Covid Practice Plans (Green Building -- please tell me I'm not nuts!)

[dcrocketman]

Green a couple days ago. Survived the summer quite well . Super dense blades.

in a couple days will aerate… 

[cardoustie]

On 8/19/2022 at 11:41 AM, DShepley said:

Took a break from greens maintenance today for a 36 hole day. First round at a decent away course followed by a local cash game. Happy and lucky enough to pick up my fourth hole in one.  Kind of let things go on the back nine a bit but reeled it in to finish with a birdie like Jack. 

Love Craigowan.  Won the provincial university golf championships there in the early 90’s

[DShepley]

10 minutes ago, cardoustie said:

Love Craigowan.  Won the provincial university golf championships there in the early 90’s

I really like it too and it was in great condition.  The greens were amazing and the course was very lush which is surprising for how little rain we have had this season.  It's a public course now and owned by the Cardinal group.  They have made some great changes since the 90s and added a bunch of length where they could.  It hosted the Ontario Amateur in 2009 and the Canadian Women's Amateur in 2014.

[cardoustie]

I play a lot at Cardinal 18 and Oliver’s Nest here in the Kawarthas 

[DShepley]

2 hours ago, cardoustie said:

I play a lot at Cardinal 18 and Oliver’s Nest here in the Kawarthas 

Love the Kawarthas, (and their ice cream)!  I played, (horribly), in the Ontario Champion of Champions at Wildfire the year my daughter was born.  My wife went for a hike to the Petroglyphs while I played. About the only highlight of my day was parking beside Tom Cochrane and chatting him up on the way to the range.  Loved Lakefield, it was a neat place.

[DShepley]

4 hours ago, cardoustie said:

Love Craigowan.  Won the provincial university golf championships there in the early 90’s

Did you go to Laurier or Windsor?

[cardoustie]

U of Guelph

 

33 minutes ago, DShepley said:

Did you go to Laurier or Windsor?

 

[DShepley]

1 hour ago, cardoustie said:

U of Guelph

 

 

I was doing some internet sleuthing. You're a player!

[DShepley]

@dcrocketman Here is a closeup shot of mine after I cut it today.  Last night I backlapped my reel and reset the bedknife clearance and today it was cutting much better.  Another week of heat here by the look of things and I may think about lowering the cut height a bit through Sept / Oct.  I'm right around 0.130" at the moment but a double cut and roll is faster than my local course so I don't get too fussed.

[DShepley]

Here is a wider view for those who like stripes.

[dcrocketman]

looks awesome

 

[DShepley]

Well, sadly it's that time of year in my neck of the woods. My superintendent friend offered to bring his machine over to aerate my green today. I had a long day of busting up cores with the leveling rake, brushing in the good bits, then some time on the blower to collect the rest of the plugs, but now I'm ready for a healthy dose of top dressing. This will set me up for a healthy start in the spring and will give time for it to heal up a bunch before snow.

[596]

I just have to mention that I was originally from western NY.  My family vacationed every summer up on Buckhorn Lake at Six Foot Bay Resort from the day I was born until I turned 18.  I've been back twice since then but it's been decades.  Beautiful country and fond memories.  

 

Btw. I do a lot of virtual cycling and just did a gorgeous ride in Lakefield recently. Filmed by a cyclist there. 

[DShepley]

17 hours ago, 596 said:

I just have to mention that I was originally from western NY.  My family vacationed every summer up on Buckhorn Lake at Six Foot Bay Resort from the day I was born until I turned 18.  I've been back twice since then but it's been decades.  Beautiful country and fond memories.  

 

Btw. I do a lot of virtual cycling and just did a gorgeous ride in Lakefield recently. Filmed by a cyclist there. 

Nice.  I'm not in Western NY but a couple guys have posted on here with greens who are.  I used to travel there to work occasionally though in the East Aurora area.  It is a nice place.  I'm in South Western Ontario not far from London.

[DShepley]

I've been feeding nitrogen at 1/4lb per 1000sq ft for the last couple weeks and I'm quite happy with the results. The aeration recovery will be complete before I know it. The mower is due for a back lap now that my grass catcher has stopped collecting sand and in a couple weeks I'll take it to my super intendent friend for a full grind.

[DLiver]

You are such a pro now! Impressive.

[DShepley]

Pot of gold indeed!

[dcrocketman]

Oct 27 2022 in buffalo ny

[dcrocketman]

DShepley

your green looks awesome

fantastic job this year!

 

[DShepley]

1 minute ago, dcrocketman said:

DShepley

your green looks awesome

fantastic job this year!

 

Thanks! This summer was tough weather for growing, long periods of drought but everything has rebounded.  It's officially 'leaf rule' season! A few more weeks hopefully before I tuck things in for winter. Your green looks great as well!

[kobe123]

Alright, I've followed this thread for a long time now. I have to know how much this cost to build and what is the cost of maintenance? 

[DShepley]

48 minutes ago, kobe123 said:

Alright, I've followed this thread for a long time now. I have to know how much this cost to build and what is the cost of maintenance? 

That's putting me on the spot!  I had most of the equipment I needed to build it apart from the mowers.  I bought a Toro GM 1000 for $250CAD and through a stroke of luck was given a Jacobsen Eclipse 2 so my mower costs are WELL below average.  The seed cost $400CAD, sand for the base was in around $400 and I had about $500 in sod to finish around the back edge and to clean up where an old garden was. I used triple mix and peat moss to create my seed bed and the cost of that was in the $200 range.  I don't recall what my starter fertilizer cost me.  Labour!!! I did it all myself and enjoyed doing it but it was hours and hours and hours of fussing.  Water....again, I'm on a well so it only costs the power to run the pump but....it needs a whole lot of it!

 

Ongoing maintenance isn't too bad, I backlap the mowers myself but a reel grind with parts and labour from my superintendent friend costs $100-$150 depending on what is needed, (we are friends so it's a deal) and the need for a full reel grind is dependent on your topdress frequency.  I spoon-feed urea periodically and a 25kg bag has lasted me three seasons so far for about $40CAD, (I use 0.625lbs per application dissolved in water).  Topdressing sand is expensive, kiln dried sand in my neck of the woods costs about $10CAD for a 30KG bag and my green will use 5 bags for a light topdress and 10-12 bags after core aeration.  My superintendent friend does my aeration for $100 cash.  Chemicals....I'm not supposed to have any but if you are in the USA you'll probably want to rotate Propiconazole and Azoxystrobin preventatively every 21 days in the high risk season, look to spend about $500-$1000 maybe?  Grass also gets hydrophobic so you'll want to think about a wetting agent or cultural practices like spiking to allow water to penetrate the thatch layer so you either spend $ or more labour.  Some people use plant growth regulators, I do not but that is a consideration as well.  There are probably more costs that I'm missing but honestly, I built mine on the cheap side of the scale and it is working well so far.

Edited October 28, 2022 by DShepley

[DLiver]

This is one of the alltime great WRX threads, IMO. Interesting, entertaining and informative.

[Phireside]

1 hour ago, DLiver said:

This is one of the alltime great WRX threads, IMO. Interesting, entertaining and informative.

Agreed, but I wonder how many guys have received the death stare from their wives when suggesting a backyard green after going through this thread.

[dcrocketman]

I’ve had mine for 10 years

You need friends in the agronomy business 

the cost of education is very high

Grass is not meant to be grown at .125” . Below is pythium blight

[DShepley]

2 minutes ago, dcrocketman said:

I’ve had mine for 10 years

You need friends in the agronomy business 

the cost of education is very high

Grass is not meant to be grown at .125” . Below is pythium blight

Agreed. Without being able to ask my superintendent friend for advice, diagnosis, it would be very hard.  I actually kept mine at 0.130 this year because of the heat stress and if I wanted it a bit faster, I just rolled twice with the reel off after I cut. That seemed to pick up almost a foot of speed. I play on a course with slowish greens so it was fine for practice and didn't place as much stress on the green.

[DShepley]

Snuck a bit of time on the green yesterday afternoon but only brief.  I received a gift in the mail from The Golfer's Journal and just had to test out the Titleist White Box Pro V1 prototypes.  A nice sneak peak at next year's ball.  The Golfer's Journal is great, it's my frivolous golf spend for the past four years, very interesting articles and some great podcasts and content on their discord.  I received the balls because I joined the discord server to listen to an interview with the Titleist RD and Marketing team who explained the process of design from the start of the company through the generations of the Pro V1.  If you are thinking of subscribing, you can use my referral link, https://www.golfersjournal.com/referral/c3686837744 . To be upfront, you would get to join a premium golf publication that is still in hard copy form, (I love flipping through an actual book), and I will get some cool things in the mail if you use my link.

 

Edited November 9, 2022 by DShepley

[Phireside]

The Golfer's Journal is great but a bit too spendy for us Canucks. I got an annual subscription for my birthday one year, but couldn't justify renewing it.

[DShepley]

9 minutes ago, Phireside said:

The Golfer's Journal is great but a bit too spendy for us Canucks. I got an annual subscription for my birthday one year, but couldn't justify renewing it.

I've spent more on worse things but I really think it's well done.

[dcrocketman]

Well the lake affect storm did affect my green . I did treat for snow mold but probably will again when it melts