New Nursery

 As we draw closer and closer to the start of the Renovation at Swope Memorial there are several inhouse projects that we are breaking ground on. This month was crucial in timing out the expansion of the existing bentgrass nursery. Currently our bentrgass nursery to the left of 12 fairway was roughly 1200sqft. This is considered small and would not be appropriate for the amount of bentgrass we will have post renovation. We therefor expanded the nursery to now be over 3600sqft.

 

During this process we removed existing turf and material surrounded the the existing green. We then created new drainage lines to properly move water across the entirety of the new nursery.

 Additionally we added a new layer of sand/peatmoss mixture to give the new seed a solid foundation to grow into. Lastly we laid pre-plant amendments to properly feet the seed that was soon to follow.

                                                                                    

 As you will see the bentrgass has already begun to germinate and is looking great!

                                                                                

Hospice Care

 The dog days of summer are officially here at Swope Memorial. With highs reaching into the hundreds and overnight low's barely dipping into the 70's if not low 80's its a miracle any turf can survive these Midwest summers. With the weather patterns we have experienced in late July its not a matter of if the turf will start to die its a matter of how slowly it will happen. Our jobs as Superintendents becomes similar to a hospice nurse during these times. Creating the best possible environment to keep the turf comfortable to prevent unnecessary death.

 As a golfer this will present itself to you as seeing more maintenance staff watering greens during the day. Greens moisture levels become even more important during a heat wave because of the anatomy of our Bentgrass/ Poa greens. Bentgrass is less susceptible to the heat but still needs constant monitoring because of its longer root zone allowing for it to reach down and collect moisture at lower soil depths. Poa on the other hand has an extremely shallow root zone only allowing it to collect water at the top 2 inches of soil. This inability to collect water is why you will see our maintenance crew doing constant moisture checks on the greens to insure we lose as little Poa as possible. You may also notice slightly longer rough and fairways to give the turf a chance to protect itself. And as always stricter cart traffic rules that stave off rough death from over traffic.

Gas Exchange

What are you all doing to the greens today? This question seems to be asked a hundred times a season between our members, staff, and once a year players alike. As superintendents green's health is always on the forefront of our minds. Luckily with continued innovations in the turf management industry we have a plethora of tools in our toolbox to manage not only turf health but playability as well

Many of you this week likely saw our Turf Team venting the greens before play on Monday and Tuesday. Now what does venting do and why is that important? Our venting process as Swope this week involved using "pencil" tines to penetrate roughly the top 4 inches of our greens. Each hole is spaced out 3 inches from the previous and this is continues over the whole green. Now why is this important? Venting is crucial for gas exchange to happen for the plant. Without venting soils can become to compacted to allow proper gas exchange and will also affect water retention.

Why Vent?-  Along with the health benefits of venting the greens there is also a huge benefit in the playability of the greens after a vent versus a full aerification as we do in the spring and fall. After venting we are able to roll the greens and add a light layer of top-dress sand. This combinations is very non aggressive and keeps the greens much smoother than after a normal aerifications.

The Best is Yet to come

 What an interesting month May proved to be here at Swope. Once again Missouri weather will keep you on your toes. May brought us some unfortunately unexpected high temps, but also blessed us with an exceedingly large amount of rain and thunderstorms. 

 

One perk of the job here at Swope is it should never be boring and monotonous. One day you can be dealing with keeping greens alive during scorching temps, and the next you can be pumping out bunkers from a torrential rain fall. May brought the best of both worlds to us and a little more.

During May we also got to lay zoyzia sod on many of the tee boxes that struggle each year. You will notice new sod on number's 5,6,7,11,12,16 tee boxes. This has become a yearly occurrence due to the number of rounds played at Swope each season. With rumors of a renovation this will be an issue we plan to tackle head on to create both the best playing conditions as well a sustainable management practice.

Spring Swing

 Spring is in full swing here at Swope. With increased rainfall and rising temperatures Swope is turning as lush and green as ever. As many of you will have noticed our rough and greens surrounds are extremely healthy allowing for a thick stand of turf. As mentioned in the previous blog our areas on green that were affected by our harsh winter are also making a full recovery. 

The zoyzia issues we are facing from the increased rounds per year as well as our harsh winter are being addressed as well. The month of May will see many of our zoyzia tee's re-soded as well as low areas in our fairways that tend to hold water. Swope will be re-soding roughly 15,000 square feet of zoyzia this spring with the hope as always of improving the players experience. 

Along with on-course improvements a large step has been taken in the appearance of the the grounds surrounding the historic Clubhouse. You will notice we have moved to using black mulch in the beds as well as planting an exorbitant amount of flowers in said beds.