This article is eligible for the
Gordon Witteveen Award designation for the author.
Areas almost as important as the greens are the approaches in front of the greens. In 2012, we began to treat them as an extension of the putting surfaces. Wade Peckham, Superintendent capillary numbers, and organic content percentages are suitable for intensive, sustained greens care. Of course we didn’t have any idea that a major golf tournament was on the way. We only wanted superior putting surfaces for the membership. That involved a very aggressive program of core aeration, venting, verticutting and topdressing: frequent, light and at times, not-so-light topdressing. The groundwork was in place and we had made significant progress by August of 2013. The LPGA just happened to be a benefactor of our work and to this day we have not changed the program. Think of all the cultural practices that can be applied to a green. From carefully timed fertilizer applications to implementing a long-term growth regulator program to using wetting agents or brushing and frequent rolling, we have embraced them all. During the lead-up to the tournament, our last application of Primo and iron was five days before the first round. Our foliar fertilizer schedule was such that the greens would require an application soon after the tournament was over, so they were a little lean on Sunday, but the color was still fine. The LPGA agronomist didn’t want any verticutting or topdressing on the greens three weeks prior to the event. Don’t tell anyone, but we topdressed lightly during advance week. We knew our greens and were confident it would only help matters. Controlling moisture levels was difficult leading up to the first round as thunderstorms took that out of our hands. Fortunately, the USGA-constructed greens at the Royal Mayfair drain very well and by the evening of the third round, we were syringing based on our VWC readings. My advice is to have two or three moisture meters on hand. It took me a while to embrace it, but that technology has definitely resulted in better greens and reduced irrigation expenditures. Mowing and rolling frequency was based on green speed and firmness in consultation with Bo Reams from the LPGA. They wanted speeds in the 11 to 11.5 range. We kept them close to 12 and crept up a little higher as the tournament went on. The
best women golfers in the world handled it just fine. The most important consideration is to keep them consistent across the golf course and to prevent dramatic changes in speed or firmness, weather notwithstanding. During the summer, we maintain the greens around the 10.5 to 11 mark, so pushing them to the tournament speeds only involved a very minor height adjustment in addition to the mowing and rolling increases. In fact, by the weekend we were modifying these practices based on how each green was performing. Some greens were cut and/or rolled more and some less. Communicate with the on-course tournament personnel so that speed readings are carried out by all parties involved (your staff and officials) in the same locations on all greens. Areas almost as important as the greens are the approaches in front of the greens. In 2012, we began to treat them as an extension of the putting surfaces. They received the same cultural practices as the greens and in 2013 we stopped the use of triplex mowers and started walking the approaches. Again, this was intended for the membership, but was also important when hosting the major tournament. Visiting the Vancouver Golf Club and seeing the turf quality really enforced that message, as walk mowing tees and approaches has not been a common practice on most Edmontonarea courses. The greens at the Royal Mayfair have evolved into a mix of annual bluegrass and Penncross creeping bentgrass. With our increasingly unpredictable winters and complications that can arise, we were fortunate to experience an almost perfect winter before the 2013 golf season. As we all know, starting a new year with healthy surfaces is the best stress reduction for all involved. With today’s chemistries, the occurrence of snow mold is greatly reduced; however we do have to deal with other disease pressures throughout the summer. With that in mind, we did apply a broad spectrum fungicide in early August that kept our greens, tees and approaches diseasefree beyond the tournament and into early September. The rough at any golf course tends to be
a hot topic of discussion. It’s too long, it’s too thick, it’s too penal and so on. It has been no different at the Royal Mayfair, but keeping the rough dense and healthy has aided in weed control and clearly defined the fairways. Finding the right balance in these situations is part of our job. However, when you are required to present a consistent three-inch rough throughout a golf course, problems will arise. We had no trouble growing the rough last summer. We fertilized in early May, mid-June and late July. Timely rains followed and the LPGA had what they wanted. Even though we didn’t bring the mowing height up to three inches until two weeks before the event, it was still a difficult time for the membership. My advice is to use all manners of communication at your disposal, especially the old standby; talking directly to your members. Reassure them that once the tournament is over, the rough will return to normal. But be clear that it will take a few days and it won’t be business as usual 24 hours after the last putt is dropped on Sunday afternoon. Aside from growing healthy rough, identify difficult to maintain areas early in the season and develop a plan to either sod or aerate. We concentrated our work in the vicinity of greens and landing areas. If you are lucky, maybe tour officials will embrace a less-is-more philosophy. This is a trend that is gaining traction, especially after the two U.S. Opens recently held at Pinehurst No. 2. The 2013 CN Canadian Women’s Open was a success due in large part to our goal of presenting the best possible conditions to the membership well in advance of any indication that a major golf tournament would be hosted by the Club. Do what you can within the limitations of your budget so that when the time comes to host a major, you will not require dramatic changes to your agronomic programs. Use the world of information at your fingertips, acknowledge the work of all involved and, most importantly, enjoy the experience. GM
Wade Peckham is Superintendent at Royal Mayfair Golf Club, Edmonton, Alberta JULY/AUGUST 2014 | GreenMaster 15