Hole Notes August 2011 3

Inside This Issue Of Hole Notes SEPTEMBER 15

MTGF / UM FIELD DAYTROE Center

Host: Brian Horgan, Ph.D.

OCTOBER 3WEE ONE FUNDRAISER

North Oaks Golf ClubHost: Jack MacKenzie, CGCS

OCTOBER 17MGCSA FALL SHOOT

Minnesota Horse & Hunt ClubHost: Bill Gullicks

DECEMBER 7MGCSA AWARDS

& RECOGNITION BANQUETBrackett’s Crossing Country Club

Host: Tom Proshek

JANUARY 3, 2011SUPER TUESDAY

Minneapolis Convention CenterHost: MTGF

REGISTRATION FORMSAND MORE INFORMATION

CAN BE FOUND AT

www. mgcsa.org

3 President’s Report: Are We Having Fun Yet?- Paul Diegnau, CGCS

5 Forest Hills GC Set to Host Stodola Research Scramble on Sept. 19

7 Clunis, Johnson, Meier and Norby ReceiveMGCSA and Garske Legacy Scholarships

9 Compilation of Summaries of Short Winter Articles

13 Musing the Minutes: June 9, 2011 - Brian Brown

14 Savory Supe: Grilled Salmon - Scottie Hines, CGCS

15 Winter Preparation Practices

23 UW Snow Mold Control Evaluation: SentryWorld, Stevens Point, WI

28 Remembering MGCSA Members

29 Don Herfort Dies at 86

30 MTGF / UM Field Day Set Sept. 15 at U of M

MGCSA EVENTS AUGUST 2011 HOLE NOTES

ADVERTISERS2 Precision Turf & Chemical, Inc.3 Northern Green Expo6 Par Aide Products Company8 Plaisted Companies, Inc.10 Gertens Wholesale13 Country Club Turf14 Superior Turf Services, Inc.16 MTI Distributing, Inc.17 MTI Distributing, Inc.18 Hartman Companies, Inc.20 The Tessman Company21 Superior Turf Services Inc.22 Yamaha Golf & Utility23 Turfwerks28 Herfort Norby Golf Architects28 Classified Ads29 Becker Underwood30 Superior Tech Products31 John Deere Landscape32 Duininck Golf

ABOUT THE COVERNo. 9 at Forest Hills GC, adrivable 300-yard, par 4.Forest Hills is the site of

this year’s MGCSAStodola Research

Scramble on Sept. 19.(See Page 5)

4 August 2011 Hole Notes

HOLE NOTESOfficial publication

of the MGCSA

EditorJack MacKenzie, CGCS

jmackenzie426@msn.com

2011 Board of Directors

OFFICERS

PresidentPaul Diegnau CGCS

Keller GC651-766-4174

Vice PresidentScottie Hines CGCSWindsong Farm GC

763-479-6524

SecretaryBrian Brown

Chisago Lakes GC651-257-8734

TreasurerE. Paul Eckholm CGCS

Heritage Links GC952-440-6494

Ex-OfficioRick Traver CGCS

Monticello CC763-271-0167

DIRECTORS

Joe ChurchillReinders, Inc.612-790-7333

Eric CounselmanSomerby GC507-775-3743

Luke DantSyngenta Professional Products

515-708-0762

Bill GullicksBellwood Oaks GC

651-438-3839

Jeff IscheGolden Valley G&CC

763-732-4150

Matt McKinnonThe Legacy Courses at Cragun's

218-825-2751

Jacob RyanNorthland CC218-525-1422

Jake SchmitzOlympic Hills Golf Club

952-941-6139

Roger Stewart, Jr. CGCSTPC Twin Cities

763-785-0696

MGCSA Chapter Delegate Kevin Clunis CGCS Tanner's Brook GC

651-464-4118

MGCSA OFFICEAND HOLE NOTES OFFICE

Executive DirectorScott Turtinen

P. O. Box 617Wayzata, MN 55391

952-473-2582 Fax: 952-473-2586Toll Free: 1-800-642-7227

scott@mgcsa.org

I have been in this business for 27 years and this golf season has been a series of "firsts" for me.Granted, my memory isn't what it used to be and past extremes seem to fade and blur with time, but2011 has been unique. Some of my firsts:

• I had never experienced a putting green exiting winter with 90% kill. • I don't remember seeing so much rain in such a short period of time and having to close a golf

course because it was impassable due to rivers, rapids and lakes. • I could go on and on about the extended periods of heat and humidity but why? How do our

colleagues to the south deal with these conditions on a regular basis? Dew points in the 70s and 80sare just plain physically draining on the human body and mind.

• I have never before seen such an explosion of turfgrass disease as I witnessed on July 18 of thissummer. Within 24 hours I watched a Brown Patch epidemic spread from fence line to fence line onmy golf course. I swear you could literally watch it spread before your eyes, but my sprayer neverstopped moving so I can't confirm that.

• Crabgrass is living the good life. We have large, thick patches of this light green ugliness every-where, even in areas where it has never been an issue before.

• We have been dealing with Japanese beetle for probably seven years now but this 2011 Japanesebeetle population is on steroids! I have never seen so much surface disruption from egg-laying activi-ties on our putting surfaces. We are constantly pelted by flying beetles as we move around the golfcourse. I had one beetle fly into the corner of my eye and proceed to bite me! Trees of many specieshave been hit hard by the voracious appetite of these beetles. I have even seen them feeding onspruce, pine, oak, hawthorn and serviceberry! Why can't ash and silver maple be their favorite foodsource? This year is most definitely a year to treat your golf course or face the possible destructioncaused by hungry raccoons and skunks. Trust me…you don't want to deal with that damage.

2011 will definitely be a year to remember. We are all in the same boat. Keep your life preserver onand the stormy seas will eventually subside. Fall is just around the corner! If you find yourself inneed of additional information for communicating with your members, players and the media, theGCSAA distributed a news release on July 25 regarding the issues and concerns associated with theweather extremes we have experienced so far this year. The article can be found on the GCSAA web-site.

In case you feel that these weird weather patterns are the result of man-made global warming, Iwould offer up the latest satellite data just released by NASA. It seems that satellite data from 2000 -2011 indicates that the Earth's atmosphere is allowing far more heat to escape into space than climatecomputer models have been predicting. It also shows that increases in atmospheric CO2 trap far lessheat than levels claimed by proponents of global warming. Bottom line: climate computer models andreality don't agree.

The U of MN Field Day is coming up September 15 and will have concurrent tracks for both Turfand Grounds as in past years. This year a joint session will be held to explore the issues surroundingthe herbicide Imprelis. Officials from the Minnesota Department of Agriculture, weed scientists, pesti-cide chemists, woody plant specialists and turfgrass scientists will present and discuss how we gothere, the extent of the damage and what actions are being taken. Please make plans to attend andlearn about the latest research being conducted at YOUR Turfgrass Research, Outreach and EducationCenter (TROE) on the University of Minnesota St. Paul campus.

The 2nd Annual Wee One Tournament is fast approaching. The event will take place on October 3at North Oaks Golf Club and all proceeds will be donated to the Wee One Foundation. The Wee OneFoundation was founded to assist golf course management professionals (or their dependents) whoincur overwhelming expenses due to medical hardship without comprehensive insurance or adequatefinancial resources. The format for 2011 has changed to a 4-man scramble in the hope of attractingeven more participants and there will be a taco bar on the golf course, similar to the original venueprogram at Pine Hills Country Club in Wisconsin. This is a great cause and a great tournament. DaleParske, tournament chair, and his committee, are working hard to make sure this year's event is big-ger and better than last year.

The MGCSA Fall Mixer will once again be held on October 17 at the Minnesota Horse and HuntClub in Prior Lake. If you need to practice up for fall bird hunting, this is a perfect opportunity tosharpen your skills and have a great time doing so. Sporting clays are a blast (pun intended)! The win-ner of the 2011 gun raffle will be drawn at this event. Good luck and I hope to see you at this eventand the others mentioned above.

This is the 16th year that Steve Garske and Par Aide have offered two Garske Legacy Scholarshipawards to sons and daughters of MGCSA members. Thank you Steve! The MGCSA also offered twolegacy scholarships this year. Please see the story on Page 7 for more details.

Keep your head up - snowflakes are on the horizon!- Until next time,

Paul Diegnau, CGCS

Are We Having Fun Yet?

HOLE NOTES (ISSN 108-27994) is published monthly except bi-monthly November/December, January / February for $2 an issue or $20 per year by the MGCSA, 217 Minnetonka Av. S., Ste. D, Wayzata, MN 55391. ScottTurtinen, publisher. Periodicals postage paid at Wayzata, MN. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to HOLENOTES, P. O. BOX 617, WAYZATA, MN 55391.

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

By Paul Diegnau, CGCS

Forest Hills Golf Club SuperintendentMarlow Hansen began working at thecourse 32 years ago - the last 25 asSuperintendent.

A small group of area businessmen andgolfers designed the course. The original 9holes were sketched on a Hamm's beernapkin which the club still has in its pos-session. The par 72 course was built in1960, measures 6,514 yards and featuresrolling hills and tree-lined fairways. Thegreens are fairly small "push up" stylegreens.

Major Challenges

The golf course is built on two differ-ent types of soils -- one half on heavy claysoil and the other half on very deep peatbog soil.

History

As mentioned earlier, the club wasdesigned by members and also built by itsmembers and volunteer work. The secondnine holes were built in 1964.

In the early 1980s the installation of anextensive drainage system greatlyimproved the golf course.

In 1994 we completed a reconstructionproject of our 15th hole which follows thecontour of a lake. The project includedinstallation of a retaining wall along theshore from tee to green, installation of afabric barrier beneath the entire fairway,covering the entire fairway with up tothree feet of soil, and complete replace-ment of tees and green.

A complete bunker renovation projectin the fall of 2000 and most recently in2004 -05 we installed a completely newirrigation system with that involvedenlarging ponds and raising fairways.And most recently built a Practice Facility.

Superintendent Marlow Hansen

Hansen was born and raised in ForestLake very near the golf course. I startedworking at the club as a dish washer in1975, then graduated to grounds crew in1977. I spent one full season working on agolf course in Florida after graduatingfrom high school and quickly learnedFlorida was not the place for me. Ireturned to Forest Hills and had the fortu-nate opportunity to become

Superintendent in 1985, I was 25 years oldand it has been a "mostly enjoyable" learn-ing experience ever since.

I have raised two great children -- adaughter and a son 27 and 22 years old,who both live near by.

I have recently been re-married (twoyears) to a wonderful wife and two moregreat (step) children. And we just movedto a new home in Wyoming, Minn.

I enjoy golfing in the summer, huntingin the fall but my favorite thing to do isice fishing - the best thing I have ever

bought myself is my 6 x 14 Ice Castle - fishhouse on wheels!

Assistant Superintendent Jeff Meredith

I live in Hugo with the most under-standing, forgiving and amazing womanon this earth. We have been together foralmost six years. We have two dogs, adamn bird, a farm cat, no children and achunk of property. This year is my 15thseason on the golf course. I started atDellwood Hills Golf Club pushing arotary around trees and I was hooked.After a couple seasons there I got a job atthe White Bear Yacht Club where I spenteight years. During that time I completeda two-year degree from Anoka TechnicalCollege, and obtained an extensiveamount of field experience from my men-tor, John Steiner, CGCS. Marlow hired meas Assistant Superintendent at Forest Hillsin the spring of 2008 and we have becomea great team here. I like to play golf in thesummer if it's not too hot, and I LOVE toride snowmobiles in the winter. The cold-er and snowier the better.

Hole Notes August 2011 5

Forest Hills Golf Club Set to HostStodola Scramble on Sept. 19

“A small group of area businessmen and golfers

designed the course. The original 9 holes were

sketched on a Hamm's Beer napkin which the

club still has in its possession.”

Forest Hills Golf Club’s No. 4 -- a 350-yard, par 4.

The legacy award named after thefounder of Par Aide Products Company,Joseph S. Garske, located in Lino Lakes,Minnesota is committed to further theeducation of children and grandchildrenof MGCSA members through financialcontributions. This is the 16th consecutiveyear for these awards.

This year, the MGCSA is pleased toaward $1,000 MGCSA LegacyScholarships to Meagan Meier and JessicaNorby, a $1,500 Joseph S. Garske scholar-ship to Ben Johnson and a $1,500 Garskescholarship renewal to Kira Clunis.

The late Mr. Garske, who died at theage of 76 in 1982, started Par Aide in 1954with plans to make a "good” ball washer.A foundry man and avid golfer, he knewlittle about the golf business, tried to sellhis ideas for design and tooling to twoaccessory companies, was turned down byboth and so began Par Aide ProductsCompany.

The Legacy Scholarship was started bySteve Garske, son of Joseph Garske, in1996.

"I am pleased to have our companyprovide these scholarships since for manysuperintendents, providing a college edu-cation for their children requires true sac-rifice. I am fortunate to have the opportu-nity and ability to help," Garske said.

"As a long-time member of theScholarship Committee some years ago, italways bothered me that we had lots ofscholarships available for turf studentsbut nothing for the legacy of current mem-bers," Garske said. (Heeding the com-ments of a long-time MinnesotaSuperintendent that our committee wasworking to put him out of a job.) WhileSteve thought this was a bit of paranoidthinking, it did make him realize that sup-

ply and demand works in this industry aswell, and if nothing else, an oversupply ofeager new superintendents could definite-ly undermine salaries. However, it was thefollowing that motivated Par Aide to initi-ate a legacy scholarship program:

“1) Many Superintendents are under-paid, in my opinion, and they truly worka labor of love. Sending a child to collegeis likely a real hardship. These sameSuperintendents who now have collegeage children were the very ones who hadbeen so responsible for supporting ourcompany through all the years and hadhelped us attain our success. We wantedto thank them.

“2) Our founder, Joe Garske, did nothave any formal education and wasalways conscious of that fact. He had qui-etly supported at least one young man ingaining a degree.

“3) There were lots of turf studentscholarships but few if any Legacyawards.”

So it seemed obvious to Steve to initiatea legacy program and it was discussed atnumerous scholarship meetings. The prob-lem was how to administer such a pro-gram. Suppliers to our industry did notwant to be in a position of judging onepotential recipient/customer againstanother, and Superintendent memberswere not comfortable with reviewing per-sonal information and making judgmentson each other either. The idea laid dor-mant until we discovered the Citizens'Scholarship Foundation of America, nowcalled Scholarship America, an organiza-tion that does nothing but review andaward scholarships. It's completely impar-tial and considers all information confi-dential. The MGCSA quickly agreed toaccept the cost of administration and the

Joseph S. Garske Legacy was born. Theidea was to provide two two-year scholar-ships to deserving legacy of currentMGCSA members. This program isthought to have been successful by all andhas been in existence since 1996, helpingnumerous sons and daughters ofSuperintendents pursue their college edu-cation.

Par Aide has continued to prosper andas an expansion of its Minnesota programit now also offers a similar programnationwide through the GCSAA.

Kira Clunis, the daughter of Kevin andNancy Clunis. Kevin is theSuperintendent at Tanners Brook GolfCourse in Forest Lake, Minn. Kira is agraduate of Mahtomedi High School andis now enrolled at St. Olaf College; hermajor is Sports Psychology.

Ben Johnson, the son of Troy andJennifer Johnson. Troy is theSuperintendent of Hudson Golf Club inHudson. Ben is a graduate of HudsonHigh School and now attends theUniversity of Minnesota, majoring inAccounting.

Winners of this year's MGCSA LegacyScholarships are:

Meagan Meier, the daughter of Tomand Apryl Meier. Tom is theSuperintendent at LeSueur Country Club.Meagan is a graduate of WorthingtonHigh School. Meagan attends the Collegeof St Benedict where she majors inBiology.

Jessica Norby, the daughter of Kevinand Robin Norby. Kevin is a golf courseArchitect with Herfort Norby Golf CourseArchitects. Jessica, a graduate of ChaskaHigh School, is attending Fort LewisCollege in Colorado where she is a major-ing in Environmental Geology.

Hole Notes August 2011 7

Clunis, Johnson, Meier and Norby ReceiveMGCSA and Garske Legacy Scholarships

KIRA CLUNIS BEN JOHNSON MEGAN MEIER JESSICA NORBY

Hole Notes August 2011 9

Physiology, Plant Stress, Winter Injury: Summaries

Survivability of Anoxia Under Iceand Impermeable Covers (2008)

By Darryl Asher, Todd Paquette and Jim Ross

Previous research conducted at thePrairie Turfgrass Research Centre (Olds,Alberta, Canada) showed that there was arapid loss of relative hardiness of annualbluegrass plants between 45 and 60 daysunder continual ice cover (Tompkins, Rossand Moroz, 2004), while plants in non-icedconditions lost hardiness very slowly. Thefact that air cannot be replenished underice cover, or an impermeable covering ofany sort, was thought to be a factor con-tributing to the injury. Research conductedin Quebec found that under an imperme-able cover oxygen was depleted and car-bon dioxide increased (Rochette et al,2006). This increase was attributed to useby the plants and to low temperaturemicrobes. When oxygen is completelydepleted, the condition is known as anox-ia.

In earlier research, Beard (1965) hadsimilar results and found that injury toannual bluegrass occurred 75 days aftercontinual ice cover. However, it seems thatcreeping bentgrass is affected much lessand in our research was still alive after 120days of continual ice cover. Otherresearchers found that differential sensi-tivity to conditions of anoxia was commonamongst various plant species (Bertrand etal, 2001).

So what happens to annual bluegrassbetween 45 and 60 days when air cannotbe replenished?

It seems that under conditions of anox-ia a rapid depletion of stored foods occurs.We know that these stored foods act as ananti-freeze agent for plants so when theyare completely depleted the plants havelost their ability to resist freezing. And, ofcourse, once they freeze irreversible celldamage occurs and plants die.

At this point, we think that when oxy-gen is fully depleted rapid utilization offood reserves occurs, which in turn causesa rapid loss of hardiness (between 45 and60 days). Once food reserves are depleted,the plant begins to utilize energy that isprovided by a process called glycolysis.However, the energy produced is not suf-

ficient to sustain the plant. This deficitalso leads to the induction of fermentationmetabolism and to an increase in the pro-duction of potentially phytotoxic metabo-lites such as ethanol, lactic acid and car-bon dioxide (Rochette et al, 2009).

So it appears that injury results fromeither a toxic build-up of these gases orfrom a complete depletion of foodreserves. In the Quebec study, high levelsof carbon dioxide did not produce mortal-ity, so that may be an indication that thedepletion of food reserves is the reason forthe injury.

Mitigation of Anoxia Under Ice and Impermeable Covers on Annual

Bluegrass Putting Greens (2008)

By Darrell Tompkins, Philippe Rochette and Jim Ross

Winter damage to annual bluegrassputting greens caused by a lack of oxygenunder ice or impermeable winter covers isan important problem in cold climates.The objective of this trial was to evaluatevarious covering systems that wouldincrease oxygen levels and, in turn, pre-vent damage associated with anoxia (lackof oxygen). Impermeable winter covers,some with an insulating air layer, werecompared against ice cover and snowcover only treatments. Additional treat-ments to examine air replenishment underthe covers were also evaluated.

Oxygen content under the varioustreatments remained constant for the first75 days of the trial. However by day 90,there was a significant reduction in oxy-gen levels for the ice only and the ice,impermeable cover, no air layer treat-ments. In addition, the ice only treatmentwas significantly lower than the ice,impermeable cover, no air layer treatment.Air replenishment did not appear to havean impact on oxygen concentration.

Carbon dioxide levels were lowest forthe no ice, no cover treatment. On day 90,the highest levels were for the ice, snowcover only and ice, impermeable cover, noair layer treatments. There seemed to besome improvement in carbon dioxide lev-els with the Enkamat and bubble wraptreatments.

Ice, snow cover only treatments weredead in both years of the study.

As data for turf quality and relativehardiness levels were not yet completed

for this trial, it is preliminary in nature.

Strategies for Removing Ice from Annual Bluegrass Golf Greens (2005)

By Darrell Tompkins, Jim Ross and M. A. Anderson

Ice cover on annual bluegrass (Poaannua L.) putting greens often causesdamage in the cold climates of NorthAmerica during long winters. The objec-tive of this study was to evaluate variousice removal strategies for use on annualbluegrass putting greens. In addition, thevarious products were evaluated for turfinjury (damage caused by the product).An initial screening study was conductedin order to choose the best treatments forthe field study. Selection of treatments wasbased on effectiveness and turf injurycaused by the products.

Results of the five separate field testsshowed that where there was ice removalturf was not improved with the use ofcovering materials. As far as the individ-ual treatments were concerned, theLandscape and Alaskan ice melters hadthe greatest effect on reducing ice hard-ness, increasing ice melt and reducing theice bond. The methanol was not as effec-tive as either of the granular ice melters inthe three tested parameters. The radiantheat producing materials, black sand andMilorganite, appeared to be more effectivewhen light intensities were greater in thelate winter study. It also appeared that fullsun improved their performance.

This field trial was conducted over athree-year period to attempt to determineturf injury as a result of the various prod-ucts. Turf injury was measured as percentarea damage. There were no differences inturf injury when considering the coveringmaterials. On one occasion Alaskan IceMelter caused greater injury than any ofthe other treatments. Landscape Ice Melteralso had significantly more injury than theother treatments. Methanol, Milorganiteand black sand had injury that was similarto the untreated control.

Relative hardiness levels were meas-ured in year three to determine whetherthe different ice melting strategies nega-tively impacted hardiness levels. The earlywinter test of year three showed that there

(Continued on Page 11)

Compilation of Summariesof Short Winter Articles

Submitted by CHRIS HOFFPrecision Turf & Chemical, Inc.