GOLF COURSE UPDATE 7/9/16

GOLF COURSE UPDATE 7/9/16

• Mowing Heights: GREENS .120, TEES/COLLARS/APPROACHES .375, FWYS .400, STEP-CUT 1”, ROUGHS 2 ¼”
• Mowing Schedule: GREENS cut daily and double rolled Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday unless extreme heat or wet conditions exist; TEES/APPROACHES/FWYS mowed Monday, Wednesday, Friday; Rough/Bunkers-twice throughout week to keep up with growth

July in the Northeast is what keeps Superintendents up at night in January. Among my colleagues, we always talk about as good as it is today grass can be just as bad tomorrow.  This is also the time of year when Superintendents make decisions for plant health instead of aggressively pursuing faster conditions ensuring quality turf until Labor Day. That said the heat is on and after entering elevated drought status across the area in late June we have received timely rains the past few weeks. Along with any rain event throughout the golf season accompanied with heat and humidity, debate always follows about slower green speeds and lush penal roughs.

ROUGHS

Much to my delight our fertilizer application in early June finally released seeing our first significant rain since May, unfortunately for golfers we’ve also seen our already healthy roughs blow out of the ground. Even with overnight irrigation from our efficient system throughout June, you can’t simulate what Mother Nature delivers and the biggest reason for this surge in growth. Since then much discussion has taken place with the Professional Golf Staff and membership to determine the best height of cut and frequency to ensure a timely and enjoyable round. The current plan is for a 2 ¼” height of cut mown twice a week until growth slows or further adjustments are made to the schedule. This height is what we were mowing for the entire 2015 season and different from a less dense 2 ¼” primary, 3"+ around bunker banks, and no step-cut around primary before my new mowing practices started the spring of 2015. The reasons for this healthier turf stand are the changes made to our programs in fertility, spring/summer plant protectant applications, and most importantly our off-season aeration.

GREENS

Our turf is peaking at the perfect time going into July’s heat and up until this past week we have not seen a major drop off in playing surface health or speeds thru the green. With this week being the exception our greens have consistently rolled between 12’ to 13’ all season which is up from 11.5” consistently last year and much quicker than years past. I will continue with 12’ being our goal but must monitor our playing surfaces overall health and future forecasts to ensure our Greens remain consistent and healthy for upcoming tournaments.  Due to environmental conditions that can jeopardize turf health, you will notice our Assistants prepping greens in the morning (hand watering), syringing in the afternoon (cooling with water) and possibly the use of blowers next to greens (constant air flow). These methods along with smart decisions on mowing/rolling, constant turf monitoring and timely plant protectant applications are our best defense against the summer extremes.

Going into this summer stretch, I’m mostly happy with our playing surfaces and feel as if they have performed well to this point. As always summer stress on our turf, especially greens, is a major concern of mine, but with a lot of hard work our golf course and staff are preparing for the challenges of the dog days of summer.