Course Update

I have that feeling in my stomach I get when I see that the temperatures will be above 90 for the next 12 days and night times temperatures will be above 70, throw in a few thunderstorms and its a superintendent's nightmare. The dry and hot temperatures from the past few days have already put stress on the Poa annua in the greens and on the fairways. Areas of shade, weak irrigation, tree root encroachment, or a combination of the three is where I am seeing the most stress because these are the areas where the Poa annua likes to grow and the bentgrass does not. In order to give the turf a chance to survive over the next two weeks or so I vented the greens today and rolled them. This will allow oxygen to move into the soil and allow gases to leave the soil. The venting will also aid in moving water through the soil profile in the event of a thunderstorm. I am raising the heights of cut on the greens and limiting the number of mowings during this period as well. We will be rolling the greens more and cutting less which gives the turf a better chance of survival. The speeds of the greens will be slower during this time but the long term health of the green takes priority over speed for the time being. I will be out on the greens with my hose trying to keep the turf cool so please be mindful of hitting shots into the greens while I am syringing.