End of one season and the start of another

As the 2012 winter golfing season comes to an end, I wanted to thank the many members that have complimented my staff and I for the condition of the course.

The maintenance staff have worked tirelessly to prepare and present the course to a high standard on a daily basis. There have been many golf events over the past months and the staff always seemed to dig a little deeper to complete the many details that help to set our course above many others in the area.

The view down hole 18

Bunker work on hole 5

Green on hole 12

The weather conditions this year have played an important role in keeping our grass green and healthy. Fortunately, we have been receiving some rain when it was needed that has helped sustain the turf and shrubs. The wild flowers, that had struggled earlier in the year due to the warmer weather have now bloomed and look fantastic.

Wild Flowers on hole 16

There have also been many cultural practices performed behind the scenes to promote turf health. These include bi-weekly spiking of greens, top dressing tees and greens, rolling of greens, spoon feeding of fertilizer and the use of soil wetting agents to name but a few. The roots on our turf have been excellent all season long and that has proven to be critical in keeping quality turf conditions considering the lack of rain, high temperatures, windy conditions and record rounds of play.

Roots on hole 4

I can't thank all of my staff enough, in particular Riaan Potgieter, our Assistant Superintendent, our mechanics, Luis and Pedro, Mike Terrill, our Integrated Pest Manager and Neil Johnson, our Irrigation Technician. Please, thank all of my staff as you see them out on the course.

by David Dore-Smith
Director if Golf Course and Grounds Maintenance
Copperleaf Golf Club

Location:Copperleaf Golf Club

Rock Wall

As the summer weather approaches, so does the preparations for our summer golf course enhancements.
This year, the most significant project will be the construction of a rock wall along the lake bank of the chipping green and putting green.



The current view of the rock wall location from hole 18


A modification to our lake system permit is currently being submitted to the South Water Management District, as well as The Brooks Community Development District.

Once these approvals have been received, work will commence on transferring the rocks, currently held at the maintenance facility, to the area between the two practice greens. A large wheel loader will be rented to move these heavy boulders.
The rocks will be put into place using a rented excavator capable of positioning the rocks in their desired location.

The completed rock wall will then be back filled with soil to level the current practice area and provide increased area for all members to enjoy.

The rock wall will be visible from hole 18 as well as the club house and help contribute to improving the overall appearance of the area.

I will keep you informed as the project gets underway some time in May. Please be careful around the construction area as there will be heavy equipment and unstable conditions during the approximately 2 week construction timeline.

If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact me directly.

David Dore-Smith


Posted by David Dore-Smith
Director if Golf Course and Grounds Maintenance
Copperleaf Golf Club

Location:Copperleaf Golf Club

More Orange Dots

If you are observant, you may notice dozens of small orange dots on the fairway of hole 10. The University of Florida has selected Copperleaf to help conduct testing on products that control Nematodes. After sampling other area club's, Copperleaf's counts of these microscopic worms that live in the soil, were the highest, and so will provide the most accurate data for their trial.

If you look closely on hole 10 fairway, you will see the orange paint highlighting the different test plots. The soil sample locations were filled with white sand.

Nematodes are not visible to the naked eye, however can cause injury and death to susceptible hosts, such as Bermuda grass. The grass becomes weak, thin and drought stressed as the roots are reduced to less than an inch in depth. Unfortunately, the one product that successfully controlled this nuisance pest was removed from sale in Florida over a year ago. There are now many companies promoting the latest and greatest products to control the insect and it is difficult, as an end user, to determine which product is the most effective.

The dark green strips of turf were treated one week prior with Nemacur. The results were so drastic that a second application was made to blend the weakened turf into the rest of the fairway. This picture was taken during the summer of 2011.

Using a grant from Bayer Crop Science, Dr. Billy Crow is testing the effectiveness of one of their products, Nortica, that was released last year. The research data will be shared nationally for all Superintendent's to review once the study is complete.

Unfortunately, Copperleaf is impacted with nematodes throughout the course and it takes additional maintenance practices to prevent damage such as additional watering, the use of moisture retention products and additional fertilizer. Nematode damage becomes most prevalent beginning in March when dry winds, warm temperatures, low rain and compaction from the golfing season begin to take their toll on the turf grass.

The true benefit of conducting such a study at Copperleaf is that we will directly benefit from the data gathered to determine if this new product will improve turf quality under our conditions. We can then determine if applying this new product is worth the investment. I look forward to sharing the results with you as they become available.

Frost Damage

The cold weather last week brought us our first frosts of the year. There were two mornings with below freezing temperatures that produced frost on our turf grass for several hours.

This frost has a damaging affect on the 'rough' turf grass, in particular, due to its higher height of cut and the ability for the ice to settle down into the canopy. The closer mown turf grass on the approaches and fairways has the ability to maintain a higher soil temperature and so withstand the cold weather without as much injury.

 

The frost has a damaging affect on the higher mown turf grass (foreground) as seen on hole 12 whereas the fairways (background) have shown relatively no color loss..

The entire golf course was fertilized with granular fertilizer this week and will be followed up with a liquid fertilizer application over the weekend to help promote turf recovery and greener grass. The affected areas of turf will soon grow out of this condition and the affected leaf blades will be mown off.

Our greens were prepared before the frosts with an application of liquid fertilizers that was very successful. A wetting agent, Hydrahawk, that displaces dew from the leaf blade, was also applied to the greens and tees prior to the frost that prevents the ice from forming.

Overall, the golf course remains in excellent condition with fast greens for all to enjoy. if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Posted by David Dore-Smith

Director of Golf Course and Grounds Maintenance