Tag: Thatch

Switching Gears

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The golf course was in great shape for our club championship and fields cup matches. With the conclusion of all our our premier tournaments of the season the LCC maintenance team will be switching gears and focus on soil cultivation practices.

We have started the process of aerating fairways, tees, collars, and approaches. This is a labor intensive procedure which requires the entire crew. So there may be days when you come out to play we do not mow greens or rake bunkers. Thanks for understanding as we have a small staff and these fall cultural practices are a higher priority than routine maintenance.

The weather looks good next week and I hope to aerate the 1st,4th, and 7th fairways. This fall, if time and weather allows us i would like to aerate some of our fairways for a second time this season. The thatch in our fairways is getting to a critical level and needs corrective action.

One very good reason to reduce thatch is that insects are attracted to that particular micro environment. Pictured below is the blight on the 3rd tee.

Orginally i thought this was drought and heat stress. Upon closer inspection i found chinchbugs! Yes chinchbugs! This is my first observation of these insects on the property. They enjoy sunny thatchy micro environments and the 3rd tee checks all the boxes.

We have applied a plant protectant and we are aerating and overseeding this area today. Next season i will monitor our tees a little more closely for this tiny destructive insect. Next year we will need to aerate this tee and others a few extra times to reduce the amount of thatch.

Green aeration has been pushed back to October. Im not exactly sure when i will schedule it. Invariably it will be during a beautiful sunny dry stretch of weather. I will send a notice out in the crier and also try to get it posted on the members event calender.

The weather has been spectacular to play golf! Hope to see you out in the fairways.

Green venting and vertical mowing

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On Monday 8/19 we will lightly vertical mow the greens. This removes some thatch and grain in the greens. It also opens up the turf grass canopy for sand. On Tuesday we will apply sand and vent the greens. The greens will be a little sandy for a few days but will be in good shape by the weekend.

This procedure will help firm up the greens and improve ball roll as we look forward to club championship and the fields cup. The venting of greens promotes beneficial gas exchange into the root zone.

Greens aeration is scheduled for September and the dates are yet to be determined. Tentatively right after fields cup. The staff and I also have to schedule tee and approach aeration. Lastly we still need to finish aerating fairways. We have a busy fall planned.

Thanks for understanding as we try to maintain the golf course at the very best level for you and your guests.

Full Swing

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The golf course has recovered nicely after all the rain we received this spring. The staff and I are finally into a routine grounds maintenance mode. Its great to see everyone out enjoying the course finally!

The first green recovered nicely after receiving some fertilizer. The greens are in great shape and we are rolling greens thrice a week or more.

1st Green

The 8th fairway is finally starting to come around. We applied some foliar fertilizers recently and we mow it only once or twice a week dependent on the soil conditions.

8th Fairway

We are using the gang units to cut this fairway and the quality of cut is not as clean as our fairway tractor. Its the best I can do at this time until I can remove some of the excessive thatch.

Gang Units

The fairways are a bit “thatchy” because they have not been aerated in two years. The reasons for this is twofold. One has been the weather and the other has been a broken gear box on the fairway unit.

As you can see it is a complicated piece of equipment with a lot of moving parts. We were able to fix it and I plan on aerating the 8th fairway this coming Monday. Removing some of the excessive thatch will help water percolate down and also create a favorable exchange of oxygen into the soil profile. It will also allow me to cut the fairway a bit lower in the future.

The course is a bit soggy after all this rain and high humidity this week. If we receive more rain tonite its possible carts will not be available tomorrow. Regardless, I would expect that carts will be available for this weekend. Please call the pro shop or check his blog to see if carts are permissible.

Have a great weekend! It looks like a good weekend to be swinging a club!

Greens Dethatching

dmcgowan721 Comment

The greens were vertical mowed in two directions last Tuesday. We then applied a generous amount of sand then punched it into the green profile with solid tines.

This procedure helped remove some thatch and also get some much needed air into the root zone. Thatch management is the single most important cultural practice for greens,tees, and fairways. Maintaining thatch levels at acceptable levels will create a firmer smoother playing surface. Also, water, fertilizer and plant protectants all work better with acceptable thatch levels.

The greens have healed over well but the practice green and the first are a bit off color. Some of the poa annual on theses greens are stressed out from the vertical mowing and dry weather we experienced last week.

I will spray the greens tomorrow with a organic foliar fertilizer and with the recent rainfall these greens should recover soon. However, I will continue to monitor them closely and make adjustments as needed.

I have finally submitted all paperwork for the Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary Program for golf. https://auduboninternational.org/acsp-for-golf/ It will be 8 weeks before we hear back from them. It’s been a very long journey but have finally reached the finish line. Once certified we will need to retain it by submitting paperwork every two years. Its an ongoing process and if you would like to get involved please contact me, Fran Devlin, or Vince McDermott.

We received a half inch today with more expected this week. Carts are ok as of right now although it is very wet out there. See you out in the fairways.