Golf Course Update

From The Course Superintendent
06/01/09

I have been getting many interesting questions about the Golf Course as of late and wanted to give an explanation to a couple of the ones I have heard most often.

If you didn’t know, we have been averaging around 3 inches of rain per week over the last 4 weeks, so my staff and I have to adjust the way we maintain the course on a daily basis.

Here are a couple of points to consider with all the rain we are getting:

*Our 8 wheeled slope mowers have to mow areas normally mowed by our wide-area rough mower on most of the golf course. This prevents the rough from getting cut as often as we would like.

*Moving the cups when it is extremely wet is not generally a good idea as it makes a mess of the new hole. If we are not receiving play, then we leave the cup in the old spot until the greens have dried sufficient to move the pin even if it takes 2 to 3 days.

*The 10th and 18th fairways in particular, have wet weather springs that have surfaced due to the abundance of rain. This is not surface water but ground water that has made its way to the top. Please avoid these areas that are marked with white flags as it will cause considerable damage if you drive thru the area.

*The maintenance staff is currently weighing the options to drain the water from the course in the least invasive and most economical way possible to sustain cart traffic and speed of play in these areas.

*We have been pushing the greens to grow with nitrogen fertility to help them recover after spring aeration and severe winter desiccation. Unfortunately the amount of rain we are getting causes them to grow at a faster rate than expected.

*Also, the Poa annua aspect of our greens has seeded profusely the last 3 weeks. All this adds up to slow greens! We put down our first application of growth regulator last Friday (May 21), so with a few days of dry weather, they will speed up.

Given a few days of dry weather I feel the golf course will be back to its old self again. Thank you for your time.

David Letterman II
Golf Course Superintendent

Filed Under: Course Superintendent