MID-

ATLANTIC Sews Letter Published by

Mid-Atlantic Association of Golf Course Superintendents to aid in the Advancement of the Golf Course Superintendent through Education and Merit

Vol . XV October 25, 1965

D i r e c t o r R O B E R T M A R T I N O

E d i t o r s J A M E S E . T H O M A S L E E C . D I E T E R

No. 10

COURSE

NEXT M E E T I N G The November meeting of the Mid-Atlantic Superintendents Associat ion wi l l be held on the 2nd at Crofton Golf Club, Crofton, Maryland. Anyone wishing to play golf w i l l be we lcome f r o m 10:00 A M on. Lunch wi l l be avai lable. Drinks may be purchased at the bar f r o m 5:30 P M to 6:30 P M . Dinner w i l l be served at 6:30 with the business meeting fo l lowing. Dr . F red Grau wi l l be our speaker for the evening.

OUR HOST Wi l l i am J. Emerson worked at Wahconah Country Club in Dalton, Massachusetts, f r o m 1956 to I960. While at this club he attended and graduated f r o m the Stockbridge Turf Course under P r o f . Joseph T ro l l . The f i r s t three of these years Mr . Emerson was with David Canavan then Supt. at Wahconah. In 1961, he worked with Moore, Ke l l y &: Reddish in Saratoga Springs, New York , building a public course fo r the state. F r o m 1962 to 63 he was super-intendent of Stockbridge Golf Course in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. In 1964, B i l l came to Crofton to supervise construction of the course.

Bi l l is marr i ed to the f o rme r Pa t r i c ia Cassidy of P i t ts f i e ld , Massachu-setts, and has two fine children, Shawn Z\ and Sharen 3 months. Bil l and his fami ly l i ve at Crofton.

THE COURSE The community of Crofton is being developed by the Crofton Corporation; Mr . W. H. Crawford is its president. It w i l l be a complete self contained community.

Crofton Golf Course is a 6800 yard, par 72 course laid out on gently sloping forested f a r m land. Mr . Edmond B. Ault designed the course; it was built by the De l -Va l Construction Corporat ion of T revosee , Pennsylvania.

The penncross greens average 8, 500 sq. f t . , have plenty of cupping space and are cut four t imes a week. They were given 12 lbs. of N the past year ; 10-8-4 and urea f o rm were used to supply the N. They are cut at 1/4 iruch ye^ir round. A preventative spray p rog ram is pract iced weekly .

The tees are mer ion and penncross and are cut at 3/4 inch twice a week. Ten pounds of N. was supplied f r o m 10-8-4 and urea form.

The watered fa i rways consist of pennla^vn fescue, redtop and Kentucky bluegrass. They are cut at 7/8 inch twice a week. They were over seeded with Ar izona hulled bermuda two years in a row. This fa l l they were over seeded with highland bentgrass and rece ived 4 lbs. N f r o m 10-8-4.

The roughs are K -31 fescue cut at 4 inches. They rece i ved 2 lbs. N f r o m 10-8-4.

DIRECTIONS TO THE CLUB F r o m Washington: Beltway to route 50 East . Turn off at Maryland route 3 North. 6 miles to Crof ton on right.

F r o m Bal t imore : Route 3 South. Crofton wi l l be on le f t 21 mi les f r o m Bal t imore .

B I L L GLOVER TOURNAMENT The second annual Bi l l Glover Tournament was held at Woodmont on October 12th. Fourty-six members and guests played the we l l groomed course. Bob Shields was host superinten-dent.

The Bi l l Glover Trophy for low gross was won by Robert Martino with a 79, low net was won by Russ Kerns 89 - 19, 70. Other low gross pr i zes we r e won by L . Sol ley and Bi l l Emerson , Bob Mi l ler and Ernest Stanley. Other low net winners we re Sam Kesse l , Stan Lawson, Charles Schalestock and John Milan. Other pr i zes we r e won by Rudy Spears, George Cornel l and Jim Marshal l .

A l l p r i z es we re purchased and presented by the association.

The B i l l Glover Trophy is presented annually by Joan Connolly.

POSITIONS OPEN Reston Golf Club, Res ton, Virg inia, is seeking a qual i f ied man to f i l l the position of Golf Course Superintendent. Salary open, f r inge benef i ts . Eventual plans call for an additional 18 hole course and two nine hole layouts. Interested persons may contact Mr . E lmer Burch at 703-471-4307.

Springf ie ld Country Club is taking applications f r o m Class A Superintendents interested in the Golf Course Superintedent vacancy at their club. Salary open. Send resume and salary des i red to Mr . Clyde Luther, Greens Chairman, Springf ie ld Country Club.

NEW MEMBER Mr . James F . Marshal l , Superintendent at Oregon Ridge Country Club in Mi l l e rs , Maryland, is one of our newest members .

EMERSON

M A I N T E N A N C E

The following cartoon was submitted for your amusement by Thomas Doerer , Sr . , father of our president Thomas Doerer , Jr . , and cartoonist and wr i te r for the Balt imore News Post Amer ican. This is his impression of the poor, heckled Golf Course Superintendent.

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COMING E L E C T I O N The nominating committee submits the fol lowing names for consideration in the annual election in December .

Pres ident : Sheldon Better ly , Chantilly Country Club, Centrev i l le , Virg inia Angelo Cammaroto, Bonnie View Country Club, Bal t imore , Maryland

Vice Pres ident : Bob Martino, Island View Golf Course, Sterl ing, Virg inia Edward Morse , Maryland Country Club, Be la i re , Maryland

Secre ta ry -Treasurer : George C leaver , Chestnut Ridge Country Club, Lutherv i l le , Mary -land

Directors (two to be elected f o r three year t e rms : Bi l l Emerson, Crofton Golf Club, Crofton, Maryland; Bradley Strouth, Northwest Park Golf Course, S i lver Spring, Maryland; Russel Kerns, Greenhill Yacht and Country Club, Salisbury, Maryland; Bob Mil l igan, Gun-powder Golf Course, Laure l , Maryland.

RESERVE THIS D A T E On Thursday, December Z, 1965, the Mid-Atlantic Associat ion of Golf Course Superinten-dents wi l l honor their f r iend, Wi lson Disney, with a test imonial dinner at the Washingtonian Motel. Lets have a 100% turnout to honor our old f r iend.

WINTER P R O T E C T I O N OF GREENS - - J. R? WatSon, J r . , D i rec tor , Agronomy Division, Toro Mfg . Corp. , Minneapolis, Minnesota

During late fa l l , winter and ear ly spring, turf grass areas are subject to vary ing degrees of injury. Such injury is d irect ly re lated to soil environment, weather - especia l ly t emper-ature and wind - and the amount of t ra f f i c - both foot and vehicular. In some years , if cl imatic environmental conditions are optimum, l i tt le, if any damage may occur. In other years , only slight variat ion in one or more c l imat ic factors may produce severe winter injury. Winter injury may be c lass i f i ed into rather general and broad classi f icat ions -mechanical and physiological damage.

Mechanical Damage - This type of winter injury is produced by mechanical means. With one exception, it is caused by man and may damage tur fgrass direct ly or indirect ly .

Direct injury to tur fgrass is produced by t ra f f i c - foot and vehicular - when the grass is covered by f r os t or when it is dormant or semi-dormant and the soil is part ial ly or com-pletely f rozen . Examples are : 1) bruising (cel lular rupture) resulting f r o m t ra f f i c on f rosted grass - this is especia l ly serious in late fa l l and ear ly spring; Z) attrit ion caused by t ra f f i c when the soil is part ia l ly or completely f rozen . Such is especial ly damaging when the grass is semi-dormant - it may be ki l led at this t ime by "scuf f ing . "

Indirect injury to tur fgrass is produced by t ra f f i c on part ial ly f rozen or wet soi l . The injury produced may be immediate ly evident (v is ib le ) or delayed ( invis ib le ) . An example of the v is ib le type of injury is soil displacement - the footprinting and rutting caused by traf f ic sliding and slipping, as we l l as walking or ro l l ing. An example of the invisible type of injury is soil compaction. This is certainly not confined to the winter months, although it may be far more damaging during this per iod than general ly recognized. T r a f -f ic on greens, without the protect ion of l iving grass, w i l l exer t greater pressure (hence, more compacting f o r c e ) than when the grass is growing act ive ly . This results, subse-quently, in poor growth and may explain "p rob l em a r ea s " which show up in spring and summer for no apparent reason.

Heaving - the one exception to mechanical damage caused by man is a natural phenomenon caused by alternate f reez ing and thawing of the soil which simply pushes or "heaves " plants with inadequately or poorly anchored roots out of the soi l . Heaving may be especial ly damaging to new stands planted late or without adequate nutrition or on poorly prepared seedbeds.

Methods of preventing or avoiding al l of the above types of mechanical damage, with the exception of the injury caused by heaving, may be avoided by simply preventing tra f f ic during the late fa l l , winter and ear ly spring when adverse weather or soil conditions occur.

It is recognized that this is " eas i e r said than done. " It is also recognized that, while such may be des irable f r o m an agronomic standpoint, it is not desirable f r o m the standpoint of the club or of the l imited number of p layers who wish to take advantage of each opportunity to get outside during the winter . It is suggested that the superintendent, in cooperation with the Green Committee should: 1) thoroughly acquaint the membership with the potential damage f r o m uncontrolled t ra f f i c ; 2) budget funds to provide for additional maintenance required to co r rec t injury and to bring the course into top playing condition in as short a t ime as possible the fol lowing spring; 3) prepare and present programs for diverting play to t emporary greens (where such are feas ib le ) , for absolute control of t ra f f i c during pe r -iods of advers i ty and for re-rout ing of t ra f f i c to avoid damage to cr i t ica l areas .

Potential damage or losses f r o m heaving may be reduced on established turf by carrying out recommended management programs that insure deep root development. On newly estab-l ished areas, heaving may be reduced or avoided by ear l i e r planting, good seedbed prepara-tion and providing suff icient nutrition to insure deeper and more profuse root development. Making certain that soil goes into the winter with an adequate supply of moisture w i l l also protect against heaving. When heaving does occur an early light rol l ing may save some of the plants.

Phys io log ica l Damage - This type of damage suf fered by plants during the winter months is general ly r e f e r r e d to as "winterk i l l . " Most "w in te rk i l l " is the result of either disease, dessicat ion or low temperatures, under certain conditions suffocation and scald may cause severe loca l i zed damage.

Suffocation - Grass may suffocate a) if interchange of atmospheric soil gases is reduced or stopped; b) if excess carbon dioxide accumulates; or c ) if oxygen supplies are reduced to a minimum. Such conditions exist when an area is poorly drained, the soil saturated for extended per iods or the green covered with i ce . The degree of damage expected f r o m this latter condition may be direct ly related to the rate at which the plant is or was growing at the t ime of coverage . More growth - more damage.

Scald - Standing water or ice sheets may act as a lens under certain conditions. When this happens, the sun's rays are magnif ied to the point where the excess ive heat produced may cause a burning or scalding of the tur fgrass .

Methods of preventing or avoiding suffocation and scald are related basical ly to improve -ment of dra inage-sur face and sub-s-urface - to prevent ponding or accumulation of water and to breaking up of ice sheets when they occur. Topdresging, level ing or grading, instal la-tion of French drains and avoidance of over stimulation o f growth late in the fa l l or during the winter are techniques and pract ices which help to o f fset winterki l l caused by suffocation . and scald.

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MID-ATLANTIC Sews Letter 5007 - 34th St. , North Arlington 7, Va.

A B C D FOR BEJ

BUSINESS S