GROUNDS | JON URBANSKI, DIRECTOR OF GOLF COURSES AND GROUNDS
Over the course of the fall of 2024, the winter months of ‘24/2025, and the spring of ’25, our staff spent many hours aerifying the roughs and seeding over 14,000 pounds of turf-type tall fescue. For many weeks, the seed sat just in the ground. This was due to a few factors such as a lack of moisture and dwindling soil temps to spur growth. But in the last several weeks, soil temps have increased, and we received some timely rains at the end of the March and beginning of April (the remaining ¾ of the month has been dry and WINDY!). We are seeing very good results with seedlings sprouting in all areas. To help the new turf grow, we have had in place ropes and stakes. Much of this was to control our maintenance traffic. As the new turf matures and can withstand vehicular flow, we will reduce the amount of staking on the golf courses. The weather patterns mentioned above have had a negative effect on the opening of the tennis courts. Work that we have been accustomed to accomplishing at the beginning of April was hampered by these rains, keeping the courts too soft to get equipment on the surfaces to grade the Har Tru. High winds hindered the ability to install new material. For the 2025 outdoor clay court season, we took a different approach that we hope will be the secret sauce to a great season. In the past, our outside contractor would remove “dead” Har Tru from what was left from the winter and then topdress lightly with additional Har Tur and line the courts. This year, we knew we had to increase the amount of material applied. We ended up applying approximately three tons of new Har Tru to courts one through seven. Courts eight through eleven did not need quite as much but still received two tons of material per court. With the increased Har Tru applied, it was necessary to box grade the courts for compaction and pitch. As the courts opened at the end of April, it is our hope the added care at the onset of the season will play into favorable court conditions all year long. This month will see a lot of applications to various areas of the turf landscape. In short, all our pre-emergent applications for crabgrass, or warding off insects such as Japanese beetles or Annual Bluegrass Weevils, come due in about two to three-week time span. In addition, our annual rough application of fertilizer will be applied.
The turf on the golf courses, club grounds, and racquet areas uses technology that will feed the plant over a 12-to-14-week time period. Your run of the mill, quick release fertilizers only feed the plant, depending upon rate of application, from a few days to three weeks.
The long-chained, controlled release nitrogen (CRN) fertilizer used is encapsulated in an organic resin. When water is applied, either naturally (rain) or synthetically (irrigation), the coating acts as a semi-permeable membrane, absorbing water and partially dissolves the fertilizer inside the prill to create a solution of nutrients. The rate at which the release of nutrients occurs is affected by both soil moisture and temperature. Adequate moisture level is critical for the reaction to take place inside the CRN particle and the temperature of the soil directly impacts the permeability of the pore spaces of the coating.
The benefits from using controlled release fertilizers over quick release or ‘straight’ fertilizers in a nutrient management include: improved plant growth and health and reduced frequency of applications, which directly involves labor resources that can be redirected to other tasks throughout the season.
As the we enter the point of the season where golf play really gets moving, a few reminders…
1.Fix your pitch mark, plus one other. 2.Fill divots – a little bit goes a long way! Please err on the small side of applying the divot mix, no mounds. 3.Bunkers: please enter and exit on the low side and do not walk up the face or bank in either direction. 4.Park on paths where available. Please keep carts from greens and tees approximately 10 yards or 30 feet. 5.Forge your own Path. Scatter all cart traffic and do not follow established tracks. 6.When practicing, utilize the straight-line method of taking a divot.
Lastly, have a great month and HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY!
Jon Urbanski
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