We were able to complete tee and approach aerification on Monday. As I have said before and I'm sure I will say again, aerification is one of those processes that I believe to be the foundation of any good agronomic plan. Aerification is not only for removing excessive thatch and organic matter, it is also beneficial in helping to move air, water and nutrients into the rootzone.

Now that all the short grass areas have been completed, we turn our attention to the roughs. We will start by reducing our irrigation inputs, as well as slowly lowering the height of cut in preparation for seed. This will take place over the next several weeks, as we hope to seed by mid October.

Greens Update

Greens aerification was 10 days ago and our putting surfaces are recovering well. We started mowing on Monday (9/15) at a little above 1/8 inch (.135"). We make it a point to mow without baskets, as we don't want to pickup any of the remaining sand. We also made a calcium and potassium application on Monday that should slowly feed the greens over the next six months. Tuesday, bentgrass seed was put down to continue to encourage a more sustainable plant type. Yesterday the height of cut was reduced to .125" (no baskets) and today through the weekend we will be mowing at .125" (with baskets). This coming Monday (9/22) we will again drop our height of cut to .115", which is our desired cutting height for the next few months. At that point, its fine tuning, as we will continue to lightly groom and topdress until the greens are completely healed. 

Thanks for you patience...........

Today is the beginning of our Fall aerification. This week we will be working on the greens, moving on to tees and approaches next week. The greens haven't been aggressively aerified in several years, which may be the cause of the excessive puffiness and scalping we have been fighting over the last few months. We are using 5/8" side-eject tines at a depth of 2.5 inches, followed by a heavy topdressing. We will then make an application of potassium, calcium, and lastly bentgrass seed. Expect at least two weeks for the greens to recover.

The video explaining aerification is for those of you with an interest in agronomy......Enjoy!

I snapped this picture the other morning, as it is very representative of challenges that we are facing on the fairways. You can see a sprinkler head on a slope and a distinct pattern below it, where the water tends to bleed out during operation. That area is almost 100% poa annua and by no coincidence, on the verge of death. The poa is suffering from salt stress and disease from the high salt content of our irrigation water. The surrounding healthy turf is bermudagrass, which is much more tolerant of high salts.

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