time for a chanGe

Superintendent calls on slf-1880™

One of the first things Ron Pusateri looked at when he took over as superintendent of St. Clair Country Club two years ago was the fairway mowers. Although the club had purchased mowers from another manufacturer only two years earlier, Pusateri recommended switching to Jacobsen’s® SLF-1880™ super-light fairway mower.

When Pusateri arrived at the Upper St. Clair, Pennsylvania, club, the fairways were being cut with triplex mowers. The superintendent thought this mower “floated” too much and didn’t cut fairways very well. As a result, the grass was growing into itself, didn’t stand up and had a puffy appearance.

“We needed to be more aggressive with mowing and had to have lightweight equipment because our fairways don’t drain very well,” Pusateri says. “I helped out at the 2003 PGA Championship at Oak Hill and again in 2004 at Whistling Straits, and I knew what the SLF-1880 could do.”

"We needed to make a change, and the SLF-1880 is the product that works best for us." - Ron Pusateri

Although the triplex mowers were relatively new, Pusateri explained to his green committee that the fairways weren’t being mowed properly.

“Besides,” he adds, “we were using eight triplex mowers when we could do the same job with six SLF-1880s. We have 36 acres of fairway and have to be productive, too. We needed to make a change, and this mower is the product that works best for us.”

The superintendent says the SLF-1880s have a great quality-of-cut, and when it’s wet, the mowers, which are specified with smooth tires, don’t sink in and create scalping issues.

“With 18-inch, 7-blade reels, four-wheel drive and smooth tires, the SLF-1880s get everywhere,” Pusateri says. “The cut is aggressive, but without down pressure; the mowers don’t dig in. Even when it’s wet, it does the job at the height-of-cut we want. The SLF-1880s have worked out well. They’re productive and lightweight, and those are the two factors most important to us.”

Championship conditions
St. Clair is a private country club with a large membership whose handicap ratings represent a wide range of golfing abilities. Pusateri says his greatest challenge is to find a happy medium for course conditions and playability.

“The club wants championship conditions,” he explains, “but I learned last year that taking that approach didn’t please everyone. If there was too much roll in the fairways, the course played too short for some golfers. And, the greens may have been too slick for a membership that averages a 20 handicap.”

Pusateri’s first task was to firm up the greens with an aggressive topdressing program. Going into his first winter, the greens were covered with sand. By the time the staff was ready to aerify last spring, the sand was almost gone. Aerification was done with 3/8-inch tines and a close 1 1/2- by 1 1/2-inch spacing. Later, a DryJect process was used to punch sand directly into the surface in two directions with 3- by 3-inch spacing. A drill-and-fill process was completed twice in fall using 3/4-inch drill bits at a depth of 12 inches.

This winter there were two heavy topdressing applications. In spring the staff completed a deep tine aerification and performed another DryJect process, as well as core aerification.

“We’ve amended the soil profile on the greens with sand to firm them up,” Pusateri says. “The membership is pleased with what we’ve done.”

Aggressive plan
The next task is to condition the rough to improve quality and make it more manageable. It is highly contaminated with Poa annua and lacks fertility. There are issues with calcium, magnesium, phosphorus and potassium.

“We’ve got a pretty aggressive plan of attack,” Pusateri says. “We have 120 acres of rough, and I want to apply lime at a rate of 1 ton per acre. And there will be an additional eight fertilizer applications. We will be putting 260 tons of material on the golf course between spring and October.”

The staff did a lot of overseeding and sodding last year because the Poa annua couldn’t handle the summer heat. The rough is moving along slowly, and Pusateri wants to pick up the pace.

“A combination of low fertility and poor irrigation coverage resulted in Poa annua throughout the property,” he explains. “I want to knock it back and allow other grass species to take over. Playability is the biggest issue. When the rough gets to 2 to 2 1/2 inches, a golf ball goes straight to the bottom. It’s horrible to play from.”

To determine the right balance for course conditions, Pusateri met with the green committee, golf committee, women’s golf association and talked with many members.

“Conditioning the greens was a big step for the club,” he says. “I’m taking all the comments, criticisms and suggestions and putting them together to formulate a plan. We’ll go from there, making sure not to sacrifice agronomic practices. The membership appreciates the communication. I let them know why we have what we have, and what we’re doing about it. They feel good that we’re starting to attack the rough.”