It has been a dry spell for the golf course with variable temperatures. If we don't get rain today, I don't see any promising rain chances until next Sunday. The golf course is showing signs of this mini-drought. Areas around trees, ridges or knobs in fairways, and the fescue is all showing signs of drought stress. You will see our staff hand watering these specific areas on tees and fairways and around trees to prevent damage to the turf and trees. If you see a staff member hand watering or syringing greens, please do not hit your shot in their direction. We are not trying to delay play or ruin your experience, we are protecting the turf. The quarry is in decent shape and we are being judicious with our water. Greens followed by fairways and then tees are the top priorities and our watering practices will be based on this priority.
The sprig preparation will be completed today. Trees have all been mulched and the ground has been prepared for sprigs. Pre-emergent herbicide, fertility and soil amendments will be applied this afternoon ahead of sprigging tomorrow. Once sprigs are installed, this area will receive a lot of water and fertility to grow in. Even in this drought situation, our best decision is to sprig as any thunderstorm could wash away all of our prep work. We have more than enough water to grow these sprigs in and maintain the golf course.
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| This large area between 11 and 12 has been tilled, cleaned, graded and is almost ready for sprigs. |
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| The mulch bed installations between 10 and 12 show you what this area will look like with grass. Irrigation components and cart path edges were sodded. Sprigging is about 1/7 of the cost of sod per acre. These areas should fill in over the next 8-12 weeks. |
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| The hill to the left of #10 green has been mulched and English Ivy will be planted to provide a ground cover. Do not hit your ball left on 10 but if you do there will be a lot more turf there by summer's end. |
If you have played the golf course, you may have noticed a few blemishes or bruised turf around the greens. Our team and the Green Committee are all aware of these areas most notably on a few edges of greens. These are a result of the core aeration and topdressing program that took place two weeks ago. The edges get bruised because they receive the most traffic and mechanical wear during the aeration/topdressing process. The greens and the edges are recovering well from aeration. We see the bruising in
the spring and fall but recovery is much faster. During the cooler months,
we are able to provide more nitrogen to the plants to hasten recovery. We
simply cannot do that right now. This heat (predicted to be near 100 on
Friday and Saturday) will cause nitrogen applications to have a negative affect
and burn the turf. I actually sprayed these bruised areas this
morning to aid in recovery with small amounts of a variety of nutrients.
This process, known as spoon feeding, is very safe and provides small amounts of
foliar absorbed nutrients to allow the plants to recover. We will
continue to nurse these edges back to health.
We are getting to that time of year of angst and bad memories. We have sent in multiple samples and I
sent another sample on Thursday to test for root pythium. So far, we have
seen no disease and I will hear back about this test by tomorrow. My true
belief is that the greens need to continue to heal in from the aeration process
(Today marks 14 days since the greens on the bottom 9 were aerated.) Both
to heal over the holes and to heal from the mechanical traffic. The
overall benefit of this aeration will far outweigh the blemishes we are
currently witnessing.
Speaking of negative side affects, we will be applying fertilizer and pre-emergent herbicides in the next few weeks. We have seen tire tracking with these products in the past. When a tractor or sprayer drives over the turf, it lays those grass blades over. This exposes more of the plant's stomata, which are on the side of the leaf blade, and increases plant uptake. Stoma, the singular form of stomata, is Greek for "mouth." Stomata are small openings in the plant's skin. Each stoma is bordered by two guard cells that control the size of the opening, based on factors like atmospheric conditions and light levels. These openings control transpiration, gas exchange during photosynthesis and foliar nutrient or chemical uptake. In the case of some products, this can burn the tip of the plant. Recovery is quick but I want to communicate this point before we see it. Our TifSport is very susceptible to this problem.
Speaking of negative side affects, we will be applying fertilizer and pre-emergent herbicides in the next few weeks. We have seen tire tracking with these products in the past. When a tractor or sprayer drives over the turf, it lays those grass blades over. This exposes more of the plant's stomata, which are on the side of the leaf blade, and increases plant uptake. Stoma, the singular form of stomata, is Greek for "mouth." Stomata are small openings in the plant's skin. Each stoma is bordered by two guard cells that control the size of the opening, based on factors like atmospheric conditions and light levels. These openings control transpiration, gas exchange during photosynthesis and foliar nutrient or chemical uptake. In the case of some products, this can burn the tip of the plant. Recovery is quick but I want to communicate this point before we see it. Our TifSport is very susceptible to this problem.
I am very excited to get this large project finished between 10 tee and 14 tees. The long term benefit of this project will be outstanding. It might just be me, but I have noticed a lot more repaired ball marks and filled divots. It is wonderful to see such pride being taken in course care. As always, I look forward to seeing you on the course.
Have a great day,
Jordan Booth
jbooth@willowoakscc.org
