NTGCSA Chapter Connect Summer 2019

Summer 2019

Volume 27 Issue 2

Canyon Creek Country Club In this issue

Champions Crowned!

President’s Message Mother Nature continues to show her teeth. The spring picked up right where the winter left off with more rain! Oh well. Seems like we deal with this every year. If form holds, we will soon start a long stretch of hot, dry weather and will be hoping for rain. That’s just life as a golf course superintendent in North Texas.

I would like to congratulate our members and their staffs who hosted PGA Tour events in May. Kasey Kauff and his staff hosted the AT&T Byron Nelson and Scott Ebers, CGCS hosted the Charles Schwab Challenge at Colonial.

Some rain and a few delays didn’t stop Kasey and his staff from showcasing Trinity Forest Golf Club and Scott and his staff had Colonial Country Club in immaculate condition. It is always great to see some of our local golf courses featured on national television challenging the world’s best golfers. Well done gentlemen!

It has been a busy few months for the Chapter. In April, Helena and Textron Golf sponsored the Chapter Championship hosted by Mike Epps at Mira Vista Country Club. Mike and his staff had the golf course in excellent condition despite several inches of rain the weekend before. Attendance for the event was higher than in the last few years when the event was played in June. Early indication is that the move to April was very positive. Kyle Moore is once again our Superintendent Champion.

Kyle won a four-man playoff on the first playoff hole, and Drue Thompson successfully defended his Affiliate Division title. In May, Bryan Tupa once again hosted the Stephen Best Memorial at Sky Creek Ranch Golf Club. Thanks again to Professional Turf Products for their continued support of this event.

Unfortunately, I never met Stephen Best, but from all accounts he was a great man taken from us way too soon. Wear your sunscreen!

Over the next few months, we have a lot planned. In July, we will once again be hosting our Family Social at Top Golf. If you haven’t attended, you need to. It is a great event! The kids love it. Carol Cloud does a tremendous job having goodie bags for all the kids. Throw in some raffle prizes for both kids and adults and there is something for everyone. Not to mention it is only $25 for four people. I don’t know when else you can entertain the whole family for that price. In September, we will return to Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children for our education meeting.

If you haven’t attended an event yet this year, there is still time. I urge you all to get INVOLVED with the association. Attend a meeting. Volunteer for a committee. Put your fingerprint on the Chapter any way you feel comfortable.

Thank you and I hope to see ALL of you at one of upcoming events.

Bryan Brown NTGCSA President

About Us North Texas Golf Course Superintendents Association

Board of Directors President: Bryan Brown bryan.brown@lkpoa.org Vice President: KD Davis kdavis@roccdallas.com Secretary / Treasurer: Anthony Williams CGCS Anthony.williams@fourseasons.com

Past President: Kirt Phillips kirt@dallascountryclub.org

Superintendent Directors Blake Cain –blake@benttreecc.org Jay Tinsley-bgc.tinsley@gmail.com Jason Wiedeman-jwiedeman@crosstimersgc.com Mike Epps-mepps@miravistacountryclub.com

Affiliate Directors Aaron Fox—afox@textron.com Todd Gilmour—toddgolf1@yahoo.com Chapter Executive Carol Cloud ntgcsa@gmail.com 817-368-3002 PO Box 122766, Fort Worth, TX 76121

Network with your peers!

Join us at: Ntgcsa.org and:

A student from Sunnyside Elementary School in Bonita, Calif., gets an up-close look at the different components of soil during a First Green field trip at Bonita Golf Course in February 2016. Photo by David Phipps The USGA has committed $20,000 in funding support to GCSAA and GCSAA’s philanthropic organization, the Environmental Institute for Golf (EIFG), for First Green, an outreach program that provides hands-on STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) education on golf courses.

Prior to GCSAA assuming leadership of First Green in 2018, the USGA was a longtime supporter of the program, which has its origins in the Pacific Northwest. Founded in 1997, First Green is the only STEM education and environmental outreach program that uses golf courses as learning labs. Each First Green field trip averages 75 students who learn about topics such as soil, insects, plants, water conservation, wildlife habitat and golf. For most students, such “outdoor classrooms” represent their first exposure to a golf course.

“First Green is the first introduction to golf for many students, and so we are very fortunate to have the USGA as an ally in making it happen,” says Rhett Evans, GCSAA CEO. “This program is just one of many where the USGA’s dedication to the game shows through its support of GCSAA and the superintendents we serve.”

“It’s been exciting to support the continual growth of First Green and its efforts to get kids engaged in the exciting science of golf,” says Kimberly Erusha, Ph.D., managing director of the USGA Green Section.

“This program is another part of GCSAA’s overall efforts to promote golf course superintendents, and it’s a great way for the USGA to continue our commitment to environmental stewardship in golf.”

In addition, the USGA financially supports GCSAA’s Best Management Practices initiative, which has a goal of establishing golf course environmental best management practices in all 50 states by 2020. The USGA committed $800,000 to help support an online resource that simplifies and expedites the creation of golf course BMP programs at the state level.

The USGA also provided funding for the second phase of GCSAA’s Golf Course Environmental Profile, a groundbreaking project launched in 2006 that compiles data on the land use, inputs, management of natural resources and environmental stewardship associated with golf courses in the United States.

The USGA is a member of the EIFG’s Platinum Tee Club, which denotes donors that contribute $5,000 or more annually, and the USGA has reached the Victory Club level — the highest level — in the EIFG’s Cumulative Giving Program, which recognizes donors that have given $1 million or more since 1987.

June 24 - Registration Now Open The North Texas GCSA is excited to announce that we will be visiting Wildhorse Golf Club in Denton this June.

Longhorn, Inc. is our Platinum Sponsor and will deliver a portion of our education. Jacob Boelsche will also provide some education on drones and how they can help your course. He will also do a little demonstration.

TITLE SPONSOR

9:00 am

Registration

10:00 am 11:00 am Wildhorse Golf Club is a community links style club, designed

by Gary Stephenson, currently featuring 18 holes of golf winding in and out of the Robson Ranch residential community. The course is bordered by beautiful custom and semicustom designed homes, environmentally sensitive areas and dotted by strategically placed bunkers and ponding.

Bite off as much as you would like to chew, Wildhorse can provide as much or as little a challenge as you desire. If the strategy doesn't test you, the greens surely will. Don't expect a lot of flat straight putts here; the green contours are our best defense!

12:00

Education Lunch

Golf

Cost: $60.00 per person Format: Modified Stableford Individual Register at ntgcsa.org

R E N O VAT I O N O F T H E Y E A R

Chapter Championship Repeat Champion Kyle Moore of Rolling Hills dominated a 4-man playoff at beautiful Mira Vista Country Club to capture the 2019 “Ace� January Superintendent Championship honors. Kyle and 3 other contenders shot impressive 79s on the tough track. Kyle rolled in a birdie putt on the first playoff hole to capture his 3rd title. (2019, 2016 and 2006!)

The event was a great day of education and golf thanks to our Title Sponsor Helena. Brad Shaver Ph.D. and Rick Blasi teamed up to provide a very good program on useful topics.

Our host, Mike Epps and his team had the golf course in great condition. Thank you Mike and to the entire Mira Vista staff. It was a great day!

Mike Epps

Kyle Moore 2019 Ace January Superintendent Champion

Brad Shaver Rick Blasi

Drue Thompson 2019 Affiliate Champion

Above - Superintendent Net Champion KD Davis (right) Below - Affiliate Net Champion Donny Lecroy (left)

FACEBOOK GOTCHA! Coach Kevin Redburn and family celebrate Storm 10U Undefeated Season!

Sterling Naron and his happy family at Colonial.

Michael Shelton’s happy helper!

Mark and Rebecca Herrera with their daughters celebrating Easter Stephen and Ashley McGee with their new family addition. Cute Michael and Jennifer Underwood enjoying a day at the Charles Schwab Challenge...aka Colonial!

Scott and Chrisina Fuller celebrate their 30th wedding anniversary atop the Reunion Tower.

Kasey Kauff and the Trinity Forest crew enjoying a celebration after another great AT&T Byron Nelson!

The North Texas GCSA held its annual Superintendent / Pro Championship in May and honored a past chapter icon, Stephen Best. The championship was once again held at Stephen’s beloved home course Sky Creek Ranch Golf Club.

Host superintendent Bryan Tupa and his staff had the course in outstanding condition which proved to be a great venue for crowning are champions and for all to have a enjoyable day on the links.

Bryan Tupa (L) and Mike Epps

John Best

Willie Slingerland - Watertronics

Professional Turf Products was our Title Sponsor and in typical fashion did an outstanding job of providing a speaker - Willie Slingerland of Watertronics and a very nice gift bag for all attendees.

Stephen’s father, John Best attended the event again this year and as always give a heartfelt thank you to the chapter for remembering his son. He also gave a very nice summary of the Best family. We are happy to report that the family is doing very well.

Balancing Innovation and Sound Agronomics Sales, Contract Service, and Rental options available Call Today to See The Equipment Turf Professionals Trust

Jeff Kadlec (210) 413-3045 Rick Kadlec (314) 744-0379

Our Superintendent / Pro Championship team was Frank Darnell and Calvin Martinez from Mesquite Golf Club (Top Left) Net Champion team was Matt Weitz and Britt Patton from Vaquero. (Top Right - team on right) Member / Member Championship honors went to Chuck McCaskill and James Jensen (Top Right - team on left). Net Member / Member honors go to Hud Haas and Chris Swain. (Below right) Enjoy all the photos from this great event on these pages and at the ntgcsa.org website link.

A different perspective

by Tom Newsted Originally published GolfWRX.com

A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to play a round with two of the greens keepers at a local golf course and it was a fascinating experience. It gave me a chance to get a behind-the-scenes view of what it takes to make a golf course great.

Many of us play at public courses, and sometimes its luck of the draw if the course we are at is in good condition. In my case, if I find a course that is well maintained and taken care of, I make it a regular stop.

In this case, I was at Ridgeview Ranch in Plano Texas and it is a great public course and I play here at least once a month.

The two guys I played with were Tony Arellano and Jose Marguez. Both were great guys to share a round with. Tony shared what it’s like to make sure that all the greens are maintained properly and watered correctly. He showed me where there were some issues with one of the greens that I would never have noticed. We talked about how the invasion of Poa annua grass forces his guys to pull it out by hand with a tool that is smaller than a divot repair tool. It became clear to me that as a golf community, we need to lift up the people that do this labor-intensive work and thank them for all they do. Ridgeview Ranch is without a doubt one of the better public courses in my area, and it is because of the hard work these men do that keeps it this way.

As we watched the Masters tournament a few weeks ago we were awestruck by the awesome beauty of Augusta National and in my case I believe that is what heaven looks like.

Continued on Next Page

I think we take that kind of beauty for granted and forget the massive amount of time and hard work that go into making a golf course look good. These people have to deal with all of the different factors that Mother Nature throws at them and be prepared for anything. In addition to that, they also have to make sure the watering system is maintained as well as all of their equipment.

I have played at other courses in the DFW area that have a terrible staff and a superintendent that either don’t care about the course or don’t know how to stop it from falling apart. The course won’t spend the money to go get the right people that will take pride in their work. Some of these places will charge you more than $80 per round, and when you get to the first green that has dry spots that are without any grass you feel like you have been ripped off.

We all love this game not because it’s easy but because it’s a challenge and being good at it takes a ton of effort. We also love it because it gives us a chance to hang out with friends and family and enjoy time outside in the sun– hopefully without cell phone interruptions and other distractions of our modern day. We spend a ton of money on green fees, equipment and sometimes travel. We want to get what we pay for and we want to have a great course to spend the day at.

I wanted to write this article to thank all of those men and women that start work in the early hours of the day and work through the hottest stretches of the summer to keep our golf courses in great shape. They are people that never get the credit they deserve and we should always thank them whenever possible. Tony and Jose are just two examples of the people who work so hard for all of us.

Ridgeview Ranch is lucky to have these two men who not only work hard but were fantastic representatives of their course. So next time you are out there and you see these people working hard, maybe stop and say thank you let them know what they do really makes a difference.

What is Topdressing…Really?

Part 2 (Part 1 published in December 2018 Chapter Connect) Bud White, Senior Vice President of Agronomy Arnold Palmer Golf Management In December 2018, I started a series of in-depth cultural management practice articles to help superintendents take a deeper look at their programs and make sure the golf course methods and procedures are the best they can be for your particular conditions. We examined the variations in vertical mowing and how to use these variations to best suit the turfgrass needs for ultimate health and playing surface quality. Topdressing, of course, goes hand-in-hand with vertical mowing, as vertical mowing is the most efficient way to promote topdress incorporation down into the upper 1/8” to ½” depth of the profile. This is key to controlling the mat or thatch zone in order to maximize the dilution of the organic through sand introduction. Organic zone dilution, in conjunction with thinning, removal and puncturing (aeration) must all work closely together.

Using only one or two of these practices will not produce the end result needed- remember the aggressive thatch production rate of the new putting green grasses.

First, decide the proper rate of topdressing application and frequency. Additionally, it is critical to determine the rate for an aeration process versus simply a “dusting”. The dusting applications usually entail two different rates of application as well, as it is not uncommon to apply about 10% to 15% more sand when a light vertical mowing is done prior to the application than when topdressing is done alone.

Then consider particle size. There are big controversies in topdressing together, whether a coarser and “sharper” sand should be used to fill aerator holes and, can finer materials used for surface topdressing or grooming be used as well. These “finer” sands used for dusting are thought to be better because the smaller particle means better incorporation into the denser canopies. BEWARE… you must define “finer sand”. Oftentimes, coarse sand particles are misidentified on the surface as very coarse or small gravel particles, according to soil sieve sizes. Thus, they are removed along with some of the medium particles, and more of a fine sand remains. This can be a mistake, as topdressing with too fine a sand can plug the rootzone and create a false perched water table in the surface. This happens when the fine sands are bound by the organic accumulations in the zone and can actually produce an almost impenetrable layer. Venting alone with the solid needle tines in the summer will not offset this negative problem. The best approach when evaluating a finer topdressing sand is to send a sample of the green construction sand and the fine sand sources that you wish to utilize to an accredited lab. The lab will evaluate the physical properties of the finer sand and make sure it is compatible with the construction rootzone. You will find that a proper finer topdressing sand would actually be a coarser sand that meets USGA specs for construction with the coarser particles removed. The proper topdressing sand is actually a medium-fine, by classification, and not a fine sand. I suggest you check out the

website of Dr. Jim Murphy, Rutgers University, and read his evaluation of fine sands and their effect on soil profiles. He has classified sands as medium, medium-fine and fine-medium. There are differences in the particle size distribution percentages; it is amazing to see some of the work he has done.

There are different methods of introducing topdressing sand into the profile. These include: •

Incorporation with aeration

•

Surface applications for grooming

•

DryJect applications

•

Introduction with the Graden Contour Sand Injection

Each of these operations have a specific job, and all four are quite effective in putting green rootzone and turf management when utilized for their proper and respective purposes. If, for example, you have an excessive thatch accumulation, you must remove some of this thatch- through aeration, deep vertical mowing, which allows greater sand introduction, but also physically reduces the percentage of organic to allow a shift to a great percentage of sand. Using an operation that does not remove organic is not the most effective in this situation, although it can be beneficial when used with the other removal type of operations, mentioned above, as an example.

Dry or bagged sand is another topdressing source, As mentioned above, when testing finer sands, bagged sand should be tested as well. With bagged sand, there are only two guarantees: •

It’s dry

•

It’s expensive

There are great bagged sands available if you choose this approach, but testing is the only way to make sure you are utilizing the proper one.

Kiln-dried sand has tremendous benefit in its ability to be incorporated much better into the aerator holes because it is dry upon application and eliminates the wait time for sand to dry on the surface of the green after application.

In my travels, I have seen where the kiln-dried adds about $10 per ton to the cost of the sand, but you must consider the fact that this may not be an additional cost because you are buying sand by a weight basis, not by volume. A dry sand and a moist sand can have a significant difference in weight. Maybe the kiln-dried sand for your specific topdressing needs is a better value than first thought.

The other consideration is whether or not organic matter needs to be blended with the sand used as topdressing.

Research shows, all the way back to Dr. Waddington in

the 1960s and early 70s, that peat blended with sand for topdressing has never been a recommendation. Green profiles have more than enough organic matter and therefore adding more organic matter is unnecessary. This has been documented by several other researchers over the years as well. The key is to use the proper particle size distribution for the topdressing sand that meets the USGA recommendations and is compatible with your construction rootzone sand.

Most golf courses today aerate twice per year with a side-eject tine and then backfill the holes with the proper topdressing sand as best as possible. Using a slightly coarser and sharper sand, but one still in the recommendation ranges is perfectly acceptable and actually a good practice.

Using a finer sand for topdressing the surface is also a good program, as long as the finer sand meets specifications. It is not uncommon for some courses to lightly topdress weekly during the growing season, whereas more modest budget courses lightly topdress as little as once per month. The most common procedure, of course, is two to three applications per month. If you are maintaining at a higher level of maintenance, and are applying light applications three weeks out of four, you are maximizing turf quality with the dusting or grooming topdressing approach.

One last point to consider is the buildup of sand in the collars, thus producing collar dams. Sand buildup has been enhanced by the spin type topdresser used today and dragging in topdressing with a drag mat. The spinner throws sand into the collar edge, where it collects in the taller grass. More sand is dispersed through the circular motion of dragging and ‘throwing’ sand into the collar. This must be managed to prevent buildup.

Blowing sand out of the collar immediately after dragging will remove a much of this material. Vertical mowing the collar, then blowing periodically will loosen the sand and allow more to be removed by the blower. Below is a perfect example of an abundance of sand deposited in the collar edge after topdressing and dragging.

JIM TRAVIS

Cell: 469-993-3647 Office: 800-345-9387 Fax: 972-745-4315

jim.travis@target-specialty.com

Hopefully this overview has provided some “food for thought” as you evaluate your topdressing program, both in application method as well as material selections and rates. Again, it is important to note that there are many approaches to a good topdressing program, and one is not necessarily better than another. Determine which is best for your particular operation and budget. If you wish to discuss any aspect of topdressing further, please do not hesitate to contact me. In December, the aeration component of cultural management will complete the third part of this series on in-depth cultural management program evaluation.