Relief!

Some much needed relief has come for the turf here at BCC.  The last few weeks have been bordering a nightmare, but the few cooler days sprinkled in have helped from going over the edge.  Records continue to be broken with heat as well as lack of rainfall, but we continue to do all that we can to keep the turf health and in good playing condition.  A few blemishes here and there have developed but that is to be expected when we go through what we have.  For the majority the golf course continues to remain in great shape and the greens/approaches continue to out perform even my expectations.  We couldn't have picked a better time to embark on the regrassing project. 

As mentioned the weather has begun to show some ill affect on certain aspects of the golf course.  These aspects include:

• Slight decline in collar turf quality
• Fairway edges beginning to dry out
• LDS on tees
• Tree decline

Collars around greens are the hardest area to get established when either done with seed or with sod.  These are the narrow area of longer turf around the green, between the rough and the greens height turf.  These areas receive more traffic than probably any other area on the golf course, as the mowers are constantly traveling over as well as turning on.  We do have control though.  Roughly a week back I really began seeing some slight turf discoloration and decline in the turf density, we were proactive.  I reached out to others that have done similar projects to see if they had seen similar issues and what they did to remedy.  One constant was they all seen this issue and with a year like this it would be even more evident.  Some suggestions that were given were to lower the height of cut as well as do some frequent light fertilizer applications on them.  We took these suggestions and put them into place as well as our own, like having our guys using plastic lattice over the collars so the greens mowers were never coming into direct contact with the turf.  Operators turn their machines now on the plastic reducing the tear or pressure on the turf.  We're seeing success! 

Illustrating the use of the plastic lattice over the collar.  This has helped reduce direct mower to turf contact in these areas.

Photo taken July 16 of decline on the 6 green collar

Photo taken on the 20th of the same collar, looks to be heading in a positive direction.

Fairway edges have slowly begun to show some stress as well.  Most of this is due to poor irrigation coverage but also trees being too close to the fairways.  Our fairway irrigation system was designed to be a "double" row system.  This means that there are two rows of sprinklers down the fairway, other designs are a single or triple row.  The issue that we are having and is more evident in times like we are going through is that the fairway is too wide for the sprinkler coverage.  A lot of our sprinklers are set in on the fairway a good 10 feet and possible more in spots.  Irrigation systems are set up to throw from sprinkler to sprinkler so the middle of the fairway is getting the adequate amount of water while the outer edge is getting half.  This is where we are seeing the issues arise.  In conjunction with the half rate of water we have trees that are robbing any available moisture that is applied.  Trees will always win this battle.

Illustrating the gap between the rough and the sprinkler head.  These heads should be right on the edge of the fairway.  The area that is drying out is between the bunker and the sprinklers

Again a large gap between the sprinkler and the rough.  That area between the rough and sprinkler are only receiving half the water that the area to the right of the sprinkler is getting.

Illustrates a situation where the trees are competing with the fairway for the moisture.  Roots have encroached the fairway and now that plants are in desperate need of moisture the trees are taking the moisture from the turf. 

Localized dry spots are beginning to beginning to be very evident.  During these dry times soils can become hydrophobic, meaning they won't take in any water.  We've continue to run irrigation cycles as well as us products to get the water to penetrate the soil but not having much luck.  Last week we decided we'd use the aerifiers and poke holes to create avenues for the water to penetrate better through he canopy, and again we're seeing success.  Not all areas are showing great recovery but it's coming.  I couldn't be happier with the timing of aerification as it was just prior to this last rainfall.  I would anticipate seeing some good recovery here over the weekend.

Antonio needle tining the tees.  Small holes being created to get water to penetrate deeper to the roots.

Soil core showing LDS, localized dry spot.  We've continued to water but yet this specific small area remains dry on 8 tee.  Using special products in conjunction with aerification and this recent rain we should be seeing recovery. 

Lastly we are beginning to see some significant decline in trees.  This is very understandable, especially after learning that the soil moisture has significantly depleted down to 5ft.  Willows are the trees that are showing the most decline.  Willows are very shallow rooted and require a great deal of water, which we don't have right now.  As to long term effect it is hard to tell.  I think we may need to prepare ourselves that some of the Willows are not going to make it through the drought.

It's been a very challenging year, but we continue to push along.  I'm very happy with the way things are holding up and especially the way the greens have responded to the heat.  I know if we had the old Poa/Bent greens we'd all be very unhappy right now.  Some more drastic heat is in the immediate forecast but we are nearing that August 15th when the days become shorter and the turf can get more recovery breathes in.  Hang in there turf a bit longer!

Grass Practice Tee Closed

We have closed the grass at the driving range for the next several days.  Reason being is the heat and drought taking its toll on the Ryegrass surface.  We seed the tee every Monday after a week of use but since things have been so hot none of the seed is germinating.  If we continue to hit off the grass our practice tee will be completely dessimated and will take much longer for it to come back.  Our plan is to keep it closed here throughout the weekend and then open it back up for Mens Guest Day.  At this time we will intermittenly use the grass as well as the mats to allow the tee to regenerate.  Ryegrass is a true cool season turf, this is what a lot of clubs use to overseed with in winter.  As you probably know the Rye then dies when the temps get warm and the Bermuda takes back over.  Well, we've had the heat to really stress the rye and no Bermuda to fill the voids.  Hopefully soon we'll get back into some cooler patterns and things will recover.  We apologize for this inconvienence.

Continued Summer Heat!

Good Morning everyone, Happy 4th of July!  I'm sure we are all aware of the weather we're experiencing, quite out of the norm.  Looking at our weather station, we are now on our 9th straight day of 90 degrees, with 5 of those days above 95.  A lot of things are going on with the course and turf health.  For starters we are in a drought.  The amount of water we lose in a day through evaporation is well above what we can even apply through irrigation, this has been the case all spring.  The difference between rain received and evaporation is over 8" and our irrigation does not make up that difference.  We then get to a situation like right now with overwhelming heat and humidity.  The last thing we want or need to do is apply a great amount of water.  Wet or saturated conditions will only bring other complications in play such as disease or "boiling" roots. 

I thought last week was going to be a challenge, guess I was premature.  Today we are going on the defensive.  This is the exact situation that I wasn't hoping to have with the new greens.  This intense heat is very stressful for mature greens, let alone greens that are in their 1st year.  For the meantime we are backing off, or I should say backing up.  I know today we have the Men's Chapman and I always want the golf course to be in the best possible condition.  Today is not one of those days considering the age of our greens, the forecast at hand, and the traffic they'll receive.  This morning we will be mowing NOTHING.  Greens will be slower!  When we mow we remove leaf tissue which helps the plant "transpire" or cool itself.  In these times that little bit of leaf tissue is very important.  All that will be taking place today is rolling the greens with the greens mowers, again no cutting will take place.  This may be the case for the next few days as today is forecasted in the upper 90's almost 100 as is the same for Thursday and Friday.  I can only hope the extended forecast holds true, cooler temps with some natural moisture.  The real battle now isn't really the heat during the day, but the high temperatures in the evening.  The plant never really has the ablity to rejuvinate itself after a long hot day.  We have done light and frequent water cycles to cool the surface and plant down to help it along but again the upper 70's and high humidity at night keep the plant stressed.  We've begun to see some stress on greens.  Our crew is constantly scouting the course and address these areas and will continue to do so over these stressful days. 

I'm sure some may think that the greens regrassing was supposed to eliminate these situations.  We'll it was, but not too often do we experience 9 and what could end up 11 straight days above 90 degrees.  These temperatures are more for the southern portion of the United States where bermuda grass is the turf of choice.  Normally we receive a few days but then get the cool down, I think this whole season has been out of the norm.  Just look and since May 1 we've had 17 days above 90 here at BCC, that is the furthest from normal.  So needless to say for that our greens have held up tremendously.  As things cool down we'll get back to our normal schedule and maintenance tasks, but this isn't the time to try and be a hero.

One last thing considering the rough.  I just spoke to my crew before the headed out to prep the course and requested of them to keep carts in the fairways and on the carts paths around greens and tees.  A great deal of our rough has now gone into protection mode, dormant.  It will stay this way till we get some rain and some cooler temps.  In the mean time constant traffic will only beat it to submission and it will not come back, making for a lot of dead turf and a lot of seeding.  So please keep the carts in the fairways as much as possible and use the cart paths!  If this weather keeps up we may actually have to pull carts cause it's too dry.  Sure that's the first time you've heard that one.

Thanks again, for all your support and understanding.  I know the last two years were a struggl and this year has started off so great, and then to get into these extremes.  We are doing all we can to stay on top of things and prepare not only for the day at hand but the days to come.  If you see some guys out there pull hose or anyone on the crew a wave or a thank you goes a long ways.  I know they are pretty exhausted but they keep showing up and doing a great job.

Hot, Hot, Hot

July has come in strong. The week is forecasted to be above 90 each day meaning a great deal of stress on the turf. The kicker with the day time highs are the forecasted lows not getting under 75 degrees. Night temps are key to turf recovery after warm days and when you stay mild the turf stays stressed. Along with these two components we are tossing in higher humidities, humidity is good in that we'll be able to keep some moisture in the ground but the combination of these 3 creates a breeding ground for disease.
Today we are putting on the armor and preparing ourselves for war. Preventative fungicide applications are being done to approaches and fairways. Our fear is that we receive one of these pop up thunderstorms and accumulate a good amount of rain only upping the conditions for disease to take over. Today we've also needle tined the greens. Needle tining has become a constant management practice for our greens. This creates small holes helping rid the soil of toxic gases and get fresh oxygen to the roots.
We keep trying to stay ahead of Mother Nature as much as we can, it's a battle out here but that's what makes it fun. Stay cool!