Aerification

We are currently in the process of aerifying the golf course.  All of the fairways and range tees were core aerified today.  Because of the rain we will not be able to clean off the fairways until tomorrow.   The greens aerifying is also being held back a day due to the rain. 

Bentgrass rough

Next time you are playing #8, take a drive through our turf nursery area to the left of the fairway.  In the rough portion of the nursery we have sprayed a chemical that kills only the bentgrass out of the rough.  If this application does what it is supposed to, we will be able to use it on the golf course and take the bentgrass out of the greens surrounds over time.  Bentgrass on greens, tees and fairways is great because it does best at low mowing heights.  When left to grow at 3 inches, it becomes very thick and spongy.  Many times when your ball lands in bentgrass rough, it sinks down and you have a hard time advancing the ball. 

We hope to try a greens surround this fall.  After a couple of applications the bentgrass will die out and we then will overseed with bluegrass/ryegrass and keep our surrounds playable.

Daylight and sun angles

On June 21st it was the longest day of the year and also when the sun is at its steepest angle above the horizon.  The angle of the sun was at 73 degrees at its highest point.  Currently the sun only gets to 62 degrees.  We have also lost 1.5 hours of daylight since June.  We are at 13.75 hours of daylight versus 15.25 hours on June 21.  This all translates into 1.5 hours less of intense heat stress on the turf.  Everyday we are losing a few minutes of the most intense part of the day.  From now until Mid October is when we have the best growing conditions for cool-season turf because of the lack of the intense mid-day sun we get in the peak summer months.

Rain

Findlay CC has received 3 inches of rain in the past 5 days.  This morning was 1.1", which was enough to restrict carts to the paths again.  "Feast or Famine", although I'm not complaining.  We did need some rain.  We spent all day today squeeging off the greens and fairways as well as fixing the bunkers.

Squeeging off #15 fairway

15 Green

What is happening to the 15th Green?  The front of 15 green is getting hit with a disease called anthracnose.  I started seeing breakthrough of this fungus about 2 week ago.  We have been trying everything in order to stop its spreading but we are seeing resistance to the chemicals that are normally used to treat this fungus.  Over a period of time, as a chemical is used over and over again, fungus will develop a resistance to that chemical and keep on growing in spite of what was applied.  I have tried multiple chemistry's with no effect.  Today I applied another chemistry that has the potential to remedy this problem but not with a few side effects.  This application to the front of 15 may cause some yellow discoloration and stunting of growth.  If this does happen, it will grow out in a few weeks.  If this chemistry works, it will be applied to other greens where anthracnose is present - 1,6,7,13

Anthracnose on the front of #15 green

#13 Drainage

Today we installed a drain in the low area between the approach bunkers on #13.  This area collected water and once the soil was saturated, it had no where to go.  This drain will take all of the excess water away and keep the area playable.

Name that cause!

It seems the summer is finally catching up to us a little bit.  Some of the fairways were hit this past week with two different types of fungus - anthracnose and pythium.  You will see the most damage on 3 and 16 were the fairways narrow by the fairway bunkers.  All the traffic comes through these areas and puts a lot of stress on the plants.  We have treated all of the fairways with a curative application and with the help of some cooler temps, they will recover.  Overall the course still looks great and is hanging in there.

Pythium

Anthracnose damage

Dry area, no fungus present

Irrigation system

While we have to be happy to have the Blanchard River in a year such as this, it doesn't come without its share of problems.  I have heard of the floods that can cover the golf course on a regular basis.  This year we have not seen this yet and hope not too.  The problem we are having this year is debris coming from the Blanchard, getting into the sprinkler system and plugging up the screens.

This plugged screen is from a sprinkler around the clubhouse.  These heads have a much finer mesh than those we use on the golf course and plug up daily.  The sprinklers on the golf course plug up from time to time and need to be cleaned to prevent dry spots. 

We have a separator attached to our irrigation system that is supposed to clean out most of the debris.  It seems that during a year like this where the river is a little lower, debris is more prevalent.