This actually helps the turf?

In looking at the fairways immediately following this past week's aerification, it certainly doesn't appear that we were trying to improve course conditions and turf health.  By the time we got to #5 on Monday, the 90+ degree temperature and low humidity that day had things drying out extremely fast, causing turf to wilt.

You can see that the small skips between aerifier passes actually look much healthier than the surfaces where plugs were pulled.  So why do we put these low mow turf areas through such torture--you have to wonder, is the juice really worth the squeeze?

It's during times like this that you need to take a step back and keep in mind that aerification is like major surgery to a person.  The long-term benefits--in this case decreased organic matter and compaction, increased pore space and percolation rate--far outweigh the short-term stress that this procedure causes.

Would this aerification be advisable under all circumstances? Probably not, but fortunately Laurel Creek's 35 year old fairways are still virtually Poa annua free, and the Bentgrass will bounce back.  Had this been a stand of Poa, we very well may have been ordering a few bags of seed or pallets of sod to restore these areas.

Looking at the low...

While we are now back in the oven with temperatures in the 90s during heat wave number six, last week provided a welcomed respite from this tough summer weather.   Most of us focus on these daily high temperatures, however the nighttime lows can be equally important to the turf.  

Below is a chart showing the temperatures of #1 green at a 2" soil depth from the end of July through the first week of August.  Suffice it to say that when the "coolest" the rootzone gets is 80 degrees at night, there is pretty much zero chance of any recovery from the daytime heat.

In contrast to the end of July, the beginning of August actually had some daytime high soil temps peak at around 80 degrees, accompanied by much cooler nighttime low temperatures in the 60s.  This may have been just a quick break for the turf, but we will take it.

Lesson learned...

July is already the hottest month of the year, so when you have 21 days in that month that are above average, it shouldn't come as a surprise that our cool-season grass isn't going to be happy.  The green which has seen the most thinning turf over this stretch has been the practice green at #1 tee. 

For decades the USGA has said that building a new green without changing the environmental conditions is not a recipe for success.  In the case of the driving range putting green, not only have the growing conditions not improved, but they have actually taken a couple of steps backwards.  

As you may recall, we had a permanent fan for the old green, and with additional wetlands growth every year, there is even less air movement and morning sunlight than we used to have a few years ago.  In hindsight, it was probably naive to think that just constructing a larger green would lead to healthy turf without the benefits that its predecessor enjoyed. 

For now we are using our portable fan to provide air movement on the green, and have closed a portion of the green to help facilitate recovery.  In the long run we clearly need to install the dedicated fan for this green, as well as try to do some selective pruning. 

Divot Repair

There is often confusion as to when a divot should be replaced, and when the sand mix should be used.  In an effort to clear things up, let's keep it simple:

If your divot doesn't explode, and has some bit of soil with it, please replace it.

There are many variables that come into play in determining if the divot will live or not.  This obviously includes the weather, and the location (slope vs swale).  However, even in the summer, there's a decent chance that a replaced divot will survive.

Below you can see the divot on the right was replaced and has already knitted back in nicely.  In contrast, the divot on the left is, to be kind, a real head-scratcher.

So save that sand mix for the times when your divot can't be replaced. And please don't get too fancy--we've seen well intentioned players make a sandwich with a sprinkle of divot mix, the divot itself, and a bit more mix on top for good measure.  Remember, more isn't always better.

The heat is up and the speed is down...

We've mentioned the subject of green speed in mid-summer in the past, but with a notable recent example of some significant swings in weather (and speed), it warrants revisiting.  

If you can remember back to July 4, it was an unusually cool, crisp morning for this time of year.  In checking the green speed that particular day, the greens were over a foot faster than they had been on July 3.  

So, you may wonder what we changed in our daily preparation of the putting surfaces, and the answer is absolutely nothing.  We used the same mowers, set at the same height, and the same roller.  The only difference was going from a hot, humid day on the 3rd, to a (relatively) cool day on the 4th.

The bottom line is that when you're feeling sticky, so is the turf!

Not Fairy Ring again...

It's been four years since we have seen any Fairy Ring on the greens (Rings Are Back), and they are never welcome.  In fact, since 2012, this is only the fourth time we have had to deal with this disease, so it definitely isn't something you can set your watch by.

Despite some very wet conditions this past week, we made a fungicide + wetting agent application and watered the greens afterwards, in order to move the products down into the rootzone where Fairy Ring activity is taking place.

As we are already dealing with the anticipated cool-season turf roots shortening during the heat of the summer, getting blindsided by Mother Nature with these rings just isn't any fun at all.  However, we are not alone.  If you happened to catch any of the Scottish Open this past weekend, you likely would have noticed some pretty spectacular Fairy Rings there.

Connecting the dots

The heat and summer stress has much of the Poa in the greens looking more yellow than green.  Poa is technically a winter annual, and the intense daily workout it is subjected to between our maintenance, players' feet, and the weather can take its toll.

What's telling, is where the healthier Poa can be found.  The straight lines of green dots are last fall's aerification holes--confirmation of the importance of this cultural practice.