RGGCSA SuperNews Summer 2022

SuperNews OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE RIO GRANDE GCSA

June 2022 President Aaron Sunderlin Vice President Glenn Denney CGCS Secretary / Treasurer Mike Adkins Board of Directors: Paul Kerr Mac Blevins Anthony Wright Past President Jimmy Rodriguez Vendor Representative John King Chapter Executive Carol Cloud riograndegcsa @gmail.com

GCSAA Field Rep John Walker

President’s Message

Aaron Sunderlin Black Mesa Golf Club I find myself looking out the window in the shop and I can’t help but notice that we have traded in smoke clouds for monsoon rain clouds. I am sure most of you are relieved by the wet start to the monsoon season. Now we can exhale for a minute and enjoy the cooler weather.

I was reflecting on our last association meeting at Kokopelli Golf Club. I have seen all kinds of wildlife on golf courses over the years, even cattle on my own, but never wild horses. That was a first! Thank you to all that assisted with making these events happen; Kokopelli Golf Club and staff, our sponsors, association administration, RGGCSA board and association members. Without all of you, none of these events are possible. Neither are the initiatives that we all support that give back to the community.

Looking ahead, we will meet up in Taos on July 25th. I look forward to seeing our faithful association participants, and hopefully meet some superintendents from the northern part of New Mexico that may not attend events in the southern portion of the state.

Take care of yourselves and each other. Focus on not only your physical health but your mental health and well-being. Our jobs breed stress and anxiety and we need to remember that we are here for each other. Building friendships and relationships that raise us up is key. Sometimes we need to step back and just smell the roses or the freshly cut turf.

Field Staff Report - GCSAA Field Staff Representative

First Green @TheFirstGreen Our own Leann Cooper and John Walker demonstrate the properties of soils and how it relates to #Turfgrassmanagement at today’s @attbyronnelson.

The @TheFirst Green is excited to be present to promote STEM and golf course management at this week’s @PGATTour event. (Below)

Follow our GCSAA Field Rep Johnny Walker on Twitter! and Follow us!@RGGCSA

Loren Dunlap

Kyler Smith

(505) 463-8280

(505) 206-8790

ldunlap@winirrigation.com

ksmith@winirrigation.com

JUST LAUNCHED: The Certified Turf Equipment Manager designation is the highest recognition that can be achieved by turf EM professionals. This certification was developed by EMs under the guidance of a professional psychometrician & includes three phases.

Click here for more information

Dan Blaeser- Branch/ Southern Sales Manager (575) 644-3060 Clay Guck- Northern Sales Manager (505) 681-1104 Albuqeurque, NM 6280 Desert Rd. P 505-797-5800 F 505-797-5859

With TWO Locations

HelenaProfessional.com

Mesquite, NM 251 John Grisham P 575-233-3171 F 575-233-2790

1429 South Camino del Pueblo Bernalillo, NM 87004 Tel: 800.528.4290 Fax: 830.693.7791

Sales sales-newmexico@austinturf.com Service service-newmexico@austinturf.com Parts parts-newmexico@austinturf.com

Member Article

Mac Blevins Desert Lakes Golf Course Imperial Sand Dunes - The world’s Most Enjoyable Bunker I am by no means a gear head. I don’t change my own oil or rotate my tires myself. I probably couldn’t change a windshield wiper. The sound of a big engine revving up or running flat out usually annoys me. I get my fair share of engine noise at work. Once a year I try to take a trip to a place where those sounds become music to my ears – the Imperial Sand Dunes.

The Imperial Sand Dunes Recreation Area is in southern California, between Yuma, Arizona, and El Centro, California. The recreation area is a couple hundred square miles of sand dunes, some of which rise over 300 feet. Miles and miles of sand to ride – up, down, and round and round. The best time to go is between October and April, before the triple digit temps take over for the summer.

Usually, I bop around on the mountain trails on my quad. Low gear, nice and easy, looking for wildlife and enjoying the cooler air. I also ride out at Red Sands Recreation Area, a fun combination of desert riding and mountain riding. Speeds get a little faster there, and sometimes I use that for a little warm up before I go the dunes. At Glamis, low gear doesn’t exist. Select all wheel drive, pin it and keep up with the person in front of you. Speeds average between 30 and 40 miles per hour on a normal ride, and that speed is your friend. The sand that comes off the tires from the machine in front of you really doesn’t taste that bad. A typical ride puts about 20 miles on the odometer, but who really knows how far it is because of all the tire spin. Who cares? It is what it is and every minute and mile is a blast.

The area is a spectacle to see even without riding. During a holiday weekend there may be 50,000 people camping in the washes adjacent to the dunes. Million-dollar motor homes hauling $150,000 worth of toys will be camped next to a guy in a tent who rides a 1988 YZ 250.

Everybody is there to play in the sand and have a good time. Hang out at Oldsmobile Hill and watch trains of machines go by. There’s a drag racing area where you can watch a couple of $200,00 sand rails drink $50 worth of race fuel in 30 seconds. There is even a vendor’s row where you can buy some souvenirs or a big fat breakfast burrito.

Anybody who enjoys terrestrial motorsports should check this place out once in their lifetime. One trip was all it took for me to know that it needed to become a habit for me. Mountain riding is fun, but there is no substitute for high rpms, speed and a 20-foot rooster tail of sand erupting from the back of your machine.

Rio Grande GCSA BMP Focus The RGGCSA published the RGGCSA Best Management Practices Manual in 2020!

It is a resource for Golf Course Superintendents to understand and utilize industry standard Best Management Practices in many environmental and operational aspects of the work they do to make golf courses in New Mexico sustainable.

Congratulations!! to the three courses noted below!

They have completed the initial published version of their BMP Manual! Thank you for your commitment to the environment and for taking the first steps to make your course sustainable.

Jimmy Rodriguez

Mike Adkins

Aaron Sunderlin

THANK YOU FOR YOUR COMMITMENT! This year, the RGGCSA Board of Directors contracted Brian Cloud to help members get started creating their Facility Adopted BMP Manuals. Brian and his team have done zoom seminars and reached out to many members to help get the process started.

Response has been good but we need more members to utilize this resource!! The RGGCSA BOD has set a goal to be one of the leading states in the US in the number of courses that have Facility Adopted Manuals.

So please contact Brian to help evaluate where you are in the process. There are several options for assistance and completing the manual, depending on your level of expertise and available time. Let’s work hard over the next couple of months before the growing season kicks in to full gear again! Call or email TODAY!

B r i a n C loud 8 1 7 - 2 9 6 - 9 1 1 7 br i a nc loud .g t s @ g ma i l .c om W E A R E H E R E T O H E L P YO U G E T S TA R T E D !

Click the sections below to access the Self Assessment for the topic listed.

ALL SECTIONS NOW AVAILABLE!!

Section 1

Section 2

Section 3

Planning, Design and Construction

Irrigation

Surface Water Management

Section 4

Water Quality Monitoring and Management

Section 5

Section 6

Nutrient Management

Cultural Practices

Section 7

Section 8

Section 9

Integrated Pest Management

Pesticide Management

Pollinator Protection

Section 11

Section 12

Landscape

Energy

Section 10

Maintenance Operations

United States Golf Association WEST REGIONAL UPDATE

Removing the Bermudagrass Toupee

Brian Whitlark - Senior Consulting Agronomist Uncut bermudagrass stems and stolons form a thick mat that negatively impacts the playing surface.

Bermudagrass can be an excellent playing surface if well maintained. Hybrid bermudagrasses deliver a uniform and dense turf cover that tolerates traffic when actively growing and can survive with less water inputs than most all other turfgrasses.

However, maintaining bermudagrass is not without its challenges. One significant issue is that bermudagrass produces stems and aboveground stolons that will grow on top of one another and lay horizontally along the ground. If left uncut, this material will develop a thick thatch-mat that has several negative implications: Thatch limits water movement into the soil, which can lead to runoff and localized dry spots.

A thick thatch-mat produces a more favorable environment for diseases such as Rhizoctonia solani and different spring dead spot pathogens (Ophiosphaerella spp.).

A thick thatch-mat negatively impacts the playing surface by creating softer conditions, unpredictable bounces and turf may “grab” clubs on shots hit into the grain.

During USGA Course Consulting Service visits with superintendents in Southern California,

southern Nevada and southern Arizona, I have seen excellent success using a combination of routine vertical mowing and aggressive scarification methods to stand up and cut bermudagrass stems and aerial stolons. Here are a few strategies to consider this summer to encourage upright bermudagrass growth and reduce grain: Conduct light-intensity vertical mowing at least monthly during the growing season. Set vertical mowing blades at about half the mowing height. This light-intensity practice will not disturb aesthetics or the playing surface and won’t frustrate golfers.

Conduct at least one aggressive scarification event in the middle of summer when bermudagrass will recover rapidly. Courses employing this practice have been successful using a variety of tools such as tractor-mounted vertical mowers and/or metal spring-tine rakes. These implements are followed by mower scalping at a low height of cut – e.g., 0.200-0.250 inch. Other approaches include fraise mowing at various levels of intensity and flail mowing followed by scalping.

Avoid the urge to fertilize with nitrogen to speed recovery from the aggressive summer scarification process. Additional nitrogen will only encourage more thatch production.

While the aggressive summer scarification process will temporarily disrupt the playing surface, experience has demonstrated benefits such as improved bermudagrass health, reduced grain and a better playing surface.

For courses that overseed in the fall, the summer scarification facilitates the overseed process by reducing thatch and encouraging upright turf before the overseed preparations begin.

In summary, plan ahead for an aggressive summer scarification process to remove that bermudagrass toupee and improve turf health and playability.

Production Report Production Report Summer 2022

Summer 2022

conditions in our seed production areas have continued to be wet and Spring conditions in our seed production areas have continued to be wet and nd most think we are to are start harvest to three laterlater coolthat and most thinklikely that we likely to starttwo harvest two to weeks three weeks ormal. There are growers in the south Willamette Valley that are than normal. There are growers in the south Willamette Valley that are g duals on their They’ll be cutting year with puttingwindrowers. duals on their windrowers.

They’ll bethis cutting this yearextra with extra s staged intractors fields staged to pullinout equipment stuck in muddy low spots. fields to pull out equipment stuck in muddy low spots.

Review data of the gathered weather data at weather the OSU weather indicate w of the weather at gathered the OSU stationstation indicate thatthat this is theApril, fourth May, wettestJune April, period May, June period going to 1875. the fourth wettest going back toback 1875.

Helios perennial ryegrass seed field

Helios perennial ryegrass seed field on 6/13/22 with standing water on 6/13/22 with standing water

Yields year but will be mixed couldaverage--grass be near average--grass generally this year will bethis mixed could bebut near generally doesn't mind cool and wet--and the number of seed heads seems to be close t mind cool and wet--and the number of seed heads seems to be close to normal. In very wet, cold years like this early species (Annual ryegrass, mal. In very wet,tall cold years like this early tend species (Annual ryegrass, forage fescues and orchardgrass) to suffer more than later maturing tall fescues and orchardgrass) tend to sufferconcern more than maturing species.

Additionally, there is increasing in thelater following areas: s. Additionally, there is increasing concern in the following areas: Weeds - Growers have commented that this may be the weediest crop they

have evercommented seen. Continued encouraged later than normal flushes of s - Growers have thatrain thishas may be the weediest crop they and rain grassy weeds while at thelater samethan time preventing or delaying ever seen. broadleaf Continued has encouraged normal flushes of the application of herbicides.

Spot-spray crewspreventing have also been hampered the by the eaf and grassy weeds while at the same time or delaying persistent rainfall.

Annual bluegrass, annual ryegrass, roughstalk bluegrass ation of herbicides. Spot-spray crews have also been hampered by the and rattail fescue are especially prevalent. tent rainfall. Annual bluegrass, annual ryegrass, roughstalk bluegrass ttail fescueVoles are especially prevalent.

- Pressure has been light through the winter, but reports are starting to come in of increased activity under the crop canopy. Increased soil moisture

- Pressurewill has been light the but winter, but reports starting to keep them fromthrough some areas, their numbers couldare increase rapidly in of increased under the crop canopy.

Increased soil moisture whereactivity there is sufficient drainage.

Now that the crop has lodged, they no longer needareas, to tunnel in the soilnumbers and can make runs on the surface under the ep them from some but their could increase rapidly crop canopy.

It is too late in the consider of rodenticide. there is sufficient drainage.

Now thatyear thetocrop hasbroadcasting lodged, they no At thisin time do not expect widespread need to tunnel theresearchers soil and can make runs on the damage. surface under the anopy. It is too late in the year to consider broadcasting of rodenticide. time researchers do not expect widespread damage.

Mold and disease - One field rep. commented yesterday that some fields of perennial ryegrass and other crops have been "slimy" underneath Mold disease One field rep. commented since and they first lodged.- (Remember earlier reports thatthat talked aboutfields warm conditions in ryegrass yesterday some of perennial December and January allowed excessive and other crops havethat been "slimy" underneath vegetative Slime mold is a disease since theygrowth.) first lodged.

(Remember earlier listed as a potential problem in grass seed reports that talked about warm conditions in crops, but it is rarely significant. Mold and December and January that allowed excessive disease could damage seed stocks before the vegetative growth.)

Slime mold is a disease seed has a chance to fill.

listed as a potential problem in grass seed crops, but it is rarely significant. Mold and disease could damage seed stocks before the seed has a chance to fill.

May 25, 2022 Diploid and Tetraploid PRG breeder block.

Dr. Leah Brilman noted, seed crops are about 2-3 weeks later in heading (Research Farm - Philomath, OR)

May 25, 2022 Diploid and Tetraploid PRG breeder block.

ort

022

Pollination and timing - Pollination has been trying to get underway for a couple of weeks now, but we have yet to see the kind of big yellow clouds that we should see this time of year. Pollination spread out over a long period of time means that ripening will also be spread out and it will be difficult to pick the right harvest date. By the Summer time the 2022 growers are able to cut, the earliest seeds will be shattered and on ground, with the latest seeds still too green to make it into the combine.

Production Report

Pollination and timing - Pollination has been trying to get underway for a couple of weeks now, The same conditions are causing problems for but we have yet to see the kind of big yellow clouds thatclover we shouldcrops see thisas timewell. of year.Crimson Pollination clover should be spread out over a long period of time means that filling seed and approaching harvest now, but ripening will also be spread out and it will be difficult growers are increasingly that varying to pick the right harvest date. By the timeconcerned the growers are able to cut, the earliest seeds will be degrees of rot is limiting potential. Flowering has shattered and on ground, with the latest seeds still white clover fields for a few too been green tohappening make it into the in combine.

weeks now and beehives are staged for pollination.

The same conditions are causing problems for Conditions, so wet and cool clover crops as well. however, Crimson cloverhave shouldbeen be filling seedbee and approaching harvest now, but that activity has been very limited raising growers are increasingly concerned that varying concern set. degrees of rot is over limitingseed potential.

Flowering has been happening in white clover fields for a few weeks now and beehives are staged for pollination.

Conditions, however, have been so wet and cool that bee activity has been very limited raising concern over seed set.

Inactive honeybees on a white clover seed field

Inactive honeybees on a white clover seed field

Upward pricing pressures - grower expectations continue to push upward as labor costs have risen sharply and other seed production and farming costs, including fuel, pesticides and fertilizer are roughly double what they were last year. Additionally some weaker, drought stressed seed fields of tallCalapooia fescueRiver andFlooding perennial inOR) the Pacific (Bryantryegrass Park - Albany, Northwest were plowed up prematurely and planted to spring wheat, in response to the large worldwide market increases in grains and commodity prices. This may be as high as 10% of the seed production acreage in this region.

Calapooia River Flooding (Bryant Park - Albany, OR)

Upward pri continue to Upward pricing pressures - grower expectations sharply and continue to push upward as labor costs have risen sharply and other seed production and farmingcosts, includ costs, including fuel, pesticides and fertilizer are roughly dou roughly double what they were last year. Additionally some weaker, drought stressed seed fieldsally of some w tall fescue and perennial ryegrass in the Pacific Northwest were plowed up prematurely and tall fescue a planted to spring wheat, in response to the large Northwest w worldwide market increases in grains and planted to s commodity prices. This may be as high as 10% of the seed production acreage in this region. worldwide m commodity the seed pr

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We had a great event in May at beautiful Kokopelli!

Thanks to all who attended and our great sponsors! Our host, Rodney Dean and his staff rolled out the red carpet and made it a fun day for all.

Our Gold Meeting Sponsor was Winfield United and John King provided great information for attendees.

Winfield representative Robert Garcia gave a very informative educational presentation.

Thanks again to all who attended and made it a special day in Alto!

Above: Host Superintendent (L) Rodney Dean receives the host Superintendent plaque for appreciation for hosting a special day! Below: Meeting Sponsor rep John King of Winfield United thanks the association for the opportunity to be an Annual Gold Sponsor!

Above: Robert A Garcia - Winfield United PPG Group, was our guest speaker and covered the topic: Maximizing the Effects of Pesticide Spray Applications. Below: GCSAA’s Johnny Walker provides an update of association news and happenings.

Quality Products & Superior Service Call an Agronomist!

Mike Ickes (505) 228-2497 mike@pnssw.com Utilizing Superior Testing Services To Help You Move Your Property Forward Full Line of Products Proven in This Region!

Fertilizers, Surfactants, Plant Protection, Soil Amendments, Injection Equipment, Biostimulants and a Complete Catalog of Golf Course Accessories

Proximity Winners: Larry Suzuki, Jon Kimmel, Larry Suzuki and Jimmy Rodriguez. Long Champions: (L to R) Ryan Goss, Tim Klein, Drive Winner: Marland Singleton and Larry Suzuki

2nd Place: (L to R) Glenn Denney, Marland Singleton, and Dan Blaeser

3rd Place: (L to R) Jon Kimmel, Samuel Garza, and Johnny Walker