Great Staff/Great Effort after Rainfall and High Temperature Forecast

Wednesday, July 25, 2012 Putting Greens, Tree Work

This summer has already been an adventure.  Afternoon and nightly thunderstorms seem to be the norm with very erratic temperatures.  Today is supposed to be in the high 80s with Thursday and Friday near 100.  What does this mean when we received a storm last night?  It means that our managers are here this morning venting and spiking greens and then applying a root pythium fungicide.  I have to thank our assistant superintendents for putting in the work to protect the golf course.  Ryan was here this morning before 3:00 a.m. to vent the greens and low spots on greens that hold moisture.  I have lost count of how many times we have vented greens this year.  Kevin was here before 4:00 a.m. to ready his sprayer for this morning's spray.  Soil moisture and high heat can lead to nothing but problems so venting and spiking to dry things out and applying preventative fungicides is everything we can do to ward off issues.  I am very lucky to arrive to work before 5:00 a.m. and know that our three assistant superintendents and our equipment manager have already been hard at work prepping for the day and working on the golf course.  Thank you, gentlemen.

The large Willow Oak tree between the Fitness Center and the main parking lot has suffered some real damage from these storms.  We lost a large limb earlier this month and when the arborists inspected the tree, they found some large cracks.  The cracked limbs were removed this Monday.  This tree, like all of our trees, will stand until a certified arborist declares it to be too great of a risk.  While this tree looks different, it is still standing.  Two new Willow Oak trees will be planted on either side of this tree to provide shade and great aesthetic value for future generations.

Arborscapes removed the damaged limbs on Monday.  Thank goodness, no one has been under this tree.  You can see the large scar on the left from the fallen limb.

One real issue that we are facing right now is the rate of growth on the tees, fairways, and approaches.  They grow so quickly that it is difficult to provide a good quality of cut.  The sand from last weeks topdressing has worked in well but it quickly dulls reels and bedknives.  John Anderson, our equipment manager, has already sharpened 39 reels and bedknives and will have many more to go to work through the sand.  Yesterday, we were able to double cut fairways and we are in the process of spraying a growth regulator to slow down the growth.  Continuing to get dry, afternoon cuts will greatly help the situation so thank you for your patience out there.

A second dry cut (without dew) really cleans up the fairways

The summer has been trying and overall the course still looks great.  We have seen thinning on some greens and a few edges of greens have suffered from heat, humidity and high soil moisture following thunderstorms.  This has been documented but I have been very pleased with the greens over the last week.  The recovery has been very refreshing and while they are not perfect, they are disease free and continuing to improve.  Once we get through the next two hot days, the forecast is very favorable for good bentgrass recovery.

Have a great day,

Jordan Booth
jbooth@willowoakscc.org