Rough Growing like Crazy!!!

One of the most common suggestions I get is to "Cut the Rough!"  This summer with all the rain and warm temperatures the Bermuda Rough has grown very thick and lush.  I promise, we do cut the rough every week!  To mow all the rough on all 27 holes and the driving range it takes us 2 full days.  We generally try to get the mowing done on Mondays and Tuesdays.  This helps us to avoid the most play and stay out of the way of the golfers.  The only problem with this system is that by the weekend, the grass has been growing for 5 or 6 days and is getting pretty long and tough to play a shot.  Take a look below at some pictures that show what it looks like when we mow the rough:

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These pictures show the difference between the rough when it is just mowed, versus what it looks like after a week since the last mowing.  The ball is resting in the MOWED part of the rough, and the dark green left side is the rough that has yet to be mowed.  It is hard to show in pictures how much we cut off each time, but it is at least a half inch to an inch of grass each week.  We currently are mowing our rough at 1.75 inches, so during the weekend it is probably upwards of 3 inches in some places!  So yes, the rough is very tough right now as it grows so rapidly with the ideal weather conditions.  We try our best to cut as often as possible.  With the amount of golf rounds we see between Thursday and Sunday, it would be very difficult for us to change our mowing schedule while not interfering with daily play.  Once the temperatures cool off in a few weeks we should see a little less growth!

If you look closely at the picture you will see all the large piles of grass clippings left behind after we mow the rough.  This is also a time consuming task to blow all the unsightly piles of clippings.  Mowing and blowing 120 acres of rough each week can be a lot of work!   Believe me, we are as ready to be done mowing it for the year as you are playing out of the thick stuff!

Why are these tees yellow?!

If you have hit on the driving range or played golf over the last week you have probably wondered why the grass looks so yellow and brown.  Is it too dry?  Is it going to die?  Those are some of the questions I have been asked this week regarding the Driving Range and the tee boxes on #9 and #10.

The answer is the grass is just fine, and the yellowing of the turf was caused by our Grounds staff spraying an herbicide to help control weeds.  The main focus of the herbicide was to help control the goosegrass and crabgrass weeds that had become established on both driving range tees, as well as taken over the teaching tee on the opposite end of the range.  These weeds have gradually become a larger problem throughout the summer, and after we got past the Member/Guest and Club Championship tournaments, it was time to kill the weeds.  The yellowing of the Bermuda is caused by the herbicide burning the tips of the leaf blades, but will not kill the Bermuda grass.  The tees that were sprayed have already started to green back  up, and should be all the way back to full green by next weekend.

The Crabgrass and Goosegrass however are not doing so good after the spray, and are on their way out.  Take a look at the pictures below to see the weeds dying a slow death.

In these pictures you can see the brown weeds dying, while the bermuda grass is all greening back up!

If you look closely at this picture you can see the green bermuda on the left, and the yellowed bermuda on the right.  This shows the area where the booms on the sprayer were turned on and off.  The green grass was untreated, but yellow grass was sprayed with the herbicide.  This yellow grass is not going to die, but is just slightly burned and will grow out of the damage in a week or two.  The weeds are not so lucky, and appear to be dying more every day!

(For Turf Dorks!)

If you look at the very first picture with Buddy standing on the tee, you will notice some patches of the grass are green and unharmed by the herbicide.  These green patches are bermuda grass that has done what they call "segregated" over time.  When the grass segregates, it reverts back the parent strain of grass that it was developed from.  This is basically like adapting to the environment that it is being grown in to best succeed.  Those green patches are barely harmed by the herbicide, much different than their cousin grass they started like that are yellow.  These green patches are what a turf breeder, yes that is an actual occupation, would love to see and use to develop a much stronger and more sustainable grass in the future!