Once in awhile in golf course maintenance all the planets line up and "The Perfect Storm" hits you hard. The conditions in the rough right now are a good example. It is thick, growing non stop and wet. That usually results in upset golfers and maintenance staff that can't understand why they have to cut the same area they just cut 24 hours previously. Two weeks ago we fertilized the fairways and rough. Then you always hope for a little rain (in addition to irrigation) that will help release some of the nutrients. We all know what happened next. More rain in June than we have seen in years. In addition to the rain, the temperatures were just right for turf growth in the rough. To cap it off the long days of mid to late June mean lots of daylight and lots of growth. On weekdays we have had all our rough mowers out and even then it is difficult to keep up. Eric and I have been out after the staff has finished their day to get some extra mowing in as well. On weekends with reduced staff hours and our desire to stay out of your way on Saturdays and Sundays the rough has the advantage. It will slow down and we will catch up and all the clumps of clippings will back off. In the mean time try and stay on the fairways.
The yellow rings that are prevalent on the greens right now are a mild patch disease (Yellow Patch) that will ocurr on Poa/Bent greens that are low in nitrogen, thatchy and subjected to cool wet weather. It will stop activity when temperatures get above 21 C. We have not been able to put a granular fertilizer down to increase nitrogen levels due to the daily rainfall. We will be getting that done on Monday regardless of the weather. As for spraying a fungicide I would prefer to wait to see if conditions change. We sprayed a fungicide last week that prevented a different cool weather disease (Fusarium) from appearing and it usually helps control mild outbreaks of Yellow Patch. Not this time. So before I go putting a different, more effective chemical down we will wait a day or two. It is unsightly but should not affect the putting surface.
On the course this week:
- mowing rough non stop
- verticutting and topdressing approaches on Monday and Tuesday
- verticutting and topdressing greens on Wednesday followed by a roll and double cut before the start of Mens League
- fertilizing greens, tees and approaches
- finishing off minor repairs on collars and greens
What a week we just went through: flooding to pretty nice conditions in the span of 5 days. Never a boring moment. There are 2 more new pictures down below.
Wade
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