On occasion the USGA will issue alerts when issues golf courses are facing become severe. In my almost 20 years in the golf course industry, they have issued 2; this is the third. The first in my time was during the ice storms in 1996 and the second was for the outbreak of Anthracnose this region was seeing in 2000. As you can see alerts are not sent often so when they are it is of immediate and serious concern.
On Wednesday the senior USGA Agronomist for the Mid-Atlantic region toured the course with me and to specifically look at 10 and 14 greens. He seconded all the programs we have initated to deal with the weather situation. This Agronomist visits nearly 10 different golf courses every week throughout the golf season as well as making emergency visits when asked. Of all the courses he has visited he has rated us a B+, above average for the condition of Hartefeld National during these diffiuclt times.
As I have never want to feel I am succeeding based on others failures, that is not who I am. But to see the many high-end facilites in our area closing due to TOTAL turf loss, confirms that we are on the right track with our programs during this difficult time.
Here is the Alert that was issued:
United States Golf Association July 27, 2010
Mid-Atlantic Green Section
485 Baltimore Pike, Suite 203, Glen Mills, PA 19342
(610) 558-9066 Fax (610) 558-1135
Manor Oak One, Suite 410
1910 Cochran Road, Pittsburgh, Pa 15220
(412) 341-4922 Fax (412) 341-5954
WEATHER ALERT
TURF LOSS ADVISORY
Periodically, the agronomists of the Mid-Atlantic region send letters to USGA member courses on extraordinary weather conditions and turf loss related matters. The weather experienced the summer of 2010 has prompted this letter.
Our goal is to alert golfers and turf managers alike that this extended period of heat and drought followed by heat, humidity and thunderstorms has caused and probably will continue to cause turf stress and turf loss problems throughout the region. No two golf courses are alike. They all have different grasses, soils and golfer expectations. It is important that golf course superintendents use, “defensive golf course maintenance and management programs.” That is, be conservative. Pamper the grass. The turfgrass is under intense weather stress compounded by an increase in disease pressure. Be more concerned about plant health than green speed!!! There is an old adage in our industry, “slow grass is better than no grass.” This is not a joke. It needs to be taken seriously.
Suggested “defensive” management programs include:
• Compress spray programs. With heat, humidity and thunderstorms, fungicides do not last as long and disease pressure is greater. There is no better money spent than to protect the grass from disease.
• Raise mowing heights and use sharp mowers. This can help the grass survive.
• Mow less/roll more. The goal is to reduce mechanical stress to the grass plant.
• Switch from grooved to solid rollers (and protect collars from the turning of mowers).
• Spoonfeed the grass. Weekly sprays are best when applying light rates of fertility, iron (to keep the grass green) and growth regulators. Excessive grass growth depletes carbohydrates.
• Air drainage. On pocketed greens, prune limbs, use fans and generally keep the air moving. When you are hot, you stand in front of a fan. When the grass is stressed, it needs good air movement as well. Drier turf is also less prone to disease.
• DO NOT OVER-WATER. Hand water. Lightly syringe the turf with the nozzle never going past horizontal. Any mid-day watering should be focused on cooling the canopy. If you are wetting the soil, you are not syringing! Remember, you can always add more water but wet, saturated soil damages roots, increases disease and contributes to turf loss via the Wet Wilt Syndrome. If corrective watering needs to be done for dry spots, the extra water should be applied in the early morning or late in the evening. Do not over-water the grass in mid-day heat.
• Surface aerate/vent the greens. This allows the soil to breath, excess moisture to escape and roots to regrow which helps the grass survive.
In summary, be careful. This may be one of our hottest summers in decades. We all share the responsibility of keeping the turf on our golf courses as healthy as possible during this period of extreme weather. Again, be careful and have realistic expectations for golf course playability.
The Mid-Atlantic Region’s agronomists are part of your agronomic support team. If you have a question or concern, do not hesitate to give us a call or send an e-mail.
Glen Mills office: (610) 558-9066
Stan Zontek (szontek@usga.org) and Darin Bevard (dbevard@usga.org)
Pittsburgh office: (412) 341-5922
Keith Happ (khapp@usga.org)
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Blog posting this summer
This summer is most certainly up there on my list of ones I would like to forget and for turf mangers, one that will be talked about for years to come. This summer we are seeing the heat from 2005 and the rain from 2009. One would think if we married our practices from 2005 and 2009 we would be just fine. Doesn't work like that!
The summer of 2010 has been stressful for everyone and has required everyone to stay on top of their game. One small issue or slip and your toast and with this heat you could literally be toast! With everything we have been facing and with some of the issues on the course, it is important for me to continue to communicate to YOU what is happening. However, remaining on top of things literally 24 hours a day has made it very difficult to continue updating the blog. The past few days I have taken some time to update a few of the issues we are facing on the course, but there are more and no doubt that list will get bigger as the weather continues.
What I would encourage all of you to do if you have a question regarding something specific, is to email me, Joe Mackley or Mike Fox. I have conversations with both of these gentlemen daily regarding the course, if they can't answer your question they will contact me. As I have said since day one, I have an open door policy. I am here to manage the course you belong to, if you have a question please contact me. I would be glad to either meet on the course to answer questions or by email.
Thank you all for your patience this summer, it has no doubt been a difficult one.
The summer of 2010 has been stressful for everyone and has required everyone to stay on top of their game. One small issue or slip and your toast and with this heat you could literally be toast! With everything we have been facing and with some of the issues on the course, it is important for me to continue to communicate to YOU what is happening. However, remaining on top of things literally 24 hours a day has made it very difficult to continue updating the blog. The past few days I have taken some time to update a few of the issues we are facing on the course, but there are more and no doubt that list will get bigger as the weather continues.
What I would encourage all of you to do if you have a question regarding something specific, is to email me, Joe Mackley or Mike Fox. I have conversations with both of these gentlemen daily regarding the course, if they can't answer your question they will contact me. As I have said since day one, I have an open door policy. I am here to manage the course you belong to, if you have a question please contact me. I would be glad to either meet on the course to answer questions or by email.
Thank you all for your patience this summer, it has no doubt been a difficult one.
Weeds
Many things this year have been extremely frustating and at times just flat out difficult to even stomach this year! One issue particularly for me is the weeds. Normally thorought the summer we are able to periodically touch up our spring weed control to keep weeds to a minimum. In the fall, the best time to approach weed control, we are able to make larger broadcast applications to cleanup any weeds going into winter.
This summer we have not been able to spray a drop of herbicide. Herbicides are classed in two categories, selective and non-selective. Non-selectives are easy, as the name says it all, they kill everything and anything they touch. Round-up is an example of this type. Selective herbicides are used to target a particular species of weed. These can be sprayed over tolerant species of turf and only eliminate your targeted weeds. However, the key words above are "tolerant species". During the weather nothing is tolerant to herbicides. We have had to cease all herbicide applications since June. Normally our turf acts as a natural "herbicide". With a nice thick healthy stand of turfgrass it makes it difficult for any weeds to germinate in the soil, to put it simply there just isn't room. This summer our turf has thinned, giving optimum growing conditions for summer annual broadleaf and grassy weeds.
Two weeds particular we are seeing become very aggressive in this weather, Nutsedge and Crabgrass. Nutsedge is the light lime collar grass we are seeing in the perimeter cuts around greens and in bunker faces. This sedge grows extremely fast. In the perimeter cut, this species stands out like a soar thumb because it can grow quickly to 5 and 6 inches, while the first cut remains at less than an inch. The other annual grassy weed we are seeing is crabgrass. In the spring we made a broadcast application on everything but the greens for crabgrass. The reason we are seeing breakthrough is because of the lack of rain in June. When a pre-emergent is applied, it creates a barrier on the soil surface that does not allow for annual grassy weeds like crabgrass to germinate. However, when the soil becomes very dry and cracks begin to form, the seeds now have an area to germinate through. Many of our hotter and drier areas of the course, like bunker faces, edges of cartpaths and roughs have a higher than usual population of crabgrass. Crabgrass is also classified as a warmseason grass, like bermuda grass. The weather we have been experiencing is perfect for crabgrass to thrive in. Simply, crabgrass is living the good life right now, however, it has no idea what it is about to face next week!
Forecasters are calling for a break in the weather. Temperatures are set to return to seasonable levels which will allow us to begin treating many of these weeds. Next week we will begin spot spraying for both crabgrass and nutsedge across the course. Once we make the application, you will see these grasses turn green, to yellow, then brown. I am very much looking forward to this fall for many many reasons, but one is certainly our broadcast application of herbicides.
This summer we have not been able to spray a drop of herbicide. Herbicides are classed in two categories, selective and non-selective. Non-selectives are easy, as the name says it all, they kill everything and anything they touch. Round-up is an example of this type. Selective herbicides are used to target a particular species of weed. These can be sprayed over tolerant species of turf and only eliminate your targeted weeds. However, the key words above are "tolerant species". During the weather nothing is tolerant to herbicides. We have had to cease all herbicide applications since June. Normally our turf acts as a natural "herbicide". With a nice thick healthy stand of turfgrass it makes it difficult for any weeds to germinate in the soil, to put it simply there just isn't room. This summer our turf has thinned, giving optimum growing conditions for summer annual broadleaf and grassy weeds.
Two weeds particular we are seeing become very aggressive in this weather, Nutsedge and Crabgrass. Nutsedge is the light lime collar grass we are seeing in the perimeter cuts around greens and in bunker faces. This sedge grows extremely fast. In the perimeter cut, this species stands out like a soar thumb because it can grow quickly to 5 and 6 inches, while the first cut remains at less than an inch. The other annual grassy weed we are seeing is crabgrass. In the spring we made a broadcast application on everything but the greens for crabgrass. The reason we are seeing breakthrough is because of the lack of rain in June. When a pre-emergent is applied, it creates a barrier on the soil surface that does not allow for annual grassy weeds like crabgrass to germinate. However, when the soil becomes very dry and cracks begin to form, the seeds now have an area to germinate through. Many of our hotter and drier areas of the course, like bunker faces, edges of cartpaths and roughs have a higher than usual population of crabgrass. Crabgrass is also classified as a warmseason grass, like bermuda grass. The weather we have been experiencing is perfect for crabgrass to thrive in. Simply, crabgrass is living the good life right now, however, it has no idea what it is about to face next week!
Forecasters are calling for a break in the weather. Temperatures are set to return to seasonable levels which will allow us to begin treating many of these weeds. Next week we will begin spot spraying for both crabgrass and nutsedge across the course. Once we make the application, you will see these grasses turn green, to yellow, then brown. I am very much looking forward to this fall for many many reasons, but one is certainly our broadcast application of herbicides.
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