We hope everyone is enjoying the 2025 golf season so far! We are looking forward to providing tournament conditions for the last several events of the season.
The weather has finally gone our way over the last week and PPCC has received 1.65” of much needed rainfall. We received a slow and steady 1.1” of rain last Friday. These types of rain events are more beneficial as we do not see the surface runoff compared to the heavy downpours. The slow rain helps flush unwanted sodium and bicarbonates in the greens and throughout the course. This rain will give the bentgrass greens a good jump start on ball mark recovery and root/leaf tissue growth. We have already seen some of the older ball marks almost fully recover. I have been very happy with the performance of the bentgrass this season and we have been able to maintain green speeds at an average 12.5’ for daily play and 13.5’ for tournament play.
Root growth on the greens will be a focus as have to take advantage during a short growing season for bentgrass. We will keep the plant on the leaner side with small amounts of nitrogen inputs through the spring and apply growth regulators to control the excess leaf growth. This will help divert the plants’ energy downward to drive root growth. We will also continue our deep and infrequent watering cycles and supplement with morning hand watering. Currently, the greens root system is in a good position with a root mass of 5-6” deep. As we progress through the spring, we will begin to verticut the greens. This is an important process that helps remove dead leaf tissue so that the plant can produce new and healthy tissue. Our first verticut of the season will take place during the last week of March and continue through aerification in May. In addition, we will vent the greens using small needle size tines that will help elevate compaction and creates small channels for air exchange and root growth. Preparing the greens to better handle the upcoming summer stress is our top priority as we move through the spring months.
As I mentioned in today’s member newsletter, we have added the USGA GS3 ball to our data metric tool belt. This is a new and innovative tool that reads and tracks green speeds, surface smoothness, trueness, and firmness. Firmness and green speeds are the two most important measures that this tool can provide that allows us to create benchmarks to better maintain consistency in playability. We are also collecting our daily mowing clippings from 3 of the greens and measuring the weight. Clipping yield is an important indicator of plant health and surface performance. All these metrics will be uploaded into the USGA Deacon app. This app will allow the agronomy team to access the data and review how each corelates with weather and other factors. It helps us make important cultural, irrigation, mowing, and fertilization decisions on the greens. We use this tool throughout the week along with our daily moisture meter readings to provide the best conditions possible for the PPCC membership.
We have also shifted focus to Bermuda grass transition. I am happy with the current Bermuda grass percentage throughout the overseed. We will continue to lower mowing heights as we progress through the spring. Please expect one more height drop during the month of April that will help the underlying Bermuda grass outcompete the winter rye grass. We will also initiate our herbicide program that will slowly remove the rye grass from the canopy. This process plays a critical role in a successful transition. There we be more information to come on these important processes.
Again, we hope everyone enjoys the remainder of the 2025 golf season and please do not hesitate to reach out for any questions or concerns!
- PPCC Agronomy Team
Bobby checking surface firmness
Data is sent to app and recorded
USGA GS3 ball
Alex checking greens speeds with GS3 ball
Weighing clipping yields
