Well, it is mid-August and all I can say is "so far, so good" on the golf course. It is no secret that we have had less wherewithal and less staff to make due with than the previous years. However, given almost ideal weather and more than enough moisture, the course has never looked better.
With turfgrass, more often than not, water is the most limiting factor when it come to turf quality. The other sides to the triangle are chemical/fertilizer applications and cultural practices such as aerification.
We try to give our turf the best possible chance, especially the greens, of surviving less than ideal conditions by regularly applying chemicals and fertilizer. However, over the years, cultural practices such as core aeration have been adequate at best because of the negative connotations that it brings.
Here at Wolf Laurel CC, our greens are what are commonly known as "push up" or "native soil" greens. They are completely different from the sand based greens that most clubs have gone to over the years . Push Up Greens have their advantages and disadvantages.
First, push up or native soil greens hold more water than their counterparts. Given our lack of irrigation, that is a plus. However, if air and soil temperatures get too high, this attribute starts becoming a detriment in a hurry.
Water holds in heat, and heat is not good for turf roots. When the turf roots are compromised, then the grass plant can not efficiently go thru the normal metabolic process it needs to remain healthy. There is a fine line between holding too much water and not having enough.
Thru practices such as core aeration, we can manipulate the sub-surface effectively introducing positive pore space to introduce air pores into the soil. In turn we can alleviate the other major disadvantage of native soil greens which is compaction.
Just a reminder that we are slated to aerate greens on the 14th of September. We intend to use 1/4 inch coring tines that do much less disruption to play than the normal 1/2 coring tines we use in the off-season. Given the right weather putting quality should not be affected longer than a week.
We are having to use the edges of the greens for pin placements more often now that the "A" positions are starting to wear out. I do play golf occasionally and understand that a poor pin placement could make or break a good round. That said, know that my assistant and I do not put tough placements out their to upset any one, just to ensure the wear is distributed evenly across the putting surface.
Cold Weather will be here before we know it, so get out there and enjoy your well maintained golf course.
Thank you,
David
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