Abnormally Hot Summer

I was watching news one evening this last week and the meteorologist showed a very interesting slide on television showing very clearly how much hotter this summer has been over previous years:

Our average number of 90 degree days has been 37 over the last 130 years, but this summer we have had 76, and probably a few more still to come including today!  The hot temperatures coupled with severe drought conditions have  made it a very difficult summer on the golf course.  Luckily we have some much cooler temperatures coming out way in about a week if the meteorologists are telling the truth!

Fall Armyworms!!!!!!!!!!

This morning, while doing some scouting, we noticed we are starting to see an outbreak of Fall Armyworms!  These insects can do some major damage to Bermuda grass, and quickly!  Armyworms get their name because they eat the grass in large numbers, a lot of times "marching" across the grass in a straight line.  When the outbreak is really severe, you can actually see the grass moving there are so many worms crawling around.  To do some tests to see if we have any worm outbreaks, we do a "soapy flush"  We take a bucket of water, and add dish soap.  This soapy water gives a burning sensation to all bugs, and every bug in the turf canopy will come up to the top for fresh air!  Here is a photo of one of our assistants doing a soapy flush:

This soapy flush is something you can do in your own yard to test for Armyworms.  A lot of times Armyworm damage looks like a brown spot that would appear dry.  After closer inspection, these spots are brown because the Armyworms have started eating all the leaves of the grass plant!

The good news is that once detected, Armyworms are very easy to control.  After we noticed an outbreak on hole #12 this morning, we mixed up the sprayer with insecticide and sprayed all the rough.  This will kill all the Armyworms currently feeding on the turf, and prevent any more from spreading to other areas of the golf course.  Be on the lookout in your own home lawns and do a soapy flush to test and see if you have an outbreak!  If you need help on how to control the outbreak we would be glad to answer any questions you may have!

Different Environments, Different Results

Today, while checking the golf course over in the morning, I noticed something interesting.  Even though our staff aerified the greens on the same day, # 9 green is much further along and has recovered much quicker than #1 green.  These greens were punched 26 days ago, and Monday will be 4 weeks.  However, #9 is almost fully recovered, and #1 still has some filling in to do.  Take a look at the pictures side by side below to see what I mean.

 This is a picture of #1 green.  It definitely is not flattering, and very tough to look at, but it is slowly filling in.  The large pine trees surrounding this green look beautiful, but do rob the turf of valuable sunlight in both the morning and the evening.  These trees also reduce the wind and air movement across the green, which is why we have a fan installed behind the green to help move air and cool the grass canopy. 

After 26 days, #9 Green looks much better.  One reason is because it receives full sunlight every day, and the daily winds provide the much needed ventilation.  We treat these greens on the exact same program, and yet you see different results.  Hot weather has played a large factor effecting the putting greens recovery.  When stress levels are high for the turf, the difference of environmental conditions and small microclimates that our putting greens live in become much more noticeable.  Thank you very much for your patience and understanding at this time while the greens are slow to fill in.  We will begin plugging the slowest areas on Tuesday, and should continue to see steady grow as we have the last 2 weeks.   

Greens Update

Man, how nice is the cooler weather and less humidity for a change!  That is not only what I am thinking right now, but what the greens are thinking too!  After receiving and inch of rain overnight on Thursday, it has been nice, less humid  and overcast the last 2 days.  This weather helps to signal the first feelings of Fall, but is also exactly what our greens need to help them recover.  Take a look at the pictures below of #8 Overlook Green:

This picture of #8 Overlook was taken last Sunday, it shows the typical damage we have seen from the aerification.

This picture was taken this morning in the same location as the previous picture.  While the badly damaged spots are still evident, the grass has filled in more and is greener than 6 days ago.  We will begin to plug and sod the worst areas this week to help speed up recovery.  We have seen a lot of good growth and the greens are healthy, it is just a long road to recovery. 

Greens Recovery

          This Monday, August 29th will be 3 weeks since we aerated the greens and topdressed with heavy sand.  While this process takes a minimum of 4 weeks to fully recover, we have seen a pretty good recovery rate so far.  However, it has also become evident the greens were damaged in some areas during the process.  Many of the worst areas appear to be where too much sand collected and damaged small areas or lines on the greens.  This amount of sand combined with the 90 degree temperatures over the last 2 weeks really damaged these areas badly.
           The only good news is we have seen good recovery over the last week, and though extremely slow,  I am confident these areas will fully recover over the next few weeks.  Also, our staff will focus on plugging and sodding the worst areas, which will instantly improve the surface.  Believe me this is a  worst nightmare for a golf course superintendent, and I want the conditions to improve more than anyone!                
           Good thing is we can fix the problem, and in the future we  will change our schedules to reduce the chance of this heat damage happening again.  Instead of aerifying the first week in August, we are moving the date to the week after Labor Day.  Typically by the first week of September the weather has started to cool off and the greens should recover much quicker.  Later in the season will also help ensure we do not see the damage we suffered this year.  We will do all we can to prevent this from ever happening again.

Thank you,


Mark Hayes
Grounds Superintendent

You can see some sand spots on the green that are slow to recover.  These spots are slowly filling in and will be fully recovered within a few weeks!

Aerification Successfully Completed!

Last week our staff successfully aerified all the greens on the golf course with no problems!  This is always an unpopular time for golfers, but once all the plugs are removed and sand is added to the greens, all there is to do is wait for it all to grow back!  Over the next few weeks it will not be fun to putt on the greens, but by the time Labor Day weekend rolls around, the greens will be almost fully healed and back to putting true again!

Greens Aerification August 8th!

This is a reminder that next Monday, August 8th, we will be doing our Fall Greens Aerification.  This will be the BIG HOLES and HEAVY SAND!  I know this is the time all golfers dread, but it will be very beneficial for the greens this fall golf season, and for continued annual health.  The greens will be fully recovered within 4 weeks!