer are sometimes completely unsympathetic to the same conditions and concerns during the winter.

The effects of soil compaction on the health and playability of the turf are insidious at any time, but because wet soils are especially prone to compaction, the likelihood of traffic causing the collapse of good soil structure is of constant concern during the winter. As soil particles are compacted and pushed closer and closer together, the pore space that facilitates drainage and root growth during summer is gradually lost. As the season finally commences, golfers often complain the these compacted greens are hard. From an agronomic standpoint, turf begins the season in a weakened state, predisposed to a host of summer problems. In addition to the potential for weed encroachment, the turf on greens played during winter tends to wilt more readily during hot weather, and often is more susceptible to a wide array of primary and secondary disease organisms.

Effects on playability

With the loss of turf density from direct wear injury and the loss of turf vigor caused by soil compaction, greens played during winter tend to be hard, slow, and bumpy, and they are slower to develop during the spring, compared to greens that are not subjected to winter traffic. Footprinting is often a problem, and golfers tend to complain about the lack of trueness even after several topdressings in the spring. Finally, the effects of compaction on the health of the turf can last to a certain extent for much of the season, making it difficult or impossible to keep the greens as closely cut and intensively groomed as some golfers might desire.

Many winter golfers have heard these arguments before and have dismissed them as being ravings of overprotective golf course superintendents and turfgrass scientists. A favorite response is, "I pay plenty to play golf at this club, and I'm going to use the regular greens during the winter. That's why we pay the superintendent - to fix up the greens in time for spring. Besides, the Let-'Em-Play-Anytime Golf Course down the street lets them play through the winter, and they don't lose any grass during the summer. Anyway, we only have a few groups that play much during the winter. How much damage can we do?"

Factors to consider

On the surface, these comments seem quite valid; after all, everything is a matter of degree. But many factors should be taken into account in developing a logical policy on winter play.

Anticipated traffic

If a single round of golf were played on the course during the winter, most would agree that the potential for serious damage would be nil. Same for ten rounds? How about 100, 500 or 1,000? If the weather is mild and there is little snow, how many more rounds will it add? Where do you draw the line?

Soil type

Winter golfers argue that sand-based greens drain well and don't compact, making them very suitable for winter play at any time. While it is true that sand-based greens don't suffer from compaction to the extent that older soil-based greens might, it is also true that direct-wear injury is likely to be more severe on sand greens. Turf density can be greatly compromised, and weed encroachment can be a real concern. It is also true that most golf courses in the North do not have good sand-based greens. Obviously, courses with older soil-based greens are especially vulnerable to both types of winter injury.

Specific weather conditions

Though traffic on dormant turf will indeed cause some injury, the weather and soil conditions at the time of play will dictate the type and extent of the damage. Traffic on dry, unfrozen soil will cause the least damage, but this condition is rare during the winter. Frozen soil can cause significant wear injury but little soil compaction. Play on wet, unfrozen soil can result in significant soil compaction but less wear injury. Play on a thawing soil(wet on the surface, frozen below) can result in severe soil compaction and wear injury, and should be avoided. Finally, frosted turf is extremely susceptible to direct injury, and play should never be allowed.

Grass species

Do you have bentgrass greens and want to keep them? Then don't allow winter play. Thinned turf and compacted soil is just what Poa annua is looking for in the spring.

Standards for play

One of the most important questions to ask in contemplating whether or not to use the regular greens in winter concerns what the golfers want from the greens during the regular season. If they want top-quality turf from spring through fall, involving very close, frequent mowing, double mowing, frequent verticutting, lean fertilization, minimal irrigation, or other stress-inducing practices, then it is best to avoid winter play. If the golfers don't mind higher cutting heights, slower speeds, and greater inconsistency, then winter golf was made for them. Some bias in that statement? Perhaps, but too many golfers want to trample their dormant greens during the winter months and then enjoy U.S. Open conditions from April through November. There are still some things money can't buy.

Copyright 2010 United States Golf Association. All rights reserved.

Merry Christmas

2011-12-23T09:46:00.001-06:00

Just wanted to take the opportunity to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Prosperus New Year in 2012. It is my hope that 2012 brings back some people to the great game of golf. Thank you. Rick

Winter Soltice and the Weather

2011-12-21T07:24:00.001-06:00

The winter solstice is approaching and will officially begin on December 22 at 5:30 a.m. UTC.When the sun is at -23.5 degrees, the winter solstice begins. This is the sun's most southerly declination. The beginning of the winter solstice usually falls between December 20-23. The people living south of the Tropic of Capricorn will have their longest day of the year. The people living in the northern hemisphere can expect to have the shortest day of their year.First day of winter and still no snow on the ground. What does that mean for us? I would really like to see the ground freeze and get some frost down into the soil. When the freeze and thaw cycle takes place we get some nice fracturing of the soil. Right now that is not happening. When I was out yesterday the ground was completly thawed out. I am sure the tulip bulbs don't know if they should grow or stay dormant. I have seen this type of situation in the past and all of the winter bulbs in the ground just rotted off because they were too wet all winter instead of being in a frozen state. I am not an entomologist, and the lack of frozen soil concerns me fron a insect point of view. Usually the winter will kill off some of the insect population. This winter I am not sure that this yearly phenomen is taking place. So we could see some more insect damage next year. Who knows. I am including a soil temperature map taken from #11 fairway North. You can see that the soil at 2" deep has not been below freezing since December 14th. While most of us that live here all winter are enjoying the lack of snow and the mild temperatures, our golf course needs to be in the deep freeze for a couple of months.

Pine Wilt Disease

2011-12-20T07:43:00.001-06:00

Pine wilt is a disease of pine (Pinus spp.) caused by the pinewood nematode. Here at Des Moines Golf and Country Club this pest affects our Scots Pines. We first notice flagging or browning of a limb and then the total lost of the tree. The pinewood nematode is native to North America and is not considered a primary pathogen of native pines, but is the cause of pine wilt in some non-native pinesThe pinewood nematode is transmitted to conifers by pine sawyer beetles either when the sawyer beetles feed on the bark and phloem of twigs of susceptible live trees or when the female beetles lay eggs in freshly cut timber or dying trees. Nematodes introduced during primary transmission can reproduce rapidly in the sapwood and a susceptible host can wilt and die within weeks of being infested if conditions are favorable to disease development.Pine wilt disease — Management of pine wilt disease is primarily limited to prevention. There are no cures for pine wilt disease once a susceptible tree becomes infested with the pinewood nematode. The most effective prevention strategy is to avoid planting non-native pines, such as Scotch and Austrian pine. Where these non-native pines already exist, landowners can reduce susceptibility of high-value landscape trees by watering to avoid drought stress. If they discover infestations, landowners can consider removing and chipping infested trees to limit the spread to nearby susceptible trees and possibly burning the effected wood. This winter we have noticed a lot of Scotch Pines with some flagging of some limbs. We are now out removing those limbs and chipping them. Hopefully we can slow down the transmission of the disease. Unfortunately I believe all of Scotch Pines someday will be lost to this pest. Here is a photo of a Scotch Pine in a landscape that has gone too long before being removed.

Yesterday we were out pruning trees that are showing signs of flagging. The nematode leaves an excretion in the vascular system of the tree. This excretion will act like glue and plug up the water conducting tissue. A sure sign of the disease is a "blue stain" in the portion of the tree that has the disease. Here is a nice cross cut photo showing that blue stain.

Retirement !!!

2011-12-08T11:12:00.004-06:00

Ben Taylor has worked full time for Des Moines Golf and Country Club since December of 1997. Prior to that time he had worked as a seasonal employee for the club. Ben has been done a myriad of things for club including equipment operator, cook for the maintenance staff and Administrative Assistant for the golf course maintenance department.

Ben has been an excellent employee and will be missed. He does a lot of the little things around DMGCC that people don't realize and once he is gone is going to take a unique individual to fill his shoes. This Friday December 9th is Ben's last day with us and we wish him the best for his twilight years. He has no plans for his retirement and hopefully he can get out enjoying his bird watching hobby and spending some time with his friend Glenda. We wish you well Ben and thank you for your efforts at Des Moines Golf and Country Club. Here is a photo of Ben as he receives his retirement gift. It is a tradition on the DMGCC Maintenance Staff to give a painting of a hole on the golf course. Jerry Steele who has worked for us for 32 years always paints the favorite hole.

New additions to maintenance shop

2011-12-02T14:02:00.002-06:00

We have never had a dedicated room to do our mower grinding in, so this November we went to one of our cold storage areas and added a small addition. We then fixed it up very nice and moved our grinders in there. It will be a welcome addition to our facility. Not only does it free up some winter time space but the grinding noise will be kept to a minimum for us.

We also have a paint booth/wash area. We purchased a much needed new hot water/high pressure washer. We mounted it up high to keep debris off of it and repainted the area. Here is the finished product. The guys did everything in house on both projects and I am very proud of their work.

No Shave November

2011-12-02T06:40:00.003-06:00

Well it is hard to believe that November has come and gone already and now the weather is really looking like December. Here in the maintenance department the winter can get very long so this year we decided to have little staff "monthly themes" to have camaraderie amongst the crew. The theme for November was "No Shave November" in preparation for a long cold winter. I talk to them a lot over the year about professionalism, looks and appearance of our staff. November is a great time of year to let your hair down a little bit or let it grow out a little bit, so that is what we did. You can see from the photo below that all of grew some sort of facial hair to be part of the monthly theme. The guys had a lot of fun with it and I think a few of them will sport a beard all winter. Thanks

South Course Closing

2011-11-28T06:52:00.001-06:00

Due to the weather forecast of overnight lows dropping well into the 20's we have decided to put the covers on the South course today. So we will be closed for the remainder of the season and if you want to hit balls you can use the East range tee from the mats. Thank you for a wonderful season and we wish you the best.

Rick

Winter Time Preparation

2011-11-08T12:57:00.002-06:00

We are closing in on winter time and our preparations are starting to take place. We have brought in all of the golf course furniture, bunker rakes, hazard and ob stakes. We have finished all of our broadleaf weed control in our roughs and the next item for roughs will be a dormant application of fertilizer and Barricade herbicide for next year's crabgrass control. We will be blowing out the restroom water lines and the water fountain lines. We will start installing all of the snow fence along the front drive and next Monday we will be blowing out the irrigation system lines. The last item on our agenda will be the application of our snow mold fungicides and the installation of our greens covers. We will keep you abreast of those details as they are going to happen.

Club Car Pro Supt Tournament

2011-10-18T07:02:00.005-05:00

On October 17th Scott Howe and myself played in the Iowa PGA Pro/Superintendent Tournament at Elmwood Country Club in Marshalltown. It was a cold day and windy day but it was a lot of fun to play with Scott and compete against our comrades in the golf business. We played well and if we could have made one more putt we would have been in the money! As it was we have bragging rights with our guys here at DMGCC. We took 2 other teams from the club and Scott/Rick beat them this year. At least we don't have to listen to them for a year!

You can see the final results at

http://iowapga.bluegolf.com/bluegolf/iowapga11/event/iowapga1132/contest/3/leaderboard.htm

Red Tail Hawk

2011-10-14T09:00:00.003-05:00

One of the benefits of working outside on a golf course is the abundance of wildlife and being able to watch some of these species in action. Since we have mowed down our no-mow areas the mice, rabbits and squirrels have a much harder time finding places to hide. This adult red tail hawk has been on property for over 2 weeks now and he is putting on quite a show and is eating pretty well! Here is a photo I got of him yesterday. I was only 20' away from him when I took the photo. Beautiful bird.

Deep Well Update

2011-10-10T07:32:00.002-05:00

Over this past weekend we were able to get the new deep well, submersible motor installed. We finished wiring it up on Saturday morning and after doing some fine tuning it all works well and we are pumping water again.

Since we are in a drought you might even have noticed that we put a little more water on greens, tees and fairways over the weekend. We also started to once again water our roughs which were in dire need of some moisture.

The new motor is 180 hp motor and it should last for quite some time. We all can now rest a little bit better knowing we once again have some water if needed.

Here is a photo of the submersible motor being attached to the well pump.

Irrigation Deep Well Problems

2011-10-05T13:30:00.001-05:00

Dear Des Moines Golf and Country Club Member,

This past Saturday the motor on our deep well, our main irrigation water source, failed. The motor sits at 510' below ground so replacing it is not a simple task. We anticipate the well being back in operation sometime next week.

During the interim period we are using water storage on property. We will be draining some silt ponds and moving that water into our irrigation ponds. Over the next week or two there will be a dramatic lowering of the water levels as we move water around. Ponds levels will remain down until we get rainfall or until the deep well is back in operation. We are watering roughs very sparingly as we try to conserve as much water as possible.

We thank you in advance for your understanding.

Bunker Rake Placement

2011-10-05T13:25:00.003-05:00

This is a very good vide explaining the placement of bunker rakes. Please take a moment to watch and listen to the explanation.

From the Golf Course, September 2011

2011-09-29T07:03:00.004-05:00

Fall is the time of the year when we look at doing a lot of small projects that have been put on hold all summer. Don't be surprised if you see sodding jobs being done, tiling projects and some minor tree pruning. We are also mowing down the "no mow" areas right now on both golf courses. This is done for two reasons; the first is to spray the broadleaf weeds in them, the second is that they are a magnet for falling leaves. The taller turf stops leaves from blowing and acts like a snow fence and holding the leaves. By cutting them down it helps us to manage our leaf drop and take care of them.

Speaking of leaf drop there are over 5,000 trees on property at the club. A vast majority of them are deciduous trees, which means they drop their leaves each season. Once they drop we don't pick any of them up. Everything hitting the ground is blown into wind rows then mulched in the roughs. It takes a very diligent crew and some sharp mower blades to stay ahead of it but the efforts are well worth it.

As I mentioned we are spraying broadleaf weeds in our rough areas. This is done using post emergence herbicides. To be effective, most post emergence herbicides must be absorbed through the leaves; consequently, liquid sprays generally work better than dry, granular materials. However for the homeowner, granular formulations may be the most practical way for you to apply these materials. Fall is the safest time of the year to apply these products to your landscapes at home. So if you have a few weeds, now is the time to get them.

We just finished our aerification on the golf course and it went extremely well. For many of you that have sodded yards over clay soils in your home yards, now is the time to aerify your home yard. Get as many cores up as you can tolerate and then let them sit for the winter. If there is a warm dry day, mow the turf a little shorter to break the cores up. I also take the opportunity to apply gypsum at home to help flocculate the soil. It is also a great time of year to apply a good fall fertilizer to get the turf healthy going into winter. Remember we are in a mini drought right now so the turf really needs some good moisture going into winter.

I hope you have some opportunities to get out and enjoy the club yet this fall. There are many great fall days left to play golf and enjoy your facility.

Rick Tegtmeier, CGCS
Director of Grounds
Des Moines Golf & Country Club

East Driving Range Tile Project

2011-09-27T07:45:00.003-05:00

With the aerification of both golf courses now in the rear view mirror it is time to move on to other projects on the courses. One of the areas that has always concerned me is the fact that we could not use any of the driviing ranges after a rain because we could not pick the golf balls. On the east range we do have a series of mats to use if there is inclement weather. I asked the Board of Directors for some funding to install over 2,000 linear feet of tile in the east range fairway this fall.

Currently there is a rather large tile that bisects the range, it is our intent to install several lateral lines across the range trying to pick up any free surface water and to try and get the fairway dried up quicker. This would then allow the golfers to get out and always have an area to practice. If we had a huge rain we might have to wait a little while but the normal rains should be taken care of.

I have included a photo of my plan to install new lines. The red line is the current drain line, the black lines are the current irrigation system. The green lines will be the new tiles lines that we are going to install.

North Course Aerification Schedule

2011-09-15T07:35:00.001-05:00

We just have the North Course Greens and Fairways to complete. Here is next week's schedule to finish the North.

North Course Aerification Schedule

Monday September 19th Greens and Fairways Front North
Tuesday September 20th No aerification, all 36 holes open for play
Wednesday, September 21st Finish front of the North course
Thursday, September 22nd Drill and Fill 4,5 South, 13, 18 North
Start on Back 9 holes of North Course
Friday, September 23rd Continue working on Back 9 holes of North Course
Monday, September 26th Finish Back 9 North aerification

South Course Aerification

2011-09-09T07:10:00.002-05:00

We have 2 fairways to finish this morning on the South course and then it will be completed. The weather has been fantastic and we should heal in very fast. Next week's weather also looks very favorable. We will be starting the North course on September 19th.

Fall aerification

2011-09-07T08:03:00.000-05:00

Every year this is something that we must do to ensure good turf health for the upcoming fall and next year's golf season. Our weather yesterday and the forecasted weather for the rest of the week is great for aerification. Yesterday we were able to complete all of the front nine holes on the South course. Tomorrow we have the schedule blocked for us to start on the Back 9 holes of the South course. We should have no problem finishing these holes before the weekend. On September 19th we will be doing the North course aerification and on September 23rd we will be doing the drill and fill aerification on holes #4,5 South, and #13,18 North. Thank you for your patience and understanding while we do this vital task to keep our courses in great condition.Rick

Aeration Video

2011-08-18T13:50:00.001-05:00

Why do we do it, especially if golfers hate it so much? This is a very good video done by Dr. Larry Stowell from Pace Turf as to the benefits of aeration. Please take the time to watch it.

From the USGA

2011-08-11T13:47:00.001-05:00

Out of the Oven and Into the Fire
This article comes to us from Ty McClellan, USGA Green Section Record Mid-Continent Region Agronomist. Ty provides his thoughts about the hot temperatures most have experienced this summer and the toll is has taken on cool-season grasses.

Although the summer of 2010 was one of the hottest on record and widely publicized for the wake of destruction in the turf industry, it looks as though we’ve jumped out of the oven and right into the fire in 2011. Popular phrases that include ‘the perfect storm’, ‘equal opportunity destroyer’, and ‘turf loss of epic proportions’ are being bantered about once again, as Mother Nature turns up the heat and tries to roast the cool-season turfgrasses found on many golf courses beyond well done.

Managing turf during June and July in the upper Mid-Continent Region has been anything but easy, given the persistent heat wave. For much of Kansas and Missouri, nearly every other day during the past nine weeks has exceeded 100°F, and nighttime lows have rarely dropped below 80°F. Even though it is hard to imagine, 2011 may surpass 2010 for record heat. Some superintendents are already stretched, as this summer has dealt them an even worse set of circumstances. August conditions may leave some to wonder how they will have any turf to manage as putting green soil temperatures may continue to exceed 90 degrees.

Somewhat surprisingly, education and communication efforts that were effective last year are not providing the same understanding ears this year. Course officials and golfers seem to be less receptive to the news about heat stress. This is a good time to revisit some fundamental principles of turf management:

Creeping bentgrass root dieback begins when soil temperatures exceed 86°F at a 2-inch depth.

Poa annua is a fragile species that is usually the first to decline during high temperatures.

Portions of putting greens that suffer from poor air movement, poor drainage, and concentrated traffic (particularly the collars) are the most difficult to maintain and the first to decline.

To survive the heat and maintain turf health until the fire is extinguished with the onset of cooler temperatures, some of the most effective strategies include:

Supplement automatic irrigation as much as possible with hand watering.

Raise the mowing height and use solid front rollers when preparing the greens for play.

Mow less frequently and roll instead.

Use large oscillating fans to improve air circulation and assist the transpirational cooling of the turf. The fans may be needed continuously for 24 hours of the day.

Vent the greens when possible via non-disruptive aeration techniques.

Increase the rate and frequency of fungicide applications, as disease pressure increases with higher temperatures.

Reduce traffic on the putting greens via temporary closure, if necessary, or cancelling / rescheduling large outings.

Cool-season turfgrasses are in a fragile state, and superintendents and their staffs are feeling the effects of long hours and touch-and-go conditions. Now is the time to support them as they work to maintain the turf. Expectations for exceptional playability simply must be put on hold until temperatures cool off…and hopefully that is soon.

If you would like more information about a Turf Advisory Service visit, do not hesitate to contact either of the Mid-Continent regional offices: Ty McClellan at tmcclellan@usga.org or (630) 340-5853 or Bud White at budwhite@usga.org or (972) 662-1138.

Jr. Golf Divot Filling Party

2011-08-01T10:11:00.003-05:00

A special thanks to Matt Orth, Philip Conover from the Golf Pro Staff, Tayler Riggen and Nate Tegtmeier from the Green and Golf Department for organizing a divot filling party for our Junior Golfers. We had about 15 young women and men come out to brave the heat and give back to the golf course. They worked for a couple of hours filling divots on tees and fairways. They also fixed ball marks on greens. They did a great job and we do appreciate them coming out and participating. Now it is off to the pool for lunch and a cool swim.

July Weather Recap

2011-08-01T08:16:00.004-05:00

I saw this information on IA Turf website. It certainly holds true for us here in Des Moines and the wicked weather that we all have been going through. We have spent a lot of our time and effort to stay in survival mode and just work at getting the turf through the heat. Here is what Marcus Jones, Associate Turfgrass Scientist at Iowa State University had to say on his blog page.

It was a cool 92 F in central Iowa on Sunday. Cool at least by July’s standards in which the state was blanketed by record high temperatures and unbearable heat indices. The month got off to a promising start with maximum daytime temperatures during the first half of the month primarily in the 80’s.

A brutal stretch of weather began on the 15th when the daytime temperature reached 93 F. Central Iowa wouldn’t see temperatures back in the 80’s for another 12 days. The record stretch of 13 consecutive days in the 90’s was the longest stretch in over 30 years. Not to be outdone, a 15-day stretch of nighttime temperatures at or above 74 F was the longest on record.

Overall, the daily average temperature for the month was 81.8 F which is 5.7 degrees warmer than the average. This ranks as the 4th warmest July on record for central Iowa. The warmest stretch occurred on the 17th through the 20th when daily temperatures nearly reached triple digits each day. Needless to say, these prolonged, extreme temperatures took their toll on our cool-season grasses.

Here at DMGCC I am pleased that we have been able to survive with just a few spots showing signs of extreme stress. I know we are not out of the woods yet but I think we can see the light through the trees. Hopefully temperatures and conditions will moderate and we can enjoy a good month of August.

Venting

2011-07-25T07:15:00.003-05:00

Each summer as it gets hot and wet one of the best cultural practices that we can do is called "venting" or "needle tine aerification". The greens have had a tremendous amount of foot traffic, maintenance traffic and too much rainfall that has caused the root zone to seal off. By venting the green with the needle tines we can open up a small channel or pathway to allow a good exchange of gases and allowing water to pentetrate better through the soil profile. We have 2 machines that we operate on greens and we are able to do 18 holes a day. We then roll the surface to smooth up the disruption. Most golfers do not even notice the venting procedure.

Crabgrass Control

2011-07-25T07:10:00.002-05:00

Each year we invest some time and money trying to control annual grassy weeds such as crabgrass and goosegrass. Sometimes our control is so good and uniform I wonder if it really needs to be done each year. I believe that answer is yes. In the photo you can see the area on the right has pre-emergent crabgrass control and the are on the left does not and it is almost 100% infected.

USGA Visit 2011

2011-07-21T07:43:00.004-05:00

Each year we have an turfgrass agronomist come from the USGA. He does a 1/2 visit, looking at both golf courses and then produces a evaluation report. I have included a link if you would like to look at this year's report.

USGA Report 2011

From the golf course

2011-07-19T07:57:00.001-05:00

This year has been a year of huge swings for us. First we had warm weather in March, cold in April, wet and cold in May, very wet in June and now the July heat. The turf does not know how to respond to all of these swings and the roots systems of our turf are shortened because of the wet conditions. This means we as a maintenance team have to work a little harder to keep the grass alive and growing well.

The height of cut changes we made to the roughs this year are paying some dividends now. The turf is healthier and thicker under the trees, it is also tolerating the heat much better than it has in the past. All of the tree pruning that we did over the winter is helping to get sunlight into the denser, shaded areas providing a better more uniform area to play from.

We are starting to see a lot of Japanese Beetles flying around the golf course.

They can do a lot of damage to trees and landscape plants. They are very easy to control and using a product like “Sevin” is a very effective application to use to protect your shrubs. Check out linden trees, crab trees, rose bushes. These are the plants that they go to first. Damage is always seen at the top of the shrub or tree and they work downward. Look at the leaves for areas that look like a skeleton, the beetles will eat the green leafy material and leave the skeleton of the leaf. Do not buy beetle traps; they have a pheromone chemical in the trap to attract the beetles. If you don’t have them, you will if you put out a trap. One other problem with the Japanese Beetle is they now are also laying eggs in the soil and these eggs become white grubs in the fall. So putting down a grub control in your turf is essential for protection against these insects. Merit is a very good grub control product to use to kill the larvae in the soil.

Divots and ballmarks have been a huge issue again this year for us. Please take the time to repair your ballmark on the green. Divots in the fairways and on our tees should also be repaired immediately. I have take a few photos to show you divot recovery. The first photo shows 3 divots that I took out of the fairway.

The second photo shows the one the left, it was repaired the way we would like you to do it. Replace the divot and then topdress around the divot. The middle divot was left attended. The divot on the right was just filled with the sand mixture from the divot bottle.

Now fast forward 4 days to the 3rd photo. You can clearly see the divot on the left is repairing itself even though we have had some extreme heat the last few days. The middle divot is not showing any lateral growth and can you imagine if your ball was in it and you had to hit your shot from it! The divot on the right is also not doing much. The sand mixture has been moved around from someone walking on it and it too will be awhile before it is playable.

Now we are 11 days after I took the original divot. We have been through some brutal weather. The divot that has been replaced is rooting down and is healing properly.

There is some dryness to one side but that would not effect your shot if you hit into it. The divot that had soil mixture put in it has not done any better than the one with no soil mixture in the center of the photo. Also notice someone did come by and try to fill it! Thanks to who ever did that. The true take home message is to replace the divot on our tees and fairways and topdress the edge of the divot. It will heal much faster.

Thank you.

Rick Tegtmeier

TDR 300 Field Scout Meter

2011-07-18T10:00:00.000-05:00

This summer we have utilized a couple of new soil moisture meters called a TDR 300 Field Scout Meter. Perhaps you have seen some of our staff members walking around putting greens testing the greens with the meters. These meters give us a very accurate, real time reading as to what the moisture is in the green at that particular time of day. We now know if our irrigation system is working properly, or if we have over watered or under watered a area. We also are learning to keep putting greens drier, which really allows for much better playing conditions. We plan to purchase 3 more meters in the future and you will see more of us out there testing the soil.

Water and Heat!

2011-07-15T08:13:00.001-05:00

With the predicted highs for the next week in the mid to upper 90’s, we are going to see some of the warmest weather that we have experienced in a long time.

All of the rain that we received this spring has really not been conducive to growing good, deep root systems. Hence when we go into times of extreme heat, we are going to have to add supplemental water during the day.

While you are playing during the day please expect to see syringe cycles running on the tees, fairways and roughs. You will also see our maintenance staff out with hoses watering “hot” spots on greens and collars. Please do not call the pro shop to tell them that water is running. These are all things that we must do to maintain the integrity of the turfgrass and try to keep it alive. Sometimes normal irrigation during the evening is not enough to sustain the turf throughout the day.

We appreciate your understanding during this difficult time. Please also remember to hydrate yourself while you are golfing. Do not wait until you are thirsty to drink water, you should be doing it during the entire round of golf. Thank you.

Rick Tegtmeier

Too much Rain!

2011-06-21T06:51:00.001-05:00

Rain continues to be our biggest challenge in June. With all of the golf events that we have to prep for it becomes very difficult when we have had so much precipitation. Normally this time of year we are topdressing, verticutting, filling divots and fixing ball marks. All very routine items for a golf course maintenance staff. This June most of time is spent working on bunkers, pumping water and rescheduling staff to work during dry times to get mowing done. Please bear with us as we are working and doing all we can just to cut the turf. Thank you.

Rick

Lightning Strike

2011-05-29T08:26:00.002-05:00

This happened this morning while we were waiting out the thunderstorm. We are very thankful that we have a Thorguard System to early warn us. We had been in the maintenance facility for about 10 minutes when we heard a lightning strike very close by. This was an oak tree on the left side of #8 South by the fairway bunkers.

Sunday Morning Update

2011-05-15T08:33:00.001-05:00

Rain again last night. .36" and still falling as I write this morning. Right now ranges are closed and carts will be on paths. We will re-evaluate later today if the rain stops and the sun comes out. Have a great Sunday!

A couple of erosion projects - completed.

2011-05-11T12:06:00.005-05:00

With all of the rain and run off that we have experienced the past couple of years, we developed some badly eroded areas in 2 distinct places. The first is on #10 North, you can see the muskrats undermined the bank and we lost part of it.

Here is a photo of the same area after we brought in a backhoe and regraded it. This is an erosion netting that is laid under the sod to help stabilize the bank. The roots of the Kentucky Bluegrass will grow right through it.

Here is a photo of the completed project.

On #1 South we had a big erosion problem caused by a lot of run off coming under the fairway through a tube. It was hitting the bank area that was unprotected. We also decided to move the irrigation pipe that crossed the fairway to help hide it.

Photo of the completed project with a new walk bridge in the back ground.

Here is a close up photo of the new walk bridge. Irrigation pipe is under the bridge to help hide it.

From the golf course - April

2011-04-08T08:54:00.000-05:00

We have been open now for 3 weeks. The turf is responding well to the warmer temperatures and the playability is improving. What also is taking place is the same old thing we see every year, lazy, complacent golfers who do not care about course care or how they leave it for the next golfer.

I am shocked at the huge number of ball marks that are not repaired on our greens already, 3 weeks into the season. I am including a link to a Youtube Video that Scott Howe and I did on using the Pitch Pro Ball Mark Repair Tool at Des Moines Golf. I would like all of you to review it and put these practices into place while you play! You can view the video at:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPEZ5iP7EbY

Divots are still a huge concern here at DMGCC. We always replace the divot here at DMGCC. Then use the sand mixture to dress around the edge of the divot to seal it down to the surrounding turf. Do not go right to the bottle and just fill the entire divot, this is incorrect. Please walk up to get your divot, and then replace it, this holds true for the shots in the fairway and on every tee! Also we spent a lot of money on new divot boxes for your use on the Par 3 tees. These boxes are not seats for you to sit on! Please do not use your golf club to open and close the lids. Please do it correctly and they will last a lot longer.

While this may sound very harsh it is supposed to be, I am trying to shock you into the reality that it is only the 2nd week of April and we are seeing damage to the golf course turf that is caused by golfers who do not care. These are 2 very simple procedures that you the golfer must do to help protect your very valuable asset.

For the homeowner right now is the time to get your spring pre – emergent application on for crabgrass control. Apply at normal rates that are on the bag and please remember to sweep and blow off sidewalks and driveways so this product does not get washed into our watersheds.

Rick Tegtmeier

Story about one of our Employees

2011-03-24T09:06:00.005-06:00

Here at Des Moines Golf and Country Club we are very lucky to have a very talented and gifted group of employees to work with. I am very proud of all of them and each one is very unique in their own way. Just recently we added Tyler Boley as the new 2nd Assistant Golf Course Superintendent to the North Course Staff. Tyler is a graduate of the turf program at Iowa State University, and he did one of his summer internships for us back in 2009.

What is interesting about Ty is that he went to ISU after a 4 year tour in the Marine Corps. While he was in the Marines, Corporal Boley’s main job assignment was working with the HMX-1 Presidential Squadron. This was not an easy job assignment and very few are chosen and honored to be a part of such an elite group of Marines who get to guard our Commander in Chief. Ty traveled to 8 different countries and 35 different states to guard President George W. Bush. He also spent many months at Mr. Bush’s ranch in Texas and many months at Camp David.

Needless to say we are proud of all of veterans and their service to our country. Here in the golf course maintenance department we are very proud to say that Tyler served his country in a very unique way.

Tyler Boley, President George W. Bush

Corporal Boley is the Marine stationed on the right as President Bush gets out of Marine 1.

Golf Courses Opening!

2011-03-14T11:37:00.003-06:00

The forecasted weather looks very favorable for us to open the golf courses this week. Most of the frost is out of the ground and we have started pulling the green covers off today. Our seasonal staffs have returned today they have started the clean up process on both courses.

Our plan at this time is to get green covers off, put out golf course accessories, rake bunkers and open the golf course on Wednesday March 16. We will open at 10:00 AM. This time of year there is still potential for frost in the morning so you can expect frost delays for the next couple of weeks.

The golf courses will not be entirely cleaned up but they will be very playable. Golf carts will be on paths only until further notice and we will be using the mats at the east driving ranges until we have some growth on our practice tees.

Pro Shop hours in March are Tuesday thru Sunday 8:00 a.m. until dark, please note that we are closed on Monday's (in March) and tee times are not required until April.

We look forward to seeing you soon!

Rick Tegtmeier
Scott Howe

Irrigation Repair Trailer

2011-03-09T07:20:00.000-06:00

Having 500 acres and over 3,500 sprinkler heads to maintain, our staff has spent a lot of time, money and effort just in traveling to get parts and equipment while we do irrigation repairs. So we decided to try and minimize this as much as we could. So we built this irrigation repair trailer.

I had an old Divot Master trailer that we converted. We repositioned the torsion axle, took out the mixer part and the electric pump and put on a metal deck. We have a generator, an air compressor and a Tuthill transfer pump to pump water out of an irrigation hole. I also installed 2 pipe vises on the back end to hold a piece of pipe if you need to thread it or for beveling the edge of it. All of the other tools and glue can be kept in the tool box or in the milk crates. The idea behind it all was to try and make one trip to the repair site rather than several, having everything you need to do your repair. I really like having it in a trailer version because both of our golf course staffs can use it and they can just hook it to one of their utility vehicles. Now on to the mechanic’s vehicle!

Even the best golfers do it !!!

2011-03-02T14:16:00.001-06:00

Even the best golfers do it! And have been for many years. I really feel this is a lost art in golf today and we need to follow the example of the 2 professionals below.I hope we all perform the same way this season.

Jack Nicklaus (left) and Arnold Palmer repair their ball marks in accordance with Rule 16-1c during their 1962 U.S. Open playoff at Oakmont (Pa.) Country Club. Nicklaus prevailed in the playoff for the first of his four U.S. Open titles.

March Employee of the Month

2011-03-02T14:08:00.000-06:00

Pedro has been employed at the club since July of 2005. Since moving into his current position of Foreman Pedro has steadily become one of the most reliable and trusted employees for our department. He has no problem stepping into a leadership role when needed and has also become someone for the staff to look up to, and someone that you know will finish the job. Pedro has also done an excellent job of training all new north course employees on any number of jobs on the course.
When not working Pedro and his wife Nora travel, and spend a lot of time with their families. Pedro also enjoys playing soccer and has been trying to learn how to play golf.

From the Golf Course, March 2011

2011-03-02T11:49:00.002-06:00

It has been a little while since you have heard from us in the golf course maintenance department. With all of the snow gone right now we are able to be out on the grounds and check out the turf conditions. The golf course turf is in great condition coming out of the winter. Winter turf diseases and desiccation are non existent and as the soil temperatures warm the turf will get much greener.

Clean up and tree pruning is always an on going process for us with over 5,000 trees on the property. We still have a lot of damaged trees to address over the next couple of weeks but we are making progress. We have taken out some trees that were damaged from last year’s July 18th storm and some that showed some very weak points that were not safe.

Good news is as soon as the soil temperatures stay consistently above the freezing mark we will be ready to open. However the 10 day forecast does not have any daytime temperatures above 41° and almost all of the over night lows are down below freezing. We are constantly monitoring the soil temperatures and we still have a lot of frost in the ground. The top couple of inches is constantly changing with the daily changes, however down at 6” deep we are still frozen on almost all areas. Having traffic on “thawed” ground over the top of frozen ground can create some very bad turf systems later in the year. I have included a soil temperature chart for you to see the “thawed” and “frozen” turf. The green line represents the probe that is 6” deep. Notice the temperature is right at freezing and does not fluctuate with the daily temperature changes. However the orange colored line does change every day and that represents the top couple of inches that are being affected by the daily temperature changes. You can even see the 60° day that we had back in February.

We will keep very close eyes on everything and try to open as soon as we can. Thank you for your patience.

Rick Tegtmeier

Organizational Chart for Maintenance Staff

2011-02-23T07:04:00.004-06:00

Each year we have changes in our maintenance staff. One of the easiest ways to see who is working and what their assignments are is to look at an organizational chart. Here is a current chart for my staff.

USGA Agronomist weighs in on warm weather

2011-02-22T08:43:00.001-06:00

Spring Fever in February
Ty McClellan, USGA Green Section Record Mid-Continent Region Agronomist, weighs in with his thoughts on the warm winter weather.

Only a week ago a whopping 49 of the 50 U.S. states had snow cover. This was the after-effects of one of the worst winter storms on record that hammered much of the country with ice, snow and sub-zero temperatures. In the upper Mid-Continent region, some were buried beneath nearly 28 inches of snow.

Fast forward to last week, and temperatures climbed into the 50’s and 60’s. In fact, a few parts of the region have experienced record daily temperature highs for February. It’s hard to imagine it, but areas in the Great Plains that saw temperatures dip to -35°F two weeks ago, reached close to 65°F last week. That’s a 100-degree turnaround in a week!

Keep in mind that it is times like these where golf courses are most vulnerable to traffic damage. Even when air temperatures rise to a comfortable level to play golf, soils may thaw near the surface but will remain frozen several inches below. Subsurface drainage is impeded, which causes water to dam at the surface. Soft and wet soils are extremely prone to compaction damage from any sort of traffic, and rutting is possible with heavy-tire traffic. Either will require significantly more aeration in the spring and summer to correct the damage that has been done, and spring green-up will be slowed considerably. Play should never be allowed during such conditions!

It is likely that much of the snow and ice covering putting greens has melted. For superintendents, it is important that water can freely exit the green so that it does not puddle and refreeze on the surface. It takes just a few freeze-thaw cycles and there is sure to be winter injury by way of crown hydration injury. The common question of whether to remove snow and ice from greens, or not, is never easily answered and it depends on many variables, including site conditions and weather forecasts. Regardless of the decisions made, there is sure to be some degree of second-guessing involved. Even the best laid plans may fail. To a large extent, winter injury remains one of the unsolved mysteries in our industry.

For golf enthusiasts and anyone experiencing the winter blues, the recent warm-up is only temporary. Another winter storm is expected in a few days. In fact, winter is still some six weeks or so from being over. So, continue utilizing all-season driving ranges to keep your swing sharp and rely on your superintendent and knowledgeable course officials for the green light as to when it is safe to tee it up for real.

Scotch Pines on DMGCC

2011-02-21T07:04:00.004-06:00

Scotch Pine or as some people call them Scots Pine (Pinus sylvestris) is a common tree found on our property here at Des Moines Golf and Country Club. Over the years you may have noticed that we are slowly losing these beautiful trees. This is caused by a disease called "Pine Wilt"

Pine wilt is a disease of any pine tree caused by the pinewood nematode, Bursaphelenchus xylophilus. The pinewood nematode is native to North America and is not considered a primary pathogen of native pines, but is the cause of pine wilt in some non-native pines.

The pinewood nematode is transmitted (vectored) to conifers by pine sawyer beetles (Monochamus spp.) either when the sawyer beetles feed on the bark and phloem of twigs of susceptible live trees (primary transmission) or when the female beetles lay eggs (oviposition) in freshly cut timber or dying trees (secondary transmission). Nematodes introduced during primary transmission can reproduce rapidly in the sapwood and a susceptible host can wilt and die within weeks of being infested if conditions are favorable to disease development.

Basically what happens is the nematode multiplies so fast in the new host, that it plugs up the tissues that transport water and nutrients up and down the tree. This is called the vascular system. Once this system is plugged up, the tree starts to die and eventually has to be removed.

Here is a tree at DMGCC showing the signs of pine wilt.

Once we see a tree that has progressed this far, we remove it. Here is a photo of the trunk of the tree. You can see a blue stain in the wood. This is the proliferation of the nematode and you can see how it has multiplied and plugged up the conductivity tissue on the outside of the sapwood. Only thing that can be done is to cut it down and burn the wood immediately to help neutralize the moving of this pest.

Feels Like Summer!

2011-02-17T08:20:00.003-06:00

Even though it is going to be very warm out today, there is no way the golf course is ready. I know there are some golf courses around the city that are opening today. I toured both golf courses this morning. There is still plenty of snow in some places, even on some putting surfaces. I was able to drive everywhere but the golf courses are extremely wet, ground is still very frozen and there is still a lot of frost deep in the ground. I am happy to say that there is no snow mold diesease and no winter dessication at this time. Over all the turf has over wintered very well. We are also in the fact that there is not a lot of clean up to do, we had very little debris come off of the trees over the winter. So golf is not far away in our plans. We are ready to go once the golf courses are ready. See you then.

Iowa Turf Conference and Show

2011-01-26T13:07:00.001-06:00

Rick Tegtmeier, CGCS Des Moines Golf and Country Club, received the second annual Environmental Stewardship Award, and it was announced that Doug Snook, CGCS Waverly Golf Course will be inducted into the Iowa Golf Hall of Fame

Emerald Ash Borer Update January 2011

2011-01-21T12:31:00.002-06:00

Emerald Ash Borer Update January 2011

This past week I have been at the Iowa Turf Conference. Pesticide applicator recertification is attended by all of us that are certified by the State of Iowa. This year we were given an update on Emerald Ash Borer and it’s progression. I thought I would like to pass those facts along to you as presented to us by State Entomologist Donald Lewis from Iowa State University.

First EAB has been found in Iowa. This pest was found on an island in the Mississippi River in the late fall of 2009. They found 4 of the larvae on an ash tree. So as the instructor so aptly put it, no EAB has been found on the Mainland of Iowa. There has been no more reported outbreaks for 2010!

The state of Iowa also tested over 350 campgrounds, 235 tree nurseries, and 79 wood industry businesses to make sure there was no EAB being transported from previously infected areas. None Found in 2010!

Iowa State University did cut down 38 ash trees. Why? Because these were trees that had been previously damaged and would not amount to a good tree. The thought process was that they would take them down and replace them with a better suited variety that would not be susceptible to EAB. They did not have EAB!

So what does this mean for us? The state will continue to be very diligent in searching for this pest and trying to control it if they find it. Right now they are recommending that if you have a diseased or dying ash, you should replace it. If you have a specimen tree, they feel you should not treat the tree with any preventative insecticide until EAB is reported 15-20 miles from your site. Last year here at DMGCC I did treat a few ash trees, in 2011 I will not be doing so but I will closely monitor the situation. Two web sites that you can also monitor the progress of EAB are:
www.Emeraldashborer.info or www.iowatreepests.com

Now the not so good news, there are a couple of other tree pests that are alarming and you should be aware of them. Asian Long Haired Beetle is one that is being found east of Iowa and effects and kills maple trees. Gypsy Moths are also found east of Iowa and this year 1,856 Gypsy Moth traps were place along Iowa’s eastern border. Just over 2,500 specimens were found in the traps, this is up from the previous high of 250. Again not to be alarmed but you can monitor the progress of this pest at the Iowa tree pest’s web site. Thank you.

Cross Country Skiing on the Golf Course

2011-01-10T08:14:00.000-06:00

We would like you to be able to cross country ski here on the club grounds if you have your own equipment and would like to do so.

We are open for cross country skiing if we have 4” or more of snow cover on the ground. There will not be any signs saying open or closed, if you are unsure you may call the golf course maintenance department at 515-440-7540.

We will not have any groomed trails available so you can take whatever path you would like, however all greens and tees are off limits to any type of skiing. Please try to stay in the rough areas while skiing and keep off of fairways if you can.

Please remember the club grounds is off limits to snow mobiles and atv 4 wheel machines.

Snow Cover and Greenscovers

2011-01-03T09:39:00.001-06:00

Well this year we have experienced some very varying temperatures and weather conditions. We really like to see the turf harden off in late November, (which it did) then we really like to see snow cover to protect the turf from the cold and drying winter winds, which we had until this past weekend where we lost all of the snow cover. I am really happy for the greenscovers at this point of the year. The reason for the covers is to protect the turf during times like we are experiencing right now. Hopefully we will also see some snow cover again soon to protect the turf, but until then we will monitor conditions and watch very closely as to what Mother Nature deals to us.

# 9 Tee North

2010-10-22T07:18:00.000-05:00

We started construction on #9 Tee North on October 4th. The weather as you know was perfect and the project was completed on time and on budget. We are very pleased with the outcome and we fully expect to open the tees when we open the golf course in the spring of 2011. Here is a photo of the completed project.

Rick

Fall Aerification and Some Projects

2010-09-10T13:27:00.000-05:00

From the Golf Course
We now have completed the North Golf Course aerification. Aeration is an extremely important maintenance practice. Although it results in a temporary disruption of the green, tee or fairway, aeration improves water penetration into the soil, reduces soil compaction, stimulates turfgrass root growth for a healthier plant, helps control thatch build-up, and improves overall growing conditions. Aeration generally is done once or twice per year, and sometimes more often if certain problems exist. At this time we also add soil amendments and fertilizers to turf because it is an excellent time to try and incorporate these products into the soil. If you play the North Course you will see a white dust all over the fairways, this is granular gypsum that is used to help counteract the affects of a high saline water. We will start the South course aeration on September 20th.
This year we also experienced some thinning out of the turf on #18 North, #4 and #5 South greens. These greens are native soil greens that still have a tremendous amount of clay in the soil and are very tight. Over the years these greens have been topdressed and aerified. those processes have helped to improve surface drainage. However this year with all of the heavy rain these 3 greens did not improve and have continued to be a struggle to maintain. Per a recommendation from our USGA Agronomist on September 23rd we will do an additional aeration to these 3 greens called a Drill and Fill process. It involves a special machine that drills out a 1” hole, 8” deep and then fills the hole with a dry sand. While this is very disruptive when you do it, we should see improvement on these putting greens by providing additional internal drainage. It will take much longer for the holes to heal over, however we will be incorporating seed into these holes to aid in the healing process and adding additional greens fertility.
As Mark Salem noted in his monthly Chronicle article we will be doing some construction on the North course this fall. We will moving all of the tees on #9 North to better align these tees with the golf hole. Starting today we will be moving some Kentucky Bluegrass Sod from the construction area. The next 2 weeks we will be trying to remove all of it from the construction area. The first week of October we will close down these tees and start the major dirt work. We will be playing this hole as a Par 4, teeing off from the fairway area the rest of this year. The bentgrass sod from these tees will be saved and laid back down after the new tees have been built. We should be able to open these tees back up in the spring of 2011.
Also in October we will be working on #16 north bunker. We will be removing the sand from the bunker, adding additional drain tile and then repair the sides of this bunker because they are falling in and are in need of repair.
Thank you,

Rick Tegtmeier

Audubon Recertification

2010-08-11T06:44:00.000-05:00

Des Moines Golf and Country Club Recognized for Environmental Excellence

WEST DES MOINES, IA – The Des Moines Golf and Country Club golf course has retained its designation as a "Certified Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary through the Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary Program for Golf Courses, an Audubon International program. Participation is designed to help course personnel plan, organize, implement, and document a comprehensive environmental management program and receive recognition for their efforts. To reach certification, a course must demonstrate that they are maintaining a high degree of environmental quality in a number of areas including: Environmental Planning, Wildlife & Habitat Management, Outreach and Education, Chemical Use Reduction and Safety, Water Conservation, and Water Quality Management.

"Des Moines Golf and Country Club has shown a strong commitment to its environmental program. They are to be commended for their efforts to provide a sanctuary for wildlife on the golf course property," said Jim Sluiter, Staff Ecologist at Audubon International.

Des Moines Golf and Country Club is one of 6 courses in Iowa and 783 courses in the world to receive the honor. Golf courses from the United States, Africa, Australia, Central America, Europe, South America, and Southeast Asia have also achieved certification in the program. The golf course was designated as a Certified Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary in 2007. After designation, courses go through a recertification process every two years.

This year the recertification process, coordinated by Rick Tegtmeier, Director of Grounds at Des Moines Golf and Country Club, required a visit by a local environmental expert. Dr. David Minner, Extension Professor at Iowa State University, conducted the site visit and sent his observations to Audubon International.

“We see the site visit as an important component of a course’s recertification,” stated Sluiter. “It provides an objective verification of some of the more visible aspects of the course’s environmental management activities. In addition, it offers an opportunity for golf course representatives to share publicly some of the voluntary actions they have taken to protect and sustain the land, water, wildlife, and natural resources around them.”

Minner was impressed with the environment management projects planned and completed in the property. “Des Moines Golf and Country Club has put considerable resources into protecting a natural habitat that meanders through the facility preserving wildlife in a unique partnership between championship golf and environmental stewardship,” said Minner.

Audubon International is an environmental organization dedicated to educating, assisting, and inspiring millions of people from all walks of life to protect and sustain the land, water, wildlife, and natural resources around them. In addition to golf courses, the Audubon International also provides programs for schools, businesses, communities, and individuals. For more information, contact Audubon International, 46 Rarick Rd., Selkirk, NY 12158, USA, (518) 767-9051, e-mail them via the Internet at acss@auduboninternational.org, or visit their website at www.auduboninternational.org. For more information on golf and the environment, visit www.golfandenvironment.org.

Heat Stress on Turf

2010-08-07T14:48:00.000-05:00

Dr. Wendy Gelernter from Pace Turf does a simple explanation on how heat effects turfgrass. You can take a look at it here on this youtube video. Just copy and paste this link into your browser.

http://www.youtube.com/user/paceturf

Rick Tegtmeier

Core Aerification needed on some putting greens

2010-08-04T12:29:00.000-05:00

So far we have experienced just over 20” of rain since June 1st. Many of our areas have been water logged and are suffering in the heat and humidity. We have been very aggressive in our venting of the turf on greens, fairways and intermediate rough. We have gone out numerous times in the last couple of weeks and have solid tine aerified these areas. By doing this we have been successful in creating channels in the soil to help drain the wet areas and allow for oxygen to get into the root zones. This has really helped the turf and the golfer hardly even notices when we have done this style of aerification.

However these extreme conditions that we have been in now are causing us to change our style and we have 3 greens that are suffering and really need to be core aerified to allow the turf to breathe and allow for more oxygen to get into the root zones. The solid tines do not seem to be enough for good plant health.

#4, 5 South and #18 North are greens that have very heavy soils and we are not experiencing turf loss yet but if we aren’t proactive we could loose some turf. So on Thursday, August 4th we will be core aerifying these greens with ¼” coring tines. We will not try to fill the holes with any sand. It is our hope that after a couple of days the turf will cover up these holes and our channels will remain in the soil profile allowing oxygen to help the plant health, then we will topdress with sand to smooth the surface.

As you can see in the attached photo a very black layer of algae has developed below the surface of the turf. This is caused by extreme waterlogged turf and anaerobic conditions. The coring will take care of that and we really should see a lot better plant health in a relatively short period of time.

Thank you

Rick Tegtmeier
rtegtmeier@dmgcc.org

The Dog Days of Summer

2010-08-01T06:50:00.000-05:00

The dog days of summer are defined as “the hottest, most sultry days of summer”. In the northern hemisphere, they usually fall between early July and early September. Dog Days can also define a time period or event that is very hot or stagnant, or marked by dull lack of progress.

For me the Dog Days mean it is usually around August 1 and I can really see the wear and tear on the golf course turf. This year all of that wear and tear has been exacerbated due to the higher than normal rainfall and an average daily high temperature almost 10 degrees higher than last summer!

A few gentle reminders as we head into state fair time. Putting greens really show the ball marks this time of year. We have to work very hard to find that ball mark and make sure you are repairing it properly with the Pitch Pro ball mark repair tool.

Divots and Green Sand, we have now been using the green sand for 4 years to fill around our divots once they have been replaced. Funny thing is there seems to be a lot of golfers that forget to “Replace the Divot” first before we use any green sand! Just to prove a point, I took this photo of #1 South on Sunday morning, August 1st after a full Saturday of play. You can see this is a huge disappointment and very few of the divots have been replaced and many are ignored. If you look closely very few of them have any green sand around them.

We have to do a better job of retrieving the divot, replacing it and then topdressing around that divot with the green sand.

Dog Days of August also mean that we will be doing some tee aerification prior to Labor Day. We try to get tees done before the end of August to help them recover fully and to also lessen our work load during the September aerification.

I hope you are able to come out and enjoy the golf course this fall. Fall is a great time to play and temperatures are usually much more comfortable. To help us all enjoy the golf, please remember we need your help and your efforts in maintaining an enjoyable playing surface.

Thank you.

Rick Tegtmeier

TurfNet Photo

2010-07-14T12:41:00.000-05:00

There is a golf course superintendent's web site that many of my peers participate in. There are a couple of TurfNet banners that are traveling around the country to different golf course maintenance facilities and staffs are taking their photos and posting them on TurfNet. Here is a photo of the DMGCC Staff.

Ascochyta leaf blight

2010-06-29T05:48:00.000-05:00

This was written by Dr. Dave Minner from Iowa State University. I am seeing this disease effect some of our intermediate rough areas.

If your lawn went from one of the best in the neighborhood to one that resembled a straw field seemingly overnight then we may have an answer for you. Ascochyta leaf blight causes a rapid straw to bleached appearance of the leaves primarily on Kentucky bluegrass and to a lesser extent on perennial ryegrass and tall fescue. Home owners want to know why this happened only to their lawn and not to the neighbors. This is the most wide spread outbreak of Ascochyta that I have seen in my 30 years of managing turf. The good news is that Ascochyta spp. primarily attack turfgrass leaves and lawns usually recover quickly.

The damaged lawns started showing up around the first of June and 15 days later I have already started to see some regrowth from lower shoots. Some of the more severely damaged areas may require 3 or 4 weeks of good growing conditions to fully recover. Here are some answers to the questions you have been asking about this turf problem.

What caused the problem?

A fungus called Ascochyta leaf blight cause the rapid straw discoloration of turf leaves and it was instigated by dry hot and dry conditions.

Why did the problem seem to stop right on the property line and why is my lawn having the problem?

The problem started with the hot and windy conditions in the last week of May that caused heat and moisture stress on many lawns. Since lawns with less nitrogen and no previous irrigation are more tolerant of sudden drought and heat, these more hardy lawns (usually the lighter green and less attractive lawns) were less affected by Ascochyta leaf blight.

Should I change my lawn management practices or lawn care company?

It is unsettling that the best looking lawns suddenly become the worst looking lawns, but I wouldn’t pin the blame necessarily on yourself or your lawn care company. We see Ascochyta leaf blight every year on a very small scale and it is normally an insignificant disease that simply recovers and goes away on its own. If you are fertilizing with 2 to 4 lbs N/1000 sq.ft. per year then you are not using excessive nitrogen. If you feel your lawn is receiving too much nitrogen then apply 0.5 to 1.0 lbs N/1000 sq.ft. less in a year to determine if you are content with the appearance at a lower level of nitrogen. A more important factor is how you water the lawn.

It appeared to me that many lawns with automatic watering systems were damaged. Your goal should be to water about once a week to supply approximately one inch of water. Watering more often produces shallow rooting, lush plants, more disease spores, and an overall less drought tolerant plant. The problem is not having an automatic irrigation system; instead it is how you use it. Automatic systems are an efficient and simple way to water the lawn. It doesn’t mean that just because you invested in one that you need to run it often. Instead your goal should be to operate the system as infrequently as possible. Allow the lawn to dry between irrigations and show slight wilting in just a few spots before you initiate an irrigation cycle. This insures air in the rootzone and promotes deeper rooting and plant cells that are more tolerant of dry conditions and disease.

The two most damaged lawns that I visited had been frequently watering with their automatic irrigation system and then suddenly stop using it for repairs when the hot and dry conditions hit in late May. The frequent watering may have produced excessive Ascochyta inoculum that only caused infection with the onset of heat and drought stress.

Should I use a fungicide?

No, fungicides are not recommended. First it is impossible to predict when Ascochyta will damage turf. Ascochyta is almost always associated with heat or drought stress, but turf often recovers from both of these stresses when Ascochyta is not present. It would not be practical to treat preventatively for Ascochyta every time we have heat and drought stress. Applications of fungicide on lawns already damaged by Ascochyta are also not recommended because leaves already damaged by this foliar disease cannot be helped and the recovering green leaves are not infected.

What should I expect from my damaged lawn and what should I do?

Really, you should do nothing drastic to the lawn. In most cases the lawn will recover in 3 to 4 weeks. Once the brown tips of the leaves have been pushed up and mowed off the new green leaves will make the lawn look more normal. The straw turf along with the thatch in some lawns created dead looking debris on the surface and many of you have asked about power raking, dethatching , and reseeding to remove the brown grass. It is a judgment call that you and your lawn care company can make based on the amount of actual damage in the lawn.

Most of the lawns I am seeing will recover with at least 80% green turf and for that reason I would do nothing except irrigate only enough to avoid severe wilting. Since we are heading into the hottest and most stressful part of the summer I would not add more stress to the lawn by dethatching during the summer; save your coring and dethatching operation for the fall.

Dear DMGCC Member

2010-06-23T06:08:00.001-05:00

Dear DMGCC Golfer,

With all of the rain that we have received in June we are noticing some disturbing but fixable items on the golf course.

When the turf is as wet as it is your divots on all of your shots are going to be much bigger divot on all of your shots. We are seeing a large number of divots not being replaced at all or being replaced very poorly. Please replace the divot and then use the soil mixture to topdress around the outside of the divot. This will help it repair much quicker. Every divot should be replaced, unless it is completely fractured. Even though it's hot and humid please walk up, retrieve your divot and replace it. This is for all golfers, young and old, male and female.

Ball marks - whew! Any shot hitting a green right now is leaving a noticeable ball mark in the surface of the putting green. Please find where your ball hit and then use the Pitch Pro ball mark repair tool to fix it properly. It's only June and the greens look like they have gone through a hail storm of ball marks that have not been repaired! Because of the weather we have not been able to do any topdressing or light aerification so the greens are really showing some wear.

When we do get off of the cart paths after a heavy rain, most of the cart users are doing a great job of staying out of wet areas and out of mud spots. Please watch for signs telling you about cart usage on certain holes and please obey the red stakes.

We are doing our best to cut grass when we can. We have even gone to using 21" push mowers to do a lot of the work that is normally done with a riding mower. It is our only option at this point. It looks like we will be getting into a little drier period the next few days which will help everyone situation but please remember the golfer is responsible for the three items listed above.

Rick Tegtmeier, CGCS

Director of Grounds

June Rains

2010-06-22T06:13:00.000-05:00

June has not been a good month for the golf course maintenance department or for golf! We have had close to 10" of rain for the month and we are averaging almost .44" of rain per day.

There are several areas on the golf course that we have not been able to mow or do any work in those areas. If we can we have even switched to a small rotary mower to try to cut the grass just so it does not get out of hand.

We are very sorry that we have restricted golf carts so much to cart paths only but we feel this is the best decision to protect the turf that is already under some stress from all of the moisture.

Our plans now include putting lights on our rough mowers and we are planning on mowing Wednesday night to get all of the roughs cut prior to the Country Club Invitational. We have never done this before but we are willing to try anything just to get the job done.

Thanks for understanding and believe me when we say that we are doing our best.
Thank you.

Rick

Rain!

2010-06-14T05:58:00.000-05:00

When is there too much rain? This is a photo of the golf course maintenance road. There were bluegills on #5 South cart path. I think that is too much rain!

Emerald Ash Borer and other pests

2010-05-17T06:32:00.000-05:00

I am sure many of you have read the articles in the newspaper about Emerald Ash Borer and how it is now in the state of Iowa. It is true, it is in Alamakee County and headed west. When will it reach Polk and Dallas Counties? No one knows but now is the time to plan for the future because it will be coming.

In this article I am also going to talk about a pest that is already here and one that can be devastating to landscape plants, gardens and trees and one you need to be fully aware of, otherwise you will be looking at skeleton plants in your landscape. That pest is the Japanese Beetle

First the Emerald Ash Borer and what you need to know. There are numerous insects that already effect ash trees in Iowa and do some damage to trees, but they are not as devastating as the EAB. The picture that I have below shows other insects in Iowa and you will notice that they all have a green or emerald appearance and can be easily confused with the EAB. If you have these there is no need to panic, they are naturally occurring and most of them are usually controlled by Mother Nature. However you will notice the EAB in the upper left hand corner. If you have something that you think could be this little devil, collect it, put it in a small container and get it to someone who can help to identify it.

Here is the link to the Emerald Ash Borer Readiness Plan for the State of Iowa. http://www.emeraldashborer.info/files/IA_EAB_Readiness_Plan.pdf

We have had many questions as to what we are doing at DMGCC to prepare for EAB and it’s arrival. 2 years ago the Golf, Green and Grounds Committee surveyed all of the ash trees on the property. They determined that there are 65 critical ash trees that they felt needed to be protected on the golf courses. For the upcoming 2011 golf season we will be budgeting money to treat these critical trees to protect them against insect invasions. Also we are working on developing a tree replacement plan to under plant some of our ash tree areas

Now the Japanese Beetle and what you need to know now. Japanese Beetle is also in the photo above. This pest has been in Eastern Iowa for the last 5-7 years and it has been a true pest for gardens, trees and landscapes. I have included a link the USDA has put out about the Japanese Beetle. http://www.aphis.usda.gov/lpa/pubs/pub_phjbeetle04.pdf

Last year I noticed several landscape plants and trees in the Des Moines area being affected by these pests. The first thing you need to remember is to look up! The infestation takes place at the top of the tree and they work down from there. So on your lindens, flowering crabs, and elms look up. If you see the leaves have a skeleton look and you see insects flying around, you more than likely are starting to see the start of an infestation.

Good news is the pest is very easily controlled. There are many insecticides out there that offer good control of them once you have them. Also there are some biological controls that can do the same thing. If your plants get damage by Japanese Beetle more than likely they will survive and leaf out again next year, but remember this pest is around for a long time and you will have ongoing problems once you get them.

If you have questions, concerns ask an expert. It is better to be safe than to lose your valuable trees or shrubs.

I do have some samples of EAB in my office and can help you if you think you need to id a possible infestation.

Thank you,

Rick Tegtmeier

Good Equipment and Great Staff

2010-05-12T12:47:00.000-05:00

Here at the club we are blessed with a lot of good equipment to do our jobs. This is a picture of our Genie lift. It was purchased to help us put up the lights in the tennis dome and to help with all of the care and maintenance of the 5,400 trees that we have on our property. This lift has the cababilty to raise a man 40' in the air to do pruning of our trees.

We are also blessed with a great staff of men and women. In this photo Arturo Rivera is secured into the lift with a safety harness while he prunes a broken branch off a cottonwood tree beside 18 tee South. Arturo is one of our talented full time staff that helps with the tree pruning on the golf course. He was our 2008 DMGCC Employee of the Year.

Bird Blitz 2010

2010-05-12T06:17:00.000-05:00

As you know we are a Certified Audubon Cooperative Bird Sanctuary, as part of that program we participate in an annual bird watching day. It used to be called the “Bird Watch Open” and it was done on the same day each year across the United States. This year the name was changed to the “Bird Blitz” and the nice thing that changed is you are given a range of dates to host your event and pick what might be a better suited date for your area when birds might be migrating through or might finally get to your area.

We are very lucky to have a local bird enthusiast and employee, Ben Taylor on our staff. Each year Ben works hard to find people to come out and participate with him. Here in the Des Moines area we are very lucky to have 4 individuals who care and take the time to come out and participate with Ben. They are Pam and Reid Allen, Sharon and Dick Stillwell. They spend hours looking for birds, and also they help educate others such as myself in identifying birds and habitat. This year I was lucky enough to be with them for a short period of time, I brought my binoculars and wished I had brought my camera. I learned a great deal and instead of just seeing birds, I saw many species of birds and I too learned a great deal. My hat is off to these 5 people and the care and interest they exhibit to DMGCC is quite outstanding.

Here is a list of what was seen at DMGCC on May 8, 2010, 59 different species of birds!

Pied-billed Grebe,1
Great Blue Heron,2
Green Heron,1
Canada Goose,15
Mallard,14
Cooper's Hawk,1
Red-tailed Hawk,2
Killdeer,1
Solitary Sandpiper,1
Spotted Sandpiper,1
Rock Pigeon,6
Mourning Dove,18
Belted Kingfisher,1
Red-headed Woodpecker,1
Red-bellied Woodpecker,1
Downy Woodpecker,1
Northern Flicker,1
Least Flycatcher,1
Eastern Kingbird,5
Blue-headed Vireo,1
Warbling Vireo,10
Tree Swallow,50
Northern Rough-winged Swallow,6
Bank Swallow,3
Cliff Swallow,3
Barn Swallow,30
Black-capped Chickadee,3
Blue Jay,12
American Crow,5
White-breasted Nuthatch,1
House Wren,6
Ruby-crowned Kinglet,5
Eastern Bluebird,1
Swainson's Thrush,16
American Robin,125
Gray Catbird,3
Brown Thrasher,5
European Starling,6
Cedar Waxwing,24
Tennessee Warbler,4
Cape May Warbler,1
Yellow-rumped Warbler,6
Palm Warbler,2
Northern Waterthrush,1
Common Yellowthroat,3
Northern Cardinal,6
Rose-breasted Grosbeak,1
Chipping Sparrow,75
Savannah Sparrow,2
Song Sparrow,1
Lincoln's Sparrow,3
White-crowned Sparrow,1
Red-winged Blackbird,15
Common Grackle,25
Brown-headed Cowbird,10
Baltimore Oriole,10
House Finch,2
American Goldfinch,15
House Sparrow,1

Dome Down

2010-04-28T10:27:00.000-05:00

As mnay of you know the maintenance staff is responsible for helping to put the tennis dome up and to take the dome down in the spring. Yesterday was our day to take it down. It takes us about 5 working ours for 30 guys to do the entire process. Also the dome has to be completly dry when you store it, otherwise some mildew can develop over the summer. Here are a couple of photos taken yesterday about 4 hours apart.

Bunker Sand

2010-04-22T10:23:00.000-05:00

It was our goal this year to make sure that there is always 4" of good bunker sand in the bottoms of our bunkers and also to make sure there is at least 2" on the side faces of bunkers. With the excellent spring that we have been experiencing, we have been able to get out and work extensively on bunkers. We had a special tool that we made to measure sand depths and then we moved or added sand to all 114 bunkers at the club. It took us 230 ton of additional sand to fix the bunkers this year.

We are very lucky in some of the equipment that we have. This particular unit is a Turfco CR10 Material Handler. It serves a dual purpose for us here at the club. You can spread sand or fertilizer over large areas such as a fairway. Or you can put a extension chute on it to fill areas such as bunkers. It holds about 4 ton of sand at a time and it is a huge labor saver for us when dealing with large amounts of material.

Spring Aerification

2010-04-13T07:06:00.000-05:00

As you know spring aerification is a necessary evil. In the spring at DMGCC we use solid tine to just poke a hole in the turf. This hole gives the ground a chance to breathe and it gives it a great opportunity for good gas exchange. The tines that we use on greens and tees are just .25" in diameter so they heal over very quickly are and they are very minimal in the disruption to the golfer.

On the fairways we use a bigger diameter tine .75" and we go a little deeper. But these also heal over very quickly and are very little concern to the golfer. We have the South greens done, tees and fairways will be completed this week and the North golf course will be done next week.

Construction # 9 South

2010-04-13T06:59:00.000-05:00

If you have been out to the club the yesterday or today you might have seen this backhoe and a huge pile of soil beside it, where they have been excavating.

We had a break in a 12" Tile line coming from the clubhouse area. This tile carries the storm water from the clubhouse roof drains. While we had it excavated we decided to also add a storm water intake. This will always give us access to monitoring the storm drains and it also aids in surface drainage in this area. We should have it all put back together by the first of next week.

From the Golf Course April 2010

2010-04-01T07:32:00.001-06:00

From the Golf Course

As you know we are open and with the great weather the golf course is responding well. Golf course turf is in great condition and we feel it will only get better with the weather.

Clean up and tree pruning is still going on. We still have a lot of damaged trees to address over the next couple of weeks but we are making progress.

Each spring we do a solid tine aerification to all bentgrass areas, meaning greens, tees and fairways. We will be starting this process next week and you should see no disruption to play at all. We use a small tine on greens and the larger ones that we use on fairways heal over very quickly this time of year.

Just a heads up on the North Course, the female swan has decided to nest adjacent to the bridge on #12. So I ask you to please try and avoid her and her nest. Please when you cross over the bridge do not stop and try to get close to her. She is very easily spooked and we don’t want her to stand up and step on her eggs. Also remember the male swan will be very aggressive this time of year but he poses no threat to you. Just try and avoid him also if you can.

In our continuing efforts to be self sustaining and more conscientious of the environment we want to tell you about a new testing that we are doing this entire summer. We have partnered with a company from Ames called Powerfilm. They are the manufacturers of very thin solar panels used to power unique situations. They have asked us to install 2 of their solar panels on a Ranger cart and on a golf cart. We will then use them normally throughout the summer, there is a on board data logger to monitor several items as you are using it. It is our hope to give longer life to the batteries and to use less electricity to charge the carts. We will keep you informed as to the outcome of our tests.

Emerald Ash Borer is still not in Iowa! Great news for us, but it is still expected to move this direction. Even better news is a new insecticide called Safari has shown great improvement in the control of this pest. Safari can be loaded into a small sprayer, sprayed on the bark of the tree and it will be translocated into the entire tree to protect it against EAB and other borers. Right now there are many borers that affect ash trees and aid in their decline. We will be treating some key trees to protect them against Iowa’s normal pest and against EAB somewhere down the road.

Now for you homeowners, spring fertilization and crab grass pre emergent time is upon us. Here are a few things to remember:

April
1. Sharpen your lawn mower blade and keep it sharp.
2. If you choose to use chemicals, apply a combination lawn fertilizer/pre-emergent herbicide when the bright yellow forsythia is blooming. Very soon!
3. If you'd rather not use synthetic chemicals, check out corn gluten meal, developed by Iowa State University as an organic alternative to other pre-emergent herbicides.
4. Patch bare spots. Fill low spots with excellent quality topsoil and seed. Overseed if desired, though fall is the best time. (Just be sure you apply the pre-emergent well after the grass seed is up so you don't kill your grass seed!)
5. If you have compost, rake it over your lawn to feed it and to fill low spots. It's fabulous—improving soil texture and fertility.
6. Edge along drives and sidewalks, if desired.
7. Struggling with grass growing in a shady spot even after trying a grass seed mix specifically meant for shade? It's better to work with nature than against it. Grass is a full sun plant. Plant the low-light area with shade-loving groundcovers, hostas, and other plants or trim up the trees! Sorry.

May
1. When daytime temperatures start to regularly hit 85 degrees, raise your mower height to 2 ½ to 3 inches. Longer blades of grass shade the soil, keeping it cooler so it uses less water and prevents weed seeds from germinating.
2. Save your trees and shrubs from mower damage and other problems by mulching around them as far out as the branches reach, if practical. But also remember not to pile the mulch against the trunk of the tree, as mulch decomposes it can injure the bark by the heating of decomposing mulch.

Hope to see you on the golf course!

Rick Tegtmeier
rtegtmeier@dmgcc.org
Or visit my blog site at http://dmgcc.blogspot.com/

From the Golf Course, March 2010

2010-03-15T09:14:00.000-06:00

From the golf course!

I am sure many of you are anxious to hear how the golf courses made it through the winter. Since most of the snow is melted off, I was finally able inspect the golf courses and wanted to give you an update.

The January ice storm has left us with a lot of broken branches and a tremendous amount of debris. We have brought back some of our seasonal staff and clean up on the golf courses will be our main focus at this time. It is very wet out there so we will have to remain on the cart paths until we have some drying weather. In the mean time, we will be working from the cart paths and walking out to rake and do some clean up

I am very pleased on how the turf has overwintered. The turf is in very good condition but it is going to take some good warm days for it to be ready for play. We do have some snow mold on the bent grass areas but it is very superficial and should not present a problem. However, the bluegrass rough areas have been hit very hard and it will take some time for the matted down turf to recover. Once it does dry out, we will be able to get out to rake these areas to help promote growth to help it recover.

We will be taking off greens covers this week. Unfortunately, that does not mean that they are ready for golfers yet. Our main reason to get them off is to give them a chance to breathe and get acclimated to the spring weather. They have been covered up for almost 4 months and we need to get some air to them. It also gives us a chance to see if there are any diseases under the covers that we may have to contend with.

With all of that said, we will keep you abreast of golf course conditions and when we think we will have a possible opening date. We do need to have a considerable amount of drying days for us to be able to get out to do our necessary work to be able to allow golfers on. I know everyone is very anxious to get out and swing that club, but we need your patience while we wait for drying weather to allow us to work to prepare the courses for opening.

Rick Tegtmeier

The Burke/Roseman Golf Club

2010-03-01T10:20:00.000-06:00

Recently a good friend of mine, showed me an old hickory golf club that he had bought from a golf club collector. Looking at the club you can make out the words Burke and Roseman. Jack Burke, Sr. was the original pro at Hyperion Field Club and Joseph Roseman was the Pro/Superintendent at Des Moines Golf and Country Club. The club also says Des Moines on it. The intials A.M.D. stand was a personalization for who the club was made for. The club was made around 1910 or so. You can click on the photo to get a better view of the club or Roseman's article.

Tegtmeier on USGA Green Section Committee

2010-02-25T08:04:00.000-06:00

Dear Rick:

I am pleased to confirm your appointment to serve on the Green Section Committee for 2010-2011.

In accepting this appointment, you confirm your love of golf and demonstrate a desire to give something back to the game.

The USGA’s success in promoting the best interests of the game depends on the quality of the work of its committees. By agreeing to serve as a USGA volunteer, you will provide valuable stewardship in protecting and preserving the game. Please know that we value your time, talents and energy and welcome any suggestions you might have for bettering the Association and furthering its mission. We look forward to working with you closely in the months ahead.

As you accept these new responsibilities, please appreciate that our Association must strike a balance between maintaining experience and continuity among volunteers and ensuring the introduction of new individuals such as yourself to provide fresh ideas. In view of this objective, USGA volunteers do not receive lifetime appointments but retire at an appropriate time in order to create a slot for another individual who loves golf and wants to give back to the game. If at any time you feel that you are unable to continue to satisfy your commitment, do not hesitate to reach out to your Committee’s chair or staff-in-charge to discuss.

On behalf of the USGA Executive Committee and staff, we thank you for accepting this appointment. We request that you confirm your contact information on the InfoPortal at your earliest convenience.

Yours Very Truly,
James B. Hyler, Jr.
President

Founders Picture

2010-02-23T08:55:00.000-06:00

Jim Cutter passed this photo along to me. It is a photo taken of some of the first DMGCC members sitting in front of the original clubhouse. This was the first location of DMGCC on Polk's 40 acres of land. This photo was in the Des Moines Tribune. It was taken about 1900. Last week I recieved a copy of the news clip and found out the names of the gentlemen in the photo.

Left to right, front row: club pro and manager, W.O. Finkbine,
Dr. George Glick, W.D. Skinner, J.B. Weaver.
Left to right, back row: (1st man; unidentified), J.G. Berryhill,
D.W. Corley, G.F. Henry, E.E. Clark, H.S. Nolan.

Pete Dye Visit

2010-02-23T08:41:00.000-06:00

As many of you know we are working with Pete Dye, the original architect for DMGCC and his associate Tim Liddy, in creating a Master Plan for the future of DMGCC. Last year's president Rod Cheney informed all of you as to the progress of this Master Plan and how it would work for the future.

What I wanted to do here on my blog is show you a few pictures of Mr Dye's visit here last fall.

Mr. Dye

Mr. Dye and the Group

Liddy, Dye and Tegtmeier

From the Golf Course, January 2010

2010-01-28T07:17:00.001-06:00

From the Golf Course

As we all know this winter weather has really been something to contend with this year in Iowa.

On the golf course I do have some concerns about the condition of the golf course turf. The ice storm that we received this week has done some damage to trees. The accumulating ice has made some branches break off and we may not see the full effect of the ice storm until the trees try to leaf out in the spring. Right now there were no major trees that fell.

The heavy snow that we received on December 7th has really insulated the turf. I have checked several places the last week on the golf course and there is very little frost in the ground. Good news is as the snow melts, the water is going in the ground and does not seal the turf off as an ice layer. The grass has been respiring all winter and it is very green. I do think that we will see a higher incidence of snow mold which is a fungus that affects the turf. We do spray for it and hopefully our treatments will hold until the snow melts.

Here at the club I do have some soil moisture and temperature sensors that work all winter. We have been watching these sensors all winter. The chart that I have included shows the soil temperature at a 2” depth. You can see that in the last 2 months we have not been below the freezing point very much.

I have seen this type of condition before during the winter. Sometimes spring flowering bulbs will suffer. They require a frozen period and if they do not experience sometimes they will rot in the ground. Also insects have a higher survival rate if the ground does not freeze, so you could possibly see some higher survival rates of certain species of insects.

On a brighter note, last week the Iowa Golf Course Superintendents Association held it’s annual conference and show. During their annual meeting Greg Willman our South course superintendent was awarded 2009 Golf Course Superintendent of the Year for the State of Iowa, quite an honor. Greg was also elected to the IGCSA Board of Directors.

Rick Tegtmeier, CGCS

Employee of The Month

2010-01-22T11:30:00.003-06:00

I would like to highlight the Employee of the Months from the Golf Course Maintenance Department.

2010 October Employee of the Month
Jesus Ruiz, South Course Crew Member

2010 April Employee of the Month
Brent Day, Golf Course Equipment Technician

2010 January Employee of the Month
Jessica Morford, Clubhouse Landscape Gardener

2009 December Employee of the Month
Ben Cole, 2nd Assistant Superintendent, South Course

2009 November Employee of the Month
Corey Goedken, 1st Assistant Superintendent, South Course

2009 June Employee of the Month
Nate Tegtmeier, 1st Assistant Superintendent North Course

2008 November Employee of the Month
Jeff Kennicker, Pesticide Applicator

2008 Employee of the Year
Auturo Rivera, South Course Foreman

2006 Employee of the Year
Greg Willman, South Course Superintendent

2002 Employee of the Year
Jerry Steele, Irrigation Foreman

Superintendent of the Year

2010-01-22T11:12:00.000-06:00

The Iowa Turfgrass Conference and Show was held in Des Moines on Jan 19 -21. Each year the Iowa Golf Course Superintendents Association awards a golf course superintendent a their Superintendent of the Year. For 2009 Greg Willman was nominated and recieved the IGCSA's highest honor. Greg is the South Course Superintendent at Des Moines Golf and Country Club. We are very proud of Greg's accomplishments.

Emerald Ash Borer Update

2009-12-15T08:12:00.000-06:00

Study provides hope in fight against EAB

by John Reitman

All is not be lost for ash trees in the range now occupied by the invasive emerald ash borer.

According to recent studies conducted by researchers at Michigan State University, several treatments provided acceptable protection against the pest and the damage it can cause to ash trees. Likewise, as EAB devastates unprotected ash populations, its numbers eventually will decline in those areas, improving the outlook for desired (and protected) trees.

Researchers examined the results of six products applied as trunk injections and six others as soil drenches. In all, results of 30 treatments involving different timings were examined along with an untreated control plot.

The team of Michigan State entomologist Dave Smitley, Ph.D., research technician Kevin Newhouse and research assistant Terry Davis conducted the research trials from 2005 to 2008 on ash trees in an East Lansing, Mich., neighborhood.

At least three insecticides were effective at protecting the trees as trunk injection systems, while at least five others exhibited control as a soil drench, according to the research. Researchers defined acceptable protection as canopy thinning of 40 percent or less as well as larval density of 5 per square meter.

The research indicates that trunk injections of TREEage (emamectin benzoate), acetamiprid and Arborjet IMA (imidacloprid), as well as soil drench applications of Arena (clothianidin), Merit and IMA, Bayer Advanced (all imidacloprid), and Safari (dinotefuran) all exhibited canopy thinning of 30 percent or less as well as acceptable larval density.

The emerald ash borer is native to eastern Russia, northern China, Japan and Korea. It is thought to have entered North America aboard a cargo ship, and was first discovered on this continent in 2002 in the Detroit area. Since then, it has spread to Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Minnesota, Missouri, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Ontario and Quebec.

"Ash trees in the Detroit area are almost all dead now. They have been dying since 2003. After the first ash tree dies from EAB in any given city, it typically takes four to five years for most of he trees to die (for a city like Lansing). This may happen in two to three years for a smaller city."
- Dave Smitley, Ph.D., Michigan State University

Adult emerald ash borers, which grow to about a half-inch in length, lay their eggs in holes they create in the tree’s bark. After hatching, the larvae feed on the water-and nutrient-conducting tissue beneath the bark layer, disrupting the tree’s ability to move water and food through the tree’s vascular system. Symptoms of infestation include thinning of the canopy and sprouts growing from holes in the trunk that were created by the pests. Depending on the size, trees usually are dead within two to three years of infestation.

According to many researchers, the damage caused by EAB could rival or surpass that caused by American chestnut blight in the first half of the 20th century. A fungus that attacked the trees in the early 1900s nearly wiped out the country’s entire chestnut population by 1950.

History has shown that EAB can virtually wipe out ash populations in a short amount of time.

“Ash trees in the Detroit area are almost all dead now. They have been dying since 2003,” Smitley wrote via e-mail. “After the first ash tree dies from EAB in any given city, it typically takes four to five years for most of he trees to die (for a city like Lansing). This may happen in two to three years for a smaller city.”

While the results of the recent Michigan State research provide some good news for trees used in a closed-end study, what do they mean long term for ash trees in infested areas?

According to Michigan State’s Smitley, the prognosis is positive, and researchers predict it will become increasingly easier to protect target trees because the EAB’s numbers will decline as most of the ash trees die off in infested areas. But that does not mean desired target trees can go untreated.

“After all the untreated ash trees are dead, the EAB population declines to very low levels,” Smitley wrote. “But EAB will continue to infest the young trees sprouting from dead ones. Sprouts are common since the root system does not die.”

Smitley added that the condition of treated trees gradually improves each year during treatment, with some recovering from canopy thinning as severe as 60 percent or 70 percent.

“We now have excellent insecticide treatments that will protect ash trees over a long period of time. TREEage trunk injections last at least two years after one treatment, and imidacloprid basal drenches work when made each year.”

Many researchers believe there is little that can be done to stop the pest from spreading in North America. In Asia its spread is held in check by resistance built up by the native tree stock. None of the 20-some species of ash trees in North America have developed any sort of immunity to EAB, and all are at risk as the pest continues to spread. So far, researchers have found no climatological conditions that restrict its spread.

As a feral species, EAB also has no natural predators here. In 2007, the U.S. Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service approved the release of three species of stingless, parasitic wasps (Spathius agrili, Oobius agrili and Tetrastichus planipennisi) in hopes of finding a biological control. According to APHIS, five years of government research had been conducted before releasing the wasps, which prey on the ash borer’s eggs and larvae.

Several Webinars specific to managing ash trees in affected areas are available through the Web site www.emeraldashborer.info . The site, which contains background information, maps and the latest research data, is a collaborative effort of Michigan State, Ohio State and Purdue universities; the US Department of Agriculture Forest Service; Michigan Department of Agriculture; Michigan Department of Natural Resources; and USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.

Summer Internship Work Schedule

2009-12-14T08:54:00.000-06:00

Having over 45 people work for us in the summer time can sometimes be very intense. Many times over the years people have asked me what everyone does for work, that is a very hard question to answer. Many of our jobs are very specific and detailed and they take a very skilled person to do those jobs. This past year I was fortunate to have 2 summer interns work for us here at DMGCC. One of those gentleman is Ty Boley and he had to detail his day to day work for his summer grade. I thought it was very interesting to see a recap of what he did for the summer and thought I would include it on my blog page. When you see set up on his daily log, that means golf course setup, which could be changing cups, moving tee markers and trash detail.

13-May Startup paperwork, setup, irrigation repair
14-May Setup, irrigation repair
15-May Setup, planted flowers at clubhouse, irrigation work
16-May Setup, planted flowers at clubhouse
17-May Setup, planted flowers at clubhouse
18-May Setup, moved tee markers behind fertilizer, watered in the fertilizer with irrigation.
19-May Setup, weeded and edged all sand bukers
20-May Sprayed Vessel(2,4-D) around all water ways, ponds and creeks.
21-May Setup, irrigation repair, setup Daconil plot w/ Luke Dant(Syngenta Representative), sprayed plot w/ Daconil, Manicure, and 3 control plots. Pictures taken.
22-May Sprayed Triamine(2,4-D) on dandelions. Irrigation repair.
23-May Off
24-May Off
25-May Off
26-May Planted flowers at clubhouse, replaced bentgrass plugs on a practice green
27-May Sprayed Glyphosate(Roundup) around all trees
28-May Sprayed Glyphosate(Roundup) around all trees, sprayed the Daconil plots for the second time on numbers 10 South and 16 North, staff meeting
29-May Weeded and edged all sand bunkers, cut sod at Clubhouse, added soil and replaced w/ new sod.
30-May Setup, watered flowers. Helped set greens mowers.
31-May Setup, watered flowers. Helped set greens mowers.

1-Jun Irrigation repair, weedeated around trees, cut suckers, detail work.
2-Jun Cleaned shop, sharpened tools, setup, extended a wood fence.
3-Jun Worked on fence, cut down dead trees, worked on presentation of Daconil project for the Greens and Grounds meeting.
4-Jun Setup, unloaded sand from dumptrunk w/ skidloader, attended Greens and Grounds Committee meeting, cut dead trees, staff meeting
5-Jun Watered flowers, spray painted all water hazards around the course, replaced scalped bentgrass plugs
6-Jun Off
7-Jun Off
8-Jun Setup, cut trees, sprayed 2,4-d, moved tee markers and picked up trash, covered plots on South course.
9-Jun Setup, sprayed roundup around trees, filled bunkers w/ sand, covered test plots w/ plastic for fairway spray on North course
10-Jun Took assistant superintendant test, sprayed roundup around trees.
11-Jun Setup, cut trees, chainsaw maintenance, sharpened chains, staff meeting
12-Jun VertiCut collars, backfilled dirt around a pond retaining wall, fertilized tees (15-0-29 @ 3.3 lbs/1000ft2)
13-Jun Drug dew of fairways, setup
14-Jun Setup, watered flowers, trimmed trees
15-Jun Setup, set tee markers behind broom and mower, cut dead trees, replaced plugs on green because of snow mold damage
16-Jun Off
17-Jun Setup, sprayed roundup around equipment and buildings
18-Jun Weedeated around trees, sprayed around trees, Country Club Invitational preperation
19-Jun Irrigation repair, weedeated around trees, cut suckers, detail work, tile line work in pond washout.
20-Jun Off
21-Jun Off
22-Jun Set up, replaced sod where stumps were, sprayed horsepower around trees for thistle and other broadleafs
23-Jun Layed sod and watered, watered flowers around tees, mowed fairways, replaced some bentgrass plugs on greens
24-Jun Setup, moved tee markers, cleaned debris from storm the night before, detail work for preperation for CCI
25-Jun Setup, Buffalo Blower on all fairways and paths, cleaned debris, weedeated around trees and wet areas, meet w/ Dr. Christians about plots on #10 South
26-Jun Setup, drug fairways, cleaned up debris, cut trees, watered sod, cut up fallen trees
27-Jun Setup, moved tee markers, helped Superintendents w/ CCI
28-Jun Setup, watered flowers and sod
29-Jun Setup, broadcast spread insecticide (Merit 0.5G) for white grub control around all greens and tees
30-Jun

1-Jul Setup, Topdressed greens, broomed greens, filled sink hole #4 South w/ soil and concrete
2-Jul Spread fertilizer around pool and clubhouse (32-0-10), Worked on #4 South bridge destruction and rebuild
3-Jul Setup, Sodded around #4 bridge project, planted some flowers @ #4
4-Jul Off
5-Jul Off
6-Jul Set markers, sprayed tees w/ daconil (Dollar Spot control)
7-Jul Setup, Layed bentgrass sod in #6 and #14 fairways, blew off paths
8-Jul Setup, Finished up on #4 waterway including the sod and bridge
9-Jul Setup, got all chemical ready for Daconil trial, staff meeting, cleaned shop
10-Jul Daconil trial, watered sod and flowers, got pumps ready, cut fallen tree, Smithco in bunkers
11-Jul Complete course setup, watered sod
12-Jul Setup, watered flowers
13-Jul Swept south and east range tees, broomed greens after aerification and topdressing, setup, watered flowers and sod
14-Jul Setup, Rolled sod w/ greens roller, trimmed bushes, weedwhacked around the house and garage
15-Jul Setup, sprayed Sedgehammer,
16-Jul Mowed greens, watered sod and flowers, Sprayed tees
17-Jul Setup, trimmed around tee stones and 150 yard markers,
18-Jul Off
19-Jul Off
20-Jul Fertilized tees South, Setup, watered sod, put in new tile on #15 South
21-Jul Fertilized tees North, Pumped bunkers and Smithco in bunkers, Finished #15 tile project, new sod, trimmed trees
22-Jul Topdressed greens, cut cups, sprayed round-up, pulled rope and stake around all the old stump sod
23-Jul Setup, moved markers, sprayed plots on #10 South and #16 North, trimmed trees, Bladed gravel path
24-Jul Detail work around mulch beds for Member/Member tournament,trimmed trees,dug in an inground trash can/worked on auger and tractor
25-Jul Setup, set and fueled mowers
26-Jul Setup, watered flowers and hand-watered greens
27-Jul Sprayed fairways (Eximo and TriCure)
28-Jul Setup, hand-watered greens
29-Jul Set tee markers, filled ball washers, cut around tee yardage stones and 150 yard markers
30-Jul Setup, covered Daconil plots for fairway spray, sprayed round-up
31-Jul Setup, trimmed trees, watered sod and flowers

1-Aug Off
2-Aug Off
3-Aug Setup, watered staging area, prepared for Damsel Duo, pumped bunkers
4-Aug Setup, pruned tree nursery, sprayed roundup
5-Aug Pulled and set markers w/ tee sprayer, sprayed Vessel, Horsepower, Drive, and Sedgehammer for broadleafs, Crabgrass, and Nutsedge. Moved flowers to clubhouse, fertilized A-4 nursery.
6-Aug Sprayed fairways North w/ Subdue and Banol for pythium control, sprayed Daconil plots
7-Aug Setup, trimmed trees, sprayed roundup, preperation for US Ameture Qualifier, Staff meeting
8-Aug Setup, watered greens and other hot spots
9-Aug Setup, watered hot spots
10-Aug Pumped bunkers both courses after 1" rain and storm, cleaned the course of branches and leaves, blew off paths US Ameture Qualifier @ Des Moines Golf
11-Aug Setup, trimmed trees, cut down damaged tree from storm using pole saw and lift
12-Aug Broomed greens after topdressing, changed pin positions on all practice greens, cut tee stone yardage markers, filled par 3 holes w/ green sand, changed out tines in aerator
13-Aug Aerified sod field w/ 3/4" hollow tines
14-Aug Sod field preperation and planting w/ low mow Kentucky Bluegrass @ 100lbs/A
15-Aug Setup, Sprayed sod field w/ Tenacity pre-emmergent herbicide
16-Aug Setup, Fertilized sod field w/ MAPP 10-50-0
17-Aug Moved equipment around, rain day, clean up
18-Aug Setup, sprayed Horsepower and Sedgehammer
19-Aug Aerified range tees w/ 1/2" hollow tines, used core harvester on Cushman

Snow !!!

2009-12-07T12:50:00.001-06:00

Snow!

Obviously this means the ultimate end of the golfing season. This really is a good thing for the turf grass. The turf had a good fall, and we had some very good, colder temperatures to help make the turf go dormant. This snow cover that we have today and the 7 – 12” that are predicted tomorrow will really act as a very good insulation blanket against the cold winter winds. So while we don’t like to shovel the white stuff it is a good protection for the turf.

Now on the flip side of things, the snow creates a tremendous amount of work for the golf course maintenance department. We spend a lot of man hours on removing the snow from the sidewalks and driveways. Our biggest problem is getting the snow out of our way so we can handle more snow. All of the snow that we receive has to be blown out to #10 south. This is the only place that we can store it, so we have a big tractor mounted snow blower to handle that task.

Up at the tennis dome, snow is our # 1 concern in the winter time. The snow obviously does not stick to the dome but slides down the sides. A six inch snow will result in about 4 – 6 feet of snow down at the bottom of the dome. All of this accumulated snow has to be shoveled, then blown away from the dome. No machinery can be against the dome because you do not want to take a chance of puncturing a hole into the side of the fabric.

So again we have mixed emotions on snow in our department but it is something that we all have to deal with.

Rick Tegtmeier, CGCS

DMGCC History Presentation

2009-12-02T11:51:00.000-06:00

In 2009 I was asked to do a presentation to the Historical Committee. Here is that Power Point presentation. It talks about the locations of DMGCC through it's history and the history of the Greenkeepers/Superintendents. I hope you enjoy it.

Rick Tegtmeier,CGCS

Dmgcc History Presentation

View more presentations from Rick Tegtmeier.

45 Years of DMGCC

2009-12-02T11:49:00.001-06:00

Bill Byers,CGCS was the Director of Grounds for Des Moines Golf and Country Club for over 45 years. Bill did a Power Point presentation for the club depicting the growth and movement of DMGCC over a 45 year period. Here is that presentation.

Dmgcc Last 45 Years, Byers

View more presentations from Rick Tegtmeier.

December 2, 2009

2009-12-02T10:06:00.001-06:00

From the Golf Course,

Due to the predictions of colder temperatures coming mid week, we have decided to close all 36 holes on Wednesday, December 2, 2009. Today we are covering all of the practice greens. On Tuesday December 1, we will have the front 9 holes on the North Course available for play. We will be covering the back 9 greens on Tuesday and the front 9 holes on Wednesday. Remember that if we have some nicer days and you want to hit balls the mats on the East Range will be available for you to use. Thank you.

Rick Tegtmeier,CGCS

November 2009, Update on Closing

2009-12-02T10:05:00.001-06:00

From the Golf Course

If you have been out to the club this Thanksgiving weekend you can see that we have now covered the greens on the South Golf Course. It is our intent to leave the North Greens uncovered as long as possible for you to play.

Looking forward into next week the weather does not look too promising and the temperatures are looking lower than what we have been experiencing. We will watch the weather and we may look at covering the North Greens and closing down for the season. Please check with the golf shop for further status on the golf course.

All of the golf course furniture and accessories have been pulled in for the winter. We have applied our snow mold fungicides and our fall applications of fertilizers. We will still be out in December doing our late fall pruning and some other small projects.

Thank you for a great 2009 and please check back to this blog page often to see further updates. Thanks

Rick Tegtmeier, CGCS

May 2009

2009-12-02T09:56:00.000-06:00

From the Golf Course,

Hopefully by now you’ve had a chance to come out to the club and enjoy the nice days that we have had so far this year. The cool, wet weather has slowed many of our projects but we are very happy with the outcome of those projects we have been able to complete.

As many of you know we had the opportunity this past Monday to host a US Open Qualifier. One of the items requested of us was to have conditions similar to a US Open course. The representatives from the Iowa Golf Association set pin locations and we were responsible for the condition of the golf course, including the speed of the greens. It was our intent to have very fast, very firm greens to help determine that the best players move forward. Base on the comments of the participants we accomplished our objective.

We have had a frost at least once a week since we opened the golf course! The bentgrass does not like that at all. Because of the very cool spring the putting greens have had very little top growth. While this is nice when preparing for an Open qualifier it is not desired for the long term health of the putting greens. Regular growth is needed for them to be able to handle day to day wear and tear. That growth is also needed to support the root systems of the plant. While it was great to have very fast greens during the Qualifier, this speed is not something we can maintain the entire summer and have any turf left.

Once soil temperatures warm up, we expect to see better top growth during the day. Translated to the golfer this means that as you see warmer days, more humidity, less frost you can expect putting speeds to slow a little. Our objective is to maintain a consistent level of putting quality and speed. We should have no problem maintaining the speed and consistency we had last year.

I hope this explains our current conditions, and helps you understand that we try to maintain a putting speed amenable to our entire membership.

Rick Tegtmeier, CGCS

April 2009

2009-12-02T09:54:00.000-06:00

From the Golf Course,

No doubt you are all anxious for us to open the golf course. What follows is an update on the condition of the courses and thoughts on when we might open the golf course.

As of this morning we are starting to remove greens covers from all 41 greens. This is a two day process for us, so we should be done by Friday afternoon.

We have the ability to monitor our soil temperatures via soil probes and a computer program. At the 2” depth the soil is just at freezing or above. At the 6” depth the soil is still very frozen and we are hoping for a good warm rain to drive that frost out of the ground. The forecast looks promising for that on Saturday. The worse case scenario is to have the top inch or so thawed out with frozen ground under it. This scenario creates quite a problem for the root systems on our greens. Below is a snapshot of the soil temperatures in #11 green North this morning. You can see when we get a warm day the 2” soil temperature will raise up then go down at night. We want to see the temperatures consistently stay above the freezing point before we allow foot traffic on the putting surfaces.

The rest of the golf course has over wintered quite well. The turf has very little damage from the winter or winter diseases. We are very happy with the turf condition going into the spring season.

We had a good late fall and winter for pruning of trees. A lot of the trees were elevated especially areas with heavy shade. The heavy pruning will allow for more sunlight in thin or weak turf areas.

What does all of the above mean? We are looking at opening the week of March 16th. If we have warmer than usual temperatures next week, it might be earlier than that. Please know that we are doing our best to get open as soon as possible.

Rick Tegtmeier, CGCS

November 2008

2009-12-02T09:53:00.001-06:00

From the Golf Course,

With the forecasted low temperatures in the teens and low 20's for the next couple of evenings, we face the potential of having our putting greens freeze at the surface and not thaw out during the day. While this is normal, we face the potential of not being able to staple down our greens covers.

The soil is very wet right now due to the recent rains and with the forecasted low temperatures the wet soil freezes much quicker and may not thaw out. This is especially true in the greens with a high sand content. The North course has several more high sand content greens than the South course and is therefore is of more concern at this time. Because of this we are closing the North course today.

With our current levels of play the South course alone should adequately meet our needs. Our plan at this time is to keep the South course open for a little longer, so if we do have some nicer days you will be able to play. Once we feel that the ground will freeze and remain frozen we will close the South.

Rick Tegtmeier, CGCS

November 2008

2009-12-02T09:53:00.000-06:00

October 2008, 2nd letter

2009-12-02T09:52:00.001-06:00

From the Golf Course

As you know we were scheduled to aerate the South golf course this week. Due to the light showers yesterday morning and the heavy rain last night we will not be able to finish that work this week.
Currently all of the greens have been aerated and 12 of those have been topdressed; fairways 1 - 11 are complete and tees 1-9 are complete. Our plan now is to finish the South on Monday and Tuesday of next week and then start on the North course as planned on the 17th of September.

If you have an interest as to why we aerate go to this web site and watch the video illustrating why aeration is so important to a golf course.

http://www.usga.org/turf/articles/educational_video_clips.html

The video also illustrates different procedures done, many of which we incorporate into our programs here at DMGCC. We are sorry for the delay in our plan but Mother Nature has thrown us a curve ball once again.

For your home yards you should also be thinking about core aeration and benefits that you receive by doing it. You need to pull the cores and leave them lay on the surface of your yard. You can try to mulch them once they dry. You are accomplishing a couple of things by doing this; first you are relieving compaction and allowing for the important exchange of gases in the root zone. Second by allowing the cores to breakdown you are incorporating this soil into the thatch zone. In that soil there are millions of tiny soil microbes that eat on the thatch and help to keep it at a very manageable level. Keep in mind that with any aeration you are bringing up weed seeds with that soil, but in the fall of the year they will still germinate but the first frost usually kills those young weeds. Make sure that if you are aerating, you have plans for a crab grass pre-emergent next spring.

Rick Tegtmeier,CGCS

October 2008

2009-12-02T09:51:00.001-06:00

From the Golf Course:

This year has been a good one for us but it has had its challenges as well.

I will begin by updating you on the Poa Annua control trial that we completed on #8 North. While we had moderate successes with the trial our conclusion was that we would not be comfortable having those playing conditions through the growing season. We have been able to control our Poa Annua on the other fairways using control methods that are much less invasive. We will continue with these methods going forward.

It has been nice for the golf course staff to not have an irrigation project this fall, as we’ve had the last four years. In lieu of that project we have been able to accomplish several smaller projects that have been on our to do list.

We have edged every cart path on the golf courses. While this does not sound like a big project, with over eight miles of paths it is not a small undertaking to remove the overgrown turf along both sides of the paths. Tree pruning, done on a limited basis in the past is another area of emphasis for us this fall. Both the North and South crews are pruning low hanging branches and addressing trees that have poor limb structure. By raising the canopies of some trees we will be able to grow better turf under some of the heavily shaded areas.

In November we begin a project to address the drainage problem that we experience along the left side of #7 south. This has been a problem the last couple of years and to remedy it we will be installing a larger drain tile along the bottom of the swale in that area. This will aid in the drainage of the water coming onto our property from developments to our south. We also have an erosion problem along #2 South that we will be addressing with a rock gabion basket wall. We have a very sharp angle at one spot in the creek and it is badly eroded. To address that problem we will install the baskets and then place native stone in front of the baskets to both stabilize and hide them.

To prepare for the possible arrival of the Emerald Ash Borer, the Green and Golf Committee spent several hours this summer identifying the ash trees on the golf courses and coming up with some tree planting plans to address some of the areas that would be most affected if the Borer does arrive. In November we will be moving trees from our nursery onto the golf course with a big tree spade to strengthen some of these weak areas.

Overall we have been very pleased with our year, we had a lot of drainage issues that have been identified and repaired, the turf going into the fall and winter season is in very good condition and we are hoping for a long fall to prolong our golf season.

Rick Tegtmeier

September 2008

2009-12-02T09:49:00.000-06:00

From the Golf Course,

As I have stated in the past, Des Moines Golf and Country Club has a sizable population of poa annua in our fairways. If you recall last year on #15 Fairway South we did a trial with a product called Velocity that kills the poa annua while it leaves the bentgrass. We were very successful in our attempt on #15 last year and we have decided to conduct a new trial. Valent Chemical Company, the manufacturer of Velocity has come out with a better formula of the product. Not knowing what rates will work best for us we have chosen to do multiple trials on a fairway to see what our tolerance level of yellowing bentgrass and killing the poa annua plants.

Dr. Nick Christians, a turfgrass professor from Iowa State University is helping us conduct the tests and is taking weekly samples and ratings from the trial area. He will then present his findings to other superintendents. More important to the Club is that we have an expert helping conduct the trials, giving us validated test results which will determine future use of the product.

We have chosen #8 Fairway North as our testing site. For any experiment to be valid it has to be replicated 3 times in a random testing pattern. We are applying the Velocity at different rates, in different intervals of application in 3 random patterns.

While you may not see the different trial areas, you will see the "control" areas. These are areas where no Velocity has been applied and they are very green in comparison to the test areas. The test areas have yellowed bentgrass and poa annua that is declining at different levels. Our current plan is to conduct this experiment through July and possibly into August.

Our objective is to find the best rates and application timing to kill the poa annua while leaving a desirable playing surface for you to enjoy. Over the next 6 weeks when playing #8 North you will experience some yellow discolored turf however it should not affect your game. In any large patches of dead poa annua, the existing bentgrass should take over the dead area much like a divot that grows back in. If we have very pronounced areas we will seed those voids with bentgrass.

This is a very aggressive method to combating the poa annua problems we have, but it is a very effective mean without shutting down a fairway. I will keep you abreast of the test outcomes and our decisions on how we might proceed. Thank you for understanding our efforts to make the club's fairway conditions better.

Rick Tegtmeier, CGCS

August 2008

2009-12-02T09:44:00.000-06:00

From the Golf Course,

Last week in my correspondence I discussed disease pressure and our concern about how it might affect the golf course turf. There has been some turf loss in this hot, wet period and this letter is to explain a some of the problems that we have experienced.

First, we have had just over 6” of rain in the last 11 days. Almost all of our bunkers no longer drain through the internal bunker drains. To make them playable as soon as possible, it is necessary to pump the water out of them. Much of that water accumulates along the fairway edges (low spots). The water then sits there and in the high heat scorches the turf. There are several areas on both golf courses that look like this:

The plan to repair them is twofold. This fall we will work to expose the bunker drains and get them back to a condition where they may work and water will drain through them. Until the bunkers are totally rebuilt we will continue to experience these mini ponds. The second step taken will be to add drain tile with surface inlets along the fairway edges so any standing water can get into the tile quicker and off the surface. Over the next few weeks we will be sodding these areas to restore them to playability. This is not an overnight fix, but one that we will continue to work on.

Our second problem is poa annua discussed in early letters. As stated in that letter it is prone to disease, very shallow rooted and can die easily in hot weather. What you are seeing in a lot of our intermediate roughs is the poa annua checking out. It is the result of a lot of cart compaction and it is an area not treated with fungicides. This is what some of those areas look like:

Going forward, more aggressive aerification and treating these areas with fungicide should help them make it through the hot periods.

Rick Tegtmeier, CGCS

July 2008

2009-12-02T09:43:00.001-06:00

From the Golf Course,

Thank you for your patience and cooperation the last couple of weeks with all of the heavy rains we received. We tried very hard to give you a golf course to play every day but on a few occasions precipitation just wouldn’t allow us to do so.

With the heavy rains and wet ground one of the biggest things that we’ve noticed are the amount of big divots being taken. Remember to replace your divots and use the sand mixture to topdress around them. Never leave a divot lay out on the turf always replace it! This is helps us maintain the turf and is a courtesy to your fellow golfers. We are going to see a lot of play the next couple of months and this is something that will have a profound impact on the quality of the turf throughout the year.

The red stakes are really abused. Many people are ignoring the entrance and exit points. At the greens when you see a red stake exit to the cart path and then stay on the golf cart path until the next tee and red stake. Getting off of the path around the greens damages the turf and causes unfair lies making it very difficult to hit a good shot.

As you play the next couple of weeks you will see ribbons tied to many of the trees. We are not cutting down or doing anything to these trees. The purpose of these ribbons is to identify the ash trees that we have on the golf course. We have 2 golf course sub committees that are discussing the location and importance of these trees and making sure we have a plan in place if the Emerald Ash Borer arrives in Iowa.

We have heard comments about the amount of "poa annua" that is now in the putting greens. Actually we have a very small population of poa in the putting surfaces. The little yellow spotting you see on the greens is called yellow tuft. This is a turf disease that causes the end of the turf plant to get yellow, puff up and grow abnormally. This disease is very prevalent in wet weather. The little spots do look like poa but they are in fact a disease that we continue to treat.

We are surprised at how fast the surface of the golf course has dried out this week. With all of the recent rains one would think we’d have plenty of water, and in fact we have very good sub soil moisture. But with the good sun, low humidity and very shallow roots caused by all of the rain, pay special attention to your home lawns. They are going to need more light frequent applications of water until deeper roots can be developed. It’s hard to believe that after 10" of rain last week, we are back to watering this week.

Respectfully,

Rick Tegtmeier, CGCS

June 2008

2009-12-02T09:36:00.000-06:00

From the Golf Course

Fairway Topdressing at DMGCC to start this year.

Fairway topdressing programs have been popular and successful on golf courses for many years across the country. The goal of these programs has been to firm up and dry up fairways because of their heavy soils and unique climates. At Des Moines Golf and Country Club we are implementing a fairway topdressing program on the Front 9 holes of the North Course. Our goal is to topdress these fairways, applying 60 tons of sand per acre per growing season. Your first reaction is going to be wow that sounds like a significant amount of sand being applied. It is but there are some very important reasons for it and I would like to educate you as to why we are going to do it.

GOLFER BENEFITS

Firmer fairways. As topdressing sand accumulates throughout the years, soft and sometimes puffy bentgrass (and Poa Annua) fairways will become firmer. This makes for better ball roll and overall better fairway playability. Increased turf density also occurs, along with nice tight lies. Also when these fairways were constructed many clays soils were left as a growing media. By adding sand to these profiles we can help to make a healthier growing environment and one more conducive to good golf.
Drier fairways. Due to a combination of factors, such as less thatch and better rooting, fairways need less water, and water that is applied soaks in better. With topdressing, sand intermixes with thatch, as opposed to there being a mat of organic matter that can hold water like a sponge. Topdressed fairways hold less water near the surface and are drier underfoot compared to non-topdressed fairways. Water percolates better through thatch that is diluted with sand.

Fewer traffic restrictions. Golf carts and turf equipment can return to fairways sooner after heavy rainfall events. One of the major benefits that has been noticed at other golf courses that fairways have been firmer and drier fairways during those extended periods of soggy weather.

TURFGRASS BENEFITS

Improved drainage. In conjunction with a good fairway aeration program, sand-diluted thatch, and sand accumulation over heavy topsoil, water percolates through the soil profile better and faster. Again, less water also is held in the thatch layer.
Less disease. The primary disease of bentgrass and Poa Annua fairways is dollar spot. Classically, dollar spot is made worse by thatch. Also, other diseases of bentgrass and combination bentgrass/Poa Annua fairways are Pythium and brown patch. Both of these diseases have been associated with high levels of soil moisture. Therefore, diluted organic matter, which holds less water and is less thick, has the potential for less disease.

THE PROGRAM

As I mentioned, at DMGCC our goal is to apply 60 tons/acre/growing season. This number was recommended by the USGA Turf Advisory Service Agronomist. As with any new program turf managers are worried about the impact on golfers and on turf equipment. Since the winter weather has been so mild we are implementing our program at this time rather than waiting until next growing season. We feel it may be possible to get 20 tons/acre applied before the start of next year’s golf season. We have made our first application of 10 tons/acre. Applying the sand now helps to insulate the crown of the grass plant during the open winter; it also allows us to let winter’s rains and snow wash the sand into the turf profile rather than us dragging it in. We are also not subjecting our mowing equipment to the mowing of topdressing sand; and the biggest advantage to doing it now is that we are not inconveniencing you the members. This will be an ongoing program for years to come; it will take a couple of growing seasons to really appreciate the benefits of the fairway topdressing program.

Rick Tegtmeier, CGCS

May 2008

2009-12-02T09:30:00.000-06:00

From the Golf Course

I know it has been a very long winter for many of you and we hope to be out on the golf course as soon as the weather allows us to be.

Due to all of the ice and the very wet and vulnerable turf conditions we are not going to allow any play on the “winter course” this spring.

Now, to update you on the current golf course conditions. As you can see from the following photos many areas on the course are still covered in ice and melting snow. We need several days of warm weather to finish melting this cover and then we need more warm days to get the frost out of the ground for us to open up.

The good news is that we have seen very little damage to the turf so far. We have not been able to look under too many of the green covers but the ones that we have seen like they have faired pretty well.

As for our other projects; we were able to finish the Back 9 irrigation on the south course fairways. We have poured the final wall on the golf cart storage project. We have a little more concrete work once the frost is out of the ground and then we will start landscaping that area. We have removed the old cart bridge on #8 south and next week we will be pouring footings for the new bridge and then start to deck to deck it. As part of the Iowa Grille renovation we are installing some underground grease traps on the north side of the clubhouse. Once installed, we will be laying sod in that area and doing some additional landscaping.

Thanks again for your patience and we hope to be out hitting the golf ball very soon.

Rick Tegtmeier

April 2008

2009-12-02T09:29:00.000-06:00

From the Golf Course

It has been a very interesting and challenging spring on the golf course. As you know the weather has not cooperated with anyone this spring and it’s made it quite challenging to get some projects completed.

Overall we are pleased with our turf conditions and with the progress we have made on the golf course. If you have been out and played you have seen that we did have some winter ice damage. It is not a lot of damage and most of it is confined to the intermediate rough areas. All of these areas have now been sodded and should not take long to heal.

The cart storage area is nearing completion, as the weather warms, young tender plants are being shipped to us and we are planting them. This project should be complete within a couple of weeks. Also planned is new landscaping on the walkway down to the Iowa Grille and around the front entrance circle.

Although there has not been a lot of play there has been a lot of cart traffic abuse already. Many people have forgotten what the red stakes mean. Restricting cart traffic is a “must” and the rules need to be adhered to. Not restricting traffic creates trampled lies around the greens. Not only are these unsightly; they are very difficult to hit off of and to get it up and down. Please enter and exit all fairway areas at the red stakes.

There are soil divot bottles on all walking and riding carts. Always replace your divot and then topdress around the edge to protect it and help it heal. The soil in the bottles can also be used on the tees to fix divots. Remember it is the responsibility of the golfer to replace divots and repair your ball marks on greens.

Now is the time to be putting down your crabgrass pre-emergent on your home yards. As you are fertilizing yards please remember that all fertilizer landing on hard surfaces will run into, and pollute our water systems. Please make sure that after an application is made, to blow off all patios, sidewalks and driveways.

Many of you have irrigation systems in your home yards. Last year I installed a new style of irrigation controller in my home yard. This is a “smart controller” that receives a signal every afternoon to tell it how much moisture the turf has lost that day. It then knows how much it needs to run that evening to replenish what has been lost. It is a very efficient way to water and it can save you money. One of my biggest pet peeves is seeing irrigation running after a big rain event. What a waste of a valuable resource! If you are the type of person who does not like to deal with setting your irrigation system every day, then this is the way to go for you. An interesting note, the water loss that is measured each day in Des Moines, comes from the weather station at Des Moines Golf and Country Club and is uploaded to these satellites.

Respectfully,

Rick Tegtmeier, CGCS
Director of Grounds

November 2007

2009-12-02T09:27:00.000-06:00

From the Golf Course

The weather the last 2 weeks has been tremendous and we have been very busy working on our major construction projects.

On the North Course, the crew will have all of the irrigation installation on the back 9 holes completed by the end of this week. Over the next 2 weeks, they will be removing old heads and finishing the irrigation control system. This has been quite an undertaking and they have done an excellent job.

By the end of this week on the South Course, we will have installed all of the concrete on the asphalt paths that we slated for replacement. The crew will be doing restoration work along those new cart path edges and doing work where the concrete trucks were moving in and out of the golf course. We have been very fortunate to have had nice dry and warm weather to wrap up these projects.

In December will be trimming trees on both courses. We will also be applying winter snow mold fungicides, additional winter topdressing, installing greens covers and starting to plan for next year's golf season. By mid-winter we hope to have added a golf course maintenance section to the Club's web site where you can see some of our strategies for next year's maintenance.

Rick Tegtmeier, CGCS
Director of Grounds