Finally some Rain

The course got some much needed rain with 3/4 of an inch falling in the afternoon hours yesterday. The humidity is still very high and the chance for more showers are forecasted each afternoon for the next few days. Drought stress will be eased but disease pressure will increase until the humidity breaks. I have written earlier this year about the tissue and water testing that we are doing on a frequent basis this season and how our irrigation water is high in sodium. We have sensors in the greens that monitor temperature, moisture, and sodium. These sensors yesterday captured the rain flushing the sodium left from weeks of irrigation  away from the greens surface through the soil profile. Notice how the sodium levels increase in direct relation to the rain event.

Rainfall is the graph on top and Sodium the graph on bottom

Course Update - Early August

July was an extremely dry month where we saw moderately hot temperatures on a consistent basis, while the irrigation system was being heavily relied on the new VFD drive paid off in huge ways during this seasons dry spells. The small irrigation projects that we completed last fall have also been a huge success this summer. Thankfully August has brought some rain and even better that it followed our dry-ject sand injection of the greens Monday night. For the 4th consecutive August we have dry-ject the greens creating sand filled channels allowing the soil to breath for the remainder of the summer until we implement our aggressive aerification process following the club championship at the end of September. The greens were brushed and rolled followed by over seeding of Crystal Blue bentgrass seed at a rate of 1 pound per 1000 sq ft. I know your saying so what, interestingly there are 8 million bentgrass seeds per pound so on average each green has 40 million new seeds with a chance to develop. We are mowing on our regular schedule with afternoon rolls and dry-mows to maintain smoothness and speeds.

2 days after dry-ject

Sunscreen/Bug Spray and Turf don't Mix

Sunscreen/Bug Spray and Turf don't Mix

Please do not apply sunscreen or bug spray while standing on the turf. This photo above is from the 2nd green and the green footprint can clearly be seen in the picture. Please apply these products in the locker room or on the cart paths.

Course Update - The International

The International team tournament is this weekend so the crew spent two days edging bunkers and re-distributing sand to even the sand depth of the bunkers and they look great. The greens have been rolling stead between 10 and 11 now they we have been able to control the moisture the last few days and the humidity had dropped. It looks as though traditional summer weather will return Sunday night into next week with temperatures in the 90's and high humidity. Daytime temperatures are important to the turf but more important are night time temperatures. Temperatures under 70 degrees at night allow the turf to recover from the stress of the day while nighttime temperatures above 70 inhibit the turfs ability to recover.

The Bacterial Wilt on the greens has been kept in check following the change in our fungicide and growth regulator programs although recovery is going to be slow. The second generation annual bluegrass weevil larvae have been found in the fairways in certain spots and have been treated again. Areas of Poa trivialis in fairways are also showing signs of decline as is traditional during the summer months but our previous years of overseeding are really showing how much bentgrass we have established in these areas. We will be again over-seeding these areas this fall to continue establishing bentgrass and eradicating the Poa trivialis.

Bunker Edging of  #2

Bunker Edging of #9

USGA - Regional Update

Warm And Wet

JULY 17, 2015

By Jim Skorulski, agronomist, Northeast Region

June and July have brought wet weather to the Northeast Region. Some parts of the region have been deluged with persistent rain and violent thunderstorms that caused flooding, saturated soil conditions and damage to trees. Needless to say, mowing has been a challenge. Some courses in western Pennsylvania have resorted to hand mowing rough in saturated areas. The wet conditions, increased humidity, and warm temperatures increase stress and disease pressure on cool-season grasses. Increased weed activity also can be expected, especially where spring herbicide programs were impacted by winter-recovery efforts. Weed growth and luxuriant growth are likely to be issues in naturalized roughs in the coming weeks.

However, wet weather and warm nights have had a positive effect on some golf courses where cold, dry weather hindered winter-recovery programs. Observations and reports from the field indicate that most damaged areas on greens have recovered, achieving reasonably good turf density. Decent root quality also has been observed at courses in central New England. Fairway damage that has been slower to recover also is filling with help from persistent seeding, sodding or plugging efforts.

Wet weather and summer heat still present challenges, especially for courses with cool-season turf and areas recovering from winter damage. The following are some thoughts as we proceed through mid-summer:

• Turfgrass plants subjected to wet weather and high humidity are more succulent and therefore more vulnerable to mechanical injury from mowers and traffic, especially where establishment or recovery programs have been in place. Raise mowing heights, utilize solid rollers, avoid mowing clean-up areas or skip mowing altogether when surfaces are soft and saturated.   
• Areas that have been reestablished are composed of juvenile plants that often are leggy. The natural tendency is to lower mowing heights and groom leggy turf to produce more upright, uniform surfaces.  While practices like low mowing heights and grooming are important for restoring surface quality, they should only be initiated when the weather is conducive. Do not jeopardize the hard work reestablishing damaged areas by being too aggressive. Take a conservative approach with adjusting mowing heights, grooming, brushing and topdressing.
• Turfgrass on newly constructed or regrassed playing surfaces also is more vulnerable to wear injury, resulting in thin or permanently damaged turf in high-traffic areas during wet weather. Golfers should be aware of the potential damage caused by the way they walk and the shoes they wear. Restricting play and even temporarily closing new greens following heavy or prolonged rain events can preserve the quality of new putting surfaces.    
• Make sure employees fully understand how to properly operate equipment during periods of wet, warm weather. Reemphasize the importance of mower and roller operation around green perimeters and collar/apron areas. Utilize turning boards to protect turf from wear damage.  
• Summer patch, anthracnose, dollar spot, brown patch and Pythium disease pressure will remain high with humid conditions and warm temperatures at night. Utilize a well-planned rotation of fungicides to control diseases when disease pressure is high. This may not be the time to experiment with new products or untested spray mixtures. Also, it may be necessary to shorten spray intervals when disease pressure is high. Keep it simple.
• Maintain plant growth regulator programs using trinexapac-ethyl on annual bluegrass surfaces through wet weather conditions. Application intervals also will need to be shortened to maintain desired growth regulation. The growing degree day model established at the University of Wisconsin is a helpful tool to schedule plant growth regulator applications.
• Now is not the time to sod slow-recovering fairway areas. Establishing commercial sod during summer is challenging, and warm soil temperatures negatively impact root establishment. Furthermore, shallow-rooted and often thatchy sod requires frequent irrigation and is easily damaged by mowing. A better strategy at this point is to continue spike seeding, leaving sod work for late summer when growing conditions are more favorable.

Finally, parts of the region are experiencing outbreaks of gypsy moth caterpillars that are defoliating many species of deciduous and coniferous trees.  Usually deciduous trees can tolerate a single defoliation and should put out another set of leaves. However, defoliation has a greater impact on coniferous trees. Many facilities have had to treat the unusually high population of gypsy moths.  Recently, gypsy moth populations have been held in check by a virus. Hopefully warmer temperatures and wet conditions will be more conducive to the spread of the virus. Caterpillars infected by the virus can be seen hanging on the trees while their body melts away, leaving some to call it the zombie virus.       

USGA Update - July 2015

Wet Conditions, Fungicides Recalled, And Bermudagrass Growth Trends By Adam Moeller, agronomist, Northeast Region June 30, 2015 

Much of the Northeast has been experiencing rainy, soggy conditions over the past few weeks. Several agronomic and playability challenges have been observed as a result of the wet weather including:

1. Mechanical damage from mowing wet putting greens, teeing grounds, fairways, and rough.
2. Soft and slow putting greens. 
3. Pitting ball marks and scuffing/indentations from aggressive golf shoes. 
4. Golf cart damage from use on wet fairways and rough 
5. Thick, penal rough 
6. Grass clipping clumps in fairways and rough 
7. Bunker washouts and puddling in poorly draining bunkers 

Lost revenue has been common at many facilities, especially those forced to close due to the weather. At many courses, saturated soils have highlighted areas where additional drainage is needed. Although drainage may not be an exciting project, it is a crucial part of golf course infrastructure and should take precedence over many other projects.

Damage from ArmorTechAlt 70 and Viceroy® 70DF fungicides contaminated with a herbicide has been severe. NovaSource announced a recall of ArmorTech Alt 70 and Viceroy 70DF fungicides due to herbicide contamination issues which resulted in moderate/severe decline on Poa annua and creeping bentgrass putting greens, collars, and putting green surrounds. The damage severity is not completely understood but many courses are either overseeding or sodding areas that experienced severe decline. Superintendents had no way of knowing these materials were contaminated before using them.

 Finally, bermudagrass is now rapidly growing in the southern portion of the region. Bermudagrass has been slow to break dormancy this season, which has resulted in tight lies in fairways and thin rough. These conditions should quickly improve as growth rates steadily increase.

Source: Adam Moeller (amoeller@usga.org)

Course Update

The rain has continued for the month of June, 6.2 inches, with more on the way later this afternoon. As I continue to work with David York on our nutrient program we saw a flush of growth this week especially from the bentgrass even though we haven't applied much nitrogen recently. The recent flush is really the first we have had all season and I am contributing it to the warm rainfall we received over the weekend releasing nutrients that are already in the soil from years past. We will be tissue testing again this week to see if the nitrogen levels have risen. We have been able to mow and roll enough to get the speeds back up for the weekend, until the rain comes.

One of the biggest problems we face on the golf course here at MGC is the annual bluegrass weevil. This insect has multiple generations per year and we battle it in two stages as an adult and as larvae. The adults pierce the annual bluegrass plant to lay their eggs which then feed inside the plant until it matures and eat itself outside of the plant killing it. The mature larvae then continues to feed on the annual bluegrass plants by eating the through the stems killing them as well. This season has been the toughest so far as local entomologists from Rutgers and UMASS believe that the long lasting snow cover insulated the over-wintering adults shielding them from any direct low temperature kill. Our damage has been localized although heavy along fairway edges near wood lines. The positive is that the bentgrass should take over in these areas.

Larvae no bigger then a grain of rice can cause major damage