The vagaries of Mother Nature.  How disheartening and humbling it is to see so much of our new turf contaminated with annual bluegrass.  The good news is it can be fixed and we are on it.  We have begun aggressive growth regulator applications designed to whack the annual bluegrass while enhancing the growth of the bent.  We are also mowing more fairways with lighter mowers and are collecting clippings at all times as these practices discourage the spread of annual bluegrass. The bent has just begun to grow so with warmer weather it will really begin to fill in.  This is certainly one of the worst outbreaks of annual bluegrass we have seen in a long time.  The ugly seed heads make it that much more pronounced but its seed stage has peaked and the perennial grasses are beginning to grow.  Besides the annual bluegrass concerns our bermudagrass driving range tee took quite a hit too.  What we are seeing is direct cold temperature damage.  Late season play where the turf was taken down to soil as well as the shaded side are taking a long time to recover.  We aerated the tee on Wednesday to try and get the turf moving.  Underground stems (rhizomes) are showing signs of green so there is life but it will take time.  Warmer weather is a great cure for the course.

Annual bluegrass in the first fairway.  The light lines are from the seeder overlap from the September seeding in 2013.

 

 

The difference from seeding and sodding.  The sod is almost all bent.

 

Dragging aeration cores on the driving range tee.  This should enhance recovery but it will take time..

 

 

A rhizome beginning to grow.  Warm weather is a must for this to fill in.

 

 

Cores from two long weeks of aeration.  This area is going to be site of a pollinating garden in the near future.

 

 

Taking the crew to the parking lot after a productive day of greens aeration.  It will take about two weeks for the greens to recover.

 

 

 Beautiful azaleas at the 16th tee and Augusta worthy!