Fairway Disease

Summers at Saticoy are always a struggle and this one is shaping up to be particularly so. I recently submitted fairway and water samples for analysis and the results have me very concerned. After several years of drought, our water is showing even higher amounts of salt than it was just a few years ago. As salts accumulate in the soil, they inhibit rooting and dehydrate the plant. In their weakened condition the stressed plants are very susceptible to disease. This is exactly what we are seeing right now with the poa in our fairways. The fairway samples show both salt stress and disease. Spraying a fungicide will not help until we alleviate the salt stress. Seeding another grass like rye is an option, but the high salts hinder rooting and lower germination substantially. We continue to experiment with different products on the market that are designed to reduce salts, but have seen little benefit. The true cure is rain. If we have a wet Winter, we will be able to flush the salts from the rootzone, replenish the aquifer with clean water, and germinate some grass that has a fighting chance during the summer. Until then, this summer looks to be a tough one........

Selected reading

I try to keep up with what is trending in the golf maintenance industry, reading on the latest and greatest every chance I get. Every now and then something strikes me as a interesting topic for a blog. This is one such article that I thought might shed some light on cultural practices and why they are so important.

http://www.superintendentmagazine.com/article-10882.aspx

Venting Greens

With very little rain this year, we are seeing elevated sodium levels in the soil, which increases disease pressure substantially. To keep the disease in check, we have been making numerous fungicide applications, which is becoming quite costly. To curb our fungicide use, we have started a weekly to bi-weekly venting program on the greens. We use our walk aerifier mounted with needle tines, followed by our greens roller. While the surface disruption is minimal, the benefits are substantial.. Not only does this process help keep water moving, it also alleviates compaction and increases oxygen. The soil functions better, which allows the grass to function better.

From a standing position the aerification holes are barely visible

On closer inspection, the venting holes are easier to see

 

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.