Green Superintendent Update

The month of September passed by in the blink of an eye. Conditions have been favorable to get the turf growing the standard we all want. With our aeration healing in rapid time, the greens are in tip-top shape. With this weather, we have taken time to touch up on details and small projects. We look to push into this nice fall weather with more projects being accomplished. While also keeping the condition of fine turf areas mowed and conditioned to our standard.

 

 

Venting


The continued process of venting our greens biweekly has shown tremendous results. This process pokes small holes in the greens that allow the turf to breathe. This will be a staple in our cultural practice moving forward to keep our greens healthy and dense. This also has encouraged new root growth of some of our new seeds. This is the time of the year we look to push the roots to deeper depths. Overall we are seeing new healthy roots this time of year which is a sign our cultural and spray programs are working their magic.



Tree Damage

 

The oak tree on the left side of #5 has been wreaking damage. We have root pruned and will keep a close eye on the turf. If we are not able to get water and nutrients to the fairway we will look to remove this tree. Long dry stretches always show which trees adversely affect the condition of our fine turf.



Plug Work

 

Unfortunately, we incurred some turf loss in heavy traffic and tough conditions. The #5 green area where every player enters and exits the green gets heavily compacted. We had done multiple cultural practices to bring these areas back. Eventually, you decide to plug the area out with healthy turf. I have also run soil testing a nematode testing on this green. To ensure that there is not a deeper unseen problem within the soil. We now know our areas to keep an eye on with almost a full season under our belt. One thing that will help these areas recover is to scatter while entering greens like number 5 and the left side of 9.

 





Snack Shack Bed

 

One small project the team has taken on was the snack shack bed. This has been an eyesore since I have taken over. We weeded the bed and added mulch. A drainage channel was added as well. With heavy rain, this bed would wash down the cart path on 9 and make a large mess. We will look to add some finishing touches to fall color in the coming weeks.


Golf Course Superintendent,

 

Cogan Register







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