The Rebirth of #3 Green

For several year now we have been dealing with the poor performance of #3 green.  We have tried many different practices and processes to try and revive this green but with no success.  So this winter we took on a renovation of this green in order to continue to work to provide the best possible playing conditions and experience we can.  Details of the project and why we chose to make this drastic step can be viewed on a previous blog post, Renovation of #3 Green.

We began the project in November by removing the top 5 inches of the contaminated greens mix. The excess organic matter in the greens surface made it virtually impossible for the green to perform properly.  It was surprising how fresh the greens mix below this level was.  Like it had just been installed a few days ago.  This difference in the two layers validates the need, and our request, for deeper aerification of the greens surfaces to eliminate this hard pan layer and allow for roots, water, and air to penetrate deeper into the greens profile.

The next step was to bring in new greens mix which was spread and contoured to a new greens shape.  The new greens mix and the old greens mix was lightly blended together to insure we did not have a barrier between the two soils.  The green was then graded and packed which gave it a similar but new look to the surface and now provides us with about twice the legal pinning areas as before.

Once the green was packed and contoured we installed new Champion ultradwarf bermudagrass sod to the surface.  Now sodding an ultradwarf green in the middle of winter in Tennessee is not the ideal way of doing things I will agree but it was the only time we could do this project and affect the smallest amount of play.  We were extremely lucky during the time of the sodding as we had unusually warm weather through the end of December which allowed us to roll and top dress the green several times and helped in its transplanting.

On February 27th we decided to officially open #3 green for play.  Although there are still a few seams that you can see and it is not as smooth or fast as the other greens on the course, playing on the greens surface is better than playing on the temporary green out in the fairway.  We will continue to roll and top dress the green over the remainder of the month and believe by the end of March the green will be as good as the rest of them, maybe even better.

We are very pleased with the results of this project and very encouraged by the growth we are seeing from the green given how early it is in the season and the weather we have had so far.  This is a picture of a plug taken from #3 green and as you can see the roots are starting to grow and establish into the greens mix.  This is a very encouraging sign and one we are very happy to see.

I would like to thank our Agronomy Staff for all their hard work on this project.  We took on a challenge that many people said we were crazy to attempt and through hard work and determination have succeeded in reviving our worst green to one we can now be very proud of.  I would also like to thank everyone, from the proshop to the golfers, for their patience and understanding as we carried out this process.  I know it was not ideal to have to play to a temporary green for three months but I believe you will agree with me that the pain was worth the gain.

As always we will continue to strive everyday to make The Bear Trace at Harrison Bay the best that we possibly can and we thank you for your patronage and your support.  If you have any questions or comments please don't hesitate to contact me with them.

Our Newest Residents---HB9 and HB10

It's been an exciting weekend for all of us at Harrison Bay and our loyal family of viewers at Harrison Bay Eagle Cam as we welcomed our two newest residents to the course, HB9 and HB10.

HB9 hatched at 7:30 PM on Saturday, March 5 and HB10 hatched 4:31 PM on Sunday, March 6.  Both eaglets appear to be happy and healthy and we are looking forward to an exciting year of watching these two grow and join the rest of Elliott and Eloise's family in the big blue sky.

#10 Fairway Drainage Project Completed

For many years we have had a continually escalating issue in the landing area on #10 fairway of poor drainage, excessive shade, and standing water.  All these issues have lead to poor growing conditions for turfgrass, limited ability to allow golf carts off the path, and a lot of upset golfers and guests.

After three years of resodding the same area in the landing area due to winter shade and saturated soils limiting our ability to successfully maintain a quality playing surface the decision was made to finally fix the area instead of continuing to patch it.  We began the process this summer by removing the trees which were creating the shade on the fairway during the fall and winter months.  We actually began to see some benefits from the shade removal toward the end of the year with the fairway beginning to dry out quicker after storms.  It was the first piece of the puzzle that was starting to come together.

The biggest piece of the puzzle was to install subsurface drainage into the fairway landing area to remove the water.  #10 fairway is unique from other fairways on our course in that it is not very much higher than the water level of the lake surrounding the course.  What this means is that the water table is very close to the surface limiting the soils ability to drain as well as other areas.  In the spring when TVA begins to raise the level of the lake back up to "summer pool" the water is actually pushed back up into the water table and will keep this area from drying out.  Our solution to the problem...5000 linear feet of subsurface drain lines.

For the past month our agronomy staff of 5 have been working hard, in all kinds of weather, trenching drain lines, hauling gravel, moving plywood, and installing drain pipe, to continue improving our golf course for everyone's enjoyment.  We installed 25 150' long lines of 4" slotted pipe every 10 feet running across the fairway to a 6" trunk line which will take the water to edge of the lake where it will be released through a bubble basin. 5000' feet of pipe might seem excessive to some but I don't want to do this project again and believe this is the best way to have a long term successful project.

We have done a lot of drainage work since I got to Harrison Bay in 2001 and have had some issues with our normal use of washed limestone gravel.  The main issue that we run into with using the washed limestone gravel is that it has zero nutrient holding capacity so the sod that we place over the gravel line does not have the ability to grow very well and many times will thin out or die leaving the underlying gravel exposed to potentially damage golf clubs and mowers.  This time we used a product from Custom Stone Handlers in Soddy Daisy known as River Path to top off the underlying 1" river stone.  This mixture of stone and sand will allow for some nutrient holding capacity which will allow the sod to thrive while also maintaining the percolation into the drain lines.

It has been a hard fought battle to get this project done and I have to give all the credit to my dedicated staff who have worked hard and steady to complete this project in less time than scheduled.  If you have played golf in the past month I am sure you have seen them toiling away, shoveling one load of gravel after another. Being able to drive out on this fairway during the winter months has already shown us that the drain lines are working and the project is successful.

We will be sodding the drain lines over the next week and will plan to open the fairway back up to play close to the first of March.  This project has been needed for a long time and I hope that this spring and summer when you are allowed to drive your cart out into the fairway, stand there without getting your shoes soaked, hit your golf ball off of a nice stand of turf, and not worry about splashing mud all over your nice clean pants that you will think about the hard work, dedication, and passion shown by your agronomy team over the past month and consider saying "Thanks" to them for all they do to better the golf course on a daily basis.

Eloise Lays HB9 and HB10

It is hard to believe that our Harrison Bay Eagle Cam project is now five years old and what a fantastic and amazing journey the past five years have been.  We have been so blessed to watch, and allow others around the world to watch, Eloise and Elliott raise their young over the years and this year's excitement is well under way.  On Wednesday night, January 27, at 5:52 PM Eloise laid HB9 much to the surprise of most as this is about two weeks before the normal laying time.

Then on Saturday night, January 30, at 6:55 PM Eloise laid her second egg of the 2016 season which makes it HB10.  Two eggs is the normal number of eggs to be laid from this pair and we hope that they will complete their hatching cycle and be healthy eaglets ready to take that great leap into the world.

So just like the US Postal Service, Elliott and Eloise will be on watch through rain, snow, sleet, fog, sun, and dark of night.  It will take, on average, 35 days and then we will be on "Hatch Watch" and then an additional 8 weeks before our little eaglets will be ready to join their parents for a quick fly over of the golf course.

We welcome everyone to join our eagle family and get an unclose and personal experience of life and love in a bald eagle nest.  You will likely witness Eloise sheltering the eggs/eaglets from rain and snow, Elliott providing multiple meals for his family, sibling rivalry between the hungry and growing eaglets, and the tenderness and love of Elliott and Eloise as the carefully roll the eggs, feed the eaglets, and coax them to leave the nest.

This project continues to show how golf courses can be an environmental sanctuary and a great place for many forms of wildlife to raise their families.  We, at The Bear Trace at Harrison Bay, strongly believe that we have a responsibility to the wildlife that call our golf course "home" to protect and preserve their habitat and we hope that we can show that dedication to everyone around the world through this project.  The Harrison Bay Eagle Cam Project can be viewed at www.harrisonbayeaglecam.org.  Tell your friends, your children's teachers, and any one else you can think of to visit us and get a view of our eagles.

It's A SOCIAL World After All

First off let me apologize if you now have that song running through your head, not my intent.  If you didn't already I'm sure you do now, and again, sorry.  We do live in a social world now however, but now it is a "social media" world.  The days of club newsletters being mailed out to members is most likely a thing of the past.  Members/golfers want information now, instantly, which has changed the way superintendents and golf professionals communicate with their members and golfers.

We try to use a lot of different social media outlets because we realize that not everyone uses the same resources and each one has its own unique purpose.  Our Facebook site The Bear Trace @ Harrison Bay gives a detailed view of what is going on at the course.  Our Twitter account @BearTraceHB allows us to give instant information about course conditions and activities.  Our website www.tngolftrail.net provides information on our golf course and the other courses along the Tennessee Golf Trail in a broader, more in depth format.  We are also on Vine at Bear Trace HB, Instagram at beartracehb, and of course this blog, which we love to keep up to date.

We have all these information outlets to try and educate and inform our golfers and we did not expect our efforts to gain national recognition but it has.  Today we received official notification, by the one and only Pat Jones, that we have been selected to receive the Dr. John Kaminski Leadership Award from Golf Course Industry Magazine and Aquatrols at this years Super Social Media Awards in San Diego.  We are very grateful and humbled that our work has been recognized and are really looking forward to the #GCITWEETUP16.

Social media sites are a great way to get YOUR word out about changes or improvements to the course, course closures for weather or cultural practices, or to announce upcoming tournaments or outings.  If you don't already utilize this free way to promote your golf course and yourself I would strongly encourage you to consider it.

Knowledge Is POWER

Caddyshack is one of my all time favorite movies, as it is for most golf course superintendents, but the image of Carl Spackler as a golf course superintendent is what many still see us as.  The image of a untrained, unprofessional, inept person being in charge of the most valuable resource a golf club owns could not be further from the truth.  Golf course superintendents are agronomists, horticulturalists, environmentalists, scientists, financial officers, human resource specialists, psychologists, mechanics, and sometimes miracle workers.

Things are constantly changing in the golf course industry whether it be advances in equipment, new chemical or fertilizer options, or education from research.  I don't think there is any way a golf course superintendent can be successful at his or her job without investing in continuing education.  The investment is not only for your course but also for your career.  There are many options available throughout the year to gain this valuable information, from local or regional conferences, to the national Golf Industry Show, to specialized educational offerings, all of which give the golf course superintendent the knowledge and power they need to be equipped to properly do the job they have been tasked with.  Each owner, greens committee, general manager, and so forth should not only support their superintendent in his or her pursuit of knowledge but should require it.

In December I had the honor of attending the Syngenta Business Institute which is held at Wake Forest University.  This is a unique educational opportunity offered by Syngenta in that it does not deal with any agronomic information but rather deals entirely with the business side of our industry.  Financial management, negotiating, and personnel management are the center of attention of this gathering of 25 golf course superintendents selected from around the nation.  We can all grow grass but getting a refresher course in business is unique and greatly needed.  I would suggest that every superintendent apply for the Syngenta Business Institute.  It is a great opportunity to meet other supers from around the nation and gain friendships that otherwise would not happen in a special setting and I thank everyone at Syngenta for this special learning opportunity.

Earlier this month I had the pleasure of attending the 50th Annual Conference and Tradeshow for the Tennessee Turfgrass Association.  For the past two years I have had the honor and privilege of serving as president of TTA so this made it even more special.  We had a fantastic lineup of presenters including Chris Tritabaugh of Hazeltine National-home of the next Ryder Cup, Ms. Laura Katen of Katen Consulting, Dr. Clint Waltz of the University of Georgia among many, many more great informative speakers.  We also had an extremely successful mock trial, which was the talk of the show and of twitter, which pitted the values of bentgrass greens vs. ultradwarf greens in the transition zone.

Along with great education we had a full tradeshow, with this year the inclusion of equipment for the first time in many years.  Our new venue, Embassy Suites Murfreesboro, where we will be for the next three years at least, allowed us to spread out a little bit more in both our meeting rooms and on the tradeshow floor.  Getting to see some of the new equipment and gather information from the vendors is as important as the education we get from the presenters.  I have to thank all the vendors who support the Tennessee Turfgrass Association throughout the year but especially at the conference.  I know our Association could not hold our conference without your support.

TTA VP Theo Lankford presenting Coach Fulmer with a gift

As it was our 50th Anniversary we decided to have a celebration dinner and invited former University of Tennessee football coach Phil Fulmer to speak to us about his experiences in coaching the Tennessee Volunteers, dealing with the people who maintained Neyland Stadium for all those years, and his life experiences in general.  Coach Fulmer did not disappoint and was very generous with his time and experiences.

Giving back to the TTA in serving as its president for the past two years has been a special moment in my career and I was blessed to be recognized by my peers at the conference as well.  This year the TTA honored one of its best all time ambassadors, Dr. Tom Samples of UT, by renaming our annual Professional of the Year award as the Dr. Tom Samples Professional of the Year Award presented by TTA.  It was my great honor to receive this award and I am truly thankful to all my colleagues for deeming worthy of it.  It is greatly appreciated.

Along with presenting a webinar Marketing Golf through the Environment for Sustainability in Golf and speaking at the Winter Green Express for University of Tennessee Extension Service on The Environmental Benefits of Golf Course, I also had the pleasure this past week of traveling to Greensboro to speak at the 9th Annual Turfhead Summit held at Bryan Park Golf Course.  All three of these educational opportunities gave me a chance to gain valuable information that I can bring back to our golf course to improve it but also gave me the opportunity to tell others about what we are doing and having successes at so hopefully they can implement some of our practices and programs to improve their operations.

Education is invaluable and there are so many ways out there to gain this information these days.  I have to thank our supervisors in Nashville for providing and encouraging us to take these opportunities to better ourselves and invest in our futures.  I also have to thank my staff who maintain the golf course in my absence without skipping a beat.

Now on to the Golf Industry Show in San Diego and the New England Regional Turfgrass Conference in Providence, Rhode Island to wrap up this years educational circuit.

Covering Greens---What It Looks Like and Why We Do It

I really wish it only took this long to cover a green but in reality when you have a great crew, who know what they are doing, it can be that easy.  Covering greens is not an easy process but to help ensure the survival of ultradwarf greens in the transition zone it is a necessary evil.  No one likes to close a golf course to play but then again no one likes greens that are damaged in the summer from winter laziness or poor decisions.


Here is a link from a previous blogpost including a webcast from the United States Golf Association which better explains covering greens.

Link to USGA Webcast on Covering Greens

So much like you or I need a coat on when it gets cold outside, our greens do also, especially this year with the warm weather and the extended growth of the grass.  Covering the greens will increase the temperatures under the covers from 5-8 degrees higher than the temperature outside of the cover.  This may not sound like much but that slight increase in temperature can be the life and death of ultradwarf greens.  It takes a little work to protect them but it is worth every second in the long run.  And it is still better than syringing bentgrass greens all summer long.