What Happened to the Newport Pond?

Once the flood water from Hurricane Sandy receded, we noticed the water foaming around our fountain. We also noticed foaming when cleaning equipment. I made a decision to have the pond water tested at a lab. The results showed the water was not suitable for fine turf irrigation. I interpreted the results and has my interpretation reviewed by the USGA. The sodium, chloride and boron levels were toxic by 100x!!! We decided to pump a majority of the water out of the pond. A combination of rain and well water should restore the pond. Remember there was at least 5-8 feet of bay water on top of the pond. A good thing came of this. Once the water level lowered we inspected the intake line. We discovered the line was made of galvanized steel and was badly deteriorated. This could cause silt, sans, eels and fish to enter and clog our irrigation system. It's much better to replace this pipe now than in July!

Vandals Strike

Tuesday night, a group of vandals broke into our first cart barn. About 20 carts were driven out on the golf courses. They drove over and through bunkers and made donuts on 8 greens. Fortunately it's December and the greens were firm and well rooted. We applied a fungicide and some Floratine Per 4 Max to help the tracks recover. The police and forensics units were here to take prints, photos and DNA samples.

Storm Fallout

Some unusual fallout from Hurricane Sandy. The sheer amount of trash that flowed to the golf courses was amazing. One thing we did today was apply gypsum to the bermudagrass fairways. We hope to neutralize some of the salt from the flooding. If we had bent grass fairways or over seeded, the fairways would be dead. Talk about dirty jobs!

Brown Approach Edges

Some of the Newport approaches had some tan spots develop. What we discovered was the cold nights combined with growth regulator caused the bermudagrass to tan. A few warm days cleared up the problem.

Fall Renovations

We are in the process of fall renovations. We are overseeding Seaside fairways. We have verticut and topdressed all the greens to smooth them out and remove the puffiness that has been a problem on Seaside. Fyi we have had 18" of rain since August 1.  The insect problems with Japanese Beetle Grubs can really be seen now, exactly where insecticide was sprayed. Renovations are a temporary inconvenience. We had damage from standing water and very warm temps. The weather this week was perfect and the end result will be good. Thanks for your patience.

INSECTS ARE PRETTY SMART LITTLE DUDES!

As summer closes, we take time to evaluate what worked well and what didn't work so well.  An interesting happening is how smart turf insects are. In the two pictures, you can see insect damage near a green and just in the rough. The insects seem to have the ability to take up residence just outside of the area we apply insecticide.  Usually these areas show up around Labor Day. 

Aerification is not a bad word

Our fall aerification has begun with Newport going first. The turf is tired, beat up, worn and needs rejuvenating. I think one of the reasons our aerifications are successful is we try to preserve the turf during summer stress period. We do this by using solid rollers, slightly raising heights, rolling during hottest days and weekly Foliar feeding. We make monthly fungicide applications that are watered into our root zone which keeps the plants healthy. When we perform the aerification, the turf really responds and rebounds quickly. It looks like a mess for a little bit, but its going to be a great fall season.

Summertime Turf Blues

Summer brings a lot of stress to cool season turf.  As I mentioned before weed control is one of the trickiest applications we make.  Here is a spot spray on crabgrass that burned 7 tee Seaside.
The second photo shows proof the days are getting shorter. Bermudagrass begins to puff up and scalp.  Mowing heights are slowly raised as fall approaches.

The greens are the wettest in the summer.  The water in the soil does not evaporate much during high humidity of summer.  We are trying our best to maintain 15% moisture in the greens, but it is difficult.  The result is more susceptibility to hallmarks.  Many are going unrepaired by players.  If everyone repaired their hallmark and one additional, it would really help the greens thru the summer stress period.

July USGA Update

AT THE HALFWAY POINT By Darin Bevard and Keith Happ, senior agronomists, Mid-Atlantic Region July 19, 2012

Weather conditions continue to provide management challenges, but we are about halfway through the traditional summer stress period.

The story in this region continues to be the weather! Rain has occurred in some areas, but others are currently under drought conditions. Within a 30 minute drive there has been as much as a 75 percent difference in rainfall amounts since early summer. For some, the rain has been just right, not enough for others, and in rare cases far too much. When this happens in conjunction with high heat, turfgrass decline has occurred. Scald, wet wilt and water mold diseases have been a problem. It is always better to operate from a position of prevention rather than curative treatment strategies when managing pythium outbreaks. Disease pressure has been high and many superintendents have supplemented their treatment programs with conventional fungicides. Research has demonstrated that phosphites may only provide protection from pythium under moderate pressure.

There have been steady outbreaks of Hyperodes weevils this season. Damage has been limited but still there has been a need to scout and spot treat whenever damage is discovered. We are experiencing multiple generations of this insect. It is not uncommon in the same plug to see larvae, pupae and callow adults! Select the controls carefully! One specific product may not control all of the life cycles.

Playing defense has become the strategy of choice this July. The heat has been oppressive and all efforts are being made to minimize any chance of self inflicted damage. Mowing frequency on greens is being reduced and supplemented with rolling. Water is applied carefully, and the grass is being fertilized lightly to promote controlled growth. Playing defense now will make a difference when the weather is more favorable for maximizing playing quality.

Summer weeds, especially sedges, kyllinga and goosegrass have been problematic at many golf courses. Preemergent strategies have been ineffective in many instances. This may be a product of early germination due to warm spring weather. Application timing may have been too late, or pressure may be extremely high. Regardless of the reason for weed emergence, as you consider postemergent strategies, keep the health and quality of desirable grasses at the forefront. A poorly timed herbicide application under environmental stress could severely thin or even kill the turfgrass. While weed populations are unsightly, they are not nearly as unsightly as dead grass. Be sure that weather conditions are right for herbicide applications if they are needed.

Finally, the drought conditions emphasize the importance of monitoring water quality! Water levels are down and this has affected water quality not only for irrigation but also product application. Don’t assume anything. With less rain and greater reliance on wells or even potable water sources, water quality can change. Most public water has pH values in the 7.8 to 8.2 range, which can negatively impact product efficacy. Check the quality of the water to determine if spray tanks need to be buffered to maximize the effectiveness of a treatment strategy. Knowing the water quality will aid in how irrigation is applied, and if deep watering cycles are necessary to flush the profile. Syringing and light watering are being performed frequently. With these applications, salts and other detriments to turf maintenance can accumulate in the upper portion of the soil profile. If these salt levels get too high, turf performance can be affected. Again, know your water quality.

The Mid-Atlantic Region agronomists are part of your agronomic support team. If you have a question or concern, give us a call or send an email. You can reach Stan Zontek (szontek@usga. org) and Darin Bevard (dbevard@usga. org) at 610/ 558-9066 or Keith Happ (khapp@usga. org) at 412/ 341-5922.

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Hot Weather Be Careful!

When it is as hot as it has been, please be careful. This picture is from 10 Seaside. A soft drink or beer was spilled on the approach on a hot day.

THE most challenging part of maintaining cool season turf.

In my opinion THE single most challenging part of our job is weed control in cool season turf.  With warm season, the weed problems exist when the turf is dormant in the winter and not actively growing.  They are simple to control.  Cool season turf however, is much more challenging.  The weed control begins in late March, early April.  You do not see the results of this for months.  Here is an example of pre emerged turf vs un pre emerged...un pre emerged is to the right.

There are instances where there MAY be an issue with a batch of product.  I do not understand all of the goosegrass on #1 and 5 fairway Seaside.  There are no sprayer skips.  Timing was correct, but there is a lot of breakthrough.  Generally I would only expect to see this in divots this time of the year.  I have a Dow Chemical factory rep coming this week to assess the situation.  The problem is how to treat the weed without damaging the desirable grasses around it.  If it is too warm, we can do even more damage than just looking at weeds. 

We have taken to a spot-spraying approach to weed control.  It is more environmentally friendly and we have less chance for damage.  However we do not spray herbicides if the temperature is expected to be above 85F.

Here are a few other difficult weeds that pop up when the cool season grasses are not actively growing and are under heat/summer stress:
GOOSEGRASS

DALLISGRASS

NUTSEDGE

KNOTWEED

Some unusual turf diseases from extreme heat...FAIRY RING

                                                EARWIG MOUNDS

MUSHROOMS FROM FAIRY RING ON GREENS

POSSIBLY A NEW BACTERIAL PROBLEM: ETILIOATION

I know many of you have seen these pop up in the last two weeks.  Some of these things are routine and some are unprecedented in my career.  You knew it was going to be a challenging year when it was 80 degrees in late February. 

I just wanted to show some of the problems we encounter and explain what is being attemted to control them.

Heat Stress Relief...Protein Shake for the Greens

The day before the extreme weather conditions, we made a decision to apply a supplemental application of nutrients to your greens before the Member-Guest Tournament.  Not mowing in the heat was not an option, so through some research, we made the very same application Congressional did before the AT&T Event.  We mixed some super charged calcium with amino acids and potassium and an imitation oxygen product to try to manipulate the plants' environment.  That is how we allow closely mowed turf to survive.  We constantly manipulate its' growing environment.  Remember, the turf cannot take an air conditioning break.  Next post we will show how the heat has an effect on cool season grasses.  Remember, cool season turf is grown at an optimum temperature of 60-75F.

SPF 50 For Putting Greens

Last week, we began applying PAR with our weekly foliar spray applications.  PAR is a turquoise pigment that has been proven over the last few years to protect putting greens from the sun...kind of SPF 50 for greens.  This pigment has been used in the chemicals Signature and Tartan for awhile.  The pigment is marketed as Stressguard.  Now that it is sold in gallon jugs, we 9-10 oz per acre each week.  Another tool to keep the turf healthy during summer stress times.

What Are the Blue Rings Around the Bunkers?

This past week, we finished a second edging of all the bunkers. In order to take full advantage of the guys hard work, we sprayed the inside edges with a mixture of RoundUp and Dimension.  The purpose is to kill and prevent bermuda and zoysia runners and weeds from contaminating the edges.  The blue color is a small amount of indicator dye we added to make sure we have proper coverage.  The dye disappeared the next day.  The dye was also needed to monitor spray drift.

How Turf Can Be Damaged During Extreme Heat

PICTURE 1-A drink spilled on turf during a hot day

PICTURE 2-Spraying ones legs with Deet Insect Repellent

PICTURE 3-One person moved the ropes apart during an event then golf carts began to wear out the new  sod on #5 Newport.  I moved the ropes back before taking this picture.

New Sod Areas and Cart Traffic

We began to open some of the newly sodded rough areas for play last week.  Immediately after we took the ropes down on the refurbished area on 13 Newport, a golf cart drove through the new sod.  I do not understand why folks do not respect/appreciate the work put in to improve the golf courses.  Here is a photo of cart tracks driven through the ropes on #5.  

Bermudagrass Fairway Update

We have sand topdressed most of the weaker areas of the Newport fairways.  This will allow the existing bermudagrass to fill in, much like it did last year.  That explains all of the white spots you are seeing.  It just speeds up the process of filling in the weaker areas.

In picture 2, we slit seeded some Sunsport Bermudagrass seed into the remaining portions of Newport fairways that are predominantly cool season grass.  These areas are shrinking daily.  While seeded bermudagrass is not 100% foolproof, if even a little bit of seed germinates, these areas will fill in quicker with bermudagrass, creating a better playing surface.

Summer Aerification

We began our first round of summer aerification on Seaside.  We then added nutrients per our latest soil test, so the greens are as best prepared for summer as possible.  We use 1/4" pencil shaped tines.  They punch a small hole on 3 inch spacing.  We then roll the green and you really never see the holes.  The second picture explains the benefits of pencil tining.  Hope this answers any of your questions.

What Are Those Round Spots?

Dollarspot is a very old turf fungus.  It has been a problem for turf managers forever.  Recently, there has been a morphing of this disease.  Most likely it has come from  overuse of systemic fungicides in our business.  The older variety of dollarspot began with the appearance of cobweb like fungus on the turf, eventually killing the grass, leaving a silver dollar sized pit behind.  It thrived during warm days and cool nights with a lot of dew/ moisture.  The disease also thrived under low fertility conditions.  What is so amazing about this morphed dollarspot is fertility does not matter anymore.  Our turf at OCGC is maintained at very healthy nutrient levels.  We are in the midst of conducting chemical resistance testing and reevaluating our control strategies.  I have removed generic labeled chemicals from the greens immediately.  We are reevaluating if we have to change our sprayer pressure and ground speed to apply more mixture on each green.  This dollarspot has been observed on tees, greens and fairways.  What is alarming is how rapidly these smaller spots coalesce together and dmage turf to the crown of the plant and the reduced days of control.  In checking with plant pathologists and the USGA, dollarspot like ours has been very common this winter in the Mid Atlantic.  One thought is it may be due in part to the mild winter not killing off some spores from 2011.   We are on top of this situation and will follow up in future blog posts.  This disease can be tracked by shoes and mowers. 

Verticutting For A Smooth Surface

We have completed another verticutting of our greens.  This is the 4th time this spring.  We have raised the cutting blades each time.  Now we are barely touching the surface.  The purpose of this is to keep the runners the bentgrass creates and stand up the grass for a cleaner cut.  Here you can see a close up of the grass standing up.  We probably will do this one more time before the heat of the summer.  this is part of our attempts to have healthy, dense greens that roll consistently, without extremely low mowing heights.