Blossoms at Madison

Forecast calls for a dreary weekend, so here are some blossoms to help fight the weather

Recovery in Full Swing

Its been 12 days since we finished aerification of the greens and we are starting to see some growth  with clippings in the buckets instead of just sand. I know its frustrating to many members putting over holes and through sand but the weather controls growth, plain and simple. No amount of fertilizer will increase growth if the soil is too cold, extra fertility during cold periods only builds in the soil until the warm weather arrives causing a flush of growth with slow unhealthy putting surfaces. I have attached two charts below that show the Cool GP or growth potential of cool season turf. The charts clearly show this week will be much better for growing turf then last week with red indicating temperatures too cold for growth, yellow indicating some temperature stress, and green for good growth potential.

As a reminder please fill your divots on tees and fairways with the mix provided and please look for your ball marks on the greens and repair them properly.

Last weeks growth potential - all red/yellow

This weeks growth potential - green/yellow

2016 Spring Aeration Update

Last week was not the best weather for aeration week between rain and freezing temperatures but we were able to complete aeration to all playing surfaces. Not much recovery was seen last week as the temperatures were fairly cold but this week things should begin to recover with the warmer temperatures. We will begin mowing the greens again on Wednesday although they will still have some sand and be bumpy for a few more days. The tees have been treated with a pre-emergent crabgrass product allowing us to begin filling divots this week. As a reminder only use divot mix on the tees and in the fairways, NEVER in the rough. We are adding some dried compost to the divot mix this season to help increase the germination and recovery time. Dried pelletized compost has also been added to collars and select tees this season at aeration to help increase moisture holding and aid in traffic tolerance.

We have two irrigation projects we will be completing this week allowing us to finish the area around the new fence behind 5 green. I am hopeful the remaining plant material needed to finish the area at the first tee will be available next week so we can finally finish up our spring projects and turn our full attention to golf course maintenance.

Please be mindful where you are using the push carts, they should remain 10 yards away from greens either in the rough or on cart paths. Please do not push the carts across tee and green surfaces.