Plenty has happened since our last blog so let's get on with the videotape!  Anyone remember who said that?  Anyway the lake is full and we are back to growing grass and hoping for no more rain!

From this to ….

THIS!!!!

Lots of bunker work was required after nearly five inches of rain last week.

There is plenty of grass to cut with lots of clippings to disperse.  We stopped collecting clippings for a short period and used blowers to disperse them.  Growth regulator applications have started again to slow down top growth. 

Our greens have had a very good year despite the weather.  One of the biggest reasons is the wetting agent we have chosen for our greens.  Wetting agents must be watered in to be effective and have the ability to firm up the putting surfaces by pushing water through the root zone.

What looks like a divot is actually a poorly repaired ball mark.  Please do not repair ball marks in this manner.  This is one of the consequences of too much rain.

Another unfortunate consequence.  And one wonders why we restrict carts!

The driving range turf is about done for the season and will be on turf only for a few more days.  This pic illustrates the benefit of taking divots in straight lines versus wearing out an entire area and a point of emphasis in the future.  

Another view of turf healing from straight line divots.

Josh and Richard performing some detail work in the fairways.

It's interesting to see native plants evolving through the years.  Here Goldenrod is in full bloom and is in much more abundance than we can remember.  This is often blamed for allergies and mistaken for ragweed.  Goldenrod is an excellent native flower and great for insect pollination.

A nice sunrise on native plants on a newly restored pond.

The fun continues.  We are now in an extended drought coinciding with prolonged summer heat.  Managing anything green is trying.  Rain is in the forecast tonight so hopefully better days are ahead.

This heron finds the fishing better but who cares!  We need rain and yes we are buying water.

Right on the edge of Hermaine but not a drop of rain to be had.

Greens aerification-only the turf likes it.

We chose small holes based on the weather and feel good with our choice. 

A week later and the greens have fully recovered.  This looks like a young wooly bear caterpillar and an early sign of a tough winter?

Heat stress damage to the ninth fairway with bentgrass plants starting to recover.

One week later more improvement is seen but cooler temps and rain are the prescription we need.

Bent is finally beginning to grow as exhibited by the lateral recovery in this divot.  Temperatures have been too hot for this to occur for almost two months.

Some disappointing pics.  Fresh ballparks on aerified greens…

and not one but two divots on turf that can't heal itself.

Cart damage to drought stressed turf.

Second generation goosegrass germinating.  This weed has been a beast this summer and difficult to control with the weather extremes.

Proof that wetting agents are working!  Nice moisture throughout the root zone with roots starting to grow again.  Fall is coming.

Yours truly representing our club.  My team won the Virginia Turfgrass Research Tournament at Wintergreen shooting a fine 57 with a net 51.4!!!!  Thanks to my friends from Davisson Golf for the invite.

The driving range tee ready for action.  Days practicing on turf this season are numbered as the bermudagrass slows down.

Serenity even if the lake is out of water.

It's been a really difficult August but it is ending and course renovation has begun!  We either set or tied a record for the most ninety degree days for the month.  All things considered the course held up well and should recover rapidly with cooler temperatures and some beneficial rain.

All things considered the golf course held its own this summer.

We recently purchased this fairway slicer/spiker.  When better weather arrives we will incorporate it into our regular maintenance.

It is amazing how ugly one weed can be.  This is a goosegrass plant in a fairway.  This only plants that grow well this summer are weeds-particularly goosegrass, crabgrass, nutsedge and bermudagrass.

Crabgrass around the fifth tee.  We will document where extensive weed outbreaks were and treat accordingly next year.  Too much heat and rain have rendered preemergent herbicide applications ineffective this summer.  Treating later in the heat only hurts the turf.

Great practice technique on the practice fairway.  This will recover once it cools down by lateral  growth of the bent.

Poor practice technique and will not heal till next season.

Josh renovating the nurseries.

Solid tine aeration before and after rolling.

Lots of wildlife on the course.  Here four bucks graze near five tee.

Red tail hawk enjoying the sunrise.

The ladies had a fun "Karnival"event that Richard enjoyed preparing.

Mina's garden.

The lovely twelfth hole!

After a nice respite the grunge has returned and is expected to stay with us through the weekend.  Hazy, hot and humid conditions make this job extremely difficult so we will be really happy when cooler days return.  The nice change that occurred over the weekend improved the turf dramatically so we are hoping for a return to better growing conditions next week.

Cool season grass is difficult to grow when it gets above 90 degrees.  It naturally declines as temperatures rise in the upper 80's.  This plug is from the tree lined area of the ninth fairway and there  are very short roots. 

This plug is from the beginning of the fairway where there is more sun and better air movement.  Notice the roots following the aeration channel.  The roots are a good one inch longer than the previous frame.  Cool season grasses naturally shorten during the summer just when they need to be their longest which is crazy.  Aeration helps roots grow deeper and stronger before the grunge hits.

Rhizoctonia blight in the fairways last Tuesday.  The humidity was 90 percent with temperatures around 80 when this was taken-perfect conditions for this disease to occur.  This disease was not observed in my first trip around the course but was seen about two hours later.  Fortunately we were spraying fairways that day!

Lots of birds have been feeding on a number of surface insects so we applied an insecticide to alleviate their pecking.

Growth regulators are improving the bent populations throughout the course.  This is from the second green with bent overtaking the darker annual bluegrass.

This shows the importance of drainage.  The turf failed between the drain lines but where the soil has been amended the turf survived.  Seeding will start soon!

Many thanks to Groody's Groomers and their help repairing divots.

  

Julio has out done himself this summer with some of our plantings.

Another beauty.

A family of deer enjoying our lake while pruning the trees.

The fourth green better than ever.

There were no winners this time identifying the cause of the turf loss above.  Remember the small purple leaf plum at the beginning of the seventh fairway?  Anyway this turf had adapted to the shady environment underneath the tree.  After it died and was removed the shock of this summers heat spelled its decline.