Let the Games Begin!

With July being the hottest month of the year, it is always a busy time on the golf course.  In order to add to the excitement, work on the short game area started this past week.  If you haven't been to #10 lately, you may not recognize it now.

Monday morning some preliminary grade stakes are set.

The view had changed significantly by Thursday.

Golf Course Architect, Andrew Green, adds his personal touch to the shaping of the greens.

By week's end, the two greens and bunkers were shaped, along with some needed expansion of the Champion tee.  We will be keeping you updated as progress continues to be made.    

Thank you Sir, may I have another?

 During this time of year, it is often a challenge to keep turf alive.  However, the Bermudagrass on the practice tee is the lone exception to this.  The area which was sodded last month has already been rolled, core aerified and topdressed during the summer heat, and what does it need?  More of the same.

When this sod arrived, it was by far the thickest, heaviest rolls we have ever dealt with, and has a surprising amount of thatch.  While it is now being mown at the same height as the rest of the tee, it still has a spongy feel to it, so we will continue to whip it into shape with some additional harsh, mid-summer treatment.  This would be the one time that taking a bunch of divots will lead to a better surface.  

Progress in the Fescue

The Fescue (or native areas) of the golf course are often erroneously referred to as low maintenance.  Truth be told, with an area that is only mown a few times each year and is purposefully kept thin, if you do treat it as low maintenance, then weeds of all types will encroach.  

Coming into this year, we devoted additional resources to improving the Fescue, and are now seeing the results.  While not perfect, compared to prior years, these areas are looking a whole lot cleaner, with fewer undesirable grasses, sedges, and broadleaf weeds.

One of the other maintenance challenges here has always been that the Fescue is often more penal closer to the hole's centerline, than further out in the rough.  To address this, in areas where the Fescue density is greater on the edge of the primary rough, we have made a step cut.

While progress has been made, we are currently seeing another wave of weeds to battle.  There is definitely no "set it and forget it" here... 

Rings are Back

 In May, we were seeing Brown Ring Patch on the greens, and tackled that issue:

This past week, as we worked through the most recent heat wave, overall, it looked like the course was holding up well.  While #14 green (the hottest spot on the course) had a few areas wilt, most of the putting surfaces were in solid shape.  

Of course, that would be the time that some Fairy Ring disease came roaring in on several of the greens.  When Fairy Ring shows up, there is no need for a petri dish and microscope to diagnose the problem, as this fungus is quite easily identifiable.

There can be several visible signs of the fungi at work:  a dark green circle caused by a release of nitrogen in the soil, mushrooms may form on the turf surface, or the fungi may cause the perimeter of the ring to become hydrophobic, causing the turf to wilt. 

Moisture level on the edge of the Fairy Ring.

Significantly higher moisture inside the ring.

A combination of fungicides and wetting agents labeled for the control of this fungus have been applied.  However, these rings are persistent, and with the low fertility regimen we have the greens on, the rings really stand out.  The pictures above were taken the day after treatment, and the "10.3" reading is actually an improvement, and encouraging.

Should this Fairy Ring really have been a surprise?  Perhaps not.   In looking at our application records, we saw Fairy Ring in 2018 and in 2012.  With both of these prior times, it was during the first week of July.  A common factor seems to be some hot, humid weather during this week in all three years.  Of course, hot and humid are far from uncommon this time of year, thus there may well be other contributing factors.