The good and the bad.  Stress to the turf, the staff, and the membership.  Did we ever mention our love-hate relationship with course maintenance?  It is rewarding seeing things grow but sometimes the road getting there is pretty bumpy.  The one thing we do know is that aerification has been proven time and again to be the best form of preventive maintenance.  So we apologize for the mess we have made but feel confident it is in the courses best interest.   

 

This was taken on September 2nd.

 

 

Two weeks later what an improvement!

 

 

Greens were double cut today.  We will lower the height of cut next week and have them near warp speed in no time.

 

 

Here is a real concern.  These little insects are called annual bluegrass weevils and they pose a real problem for us in the future.  In this picture adults and larvae are shown.  They prefer annual bluegrass but will feed on bent.

 

 

This is the area where they were discovered.  They are so small they are difficult to see.  I used a salt water solution and soaked the turf plug in a bucket.  The insects then float to the surface.  Notice the annual bluegrass that has been damaged with the bent unaffected.  There will be much more on this insect in the future.

 

 

Pylex herbicide continues to be evaluated.  This picture shows treated versus untreated.  The treated area has been seeded. 

 

 

Rough not requiring seeding received Pylex with Turflon herbicide.  The Turflon prevents the intense whitish-yellow discoloration.  Treating the rough this way is are eventual goal.

 

 

Pylex applications certainly suppress the bermudagrass in our fairways but will it reduce the population?  We shall see.

 

This is one of the best times of the year to feed cool season turf.

 

Fertilized and seeded turf require plenty of water.  The course is very soft from all the water we are using.  We are dry and a nice soaking rain would be perfect.  It would even dry up the course!