Puzzling!?

This weather is becoming quite puzzling.  Who would have guessed that we'd be hitting the mid 80's in March?  We've actually hit 5 straight days where temps have been above 80 here at BCC.  This middle 80's weather has everything very active from trees, flowers, bugs, and the turf.  First mowing's have been done on fairways and tees with continuous mowing being done on greens and approaches.  This week we'll be looking at getting some rough cleaned up but that is low on our priority list.  Things are well ahead of schedule.  The weather has pushed physiology of the turf way ahead of where it should be as well as creating conditions for turf disease.  Last week we were out spraying for disease as well as growth regulators to control Poa seedheads.  To give you an idea how far ahead things are, we didn't make a single spray application to the last week in April last year.  I enjoy the warm weather cause it's allowing us to accomplish a great deal but it has me a bit nervous.  I hope we begin to balance out a bit otherwise if this continues does it mean we'll be hitting our 90's in June? 

Back to our tasks at hand though.  We continue to groom and push the greens and approaches for the opening.  This mild/warm weather has been a blessing giving the turf and early activity.  I can't believe this will continue to carry on, I believe at some point we'll return to our norms and turf growth will slow.  We've been mowing these areas on a continuous basis as well as carrying out verticutting, rolling, and topdressing.  We'll now be doing light topdressing every week, this will help protect the turf as we lower mowing heights but also help smooth areas out.  Cleanup of branches and other debris throughout the course continues.  I'm hoping that by the end of this week we'll be wrapping those tedious tasks up and we can then begin focusing our attention to the bunker work that still needs completed.  Irrigation checks will be done this week.  Last week we charged up our irrigation system which again is about a month ahead of last year.  We'll go through the system and check that each sprinkler head is rotating and spraying properly.  Things can happen over winter to disrupt the functionality and this is just a way to be sure we are in good operation.  Mowing frequencies will begin to pick up at turf becomes more active on tees and fairways.  We have raised heights and will slowly bring them down to mid season height.  If the spring stays mild and dry we'll be carrying out aerification and topdressing on these areas as well.  This will only help with plant health and set it up to handle harsh conditions better if such conditions present themselves this summer. 

Well, I had better get out on the course.  Here are some photos from tasks last week:

Cleanup cut on 18 grn.  Shows the definition and growth we are getting with the turf

Rolling greens.  We carried this process out twice last week on all the greens.  Rolling helps smooth things out as well as give the turf a rest from constant mowing.

Spraying fairways for Poa seedhead suppression.  This is done each spring to help reduce the seeding ability of Poa Annua, the turf we don't desire.  Be reducing the seeding capability it can help reduce the ability for seeds to be tracked through the course and established.  Fungicides were also included in this spray to protect against disease the can become evident in these temperatures.  Greens and approaches were sprayed as well last week with fungicide and foliar fertilizer.

Drainage work on 6 approach.  This is one approach that turf establishment wasn't taking place in the middle of.  Through investigation we discovered the bunker line that was installed in 2000 was trenched through here and over time settled creating a low spot for water to sit.  We've discussed before how important drainage is and that turf will not survive in constantly we soil.  We dug up old basin areas and installed new ones in the low spots as well as cleaning out the existing tile line.  This area will then be sodded and be completely healed up.

Mowing of approaches for the first time on March 13th.  These things are looking amazing.  I'm excited at the different playing options this will create for the game but also the management capabilities.