Insect Repellent

The attached photos shows the damage that bug spray can cause to the turf. Please remember when applying bug spray please stand on the cart path or the rough.

Rough Renovation

Today we implemented our rough renovation program that will take place this Fall on the Old Course. Our goal for this program is to provide a more consistent rough that consists of desirable turfgrass species. Our rough consists of several different grasses. Unfortunately two of these grass are bentgrass and Poa Annua. Bentgrass does not perfom well at high heights of cut. Poa Annua does not tolerate the heat and drier conditions. The Poa Annua has especially struggled during the heat and drought conditions that we have experienced this summer. We are currently overseeding our roughs with Perennial Ryegrass. We will be aerifying and slicing seed into the rough around the fairways and greens. We are going to concentrate around the greens and fairways this Fall. While seed is establishing we will have most of these area roped- off to prohibit cart traffic from damaging the seed. This will also help us keep the Ryegrass Seed from tracking into the fairways and contaminating the bent/poa fairways. We realize that this process may cause a minor inconvenience and may be a little unsightly but will make a huge impact on the quality of our golf course.

Greens Are Recovering

The putting surfaces have recovered from the aggressive aerificaiton that took place a few weeks ago. Green Speeds are pretty much back to normal. Other areas of the golf course have recovered nicely from the Summer Maintenance. At this point we have set ourselves up for a great Fall golf season with very minimal interruption. The temperatures are starting to lower which should help alleviate the stress the the golf course was under. We will begin spraying the weeds in the high grass areas again next week. You will notice some significant yellowing in these areas as the weeks begin to die. This will allow the fescue to flourish and provide better aesthetics and playability for next season.

Post Aerification Mowing

The Aerification and Topdressing process takes its toll on the golf course as well as our mowing equipment. We attempted to mow greens this morning for the second time since the aerificaiton was completed. We were able to get a pretty good cut on our first few greens but after the sand had time to take its toll on the mowers they struggled to cut any grass. They will continue to get better as the holes begin to fill and the sand has a chance to get worked into the canopy. On days that we don't mow we will be rolling the greens to help with smoothness. We realize that this process may be frustrating for those of you trying to play but it should begin to get better quickly. I have always looked at aerification as a temporary inconvenience for a permanent improvement.

USGA: Special Notice - July 2010

USGA: Special Notice - July 2010

USGA: ANNUAL Bluegrass - A Fitting Name, Unfortunately - July 2010

USGA: ANNUAL Bluegrass - A Fitting Name, Unfortunately - July 2010

Aerification

We are right in the middle of the two busiest weeks of the year. The Nolan Tournament was a success despite the rain that hung around throughout the tournament. The drainage that was installed last Fall in the Greens performed beautifully. We received an inch of rain on Sunday and we were playing golf within an hour of the rain subsiding. The hard work has begun this week. The July aerification is the most physically demanding week of the year for the Green Staff. We have finished aerifying and topdressing the greens, fairways, and are currently working on the approaches. This is a time consuming process that requires some disruption of play to the membership. We may have to close a hole periodically to complete this process. The sooner we are completed, the sooner we can return your golf course to you. The recovery time on the greens should be approximately 10-14 days. The greens will remain soft during the recovery period so please remember to repair your ball marks. We thank you for your understanding during this process and appreciate your cooperation.

Water Water and More Water

Anyone who has played this week may have noticed the amount of water being applied to the golf course. I have been asked many times this week. Why don't you just water at night? With the temperatures and humidity as high as they are applying a large amount of water to the golf course at night would cause a tremendous amount of disease throughout the golf course. Disease will kill a lot more grass that what a lack of water will. Our goal on days like this is to keep the turf cool. We are just trying to lower the temperature of the surface of the turf. The Poa Annua that is on our greens, tees, and fairways does not tolerate the heat. High temperatures over a long period of time would cause a significant decline in the quality of our turf. This is why when temperatures approach 90 degrees will are constantly trying to cool the grass blades down. There may be some disruption in play from time to time to allow us time to syringe but it is essential to the health of the golf course.

Solid Tine Aerification

Following many of our bigger events you may find us out there the next day solid tining the putting surfaces. During many of our events we mow and roll greens and a much higher frequency than normal. The mowing and extra rolling causes more stress and compaction. The solid tining (aka: venting) helps relieve some of that compaction and allows water and air to get to the root zone. This process causes very minimal disruption and within a day or two is not noticeable. We performed this procedure today on all 27 holes. The Greens held up very well during the Member/Member Tournament this weekend. Today's aerification will help reduce some of the stress that was put on them over the weekend.

USGA: Beauty In Eye Of Beholder

The following is an article from the USGA about the set-up for the US Open and the condition of the Greens.

USGA: Beauty In Eye Of Beholder

Heat and Humidity

The two most dreaded words for a Golf Course Superintendent. The recent weather pattern has brought us both heat and humidity. Turfgrass does not perform well under either of those conditions and when you combine the two it can become difficult to manage a golf course. Our greens are predominately made up of Poa Annua. Once temperatures hit the mid 80's Poa Annua shuts down. It's basically trying to die. Humidity brings in the stress of turfgrass diseases. Turf diseases flourish under high heat and humidity. While we experience these conditions you will see us out frequently syringing greens. You may see a decrease in Green Speed. We also have to be more aggressive with our fungicide program. As we prepare for the Member Member this weekend we will look at the weather closely to determine how far we push the greens. We don't want to push them to hard at this point in the season and risk their health for the remainder of the year.

I have received many question about the Greens at Pebble Beach during the US Open. Even though they never saw temperatures over 65 degrees during the Championship those greens experienced severe drought stress. The splotchy patches on the greens were a weak type of Poa Annua that was severely stressed due to lack of water and frequency of mowing and rolling. As several types of Poa Annua in their greens shut down other types of grasses were still growing. Thus causing a bumpy putting surface. If all the turf on a Green is not growing at the same rate it causes and uneven surface. This is the main reason our green are a little bumpy in the Spring. The different types of grass on our greens start growing in the Spring at different temperatures. Once soil temperatures become consistent our greens begin to become smoother and more consistent.

USGA: Green Speed Issues And Annual Bluegrass Weevils - June 2010

USGA: Green Speed Issues And Annual Bluegrass Weevils - June 2010

Quality of Cut

Quality of Cut is a term that we say a lot following aerification. As I mentioned in my previous post the sand applied following aerification causes a poor quality of cut. The photo on the right was taken after mowing greens this morning. There are four distinct piles of clippings in the back of this cart which represents the four greens this gentlemen mowed. The pile at the top left is from the first green he mowed. Bottom left second green. Top right third green, and bottom right fourth green. Take notice of the amount of grass in the pile and the amount of sand that is in the last pile compared to the first. The sand dulls the mowers very quickly. Unfortunately, it takes about an hour to sharpen each mower. As the sand continues to be diluted we will begin getting a better quality of cut and thus faster green speeds.

Green Speeds

The recent aerification of the greens have slowed the greens down significantly. The topdressing used to fill the holes doesn't allow us to get a good cut on the putting surfaces. Sand will destroy the cutting quality of our greens mowers. We will continue to roll them daily which will continue to provide us with smoother putting surfaces. By aerifying this time of year it allows are greens to recover much faster. An aerification in April would take a month to recover. Our greens should be back to normal by the middle of next week.

Fertilizing Fairways

We have completed fertilizing fairways this morning. This will be the final time we fertilize them until November. The application of a slow release fertilizer will continue to release throughout the remainder of the Summer and early Fall.

Green Aerification

The Green's aerification has been completed and they are starting to recover. We punched the greens with the smallest tine that we have at our disposal. We have completed fertilizing the greens (you may have noticed the smell) with an organic fertilizer. We will be mow the greens for the fist time today but it will take a few more days to return to our normal speed and smoothness.

Green Aerification

Just a reminder that the Green Department will be aerifying Greens on Monday, June 7th. We will be pulling a very small core which should allow for a quick recovery. An aerification in early June will promote root development that should help provide us with healthier Greens throughout the Summer months. There may be some temporary closing of holes on Monday to help complete the process in a timely manner.

Walk Paths

Something new this year has been the installation of walk paths from the Blue Tee Box to the fairway. This feature is common at many of the top clubs throughout the country. These paths are provided as a feature for our members and guest who desire not to use a cart. These paths are not intended for cart traffic. Actually, the turf on these paths will struggle if it is exposed to cart traffic. We have observed an excess amount of carts driving down these path. We have and will continue to encourage our membership to use the cart paths until your have reached the area where their ball has landed. And as always if you are standing on a green or tee your cart should always be on the path.

Water Management

It's that time of year again when you will begin seeing our staff applying water to the greens throughout the day. We recognize that this can be an inconvenience but it is an essential part of our Green Management Program. Hand watering allows us to only apply water where it is needed. This allows us to keep our greens healthier, firmer, and conserves water. Trying to coordinate this on a busy day is a difficult task. There may be the occasional delay to allow us to water the putting surface but it should be brief and allows us to provide you will excellent putting surfaces.

Tee Aerification

We have begun aerifying tees today. The tees are activly growing which should result in a quick recovery from this process. The aerification process promotes root development, provides a firmer playing surface, and allows water and air to infiltrate the soil.

Natural Areas

The seeded area behind #13 and #15 Green is starting to germinate. The areas has been seeded to several different types of Fescue Grasses. These areas will take some time to fully mature. We should have complete coverage by late June but should not get the true Fescue look until the Fall.

Green Topdressing

We are verticutting and topdressng greens today. This practice provides us with firmer and smoother putting surfaces.

Fairway Topdressing

The Fairway Topdressing Program will continue for the 2010 Golf Season and this is the fourth year of the Program. We have seen tremendous results since implementing the practice in 2007. Our fairways are much firmer. They dry out much faster, which allows us to get carts off the paths following rain events. The sanding of the fairways has reduced the amount our earth worm casting that we find in our faiways.