Winter 2022 Golf Course Maintenance Update from Loch Lloyd Country Club

LOCH LLOYD COUNTRY CLUB GOLF COURSE MAINTENANCE UPDATE

Dear Member, The new year has brought much change in the weather yet the hard work and dedication from the Golf Course Maintenance team remains constant. I want to recognize the GCM team and our Golf Professional team for their commitment to membership service especially through the extended golf season. The team ended 2021 setting up the golf course for 90 golfers on New Year’s Eve and started 2022 plowing snow on New Year’s weekend! We love our profession and the variety of ways we can serve our membership. We hope you enjoyed the exceptional weather late in the season which provided many great golfing days to wrap up 2021.

This quarterly report will include updates on past and upcoming projects, an associate spotlight, weather data report and a page addressing “The Risk of Root Shear.” Embedded on this topic is a USGA video link further explaining the issue. Thank you for taking the time to read this issue.

The GCM team appreciates all of the kind support that we have received lately related to course conditions and winter projects.

Please feel free to reach out by email or phone with any questions or concerns. I look forward to seeing you around the course, Club and Loch Lloyd community!

Grant Suderman Golf Course Superintendent grants@lochlloyd.com

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This year marks Stephen Wilds’ third season as Assistant Superintendent at Loch Lloyd Country Club.

Stephen grew up in St. Joseph, Missouri where he attended Lafayette High School.

After receiving his Turfgrass and Landscape Management degree from Ozark Technical Community College, Stephen worked at Highland Springs Country Club prior to joining the team here at Loch Lloyd Country Club in 2020.

Stephen is a skilled, driven and selfmotivated individual. He possesses a broad skill set that allows him to accomplish any task. He attains an observant, critical thinking ability to prioritize and supervise others while handling the multitude of responsibilities that arise managing a golf course. Stephen is a key part of the management team and is highly respected by his fellow associates.

Stephen and his wife, Carissa, were married in September 2020 and are expecting their first child in August.

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Recent and upcoming initiatives within our operation.

Fairway Sod Work/Back Range Tee

Prior to the ground freezing, dormant Zoysia sod was installed in weak fairway areas throughout the golf course. This sod was repurposed from the remaining turf on the back practice tee. After the completion of the fairway sod work, the back practice tee was stripped and prepped for sod to be laid in the spring.

Tarped Areas: #9 Dormie North Green and #1 Green Tee The recently seeded Dormie North Green and #1 Green Tee will remain tarped throughout the winter months. The tarp raises the canopy temperature of the turf and protects from winter desiccation. Prior to freezing temperatures, multiple mowings were performed on these newly seeded areas.

Mowing the newly seeded #9 Dormie North Green

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Native Clean-Up

Overgrown native areas and creek banks bordering the golf course have been cleared. Clearing and maintaining these native areas and creek banks will showcase the natural beauty of the property and aid in air movement for healthier turf.

Practice Facility Washouts We recently backfilled multiple rutted and/or washed out areas at the Practice Facility. Many of these areas can be seen from Loch Lloyd Parkway as you pass the Practice Facility. Areas were backfilled with topsoil, dormant seeded and covered for winter protection and promoting early spring seed germination.

Backfilled, seeded and covered from spring germination

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Drainage

Drainage to chronic wet areas including the end of #3 fairway and left of #10 fairway will be installed when weather permits.

Herbicide Zoysiagrass on dormant fairways will be sprayed with glyphosate (Roundup) and pre-emergent to control cool-season contamination. This project is scheduled to take place once the ground is clear of snow in mid to late February or early March, prior to spring green-up.

Mulch All landscaped areas will be mulched starting in early March. Some mulch will be placed at the back of the Clubhouse parking lot for easier access and saved travel time.

Painting and Repairs The GCM team has removed structures from the course during the winter months. Snow and freezing temperatures limit the use of these course structures and provide an opportunity for the GCM team to address and/or repair structures in preparation for the 2022 golf season.

These structures include water coolers, sand caddy boxes and any wooden structures. Tee blocks will also be temporarily removed during a snowcovered period for repainting.

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What is the plan for the collars and edges of greens that have struggled the last few years?  We are

lowering the collar height to match the greens height for the 2022 season. The collar height has already been reduced in half since last summer. T1 Bentgrass prefers mowing heights between .09 inches and .15 inches. We plan to consistently mow greens around .11 inches which falls in that desired range.

 Removing

this leaf tissue will also reduce moisture held on the leaf blades. Reducing moisture levels lowers the chance of disease infection and creates an environment for healthier turf. Using turning boards when mowing greens and maintaining adequate moisture levels will be aggressively enforced.

 Promoting

air movement to these areas is also being evaluated. The addition of two fans to #15 green has dramatically aided in the health of the greens playing surface and collars. Promoting air movement reduces surface temperature and moisture levels, therefore promoting turf health.

What days do you topdress greens?  Weather

depending, a light topdressing will be done every Monday during the growing season. Light and frequent topdressing promotes firm and consistent playing conditions while aiding in turf recovery.

 USGA

specification brick sand will be used for heavy topdressing and post-aerification practices. A dried 20/40 sand will be used for weekly topdressings. This 20/40 sand meets USGA specifications and will limit the need to drag the sand in after topdressing due to its finer, more consistent particle size. Removing this weekly traffic from the green will eliminate unnecessary stress to the greens playing surface.

What kind of aerification do you plan on doing in 2022?  Spring

aerification is scheduled for April 4th-5th. We will be using ½-inch hollow coring tines. This differs from the past few years when we used ¼-inch tines. The larger tines remove more of the greens profile that is then replaced with sand. This more aggressive approach will encourage maximum water and air movement through the soil profile, creating healthier, firmer and more consistent playing conditions throughout the summer months. Using these larger tines will require additional time for recovery.

Recovery is expected to take up to two weeks, depending on the weather.

 Fall aerification

is scheduled for September 6th-7th. We will be using the smaller ¼-inch hollow tines for our fall aerification. A less aggressive approach will be implemented for fall aerification to limit turf injury under the higher stressed conditions. Thank you for your patience as these aerification practices are critical for long-term health of the greens. 7

A mild winter day can be an exciting and enticing opportunity to play golf. Yet these days often come with a risk to the turf called root shear.

Root shear is the tearing of roots at the juncture of thawed and frozen soils. During periods of warm weather after a hard freeze, the surface of the turf thaws yet underlying soils are still frozen. Water infiltration cannot occur through the underlying frozen ground trapping moisture. This top few inches of the soil are left spongy and vulnerable to root shear by golf cart and even foot traffic. Traffic applied to thawing areas can slide, shearing the roots from the still-frozen soils underneath.

Visit USGA.org to view a short video which further explains the risk of root sheet or, if you are viewing this update electronically, simply click on the following link:

Due to this concern, cart traffic will be limited to cart path only during thaw periods to eliminate root shear damage to the course.

https://youtu.be/liXz4yJZc1U

The Golf Course Maintenance team implements the “Double Cup System” during the winter months. This system spreads out foot traffic when new cups can’t consistently be cut due to frozen conditions. We ask that golfers rotate the flags to the opposite hole upon the completion of each hole. This rotation is necessary to spread out foot traffic during these winter periods and helps protect our course.

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We have conducted a tree assessment on the property, evaluating all trees in maintained areas. The majority of planned removals are trees outside the cart path in maintained native areas. Only seven trees are inside the cart path in rough areas.

These trees have been labeled for removal due to dead, decaying or undesired attributes. Many of these removals also possess safety hazards including dead wood and/or hollow qualities. Multiple large fallen trees have been pulled from creeks throughout the property. This should aid in flow and limit some creek bank erosion where water was being backed up. Upon completion of the tree work, a stump grinder will be rented to remove stumps in play areas.

A dead and hazardous tree being removed from the Sechrest property

This fallen tree on #16 was one of many pulled from creeks throughout the property 9

Winter brought multiple snow events in early 2022 with a total of 7.75 inches in our area.

The temperature on December 31st was 63°, compared to the low of 9° on January 1st!

This 54° swing exemplifies the tale of the two months. The average high in December was 55° (15° above the historical average) with January’s average high at 41° (6° above the historical average).

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Thank you for your support of the Golf Course Maintenance team as we strive to provide the best possible playing conditions for the Loch Lloyd Country Club membership.

Please reach out to me via email or phone listed below with any questions or concerns. I look forward to seeing you on the course sooner than later!

Grant Suderman

Golf Course Superintendent Loch Lloyd Country Club grants@lochlloyd.com Office: 816.322.3730

Follow the GCM team on Twitter!

Please check us out at @LochLloydGCM

ASSOCIATE UPDATE I am proud to announce that Clifton Willis has accepted the Head Golf Course Superintendent position at Prairie Highlands Golf Course in Olathe. Cliff has served as Assistant Superintendent at Loch Lloyd Country Club since 2019. He performed his role admirably and will be sorely missed. We are excited for Cliff’s earned opportunity and look forward to seeing him continue to succeed in his career.

With Cliff’s departure, we are looking to fill the Assistant Superintendent position. We are also currently hiring for the 2022 golf season with parttime and seasonal positions on the GCM team. If you know someone who may be interested, please have them contact me at the email or phone number listed above. Thank you!

Grant

April 4th-5th Spring Aerification Golf facilities will be closed these two days.

The rain date is scheduled for April 6th.

May 20th-21st The Scotty June 22nd-25th The Whummle

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16750 Country Club Drive Village of Loch Lloyd, MO 64012 816.322.1022 www.lochlloyd.com

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