Aerification 2018--A Week to Remember

Aerification week was last week as many of you know but it did not go as we had hoped.  The agronomy staff worked tirelessly on Monday and Tuesday to get the greens aerified and started on some the other projects due to the forecasted rainfall for Wednesday and Thursday.  It was a good thing we did because both of those days were a complete wash with the course receiving 3.41" of rain during that time.  It is hard to collect cores and spread sand in the rain, as we found out.  One last day, Friday, to get the course back together and the staff knocked it out of the park once again to get us open on time Saturday morning.

I know the word "aerification" is a four letter word for most all golfers but it is simply one of those necessary evils in the golf world.  The process removes old plant and thatch which have accumulated through time,  relieves compaction of the soil, provides new points for gas exchange between the root system and the atmosphere, letting the toxic gases out and fresh oxygen in, and allows for new materials such as sand or other amendments to be added to the soil system.   In a nutshell, you wouldn't dream of driving your car 100,000 miles without changing the oil and expecting it to survive.  We are simply changing the oil.

Most of the aerification process was the same this year as last but we did change a few techniques and add a couple of practices so  I thought a new video would help explain the process.

The agronomy staff put forth a Herculean effort last week to get everything done that we did.  The rain we received really messed up our scheduled activities but we made it through.  We did not get all the cultural practices we wanted done, such as core aerification of tees and topdressing of approaches, and will continue to work on the list over the next couple of weeks.  The greens are done and are healing in nicely so we look forward to welcoming everyone back out to enjoy the course.

Soft Tees, Smooth Paths, and Short Skirts

It has been a great year at The Bay so far this year.  We had a sluggish start due to the harsh, prolonged winter weather that stretched into the spring but the course has rebounded in championship fashion.  The agronomy staff has been hard at work giving the course some extra TLC by aerifying weak areas, sodding areas that needed a quick recovery, and applying extra fertilizer and growth stimulants to the course.  We have also had some special projects going on that are making a huge impact on the playability and look of the course.



Deep Tine Aerification of Tees:  Our tee boxes are notorious for firming up during the hot summer months, so firm that it is difficult to get a tee in the ground.  This is due to the native clay soil they are constructed from with little to no sand base or incorporation of sand to help them stay soft and user friendly.  We have tried over the years to use our greens aerifier to cultivate the tee surfaces, removing cores and trying to work sand into the holes to help this issue.  The success has been very limited because our greens aerifier is designed for the soft features of the greens and not the hard clay base of the tee complexes.  So in order to remedy this issue we purchased a used Wiedenmann Terra Spike XP deep tine aerifier.  With this powerful machine we are able to use tines that penetrate deep into the soil surface to aerate the soil.  This time around we are using 3/4" solid tines that are 11 inches long on a 4" x 4" spacing allowing 8 inches of this tine will penetrate the surface.

Smoother Cart Paths Courtesy of Flatpaths:  You may have noticed that the ride around the course is much smoother in areas and some of the bumps in the cart paths no longer exist.  That is courtesy of Jim from Flatpaths, a company we contracted to grind back down areas of the cart paths where tree roots have buckled them up.  Jim did a great job and we hope to have him back out to finish the course the next time he is in the area.  This process was very quick, with limited debris, and was much, much more economical and less disruptive to the course compared to removing or resurfacing the cart paths throughout the course.

Native Grass Area Renovation:  We are very proud of our native grass areas on our course as they provide movement corridors and nesting/brooding habitats for the residents, help eliminate runoff contamination from the short turfgrass before reaching the waterways, and gives defined definition to the golf holes.  As with most things in life there comes a time when some renovation has to occur and for our native grass areas that time is now.  We usually only have to do this process every 3-4 years and it is a good thing because with close to 100 acres of low maintenance areas it takes quite some time.

The course looks quite different with her skirt down and there are many golf balls which have gone astray from their intended target that are getting a second chance at life, but the best part of the renovation project is this is the best time to disperse the seed from the native grasses that are present in these areas.  We want a variety of plant species in our native grass areas, not a monostand, as this improves the diversity of wildlife that can call the golf course home, gives different food sources at different times of the year, and looks more natural.  Bill is working hard to stay out of everyones way and get this project done.  The areas will be back to their glory in no time and we ask that you continue to obey the standing cart rule and not enter these areas with your cart.

We hope you have had a great year so far and we look forward to seeing you on the course.  

That's a Wrap on 2017

As we put the greens under the covers to protect them from the freezing weather coming into the Chattanooga area to finish off 2017 we take a look back at what was a fantastic year.  We would like to thank all our loyal customers who made the year so successful and all the new comers who gave the golf course a chance, we hope you will all return next year.  To the Bear Trace at Harrison Bay staff, THANKS could not begin to express the appreciation we have for all your dedication and hard work.

There were many renovations or improvements to the golf course this year with the renovation of the front entrance sign kicking the year off. Front Entrance Face Lift Part 1 and Part 2  Other improvements around the course were the new bag racks for the driving range built by Bill Greene, limbing up of trees and creating walkway paths through the native grass areas, to new fencing around the golf course to replace the old split rail fencing.

After all the issues we had with our greens coming out of dormancy in 2016 Greens issue in 2016 we were thrilled with the conditions of the greens, and the golf course as a whole, this year.  The hours of blood, sweat, and tears poured into the golf course by our fantastic agronomy staff lead by Assistant Golf Course Superintendent Willie Hamby really began to shine and the course was the best it has been in as many years as I can remember.  

Summer Aerification of 2017 went off without a hitch and was the most productive we have ever had at Harrison Bay.  Over the five days we were closed we were able to perform many much needed cultural practices to improve the course including creating over 18 million new breathing holes in the greens, scalped down over 10 acres of tees and green surrounds to provide for better playing surfaces, sliced over 32 acres of fairways with the Aerway shatter tine aerifier, and applied over 150 tons of sand to greens, tees and surrounds to provide smoother, better draining, and better playing surfaces.  

On the environmental front, the beauty and peacefulness of our course was clearly evident again this year.  From the new fawns that curiously watched us go about our day, to the fledging of HB 11 and HB 12 from the Harrison Bay Eagle Cam Project, to renewing our environmental certification with Golf Environment Organization the benefits of being stewards of the environment were numerous.  We were honored this year to have our Electric Equipment Initiative featured in GCSAA's Golf Course Management magazine Can You Hear Me Now?.  

The future is bright and we are very much looking forward to another prosperous year in 2018.  We will continue to work to improve the conditions and playability of the course.  We have several projects in mind for this upcoming year including new fencing around the parking lot and front entrance, sod work on areas near #2 green and along the cart path on #16, bunker renovations as funds present themselves, and continued work on our greens to make them the best they can possibly be.  

Thank you again to everyone who made 2017 successful and we hope you and yours had a great year and we wish you nothing but the best in 2018.

Summer Aerification 2017

As you probably know the golf course was closed this past week so the agronomy staff could perform the necessary cultural practices on the course needed to have a high performing and well conditioned golf course.  We realize that this closure is not a desirable event to many golfers but it is vital to the long term playability of the course.  We have done our best to limit our cultural practices to this one week out of the year as to not impact your round and we thank you for your understanding and commitment to our course.

During summer closure week we try to accomplish as many tasks as possible to relieve the compaction and wear the course receives during the year as well as make improvements that we feel the course needs and will improve our guests experience.  Usually I try and post photos of the activities but this year the agronomy staff completed so many tasks in such a short time I thought you might like a video of the week.

So what did we accomplish this week??

Over 18 MILLION new holes were created in the putting greens relieving the compaction from the past year, removing a years worth of thatch growth, and providing channels for new, stronger plants and roots to develop.

4 acres of teeing surfaces were solid tine aerified

10 acres of tee and green surrounds were scalped down for better play

32 acres of fairways were sliced with our Aerway shattertine aerifier to improve fairway health.

Around 150 tons of sand were applied to the golf course turf including greens, tees, and greens surrounds to help firm up the playing surfaces, fill in aerification holes, and provide a smoother playing surface.

and many other smaller activities.

One of the improvements to the course that we hope you will quickly notice and enjoy is the lowering of the height of cut of the turfgrass directly surrounding the greens.  For years we have been maintaining this turfgrass close to 1/2" which resulted in balls getting caught on slopes and not running onto the greens surface or limiting the options golfers had to play their shot onto the green.  The turf surround the greens was scalped down to 1/4" and topdressed with sand to help firm up the turf and provide a smoother surface allowing the golf ball to hopefully roll onto the putting surface easier and also allow golfers the option to putt their ball from off the green if they choose which in the past would not have rally been an option.  We will continue to work these areas and improve them over the remainder of the year and we hope you find the new maintenance practice pleasing to your game.

Our golf course has made considerable improvements over the years and it is all due to the hard work and dedication of the agronomy staff.  I would be remise if I did not recognize and commend these individuals for their commitment to the betterment of Harrison Bay.  

Thank you to each member of our agronomy staff for making The Bear Trace at Harrison Bay all it can be, not only this week, but every week.

Farewell 2016...You Will Not Be Forgotten

As we say goodbye to another golfing season at Harrison Bay I wanted to take a quick look back at the 2016 season.  This summer marked my 25th summer on a golf course and my 16th at The Bear Trace.  Although I consider myself a pretty decent superintendent I have to admit that this summer definitely educated, and humbled me more than any other year I can remember in my career.

In preparation for this season the agronomy staff worked hard during the winter months to make improvements to the golf course.  The biggest projects were the renovation of #3 green  and the extensive drainage project in the landing area of #10 fairway.  We also worked on some bunker renovation, irrigation improvements, and improving drainage along cart paths.  With all these improvements we felt pretty good about the upcoming season as dormancy broke and the growing season began.

#2 Green on April 19 under attack from nematodes

Unfortunately our season got off to a terrible start with a massive nematode infestation that devastated many large areas on our greens.  The original diagnosis of our problem was a root pathogen which was attacking the root system, which was accurate, but this disease was really only allowed to attack the greens root system because the nematodes had weakened the roots to the point that they could not defend themselves or recover quick enough.  As the greens continued to come out of dormancy the nematodes continued to feast on the fresh, new, susceptible young roots that our bermudagrass greens produce each spring.

Putting green Nov 2 recovered from nematode damage

After receiving the results of a soil assay that showed sting and root knot nematode counts drastically elevated we were convinced that the primary concern was not to combat the root pathogen but rather the microscopic nematodes that were reeking havoc on our greens.  After several application of products to reduce the nematode population and provide protection for the root system the greens began to recover.  Over the summer the agronomy staff worked hard to repair areas on the greens that were damaged from the nematode attack including the complete renovation of #9 green.  It has been an long battle by I am proud to say that our greens are back to their championship form that we have been known for for so many years.

After an exciting week hosting the TGA Match Play Championships at the end of July the agronomy staff jumped right back into improving the golf course.  Our aerification of the golf course this August was the most extensive we have undertaken since we renovated the greens back in 2003.  Removal of major amounts of thatch and organic matter from greens, tees, fairways, and the driving range made a tremendous improvement in the course.
All of the activities cataloged in posts about 2016 Greens Aerification and Showing the tees, fairways, and driving range some love.

The fall was a definite reminder that every year is different from the next.  The hottest, driest summer that I can remember that gripped the southeast was unprecedented with Chattanooga breaking long standing records with a total of 108 days with temperatures over 90 degrees and over 7 months without receiving a total of 1" of rainfall in a single day.  This was the first summer I can remember of having to place supplemental irrigation sprinklers around the course just to save wilting 419 bermudagrass.

On the environmental front we welcomed the latest two eaglets HB9 and HB10 to the HBEC family and unfortunately said goodbye to Eloise as we got a new female eagle at our nest, which Hannah named Eliza.  We are currently experiencing some technical issues with the main PTZ camera and sound resulting from the storms a couple of weeks ago but hope to have this resolved in time to watch the next brood of HBEC eaglets enter the world.

Barry supervising Mitch's work in the mini-ex.

The golf course lost two very good employees this year.  Barry Webb passed away unexpectedly on May 29th.  Barry was one of those guys who never complained, always showed up to work, and did his best for the course.  RIP Barry.

We also said goodbye to my first assistant Mitch Sivley. After 17 years of dedicated service to the golf course he left to follow his dream of being a truck driver.  Mitch was a cornerstone of our course and I relied on him greatly throughout the years.  His skill on heavy equipment and with a chainsaw will be missed as will his dedication and passion for the golf course itself.

Outreach, education, and accolades continued this year beginning in January at the 50th annual TTA conference where I received the Dr. Tom Samples Professional of the Year Award.  At the Golf Industry Show in San Diego we were honored by Golf Industry Magazine for our social media presence and outreach with the Dr. John Kaminski Award.  I was fortunate to be able to present our environmental projects and programs to several organizations including the New England Regional Turfgrass Council, Sustainability in Golf, and most recently at the 2016 Carolinas Golf Course Superintendent Association Conference and Tradeshow in Myrtle Beach.

After a long summer we are eagerly looking forward to the dawn of 2017.  This year I have realized that even after 25 years in the business I still have much to learn and that I can not let my guard down at any time of the year.

The agronomy staff deserves all the credit for the turn around in the conditioning of the golf course this year and I am grateful for their continued dedication to the course.

From frustration to elation, from failure to victory, from questioning my future in the industry to remembering why I really love my career.

Farewell 2016...You have been an interesting year and one we will not forget.

Showing the Tees, Fairways, and Driving Range some "Love"

Greens Aerification wasn't the only work that got accomplished last week.  We also performed summer cultural practices on tees, fairways, and the driving range tee as well.  All the tee boxes were aerified using 3/4" solid tines, topdressed heavily with sand, and then once dry enough the sand was drug in.  This practice will make the tees healthier, will increase drainage, and will loosen the compaction of the soil making it easier for you to get your tee in the ground, which we know has been a challenge sometimes this summer.

The big practice that we took on this year was to verticut or vertical mow the fairways.  This year since we had a few extra days I decided to go "deep" to really get down into the thatch layer and clean the grass up.  With the blades set at 1/4" below zero we surely accomplished that goal and pulled a lot of debris up.

Just like the verticutting units for the greens, the ones for the fairways are designed to cut into the turfgrass on a vertical plane pulling long stolons and dead/decaying thatch to the surface so it can be removed.  Here is a video of the fairway verticutter in action.  As you can see there is a tremendous amount of debris removed during this process.  Following the verticutting we blew as much of the clippings as we could from the fairways and mowed them in a circular pattern to "attack" the grass from different angles than it is used to which really cleaned the fairways up.  Since we do not have a leaf/turf vacuum to pick the clippings up there was a lot of debris to blow and you will still experience a little bit of it for a week or so but it will soon be gone.

One area that we really wanted to work on while the course was closed was the landing area on #10 where we installed all the drain lines this winter #10 Fairway Drainage Project Complete.  The work on this fairway has turned out great but the areas where the drains were installed needed to be smoothed out.  Using our John Deere tractor aerifier Willie aerified the landing area with 1" coring tines, allowed the cores to dry and then used a steel drag mat to bust up and spread the cores around.  The area was then blown off and rolled several times with the 1.25 ton vibratory roller we rented for the greens.  We also, as to not waste anything on our course, used the sand removed from #9 green that we had stockpiled in the parking lot to top dress the area heavily which will help continue to fill in the trenches and smooth the landing area out.

To try and make sure all the areas on our golf course felt some love throughout the week we also aerified and verticut the driving range tees on Thursday.  Using the same JD tractor and coring tines the range tees were aerified, then verticut with the Toro verticutters, all the sand drug in and then all the debris blown off to the front of the complex.

In fact there was so much thatch material removed from these tee boxes that when Willie got it blown to the front of the tee complex we had to take the Bobcat up to load it into a trailer to haul it off.  In total we removed 5 full trailer loads of clippings from the area which is an incredible amount.  Just goes to show how badly it was needed to be done, and therefore it will be done a little more often from now on so we don't get in this situation again.

We all love our golf course and believe that all the work we performed last week will only go to improve it moving forward.  We still have a few tees to top dress and will be blowing some of the clippings as we mow fairways over the next couple of weeks.  We are already seeing some response from the fairways as they look more lush and healthy and the tee markers are easier to set in the ground on the tee boxes.  It's always nice to see all the hard work paying off.

2016 Greens Aerification

Early Monday morning we began our summer aerification of the greens and other areas on the golf course.  Aerification is one of the most important cultural practices we do to the greens as explained in this Course Care from USGA Why Aerate?.  This year we chose to use a 1/2" side eject coring tine set on a 1/5" x 1.5" spacing.   Using this spacing we affected 10.91% of the green and removed close to 30 cubic feet of material from the green per 1000 sq ft.

The organic matter content of our greens has increased considerably over the years to over 6%.  The recommended limit for greens is 3% so this year we had to remove the cores and since we don't have the proper equipment to do this, it was left up to the agronomy team to do this manually.  It was a tremendous effort by our staff over two days to remove close to 3,900 cubic feet of material from the greens surface by hand.

Here is a plug taken from the putting green which if you remember was devastated by nematode damage coming out of dormancy this spring, Greens Update.  Two things to take from this picture 1) We have reduced the impact of the nematodes and the damage they caused, and have grown some very nice roots.  2) We have a considerable amount of organic matter (roots, thatch, live tissue) in the top 1.5" of the greens surface.  Ideally we should be closer to 3/4" of this organic layer. This layer is a haven for disease, nematodes, and holds excessive moisture making the greens soft and slower.  Removing this material will only make the greens perform and play better.

After all the cores were picked up and hauled away (to be used to fill in low areas, tree stump holes, and drainage lines around the course later) the greens were blown off leaving a clean surface.  The holes created by the aerifier were open and ready for sand.

After the greens were cleaned off they were double rolled and heavily topdressed with AS45 damp sand from Golf Agronomics.  Over the entire golf course we applied close to 35 tons of sand to the greens.  The sand was allowed to dry, actually a couple of times as we had a few stray showers pass through which got the sand wet again, and then drug in twice using a circle pattern.  After the second dragging the greens were heavily watered to relieve some of the stress from all the abuse to the surface and to work the sand into the surface.

The next step of the process was to perform a vertical mowing of the greens surface.  This year our intent was to remove as much organic matter from the greens as possible so we set the blades at 0.200" below zero and made passes up and back in two directions.  This process removes a lot of the dead and decaying leaf and stem tissue from the green.  It also pulls the stolons to the surface so they can be removed which will make the greens healthier and roll smoother.

In between each direction the greens were blown off to remove the debris from the green and allow for a cleaner and more consistent cut with the verticuttters on the next pass.

We verticut following aerification rather than prior to pulling the core because experience, and advice from our friends at East Lake Golf Club, has shown that this process helps to work the sand into the holes and reduce the size of the surface opening of the aerification hole.  The vertical mowing process will actually pull the leaf blades over the hole reducing the visual affect of the aerification process and will aid in helping the grass to grow over the opening faster which will help make the golfer happier, quicker.

The next step was to remove the leaf surface that was stood up by the vertical mowing process.  We set our sand reel cutting units at 0.150" and mowed up and back in one direction.  The greens were then blown off again and heavily watered again.

On Thursday the greens received another 35 tons of sand to continue filling in the aerification holes.  The sand will help to dilute the organic matter in the top of the greens profile, will help water and air exchange compared to the heavy thatch layer which was present in the top two inches of the green, and help smooth the surface out for better putting.  The greens were drug multiple directions and in circles after each mowing and topdressing.

After all the coring, topdressing, verticutting, mowing and dragging there is only one step left and that is to roll the greens with a 1.25 ton street roller.  The heavy roller will remove the majority of the tire tracks from the greens and start the greens along the path to recovery. Several different fertilizers and soil amendments were applied to the greens and after one final drag and after one more heavy irrigation cycle Greens Aerification 2016 was in the books.

So yes this has been a lengthy blog post but it has been a very long week and all the work done by your agronomy team will pay off tremendous benefits from here on.  I have to thank Robin and our upper management in Nashville for allowing us the time to perform all these tasks properly and not rushing through them as we normally have to.  We usually have only two days to accomplish all the tasks we performed over these five days but this way we got to take our time, slow down, and do the job better which will allow the course to recover quicker and perform better.

I can not thank our agronomy staff enough for their dedication and hard work.  After all the long hours for the TGA Match Play Championships last week to come right behind that with aerification was a lot to ask.  They performed flawlessly and had a great attitude the entire week doing all the hard work in the baking sun to make your golf course better.  If you see the agronomy staff out on the course let them know how much their commitment to the conditioning of the course means to you.  They deserve the recognition for all their efforts.

Tennessee Golf Association Match Play Championships

Last week The Bear Trace at Harrison Bay had the honor of hosting the 2016 Tennessee Golf Association Junior Amateur and Senior Match Play Championships.  It was great to be able to welcome golfers from all across our great state of Tennessee and we saw some outstanding talented golfers.

The Agronomy Staff has really been working hard over the past several months with the goal of getting the course in great condition for this event and according to many of the players, we succeeded.  Hosting an event like this means that everyone has to do their part, from the operations side, the food and beverage side, and the golf course maintenance side.  It is a team effort and we are very proud of the dedication and work of our team.

From the golf course maintenance side of planning for this event it meant many early mornings with work being done in the dark to make sure the course was properly prepared and ready for the players at 7:30.  So what all was done before most people were out of bed?  Greens were double cut, then rolled.  Pin locations set.  Championship tees mowed.  Bunkers blown out and raked.  Fairways drug and cart paths blown off.  It takes an army and we have a good one.

Afternoon course preparation for the event also needed to be done to keep the course in prime condition and our agronomy staff came through again.  Each evening they returned to mow fairways, tees, approaches, blow off fairways and roughs, and to roll greens.

It is not every day that we can put this much time into the course but the extra work really proved worthwhile and we hope the golfers enjoyed the course and enjoyed their round.

Congratulations to William Nottingham of Kingsport, TN for being the 2016 TGA Junior Amateur Match Play Champion.

Congratulations to Mr. Bob Rice of Pikeville, TN for winning the 2016 TGA Senior Match Play Championship.

We are half way through the year, and it has been a challenging year at that, but our staff has worked extremely hard to get the golf course back in the shape that we and our guests expect it to be and we are not going to reduce our level of expectation.

This week we are performing our summer course aerificaiton, all in an effort to make the course even better.  The course will be closed this week but the driving range is open, except for Thursday when we will be working on the range.