United States Golf Association Mid Atlantic Region Green Section 485 Baltimore Pike, Suite 203 Glen Mills, Pennsylvania 19342 (610) 558 9066 FAX (610) 558 1135 USGA GREEN SECTION TURF ADVISORY SERVICE REPORT POCONO FARMS COUNTRY CLUB Tobyhanna, Pennsylvania April 13, 2010 PRESENT: Dave Timko, General Manager (Summary Meeting) Joe Sucha, Assistant Superintendent Adam Herman, Golf Course Superintendent Darin Bevard, USGA Green Section
INTRODUCTION The following report is offered to summarize the major points of discussion during our meeting at Pocono Farms Country Club, on Tuesday, April 13, 2010. This report will include observations, suggestions and recommendations made during our tour of your facility. A close up of damage on the Eighteenth green. In this area, significant recovery of Poa annua is occurring which should expedite recovery. Note that creeping bentgrass is unaffected. Bentgrass has much better winter hardiness than Poa annua. The sole reason for our visit to Pocono Farms was the reoccurrence of winter damage on the greens. As we stated last year, and will again this year, the exact reason for the injury is impossible to pinpoint. Anyone that argues to the contrary simply does not understand the complexity of this problem. Winter damage has been widespread in the northern tier of our region in early 2010. The fortunate thing is the early spring warm up that has promoted more aggressive growth than would normally be seen at 2
this time of year. This should allow the greens to recover more rapidly than they did last spring, which was much cooler. Tree work performed to provide better sunlight penetration to your putting greens is excellent. For the record, the benefits to the turfgrass of this tree removal, especially as it relates to helping with winter damage, will not be realized until the coming growing season, especially next fall as the grass accumulates carbohydrates for the winter. We clearly stated in our report in 2009 that trees are not the sole reason for the winter injury on the greens, but they were a contributing factor. For the long term, the tree work will provide better conditions on the affected greens throughout the growing season, not just in terms of winter issues. Many different topics relating to the recovery of your greens were discussed during our visit. Prevention measures were also discussed. We have also enclosed several reprints that discuss winter damage occurrence and prevention. We believe it is important to be educated on the complexity of this issue. The most extensive reprint discusses all pertinent research on winter damage up until 1996. The others discuss research and other issues since that time. You will see that many of the questions that were raised during the 1996 literature review are still trying to be answered through research. You will also see that we are not any closer to answering those questions than we were fourteen years ago. With those thoughts in mind, we offer the following suggestions and recommendations for your consideration. GREENS 1. Damage. What caused winterkill on your greens for the second year in a row? There are too many variables to definitively say one way or another. Crown hydration appears to be the major cause of damage. On January 24 th, the high temperature was 45 degrees at the Mt. Pocono Weather Station. The low was 26 degrees. On January 25 th, the high was 54 degrees with a low of 35. Additionally, 2+ inches of rain fell. On January 28 th, the high temperature was 31 with a low of 9. The next 3 days saw high temperatures of 15, 12 and 22 degrees with lows of 5, 2 and 1 degrees. This is ideal conditions for crown hydration damage. Warm temperatures and heavy rain followed by a huge drop in temperatures is the recipe for crown hydration. The areas that remained covered by snow (not ice!) were insulated from the sudden drop in temperatures that occurred in late January. Snow cover is actually beneficial for winter survival as long as ice encasement does not occur under the snow. For the record, it is not necessary to have a severe winter to have winterkill as some have suggested. We have seen instances where crown hydration injury occurs in a four 3
or five day period. This happened at Oakmont Country Club in 2007 prior to the US Open. A late February/early March warm up was followed by rain and a rapid decrease in temperatures into the single digits with a strong cold front. Significant turfgrass loss occurred due to crown hydration in this instance. Oakmont is considered one of the best golf courses in the world with virtually unlimited resources to combat the problem, yet, they had severe winter damage. The odd pattern on this green is easily explained. The green areas were covered with snow. As the snow melted and the water ran down the slope, the grass, affected by the water froze, while the grass under the snow was buffered from dramatic temperature changes. If you actually look at the pattern of damage, the damaged grass is on the downhill side of the green grass. This is the direction the water ran. Keep this in mind. When we provide our assessment of what led to the injury on the greens, we are not trying to protect anyone or be vague. We simply do not know. No one does. Accusations to the contrary are wrong. We use the best information that we have to determine what happened. Mr. Herman uses the best information that he has 4
to prevent damage from occurring as did superintendents at Country Club of Scranton, Irem Country Club, Elkview Country Club, and Pocono Manor among others. Yet, these courses still had severe winter damage, and these are only the courses that have contacted us. There are others, and frankly, what happens at another golf course has nothing to do with what happens at yours. If we knew the exact mechanisms of winter injury and how to prevent it, we would not have to deal with winter injury anymore at Pocono Farms or any golf course. If someone thinks they have the answer, we are glad to listen. Otherwise we believe, to the best of our ability to diagnose such problems, that crown hydration caused the majority of the injury on your greens. Please note, the phenomena are not simple enough to just say We have had cold winters before, or we have always had freeze/thaw. For those who say it has never happened before, we doubt that is true. The severity may be more than in the past, and to have such damage two years in a row is frustrating to Mr. Herman and the members of Pocono Farms, but if you have never had winterkill before 2009, consider yourself lucky. The winter damage which occurred is not due to the drainage that was installed in your greens. This type of drainage has been installed in hundreds of greens in our region and there is no correlation between winter injury and drainage installation. Your problem in the past two years is strictly coincidental. As you read through the literature provided, one of the biggest recommendations for prevention is improving drainage. Secondly, there is not a program or product that we know of that could have been applied to the greens to prevent the damage that occurred. This is not a budgetary or resource issue. It is a weather issue, plain and simple. We will provide some additional thoughts on future prevention, but there are no guarantees that any additional programs will help. 2. Recovery. The recovery strategies implemented on your greens will be similar to those used last spring. It will take time before the greens completely recover. However, greens such as Seventh and Eighth should recover more quickly with trees removed. Mr. Herman took advantage of the early warm weather to begin recovery efforts. The aggressive overseeding of the greens with creeping bentgrass was well directed. On the day of our visit, sporadic germination was already occurring. More uniform germination should occur in the coming days. On days when afternoon temperatures will not exceed 60 degrees, we recommend that you leave the covers in place to keep the soils slightly warmer to promote more aggressive growth. Foliar fertilizers should be applied at 1/10 1/8 lb. of actual nitrogen per 1,000 sq. ft. on a 5 7 day interval. This will help to promote growth of new seedlings as well as recovery 5
of the existing turf. In many areas, regeneration of Poa annua was occurring, albeit slowly. Mowing strategies were also discussed. We recommended that your putting green mowers be fitted with a solid front roller that will be less stressful to the existing turf as well as emerging seedlings. Height of cut can be lowered incrementally to gain a better quality of cut and to encourage tillering of creeping bentgrass. There needs to be a balance between the height of cut that will allow good playability once the greens are opened and the development and recovery of your greens. Growth regulators should be withheld until the greens have substantially recovered. Applications of Primo can likely begin in early to mid May. Primo applications should not hinder the overall recovery of the greens. 3. Creeping Bentgrass Overseeding. Creeping bentgrass populations in the greens were unharmed by the winter conditions that occurred as we pointed out in the photo at the beginning of this report. The distinct sod lines that were visible on the Fifth green are a perfect indicator of the reliability of creeping bentgrass over Poa annua when winterkill is a concern. To that end, Mr. Herman should periodically overseed the greens with creeping bentgrass at a rate of 1/4 lb. of actual seed per 1,000 sq. ft. Job Saver tines can be used to incorporate seed. The lower seeding rate is recommended to prevent competition between germinating seedlings. Let us be clear, in areas where Poa annua is established and healthy, creeping bentgrass will not readily establish. However, in some of the weaker areas that have been repeatedly impacted by winter damage, establishment of creeping bentgrass will be possible to help mitigate potential future winterkill events. Creeping bentgrass overseeding is not a silver bullet for your winterkill problems but may make them less severe over time. Creeping bentgrass populations established on the Seventh and Eighth greens will be a big part of your spring recovery and are also a big reason why damage is not as severe on these greens as last year. 4. Prevention. Some options to consider for preventing future damage include: Topdressing Application. Apply a moderate amount of topdressing to provide insulation for the crown of the plant. At the very least, consider experimenting with sand topdressing application on some areas of your greens to evaluate the results. Topdressing should be heavy enough to provide insulation to the crown of the plant, but you do not want to completely bury the leaf tissue. 6
Experiment With Covering Techniques. Different covers are available for greens. The white, Evergreen covers that are being used at Pocono Farms are the most popular. In discussing covering with our Agronomists in New England, you may experiment with placing an insulating material under the covers in your worst affected areas. Bunker lining materials have been used with some success in New England. The other option is to consider an impermeable cover on one or two of your greens to see if this type of cover will help. The key is the covers must either be large enough to cover the slopes of the green complex as well as the green to prevent water from running under the cover. This can get expensive. Also, impermeable covers were only about 60% effective in reducing winterkill in New England this year where they were used. Fertility. Withhold nitrogen fertility after mid September. A lush Poa annua plant has a higher moisture content, making it more susceptible to winter damage. Your recovery programs from 2009 may have contributed to the susceptibility of the grass this winter. Nitrogen fertility had to be more aggressive to encourage recovery of the greens. Perhaps the grass was a little lush heading into the winter from these applications. However, these applications were necessary to get the greens back as quickly as possible. A granular application of sulfate of potash should be made in early to mid September at a rate of 2 lbs. of actual product per 1,000 sq. ft. A shot of potash may help with winter hardiness. Documentation. If possible, take pictures of all of the greens where damage occurred. When a heavy rain event occurs, take pictures of these same greens and the surface drainage patterns on them. We believe t you will find that the majority of the damaged areas are affected by surface flow. Oftentimes, photographs show water accumulating in areas that we do not expect. This information can be beneficial when considering prevention programs in the fall and can explain a great deal about damage that occurs. We are not sure that topdressing, different covering technique or a change in fertilizer programs would have prevented winter injury. We do not know, and do not claim to know for sure. The fact that winter damage occurs so frequently in the northern tier of our region is indicative of the fact that no one knows exactly how to prevent winter injury with so many variables affecting this phenomenon. Again, if we had a clear understanding of the cause of the problem and its prevention, we would not have the problem. 7
5. Tree Work. The tree work performed over the winter is excellent. While some may doubt the benefit of this tree removal under the current circumstances, long term, there will be little question. In the short term, at the very least, improved sunlight penetration on the Seventh and Eighth greens will allow them to recover more quickly than last year. Again, trees were not listed as the sole cause of damage last year. The tree removal around the Seventh and Eighth greens will be beneficial for the long term. While trees are not the sole reason for winter injury, there is usually a correlation between the worst winter damage that we see from golf course to golf course and the orientation of trees around putting greens. TEES Completely unrelated to the problems with winter damage is the crowning that is occurring on many of your tees. This is mostly a problem on the tees where divot buckets are available for members to fill the divots. Oftentimes, golfers place an excessive amount of divot mix in divot holes rather than simply filling the divot level 8
with the surface and smoothing it. For this reason, over time, crowning of the tees can occur. Different options are available to mitigate this problem. If the crowning is severe, it would probably be best to remove the sod from the tee, re level the tee, and replace the sod. The other option, if the crowning is not severe, is to core aerate with 5/8 inch or 3/4 inch tines and remove the plugs. Do not fill the holes with sand. Roll the tees immediately after core aeration in an effort to soften the crown. With 2 3 core aerations, you may be able to restore the tees close to level without a major renovation. The choice is yours. For the long term, if you wish to continue using the divot buckets, you must educate your members on how to properly fill a divot. Otherwise, the problem will repeat itself. The other option is to simply remove the divot buckets from the tees and periodically fill divots with your maintenance staff. It is easier to train one or two employees to properly fill divots than it is the membership at large. CONCLUSION We do not have the specific answers or solutions that some seem to be seeking. This is consistent with our report from 2009, and we encourage this report to be re read with regard to our comments on trees, as well as the cause of the injury that occurred last year. We have been consistent in our comments. It is frustrating when we do not have the answers, and it is frustrating for your superintendent. However, it is more frustrating when it is implied that somehow something is being hidden, because it is not. We do not work for the golf course superintendent, we work for Pocono Farms. At no point did we blame something as simple as cold weather or freezing and thawing or only trees for the problems that occurred as has been implied. If there was some program or technique that was used or not used that caused these problems, we would point them out. We would be doing a disservice to Pocono Farms, as well as Mr. Herman if we did otherwise. We encourage you to read the enclosed information on winter injury and its complexity, and note how many research studies are still being conducted to determine why this problem occurs. If anyone has any questions regarding this report or any issue not covered in this report, we are a phone call or email away. Please do not hesitate to call us if we can provide further information. We are here to help. 9
DSB:ps Adam Herman, Golf Course Superintendent Dave Timko, General Manager Sincerely, Darin S. Bevard/ps Darin S. Bevard Senior Agronomist Enclosures: Nordic Research on Limitation of Winter Damage to Golfgreens Field evaluation of winterkill in annual bluegrass and creeping bentgrass 10