It has been quiet around the course for most of the period since my last post, but what a difference a few days make. Once the hot and humid weather broke, the course was not under any weather- related stress. There were no maintenance issues either so it was a relatively easy ten days. Then, the rain and humidity returned, but fortunately the heat stayed away.
I tried to extend the prior fungicide application for a few extra days when the cooler, less humid weather arrived. Usually this is possible as the disease pressure is reduced and stretching the application window saves money by saving an application. Unfortunately the Dollar Spot biomass had reached a point during the humidity that it still popped up when the humidity dropped. The tees and fairways were sprayed at the first signs of the disease but not before the tan blemishes appeared everywhere. Dollar Spot is a frustrating disease as it is relatively easy to control but it can get make an area of turf look ugly very quickly. It will grow out shortly, especially after we aerate next week.
The greens had been looking great for the last few weeks and the algae was barely visible. Adding the second fan to the 4th green really helped during the high humidity and it has been nearly perfect all summer. This is a far cry from a couple of years ago when 4 was the worst green, before the fans were added. The rain over the last 4-5 days made the algae return in force! The greens were sprayed for it on Saturday and it made an immediate difference. Once it is kept in check it is an aesthetic problem (the black patches) and it does not effect ball roll. The picture below is 4 green on Friday evening and the algae is very prominent.
Below is the same spot on Sunday, having been sprayed on Saturday morning. The difference is obvious. The topdressing next week will really help keep it under control. The extra fertilizer needed to heal the greens from aeration will grow the greens out, which will help camouflage the black areas enhancing their appearance.
As mentioned in a previous post, a few collars are thin, mainly in high traffic areas. The collar on 2 is the worst mainly due to the traffic being concentrated on the small walk-on. We plugged the worst of the areas. The plugs will fill in the bare areas quickly after aeration and are a better solution than sodding a traffic area. Traffic would have to keep off the sod to ensure it knits properly so the tight area would make getting people on and off the green difficult.
We have been making sure the greens stay healthy which means when the rain arrives, rolling is skipped the following day (or days depending on the quantity). Depending on the length of time rolling is skipped, a drop of up to a foot in green-speed can be seen. However it is a small price to pay as the health of the greens is priority at this time of the year. The remainder of the course is also in great shape. The bunkers have washed out a number of times over the last week but the crew have worked hard and put them back together quickly each time. The wilt spots here and there in the roughs have mostly recovered and the course looks great.
The rain has bought up the issue with carts not following signs again. The cart rules are to protect the course from potential damage and to ensure everyone stays safe; the terrain at LedgeRock is not cart friendly and the potential for an accident increases when it is wet. We try and let carts out as soon as possible but only do so once the potential for damage is minimized. The cart rules apply to all carts. On Friday, this damage occurred on 10. It was from someone diving to the pond to fish. After the tracks were mown, the tracks were brown as the areas were scalped.
Another spot was on 8 where someone had ignored the traffic sign and drove over a stake. The beginning of 8 fairway is a wet area so after a rain we prevent traffic going there. The second picture is the damage the cart did as it drove through one of the wet spots. While it does not look severe, the heaved ground dries out and gets scalped when we mow resulting in a bare spot and dulling the mower reel.
The next post will discuss the process of aeration and the impact on course conditions and play.
