Publication – GreenMaster

Author – Zia Siddiqi PhD, B.C.E.

Date – August 2007

I chose to write this blog on gophers and their damaging effects to the environment. Gophers can create a problem on many golf courses. They are voracious diggers and since they consume fleshy plant roots, grasses, shrubs, trees and flowering plants they pose a great threat to all golf courses. They also chew utility lines and irrigation wiring, And you thought snow mould was bad!

The article I reviewed discussed three steps in order to manage your gopher problem. Step 1 – Review the problem. You need to look at what you’re dealing with. Where are the gophers located, what are they targeting and how many potentially you are dealing with. Step 2 – Control methods. The article gave several methods of control varying from repellant, baits and traps. repellents seem to work fairly well but gophers are very persistent so other methods work better. Baits and traps work the best. You have to make sure you position them in the right spots and monitor them frequently. Traps are most effective in spring and fall when the gophers are pushing up new mounds. Step 3 – Be proactive and work with a professional. If all of your methods fail try bringing in a professional to help you control your problem.

Finally, If you want to ensure that your golf course stays in tip-top shape you should try to stay on top of the problem. If you leave it to long then the gophers may attract other animals to the site. For example, badgers, weasels and other predators that may also disturb the golf course. Hope this helps with your gopher problem.

-Josh

This past semester Owen Roberts, Andrew Douglas and Anne Douglas have taken the time to help us along with our blogs. This has been an interesting experience keeping up to date tabs on what’s going on in the turf industry. Not only are our blogs being recognized by industry professionals they are helping us communicate with people all across the net. I have become a more confident writer because of this. It’s nice to have a place where you can throw ideas out in the open and no one criticizes your beliefs or theories. I think this will become very important in the future with both superintendents and industry professionals alike. Sharing ideas with each other and even tossing out ideas that may seem ridiculous.

All and all I really have enjoyed this experience. And I’m sure I will continue it in the second semester. So for all my followers out there, stay connected because you will be hearing more from me in the new year.

-Josh

The day started off early. Speakers were set to start at 9:00 am, therefor a coffee was needed to start the day. The day was highlighted with several unique speakers that would provide guests with a chance to hear about something other than the cosmetic pesticide ban. Dr. Tom Hsiang was set to start things off at 9:00 am with a talk on organic compounds for treating brown ring patch and pink snow mold. Tom made the presentation both exciting and interactive. Next on was Ron Scheidel who is Co-owner of Green Horizons Sod Farm. Ron gave the audience a run through about his company and all the services and products they offer. Marie Thorne gave a quick presentation on about Syngenta and how they relate to the turf industry. Finally we heard from both Keith Bartlett and a group of students from our class. Keith is the Superintendent at St. Georges Golf & Country Club. Keith faces the challenge of hosting the 2010 RBC Canadian Open. He talked about some of the changes that the course needed to make in order to host the event.

The event in my opinion ran very smoothly with few if any situations arising. The food was fantastic and the room was filled with the right amount of guests. I don’t think things could have gone much smoother with the time we were provided to set this event up.

Cheers,

-Josh

Kerry took me on a tour of the course and showed me some of the major changes that had taken place recently. On the 5th hole on the Ross design course there were some large oaks removed from around a green site. This has been a major problem for this hole in the past. It only receives a limited amount of light in the early morning. With these trees now removed the green site should be able to provide better growing conditions for turf. Also on the 2nd hole on the Mackenzie course some new drainage was installed in the fairway. This will be beneficial for the coming season. Last year that section of the fairway was hit hard with constant water pooling. This caused the turf to die and it was constantly roped off.

With all these new improvements to the course it should make it easier to maintain in the coming season. St. Charles has quite a year ahead of it and I can’t wait to be a part of this ever evolving golf course.

-Josh

Our host for the inside portion was Brian Bennett. While inside we went over the different products that Agrium Advanced Technologies and its many partners produce. We learned some of the benefits of Polymer coated Urea as well as the impact it has vs the old sulfer coated urea. We also talked briefly about a new product on the market this year called Sarritor. Sarritor is a fungus that targets weeds and destroys them. The fungus is passed onto the weeds from a barley grain, this is where the fungus makes its home until it comes in contact with the weed. The product however needs to be spot treated and it is fairly expensive. It however is a good way to combat weeds.

Todd Christo was our tour guide for the second half of the day. Todd took us on a tour of the blending facilities. Inside they also have an assembly line of workers that package product to go out to the market. The warehouses are stacked full of product waiting to go out.

I really enjoyed the tour and I took away new knowledge that will hopefully benefit me in the future. I also took away a new appreciation for what goes on behind the scenes in fertilizer manufacturing. And thats my blog for this week, stay connected!

-Josh

In 1998, Tim became Director of Communications for  ClubLink Corporation before starting O´Connor Media in 2000. In 2006, Tim renamed the company O´Connor Golf Communications. Tim has been involved in the writing of several books, The Feeling of Greatness : The Moe Norman Story, The Ladies’, and The Final Missing Piece of Ben Hogan’s Missing Puzzle. Tim has covered several big name tournaments including, Masters, Canadian Open, U.S. Open and PGA Championship. Tim has been named International Network of Golf Reporter of the Year three straight years (1994-95-96). Tim is also a graduate of the University of Western Ontario.

I thought what Tim brought to us was unique as it was something we had never been exposed to. It was neat to hear his stories of Moe. Moe Norman is a Canadian golf legend that many people don’t know of. It was nice to know there are other Moe admirers out there other than myself. I for one will buy the movie when it comes out. Thanks again to Tim for taking the time to come in and share some new knowledge with our group.

-Josh

Our tour began with a brief overview of the courses history. Westmount was opened in 1931. Stanley Thompson was the course architect, Mr. Thompson has designed many other world-renowned courses throughout Canada and the United States. Westmount had a serious problem with their irrigation system. It was out of date and it didn’t put out as much water as was needed. At the time they were drawing water from an old well that provides the city of Kitchener with its drinking water. In 2002 they put in a new irrigation system along with a water holding reservoir. This meant that they had more freedom while they watered. The new system allowed them to operate more heads and put out more water thanks to the new pumps. Janzen seems to be quite happy with the new system and suggested it was necessary for the well-being of the clubs future.

The course was in fantastic shape. I loved the old course design and the constant elevation changes. Although subtle they are still game impacting. I look forward to seeing this property in the summer at its very best.

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On a second note, the class of 2011 is holding a symposium at the Cutten Club in Guelph. At this event we will be showcasing several exciting speakers, trouble shooting new problems and networking. If you are interested in the well-being of the turf grass industry this would be a great chance to get out and listen to new ideas as well as suggest solutions to current problems.

-Josh

The golf course has seen many superintendents over the years and they have all had different methods to maintaining the property. Islington had several serious problems. A gentleman built his house within firing range of the third tee, therefor Islington was given no choice but to put up a large barrier fence. Also many of the greens had large deciduous trees around them that cast shade upon the green. As we all know grass needs light to grow and many of these trees needed to be removed. While in the process of putting in the new irrigation system Islington put in a reservoir to hold and treat water. The Mimico creek water is very salty and it is not the best to be watering with.

Islington was a neat experience. It was nice to hear Robins opinions on how to go about installing a new irrigation system. I can see that in the next couple years becoming a must at my home course, so it was nice to actually see a project like that going on first hand. That does it for my blog this week, stay connected!

-Josh

Glen Abbey was designed by Jack Nicklaus and opened in 1976. It has hosted the Canadian Open more times than any other  course. Glen Abbey is home to the RCGA and the ClubLink Academy. Holes 11 through 15 are all located in the valley while the remainder of the holes are located outside of the valley. Hole 15 is a short par 3, this year it yielded 8 hole in ones…….all in one day! Mark Calcavecchia also set a new PGA tour record when he went on a tear from holes 12-2. In that stretch he birdied every hole.

I thought the experience was one of a lifetime. It’s not every day a guy from the prairies gets to visit the home of the Canadian Open. Scott was eager to answer all my questions and even took the interest in asking where I was from and where I worked. All in all I took away a new respect for what it takes to host a PGA tour event. I can’t wait to go back and see what the course looks like in the summer!

-Josh

Lambton set out to find an architect to take over the project, they had a few in mind but they decided on Rees Jones. Rees is known for working with older championship clubs. It was quite obvious they wanted to do it right this time. Earlier this fall they began demolition on the course. This included tearing up existing greens, fairways, tees and trees. Lambton’s crew was responsible for removing 400 existing tree’s. The rough was done in big roll bluegrass, while the greens and fairways were seeded. The surrounds were done with bluegrass small roll. All the existing trees they wanted to protect were placed under TPZ (tree protection zones) where they received orange snow fence and signs from the city. Completion for the project is set for mid august 2010.

I thought that this trip was amazing. Lambton is very similar to the club I work at now. It has many of the problems that my course has and it’s nice to see someone willing to get up and deal with the problems properly rather than making lots of quick fix’s that never seem to work long term. I can’t wait to come back and see what the course looks like once it is all filled in. It should be one of Canada’s premier clubs.

-Josh