Course Update

About the time I start thinking that fall is really here, we end up with another 90 degree day! Cool mornings have been nice but we continue to remain hot and dry.  Looks like Saturday may offer some relief.

The last couple of weeks have been busy on the golf course.  Similar to the spring, we have several things that need to get done in a short amount of time.  At the top of the list was greens aerification.  The solid tine, deep tine aerification has become the norm for us during fall aerification.  Great results, without the threat of greens not healing in before they shut down for the winter.  During this time we worked in an aggressive verticut and heavy topdressing.  As always with aerification, temporary headache for long term benefits.

Deep tine aerifier in action on Greens.

Along with greens aerification, we have also aerified all of the primary rough (approximately 40 acres) with our recently purchased Toro 1298 Aerifier.  This machine has been unbelievable.  We have not been as consistent with our fairway and rough aerification in past years.  With this new machine, I actually look forward to punching holes. Following aerification, we are working our way through seeding all of the rough throughout the course with Turf Type Tall Fescue.  Rough is a little beat up following these
practices.  Should see recovery over the next couple of weeks.

Aerifying rough with the Toro 1298.

Not to be left out, the Zoysia has seen its share of attention as well.  We start off with an application of 5-10-31.  A little Nitrogen and Iron for fall color, but we are mostly after the Potassium to help prepare the plant for the stresses of winter.  Along with the fertilizer, we are also applying one last application of products to help eliminate any Bermuda contamination.  And finally, we apply our preemergent to keep the weeds out over the winter (Poa annua is the main target) and last but not least is a fungicide application to prevent Large Patch of Zoysia in the spring.  Zoysia is an ideal turf for our area, however, it still has its fair share of inputs.

Heading into the weekend, we are hoping to see some rain.  For as wet as we were early in the season, we are equally as dry heading into fall.  Funny how weather never works out exactly the way you want it to!

Rough

After a season of record rain, the rough is once again a hot topic.  Early in the season the cool season Fescue and Bluegrass were thriving creating difficult playing conditions.  As the summer progressed, the Bermuda in the rough hits the peak of its growth stage with tough lies and hard to find errant shots.

Finding the ideal turf for our area is a never ending battle.  The cool season grasses look great during certain times of the year, unfortunately, the amount of water required to keep the grasses looking their best is almost unsustainable during a typical hot and dry summer.  The new fine bladed seeded Bermuda's would be an excellent choice for our rough, however, there is still a stigma attached to the dormant turf during our shoulder season's.  

There was a point we were discussing the use of Zoysia as a primary rough.  The Zoysia has proven to be a good choice in our Intermediate Rough cut at 1.25".  Zoysia at 1.5-2.0" might be too clumpy and thick.  This takes us back to the seeded Bermuda's.  With a height of cut under 2.0", the Bermuda will still make the fairway a premium, however, finding balls and putting a club on them will be much better compared to our current rough which ranges from 2.5-3.0" during the summer months.

Due to the time required to kill existing turf and establish new turf from seed, this conversion is not to be taken lightly.  Ideally, the project would take place in conjunction with other yet to be scheduled projects (such as bunkers, tees, greens, etc.).  Below is good article describing the steps to convert to an improved variety of Bermuda.  

http://www.uaex.edu/Other_Areas/publications/PDF/MP477.pdf

Another option to consider would be to kill the existing stand and convert to a pure stand of Turf Type Tall Fescue.  This would completely remove the existing Bermuda that when combined with the cool season grasses makes for difficult playing conditions.  The trouble here, as we currently face, is an irrigation system not suited to water fairways separate from the rough.  Giving the rough what it needs leads to soft fairways.  I choose to prioritize the Zoysia fairways at the roughs expense.

Until the time comes, we will continue to make the best of our current stand of turf.  This week we will be lowering the height of cut in preparation for aerifying and seeding that we started today.  In the short term, conditions will be more playable.  Heading into next spring, the cycle will continue until significant changes are made.

Rough left of #18