Hello All,

I just wanted to give everyone an update as to what was going on at the golf course.  Mother Nature has finally brought summer around which is great for all the pool goers but unfortunately makes for managing turf a little tough.   With the hot and humid weather and add in over 5” of rain in the month of June, soil profiles have had little time to dry out.   With the excessive heat on the way, our soil temperatures will creep close to 90 Degrees.  Add in the over saturated soil profile, and more rain forecasted, we are forced to take action.  Wet soil combined with high soil temperatures is basically a petri dish ready to wreak havoc.  Possibilities with this combination are numerous detrimental diseases that can kill turf in a number of days.  Also, we have the possibility of “wet wilt,” which is basically when the water in the soil actually boils and kills the plants root system causing thinning or even large spots of complete turf loss.

With that said, we are Needle Tining greens today.  Needle tining is an aerification but not like what many consider.  This is an 8mm SOLID tine that goes down about 3-4 inches.  We are not pulling a core, there is no sweeping or shoveling of plugs, and we are not topdressing with sand.   We aerify the green and then roll after to smooth out small tufts of grass sticking up.  I putted on 18 after we aerified and I promise that the ball roll was not affected.  This process is a necessity for managing our greens through summer and will only help in providing a great and enjoyable putting surface throughout the year.  I apologize for any inconvenience and please contact me with any questions or concerns.

See everyone out on the links!        

                         

Sincerely,

Scott Cornwell

Golf Course Superintendent