#3 Green....A work in progress

Growing grass in the Pacific Northwest is often easy.  Growing Championship caliber putting turf in the Pacific Northwest is often not easy and downright impossible without adequate sunlight and air flow.  We've proven this time and time again over the years by selectively removing trees and then watching poor quality turf turn into something to behold.  One of the best examples of this work is that which has been done around Tacoma's 3rd green.  Let's go back to 2007 when we first started getting serious about addressing the shade issues on the golf course.  Here's what the surface of #3 green looked like after a cold winter.

You can see that there was a lot of grass on the surface but obviously there was some areas where there wasn't any grass.  A putting surface like this most certainly does not provide good consistent performance.  Now some golfers are perfectly comfortable playing golf on a poor quality surface like this and this condition is pretty common in the Pacific Northwest where we find a lot of trees and subsequently a lot of shade.  But if you have the resources and the desire for exceptional putting greens, this shade induced condition does not need to be tolerated.  That's the attitude we took a decade ago.  We decided we wanted the best putting greens possible and that meant facing "head on" the issue of the invasive Douglas fir trees which were depriving the turf of precious sunlight.  To resolve our shade issues we contracted Arborcom to perform a shade analysis of the putting greens on #2 and #6.  At that time those two greens were by far the worst putting surfaces on the property.  The Arborcom study taught us all we needed to know in order to fix those two greens.  It also taught us so much about sunlight requirements and how the sun moves over the property that we've been able to develop tree management strategies for all the putting greens.  Now we have a comprehensive Tree Management Plan for the entire golf course.  Due to budget constraints we've only been able to tackle a couple of projects each year but it never fails that each year with each project I am blown away by the positive impact of more sunlight and air flow as a result of tree removal.  On #3 the first project or phase 1 was completed in 2010 and it involved removing 25 trees to the east of the putting surface in order to recapture some morning sunlight which is the best quality sunlight.  Here's a before and after pic of that area east of the putting green which is basically right around the 4th tee.

That project made such a positive impact to the quality of the 3rd green and it really made a very poor putting surface into something pretty good in just one growing season.  After two years of observation it was clear that the green still needed more sunlight so phase 2 was initiated which involved removing another 6 trees directly behind the green.  That project provided about 1 hour of mid day sunlight and made a huge difference, but then the following year the golf course went through an award winning renovation which resulted in the expansion of short grass around the back of the green.  The expansion of short grass meant that there needed to be an expansion of quality sunlight so last year we initiated a third phase of tree removal around the putting green.  The results of this most recent project is absolutely amazing.  First click here to see my blog post from last fall which detailed the project and showed just how bad the turf was around the back of the putting surface.  Now here's a before and after pic which clearly shows that the area behind the green has been thinned out. 

The "after" picture reveals a couple of things.  First of all notice the nice grove of oak trees which were released by the project.  Protecting our threatened native oak trees is a major focus of the Club's tree management plan.  Secondly, check out the nice view of the fourth hole which was revealed.  Here's a close up of that new vista.

Lastly, look at the results of the projects prime directive which was to improve the turf quality around the back of the green.  Here's a look at that area today which was thin, and mushy just a year ago.

The improvement is really remarkable.  We've received over 8 inches of rain in the last 4 weeks and this area is healthy and firm.   Needless to say the putting green has also improved from this recent project. The power of sunlight and air flow never ceases to amaze me.  

Cold is getting old

We are nearing the end of a very long cold stretch of weather and the end can't come soon enough.  The greens are frozen solid and some of the shadiest greens still have snow and ice on them. Here you're looking at #5 and #14.  They haven't seen very much sunlight in the last few weeks and it's possible we could see some dormant turf on these two greens and a few others before this is all over. For the most part the turf on the golf course looks very good considering we've had temperatures well below average for several weeks.  

Normally when we get a cold snap it's brief, but this winter it seems like it's been bitter cold for an eternity. The turf is in need of some warmer temperatures and so are we.

In fact just today the staff cleaned up the last area we could reach which is adjacent to an access road and thus work without risking damage to fine turf areas.  I really have to commend my amazing staff.  They have been working in below freezing weather every day and have kept a very positive attitude.  They're simply the best.  Looks like next week we will finally get some warm weather and then we can get out to the interior of the course and finish cleaning up after that wind storm we experienced last Monday.

 The team of BPCI have stayed busy with the ProShop project.  There's windows in the new expanded space.  It really looks great.

Yesterday they again were pouring concrete at the performance center and getting there by crossing over #1 fairway.  The small motorized loaders are called "Georgia Buggies".  It was impressive watching this process.

This pour was for the sidewalks surrounding the new facility.

We pretty much finished the Turfhound hitting strip for now.  Since we built the whole thing during a deep freeze, we're going to let it sit for a while before the final step.  We'll let the rains come and make sure the sub-grade is completely settled.   After that we'll lift the mats and seal the gravel with a polymer material that hardens like concrete.  Also, obviously we still have a lot of work to do around the hitting strip but we need the sod farms to thaw out so we can import some turf.

The trees between 12 and 13 and near 12 tee have been removed so now it's time to start moving some dirt in order to shift the tee over to the right.

This last picture was taken right about where the new tee will be located and the hole really sets up nicely from here.

The 12th has always been a great hole but it's about to get even better.  In addition, without the trees the 11th green finally has adequate sunlight.  This is very exciting.  We've been working on trees in this area for 6 years and only now do we finally have the sunlight needed to manage exceptional turfgrass.  I'm not sure what I'm more excited for... playing the 12th from the new tee or seeing the 11th green perform like a true tournament putting surface.  I guess you can look at it as a win - win situation.

Sunlight and Air

I took a couple of pictures last Friday which clearly show the amazing power of sunlight and air.  The picture above is of the back of #2 green and if you've been a member at Tacoma for any time at all then you know just how good this area is today versus its condition in the past.  Here's another picture of this area taken from the 3rd tee.

In the last week it has rained over 5.5 inches.  That's a lot of rain but we were still able to mow this area on the back of #2.  Not only is the area firm enough to mow, the quality of the turf is as good as any area on the golf course.  Just a few years ago the back of #2 green might have been considered the worst conditioned area on the course.  So what happened? Why the dramatic turnaround?  It's pretty simple.  All we did was introduce sunlight and air to this area by strategicaly removing trees.  Starting back in 2009, we removed a couple trees behind this green and since then we have been removing more trees every other year. Today we finally have the amount of sunlight required to grow exceptional turfgrass in this area.  If you haven't been behind #2 lately, I encourage you go back there and check it out. It really is incredible what a difference it makes when you have adequate sunlight and air.  If you can't remember how bad it used to be behind #2, then go look at the area behind #3.

Here's #3 and you can see just how dense the treescape is behind that putting green. Here's a picture of the area on the back of this green.

You can see that when we attempted to mow this area, the machines rutted and scalped the turf.  Because of the lack of sunlight and air flow, this area is squishy and thin.  This is simply not okay and one of the main reasons several trees behind the third green are marked for removal.  These trees will be removed before the upcoming growing season so it's good to know that this poor turf condition is temporary and before you know it, this area behind #3 will be just as good as the area behind #2.  

Trees and Disease

It was just a gorgeous morning today as we started our fall aeration on greens.  This picture is showing the sand application to #3 green.  Yes it's pretty dusty and that's because we're using dried sand.  Normally the sand has some moisture to it and it doesn't look this dusty. While I was standing on the green taking this picture I also took some pictures of the disease popping up on the back of #3 green.  Look here.

This disease is called Fusarium Patch and it is very common in the Pacific Northwest on Poa greens.  Here's another picture I took this morning of Fusarium Patch, but this was taken on the back of #4 green.  

You might be thinking these disease spots are really small and no big deal.  That's only true because we noticed this disease coming on early last week when the weather cooled down and so we immediately applied a plant protection product to stop the infection.  If we had not made that application, there would be significant turf loss in these areas.  So why do these areas have disease popping up and other areas do not?  That's pretty simple and I'm sure you can tell by looking at these pictures that these areas are surrounded by trees.  No, I'm not saying trees cause disease.  It's always disease pathogens that cause disease, but a plants natural defense mechanism cannot work well when the plant suffers from shade. Trees cause the shade which weakens the plant and then the plant becomes susceptible to disease.  In addition, trees restrict air flow and that makes the environment in these shady areas more conducive to disease.  So now you have grass plants weakened from shade living in an environment that has more disease pressure.  To make things worse, if you loose turf to disease in these areas, it takes forever for the turf to recover since the turf in these areas are weekend by the shade.  It's the perfect storm really.  Shade is an absolute killer on a golf course.  Selectively removing trees is the most logical solution since it will both improve the environment and improve the plants health. 

Right now there are 36 trees on the golf course that are marked with orange ribbon because they are scheduled to be removed this off-season per the Club's Tree Management Plan. Some of these trees are being removed because they compete for sunlight and are compromising the quality of the golf course.  Some of these trees are being removed because they are simply in the way of golf and so they also are compromising the quality of the golf course. If you would like more information on the reasons surrounding the removal of these trees, click HERE to download this years project summary.   By the way, disease incidence is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the true cost of trees.  For a realistic picture of what a tree really costs, this article is always a good read, click HERE.

Some Great Golf.....On Okay Greens

 We've had some great golf these past few weeks.  The Member Guest Invitational was very memorable.  We had absolutely perfect weather.  The flop wall competition and skills challenge was fun as always. 

The Travis Mathews bus was here providing a great shopping opportunity and a really cool hang out spot.

 
 Jamie of course went completely over the top with the food.  I honestly don't think anyone can come close to matching his ability.  
And then there was the emotional award ceremony when we said goodbye to Rich Friend.  Rich has been the Golf Professional for the past 27 years and my friend for the past 23.   Tears were shed by everyone as we mourned his departure and celebrated his amazing service to the Club.  I will never forget that affectionate sendoff and I wish Rich the best on his new adventure.

 Then this week the Club hosted the 90th Washington State Men's Amateur.  On the 60th hole following a 6 hole playoff our very own Chase Carlson secured the win.  It was a fantastic event and the first men's championship held at the Club since the 1998 Washington Open.  Before the new teeing grounds were built during the recent award winning renovation of the golf course, Tacoma simply didn't have the length to challenge today's long hitters.  Now the course has teeth again and the expansive teeing grounds also provided some interesting options for the tournament coordinators.  Check out this picture of the setup on the final day of the Men's Amateur.

  The 7th hole was played from the 17th tee at over 420 yards.  That's 31 yards longer than the rated black tee for number 7.  To see more pictures of the event click HERE and check out the WSGA facebook page.  Click HERE to go to the WSGA website and see all the details of the event.  

The golf has been amazing these past few weeks but unfortunately the golf course has not. Sure it may look good and the greens have been very fast but with each season our frustration increases because so does the shade.  Above is a picture of #4 green and notice that the back of the green is in total shade.  Notice also that the shadows are very short as the sun is virtually straight up above when this picture was taken.  The back half of this green receives virtually little to no direct sunlight and this makes maintaining tournament quality firmness impossible.  

We monitor moisture in the greens with this device.  In the picture below notice the reading shows 25.7% water content.  That's a little high but at the time we took this reading we were setting up for a 90 degree day.  We prefer to keep the moisture at about 18-20% for good firmness and that's adequate moisture to get through a normal day of 75-80 degrees.  

Now check out the reading of the moisture content of the back half of the green which is always in the shade.  Yes that says 40%.

Keep in mind that these readings are being taken after we already have taken steps to dry down the back half of the green.  For example, the sprinklers on the back half of #4 have been changed to part circles which means they aren't even spraying water on the back half of the green.  We do this by changing out the internal motors of the sprinklers.  This of course takes time and constant monitoring. Even still that half of the green will just not dry down due to all the shade.

The fourth green is not our only problem area.  Look at these aerial images.  The first picture is of #4, the second is of #3 and the third picture is of #11.

Excessive shade is a constant problem and one that is only getting worse as the fir trees at Tacoma are not done growing.  The shade is increasing with each season and so are the expectations for good, consistent putting surfaces.  

On the bright side, check out this picture of #2 green taken mid day with the sun straight up.  The putting surface now receives adequate sunlight since we removed those three fir trees behind the green last winter.  We used to have the same problem with excessive moisture on #2 but not any more.  Of course moisture is not just about firmness and how the ball bounces on a green.  It's also about smoothness.  When the surface has too much moisture, foot traffic can make for terrible smoothness by days end.  If your as worried about this shade problem as I am, then worry no more.  The Club's Tree Management Plan addresses the need for sun on greens 3, 4, and 11 and there will be some thinning of the trees this upcoming off season.  There is also plans to improve the quantity of sunlight for the 18th green but this involves morning light which is the best light.  Check out this picture of #18 at noon on a sunny August day.

Because of the trees northeast and east of this green, the back right corner never receives any morning light.  It receives adequate afternoon light to maintain turf coverage but Tacoma has higher standards than just turf coverage.  In order for this green to have good putting quality and consistency, some morning light is essential.  Only two trees will be removed to correct this problem.  I know tree removal is an emotional issue for some people but rest assured the Club is using the best professional council regarding these agronomic challenges and making Tacoma the best it can be is the Committee's prime directive.  

Less is More

Above is a picture of #8 green taken in 2012.

Here is a picture I took last Friday from the exact same location.  During the renovation in 2013, this grouping of trees near #8 green was thinned out and limbed up.  They had grown up to the point where they were choking each other out and with limbs down to the ground, there was no way to grow turf anywhere near them.  Now you can see these trees have adequate air space to grow normally and also it's obvious there is now good turf around and under them.  This is a great example of what the Club's Tree Management Plan is all about.  The plan's primary directive is to protect and preserve the desirable plant species on the golf course.  For the most part turfgrass is the most desirable plant species on the golf course since after all the property is first and foremost a playing field for the game of golf.  The trees are also desirable plant species but when their density becomes such that they compromise themselves and turf, some need to go away in order to benefit the other.  These two pictures show beautifully how the Club's Tree Management Plan is actually a preservation plan and not a devastation plan.  With proper management the Club can still have trees while having turf at the same time.  Unfortunately most of the fir trees on the property are less than 200 years old so they are still young and actively growing.  They will double in size and there is simply not enough space on the golf course to allow that.  The Tree Management Plan will preserve the reputation of quality golf which this Club has earned and deserves. In areas where trees have outgrown their space and are compromising themselves, and turf...........less is more.

The Tree Management Plan

If you've been on the golf course lately, you most likely noticed some trees marked with orange ribbon like this dying hemlock tree on the right side of #1 fairway.  Yes, these trees are marked because they are scheduled for removal.  Currently  there are over 100 trees on the golf course that are marked with ribbon and are scheduled for removal.  The Club's Board of Directors recently approved the revised Tree Management Plan (TMP) presented by the Green Committee and endorsed by the City of Lakewood.  The TMP has a 5 year schedule of projects aimed at managing the golf course trees.  The trees marked with ribbon today are those that are involved with the first year of the plan.  If you would like a copy of the TMP so that you can see the entire 5 year plan, click HERE and you can download it. 

A large majority of the trees scheduled for removal during year one reside in the area east of the driving range which looks like this and is obviously densely wooded.  This project will be a dramatic improvement as it will eliminate the under-story of blackberries and other undesirable shrubs. That means we will reduce the habitat that is desired by critters like rats, coyotes and other vermin.  In addition, by removing the under-story and many of  the fir trees, the area will be maintainable while releasing over 30 threatened oak trees.  Once this area is opened up and maintainable, we will no longer loose hundreds of golf balls coming off the range tee.  Releasing oak trees is the act of removing trees that are competing against the oak trees for light, water, nutrients, etc.  Why are we releasing oak trees??  Oak savannas like the land the Club sits on are now one of the most rare ecosystems on the planet.  All the plants and animals associated with oak savannas are now on the threatened or endangered list.  So really the basic answer to the question of "why?" is simply that it is the right thing to do.  Another reason to take care of the oak trees is pretty evident by looking at the above picture.  An area overgrown with Douglas fir doesn't look like a very fun place to golf.  When you favor the oak trees, you have to provide sunlight and air which is exactly what grass needs also.  The better the grass the better the golf.  Click HERE to read more on the process of oak release. 

Here is another picture of the area east of the range and here you can see some of the huge oak trees that will be released.   This really is an exciting project.  It's refreshing to be doing something that not only benefits the golf course but it actually benefits everyone.  The entire community benefits when you try and preserve a threatened ecosystem because it helps maintain species diversity.  Look up the term Biodiversity and you'll see just how important this concept is.  Nowadays you hear a lot about the public's perception that golf courses are bad and that they are polluting our environment.  Many of those people will never be convinced to the contrary, but they would have to admit that Tacoma C&GC is different.  They would have to say "Wow, those folks are actually choosing to make a positive impact on the environment".  What they also should know is that the Club has been doing this for quite a while.

Do any of you remember the project east of the 3rd green.  In 2009 several oaks were released between the 3rd green and the 4th tee.

This picture shows some of those oaks as we were restoring the area.  Now today go check out these oaks as your walking to the 4th tee.  They have really turned the corner and are putting on a lot of new growth.

Remember also in 2009 the project east of the first green.  Those two little oaks in the center of the picture above used to be surrounded by firs.  Of course the turf on the green is much happier also.

Maybe you remember the project near the 2nd tee.  It wasn't too long ago but the oaks released there have to be some of the nicest specimens on the property.

This is what they look liked right after being released.  It's going to be fun watching these trees flourish in the future.

 On 13 we were very proactive by releasing the oaks near 15 tee which had yet to be overtopped by the firs.  Because the Douglas fir grows so rapidly, it wouldn't have been long before these trees overtopped the nearby oaks.  Removing the firs now while they are small is much more financially responsible.

Here's an after picture and you can see on the left side of the photo those oaks near 15 tee are now in the open and loving life.  By far one of the most successful "release" projects was when the new 11th tee was constructed.  Check out these pictures.  The 11th tee is surrounded by oak trees which now have a chance to live for our future generations to enjoy.

I seriously feel blessed to have been involved with these projects and so excited to do more with the new TMP.  You can imagine most Golf Course Superintendents don't have a chance to do something that is not only good for the golf course, but also good for everyone.  The new Tree Management Plan is just that.....A Win Win all around.