You Did What??? Are You Crazy???

The first picture is of #10 fairway Newport.  We treated this fairway with the herbicide Revolver late last spring.  Note how clean the fairway is.  The next picture is of #8.  We did NOT treat with Revolver.  We were unsure of the bermudagrass populations on #8.  Now that I know the populations, part of our winter maintenance of the Midlawn Bermudagrass on Newport is treating with RoundUp while the bermuda is dormant.  RoundUp at low levels (24-32 oz per acre) controls the cool season grasses and poa annua.  We applied a poa preemergent last September.  The third photo shows poa annua germinating in a divot.  the RoundUp controls the poa and ryegrass without harming the bermuda.  I used a green dye to prevent overlaps and skips. The RoundUp was dry and safe to play on in about two hours.  I have extensive experience with this type of maintenance.  It is part of our effort to improve fairway conditions on Newport.  With the lowest possible use rate (24 oz/acre), we should see some results in 2-4 weeks.  The RoundUp absorbs slower into the plants during even this mild winter.  The efforts done now, will pay huge dividends this season!

What Are the Blue Rings AAround the Bunkers on Newport?

We have treated the bunker faces on Newport with RoundUp.  We mixed a 1/4% solution (half the lightest label rate) with some colorant and hand sprayed the zoysiagrass around the bunkers.  We are trying to kill all the winter and perennial weeds and cool season grass in the zoysia.  It is perfectly safe, I have done this before.  We are also trying to preserve and recreate the nice clean edge that was present when Newport was redesigned in 1998. 

Stay tuned...tomorrow we are spraying RoundUp on the Newport fairways..............WHAAAAAAT you say?  Stay tuned.

New Portajohns on the Way!

We are seriously upgrading the golf course portajohns.  We have acquired a better unit for a better price.  The new portajohns will feature a sink with water, hand sanitizer, a towel dispenser and a flush mechanism.  Unless we experience really bad weather next winter, the idea is to have a better unit in place for year round use.  The on course restroom by #9 Newport will continue to be winterized and closed each winter.  These units are scheduled for a February 1 delivery.

How Will the Abnormal Weather Affect the Golf Course?

The weather pattern sure has been crazy, with some of the warmest conditions through the end of the year I have ever seen.  Usually I have observed the grass stops growing completely about a week after the time change in November.  This year, we are still observing some top growth!  The danger from my standpoint is if you continue to mow greens regularly and it turns cold, you lose some of your protection to foot traffic and those mower wounds use up energy from the roots to "harden off" again.  The process of hardening off can be seen on the greens now.  They have a bronze cast to them and some of the bentgrasses turn purple.  With the freezing and thawing of the ground, we are substituting rolling weekly to keep the greens smooth. 

A plus of the nice weather is the season for growing roots has been extended and this could help out next summer.  The nice weather has also allowed for a lot of on course work to be completed.  More about that in another post.  A couple minuses are traffic and wear damage occurs when the grass on the fairways and rough arent growing, so the plants have little defense against the extra traffic.  Another negative has been some of the wierd late season disease activity.  The above picture is of some stubborn Waitea Patch on the Chipping Green.  I had this analyzed by a plant pathologist to confirm this pathogen.  Generally Waitea this time of the year appears to be cosmetic and seems tostop when temperatures become cold.

Long term weather outlook is all over the place.  I hope this gives some insight as to my recent observations.