Fall Update

As fall approaches growing conditions for much of the turf showing signs of stress will improve. Turf growing on the golf course can be classified as either cool season or warm season. The Kikuyu grass found in fairways and rough and the Bermuda grass found on tees are in the warm season group. These grasses prefer daytime temperatures above eighty degrees and night temperatures over sixty. Warm season grasses perform best April through October. As fall temperatures drop growth of warm season grasses slows. As winter temperatures drop lower Kikuyu grass and Bermuda grass will stop growing losing their green color turning straw color. Growth will start again in March as temperatures increase.

The grass Poa annua found on our greens, green surrounds, tees, fairways and rough are in the cool season group which prefers daytime temperatures less than eighty-five degrees and night temperatures in the forties. Rye grass growing around greens ,on tees, in fairways and in the rough though more heat resistant than Poa is also in the cool season group.

The natural growth pattern for Poa is for seed to germinate in the fall grow through winter and spring then die as the temperatures exceed ninety degrees. Maintaining healthy Poa during summer months is only possible through intense maintenance usually limited to greens. Greens aprons do not receive as intense maintenance as greens and show significant stress by late summer as we have seen this year. In an ideal transition from overseeded Rye grass or naturally occurring Poa the warm season grass will grow and fill areas faster than the cool season grasses die off. On the majority of the golf course transition takes place without notice. Unfortunately the longer cool season grasses survive into summer the poorer the transition will be. What is commonly seen, as failure of Poa and Rye grass in late summer on golf courses through out southern California is actually cool season grass dying off as programmed by Mother Nature. Areas around the golf course where cool season grasses are showing stress have been fertilized to encourage Kikuyu grass and Bermuda grass to fill in. Areas around greens have been overseeded with Rye grass to cover the bare areas.

Many Los Angeles residents are unaware water use restrictions have not been lifted. Golf courses that purchase potable water from Los Angeles Department of Water and Power have a monthly water allotment. If a golf course exceeds their allotment three times in one year the golf course will be restricted to irrigating only three times a week. August was one of the hottest months on record with thirteen days over one hundred degrees. Irrigation was increased during August because of the extreme heat which resulted in receiving our first warning for exceeding our allotment. Most of the turf damage this summer is related to water restrictions.

Getting the correct amount of water on the entire golf course is a very difficult task. Unfortunately irrigation systems do not distribute water evenly. With the best irrigation system other factors such as wind, slopes and trees effect water distribution. There are many soil types found through out the golf course ranging from fine clay with great water holding capacity to soil made up of course sand and rock the size of bowling balls that hold very little water, and sand stone that neither water or roots can penetrate. With a typical nights watering in summer of .25 inches of water clay soil will be wet for a couple days where a sandy gravel soil two days later may have dead grass due to drought. These factors do not take in to account huge shifts in weather that occur along inland foothills. To eliminate all dry spots would require increased irrigation, which would result in increased wet spots. Sense most golfers find wet areas more of
a annoyance than dry areas, our irrigation goal is to have far fewer wet areas than dry areas.

Landscaping

During the past few days we have renovated the landscaping for the Porter Valley sign at the corner of Rinaldi and Tampa. The over grown Day Lilies that were blocking view of the sign were removed. The new plants are a combination of annuals, perennials and ground cover.The low growing annuals planted directly in front of the sign will be change as the seasons change. The ground cover, Snow in Summer, when mature will be covered with small white flowers through out the summer. The Society Garlic planted to the side of the sign will provide color through out the year.

Heat Stress

In the video below Dr.Wendy Gelernter  explains what happens in turf plants when they over heat. At Porter Valley we have two types of turf at risk of over heating. The first and most important is Poa annua ,a cool season grass, found on our greens, green surrounds, tees and  fairways during winter and spring, and  in shady areas. In the video Dr.Gelernter discuses cool season grasses but does not mention Poa annua even though Poa annua is the most common turf on greens in coastal California. In most areas of the country Poa annua is considered very undesirable because of its susceptibility to heat stress. In the video Dr.Gelerner  mentions cool season grasses suffer when temperatures exceed 90 degrees for a few hours. Two weeks ago temperatures at Porter Valley exceeded 102 degrees on  three consecutive days resulting in almost no damage to our greens. Healthy greens under these high temperatures is only possible with a healthy root system and an adequate supply of water. To insure healthy roots green  are aerified every three to four weeks during summer months and irrigation is increased. The Poa annua growing in the other areas of the golf course do not receive the same  intense maintenance as the greens and do not survive  as well as the Poa annua on the greens.  The other cool season turf at Porter Valley is the Rye grass used to overseed tees and fairways. Most of the thin off color turf along the fairway edges is heat stressed Rye grass. As the weather cools in the fall the Rye grass will recover and fill in.

The following United States Golf Association video explains why greens need to be hand watered.
Generally speaking we hand water greens in the morning before play. However as temperatures reach the one hundred degree mark we do some hand watering of greens and green surrounds during the day.

White Things

Shelters protecting Coast Live Oaks

Have you wondered what those odd looking white things are up on the slopes? Inside the protective screens are newly sprouted Coast Live Oak seedlings. Back in October over a thousand  acorns were collected from native oaks growing in Browns Canyon, DeSoto Avenue above the 118 freeway. The acorns were stored in a refrigerator for six weeks, before planting, to improve germination. In mid December over three hundred locations were planted with three acorns each. The acorns were watered at the time of planting and two weeks later to improve germination.  By early January most of the acorns had germinated and the seedlings had emerged. Shelters were made, from the old greens cover  used when seventeen green was rebuilt in 1994, and placed around the seedlings in January.

Coast Live Oak seedlings growing inside shelters

Protecting the oak seedlings for a couple years will improve their chance of surviving to maturity.The abundant  rabbit and squirrel population living  on the golf course are a serious threat to small plants and have caused the loss of many of the native plants planted the past two years. Protecting  the seedlings from wind and direct sun lite will also increase survival. With the limited rain fall this year the young seedlings will need an occasional watering until next rainy season. If the seedlings survive until next years rainy season they have a good chance of making it to maturity.

Twenty foot Coast Live Oak  behind 13 green
 Planted from seed ten years ago 

 Initially the turf reduction project was to reduce water usage. It has also been an  opportunity  to return part of the golf course to a more natural condition.  Drought tolerant native plants were selected for replanting slopes and one of the most common native trees in Southern California is the Coast Live Oak. Prior to the turf reduction project there were about thirty five coast Live Oaks at Porter Valley. During the  turf reduction ninety Coast Live Oaks were planted. As the thousand or so recently planted  Coast Live Oaks mature they will dominate the landscape as they did before the golf course was built.

                                                               

Work to repair broken cart paths on holes 2,14, and 15 is under way and should be completed by the end of this week.

Broken concrete being removed near 15 lake

Concrete being replaced near 15 lake

Our tee renovation project is scheduled to begin Monday, April 23rd. The plan is to complete construction  in two weeks and allow three to four weeks for grow in. Tees should reopen the last week of May. The driving range tee will be closed during construction and tee mats will be used during grow in. The other tees will use a combination of existing tees and temporary tees.

The following is a list of tees to be resurfaced.

2  both levels

3 right side tee

5 complete tee 

9 left tee

11 front level

17 front level

18 back level and championship 

Driving range tee

In addition to tee renovation the contractor will also repair broken cart paths on holes 2,14,and 15.

Greens aeration and topdressing is scheduled for April 17th and 18th. Due to the amount of time required to complete  aeration and topdressing, the front nine will be closed Tuesday and the back nine will be closed Wednesday.
Below is a video by Dr. Larry Stowell from PACE Turf explaining why greens need aeration and topdressing.

The two inches of rain we received Sunday and Monday was great for the golf course. Fairways and rough were too wet for mowing Monday and Tuesday, but mowing will start tomorrow. Some of the wetter areas may not be cut until Friday. Normally rough is cut two times a week, but with the wet condition rough will be mowed one time this week resulting in some clumps of grass in the thicker rough. The fertilizer we applied two weeks ago is working.  The fairways have greened up and the rough is growing.   The wet condition has delayed the spraying of broad leaf weed but should be completed next. Bunker edging should be completed this week.

Spring Maintenance