Fragile--Please Handle With Care

Between members practicing for hours, and our golf campers, the Clubhouse putting green sees a lot of activity this time of year.  Unfortunately, not all of it is by golfers.  There have been several occasions where we have arrived in the morning to find damage to the green from people running, flagsticks being used as hammers, etc.

It's easy to understand how seeing a putting green for the first time, might be something new and exciting to a young child.  However, this is not the Brady Bunch's AstroTurf--it is a collection of millions of living plants maintained at a height of 1/10", which require a fan to help them survive the summer heat.  With members practicing on this turf seven days a week, it really can't handle any additional stress.

So while it might be tempting to race around on, please remember that it is a putting green, not a playground.

Softer in the summer

It can seem counterintuitive that golf course conditions may not be as firm during periods of hot, dry summer weather, as they are during cooler periods when we receive more consistent rainfall.  

The USGA recently addressed this issue in an article:  How Can A Course Be Soft When The Weather Is Dry?

Many of the points mentioned in this article are relevant to Laurel Creek:

• Let's start with the irrigation system itself.  Our system was designed in the 1980s and doesn't provide the uniformity of coverage of a more modern design.  Despite having employees spend up to 500 man hours per month hand watering to supplement coverage deficiencies, we still can't provide the uniformity of rainfall.  Thus, at times, it feels like Goldilocks--this area is too wet, this area is too dry, this area is just right.
• Obviously daily moisture loss is much higher now than at other times of the year.  For Poa greens, with very short roots during the summer, there is a small amount of root zone for them to draw moisture from.  
• Cart traffic also leads to higher moisture needs, than are required for a course that is walking only.

The shortest roots of the year are in August.

Soon enough, fall will be here, a season which often leads to some of the best playing conditions of the year.

A little rain and a lot of pain...

If the first part of July is any indication of things to come, we may actually break our 11 month streak of below average precipitation.  (Yes, it was a full year ago, in July, 2025, when we were above average for a month.)  While the recent rain has helped to get the water levels up in the ponds, the precipitation did come at a cost.  The smallest rain event yielded a meager 0.15" on Friday, July 3, but it caused some serious headaches.

We arrived on Saturday, July 4, to find damage from a lightning strike near #15 Laurel tee.  This hit the tree in the background, blew an irrigation pipe out of the ground, caused electrical issues in the controllers throughout the course, and destroyed more than a dozen solenoids in sprinklers on #14 and 15.

Two nights later, the small irrigation controller at the Centerton Road entrance island took a hit, and blasted the PVC off the backflow preventer.  While on a much smaller scale than the golf course, this repair also required both plumbing and electrical work.

One thing is for sure, summer in this region is never boring!

Today's Green Speed: Alive

This past week's temperatures put the "fire" into the holiday's fireworks!  With the exception of the practice tee, the golf course is comprised entirely of cool-season turf that isn't loving this summer's blowtorch conditions.  What does "cool-season" mean?

As the name implies, these species grow best in cooler climates, not in the blistering heat we've been experiencing.  During the spring and fall, we get root growth, but as the heat increases in the summer, plants lose root mass.  

During the latest heat wave, we heard many people say that after 15 minutes outside, they had to head back into the A/C.  Of course the turf doesn't have that option, and is baking all day, every day.  The challenges to turf health become exacerbated when there is no relief at night.  Low temperatures in the 80s don't allow for any recovery.  

So what changes are we making in our maintenance practices in these extreme situations to protect the course for the long-term, and what can you expect?  

Well, we don't stop mowing and we rarely (if ever) raise the height of cut on the greens--they are currently still being cut daily at 0.100".  However, we do back off on any cultural practices that can cause additional stress such as verticutting and topdressing.  Additionally, we may reduce the number of days per week that we roll the greens.  For greens in some of the more challenging growing conditions, an extra venting, using micro-tines has proven to be helpful in getting them through these weather patterns.  Lastly, if we anticipate temperatures in the triple digits, we may give the greens' sprinklers a spin during the day to temporarily cool off the turf canopy.

Green speeds will typically drop somewhat during mid-summer regardless of what we do.  The plants swell, and similar to how we feel in the heat, the greens may seem sticky.  We treat the greens like elite athletes, closely monitoring their inputs and conditioning protocols.  Pushing for fast greens at this time of year by lowering the height of cut, aggressive grooming, double-mowing, and rolling is ill-advised.  You won't find many athletes going for a personal record in 100 degree heat!

And for the record, the greens were 11'3" on July3, and 11' 2" on July 4--we must have set the bar pretty high if players are saying the greens are slow now...

Why today?

Over the years, we occasionally hear comments regarding the timing of our maintenance practices.  This may include questioning why we need to spray "every time" you are playing a round.  While we try our best to avoid interfering with your enjoyment of the course, there are several factors that may impact what, when and why we need to make a plant protectant application (or perform any task) on a regular basis.

The reality is that at this time of year we are likely spraying one of the playing surfaces five days per week.  For example, the greens don't receive any granular fertilizer applications, so depending on the growth rate, we may be applying a nutrient spray weekly.  The primary rough is typically treated monthly, however if we see a need to pivot due to weather conditions, that timing may require a change.

A disease breakthrough in the rough warranted an unscheduled application last week.

With the course's round counts up by approximately 50% over the past several years, we have a challenging combination of increased maintenance needs on the course, along with fewer times to perform these tasks without encountering play.  In order to help with the issue, we have shifted our morning start time back by half an hour in 2026--this is the earliest it has ever been since the course opened.

Feeling Funky

We have been pushing the greens hard the past couple of months, and based on feedback, the results have been appreciated by players.  Of course, just when things appear to be running like clockwork, we get a curveball thrown at us.

What is sometimes referred to as "Poa funk"  appeared on several greens this past week.

While this might have some of the same visual symptoms that you would see with a turf disease, the cause is actually environmental stress and often appears in areas with higher moisture levels.  As you can see above, the aerification holes are green, and less likely to suffer from this funk.

By dotting the margins lightly, we can easily compare how things are trending from day to day.  More often than not, when these spots appear, they do not grow in size.  So we've got that going for us--which is nice...

Quick Fix

Many irrigation repairs are unplanned, which can make them challenging.  This past Thursday, a quick coupler (that we connect a hose to for hand watering) at #1 green broke off, leading to a river running down the approach and a deposit of mud on the front of the green. With this occurring 45 minutes before the first tee time, the team had to quickly jump into action.

While it wasn't the way we like to start the day, it was great to see the repair completed in less than an hour, with only one group having to play the hole as we worked on it. 

This does also highlight the fact that we have an irrigation system that was installed almost 38 years ago.  There is approximately 20 miles of pipe in the system, which is always under 115 PSI, whether sprinklers are running or not.

Bunker Basics

It might be a bit naive to expect that we would ever receive compliments about bunkers.  Realistically, if we aren't hearing complaints, we should probably chalk it up as a win.  What you might not realize, is that in order to achieve this not so lofty goal, it still takes a tremendous amount of time and effort.

Of course raking is a part of the process, but there is a lot more to it than just that.  Bunker surrounds must be mown by hand,  the bunker faces need to be edged, weeded, then the sand packed and rolled.  Additionally, sand depth uniformity is checked periodically, as neither too much nor too little sand is desirable.

Again, all of this takes a lot of labor.  Fortunately, the team is now at full strength and we are catching up on these tasks.

They're back...

It's been several years since it's even been worth mentioning Annual Bluegrass Weevils.  However, they appear to be back in force this year.  While most of their activity on the course won't catch your eye, the approach to #7 green may be the exception, as they had a field day in this area.  This is somewhat unusual given the control treatments that were made in April and May.

Last week we hit the collars with a larvicide to knock them out, so hopefully there won't be any more surprises this season.  One thing is for sure, a cold winter does nothing to set back this insect.

A dreary Memorial Day weekend, but...

Let's face it, this past weekend was probably pretty disappointing for anyone planning outdoor activities.  However, prior to this, it was definitely a good run as far as golf goes with the last "no cart" day being way back on April 2.

A soaked #9 fairway on Memorial Day.

While this was not great weather for spending time at the pool or working on your game, if nothing else, the golf course appreciated this multi-day soaking.  And despite all of this rain, it still looks like we will finish May below average in precipitation--this will be the 10th month in a row.

Return of the Fan

It's hard to believe, but it was over 13 years ago that we initially installed a fan at the first tee putting green.  When the green was rebuilt, we took a wait and see approach as to whether or not the fan was still required.  

Well, last summer's hot, swampy weather provided a resounding "yes" to this question.  While many things have changed over the past decade, others have not, and this would include the growing environment in this area.  The green is obviously open on the front, but the back half gets limited morning sunlight and air flow.  In fact, as the trees continue to grow, the environmental conditions for this green are declining over time.

Fortunately, when the fan was removed during the green construction project, the power supply was not.  However, we did have to dig another five and a half foot deep hole and pour a thousand pounds of concrete to support the fan.  

  This will definitely provide a breath of fresh air when the dog days arrive.

April showers?

It might not jump out at you since we are still in spring, but despite some recent showers, we continue to be running way behind in precipitation.  As a matter of fact, you would have to go back to July, 2025 to find a month where we were actually above average.  That is nine months in a row of below average rain (or snow)!

What does this mean?  Well we obviously weren't complaining that we wanted more snow over the winter, but if this trend continues as we head towards warmer weather, it will definitely have an impact on the golf course.  Specifically, less rain leads to greater reliance on the aging irrigation system, thus less consistent conditions (wet areas and dry areas), as well as more labor resources being devoted to hand watering with a hose.

The rain gauge is looking thirsty.

In trying to view this rain reduction with a glass half full perspective, we did have zero "No Cart" days in April, 2026.  In contrast, during the month of April from 2021-2025, we averaged between four and five no cart days for the month--so at least this weather pattern is good for something.

Poa in the spring...

For a few reasons, we always deal with smoothness issues on the greens in the spring.  Unfortunately, this year the ball may be hopping a bit more than we've seen in a while. With last fall's aerification holes still being visible, it's easy to blame them as the main cause; and while the aerification holes may be part of the issue, it appears that the bigger culprit is the Poa annua in the greens.  

As most golfers know, Poa goes to seed this time of year.  We make preventative growth regulator applications to suppress this process, since less seed equals smoother greens in the spring.  The timing for these sprays is based on a Growing Degree Days model--basically a measure of heat accumulation.  

It appears that this past winter's weather threw a curveball into this predictive model for us, and resulted in much less seed suppression than we typically achieve.  One possibility is that despite below average temperatures, the insulation from the prolonged snow cover kept the Poa on pace for seed production.   

As you can see above, the greens are comprised of a combination of both Creeping Bentgrass along with multiple biotypes of Poa annua, which are currently growing at very different rates.  This lack of uniformity in grasses adds another wrinkle to the smoothness challenge. 

With the greens being cut at 1/10" in height, it may be hard to believe that one area is actually higher than another on the putting surface.  And at 1/10" it's a bit challenging to take a picture that shows the difference of Bent vs Poa.  However, if we look at an approach, it may be easier to visualize the difference on two types of grass being cut the same.

In the photo above, it's pretty easy to see how the clumps of Poa rise above the still semi-dormant Bentgrass, even when precisely cut with a reel mower.  A ball rolling across this surface will tend to have a little hop to it. 

In order to address the issue on the greens, we have decided to fumigate, strip and reseed the putting surfaces to Bentgrass--just kidding.  We have actually been lightly verticutting and topdressing them, but having a bit of patience may be the best thing we can do at the moment.  The Poa seed will soon end.

Dormant to Dormant

Dormancy is a survival mechanism for turf, which occurs both during the winter and summer.  This past week, just as the Bentgrass fairways were starting to break their winter dormancy and transition from brown to green, along came record-breaking heat.  

During this time, our weather station was recording moisture loss at levels we would typically experience in July, not April.  From April 6-April 18 we received a meager 0.03" of rain--the equivalent of a single spin of the sprinklers, and hardly enough to keep up with the moisture loss.  

In monitoring the turf lately, you really need to check closely to determine if it is coming out of winter hibernation, or stressing out from the heat.  A mottled dew pattern on the fairways is often indicative of dry conditions.

Undoubtedly, this week's low temperatures will keep the rollercoaster going, and have the turf wondering if it's time to wake up or go back to sleep.

Keys?

If you have been a regular follower of the turf blog over the years, you have had to endure numerous pictures of turf and...keys.  Occasionally, members have asked what's up with the keys.

The answer is that a set of keys gives some perspective, when the background may be nothing other than a plot of grass.  This helps to show the size of aerification holes, disease, weed, etc.  If you look around at enough turf pictures, you may see golf balls, tees, a ballmark repair tool, a knife, or occasionally a boot used for the same purpose.

  

Avoiding Sticker Shock

 As we've all seen at the gas pump over the past month, the war in Iran has lead to a dramatic rise in fuel prices.  During our last Green Committee meeting, Dr. Mark Walker (a 27 year Committee member) asked how the conflict would potentially impact our golf course operation.  There was good reason to inquire about this...

While Urea has traditionally been one of the most cost-effective sources of Nitrogen in granular fertilizers, the battle in the Middle East has changed that.  With 30-50% of the world's Urea being transported through the Strait of Hormuz, prices have skyrocketed.  There is clearly potential for sticker shock if you are a big user of Urea, however we still anticipate being in good shape with regard to our Fertilizer budget for the year. 

Urea prices have doubled since this time last year.

One of the primary reasons we don't foresee fertilizer becoming a budget-buster, is our limited use of products which contain Urea as their source of Nitrogen.  A single spring application of a Urea-based fertilizer in the primary rough accounts for about 90% of our annual usage of this material on the golf course.  As to the cost of this fertilizer, we had price-shopped the product and ordered it in February, prior to the issues starting in the Strait in March.

What about fertilizer for the tees and fairways?  Our lone granular fertilizer application of the year for this fine turf is completed using a product with the Nitrogen component being derived from organic ingredients, not Urea.

So, will there be any financial impact?  Yes, there are a couple of parts of our operation that may be affected by higher fuel prices.  Obviously one of these is the price of gas and diesel we are paying for our equipment's use.  While we do have some electric vehicles and mowers, the majority of our fleet is still powered by gasoline.  

The second is the indirect cost that will be passed along by those who provide us with services such as trash removal, or transporting bulk loads of sand to us.  Fingers are crossed that prices will not remain high for long, and will drop back down before our seasonal use ramps up over the next couple of months.

Landscaping Refresh

As you enter the Clubhouse parking lot, it’s hard to miss the activity taking place on the main parking island, and you may wonder what’s going on.  The short answer is that the 30+ year old trees in this space have seen better days, and many have outlived their typical lifespan.

For the past several years, the flowering plums have been losing major limbs during storms, leaving them quite asymmetrical.  Suffice it to say that this winter did these trees no favors…

 

On the far end of the island, the Zelkovas have outgrown their space and because of this, have also been in decline.  

These trees are being removed and new landscaped beds will be installed in this area, providing a fresh, cleaner appearance.

Under Cover

 As you may recall, with the greens not being tarped over the winter, we did cover a couple of small test plots for comparison on #9 and 17 greens.  This past Friday we removed the covers from these two areas, and below you can see the covered vs uncovered section of #17:

We will keep an eye on things over the next few weeks to see when the two sides even out.  However, even with the prolonged snow cover this winter, it appears that the tarps still make a difference in how quickly the greens recover from aerification.

Better late than never...

When mowing needs slowed late last fall, the project work started out at a fast pace.  However, with the frigid and snowy winter weather, things quickly came to a grinding halt.  As the soil has finally thawed, and we are able to get back out on the course, it now feels like a race to get things wrapped up before opening day.  

The to-do list includes completing cart path work, as well as regrading some tees.  This past week, the team made quick work of releveling and expanding the lower tee on #17.

The cart path contractor is as eager to get finished as we are to have the work completed. Fingers crossed that we get a spell of dry weather to get the paving done soon... 

Dots?

 As you finally get back out on the course after this long winter, you may notice some white dots on the perimeter of the greens.  "What are these for?" you ask.

These dots are a guide for the mowers, differentiating the collar from the green.  Over time, collars can widen or narrow, based on mowing habits.  With the current cool weather, and the greens still recovering from November's aerification, now is the best time to get the collars back to a uniform width.  Trying to reclaim any lost putting surface in-season typically doesn't work well.