eGolf Tour's Championship at Wintergreen to commence Wednesday, June 27 at Stoney Creek

Some of the country's best young professional talent is on hand this week at Stoney Creek for the eGolf Tour's Championship at Wintergreen.  Ninety five players will tee it up starting Wednesday for the coveted title.  The event is a 72 stroke play event on the tour's schedule.  Starting times begin at 7:30 am off the Monocan and Shamokin rotation.  A champion will be crowned on Saturday, June 30.  Admission is free.

35th Annual Member Guest is underway

A great turnout of 42 teams for this year's Member Guest is now into the second day of competition and festivities.  Teams in seven different flights are competing in f5 nine hole matches at Devils Knob and Stoney Creek.  The first day of action was on the mountain at Devils Knob with rounds 1 and 2.  Following play was an evening cookout, a skills challenge and a putting contest. 

Round three is currently in progress with the ever popular horse race this afternoon.  The final two rounds are Saturday at Stoney Creek.  Who will take home the coveted prize?

Golf Course Maintenance- June 15, 2012by Fred Biggers, CGCS, Golf Course Maintenance Director

Poa Annua, Bentgrass and Growth Regulators
“What they are, and how do we use them to improve our Greens?”

Greens and their ultimate quality are a complicated subject and putting conditions are all affected by a number of factors. One of the largest influences on putting green quality is the use of growth regulators. The use of growth regulators is largely influenced by the grass variety blend on the greens.

 At Devils Knob the greens were seeded to Pencross Creeping Bentgrass in 1974. They have been a mixture of approximately 50% Bentgrass and 50% Poa annua for many years.  Some greens are as much as 70% Poa Annua because of their micro climate which favors cool or shady conditions which favor the growth requirements of Poa Annua. Fortunately these greens have been consistently reliable smooth, quick putting surfaces helped greatly by the cool weather conditions at 3,300’ to 3850’ feet of elevation.

 At Stoney Creek the greens on the original 18 holes (Monocan-Shamokin nines) are a mixture of creeping Bentgrass, and Poa Annua. These greens were originally seeded to Pencross creeping bentgrass in 1986-7. Over time the Poa Annua (a low growing, self seeding weedy grass) invades the greens surfaces by having seeds track in on golf shoes, or mowers etc., finding a place to germinate like recent unrepaired ballmarks.  Greens grass populations can shift 2-5% per year from Bentgrass to Poa Annua.

 After 25 years you can see how the population percentage of Poa Annua in the original 18 greens is somewhere between 40% and 70% Poa Annua. The next interesting fact about Poa Annua  as a greens component is that not all Poa Annua varieties are created equal (in appearance!). There are two different types of Poa Annua- Annual and Perennial. Most older greens have significant patches of perennial Poa Annua, which in most cases, completely dominates most of the older Bentgrass varieties. Perennial Poa Annua also does not produce many seedheads which makes it more attractive in blends with Bentgrass. Several of our greens like- Monocan #1 and #5, have large populations of perennial Poa Annua which have persisted very well through many years of intense heat and drought.

Shamokin green Poa-Bent mix with seedheads

We use several different Growth regulators on our greens at Wintergreen. In the early springtime we apply Embark T & O (Mefluidide) on the greens at both Devils Knob and Stoney Creek. The Embark T & O growth regulator helps to prevent the formation of Poa Annua seedheads on the Greens surfaces. Usually the plan of attack is to apply Embark T&O somewhat early before seedheads get visible so a high a percentage of control is achieved. Typically two to three applications of Embark are made at 3 week intervals each course. At Devils Knob after mid May we switch to Primo (Trinixapac Ethyl) and apply it biweekly to the greens to slow down the rate of growth and to promote a lateral growth habit over a more vertical growth habit. At Stoney Creek after two applications of Embark T-O in March-April, we switch growth regulators to Cutless (fluroriprimidol) mixed with Primo which favors the growth of the Bentgrass in a green over the growth of the Poa Annua. The Cutless growth regulator dramatically lowers the canopy height of the Poa Annua and helps it to blend in with the Bentgrass. It also somewhat stunts the growth of the Poa Annua and favors the increase spreading of Bentgrass into the Poa Annua areas. We continue the use of the Cutless/Primo combination until extremely hot weather sets in, usually in July.

Monocan green Poa-Bent mix with seedheads

Recently there has been an exciting new development in Poa Annua research which luckily has involved us here in Virginia. Dr. Shawn Askew of Virginia Tech has become heavily involved in the testing of a new Herbicide -Methaziolin ( soon to be known as Poacure) which was developed by a Cornell University educated Korean, Dr. Song Lee. He has formed a new company to develop this product and bring it on the market both in Korea and Japan but to also bring it into the American market. Dr. Askew has done most of the research in conjunction with a fellow Turf Reseacher from Auburn University. This exciting new herbicide, Methiazolin, can completely eliminate small populations  of Poa Annua from greens similar to our Tuckahoe greens with less than 10% Poa Annua populations with just four to eight applications in a single year’s time. On greens like ours on the Monocan and Shamokin nines with extensive Poa Annua populations of 40% or greater, Dr. Askew of Virginia Tech thinks that complete control will be better achieved through a more gradual approach to rates and timing of Methaziolin over a two to three year time period.  A likely scenario would be Poa Annua % (start) -60%, (after one year-six  to eight applications) -20% Poa Annua, (after two years- six  to eight applications )->5% Poa Annua, (start of third year- three to four applications)- >1% Poa Annua. Another side benefit of Methiazolin is that it also inhibits the growth and germination of Goosegrass and also prevents the germination of new Poa Annua seedlings.  A spring application of Methiazolin has a six month effect on weed germination from just a single application.

Practice Putting green less than 10% Poa population

If we were to initiate a Methiazolin program we could renovate our greens by eliminating Poa Annua and Goosegrass and, at the same time establish new improved varieties such as 007 and Mackenzie (like on the Tuckahoe greens) by interseeding  our greens Spring, Summer and Fall with these “better” bentgrasses. We have made an application to participate in the Methiazolin EUP program starting this coming fall and have heard back from Dr. Song Lee from the Moghu Research Center in Korea. More to follow.

Tuckahoe green less than 5% Poa population

As of this writing in early June the greens at Stoney Creek have now lost most of their seedheads, and we are beginning to lower our cutting heights down to a .120 bench setting which should result in an actual height of cut of less than .100 of an inch. It’s as low as we can go with our greens mowing equipment. We will be staying on our Cutless/Primo growth regulator program until the temperatures rise mid-summer. Our hope is to vibratory roll greens at Stoney Creek two to three times per week which will result in smoother, quicker, more consistent greens. At Devils Knob the same things apply except we don’t do as much rolling due to labor restrictions and also the fact that DK’s greens have much more severe contours than the greens at Stoney Creek. 

I hope that this article on the technical side of Bentgrass Putting green management has been helpful to your understanding of how your greens putting conditions are actually dependent on many different factors such as temperature, moisture, time of year, growth regulator usage, mowing height and frequency, rolling, and fungicide use.  Although I can decide what to do each day on the greens, the one thing that I haven’t figured out yet is how to control the weather!

Devils Knob Q School

Devils Knob Head Professional Philip Licata explaining how to read greens

Devils Knob Q School

An advanced junior program new for the 2012 season

Are your Junior golfers interested in hitting more quality golf shots, chipping it closer and making more putts?

Training sessions on the range include review of fundamentals, skill enhancement and how to “practice with a plan” to accelerate improvement.
Solid full swing fundamentals combined with a creative short game understanding provides a player with the confidence necessary to hit the shots when it matters most – on the golf course.
    
The DK Q School will teach your Junior players how to manage themselves and their game on the golf course allowing them to shoot lower scores and have more fun.

This program is designed for the junior player who is ready to take his/her game to the next level.  This specialized program is led by Devils Knob Head Professional Philip Licata. Philip brings his program to Wintergreen with storied success. Q School curriculum has produced club, regional and golf scholarship-bound champions.     

•12 hours of comprehensive golf instruction on Friday, Saturday and Sunday by a Wintergreen Golf Academy PGA Professional
•Limit of 6:1 - student to teacher ratio
•Full Swing video analysis
•On course game assessment

•Short-game skills fundamentals and enhancement covering putting, chipping, pitching and bunker   play

•Play with the Pro - covers on course game assessment and strategies
•Practicing with a plan
•Complimentary beverages
•Daily club storage and club cleaning
•Personalized Wintergreen Golf Academy bag tag
•Tuition for the Devils Knob Q School is $499 per player plus tax, lodging not included. Member price is $449.

School dates and days may be customized to accommodate your travel plans.

Please contact our Academy Coordinator to book your school at (434) 325-8255 or email gredgrave@wintergreenresort.com.

Cure the Slice - by Geoff Redgrave, Director of Golf and Instruction

Most golfers fight the dreaded slice shot, that “banana ball” as many refer to it, that turns this great game of golf into hours of torture and torment.  This article will shed some light on some of the causes as well as some of the fixes that will turn that shrimp into a high TV draw!

Ailments of the slice are really quite simple – the clubface at impact is open (picture 1).  If this sounds familiar, start by checking your left hand grip.  Any time the left hand grip is too much in the palm, the clubface will be open at impact.  Fix this easy fault by placing the club more in the fingers of the left hand. 

Another common opener of the clubface is how the golfer pivots during the golf swing.  Any player that reverse pivots or finishes with the weight on their back foot will have trouble squaring the clubface through impact.  This improper movement inhibits rotation, a key ingredient in squaring the clubface.  Right handed players will move weight from the right hip to the left hip in the swing and vise versa for the left handed player. 

If this is problematic in your swing, cure it by imitating the great Gary Player.  Mr. Player will actually step forward on many of his full shots – evidence that his weight has moved toward the target instead of away.  Another great drill is to find a hill and make practice swings down the hill.  Gravity and the slope will force you to move your weight toward the target side.

A third practice drill is to start with the right heel off the ground and make full swings.  The momentum of the swing will automatically move the golfer in the correct direction.  Once you have mastered this drill, make additional swings starting with the right heel off the ground and once the club has begun to swing back, place the heel back on the ground.  Through impact, allow the right heel to come off the ground again.  This will perfect the pivot which will assist in squaring up the club face.

A final cause of the slice is poor shoulder alignment.  When the shoulders start in an open position, the club is directed on an outside to inside path.  This improper path creates a critical loss of space in the downswing making it very difficult to square the clubface.  Squaring the shoulders at address will shallow out the path of the club thus creating a more inside to outside movement of the golf club.  This path enables the clubface to square up naturally through impact.

Use these simple tips and take the ‘banana ball’ out of your game!