Tree Trimming on #4

There was a certain branch on an eastern cottonwood tree on the 4th hole that has been the target of many curses for the past 10 years.  For those with a low-trajectory drive playing from the front of the white tee, this branch was often in their flight path - especially if they were compensating for a slice.  This hole favors golfers who can play a draw so that they can stay to the left side of the fairway and avoid the twin cottonwood trees on the right.  You can also go over the trees with the right club selection.  Either way, many golfers will be glad to know that the most offending branch is now gone.  The tree remains, however, to guard the left side of the hole, and to keep things interesting. 



Before



After

The result makes the hole a bit more fair for those hitting from the white tees while retaining the challenge and uniqueness of this par 4 which plays 315 yards from the white tees and 350 yards from the back tees.  It is interesting to note that the cottonwoods on this hole are some of the only trees on the golf course that were present before the golf course was built and are still alive (the others were ash or box elder that have since died).  The cottonwood trees on the right and left of this fairway were carefully saved during construction.  You can see them by looking through the construction photos here: Construction Photos Slideshow  There are more than one way to play around these trees, but they force the golfer to get creative and think ahead on both the drive and approach shots. 

Coyotes and rope

A coyote had a lot of fun here!  I know it seems strange, but coyotes love to cut this hollow braided poly rope that golf courses often use to mark off areas and guide cart traffic.  They can cut it as clean as a pair of scissors.  I did not catch this one in the act, but I have seen them before in the early morning playing with the ropes.  This was a rare occurrence 10 years ago, but not anymore.  Is this a sign that there are more coyotes in the area, or is that they are enjoying cutting this rope with their teeth more and more? (My guess: more coyotes.)  Does anyone know why they do this?  (My guess: just for fun.)

New drain, and 'Goodbye, Ash trees!'

Golfers at Sugar Creek are already fitting in their first rounds of the year and noticing some of our projects from the winter.  Specifically, the area around the 6th green looks much different after the removal of 111 dead ash trees.  These trees have been dead for two years, but the removal of the trunks is still shocking to see.  The trees died due to the Emerald Ash Borer, which I have written about in the past.  It will take time, but the area will be restored and planted with a wide variety of native trees which will be more resistant to a species specific pest like the EAB.  If you are interested in donating a tree, with or without a memorial plaque, now would be a great time.  See Memorial Tree Program for more.

As part of the renovation in this area, we added a large drain between the 6th green and 7th tee to alleviate some wet areas that have long been problematic.  At the moment, the back, blue tee on the 7th hole is out of play but it will be back in action soon.  Here are some pictures from the area:



New drainage connects to existing basin



The trench between 7 tee and 6 green



This wet area will drain better now!

Ash trees removed



A different view

Left of 6 green in 2014 when trees were about half dead



Behind 6 green

Interesting colors in turf this winter

Since early January, we have been seeing some interesting color patterns on a few tees at Sugar Creek.  In late January, after a snow melt, I was asked if the patches on the 4th tee were snow mold.  From a distance, they did resemble pink snow mold patches, but I did not think that was possible given the conditions we've had.

This was the first area I looked at:

4th tee

It became obvious that they had to have been caused by footprints -- but how?  This area gave another clue:

4th tee

 The snow in these areas melted first in the footprints.  This tee is shaded, so snow lasts here longer than open areas.  There must have been a time when the the snow protected the green areas from freeze injury.  A look at the weather history allowed me to narrow the date of the event to January 17th and 18th. 

January 2016 weather looked like this:

Turf at the course was green all of December and into January.  In mid January, it was covered by snow and still green underneath.  Then we had a real cold snap on the 17th and 18th and most areas turned brown.  The few areas under snow remained green.  I kept expecting the color difference to even out, but for a while the difference became more pronounced due to above average temperatures.

1st tee - February 4th

1st tee - February 4th

These spots are still visible, but less obvious as of this writing - February 19th.  Often you can see this phenomenon where there are snow piles or drifts melting, but it is rare to see pronounced footsteps like this.  It took a very specific weather pattern to cause this, so I thought it was worth memorializing.

Greens Mower Engine Rebuild

One of the many things that golf course maintenance crews do over the winter is repair machinery.  At Sugar Creek, we have a few machines to overhaul this winter including the greens mower.  The greens mower is arguably the most important machine in the fleet.  You certainly don't have a golf course without something to mow and groom greens.

Since 2008, we have mowed the greens with a John Deere 2500B with 11-blade reels and turf conditioners(or "groomers").  This unit has been used for 3650 hours so far and we are going to need it to continue to function for at least the next 2 seasons, maybe more.  We rebuilt the reels two years ago, so they are in fine condition.  The engine, however, was starting to show its age.

Gary on the greens mower

This unit is powered by a liquid cooled, 2-cylinder, gasoline-powered Kawasaki FD620D.  This engine has performed admirably for thousands of hours but, late last year, it began to leak oil from the crankshaft seals.  A compression test revealed one cylinder had low compression and the other was marginal.  I also discovered from other superintendents and message boards on the internet that this engine tends to lose oil pressure somewhere between 3500 and 4000 hours due to a worn out oil pump spur gear.  This gear is plastic but is driven by the metal crankshaft.  Eventually, the metal wins.  See this thread on My Tractor Forum for an example of what happens.

To avoid dripping oil on the green and a mid-season surprise, this engine either needed to be rebuilt or replaced.  Replacing the engine and old exhaust was going to cost at least $3000.  Since we have rebuilt a few v-twin engines recently, I was pretty confident we could rebuild for a lot less.  A big thanks to Gary and Felix who did most of the work on this project.

Here is the greens mower after they pulled the engine:


John Deere 2500B

Here is the engine partially disassembled.  There was a lot of gunk behind the flywheel due to the leaking crankshaft seal:

Kawasaki FD620D

Luckily, the major components of the engine were in good enough shape.  We just needed a gasket set, new cylinder rings, and new valves.  The cylinder walls just needed honing.  Most of the important stuff -- cylinder size, crankshaft measurements, piston diameter, inside diameter of bearings, etc. -- were very close to factory specification and well within wear tolerances.

Cylinder and piston after the head was removed

Piston after cleaning and ring removal

Cylinder head with new seals and valves

Inside of engine

We decided to replace the valves instead of regrinding because the exhaust valves showed an uneven wear pattern indicating they were warped or the stem slightly bent.  An engine shop with the right equipment could probably have saved them, but they are cheaper to replace at this point:

Engine valves

The oil pump gear was indeed wearing out.  If you look closely at the following pictures, you can see some teeth are smaller than others.  The wear was all on one side of the teeth because that was the surface that provided resistance on the crankshaft gear.  All it takes is one tooth to break or the gears to mesh wrong and the oil pump stops pumping.  After that, it is not long before the engine seizes up.  And believe me . . . you don't want to be stuck in the middle of the 4th green at 6 a.m. wondering how you are going to get a mower with a seized engine off a putting green before the golfers catch up to you.  And without leaving ruts in the green 4 inches deep.

FD620D oil pump gear with worn teeth

You can see the worn surfaces on the right side

After everything was cleaned and inspected, reassembly was pretty easy.

Engine ready for reassembly

Ready to close it up!

The engine started up right away, after filling with oil and coolant of course.  We tested the compression after running for an hour and got good results - about 190psi both sides.  This engine should be good for many more hours now.  We just have to cross our fingers that the electrical and hydraulic components hang in there.

Back in action!

Photos from 2015

Cell phones have made it easy to have a camera when you need one, and often the golf course maintenance crew is at the right place at the right time.  Here is a collection of the maintenance crew's best cell phone photography from 2015.  Many thanks to Felix for his great sunrise shots.

 

A Little Bit of History

While researching the history of the Sugar Creek watershed, I came across an album of faded construction photos from 1975-1976.  After some digital photo restoration, they look good and reveal a lot about the golf course and the people who built it 40 years ago.  As a golf course superintendent, I find the pictures of dirt and sand extremely interesting but I also enjoy the snappy outfits of the founders of the golf course in 1975.

Click Here for the Complete Slideshow.

There are 48 photos in all.  Here are some of my favorites:

Construction of 6th Green (1975)

This is most likely from the Groundbreaking Ceremony on May 12, 1975

3rd Hole during grow-in (1975)

2nd Green with the pond filled for the first time

2015 Emerald Ash Borer Tree Removals

Tree crews are currently removing the dead Ash trees around the driving range net at Sugar Creek. These trees died because of the Emerald Ash Borer which began killing Ash trees in our area in 2011.  Most of the dead Ash trees in playable areas have also been removed.  We started with 286 infected trees in 2012.  As of today, we are down to around 150 trees.

The following was originally posted in March of 2013:

This winter, we began removing Ash trees infected with the Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) that were visibly declining or dead in 2012 and deemed hazardous to people or property. So far, 44 of 286 Fraxinus (Ash) species trees have been removed leaving 242.  All of the remaining are infected and in various states of decline.

The EAB is a non-native, phloem-feeding insect that aggressively kills both healthy and stressed Ash trees of all ages. The EAB adult, a metallic green beetle, lays eggs in the bark of Ash trees. These eggs hatch into larvae which bore through the bark and into the cambium where they feed, overwinter, and pupate. It is the larval stage which kills the tree once the cambium is girdled by feeding. See the USDA’s “Emerald Ash Borer Program Manual” for more information.



Emerald Ash Borer S-shaped galleries

Emerald Ash Borer larvae

The EAB was first identified in Villa Park in the summer of 2011 but we did not have conclusive proof on the golf course until February 2012 last year.  During the winter from 2011 to 2012, woodpeckers were seen attacking Ash trees and leaving light-colored marks where the bark had been peeled away.  These marks are the easiest way to identify EAB infection over the winter.  While the woodpeckers may be feeding on native borers that attack stressed trees, if the tree was previously healthy, EAB is strongly indicated.  By the time you see woodpecker damage, the borer has already done significant damage during the year.  It is best to call a professional arborist as soon as possible to determine a course of action.

Many people ask me whether they should treat their Ash trees with pesticides or remove them.  There is no easy answer to that questions.  Ash trees can be saved even after infection with the right treatments -- this is true.  The important thing to remember is that treatment is forever or, more accurately, for the life of the tree.  If you miss treatments or happen to be in the small percentage where the treatment is ineffective, the tree will again be at risk of infection.  The other important thing to remember is this: no matter what you do, you still have an Ash tree.  Ash trees are not long-lived or structurally strong.  They tend to suffer severe storm damage later in life and can be hazardous. 

The factors that need to be considered include:

• Cost
• Location, location, location
• Size of the tree
• Age of the tree
• Condition of the tree
• Potential hazards
• Environmental impact of pesticide use
• Willingness to commit to treatment for decades, or the life of the tree

As you might have guessed from the above, it is my opinion, verified by a lot of calculations, that it is almost always more desirable and cost-effective to remove an Ash tree and replace it with a more disease-resistant, longer-lived, and safer tree.  I know many arborists selling treatment will argue with me, but the math is not on the side of treatment in the vast majority of cases.  If you have an Ash tree that you consider invaluable to your property and it is in good condition and it isn't too old and it is not likely to become a hazard, then I would consider treatment.  If not, cut your losses and plant something else!

The graphs below were created using the Purdue EAB Cost Calculator.  As you can see, with Sugar Creek's large Ash population it is not cost effective to try and save all of our Ash trees.  These costs are Purdue's estimate and may be higher than we could do the work for, but the relative costs are what counts.  With a removal program combined with replacement of the landscape trees over time, the cost of the strategy disappears in 10 years or so.  With treatment, it never disappears and the trees will still die some day with age and storm damage.

Below is a picture of Ash storm damage. After almost every wind event, some older Ash trees need to be pruned or removed. This is true for both golf course trees and street trees. Most of the Ash trees at Sugar Creek are older and were in decline before the borer arrived. They were becoming hazardous to the clubhouse and driving range net, so their removal will give us a chance to plant trees more suited to the location.

Typical Ash tree storm damage

Most of the Ash trees at Sugar Creek are located along the fencelines around the driving range and on the 6th hole. Over the next few years, these trees will be removed and replaced with a variety of disease-resistant trees and shrubs.  We are beginning replacements for the 44 trees removed this winter this spring behind the 6th green.



Map of Ash trees at Sugar Creek Golf Course