Attention Golfers

I have included a number of photos below that depict areas where NCC members and their guests can significantly assist in contributing to tremendous golfing conditions at NCC.  These are actually simple tasks that are common golf course etiquette and that every golfer should be practicing. 

We spend over $50,000 a year in repairing ball marks, fairway and tee divots and worn areas along the cart paths from poor cart operation.   Please do your part to help care for our fantastic property.

The photo below shows the WRONG way to park a golf cart along the cart path.  There is no reason to pull over and off of the path.  Your playing partners can and should park behind you.   We spend over $10,000 a year correcting these bare "eyesores."

The photo below shows the correct way to park a cart around a tee or green.  Keep all 4 tires on the path.

Unrepaired ball marks are currently the only blemishes on our otherwise wonderful putting surfaces.

An unrepaired ball mark will take 3 to 4 weeks to heal.  It is not only unsightly but can affect other golfers putting ability.

The golfer who hit the  fairway shot below made no attempt to repair the divot.   This neglect should not be part of the NCC golfing culture. 

It is extremely dangerous to have more than 2 riders on a cart.  

Please observe the yellow lines and the stop areas at the two gates South of Clavey Road. 

Please place your trash in the trash receptacles rather than on the ground. 

Weather Impacts on The Golf Course

The extended periods of heat, humidity and wetness combined with the frequent storms over the past several weeks of July have impacted many courses in the Midwest.  The continuing wet soil and turf conditons present the ideal enviroments for turfgrass disease occur and "scalding" of the turf.  Although we take every precaution and measure by applying fungicides to combat the disease and squeeging and pumping the fairways, there is simply no way to dry the entire turf canopy.   Chicago is in a weather pattern that is the perfect storm for turf stress and loss.  There is already one recognized course that is reported to be closed in the Chicago area and I am told that a nationally ranked course in the Minneapolis area is closed for the second time this summer.  Let's hope for cooler, drier and windier weather conditions for the next few weeks.

Another Chicago rain storm - August 2nd, 2011

Notice the significant heat indexes.  These eleviated levels affect turfgrass health

Excessive temperatures combined with wet & saturated soils threaten turf health

July Rain Dates and Amounts

Even though we have drainage installed in #4 white fairway, water cannot be removed or pumped away because the level and drainage of this fairway is directly connected to the canal to the west of the property.  The canal is overflowing and it backs water onto the course and does not allow our course to drain.

Areas throughout the course have standing water and the soils are totally saturated and cannot drain.  Hot and humid weather conditions literally cook these areas as the water and moisture reach temperatures too high for the turf to sustain. 

The staff stays busy squeeging the lower areas of the course in an attempt to move water off of the surface of the turf

Lower areas of the course are squeeged after every rainfall

Recent rains continue to flood the white bunkers

The bunkers are pumped to remove the water after each rainfall on the white course

The subair machine is used to remove excess water form the rootzone of the greens.   The plant roots literally are drowned and die if there is excess moisture in the green.  Excess water prevents the availability for oxygen exchange in the rootzone.

The low areas below show the evidence of sun scald, a result of continued and excessive moisture and the presence of "Pythium" - an agressive turfgrass disease

These damaged areas have already been aerified, re-seeded and topdressed.

Damaged areas are vented in preparation for seeding

Damaged areas are seeded and topdressed

Greens are being needle tined or vented to provide air channels to the rootzone

Preventative fungicides are being applied to combat disease

Fairways are being blown in an attempt to dry the turf and soil surfaces to prevent disease invasion

Fans are being used to provide air flow over the green's surface for cooling and drying

Bug Spray, Sub Air, Venting and Disease

PYTHIUM - THE MOST DREADED OF TURFGRASS DISEASES

The damaged turf in the photo below is from a low area on #3 white fairway.  Pythium is an agressive & rapid spreading turfgrass disease that occurs under hot, humid and wet conditons similiar to those we had for the last week.  Even though we had a preventative material down on the turf, the climatic condions were so intense that there was a pathogen breakthrough.  So when you see our guys on the sprayers on occassion, it is to protect the turf against these devistating disease invasion.

Extended periods of wettness, heat and humidity on the turfgrass surface are optimum conditions for disease occurance.  For this reason you will see the staff squeeging the standing water in the fairway, especially in the low area where water accumulates and Pythium is most likely to occur.

Pythium on #3 Blue Fairway

Pythium on #3 White Fairway

The hot, humid & wet areas on the golf course are susceptible to damage from standing water & wet soil conditions following heavy rainfalls.  Once the rain stops & the hot sun comes out, the turf is actually damaged from scalding.  Wet areas heat up & the turf is damaged from the water being heated by the sun.  

Spraying the golf course is a necessity to prevent and combat serious turfgrass diseases.

BUGSPRAY - DO NOT SPRAY BUGSPRAY ON YOURSELF ON TURF AREAS

There are 3 dead areas on the small putting green where someone applied bugspray to their legs.

The photo below shows one of the dead areas. 

Below is a SubAir machine that we use to either blow cool air into the rootzone of the green or to suck water out of the subsurface of the green.  Both actions are implemented to provide the turfgrass and their roots the best of possible growing conditons.   Each green on red and blue has the plumbing installed for the unit but we have only one machine to use on all 18 of the new greens.  This machine is not intended to increase putting green speeds or to dry out a green immediately following aa rainfall.  It is a tool to use to alter and improve the rootzone of the green, to remove excess water or to help cool the rootzone.  You can see water being expelled from the green in the photo below.

To insure the rootzone in the greens have adequate available oxygen, we "vent" the greens on a regualr basis during the summer months.  This machine uses 1/8 th inch solid tines and pokes holes in the greens to allow oxygen to reach the turfgrass roots.  We mow immediately after the "venting" and the golfers are not impacted in any way.

Small air channels, a fraction the size of a dime, are created by the solid tines

Once the greens have been "vented" they are mowed and ready for play.

Extended Heat

 Excessive Heat Advisory in Effect for Chicago
       July 19th, 20th & 21st 2011 !!!!!!!!

If the weather forecast is correct, we are in for a week or more of one of the most intense weather stress periods on turfgrasses over the past 15 years. You may recall how the weather impacted courses all over the country last summer. Such iconic courses as Wingedfoot and Congressional among other actually closed for periods. You will notice a number of agronomic tasks being implemented this week to protect our turf. There will likely be many golf courses in the Chicagoland area that suffer turf loss this week due to the intense heat. Hopefully we can escape that situation here at NCC. There are some turfgrass species that simply cannot survive when soil temperature rise to extreme levels and destroy the root structure of the plant.

The photo below shows the 7 day forecast to have high temperatures in the 90s.

Extreme heat and drought are influencing factors on turfgrasses. For this reason we will be implementing a bit more cart traffic measures than normal. The photo below shows how cart traffic can damage turf if golf cart traffic is not rotated.

Below is a photo of turf under dry conditions with repeated golf cart traffic. exposure

The photo below exhibits the benefits and success of implementing cart traffic control measures.

The photo below is of new turf on the blue course last year. We put out some stakes to route traffic away from the young and stressed area.

We will put out a few stakes in the fairways in some of the higher traffic areas

During the next week we will do everything we can to provide quality and challenging putting green speeds but we will not sacrifice the health of the turf in an attempt to chase speed. This is a temporary measure and we will provide speed as soon as the weather conditions allow.

Our staff will be doing quite a bit of hand watering. Although we do have a fully automatic irrigation system, we hand water so that we do not over water the areas that are not wilting and so we are able to apply water to the exact areas that are stressed.

One of the areas where the turf wilts the quickest in on the bunker faces. These areas must be hand watered to prevent the bunkers from being totally wet. However, during the coming week in order to keep the turf alive, it will be necessary for us to irrigate the bunker faces more than normal. Some of the bunkers may play wetter than usual. We will try to keep the sand as dry as possible.

Some of the tee tops and the fairway drain lines on the newer renovated red and blue courses require hand watering during intense evapotranspiraton rates.