We are enjoying nice fall weather.  The golf course has dried out and is playing firmer than it has in a while.  Growth in all turf areas is slowing down and is allowing us time to work on leaves and other small projects before the season ends.

 

There have been many days where carts have been restricted to the path this fall but we have finally dried out!

 

 

The fifth hole barely sees the sun this time of year and stays very wet.

 

 

There has been lots of positive comments on the condition of the greens. Here Julio double cuts the eighth green in preparation for closing breakfast on Friday.  We only mow greens three times a week but roll more often.

 

 

His second pass is in the opposite direction.  The greens are mowed at the same height throughout the season.  Green speed was measured on the practice green at 13 feet!

 

 

We are trying to create a small layer of mat in our fairways but have not had much success so far.  This is a plug from the third fairway where we did not do any earth work.  The soil profile is nice and uniform and has little thatch below the turf line.  A little thatch is beneficial but too much is problematic.

 

 

This plug is also from the third fairway but is from the area where earth work was performed.  Notice the mottled soil from the compost that was incorporated at construction as well as the small area of thatch just below the turf line.  Our thinking is that our old soils have plenty of soil microbes that are very efficient in breaking down organic matter (thatch) while the newly constructed area lacks beneficial microbes.  We are in search of a happy medium.

 

 

The driving range tee has performed admirably this season but is ready to be shut down.  Mats only coming soon till spring.

 

 

We will begin sodding several weak areas later this month.  This is the fifth hole and the light green turf in the rough is called Poa trivialis or roughstalk bluegrass and is undesirable.  The dark turf is fescue/blue sod that was sodded last fall.  Our hope is to have this type turf around all the fairways.

 

 

This is the first hole where we sodded a small section of fescue.  The lighter green turf to the left is annual bluegrass invading our newly seeded rough.  The sodded turf seems to choke out the annual bluegrass seed found in the soil.

 

 

We are beginning to see wooly bear caterpillars as they search for overwintering sites.  The caterpillar has a band of red in the center and the narrower the band the harsher the winter.  This critter doesn't have any red.  Here comes the winter from *^%*$#!!!

The rain has arrived.  After a dry September the course has received more than its share of late.    Fortunately drier weather is in the future.  Lets hope the course can dry out and give us a little roll and better playing conditions.

 

Four green Wednesday afternoon.

 

 

The practice green at nearly the same time.  New greens are built to drain.

 

 

The last Pylex application was harsh on the bent.  This lasted approximately one week.

 

Six approach with Pylex applied two weeks ago.  The yellow flashing is almost gone but the bermudagrass is white.  New bent seedlings are emerging.

 

 

We saw some unusual things in our treatments.  Crop circles?

 

 

This has been a year of highs and lows.  This picture illustrates two varieties of turf found in our fairways.  The blue pen is pointing at the bent while the pencil is aimed at Poa annua.  It is going to be a real challenge reducing the amount of Poa in the fairways and rough.

 

 

Here is a solid stand of bent filling in over some fading crabgrass is the fifth fairway.

 

 

As suspected Quincy tore his other ACL and had surgery on Tuesday.  Eight weeks of rehab before he will be running again.

 

 

The golf course continues to fill in but would benefit greatly from a soaking rain. We recently applied probably our last application of Pylex herbicide to approximately three acres of fairways contaminated with bermudagrass.  These areas are quite obvious now as the bent has a yellow flashing common with this herbicide.  This yellowing should mow out over the next week and is not harmful to the bent.  These areas were seeded the same day so the bent will transition into the bermudagrass areas as the bermudarass declines.  The true test will be how much bermudagrass is present next season.

 

Its not hard to tell where the Pylex was applied.  The yellowing of the bent is unsightly but temporary.  This application should really whiten the bermudagrass.

 

 

More yellowing.

 

 

Temporary pain for future benefits to our fairways.

 

 

The fairway areas with bermudagrass encroachment were seeded the same day(last Wednesday).

If you look close some seedlings are beginning to emerge in the slit.

 

 

We have added some additional irrigation to improve some rough areas on the course.  This is the new area behind the sixth green and the rough on five.

 

 

The old turf nursery at fifteen tee has been moved and the fescue has grown in beautifully.

 

Additional greens nursery planted with Crystal BlueLinks bent behind the fourteenth green.

 

Quincy is going to the vet on Wednesday to have his right leg checked out.