A picture is worth 1,000 words...

July is always hot, and this month has been brutal for maintaining turf.  However, this week, we are taking a break from whining about the weather.

Instead, we want to share a few pictures taken by Mr. Jan Daniels.  He truly does an amazing job of capturing the beauty of the golf course's flora and fauna.

While the turf may not be happy during these dog days, it's nice to take a step back and note what a great home the golf course is to such a diverse array of plants and animals.  Thanks to Mr. Daniels for allowing us to see the course through his eyes.

Evil Weevils Crushing Collars

While Annual Bluegrass (or Poa annua) can provide a great putting surface, it does have several disadvantages when compared to Creeping Bentgrass.  Among these is Poa's susceptibility to damage from the Annual Bluegrass Weevil.  (Yes, it really isn't a good sign when there's an insect named for the grass you're growing...)  We are currently seeing thinning in several collars caused by the weevils.

Over the past decade, this has become far and away the most troublesome insect we have to deal with.  There are several different control products in the arsenal for use on weevils, with some geared towards adults and others targeting larvae.  However, inconsistent warming this past spring appears to have contributed to our finding all life stages sooner than we have in prior years.  Currently we are finding larvae, pupae, and adults in the same location at the same time, making control a challenge.

The weevils are tiny, often smaller than a grain of rice.  So, how much damage could something 1/8" cause?

Well, there is definitely strength in numbers, and we have been finding 100-200 weevils per square foot in isolated sections of the collars this past week.

Weevil damage to  the Poa in the collar on the back of #13 green can easily be seen, while the surrounding Bentgrass is unharmed.

This onslaught of weevils is a bit discouraging given the time and efforts we put into preventing such an occurrence. A few things that are positive about the situation:  While weevils can cause damage to Bentgrass, it is seldom a crushing blow.  Given the tiny percentage of Poa in the tees and fairways, the weevils can actually go from "evil" to beneficial, as they provide a biological control of Poa for us in these areas.

We will also rarely see weevil damage to the actual putting surfaces, even though they are primarily Poa.  It seems that the low mowing height often leads to the mowers picking up adult weevils, and is not conducive to egg-laying for them.

This past week, we applied an aggressive control product on the collars, but with weevils having multiple generations in a single season, this game of cat and mouse is likely to continue into the fall.

Insanity? Perhaps not...

We've all heard the oft-used expression about doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.  And while this may be valid for many things, it definitely is not when it comes to green speed.

During the spring and fall, by hitting the greens with just a daily single mow, we can easily achieve speeds of over 11'.  Add a second mowing and/or a rolling, and you've got 12'+.  However, during the dog days of summer, when the heat and humidity may make you feel logy, the greens are much the same.  Currently, a double mow will only get us 10'.  So what's changed?

Well, one of the main differences between the summer and the shoulder seasons is turf growth.  Despite weekly applications of plant growth regulator, and very little fertility, the greens are growing much faster than you'll see when temperatures are cool.  Evidence of this can be found in the clipping yield we see in the mower buckets each day.

In simple terms:  More grass = more friction.

So, yes, if we do the same things to the greens, we will experience very different results.  And truth be told, with the last 12 days of June having above average temperatures, and July (the hottest month of the year) forecast to have 29 of 31 days above average, our focus is not on green speed at the moment, but on green survival!

The dome is up! (Well it was at the time this post was originally published, prior to Monday's deluge.)

If you looked quickly at the precipitation total for the month of June, you might say it was a fairly wet month.  However, if you dig a bit deeper (and hit hard soil), you'll see that the month was very much front loaded, since 90% of the rainfall came in the first 11 days.

For the past several weeks, there have been showers around us, but it feels as if a dome has surrounded the golf course, with only a scant amount of raindrops falling on site.

In this mid-June storm, heavy rain hit most of the surrounding areas, yet bypassed the course.

Ironically, from a course conditioning perspective, it may actually feel that despite a lack of rain, things are softer--and that would likely be correct.  Irrigation systems (particularly in our region) are designed to supplement rainfall, not replace it.  And while surface conditions may be slightly softer from irrigation, the buried soil sensors we have, show that we are continuing to irrigate at a deficit level, with the soil growing dryer day by day.  Recently, we have been losing close to .25" of moisture per day, and replacing less than half of it.

Fairway moisture levels peaked in early June and have headed south ever since.

In a timely article, the USGA discusses this issue:  The Course Seems Wet Yet it Hasn't Rained in Weeks

One thing is for sure--undoubtedly this is a great opportunity to see how good your irrigation coverage is (or isn't).  Any area which isn't receiving adequate irrigation is now dormant.

While the tees are doing well, the unirrigated path between them is looking toasty.

Of course the heat and dry conditions will end eventually.  However, at the moment, this weather pattern is keeping us on our toes!