Still a Little Rough Around the Edges

The primary rough thinned out in several locations last month due to a combination of factors.  As we mentioned earlier, grubs caused damage in some spots, but that was only one of the stresses the plants were under.

Along with several other area golf courses, the Ryegrass component of our rough got hit hard by a turf disease known as Grey Leaf Spot.  This pathogen doesn't mess around.  Turf that's under attack from Grey Leaf Spot may appear to be under drought stress, despite having good soil moisture, and within a few days, the Rye is pretty well gone.

The other contributing factor to the damage the rough suffered, was a non-living, or abiotic stress.  The week of the Men's Member-Member tournament, rain soaked the golf course, with almost 2.4" of rain from Monday-Saturday.  Turf that was tired after the long summer, didn't appreciate all of the cart traffic when soils were saturated.  On several holes, such as #4, the rough on the left of the hole was unblemished, whereas the the high traffic right side showed a lot of wear and tear from carts.

The good news is that with fall come cooler temperatures, which aid in turf recovery.  We have also spent the last couple of weeks aerifying and seeding these high traffic areas around the course, and we're already seeing significant improvement in many parts of the rough.

Better weather has helped the rough in many areas.