Playing Defense

From the beginning of June until now we have received almost 20 inches of rain. This is about 3 times more then what we normally receive. What a difference a year makes in weather extremes! Currently we are in the midst of 21 straight days of not seeing temperatures below 70 degrees. Add on top of that temperatures in the mid-90's and high humidity we have a perfect storm for turfgrass stress.

Below is a list of turfgrass stresses that are occurring and the defensive measures we are taking to cope with them.

Disease
Fungus loves warmth and moisture and we have plenty of it! Therefore we are increasing the frequency of our fungicide applications to all areas of the golf course.

Weeds
Certain weeds such as the nutsedge pictured in this photo thrive in moist environments.

While we do have effective herbicides for these weeds there is a high risk of causing damage to the surrounding good turf when applying them in high temperatures. Therefore we will hold off on applying control products until next week when the highs will be in the low 80's. In the meantime we will take a weedeater to these areas so they are not so unsightly.

Restricted Airflow, Traffic and Shade
Areas such as #3 tee and green, #4 tees, #6 green, etc have restricted airflow and sunlight due to their location. In some of these locations we also have high foot traffic and shade which makes it challenging to grow turfgrass. To combat this we will be using ropes and signs to help scatter the traffic to other areas. There is not much we can do about shade. To improve air flow on #3 green we have set-up a blower behind the green that will be moved several times throughout the day.

According to this article: Shade and Restricted Airflow good air movement across a putting green "promotes the cooling effects of transpiration, reduces soil moisture and promotes carbon dioxide exchange".

Next time you are playing notice the fans on #8 green and how much better the overall turf health is on this green.

For additional details on preparations for this week's Men's Invitational please be sure to follow Jim Larkin's blog: Men's Invitational Blog