Well this can't be good!

Over the past couple of days I have noticed some dry or wilted Turf on our 5 week old champion greens. My first instinct is that it was dry and I should water it. that would be a huge mistake because after a few phone calls and sending pictures to some of my colleagues and the people from champion turf farms, we have determined that this is Pythium blight. this can be a common fungus in sunny, hot, wet, cloudy, rainy, stupid humid Florida!

Rest assured,  I have made and will continue to make the proper fungicide applications to rectify this stupid fungus!  I have also gotten down on my hands and knees and screamed at it. (The people that lived next to that green were staring at me for some reason when I was doing that?!?!)

For more info on Pythium blight. Click the link below.
http://www.turfdiseases.org/southeast/new-challenge-arises-for-superintendents-managing-ultradwarf-bermudagrass/

Please pray for me and my sanity as I try to sleep tonight.

These are the things that keep us Superintendents on our toes. Left untreated or undiagnosed, we would have been back to square one.
I'll update later. Hopefully, before the neighbors of the golf course have me baker acted! Cheers.

Just a quick Saturday Update on Greens Grow in

This is day 24 after planting.
Mowing @. 200 .....
Start topdressing and lowering HOC next week. Topping off @ .140 before opening.

Update on renovation Process

We are just under a month of progress in our 2015 renovation 13 days ago we planted the champion greens and we are currently tilling up the tees to prepare for laser leveling.
The weather has cooperated fantastic during the entire process. Stay tuned for more updates!

Moving right along

Day 5 after planting Champion turf on our greens. Watering 3 minutes every 30 minutes. This turf is living up to it's name. It's growing like a Champion!

Champion Turf has been planted!

Yesterday....Tuesday May 19th, 2015 All of our existing 19 greens plus the 3 new greens we have designed and constructed have been planted. The grow in will take a minimum of 9 weeks (weather permitting). During this time we will till, topdress and laser level all of the tee boxes and we will be adding several new tee boxes. Here is some information on our new putting surfaces;

The best putting surface. No other grass has a growth habit quite like Champion Dwarf Bermudagrass and therefore no other bermudagrass can produce the exceptional putting surface that the Champion can. Even among the ultradwarf cultivars, there is no other grass capable of producing the incredible ball roll of a well-maintained Champion green. This was confirmed in the National Turfgrass Evaluation Program Trials where Champion had STIMP meter speeds of nearly two feet faster than other ultradwarf cultivars. Supported like no other. Other ultradwarf varieties are sold under license by various sod farms along with any other grasses they offer for sale. The Champion is the only one that is produced and planted by the breeders themselves. We have been working with the Champion since the late 1980’s and we have invested considerable resources developing the best management practices. We make this information available to every superintendent who has Champion through personal follow-up visits, publications, and the Champion Superintendent’s Network. If a course we planted (even many years ago) needs help with their greens, we will be there with just a phone call. When your greens are planted by Champion Turf Farms, the purity, establishment, and performance of your greens is guaranteed. Track record. Champion was the first ultradwarf cultivar, released in 1995. Champion has been planted on over 530 courses in 16 states, and Champion greens planted over 10 years ago are still performing well today. No-Till Renovation™. The No-Till Renovation™ is a proprietary process developed by Champion Turf Farms for renovating existing greens without reconstruction. The Champion was originally selected by Morris Brown because it had the growth habit necessary to make the No-Till Renovation process possible. Champion Dwarf Bermudagrass is produced exclusively by Champion Turf Farms which means that whether you have a new project or a renovation we will there Before, During, and After to insure your successful outcome.

Stage 1 of our 2015 Golf Course renovation is complete!

Stage 1 of this Summers project has come to a close making way for the next step. Stage 1, which was a "in-house" project was performed by the Maintenance team at VPGC. Stage 1 is defined by the following; 1. Spray out new green areas with 2 "Total Kill" herbicide. 2. Remove sod in collars that will be part of the new greens.(collar turf is Bermuda 419 and MUST be removed as it is an aggressive turfgrass that could regenerate if not removed.) 3. Scalp and vertical cut dead foliage on existing TifDwarf greens to create solid planting surface. 4. Install "greensmix" to new perimeters that was removed in what was the collar previously. This material consists of 80% fine sand and 20% Florida Peat Moss. 5. Grade perimeter area to match depth and height to existing grade of existing greens. 6. Aerify (8 times) existing greens area and push cores into perimeters to assist with leveling. 7. Fumigate (contractor) all new greens to ensure that there are no previous grasses and/or insects and nematodes for grow-in. 8. Grade new greens to ensure surface water movement. 9. Apply several "pre plant" soil conditioners and ammendments. Followed by several varieties of Natural and Organic fertilizers. The team from Champion Turf Farms will be on site tomorrow (May 19th) to sprig all 23 of our greens. At that point, we will move to Stage 2 (grow-in of greens) and Stage 3 (demolition and tilling up the tees for leveling)

First week of renovation is completed!

We got a lot done this first week and if the great weather keeps up, we should have all 23 greens grassed by Monday, May 18th. At that point we will start the grow in process of the Champion greens and begin the demolition and leveling of the new tees. I have included some pictures from this past week. Stay tuned for more pictures and a few videos.

Day 1 renovation update

Day one will be in the books at 6:00 p.m. Eastern Time. We have scalped and removed most if the dead tissue and leaf blades that was on the existing tifdwarf greens. We have sod cut all perimeters and will have removed all sod on 10 greens to make way for new material that will increase the size of the putting surfaces. My 6 man crew has worked diligently today and have been motivated throughout today's process.  We are pushing to get all of this material removed by mid day Tuesday because mother nature seems to be tempting us with an early season tropical depression.

It has begun!

This morning marks are first spray of round up on the greens to kill the existing Turf. we will repeat this stuff on Wednesday and possibly again on Friday to ensure all of the turf grass has been eliminated before we begin construction on Monday May 4.

Tomorrow (4/27/2015) The beginning of the end.

Tomorrow will kick off our start to the upcoming renovation project. Although, the course will remain open for another week, we will spray all greens with our total kill (Roundup Max) tomorrow (Mon.) and again on Wednesday. So....with that being said. By this Friday, come to Vista Plantation GC to putt on the fastest, deadest greens in the area. LOL. We are spraying out the original TifDwarf greens that have been there since the Golf Course opened in 1985. These 30 year old greens have lived longer than expected and change is good. We are installing Champion "UltraDwarf Bermudagrass on all of our greens including the 2 new practice greens and the 4000ft2 nursery.

VPGC will be getting New Greens and Tees in Summer of 2015

Drainage? We don't need no stinkin' drainage!

Why is drainage so important for healthy grass?
Walking on, maintaining, or driving over soil that is saturated will compact the soil by forcing suspended soil particles into air voids. This will make the surface hard and uneven as well as inhibiting healthy plant growth. Soil that is saturated or lacking in voids will not yield healthy grass

This is the practice green this past August a half hour after a 2 inch / 25 minute deluge of tropical rain!

This green is 30 years old and has no drainage (duh!!) This is the most used putting ssurface on the GC. Compaction of this green is at an all time high!

Lined up at Tee #1

Averaging 160 a day......

UPDATES PLEASE?!?!?!

For the past few months I have not been updating this blog. Not for the fact that we have been unbelievably busy at VPGC.
The blogger app on my phone was malfunctioning and my computer in the office was struck by lightning a few months ago.
As most of you know, the greens here at VPGC are 30 years old TifDwarf and were constructed with "push up" soil with no drainage installed other than what I have added since my tenure here Jan. 2012.
Needless to say, myself and my 4 man crew have been busy after a record setting rainfall year of 2014.
94.8 inches total. 80 inches of that fell in the 3 months of Summer.
So, I will do my best to catch up.
See you soon....