#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.
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