Late June Course Notes and Observations

June 2014 so far has been the 3rd wettest June on record, and I think I can speak for all that it is time for some drier conditions.  At Elcona, through June 25th, we have received 9.25 inches of rain for the month.  The golf course has taken it well for the most part, thanks to our sandy loam soils.  Firmer conditions are coming back. 

With the hotter, and definitely wetter weather, some of our greens have experienced some disease issues, with the most severe being #13.  The fungal disease impacting areas of the green is called anthracnose, and it loves hot, wet weather.  We have been attempting to control it with our weekly fungicide applications, but have not been successful fully. 

Today, we vented the green using 1/4" solid tines, the same tines we use in our monthly venting across all of the putting surfaces, and topdressed with sand.  The purpose of this is to increase oxygen flow to the roots and dry the profile out to eliminate the environmental conditions needed for the disease to thrive.  We also have began using a dedicated mower for this green, with a slight increase in height (.005") to better allow the turf to recover from the damage caused.  This is a temporary solution that should alleviate the current situation.  These steps are the best management practices to deal with anthracnose.  As soon as the disease is held in check, we will be repairing any damage that does not recover fully and return the green to normal maintenance practices.  If you have any questions, feel free to email me at ryan@elconacc.com.

Ill effects of applying bug repellant, 16 tee

Also, we have had a couple of instances where people (in this case outing guests) apply bug spray on our finer maintained turf.  The picture on the right shows the after effects of this on 16 tee.  Please, if you need to apply bug spray, do it on a cart path.  This picture shows that rough height turf as well as the tee itself will not recover around the green foot prints.  Thank you for your cooperation in advance. 

Hydraulic oil leak on 15 green surround

Finally, we had a hydraulic line break on our surround mower, causing some oil to leak in various spots.  The oil line was directly behind the operator and was not noticed until driving on the asphalt path.  It is interesting to note that it is not the oil itself that kills the turf, but the high temperature that the oil is at during normal operation.  We will be monitoring the damage and taking appropriate steps.  There is never a good time for this to happen! 







Ryan