Busy Week

With the season in full swing, our "To Do" list continues to grow.  Today we are Grooming and Topdressing greens.  As weather allows, every two weeks we will complete this task.  These two practices combine to assist with creating smooth, firm, and healthy greens.  During the heat of July and August we will back off of this schedule, but for now this is a high priority item.

Today we are also spraying our second preemergent application on the greens along with a wetting agent.   The preemergent will keep out the Goose and Crabgrass.  The wetting agent essentially helps to make us more efficient with our watering.  By allowing the water to move more evenly through the profile and reduce the hydrophobic areas, we are able to use less water for better conditions along with the financial benefit of reduced water.  As we get into the drier months of the year, we will begin injecting the wetting agent course wide through the irrigation system.  Same benefits, much larger scale.

Following the US Open Qualifier on Wednesday, we will begin cutting out the Bermuda contamination that was killed around greens on the front nine.  Next week we are bringing in a truckload of sod to repair these areas and restock our Zoysia nursery.

Speaking of Bermuda control in the Zoysia, this past week we made our first application of a  product that helps in keeping our fairways free of Bermuda.  This is something we will do throughout the summer on a four week schedule.  The only negative, as you may have noticed, is the temporary yellowing of the fairways following the application.

Thank you for following the blog.  If there is ever anything you would like me to write about on the blog, please contact me.  I am always looking for new topics to cover.

Keep it in the Fairway!

As we head into the warmer months of the year, we would like to encourage you to keep the carts out of the rough as much as possible.  Advancing your cart down the fairway as opposed to driving in the rough is preferred.

During the hot months of summer the Zoysia is actively growing and able to withstand additional stress, compared to the cool season grasses in the rough, which tend to struggle more with the heat.

Our approach to managing cart traffic can be confusing with the changes throughout the year.   The 90 Degree Rule, which used to be our method for managing cart traffic has been replaced with a system that limits traffic in areas that are at their weakest stage of seasonal growth.    To summarize:

•  May - September:  keep the carts more on the Zoysia and out of the rough as much as possible.  

• October - April:  keep the carts in the rough and out of the Dormant Zoysia as much as possible.

Thank you for your help with this.  Small changes in how you make your way through the course will go a long way towards keeping the conditions we all desire.

Bermuda Removal

If you've been out on the course lately, you've probably noticed some dead areas around the greens in the Zoysia.  One of the constant struggles with Zoysia is keeping out unwanted Bermuda contamination.  For the past couple of weeks we have been spraying Roundup on areas in the front nine approaches.  After confirming the Bermuda has been killed, we will begin cutting out the dead areas and replace with Zoysia sod.

If everything goes as planned we will be cutting the areas out during the week of May 14th and will begin sodding the week of the 21st.  Due to the amount of area killed, we are not painting this as Ground Under Repair, however, if you choose to take relief you may do so.

We will address the back nine approaches later in the summer.

Area killed on #1 Approach

#1 Approach

Fairway Aerification

Attached are a couple of short videos showing our deep tine aerification on fairways.  The second video indicates the depth we are reaching with the solid tine.

Deep tine aerification is another cultural practice we utilize that goes almost unnoticed.  With this practice we are using 1/2" solid tines, aerifying to a depth of around 9-10".  As the tine reaches the maximum depth, there is a kicking action which creates multiple fractures in the soil profile.  Fortunately, from the surface, all that is visually apparent are 1/2" wide holes.

This practice assists with relieving compaction, increasing air exchange within the profile, speeding up breakdown of thatch, and improving percolation rates into the soil.  As with all of our cultural practices the goal is to improve plant health as well as playability.

We recently received results from soil testing on the fairways.  The results of the test indicate higher organic matter amounts in the upper portion of the profile.  In response to the tests, we will be aerifying fairways more frequently throughout the season to reduce our percentage of organic matter.

Greens Grooming

Now that the greens have healed in from aerification we are moving on to other cultural practices that we utilize throughout the season to improve the health and playability of the greens.  Core aerification is one of our most important practices, however, the impact of the other practices that typically go unnoticed are not to be underestimated.

Yesterday we groomed the greens for the first time since aerification.  The groomer would be similar to verticutting, only less aggressive.  Standing up the turf, cutting horizontal growth, thinning the canopy, and removing thatch are a few of the benefits of grooming.  

From a players perspective, it is difficult to tell anything took place following the grooming and mowing.  From my perspective, we see cart fulls of plant material removed from the greens, firmer, tighter turf, and a surface capable of withstanding lower mowing heights without scalping.

Close up view of Grooming attachment.

Turf and thatch removed from Green.

 Moving forward, we will continue to utilize different Cultural Practices to keep the greens looking and playing their best.  Grooming, topdressing, rolling, brushing, verticutting, and venting all have a place in our greens management program.  I will continue to discuss these practices in other posts moving forward.

Tornado Damage?

After a crazy weather night last night, I'm happy to report no damage to the course or club grounds.  Other than a  few branches on the ground, really no issues from the wind.  We did receive about 1.25" of rain to an already wet golf course.  With the rain, bunkers were washed out and the creek made a bit of a mess, but overall things could have been much worse.

No signs of damage between #3 and #4.

A few branches down right of #1.

Zoysia Approaches

This week, we began spraying Roundup on the Bermuda patches that have contaminated the Zoysia Approaches next to the greens.  We will be making 2-3 applications of herbicide to completely kill the Bermuda before sodding with new Zoysia turf.  Over the next few days, you will see patches of turf in the approaches begin to turn yellow before eventually dieing.

Bermuda contamination on #1 approach

The majority of our fairways are kept (mostly) free of Bermuda with our monthly application of herbicides that severely limit the growth of Bermuda.  Unfortunately, our most critical areas around the greens are also the most difficult to reach with the sprayer.  We have found our best option is killing and reestablishing our edges with sod.

On another note, it looks like we are going to be dealing with severe weather over the next few days.  We've already had over 3/4" of rain today and more is expected.  We are in the Bulls-eye for potential severe weather along with tornadoes for Friday and into Saturday.