Countdown

 Over the Hump

Oh Canada!

Summer solstice, northern solstice, estival solstice, or just midsummer. At the time of this writing we're a little more than a month past the longest day of the year and we've got our eyes fixed on the coming vernal equinox in September when daylight and darkness are balanced.   We've had some smokey afternoons this summer due to wildfires north of the border making things visually interesting if not a challenge to get a gulp of air.  Rains arrived after and have been on the regular through July after being scarce in late May and June. That kind of pattern leads to healthy thick grass from tee through green unfortunately including the rough.  One downside to conditions that promote lush growth are that green speed numbers suffer and wet bunkers are harder to keep consistent.   

Nursery

Rock picking

Ready to seed

A good catch

                                   

Adding to the landscape between 7 green and 3 tee will be a new green, fairway and tee nursery. Planting was done in August to  target optimal soil temperatures.   

Grasses in the nursery will be as follows: 

• Fairways and rough: Perennial ryegrass/dwarf kentucky bluegrass  
• Tees, collars,  putting surfaces: 777 bentgrass + Poa annua

 Course conditions

Aside of minor skirmishes with disease and some early season drought conditions, the course has performed extremely well and shows no signs of stress. Our biggest challenge this year was repairing the construction trenches for the new maintenance building. The rains helped us there but with those rains came a smaller window for getting weed control measures in place. Control has been a challenge and we'll endeavor to get everything treated by fall so we're clean going into next season. 

Fairways have improved tremendously.  A new strategy was employed and we've had success. With some creative tee time adjustment we mowed 'dry' whenever we could.  Instead of killing worms with chemicals we simply mowed when they were less abundant (later in the morning). Mowing dry allows worm casts to break up instead of smear into the grass. It's a minor disruption to tee times but this small difference in turf dryness has made a huge difference in fairway quality and is one we'll keep doing in years to come. With the wet year, it's been a great test for this method.  

Greens have been healthy due to the ample rain. The other side of that coin is excess moisture contributes to inconsistent green speed.  Otherwise growth has been accelerated with regular rains helping to heal areas quickly. 2 & 4 green did their annual about-face in the hottest part of summer but with some hand holding they've turned the corner and are responding to inputs. Growth regulators course-wide have been used sparingly as their usefulness is diminished  when moisture and warmth are this plentiful. 

Venting greens midsummer to let air in

The biggest challenge continues to be cart traffic. As we removed roping ahead of men's MG, traffic patterns started taking a toll within days. This problem is a blessing and curse for popular courses that enjoy enthusiastic golfers. GPS control on carts will become affordable in the future and will give us the tool we need to keep carts from getting into trouble without having to erect a maze of rope and stakes that are visually unappealing.  Until then, we'll rely on ropes and golfer self-awareness.    

On Golden Pond

Trimming cattails is a coveted job of the summer staff

As talk is continues about developing a more up-to-date master plan to address the next 50 years at Tuscarora, a high priority of that plan will be steps to handle the pond and creek on holes 10,11,12,15.  

Regular trimming is required for playability

Pond history: 

• Average depth of pond is 3' with a bottom of solid limestone.
• Pond is part of a 'Karst topography' formation that terminates on hole 15. 
• Pond was originally a wetland and fed primarily from residential and agricultural runoff with some minor seepage coming from the larger ponds across Howlett hill road (11 green area).
• Army Corps of Engineers were consulted in 2009 to help re-shape a smaller pond in front of the willow on 10 into the winding creek that it is today.
• Pond and waterway was studied by ESF in 2017 to determine whether it could generate enough water to be used to supply an irrigation pond. The verdict: Not feasible or affordable at this time.
• Pond on 12 was dredged twice after 2 silt incursion events  created by ag/land management decisions across Munro road on land leased by the Hourigan Family Dairy. The DEC was notified after the second incident.
• The current condition of the pond/water is healthy and odor-free as compared to past years when there was no vegetation allowed.  Wetland plants and naturalization act as a filter for nutrients and silt, lessening the decomposition smell that used to plague that area when it was mowed closely.
• A decision on what the pond should and can be needs further discussion and consideration.  New DEC guidelines and laws pertaining to New York state waterways and wetlands are in play which is a new wrinkle to deal with.  A good regional golf course architect or waterway consultant will be able to guide the club through those regulatory 'waters' when the time comes.          

Where the water goes on #15 and why treating the pond with chemicals is a sensitive issue

Great potential here for something special

      

Fall/Winter Projects

Another beautiful sunrise 

We'll be returning to our roots of bunker, tee, and tree work for this winter.  The success of  5 new 'capcon' bunkers on 11 and 18 proves we can fix our bunkers in-house.  It may take longer than a contractor could do it, but eventually we'll get to all of them. The target is to complete 1-2 holes a year depending on the severity of the reconstruction.  30 bunkers remain to be restored and the order they are taken will be guided by the greens committee.   

#4 narrowing as trees get bigger.

Arbor day was a good idea for anywhere that wasn't a golf course. Hundreds of courses across the country are reclaiming their courses from the overplanting craze it wrought from the 60s through the 80s.  Problems growing grass dissolve when sun gets through and tree roots aren't robbing resources. As we witness improvements in areas that had this work performed, the need for future removals becomes obvious and less controversial.  

Overseeding is coming

It's time to return to our tried and true practice of slit-seeding fairways.  We backed off for a few years around Covid because seed was scarce but supply chains have loosened up and we'll be starting this process again after Labor day. We'll also be adding an aerification to 10 and 12 fairways in September to reduce the thatch build up. These fairways are the wettest and as a result, most infested with bentgrass.  The dirty secret of keeping good bentgrass fairways is the religious devotion required for thatch control.  It just has to happen if quality is expected.