Its that time of year...

Well Folks, it's that time of year when things wind down for good...or do they? Finn finished up a couple of weeks back and I am finished up for the season this coming Friday. It is nice to have a break before the Christmas season, but soon after that we are on call and in and out of the shop for January and February. We split the snow removal detail and also do weekly checks on the status of the greens, monitoring for ice accumulation. We also try to pick off a couple of projects in the shop that are harder to get done when there is staff around (the list right now includes painting shop floors, shelving in the pesticide storage area, renovating Finn's office and storage area, and new locker set up for the staff). In my spare time I also teach an introductory turf course at Holland College to the first year golf management students (which I enjoy a lot)
So as you can see we may be "off", but really we just slow down a bit.
 I thought I would continue the series on what makes greens great today and look at topdressing. It is easily on of the most important practices we do to keep greens healthy and in proper playing condition, but it is also one of the most misunderstood practices we do.
 First off what does the word "topdressing" mean. Well in the turf world it basically it means to spread a material on the surface of a rough patch in order to smooth it out. It can be done anywhere on the course, from tees, to fairways, to rough, and greens, and it can range in materials like straight sand, to soil amendments like compost. For this chat we are going to focus on the spreading of sand on top of the greens surface.

   Back in the day topdressing was started by this guy (Old Tom Morris, the first Superintendent at the Old Course), and done by hand, with a shovel.

                    That is Gordon Moir, the current Superintendent at St. Andrews (they still use shovels!)

While there are still those who choose to use the shovel and back to spread sand, most golf courses now use mechanical means to achieve the desired result. You can do it one of two ways:
With a walk behind spreader...

 This method works well if you want to spread the sand lightly and not run heavier gear across the greens.It does not require a lot of sophisticated machinery so it can be an option for lower budget courses. Since it spreads the sand lightly it also caused very little disruption to the golfer.  Another plus is the sand is dry so it readily works into the green. On the down side, it is time consuming, more labor intensive and takes a lot of individual bags to get the job done.

With a mechanical spreader...

                       With today's technology mechanical spreaders can spread the sand lightly...

                                                         Or a little on the heavy side.

 The advantages of the truck mounted or tow behind topdressing systems include, variability in spreading depths (more sand by hand = more shoveling), efficiency (one to two men can complete 18 holes in a few hours), even spread (shoveling evenly is an art form in and of itself), and ease of operation. They are expensive to run (you need the spreader itself and the unit to pull it) and require more maintenance, but in the long run it is what most courses use. There are many different models to choose from, but most of the top name brands (toro, dakota, etc) are top quality machines.
 So that is the how we topdress...but you are still asking why? Why do we have to spread sand on the greens regularly...especially when you are about to play? Lets list the reasons below:

1. To smooth the putting surface
    • From a golfer's standpoint, this is one of the most important reasons we spread sand. Imperfections in the surface result from many things (think ball marks, general traffic) and spreading the sand and subsequently brushing it in fill those voids and helps the turf grow back better.

2. To combat thatch production
    • We discussed thatch in the previous chat about aerification. Topdressing is a vital part of the core aerificaiton process, in that we back fill the holes created by spreading heavy amounts of sand on the surface. This new sand creates channels in the thatch layer that allows important air and oxygen to flow into the root zone. Topdressing regularly throughout the season also helps combat thatch production by diluting new thatch and keeping it loose and porous.

                             This is what we strive for, good dilution of the thatch layer with sand.

                     This is not good...notice the density of the dark layer of thatch at the top of the plug.

3. To maintain green speed and keep the greens putting true.
     • As stated in the first point, the sand fills the voids, thus keeping the greens smoother. But this smoothness also helps to keep the green speeds at a good level. We tend to focus more on the trueness than the speed here at Fox Meadow.

The Operation

 Like most things that we do in our profession, there are a million different methods of topdressing greens. While there may be many different ways to spread sand, it does not change the bottom line...you have to spread sand regularly for it to work! Recent studies have shown that we need to be putting down over 300 cubic feet of sand per season. Trust me that's a lot of sand. We here at the Meadow get as close to that number as we can via regular season dressings coupled with the post aeration final application.
 Here is a synopsis of the method that works for us...

1. We mow the green first thing in the morning. This helps to keep the greens consistent and knocks of the
dew.

2. At around 10 am the first tees closes for two hours and the topdressor begins spreading sand on the greens. He goes in order behind the last group out.

                           This guy is not at Fox Meadow, but you get a good idea of the process.

This is the 11th green after the sand has been spread, it helps to have a dry, moderately windy day (you have to be careful in mid summer though, as a dry, hot day can cause a lot of stress to the putting surface...think about a million little magnifying glasses aimed at the turf)

The next step is the brushing. We try to give the sand as much time as possible to dry and then we use a tow behind brush to work the sand into the turf canopy.

We then finish off by rolling the green. By the time we are done the green is back in play and rolling better than before we started.
 The final step occurs that night, with a heavy irrigation cycle.

  Well that is about it in a nutshell. Topdressing is vital to promoting greens health, and we here at Fox Meadow are fortunate to have the necessary tools to get the job done effectively and efficiently.

Thanks for reading...
paul