Greens Update.

The greens continue to heal from last weeks aerification. I have had a few comments and questions about their speed and want to assure everyone that everything is going as planned. Following aerification we allow the greens to rest for a full week, giving time for the plant to grow into the sand topdressing. We began mowing on Monday 5/26, but at a higher height of cut, without baskets, as to not pickup any remaining sand. On Wednesday we began cutting with baskets and on Friday we sharpened and lowered the greens units to our regular mowing height. It will take a few more days for the greens to return to their normal speed. All things considered, everything went as smooth as one could hope.

Greens Aerification

Due to last weeks heat, greens aerification was postponed, taking place this Monday. We slightly adjusted our process to be a little less invasive, making sure the greens would be healed on schedule. Instead of larger holes on a tighter spacing with a heavy topdressing, we decided to go with a double verticut, followed by smaller holes at a medium spacing. A fair amount of topdressing sand was applied to complete the process. The guys put in a long, hard day on Monday and the greens are looking great at this time. Although it is not what we had originally planned, I think our amended process just might be exactly what the greens need at this time. I appreciate everyone understanding our need to move this process back a week.

Greens Aerification Update

It looks like, for the first time in my career, that we are going to postpone our greens aerification until the following week. The weather forecast is calling for several days of excessive heat and the risk of lasting damage to the greens is too great. Our original plan was to go with 1/2" tines, tightly spaced, and a lot of sand. However, to have the greens healed on schedule, we will adjust our process by using smaller tines and less sand. Although this is not ideally what I would like to do, in the long run it will make little difference to the quality of the putting surfaces.

Heat Stress

The stress from the recent heat and wind are beginning to take their toll on the golf course. Although we have been working very hard to improve our irrigation uniformity, inefficiencies are easy to spot when the system is put to the test. While I do believe that we have improved how well we are able to water, we still operate at about only 80%. The greens are doing well, with only minor stress showing in a few locations.


Drought stress #14 green

Fairway aerification and seeding was wrapped up today, and we continue to water nightly to help germination and keep the new seedlings from going into drought stress. The poa obviously struggles the most in high temperatures. With a root system of only about 1/2 inch, poa quickly dies without repeated light watering.

Damaged poa due to drought stress

Hopefully, such extreme weather is only an isolated event and not an indicator of a tough summer ahead.

Pushing Roots

With summer just around the corner we have been doing a lot of work on the greens to prepare them for the stresses of warmer weather. Last months vertidrain helps to relieve compaction for improved water infiltration and deeper rooting. We are addressing particularly problematic areas with a micro-tine aerification as yet another beneficial cultural practice.

We have also recently bumped our fertilizer rates to try to push some roots as well. Routine spiking and grooming is taking place weekly to increase air movement in the upper soil profile. All of these practices are essential, as we want plant health to be at an optimum level for early May (12th & 13th) when we will be aerifying. If you notice the greens are rolling a bit slower, it is all part of the plan.........

Spring Cultural Practices

Thatch reduction

This week we started our Spring cultural practices on the fairways. Our goal is to reduce thatch, alleviate compaction and provide an ideal environment for the seed that follows. The process has many moving parts and is as follows: 1. Verticut 2-3 directions to reduce thatch. 2. Blow and collect clippings. 3. Aerify to reduce compaction. 4. Allow the aerification plugs to dry (1 hour). 5. Verticut, drag and mow to breakup the plugs. 6. Seed 7. Solid tine aerify to punch-in the seed. 8. Drag-in the seed.



Aerifying to reduce compaction



As you can imagine, the going is a bit slow. To keep the process moving as smooth as possible we will be closing whatever hole we happen to be working on at that time. Hopefully, this does not create too much of an inconvenience.

Springtime mowing

The Spring is always a busy time on the golf course. As soil temperatures are warming, the grass begins to jump, requiring an increase in mowing frequency. Our mowing schedule is seasonal to coincide with the rate of growth we are seeing in the field. Our spring/summer schedule has us mowing greens on a daily basis, all other short grass areas (tees, collars, fairways & approaches) three times a week and the rough twice. Native areas will be cut every 2-3 weeks depending on the growth. Mondays are always a great day for cultural practices, fertilizing, project work, etc. as we are often closed. This Monday is no exception as we are planning to spike, lightly topdress and fertilize greens with calcium. We will also work to complete the single rail fence next to the cart path on #10. And finally, we will be spraying fairways on the front nine to slow the rate of growth, as we will begin aerification and seeding by mid week. Fairway seeding will continue over the next few weeks until complete.