Big Day for the Back Nine Greens

Today, the back nine greens will be sodded with A1 bentgrass.  Hopefully, we will complete the work today in order to beat the heat and be able to take advantage of forecasted rain on Wednesday and Thursday.

The front nine greens were mowed on Monday without too much scalping. Crew will be plugging small spots on the #3, 6, 7, 9 and then #5 all day.  I plan to open theses five greens on the front nine this weekend.  Prior to opening on Saturday, I still need to lightly topdress these greens and bring the mowing height down a little each day. I'll identify which back nine greens I plan to open after we finish the sod work.

The following two paragraphs are a summary of diagnostic tests performed on  soil cores recently taken from 4 greens. The work was done by Norm Hummel of Hummer & Co., a turfgrass soil consulting  and soil testing firm in New York.

The analysis of the root zone mix reveals that the sand mix meets USGA specifications and the greensmix is capable of supporting a healthy turf. The variability of the sand depth creates some watering issues that challenge the success of the turf but it might be overcome with other maintenance measures. A thin layer is or has developed in the interface area just above the gravel layer. At present, the greens drain.


Up to this point, the top three to four inches of the green is where I focus most of my management practices. According to plant pathology tests and soil tests from two different labs, the management practices implemented by me have resulted in a growing environment conducive to growing healthy turf. One of the toughest parts of my job is formulating a maintenance strategy that meets play expectations yet still allows for adjustments when Mother Nature delivers a difficult weather scenario as we have experienced this summer.

Front Nine Greens Update

A lot was accomplished this week on the front nine greens. All the greens that needed new sod were planted on Wednesday. On Thursday, the crew returned to #1, 2 and 4 greens to tie-in new sod edges to the same plane as the existing turf on the greens. Later in the day, greens #1,2 and 3 were heavily topdressed to float out the surface. On Friday,  sod edges on #8 green were tied-in and the green was heavily topdressed. Greens #1-9 were fertilized and watered-in.  Now, we need to let the grass have time to put down roots and start to grow. The first mowing is planned for next Monday.

Exploratory drainage work was started on the left side of #10 below the green. The drainage exit line that carries water from the green appears to be clogged with soil and water is backed-up in the pipe.  Investigative work will continue through the weekend.

A small crew has started cutting out dead turf areas on the back nine greens in preparation for a Tuesday delivery of bentgrass sod. The crew will continue to prep areas on the back nine greens over the weekend and on Monday.

That's it for now- have a great weekend!

Sod arrived around 10:00 am on Wednesday.

 

#1 green prepped for new sod

#4 green ready for sod

Sod being laid on #8 green

Sod laid out on #2 green

Heavy sand topdressing over new sod at #4 green

Assistant Superintendent Heath replacing a leaking 8" x 8" x 2" lateral tee on hole #7 on Thursday.

Greens update

Early signs of turf decline on #10 green in mid-July. A plant pathologist found no fungal disease but did find Bacterial Wilt which is a secondary stress issue. No known cure for Bacterial Wilt.

Stress and turf decline along green edges of #15 green.

Searching for drain clean-out off back of #15 green. Notice two feet of greens mix with eight inches of topsoil over greensmix beyond green edge.

Dead grass stripped off green. #4 is ready for new sod delivery on Wednesday, August 25th.

Crew stripping off dead turf on #2 green Tuesday morning. Green will be sodded this week.