Having being out sick for most of last week, and finally getting caught up, I wanted to get back up to date with what's been happening at LedgeRock. In the last post I mentioned that both our large rough mowers had broken down. While Scott is still having issues with getting the older machine repaired, our Toro dealer returned the newer machine to us last Tuesday, which was a great turnaround. We made it through the weekend by ringing the fairways with the smaller mowers to ensure that, at least, the areas where balls most commonly fall were cut, even though we couldn't get to the bulk of the rough. This tied us through and now that the large area machine is back, we are back to our normal mowing schedule.
We are currently back in he grips of heat wave number two for the summer and the course is holding up well - John and the guys did a great job while I was out for the few days with my illness, and shows how valuable a great staff is that knows the course well and can keep up the standards of the club when I'm not around. The issues a few weeks ago that were causing the greens to wilt quickly have been resolved and I have a plan in place to stay on top of it. Yesterday's outing brings to an end of one of the busiest months we have had to date. The hot weather is supposed to break later this week, it is hard to believe that we are almost in July and within eight or so weeks the worst of the stressful-to-turf weather will be done for another year!!
This link is to a panoramic picture for the top of 15 on Monday prior to the Audi Quattro Cup and Tuesdays Outing. The tent should be coming down later today off the Driving Range tee and we will fertilize and irrigate the area so it recovers quickly. We sprayed the area under the tent with a growth regulator and some other products to minimize the damage that can occur from being covered for five days and from the large amount of concentrated foot traffic - for some reason the heaviest trafficked areas are near the bars!!!
Over the last few weeks we have been picking poa annua out of the greens as we spot it. The greens are still really clean (as is the entire course) but inevitably poa is popping up. It is a very invasive plant as it an annual which means it can reproduce very quickly and therefore can adapt to environmental changes with each generation. My maintenance program favors bentgrass and creates an environment that poa does not like - hence why our populations are tiny. Fortunately the amount of poa is still small enough to where picking it is a viable option to keeping the greens clean. There are chemicals available that can kill poa but they work in limited temperature ranges so the current populations do not require us having to run the risk of a broad application. There is a new product that hopefully will be available in the next year or so that, so far in testing is very effective and safe - Once it passes registration it will be a great tool, but until then we will continue picking it. Below is a small patch of poa by the upper tip of the ball mark repair tool.
The pictures below are from the second landing zone on 18. A cart drove past the signs during one of the recent wet periods and damaged the fairway turf. While not major damage, it shows how much damage one cart can do when the turf is soft. Luckily we didn't have to sod this area once we smoothed it out but there is still a few little bare spots and (as can be seen in the pictures) the area has to be skipped when we mow until it heals. It is a nice reminder that cart signs are placed for both the safety of the players and for the safety of the turf.
As always if you have any questions email me alan@ledgerockgolf.com
