Features Agronomy
Winter kill of greens provides perfect excuse for golf club to regrass via little used method

FOLLOWING two brutally-cold, snow-packed winters in Ontario and other parts of Canada, the winter of 2015-16 was relatively mild by comparison. Nevertheless, golf course superintendents continue to reflect on the winters which preceded this past season and particularly that of 2013-14.

It was the year of the polar vortex which left courses with putting greens that had been grown to poa annua in dire straits. Golf season starts were significantly delayed as affected courses were forced to regrass their ice-damaged greens by either sodding or seeding with various bentgrass varieties.

Some other courses felt the damage incurred was the right excuse to initiate a long-overdue rebuild of their putting surfaces.

Such was the case at LaSalle, Ont.’s Essex Golf & Country Club. Superintendent Chris Andrejicka and assistant Greg Brown shared their story in March with their peers who gathered at London’s West Haven Golf Club for the Greater London Association of Golf Superintendents’ (GLAGS) winter seminar.

The Windsor area is typically one of the warmest regions in Canada, even during winter, and isn’t accustomed to the amount of snow that fell during the winter of 2013-14. The up-and-down season was also known for its series of freeze-and-thaw cycles which, in the end, was responsible for the widespread damage to golf courses along the southern and eastern Ontario corridors and into Quebec.

As a precaution against a worst-case scenario, Andrejicka said he has for a number of years cut strips from his greens each fall before putting the course to bed for the winter. The practice allows for any standing water to run off the surface to ensure a more controlled melt with good runoff. The greens at Essex are fairly flat.

In January of 2014, a day of extremes in temperature was realized in the Windsor area. The temperature that day peaked to the high 50s Fahrenheit, but, 16 hours later, plunged to minus 15. Almost two feet of snow laid atop the greens at the time, but was removed by staff during the warmer part of the day. During the course of the day, areas where the snow had been removed had turned to slush but became solid ice once the temperature reached its low point.

“At first we weren’t too worried because we figured it would warm up, but it didn’t warm up,” Andrejicka said.

During the course of the winter, plugs were periodically removed from the greens to monitor their health through the periods of freezing and thawing. Andrejicka said everything seemed fine through January and February, but, when plugs were pulled in early March, it was obvious the turf was dead. The overwhelming stench confirmed his suspicions.
All but the first green was dead.

In the early spring, Essex’s turf maintenance crew verticutted the greens “like crazy” and began seeding. Covers were placed atop the 17 seeded greens to generate heat and kick start the germination process.

The first green remained open for play while 17 temporary greens were fashioned to accommodate spring play.

Andrejicka said those areas of the greens which had been stripped in the fall to promote surface drainage were “nice and green.” Seeing an opportunity for a long-term overhaul of his greens, he met with his greens chairman to discuss some possible options.

Over a two-week period, he and Brown explored three possible scenarios which would be pitched to the greens committee for consideration and eventually the board of directors and finance committee.

During their period of contemplation, Andrejicka and Brown spoke with Ken Wright, retired superintendent at Caledon, Ont.’s Devil’s Paintbrush and his assistant at the time Jayson Griffiths (currently superintendent at the London Hunt Club), about a project they undertook seven years ago to resurface their greens.

The methodology of the project was considered revolutionary at the time and involved using a fumigant to sterilize the soil before regrassing with bentgrass seed. Wright and Griffiths shared the details of their successful venture with Andrejicka and Brown. The pair further consulted with some neighbouring superintendents in Michigan who used the same method to initiate regrassing projects of their own.

“They had a huge database on how to do it,” Andrejicka said of the Michigan superintendents.

The fumigation method is considered risky and is often outsourced to professional contractors.

Fumigating the soil at the greens sites was one of three options presented to the greens committee at Essex, but it wasn’t Andrejicka’s preferred method to improve his greens for the long term.

The projected costs attached to the three options ranged from $15,000 to $1 million. Andrejicka’s personal choice was the more expensive option which was to completely rebuild every green through the removal of the existing soil profiles. It would include a more modern mix with modern drainage engineering, the introduction of bentgrass and the removal of 48 trees.

The first and cheapest option was to do nothing other than address growing environments around the greens. The major component of that option was to remove 48 trees. The projected cost of the cheapest option was $15,000.
The second option was to fumigate the greens and surrounds, reseed with bentgrass, improve drainage and remove the same 48 trees. It also included work on rolloffs and the first few feet of approach. The projected cost for this option was $100,000.

Andrejicka said he realized the choice of the latter two options would come with a significant price tag, noting it also wasn’t the best of economic times.

By the time the three options were reviewed, it was June and the reseeded greens were coming back.

“Everything was actually getting better,” Andrejicka said.

The Essex club was built in 1926, and the original greens had previously never been touched.

“What I tried to highlight with the board and the members was that this was an opportunity,” he said. “It was a real opportunity I thought for them to do something that has never been done before. It could be sold in so many ways and could be sold positively to gain new members and to fix greens that really sucked.”

Andrejicka stressed that no matter which option was chosen, there was to be no sod used. Getting that message out took some convincing, he said, adding the biggest problem was the trees.

“We had a huge backlash from the membership about the trees.”

The board had approved the project then “went nuts” when details of what was needed to be done was laid out before them.

A special meeting to address the tree issue was set up in January of 2015 to hear both sides of the argument. Andrejicka said the membership was split down the middle with about as many objecting to the removal of the 48 trees in question as there were in favour of knocking them down for better sunlight penetration to the greens sites.
Andrejicka and Brown were also tasked to sell the membership on the virtues of bentgrass as a preferable putting surface to poa annua. It was argued bentgrass was more sustainable than poa, it required fewer inputs, is better suited to the Ontario climate, is less affected by future environmental restrictions, and would add value to the Essex Golf & Country Club.

Understanding the value of bentgrass, the greens committee supported the move which led to the finance committee and board of directors approving the option to fumigate the greens sites’ soil and regrass with bentgrass. Greatly assisting their decision-making was a visit to a Michigan golf course by Essex board members who learned first-hand about the benefits of the fumigation process and seeding with bentgrass.

Andrejicka said the visit to Michigan proved to be a valuable selling point, especially when the members were able to see how Pure Distinction bentgrass—the same as that used as Essex—looked when pristine.

He said the board was sold and wondered when the regrassing project could get underway. Andrejicka suggested waiting a year so that the process could be fully planned out and members could be duly notified. The wait would also allow for the proper scheduling of tournaments.

The plan was to begin Aug. 1, 2014 with a trial on Essex’s small practice green.

Removal of the earmarked problem trees began during the winter of 2014-15. A tree-felling company was hired to tackle some of the trees, “but most we tried to do in house to save money,” Brown said.

Most of the trees which were removed were non-native species. Not only did their removal open the greens up to the sun, “but we got vistas back that we had back in the ’30s, ’40s, ’50s and ’60s,” Andrejicka said, adding the problem trees had been planted in the 1970s.

The felled trees were cut up into firewood and some was sold to the membership. A local man purchased the remaining logs and carted them away from the property.

With the greens now bathed in longer periods of daily sunlight, members were given a preview in the spring of 2015 as to what they could expect with their putting surfaces grown to bentgrass and subjected to consistant lighting. In preparation for the season’s start, the worst of the greens were double drilled and filled while the better ones underwent a regular drill and fill process. They were mowed initially at .130 inches and gradually reduced to heights of .120, .110 and .080 inches. They were also double and triple rolled.

The members liked what they saw, Andrejicka said.

Although the fumigation of the greens sites wasn’t slated to begin until mid-August, there was plenty of related work to complete beforehand. In June, the tarps needed to trap the fumigant were acquired and pieced together. To properly cover the greens, tarps measuring 50 feet by 100 feet were taped together to produce finished covers which measured 100 feet by 100 feet.

“Probably the worst part of the whole project was the tarps,” Brown said.

The cumbersome task of joining two large pieces of fabric together proved to be more challenging than anticipated. Using the same type of material used to build an outdoor ice rink, the tarps were rolled out and taped together at the seams. Flipping them over to tape the other side without undoing the initial taping proved awkward at first, but became less cumbersome with practice.

“Once we had them taped together, we folded them up, put them on a piece of plywood and stored them in the shop so that they would be ready,” Brown said.

At the end of July, three sod cutters were used to remove sod from the greens. A power edger was used to cut the strips into desired lengths.

“This power edger was absolutely incredible,” Brown said, noting the job of rolling the sod strips was made that much easier.

The maintenance staff was divided into two crews—one working the mornings and the other in the afternoons. The strategy allowed for much-needed breaks.

It was estimated it would take four days to strip all 18 greens, but work progressed so well between the two crews that the job was finished in half the projected time. Brown said the two groups entered into a friendly competition with one another to see who could outwork the other.

Once the sod was stripped from the greens, crews worked on removing collar dams to improve surface drainage. The goal was to achieve a perfect flush, a good grade and for runoff areas to be structured properly.

The previously taped-up tarps were spread out across the greens and trimmed of any material which spanned beyond the perimeters. Additional material was taped to any tarp which came up short of covering the green. Once the tarps were made to measure, they were marked according to the specific green number as well as their precise clockface positioning. The covers were then folded up and placed inside bunkers next to each green until they were needed once the greens were fumigated.

“This was definitely a tiring process,” Brown recalled.

Fumigation was ready to begin six days after the greens had been stripped. Before the fumigant was applied, the greens were aerified in one direction with half-inch solid tines.

Basamid, a granular fumigant, was applied to the aerated surfaces with a drop spreader at a rate of 10 pounds per 1,000 square feet. Some of the product remained on the surface while some fell into the punched holes.

“We knew we had to achieve 30 per cent soil moisture, so once the product was put down we watered it in with the heads and wanted 30 per cent moisture in order to activate the product,” Brown said.

As soon as the prescribed moisture content was realized, the tarps were placed atop the surfaces and left in place for 10 days. The time under cover allowed the product to activate and do its job.

The fumigation process took three days to complete in virtually windless conditions. Seven greens were tackled the first day, another three the following day, and the remaining eight on the final day. Crews worked in accordance with the weather, with some greens done in the morning and others in the evening.

The fumigant was applied in two different directions to not only the greens surfaces, but the collars, expansions, runoffs and approaches as well.

Upon completion of the fumigation, the covers were carefully put in place and sealed by the weight of the cut sod. When the greens were originally stripped, an outline border pass was done. The rolled-up sod was kept to the side and ready for use in the sealing process.

“We didn’t want any flaps blowing around in case the wind picked up,” Brown said.

When the covers were first positioned, air pockets had formed underneath. Within hours, however, they became tight with the surface. Andrejicka said there was only once place for the gas to go—into the aeration holes, causing the tarp to become flush with the ground.

Brown said that when a 30 per cent moisture content is sought, some areas are bound to puddle up and run down. That happened on some approaches, but it wasn’t seen as an issue since the plan was to seed, fertilize and run heads.
“It wasn’t the end of the world,” he said. “We expected it was going to happen.”

After 10 days, the tarps were removed. The greens were allowed to air out for 10 days during which time they were aerified in a few different directions with half-inch hollow tines. Cores were pulled and broken up. The greens were reflowed while the soil was worked.

Four-foot levels were used constantly on the greens to assess their slope.

“That was the biggest issue—surface drainage,” Brown said. “Our biggest concern to make sure this project was going to work was to get surface drainage.”

A couple of days before seeding was slated to begin, a heavy rainfall hit the region once the greens had been graded and were ready for seed. Contouring and grading were redone, but the additional work didn’t put the project behind schedule.

“We knew we needed the seed in the ground by the last week of August,” Brown said. “As long as we kept doing the things we were doing, it wouldn’t be an issue.”

Seeding took place Aug. 25 and 26 with Pure Distinction bentgrass on the greens and PureFormance fairway blend bentgrass for the collars, approaches and runoffs. Both are products of Tee-2-Green which recommended a seeding rate of two to 2.5 pounds per 1,000 square feet.

Germination was realized four days after seeding. A couple of days afterward, the “greening” of the greens was visible from a distance.

To achieve good seed-to-soil contact, the surface was nubbed in using a Sand Pro which was used in two directions.
A small rain event caused some minor washout on the fifth green, but a sufficient number of seeds had taken root to hold most of the green together.

The first cut of the greens took place on Sept. 4 at a height of .270 inches.

By Sept. 20, the project was moving along as hoped, aided and abetted by ideal weather conditions.

Andrejicka said the leveling process began at the backs of the greens and worked towards the front. He said laser grading would have been more time-consuming than using levels.

During the grow-in period, the greens’ Toro 700 series irrigation heads were swapped out for  750 series heads, allowing part-circle distribution patterns rather than the “rooster tails” associated with the 700 series that may have contributed to washouts.

“You only had to water with them half as much, half as long because you just had that half-area,” Andrejicka said.
Moving forward, the concern is how poa annua can be kept away from the greens. He said he has been in the business long enough to know that it’s inevitable poa will be introduced to the greens. A plant growth regulator product currently in trials under the supervision of Michigan State University’s Dr. Joe Vargas is now in its critical fourth year of study. The product has shown tremendous promise, and Andrejicka said he is hopeful it will be registered for use in Canada.

He figures now that both the Devil’s Paintbrush and Essex have both had success in regrassing their greens by sterilizing their soils first, the process will catch on with other Canadian golf courses.

The key, Andrejicka said, is to avoid sod even though it is perceived as a quick fix.

“Doing it with seed and fumigation, we had a nice, clean seed bed. We made it work. It works pretty good.”

In conjunction with the regrassing project, the golf course underwent a series of other improvements, including new cart paths, rebuilt and laser-leveled tees, enhancement of 50 bunkers with misters, and the acquisition of a new 1,200 gallons-per-minute pump station.

“This all precipitated when we began this whole process,” Andrejicka said, adding the additional improvements proved to be a bonus. “We got everything done in one fell swoop.”