The Heat is On

Between some potential winter injury, and the second half of May being unusually cool, the Bermudagrass on the practice tees has been slow to break dormancy this year.  Fortunately, just as the cool-season turf is starting to feel some stress from last week's brutal heat, the Bermuda has woken up and is now growing aggressively. 

Bermudagrass is quickly filling this divoted area.

For many years, there was little turf left on the tees to hit from by August.  Installing a grass that thrives in the heat has proven to be a real game-changer in allowing us to provide a good surface to practice from even when we are dealing with triple digit temperatures!

A Success Story

In the past, golf courses were portrayed as having a negative impact on the environment.  Fortunately, a good deal of time, effort, and scientific research have been spent to debunk this myth.  Given the abundance of flora and fauna, it certainly would be challenging for anyone who frequented Laurel Creek to believe this fallacy.

In contrast to what we see today, prior to the construction of the golf course, much of the property was being mined for clay and gravel, and had a post-apocalyptic appearance:

Following a recent site visit by an Audubon International staff member, we received our recertification as an Audubon International Certified Cooperative Sanctuary.  Laurel Creek has maintained this status since 2002--additional evidence that golf and environmental stewardship can coexist.

Tips and Tricks

It is always interesting to see how other courses deal with common issues that arise in golf course maintenance.  A while back, we saw this trick on Turfnet for dealing with high plugs on the green, and finally had a chance to try it ourselves:

Basically this is an aerification tine mounted to a metal handle.  By removing a core from a high plug, you can kneed the area together and get it flush with the surrounding putting surface.  Our Equipment Technician, Don Robel, fabricated this beauty:

While we don't expect to be wearing out the aerification tine on the end anytime soon, Don built this tool so that it can be equipped with a variety of tine sizes:

This tool checks all of the boxes--it is both simple and very effective.

A First, and the Worst...

#14 green was in good shape when we left last Tuesday afternoon, but things changed dramatically between then and Wednesday morning, when we were greeted by a large area of turf that had clearly died very quickly.  While nobody ever wants to see this, with our Member-Guest event starting the next day, the timing couldn't have been worse.

After a few minutes of head-shaking, the grass-growers' instincts kicked in, and we wanted to start surgery on the damaged turf immediately.  However, some patience was required.  While it may look pretty darned bad, the potential impact on ball roll is likely to be greater with an area that has been repaired through plugging and seeding than with the dead grass.  Therefore, the decision was made to hold off on repairs until this week.  

The next thought was trying to determine what was the source of the liquid that killed so quickly.  Could this have been caused by a piece of maintenance equipment?  While anything is possible, some clues lead us to believe that this was not the cause:

• Not in a straight line, so not a mower, roller or sprayer
• Completely dry with no oily residue, so not motor oil or hydraulic oil
• No odor, so probably not two cycle gasoline
• The pattern doesn't match the splatter of someone walking with a backpack blower, and... 
• Unlike a backpack blower with no gas cap, this had a distinct start and stop point on the green with nothing trailing off the green

To be honest, the pattern looks as if someone was walking with a cup and either poured or spilled the contents on the green.  Whether it was done purposefully or accidentally, we may never know.  

The Grounds team works hard day in and day out, and takes pride in providing great putting surfaces for our members and their guests.  To say this was disheartening is an understatement.  This was a first for us, but will hopefully also be the last time we ever have to deal with such a situation.

Time for Take-All

There are currently patches of discolored Bentgrass on some of the fairways.  So, does that mean the soil is dry?  While off-color turf certainly may be dry, there are several other possible causes as well.  This would include dormancy, insect damage, or a turf disease. 

This last option is the cause of what we're presently seeing on the Bentgrass.  Specifically, this is a root-borne pathogen called Take-All Patch.  While we've had this disease show up to some extent each spring, this year there appears to be a larger area affected than in the past.  As with most turf diseases, Take-All Patch thrives in a relatively narrow temperature range--when it's really cold or really hot, you typically won't see any damage.   

It's a little frustrating to see this disease show up, since we have made preventative fungicide applications in the fall the last few years.  The good news is that while Take-All Patch may temporarily discolor the turf, it rarely lives up to its name.  Most years, the symptoms are gone by July 4.


Fine Fescue

In late April we treated over 28 acres of Fescue for a number of uninvited guests.  This included products to control grassy weeds, broadleaf weeds, insect pests, as well as a plant growth regulator to limit the plant density.

Several years ago, it was believed that golf courses could reduce costs by adding additional acres of these "low maintenance" areas.  Perhaps this is true if it is a truly out of play area allowed to go through the stages of ecological succession.  

However, if the goal is to keep these areas playable (allowing a ball to be found and advanced), and relatively weed free, it is now being stated that they actually require greater resources than mowing them once or twice per week as we do in the primary rough.  The time and expense of our latest multi-product application certainly helps to confirm this view.

So would removing all of the Fescue be a good idea?  Probably not, since it provides wildlife habitat and slows runoff.  Additionally, for a links style course, these areas are important aesthetically, as they help to frame the hole.  

The bottom line is that you can call this eye-catching turf outer rough, native areas, naturalized areas, or the Fescue area, just please do not refer to it as a low maintenance area... 

I should have made a left at Albuquerque...

Just when you think you've seen it all on a golf course, you're greeted by something jaw-dropping. Such was the case when the team arrived at 5:00 on Sunday morning and discovered a vehicle--with the driver still inside--in one of the greenside bunkers on #8.

In looking at our security cameras, we found that the car arrived shortly before 1:00 a.m., so you can only speculate as to whether or not a festive Saturday night led to some incredibly poor navigating skills.  

Fortunately the driver was unharmed, and there was no damage to the course.  We may never know the exact reason why the individual thought they were on a road, but perhaps some additional signage might be helpful: