And Here We Go!

Well July was some month and August is starting off with more of the same.  The only good thing is the night time temperatures usually start to relax mid month and we can start to get aggressive with programs to kick start some of the problem areas.

To recap the last 30 days I refer to the stress index compiled by PACE turf laboratories for our location.  The left colored column is a composite of the stress on cool season grasses from air and soil temperatures.  As you can see only red days with a few scattered yellows in the last month.  Conversely those same days were excellent growing weather for Bermuda (warm season grass)

As we try to survive the last of the summer heat, I want to stress the impact carts have on the turf.  We try to avoid being both too wet and too dry which is difficult on this greatly sloping and multi environment course.  But sometimes we are trying to overcome the damage carts impart to the turfgrass.  The first example is just taking a very tight turn.  We often see this in an attempt to identify a ball or sometimes just get closer.  Please pull up to the correct side to play and take the time to get out and look at the identification.  This type of damage now requires us to overwater to avoid this area becoming what we see in the following picture.

Below is the 4th fairway landing area.  A section that can be too wet on occasion, but when left to dry down, excessive cart traffic scars the turf and creates a situation where we will again have to overwater to ensure the turf survives the heat of the late day.

Well enough of the woes of summer heat.  I want to touch on divots and the healing process.  Many always ask what to do when taking a divot and why there is not seed in the mixture.  Simply put bent grass seed in a fairway divot works best in the cool spring on our course.  

At that time of year the seeds stays moist enough to germinate without excessive water, and with no leaves to blow, stays in place until it matures.  In the summer unless the divot is sufficiently large and deep it is best to fill with sand and level off with your foot.

This makes the surface smooth and won't dull the mowers that pass over the sand.  The example below show someone who replaced the divot properly, but due to us trying to dry down fairways the divot died due to low moisture.  This is a difficult balancing act.

A sand filled divot below shows how the bent grass will creep over the scar and fill smoothly on its own if properly filled.  This will not create a depression and will become a smooth playable surface again.  Again using seed in the summer usually only creates another expense, rarely germinates to become viable turf.  Better results happen on tees, which are level and receive more water to continually germinate seeds, and the wetter conditions do not affect play.

In the fall we still rarely use seed since blowers trying to clear leaves, blow the seed in to the rough which creates another type of rough grass to deal with.  Bent grass makes a terrible playing surface when mowed at anything over 3/4" inch, and even worse when mowed at normal rough height of 2 1/4".  

We will begin seeding into rough in the next week or two to re establish the grass that disease and heat took out in the month of June and July.  In most areas the only grass left (hole3) is tall Fescue and Bermuda.  We will be using improved Tall Fescue varieties in this process.  But that discussion of grass types for rough is for next time.

A shout out to my friend Scott Furlong at Robert Trent Jones, who did a magnificent job combating all the early rain to present a tournament course in great shape during a very stressful summer period.  Congratulations to him and his staff for a job well done.  Not sure anyone saw a 61 coming at RTJ especially those who have played the course.  They make it seem like a different game.