Superintendent News

Feb. 8--We finally received some moisture this past week which is very welcome.  We had watered the greens the past couple of weeks but it was nice to get some precipitaion on the rest of the course.  
I was able to attend the Nebraska Golf Expo this weekend and everyone was anxious for spring.  I was representing the Nebraska Golf Course Superintendents Association as President and Don manned the Play the West booth promoting Wild Horse and that great golf package.  Traffic was good and it was nice to hear from people who have played here and enjoyed it so much.  One of the things I enjoy about Wild Horse is that it is a public golf course.  I have worked on the private side, but enjoy catering to the everyday golfer.  Here at Wild Horse, we hope to provide a quality golf experience that everyone can enjoy.  
I will be attending the Golf Industry Show this week in San Diego.  I usually attend every year but have not attended in 3 years, so I am looking forward to it.  The show consists of seminars tailored to superintendents, golf course owners, and club managers and a huge trade show featuring turf equipment, chemicals, and golf accessories.  Nearly 20,000 people will attend making it a Top 50 conference.  I am always amazed that such a huge industry has evolved from a game.  That just shows the dedication golfers have to their sport!  Next week I will report on what I learned at the GIS.

Feb 17--I really enjoyed my time in San Diego at the Golf Industry Show.  One theme in particular stood out to me--the slow economy has everyone looking to contain costs; even high-end courses are scrutinizing their expenditures more than ever.  "Doing more with less"  was the mantra thrown around alot, but as one presenter stated that is not possible.  You can only do less with less.  Superintendents are looking to reduce labor and inputs in ways that will be least noticed by golfers.  Priorities must be established and some things may not get done.  I have always thought we have done a good job of staying lean on maintenance at Wild Horse.  We do what is necessary to maintain good playing surfaces but leave the place a bit scruffy around the edges.  That scruffiness reduces labor costs.  Many courses' clientele demand a cleaner look though, but now golfer expectations may need to diminish as budgets freeze.  On the bright side though is that water use and fertilizer/pesticide inputs will be scrutinized more than ever.  I feel that in many cases golf courses have been overwatered and overfertilized to create an overly green, lush venue for the golfer.  Hopefully as budgets dictate fewer inputs, golfers will realize that golf is better played on lean, drier grass.
Reduced inputs are at the heart of the other theme recognized at GIS and that was of "sustainable" environmentally conscious golf course maintenance.  Many courses have implemented native areas that once were turf which just makes sense.  Labor, fuel, water, and fertilizer inputs diminish.  At Wild Horse we accomplished that during construction.  Only fairways, tees, and greens were seeded and everything else was left natural thereby cutting down on unnecessarily maintained turf. 
Sustainable golf, especially in the southwest or Florida, rides on the ability to judiciously use irrigation water.  There are several companies now making sensors that monitor and log soil moisture, salinity, pH, nutrient levels, etc.  Many courses in the south use effluent water to irrigate so salt levels and soil moisture are critical.  New technologies like this can save them $40-80,000 a year since water costs are extremely high there.  I was interested in these types of sensors as a way to optimize water use.  Having been here ten years has allowed me to dial in the irrigation requirements of different areas on the course but these tools can help me fine tune that approach.  How much money can I save on water?  Probably less than $1000 a year but if it allows me to save some money and present a more evenly watered course, technologies such as this may be useful.  The drought of the the early 90s has put an emphasis on conserving water and utilizing this resource more wisely here in the Great Plains.  We want to be prepared if/when restrictions are necessary.

I will try to look at some other technologies and examine some more cost cutting trends in golf course maintenance in future blogs.  If you are interested in seeing what else happened in San Diego check out golfindustryshow.com.

Opening day is fast approaching and we will try to keep you updated as to the status of the course as we near March 1.

Feb 22--Another  interesting observation from the golf show was the reduction in the biostimulants and "snake oil" products displayed.  I remember there were dozens of these products coming on market 5 or 6 years ago.  They often contained some sort of plant extracts, humic acids, growth hormones, etc.  There is some value to these products, but most often the cost outweighed the benefit in my opinion but as mowing heights have decreased, turf has become more and more stressed so superintendents were looking for anything that might give their grass a boost.   Anyway the fad of some of these products has been replaced instead by the use of foliar feeding.  Foliar feed fertilizers will utilize traditional nutrients like nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium with some minor elements plus (in some cases) biostimulants like humic acid or kelp extract.  These types of products are now used widely throughout the industry as many guys are spraying greens weekly.  Many of these products still come with a high price tag and could be "made" by using basic fertilizers for less cost.  An USGA session dealt directly with this idea by showing the cost of basic urea fertilizer vs. a "dressed up" fertilizer.  Their point was the plant doesn't know the source or cost of the fertilizer so utilize what might save you some money.  I am sure many of the fertilizer companies didn't like this approach but superintendents have fallen victim to strong marketing campaigns that claim their product is better than the next.  Unfortunately, superintendents are always looking for an edge to make their turf better than down the street and too often buy into these sorts of fallacies.  Don't get me wrong there are certain advancements in fertilizer technology that are beneficial such as slow release abilities and particle sizing, but many times superintendents would be wise to keep fertilizer choices simple and somewhat archaic.   I'll climb down from the soap box now!

We received 4" of snow over the weekend.  That is good news for the turf but not such good news for golfers hoping to tee it up on March 1.  We will monitor conditions as the snow melts but most likely the course will open later than March 1 and will be restricted to walking.  Much can change as the week progresses so check back for updates.

March 3--Most of the snow melted yesterday leaving us with many puddles of water on fairways and cart paths.  Hopefully the next couple of days will warm enough to thaw the soil allowing some of the water on top of the ground to soak in.  We are still trying to get greens covers off but the stakes are still frozen in the ground so another warm day should allow us to get those off and we can start pumping water out of our low areas.  By Friday we hope to cut cups if ground thaws down 6".  Our plan then is to open for play Saturday 6th contingent on the weather.  We will assess that situation and cart use for this weekend on Friday. 
The turf is brown from being exposed most of the winter but my gut feeling is that there will be vary little winterkill.  Once we get some warm weather the turf should green up nicely.

March 5--Wild Horse will open for golf today (walking only)  and cart use Saturday.  The ground has started to thaw and the moisture that was sitting on top of the soil is starting to sink in.  We are all glad to see spring is here!

March 8--I sit here watching it rain.  While waiting for a break in the weather I decided to let you know what we do when the weather isn't so nice by answering the tiresome question "What do you do during the winter?"  First off I will say it is nice to have a break and won't try to kid you by saying we are real busy but we do get a lot done during the winter.  Here are just some of the things we do in the offseason.  Reshape bunkers and add sand (if needed), fix cart path drainage, put on greens covers (and remove),repaint tee markers and accessories, inventory equipment and irrigation parts, organize the shop and parts room, sharpen mower blades and bedknives, repair any damaged bearings or parts, perform oil changes and regular service, and fix any mechanical problems that we didn't have time to tackle during season, set budgets, order chemicals and fertilizers for the next year, fine-tune irrigation programs, attend trade shows, research new technologies, attend educational seminars, water greens,  hire new staff, and just think what will I do different (or the same) next summer!  
On our agenda for the next couple of weeks is to add some sand to a few bunkers and clean up cart paths.  Also in the spring I perform an irrigation audit; once I charge up the system for the year I will go through and check all the heads, etc to make sure they are working properly and replace parts if necessary.  Also during this time I will note changes that might need to be made in run times and/or head arrangement.  Blowing out irrigation lines and refilling them definitely is hard on components and fixes are necessary each spring.  With a little luck problems will be minimal.
   



Feel free to contact me at jmahar@cozadtel.net or 308-537-4430 with questions/comments.

Josh Mahar
Certified Golf Course Superintendent