United States Golf Association Mid Atlantic Green Section 1910 Cochran Road Manor Oak One, Suite 410 Pittsburgh, PA 15220 T 412.341.5922 F 412.341.5954 khapp@usga.org. www.usga.org May 9, 2012 Travis Livingston Golf Course Superintendent Sewickley Heights Golf Club 126 Backbone Road Sewickley, Pennsylvania 15143 PRESENT: David Winsko, President Mike Weir, Green Chairman Travis Livingston, Golf Course Superintendent Steve Miller, Assistant Superintendent Dear Travis: This letter will serve as brief summary of the issues discussed during our follow up visit to Sewickley Heights Golf Club on Monday Progress continues to be made on the new putting green surfaces. While there is some degree of variability, turf health is good and root mass within the profile is progressing well. It remains critical that sufficient time be presented to prepare for the upcoming season. The turf on these new greens is still very immature and to some degree fragile. We have not experienced the length of day nor the temperature fluctuations that will occur later in the season. Every day is critical to prepare for the upcoming summer season. The turf should be able to tolerate play beginning the Thursday prior to the Memorial Day weekend. This hard opening will provide an opportunity to showcase the new turf. Conservative procedures will be essential for these new surfaces. The following are suggestions regarding agronomic programming and scheduling for the new turf. A. Begin implementing an irrigation regime that will allow for deep yet infrequent irrigation cycles. This will help to maintain root mass, flush the profile and offer a mechanism by which to manage the soil/air/water relationships. It will also provide for firmer playing quality and a greater tolerance of traffic stress. As discussed, if sufficient rain is not
experienced, additional irrigation will be necessary to ensure that the entire soil cavity is filled to field capacity. This will allow for very rapid drainage which will help to incorporate more air into the soil structure. I cannot overemphasize the importance of developing an irrigation regime that allows for this type of irrigation cycling to occur. This is another reason why it is important that the greens remain closed until the Memorial weekend. Irrigation regimes need to be honed. Five to 6.5 inches of root mass were exhibited. Steady improvement is occurring. There is still time to build further and prepare for the summer. Every day is critical to a successful opening. 2
B. Make every attempt to remain on a 3 week schedule for growth regulating applications. Adjust the rate of product applied at any one given time but for the short term remain on a 3 week interval of application to maximize turf health as well as root mass. The soil active products will deliver the desired effect. C. Remain dedicated to using conservative procedures on the greens for the entire summer! Do not radically adjust mowing heights or mowing procedures. Use single mowing and rolling techniques for surface quality and surface performance. Bruising the turf via excessive mowing will result in damage. The turf is quite fragile and immature. D. Make every attempt to continuously adjust topdressing rates to match the rate of growth of turf. As discussed during our visit, increase the rate of topdressing to a minimum of 100 lb. of actual product per 1000 sq. ft. You may even want to coordinate some of these with the use of deep irrigation cycles to help move the sand into the canopy thus minimize the negative effects on mowing equipment. E. For the short term consider returning to the use of the hand held broom technique. Broom the turf and mow at a 90 degree angle to the brushing practice. This is important for several reasons. This will help to stand up grass, enhance surface density while maximizing playing performance. It will also provide a mechanism by which to accomplish the desired effect without bruising or wounding the turf. Single hand held brush applications on a weekly basis should be sufficient. F. Drenching a preventative/protective fungicide application into the soil structure was recommended. Treat with Koban, Terrazole or Segway at the highest labeled rate. Drench the product into the profile to help protect the root structures from foliar as well as soil pythium activity. A portion of our time was also spent discussing the upcoming renovation of the Third green. Implementing this project in August will provide ample time to prepare this new turf for play next season. Consider implementing the project to introduce new seed prior to or on September 1 st. This would provide the month of September and October to develop this new turf. These 8 weeks of good growing conditions would present the opportunity to develop a much more hardy and mature surface for next spring. 3
CONCLUSION This concludes our summary of the major topics of discussion during our visit and tour of your golf course. If any questions arise concerning this visit, our report, or any other area, please feel free to call our office. We are her to help. We look forward to working with you again in the future and seeing how things progress. 4
Sincerely, Keith Happ Senior Agronomist KH:ln: Travis Livingston, Golf Course Superintendent 5