Aerification and Water Repellency

This picture is of water repellency on 9 Seaside.  With the Moderate Drought we are in and all of the foot traffic, the greens begin to seal off and not accept moisture.  We use soil surfactants every two weeks to help, but for this reason, we have to vent the greens with small solid tines every 4-6 weeks.  As you can imagine, this could cause serious problems.  When we aerify Seaside next week and roll the green, you won't even notice it, but the grass plants will.

Greens Mowers Going Green!

While I was at Nutters Crossing in 2006, we changed out our greensmowers from regular hydraulic oil to biodegradable oil.  This investment paid for itself many, many times over.  One of the drawbacks to riding greensmowers always has been potential hydraulic leaks.  The resulting damage required soil removal, tedious sod work and a lot of nurturing.  With bio oils, the main thing that happens is the tops of the plants get burned.  The damage can be topdressed and fertilized out.  We are doing the same thing to our mowers here at OCGC.  The greensmowers are being converted over to the Bio Hy-Guard II.  Hopefully we never see the benefits of this product.

New Equipment Starts Arriving!

Our new fleet of John Deere equipment started arriving today.  We are bringing in a lot of nice new technology to enhance your golf experience.  We are all excited about the new package.  Our hope is to make our staff even more efficient and make your course better in less time.  Feel free to stop us and take a look.  The machines are amazing!

Why Do You Use So Much Growth Regulator?

This picture shows a typical Perennial Ryegrass seedhead.  Note how it is growing.  It is very upright. 
NOW look at this picture of Perennial Ryegrass sprayed with the growth regulator Primo Maxx.

The seedhead is growing laterally.   The regulator changes the growth pattern and the turf requires less mowing, uses less water and yields less clippings. The result over time is a dense, very playable turf.  We use growth regulator on tees, greens and fairways.  It puts less stress on the mowing equipment and requires less mowing.  Doses of regulator range from 6-7 oz per acre on greens to 9 oz per acre on tees and 11 oz per acre for fairways.  A typical application lasts 2-4 weeks.  I thought everyone would find these pictures interesting.  The turf does turn yellowish the first application, then the plant seems to react better to heat and traffic stress.

Topdressing Newport Greens

Today we topdressed the Newport greens.  We applied the sand a little heavier than last week on Seaside.  The topdressing was drug in with our cocoa shell drag mat.  The greens should firm up and smooth out.  We hope some of the thinner spots will knit tighter.  We are irrigating the sand in tonight and then applying a soil surfactant tomorrow.

The Miracle of Epinasty

I have taken the pesticide exam in three states.  The same question was on all three.  We have used a generic of the old standby weed killer Trimec.  It is three chemicals in one application.  The chemical works by excelerating the growth of the weed, using up its food reserves in the roots.  The weed outgrows itself.  This is the miracle of epinasty!  Look it up!

What Is the Blue Stuff Around the Trees?

I have been asked this question a few times, so here is the answer!  We have so many trees at OCGC and it is very labor intensive to keep trimming them.  To keep things looking neat, we spray the trees and some other areas with a mixture of RoundUp and Barricade.  The RoundUp kills the grass and weeds, the Barricade keeps it from coming back for a few months.   Our operators sometimes get a little too aggressive with the indicator dye.  The dye is useful for indicating which trees have been done.  We use the same dye on the greens and a foam marker for fairways.  The indicators help keep our cost down and assure an even, proper application of pesticide.

Rainfall Deficit!

Believe it or not, we have a significant rainfall deficit.  As of May 1, we are about 6 inches BELOW normal.  It is great for firm golf conditions.  It is also great to grow the roots of the greens and fairways.  It has also allowed an unexpected bonus...we are mowing the fairways lower on Newport, to encourage the bermudagrass.  I have withheld irrigation on these fairways to try to kill some of the poa annua, so the bermuda will gain the growing advantage.  The only negative to lack of natural rainfall is we have to watch the sodium build up in the greens and flush them with water from time to time.  A funny aside...I spoke to a longtime friend in Western PA last night and he told me the had 4 sunny days in April and over 10 inches of rainfall.  Here at OCGC, we recorded under 2 inches.  Amazing for 350 miles difference.

Topdressing Greens and Using the Cocoa Shell Drag

We topdressed the Seaside greens today with straight sand.  We will be doing Newport next week.  The sand will firm and smooth the surface.  The end result is better ball roll.  After applying the sand and allowing it some time to dry, we drug the greens with a new cocoa shell drag mat.  The mat is made of cocoa fibers (no it is not edible).  The fibers gently brush in the sand, so it does not have any effect on play.