It's a bit early in the year to start whining about the weather, but the past week felt more like mid-July than mid-May. The month actually started off fairly cool, with nighttime low temperatures averaging 43 degrees from May 7- May 18. This really kept the Bentgrass on the tees and fairways from kicking into high growth gear.
Of course, recently the temperatures rebounded in a big way. Combining these 90+ degree daytime highs with a marked lack of precipitation in April and May--we are currently 5" behind average rainfall for the two months--and you've got the makings for some challenging turf times.
 |
| A part circle sprinkler which was out of adjustment has the walk-off behind #17 looking toasty. |
Clearly, any turf that does not have solid irrigation coverage is going to struggle now. However, there are also areas of off-color turf on tees and fairways which aren't dry. No, our perennial foe, Take-All Patch is popping up on #1 and #9 fairways, as well as on several tees.
 |
| Areas of Take-All Patch can be seen on the right side of #18 Honors tee. |
If that wasn't enough fun, we are still seeing Waitea Patch on a few greens, which we continue to treat for. This disease is also known as Brown Ring Patch, however what we are seeing has a distinct yellow appearance.
With 20 putting surfaces, all constructed the same, and managed the same, it is interesting when only a few of them are exhibiting symptoms of this fungus, while most are not. And in this case, the greens where the Waitea is most prevalent would typically be considered to have the best growing conditions, with full sunlight, and good air movement.
No comments:
Post a Comment