July 4th Greens Update

I saw this on Twitter and thought it was perfect for what we have been experiencing recently.

I never thought I would say this, but the latest hurricane to come up the coast was just what the golf course needed.  The gentle soaking rain recharged the soil by replenishing the water table and replacing the built up carbon dioxide with fresh oxygen, which is just what the doctor ordered.

I heard a few people comment recently that they were concerned about the appearance of the greens, and that they felt we were close to “losing” them.  I too was a little concerned, but at no point were we in jeopardy of suffering any damage to the greens.   The additional stress was related to our preparation for the two premier spring golf events, The Sid Noyes Stroke Play Championship and the Spring Member/Member.  Leading up to both events we performed our usual tournament preparation program, which includes extra mowing, rolling, and a special concoction that I devised to help firm up the greens and increase green speed.  The plan worked great, except for the fact that the weather following the Member/Member turned against us.  The heat and humidity were a bit stressful on the turf, and my concoction prevented the grass from growing out of the stress. 

The off color areas that people saw were areas of Poa annua that is typically less resilient than creeping bentgrass.  The extra mowing, rolling, and lack of water damage the leaf tissue, and the growth regulators prevent the plants from growing tall enough for our mowers to remove the older damaged leaves.  Creeping bentgrass thrives under these conditions making the Poa annua look even worse.  This is most evident on holes 3 and 5 which are over 80% Poa annua.  I admit I was more than a little concerned at first, but by using my moisture meter and microscope, I was able to monitor the condition of the turf as it slowly recovered.  Thanks to these two tools I had the information I needed to develop a strategy that would help nurse the turf back to health.  The key component of that plan was a good soaking rain to flush the soil and revive the plants that had been choking on the growth regulators that had been applied over the last few weeks.  The two thunderstorms early in the week and steady rain that fell on the 4^th of July worked perfectly.

Unfortunately, our roller fell into disrepair just as the turf was coming out of regulation and is beginning to grow vigorously.  The turf will be lush and the greens a bit shaggy until I can resume my programs and the roller is repaired.  On Monday we will resume our cultural and chemical programs which should have the playing surfaces back in shape by the end of next week.