The Heat is Here!

Along with the summer solstice the heat came right with it.  This week has come with days in the hundreds and a few new record highs as well.  The turf care team has been well prepared for this weather.  We have been out handwatering fairways everyday hitting any stressed areas.  We aerified entry and exit points in the roughs adding some more soil amendments.  The same moisture holding amendments we used in the fairways last month.

We will be venting the greens this coming Monday the 1st of July.  Above is a video shot this morning showing how beneficial these vetings are to gas exchange in the profile.  This air movement was done with just a backpack blower hooked up to the drain tile. The last time we deep tined was almost four weeks ago but as you can see the channels are still open allowing air exchange to occur.  The picture quality is not the best through downloading but pay attention around 13 second mark and watch for bubbles coming up through the water. 

Fairway verticutting is complete.

I know that some of the early Tuesday golfers saw the debris left behind by the verticutter. We started yesterday morning and finished up this morning at about 10 o'clock. Verticutting should allow more plant propagation and a more upright growth pattern to help the ball sit up in the fairways. It also helps reduce the thatch layer in the fairways. Looks pretty messy out there right now but another mow and some more blowing and things will really tidy up! We also gave everything a little fertilizer and monthly application of wetting agent to help the plants retain moisture in these arid summer months.

Early Start Today!

Work began well before the sun came up today out on the golf course. A few us came in at 3 o'clock this morning to start deep tining the greens. By 11 o'clock today we will have deep tined, rolled, sprayed, top dressed, and watered the greens all prior to the heat of the day. This allows us to maintain the health and playability of the greens we desire along with minimizing the stress to the turfgrass plant through the summer months. It will be very difficult to see these 5/16th inch diameter holes by the end of the week. However with a working depth of 12 inches deep the benefits to the plant will be seen long after this week.