May 22nd Update

I just wanted to take a few minutes to provide all of you an update on how course conditions are progressing. With each passing week progress is definitely moving forward. With the judicious use of fertilizer, seed and water our troubled greens are returning from the depths of despair. The troubled greens which include Highlands 1, Midlands 2,3,7,8,9 and Southern Uplands 1 and 2 are all making progress. But the timeframe for full playability of these is certainly sooner than later.

Uplands #1 on May 11th looking pretty bleak;

Uplands #1 today improving and approaching playability;

Midlands#9 almost ready to go;

The team did some selective seeding and topdressing in depressed turf areas and in the sod seams on Midlands #8 green;

Green speeds will be greatly affected by the Poa annua seedhead production. This is by far the heaviest seed crop I have seen in my 9 years here at Pheasant Run. Time and mother nature are the only tools we have to end this seed cycle;

A picture from Highlands #2 green, the seed flowers slow down and affect the smoothness of ball roll on the greens;

Yesterday at about 2:25pm we were hit with an incredibly vicious rain event. From the picture below you can see that just over 3/4″ of rain fell in a matter of 17 minutes!!

I took this picture during the storm from the back of Highlands #2 green;

This river of water was flowing down Midlands #8 fairway;

The result was all 77 sand bunkers suffered washout damage like this;

The rush of water also caused our inter-connecting pond system at Midlands#1 to plug. We were forced to take our canoe out and find the drain in the pond and dig out whatever was plugging it. And to think some people see us as “grass cutters”;

On top of that major rain event we did receive another 1.5″ of rain last night. The total amount in the last 24 hours is close to 3″ including Monday nights rain shower. So needless to say things have popped and are growing like mad now. The eight greens we are nursing along will be mowed at a higher height for a little while. Once recovery is significant enough to lower heights we will do so, but we are not in any hurry.

 

Andrew Hardy

Superintendent

“The Brotherhood”

Typically these posts just flow quite naturally for me. This is a post that has been in the works for a while now, but given the news I received late last week I have been quite pensive on the subject. Being a Golf Course Superintendent allows you to meet and work alongside a lot of great and incredibly smart people. Over time my commitment to this blog and my environmental crusades have allowed me to broaden my “circle of friends” in the golf industry. The use of social media, Friday Superintendents hockey and Twitter have been at the forefront for me in expanding my knowledge base, ideas and professional resources.

This spring has been less than stellar for me in that golf course conditions are not at my standard. My “circle of friends” have been there to pick me up and give me the occasional cyber slap I need to forge on and make conditions better. I have long been critical of the use of the term “Brotherhood” because I have always felt (and still do to some extent) that one of your brothers is always gunning for what you have. The golf industry by no means matches the dangers of being a police officer, firefighter or military personal in terms of brotherhood. But I am growing to see where and who my “brothers” are.

When I was hired at Pheasant Run in September of 2005, being the new addition to a mostly long serving team was interesting for sure. Over the years I have gained a lot of experience and brought my career to a peak that I had sought for myself for many years. I don’t recall the first time meeting Mark Sharpe, but I surely won’t forget his upcoming departure on June 7th. Mark has served as Director of Golf at Pheasant Run for 14 years. He was the first CPGA golf pro the Evans family had hired and faced a lot of the same issues I did when I started here. But as Mark segues into his next career path, his stamp on the company will remain for many years to come.

Mark’s videos were crazy and ahead of the curve at the same time:

Brothers have many ups and downs in their relationship and face many of the same adverse moments both personally and professionally. Mark and I have a great relationship, I would and will consider him a friend. A fellow Superintendent who worked with Mark many years ago said to me this past winter ”Andrew you are lucky to have a pro like Mark, because there are some real winners out there” and I concur 100%. One thing has become certain in my 9 years at Pheasant Run (marriages don’t last that long), and that is that Mark and I ultimately had the same goals in mind. We wanted to produce a great, truly unique and service friendly product. Ultimately a product that set us above all the competition. I’ve always said that no golf facility in our area, from the moment you drive in the front gate to the moment you leave at the end of the day provided an event day experience like us.

I have seen on Twitter that there are outlets for Superintendents to rip the “sweater folders” and other Pro Shop staff. I have learned that I really didn’t need to vent on those pages because I could walk into to Mark’s office and call him an idiot (that’s supposed to be funny) to his face. We had small battles, and I look back and laugh at the fact we kinda ended last season with a lukewarm relationship. But right now as I type this I think about how we have each attended a funeral of one of our parents, played numerous golf events together and we actually talked in the and hung out in the winter months. Hell if it wasn’t for Mark I would not have even started this blog or signed up for Twitter!!

I can go on and on but in the end I wish Mark the best of luck in his new venture. I’m not the gushing type but I will miss you, your friendship and the exchange of some expletive name every morning. Thank you for being a support, a pain in the ass and the one person who ultimately showed me that this at times cruel business truly can have a “Brotherhood”.

Andrew Hardy

Superintendent

I more than feel your frustrations

As I sit here on this chilly Monday morning trying to write something upbeat and positive about current course conditions. I’m left with an empty feeling with what has gone wrong instead. Obviously most of the golf course is in great condition and once we get into a consistent late spring/early summer weather pattern those conditions will only improve. But ask any Superintendent in the world what picks at them the most and 100% will tell you its what’s not in great condition.

I am my own worst critic and have always been that way. I am not happy with the conditions on a number of greens and truth be told you shouldn’t be either. Everything is being done to correct the problem in the quickest manner possible. Case in point was on Midlands 8 green where we really had no other option but to re-sod the green last week. It was essentially dead, and I am still an ardent believer that its to no fault of Pheasant Run that it died. Between a greens application gone wrong and cool weather conditions the stars were clearly aligned against us.

Green on Midlands 8:

Starting to cut dead turf off with a sod cutter:

Takes an hour to make all the necessary cuts with the sod cutter:

Fours hours of shoveling the cut sod:

Green is stripped by 10:30 on Tuesday:

About 1/3 of the green had sod laid on it from our sod nursery (collars will be dealt with likely next week):

This is how far the crew got on day 1:

Completed after six and a half hours on Wednesday. Green will get watered 3-4 times a day even in today’s crappy weather:

The sod we used on Midlands 8 was a T1 Bentgrass with a very small amount of Poa encroachment. The rest of this week will be spent babying this sod until we can hopefully get on it next week to topdress the sod seams and start having the turf fill in more. Our goal is to have the green ready for play by the end of May for our first large event (weather and other factors permitting).

As for the other greens and their progress, all I can say is that no matter how many times I drive by this green (too many times to even keep track of) in a work day. There is active germination of seed and Poa recovery occurring, it just isn’t happening fast enough for me.

This was Uplands 1 on May 4th:

Uplands 1 on May 11th. Not recovering fast, but there is progress for sure:

A close-up of the many tiny seedlings emerging on Uplands 2 green:

These greens are still going to require time and patience in this process. I can’t tell you how much it means to have more members reaching out with supportive words in what is a very tough time for me and the Pheasant Run team. And though there are some negative people out there as well, but their words are being dwarfed by the positive supporters. Thank you for staying positive and for your understanding!!

It’s certainly not all doom and gloom right now. The golf course (outside of a few less than pretty greens) is in great condition and the rest of the greens are in mint condition.

Nice vista on Saturday night from Uplands 7 tee:

Another great view on Highlands 7 fairway from Saturday night:

Well I’m unsure of what else I can write or say at this point. Its been very difficult to stay positive given the challenges being faced right now. All I can say is that all resources are being poured into a quick and speedy recovery and continued top-notch conditions throughout the rest of the course. I would say “I’m sorry” but what has occurred is out of my hands . Instead of being sorry, I think that energy is better put to use in expediting recovery. With some seed germinating weather coming by mid-week progress is sure to occur and conditions will continue to improve.

Andrew Hardy

Superintendent

Clearing the air

I spent quite a bit of time on the golf course yesterday and figured I would write this post to answer some questions. The greens on 8 and 9 Midlands, 1 and 2 Uplands and to a lesser extent 2, 6 and 7 Midlands have a “whiteish” appearance to them. This IS NOT from a “bad or wrong fertilizer application”, or from “an ex-employee who killed them” and they are not “dried out”. The previous statements highlight the feedback I got from various golfers yesterday.

Sadly, I don’t have the answer what happened to these greens. But given the pattern of this “whiteish” appearance having shown on or around all of the greens/collars would be a sign that what we applied in the fall to protect the greens, has damaged them. I am going to remain vague on the whole scenario but figured all of you deserved the fullest explanation I can give at this point.

The greens have a “bleached” or “freezer burnt” appearance to them that has only affected the Poa annua. It is not ice damage though. Notice the Bentgrass sod area on the right and the minimal damage it has:

A large number of the collars have the matted white appearance of the Poa as well:

Answers and hopefully an explanation will be coming in the next few weeks. I am going to remain vague until a true scientific response can be made and presented. Until then our focus we be on recovery and restoring the greens to best condition.

Andrew Hardy

Superintendent

Its been a while.

Well to say that things have changed since my last post would be a mild understatement. The weather, course conditions and staffing of the course are the major changes that have occurred. It feels like it was winter a couple of weeks ago, and in fact we did have winter storms exactly two weeks ago today. The course has wintered really well for the most part (I will go into more detail on some issues at a later date) and we have made a lot of progress getting some detail work done on the course. The turf staff has seen some significant change since last season and the team is really putting their best effort to get acclimated to working at Pheasant Run.

With the hot and dry run of weather my main area of focus has been getting our irrigation system up and running. To say this has been an adventure is an understatement for sure. Broken sprinklers, loss of hydraulic pressure to the sprinklers and some interesting past repairs have kept me busy all week.

First midday watering on greens Thursday:

Ran a partial cycle Thursday night and then supplemented some dry areas very early this morning:

The turf team has been busy edging and preparing traps:

There’s always a lot of garden work:

Lots of cartpath edging:

A few things I have noticed in my travels around the property this past week include the footprints in the trap (below). We are only early in the season and I do understand that there are going to be people who do this. It is incredibly disappointing and borders on insulting to me and my team when a trap isn’t raked properly, a ballmark is left unfixed and a divot is left and not replaced. The Turf Team pours their heart and soul into producing the same product for the early morning player and the twilight player. Please be respectful and courteous to all involved and let’s get on the “etiquette train” early. On a safety note, the number of cigarette butts being thrown on the turf is astonishing. Please use the garbage cans, especially with everything being so dry right now.

I thought that it may be early for these little guys, but I took this picture on Uplands 9 fairway on Tuesday:

After a very aggressive vertical mowing last week on all greens. There was little to no progress on a few of the greens that are looking a little off. The last couple of days we aerified, overseeded and topdressed 4 greens. This was necessary to push them back to full health sooner than later. These greens appear to have been affected by an issue outside of our hands and there is a process in place to find out what happened and why.

I would like to welcome back to the team Jonathon, Gord, Rob, Frank, Bob, Peter, James and Blenchard. And welcome to the team Rod, Troy, Evan, John S, John K, Terry, James aka “The Beibs”, Jamie, Kevin, and our new Mechanic Brent. I am truly looking forward to having a great season!!

I hope that all of you are enjoying being back on the golf course and are taking in this amazing stretch of weather. We certainly deserved a weather break after the horrible April we endured.

Andrew Hardy

Superintendent

Buzzwords……Like Earth Day

Happy Earth Day to everyone. Earth Day marks the four-year anniversary of the introduction of the Integrated Pest Management (IPM) program becoming law in Ontario. For many courses IPM is a basis for management, while others have seen or undertaken little to no change in their course management philosophy. Earth Day always seem to be synonymously paired with sustainability or sustainable environmental practices. To me sustainability is the most overused phrase used in golf right now. The governing bodies of golf throw sustainability around as if its such an easy goal to attain.

Here at Pheasant Run we take little notice of Earth Day and the pomp and circumstance that surrounds the day. Why you may ask? Well the fact is that the club and my management of the golf course could be classed as “Earth Day everyday”. I can appreciate the businesses that take advantage of Earth Day and use it to promote a positive environmental position. But it is quite apparent that one day is not a sustainable practice and shouldn’t be mistaken as such.

How did we get to where we are today? Since 2009, we have taken many new approaches and changed the way we do business to increase our positive environmental impact. We registered in the Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary Program for Golf Courses (ACSP) in May of 2009 and became certified in January of 2010. We have since recertified in February of 2012 and remain members of the program.

Much of our certification for ACSP was focused on reducing maintenance in areas where applicable. This has entailed removing close to 50 acres of maintained turf and allowing it to revert back to its natural state. We also stopped maintaining our pond edges right down to the water’s edge. these “naturalized areas” make wonderful wildlife corridors and areas for various species to find homes or rest areas.

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The greater impact of a program such as ACSP certification is it really allows companies such as ours to take a long look in the mirror with regards to our maintenance and place in the ecosystem. We are proud to boast a vast array of amphibians, birds, ducks, coyotes, raccoons, foxes, deer and I could go on-and-on.

Our environmental practices also focus on the ponds and water courses throughout the property. The many species of turtles, fish, frogs and water bugs is a strong testament to the sound state of our ponds.

Salamander on Southern Uplands #5 green last fall:

Pesticides are a part of what we do, but certainly not what golf courses should be known for. Where possible we have introduced “alternate” means of maintaining “plant health” as opposed to chasing pests with chemical pesticides.

IPM scouting includes getting down on your hands and knees and finding the pests before spraying. This also includes plant pathogens, where if unsure of what pathogen is affecting our turf we will send it out to an independent third-party for analysis.

Pheromone traps are used to track white grub populations:

Extensive trials have been done to find out if alternate pesticide products will provide adequate winter protection. These trials are also looking at lower rates of protection products for future years.

Visual evidence of pest of pest problems are scouted as a part of our IPM program and documented for treatment to only the affected areas that require treatment.

Irrigation water is monitored on a daily basis and we use a computer operated program to ensure the “right amount” of water is applied. Irrigation audits are performed on key areas such as greens and tees to also ensure there is no excess water applied.

Soil testing is done in the spring and fall so that the actual fertilizer and nutrients needed are applied to the turf. This process also allows us to take inventory of corrections that need to be looked at in future years.

A highly acceptable final product can be produced based on a holistic approach. This may include altering mowing patterns to use the most cost and fuel-efficient manner to reduce emissions.

Golf courses are the last bastion of great open and green space, not the pesticide laden areas that have long been attached to them. Earth Day should be a time to celebrate, but for golf courses like Pheasant Run today is business as usual. We take a large sense of pride in what we have accomplished in the last five years and what we will achieve in the future. The good word in getting out there about golf and what golf courses provide. Not just to sports but in charitable efforts, exercise and local economies. Golf has come a long way over the years and I am glad to be a small piece of that progress. Though likely not a truly sustainable business, golf is miles ahead of many other industries.

Andrew Hardy

Superintendent

IPM Public Meeting and Course Update

As opposed to doing two separate posts, I decided to wrap both of this weeks updates up into one post.

Yesterday we hosted our 2013 IPM Public Meeting in the clubhouse. This meeting is required by law and entails a wrap up of all the Pesticide Control Products (PCP’s) we applied in 2012. The meeting does require posting an ad in the local newspaper, hand delivery of notices to all neighbours living with 100 meters of all our property lines and a detailed presentation for the pesticide use for 2012. The presentation took about 20 minutes and excluding staff we did have 1 neighbour stop in for a visit.

I now have a couple of staff back on duty and they have started the cleaning process on the golf course. More staff will be starting tomorrow and will begin to mow greens and tees. The course melt has been a slow process this spring and the weather toward the end of the week does not appear as though it will help the process.

This was Midlands 8 last week:

This was Midlands 8 today:

Looking back from the green on Highlands 1:

The slow melt at Midlands 8 green:

Is that new white sand in the bunkers on Midlands 6? No that’s snow, like most of the bunkers right now:

Uprooted tree on Midlands 2:

I always enjoy throwing a couple of interesting pictures into these posts whenever I can. The first one is of Uplands 3 green and the very striking line where we sodded 3/4 of the green with Creeping Bentgrass (really dark green) 2 seasons ago after extensive ice damage and the 1/4 of existing Poa annua (lighter green). Amazing how Bentgrass is more inclined to handle our winters:

The second picture is of my own staff golf cart. Pretty boring except that cart has been parked there since last Thursday. I drove into an area I thought I could get out of and apparently I couldn’t!! This is why I rarely lecture golfers of driving carts all over the course, I too am subject to the odd brain fart:

So you can see there is a lot to do to get the course ready and the course is going to need some more time to be ready. With all that being said it was decided by the Pheasant Run management team today that next Wednesday April 17th will be the first day for golf in 2013. Looking forward to seeing everyone out here again, and if you can take a lesson from me golf carts CAN’T go everywhere!!

Andrew Hardy

Superintendent