Wet weather adds to disease pressure at Victoria Park

Dollar spot disease on fairway

The wet spring has many benefits for the turf at Victoria Park. The rough has never been this lush and thick this time of year. We have hardly had to water the golf course. The water table is high and the course looks great. The downfall of all the rain is we can hardly keep up to keeping the rough mowed and as a result, some golfers complain about how hard it is to play and find their balls. The other problem with so much wet weather and especially the high humidity is the presence of turf diseases. Turf diseases which are also referred to as fungus, pathogens, mould etc. and are the most persistent (and expensive) pest problem on golf courses in southern Ontario. The main reason is the type of turf grass used on most golf courses. Creeping Bentgrass and Annual Bluegrass is much more prone to turf diseases than Kentucky Bluegrass which is primarily found on home lawns. There are also many different types of Turf grass diseases some prefer cool weather and some prefer hot weather. Some diseases will only occur once if the weather conditions are just right and some are more persistent and last all season long. Some disease are more of a nuisance and some can be devastating if left untreated. Some diseases can go untreated  especially if the weather conditions will that caused the outbreak are no longer present. Some diseases do have to be treated with a fungicide. This is especially true for dollar spot. Dollar spot shown in the picture is the most persistent disease at Victoria Park East. The Creeping bentgrass and annual bluegrass (poa) greens, tees and fairways are very susceptible. Golfers may have already noticed the spots about the size of a silver dollar. If left untreated the spots will spread and eventually kill the turf. Lets hope for some less humid weather.
Until next time...
David

Wildlife at Victoria Park

This fawn was found by members on Sunday morning near the 13th ladies tee at Victoria Park East. I actually drove by it earlier and thought it was a brown paper bag. The humane society was called they moved the fawn to a more secluded spot and told us it is normal for the mother doe to leave the fawn during the day. I checked on the fawn at 5:30am on Monday and it was gone.
The golf course is full of diverse wildlife. Unfortunately most golfers only see the Canadian Geese! This time of year keep an eye out for snapping turtles trying to nest in a sand trap or cart path. Wild Turkeys are becoming more prevalent in our area. They are around but quite shy.


The most unusual presence of wildlife at Victoria Park Valley has been the number of coyote sightings. It is rather the same few coyotes seen frequently. They have always been around but are usually much more aloof of humans. Some people are understandably concerned by this. The coyote's main diet is rodents, small mammals, reptiles, birds, berries and seeds. - NOT GOLFERS!We have spotted what seems to be a den on the golf course which would explain the multiple sightings.   Until next time...... David

May Projects at Victoria Park

Green side Bunker - Hole #1 at East
 

 May is a good time to finish spring projects before the golf course gets really busy. At the East course we are rebuilding a few bunkers edges. Bunker edges are continually changing because the sand is blasted up in the faces from golf shots and to a lessor extent wind. Green side bunkers with a lot of play need to be rebuilt every six to eight years.

New Rain shelter at Valley

New Rain shelters are being built at the Valley. Locations of the new rain shelters are Between Lakes # 4 and #6, Beside Pines #6 green, and beside Valley #6 fairway. The shelters should be completed some time next week.
Hopefully we don't need them. Until next time...
David

Ice storm causes major damage at Victoria Park!

The ice storm yesterday caused a lot of tree damage, power outage at the Valley and major damage to the driving range fence at the East course. We are assessing the extent of the damage but I know it is extensive, will take a lot of time and cost a lot of money. We will let golfers know the fence is damaged and balls from the range will potentially go onto holes # 1 and # 9.  Old man winter clearly wanted to leave his mark on 2013! Until next time... David

Golf Course is Open!

Both the Valley and the East course opened today. The Lakes course including all 9 greens plus the driving range were open for play.
At the East course we were able to open 9 holes and the driving range. As I said in my last post the greens are in great shape. The picture shows Jason Sewell (Valley Superintendent) walk mowing # 2 green at  the Valley. We would like to open the rest of the course by the weekend but the forecast is for a lot of rain. We will have to see what the next few days brings us.  I will keep you posted.
Until next time... David

Greens are in Great Shape at Victoria Park!

#18 Green 2013

The snow has finally melted on 90 % of the golf course and so far I like what I see. There is virtually no winter injury to speak of. In other words the greens are in great shape! Golf Course Superintendents and Managers always anticipate the first sight of the greens after snow melt with a little concern. In my last post I said I was not too worried because there was no real ice build up and I did see the greens during the early February thaw. However the prolonged spring did have me thinking a bit. The forecast does not look that great for this week but we hope to get on the course cleaning up by the end of the week. Until next time...
David

#18 Green 2010 with winter injury

Spring is just around the corner - or not!

This is what we all had to deal with last week. Spring is certainly taking its time this this year. It feels like the snow will never melt especially after last year's record breaking warm March. I remember working outside on the golf course, the kids wearing t-shirts and opening up the driving range. This is more like a traditional winter. Although the golf business really gets excited over early spring openings; it is only March 8th. There are some benefits with this traditional winter. The amount of snow we have and the fact that it is melting slowly is really good for the water table. Last year was quite dry and there was a huge concern that we could still be in a drought situation if we had below normal precipitation in the winter. Water quantity and quality will continue to be a huge concern especially in the Guelph area. As far as the condition of the turf, I have not been able to see if there is any damage. I do feel better this year compared to the spring of 2010. We experienced the worst winter injury ever. We had a thick ice layer on the greens around Christmas that year which lasted until March. The amount of ice and duration it lasted caused a lot of poa annua turf to die on the greens. This winter we had a major thaw in early February which melted all ice.  Therefore any ice build up will not be on the greens that long. I am anxiously waiting for the snow to melt at an even pace. I may even shovel some snow off some greens to help melt it faster. I will keep you posted.

Until next time - David