Idylwylde Turf Management Department: June 2013

I would imagine a lot of people have a feeling that the weather this season is much different than what we have experienced in years past. The cooler temperatures in the spring were one thing but what's been so persistent is the rain. For example from April 1, 2012 - June 25, 2012 we received a total of 130mm in precipitation. Where as for 2013 the total precipitation is 316mm. One other statistic that confirms that feeling is the total amount of irrigation water used until this point. Last season the total was 7,600,000 gallons, where as this seasons total is 1,040,000 gallons. Those are some pretty significant differences. The constant rain plays havoc on green speed, mowing frequencies, sand trap conditioning, ability to preform cultural practices and project completion to name a few. I'm looking forward to seeing the golf course firm up moving ahead!

One thing that the rain has done for sure is show us where we have drainage deficiencies. Areas that we have installed drainage over the last couple of weeks are before the pond on hole 1, and from the turn around to the capped ditch on 14. Tying in to some existing drainage and adding a catch basin should substantially improve the conditions on 1 but is not complete. Hole 14 required 275' of drainage to solve the issues. There were 3 existing drain lines installed which all succumb to the same fate, Canadian shield. With a little help form the transit we were able to establish a slope that would work with the rock and serve it's purpose. This will be a nice improvement as that area has always been wet. The next area that I see tackling is 100 yards in on 18 fairway as it hasn't been maintainable all season.

14 Drainage

So as everyone has probably noticed we built a new forward tee on hole 6. This will be the new location for the red tee blocks. The forward tee on hole 14 also received a face lift. It was expanded to add yardage to the hole as well manage the amount of traffic that the red tees see. Forward tee construction, as well as tee expansions will be an ongoing initiative. Hole 7 will most likely see its teeing ground improved.

6 Red Tee Deck

As your making your way around the golf course have a look for these couple of things that have been catching our eyes on a daily basis. The peonies in the front garden, putting green and the show stopper at the garden by the irrigation pump house. I dare you to smell them. Not to be forgotten are the foxgloves on the lower patio and the putting green gardens. Both are very showy this time of year enjoy, I know I do.

Peonies in the front garden Foxglove Hole 6

Over the previous couple of years we have been increasing the number of birdhouses that we have installed on the golf course. This season as it stands we have 15 nest boxes, 11 utilized, 35 hatch lings and 15 eggs unhatched. All of the birds inhabiting the nest boxes are tree swallows, however this season we are seeing are first eastern bluebird which has 4 hatch lings. You can see the female a top her nest box to the right of six green throughout the days.

Eastern Blue Bird Hole 6

Effective Friday the "Turf Hotline" will no longer be active. Daily golf course information regarding cart rulings, cultural practises, and any special maintenance practise will be posted daily via twitter. This can be viewed on this blog as well as the men's and ladies section of the Idylwylde website. When viewing the blog click the compatibility view button (looks like a page ripped in half) to the left of the refresh button in address bar to view the page as I intended it to be viewed. This is required when the browser I created the blog in is not compatible with the one you are using. Click it and see what looks best.

Jay Sisko
Golf Course Superintendent

You never want to wish the days away because you never get them back, but after that May I'm glad it's June! Normal rainfall amounts for the month of May are 78mm and we received 108mm. Spring is typically a wet time of year without above normal amounts of precipitation adding to it. This now confirms to me that since I arrived here in 2009 I have never seen the golf course so wet. I would say that the weather, project wise has us about two weeks behind where I thought we would be by this time. The person who figures out how to control the weather will be the most powerful person in the world!

With all the rain and the last week of humidity it was a perfect storm for growing grass. Wow is it ever juicy out there. The mowers are running as much as possible and we still can't keep up. Looks like the cooler temperatures forecast will help us out a bit and slow things down. Not only is the rough growing rapidly, but the greens are as well. All these conditions are making it difficult to get the green speed up. Firmness is one of the key factors when it comes to ball roll and it's been next to impossible to achieve. Not to mention the annual bluegrass on the greens is seeding and that also affects speed by producing an uneven surface. You may have noticed this on many of the greens, the off coloured blotches (pale green) is the seed head of our predominant grass species on the greens. This usually last a couple of weeks. We will be trying to roll the greens daily (and cut of course) to help smooth things out and increase the speed of the greens.

I'm hoping at this point considering the start, everyone is as pleased as I am with regards to the condition of the golf course (forget how wet it is), in particular the greens. When I pulled the tarps off this season I wasn't sure if we were going to ever be able to recover. But, with the use of some tricks, hard work and patience we have been able to provide fairly respectable greens. Yes there is still a long way to go but we are heading in the right directions. Check out how far we've come!

Jay Sisko
Golf Course Superintendent

May 7, 2013