July/August
2020 PPCC Agronomy Blog
We hope
everyone is enjoying their summer so far this year. As much as you can enjoy
it, given the current pandemic and changes to all our lives.
We are
having a wonderful transition so far this year. We are very pleased with the
health of the Bermuda grass. We have a couple of trouble spots due to shade or
high foot and/or cart traffic but many of them are filling in nicely. We are
working hard to encourage a natural recovering. We are currently on track to
not lay any or very little sod to repair the golf course from this past
season's overseed.
We are
very happy with the green’s health at this point in the summer. While it has
been a fairly hot summer it has also been very dry. The lack of humidity and
high dew points has helped with keeping the greens in good health. While green
speeds are not as fast as in the fall and spring, we are keeping them slower
for health reasons. We do not want to increase the chances of loss during the hot
weather months.
As you
have probably noticed the ball marks are getting numerous and are slow to
recover. The high air and soil temps have now triggered the bentgrass to go
into a pattern of self-preservation. Ideal soil temperatures for bent are 50-65
degrees we have experienced temperatures consistently in the 90 for 6 weeks
now. This constant stress has shrunk the root length and structure and will
continue until September night temperatures begin to cool. While bentgrass can
survive these conditions, it does not grow or recover very well. The constant
stress leads to root loss and leaf tissue decline which becomes apparent in
August and is a delayed response to the root loss experienced in July. Most, if
not all, of the plant’s energy has gone into maintaining the existing roots and
leaf tissue. This is the opposite effect of what happens in the spring when the
greens are growing vigorously and get very firm before we aerify in May. Simply
put, the plant health gains in the spring need to outweigh the losses in the
summer as it relates to root and leaf growth. Regardless of how healthy we are
headed into summer there will be an unrealized loss in leaf tissue density
during August and you can expect to experience softening conditions through
August and into September before the growing weather switches back in our
favor. The softening is due to the decline in density and less roots and leaves
to support the impact of a golf ball.
In the
meantime, you may have noticed green sand being placed in ball marks. We are
using a sand/bentgrass seed mix to help fill the depressed ball marks that are
not filling in. We hope to aid the recovery and/or fill in with new grass. We
also want to smooth the ball mark to help keep the putting surface from being
affected. We use this same method during overseeding to repair the ball marks
from summer damage and tried it this summer for the first time. We have seen
good results and will continue this practice.
Below
is a link to a USGA video and articles that also explains summer stress
management and green speeds
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8DmDhg68HEo
You may
have also noticed the yellow ring around the green. Once again, we are using an
herbicide that helps to significantly suppress the Bermuda grass from
encroaching into the bentgrass collars. The Bermuda grass will inevitably encroach,
but we are slowing it down and extending the life of the collars with the
herbicide.
So far,
the bentgrass collars that were installed 2 years ago have given us the desired
results. We are very pleased with their performance. We expect the bentgrass
collars to be the long-term solution for the collars.
In July
we once again closed the course for summer maintenance. We performed very heavy
dethatching and aerification across the course. We were very happy with the
results of the practices this year. We had a quick recovery with a little
disruption to play.
Through
the pandemic, the agronomy team has done a fantastic job maintaining the course
as well as keeping each other safe. We implemented many changes to our
operations to keep our members and staff safe. We appreciate the membership's
support through these difficult times.
We wish
everyone and their families a safe and healthy remainder of their summer and
look forward to seeing everyone back this winter season.
Regards
PPCC
Agronomy Team.
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| Ranger helping with drainage |
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| Fransico helping change the drainage and liner on the outside of the greens |
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| Heavy verticut in the fairways |
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| Lots of debris generated from cultural practices - 20 roll-off dumpsters worth |
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| More verticutging |
