August Course Notes and Happenings

It has been a while since I last posted, and much has gone on since my last post.  Another successful Walter O. Wells Invitational has come and gone, and the staff and I congratulate all of the flight winners.  Well played!

The summer has taken a dramatic turn in the weather.  Gone are the cool, wet days of June and early July, and more temperate dry weather has taken hold across the entire region, which is great for firmer conditions on the golf course.  The staff and I have had many days of syringing greens in the afternoon to keep them cool.  Some of the summer stresses have returned as well on four of these greens: 1,9,13, and 18.  Areas of these greens had anthractnose develop on the turf, which is a fungal disease that can cause damage if not held in check.  The anthractnose has affected just the Poa annua turf.

On Monday, we spiked these playing surfaces to further vent them, 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 these greens, 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, and my goal for that is next week.  If you have any questions, feel free to email me at ryan@elconacc.com.

The Elcona Seed to Feed Garden has continued to thrive over the past few weeks as well.  In the last two weeks, over 3600 pounds of produce has been harvested, which is tremendous.  The zucchini and yellow squash has looked great, and the pumpkins have begun to shoot from the blooms and take shape.  Volunteers are always welcome to help with the weekly harvest and care, everyone meets at 5:30 every Thursday night.  The garden is located north of the Short Game area, along the dirt road to the north of the barn.

Ryan

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

Elcona CC Field Guide to All Current Issues

Turf Quality

(Please click on photos for larger view)

When viewing these photos, please know that this has been and continues to be a very abnormal year and it is very rare that we face this many issues in a single season, let alone all at the same time.  Measures have been taken to address all of these issues.  With time and careful management, all of these symptoms will eventually be suppressed.



Physiological Decline (yellowing and thinning of turf) of Annual Bluegrass (Poa annua) in #18 fairway due to extreme heat and moisture.



Dormant Roughstalk Bluegrass (Poa trivialis). Turf still contains healthy stolons and if left in current state would recover, but not until next season.



Localized Dry Spots (LDS).  Notice the proximity and difference in moisture between the two samples.

Despite the fact that we have a fan, we still continue to have thin turf on sections of #12 green due to poor air circulation.



Current Disease Issues

The end result of Pythium in #18 fairway, as well some other smaller areas.  Turf dies in a matter of hours once infected.

Brown patch can be found on several tees.

Summer Patch (as well as a very poorly repaird ballmark) on #14 green.  This disease can also be found on several other greens.

Anthracnose on #16 green.  It can also bee seen on #2, 3, 12 and 15 greens.



Dollar spot from #6 tee.  This is very common and small areas can bee seen throughout the golf course from the tees to the rough.





Course Update: Time for Recovery

I hope that everyone was able to make it out to the club this week to enjoy watching some fantastic golf.  I couldn’t be happier with the condition of the golf course and I feel that it put up a pretty good fight for the best golfers in the state.  My staff has worked extremely hard, not just during the tournament, but, in the last day or so to get the rough mown, divots filled and debris picked up all before you get back on the course today (7/15).  I would like to thank each one of them for their long days and dedication to Elcona as well as their desire in wanting to showcase the club during a very important week. With that being said, the course is now ready for a break before we head into Invitational week. 

The winner, Brian Maurer, being interviewed

Looking ahead to the forecast for the weekend and into next week, it appears that we are headed for an extremely warm and humid stretch of weather. Last year, about this same time, we had a similar weather pattern that contributed to an outbreak of Anthracnose on the greens.  Because there is already some slight damage from Anthracnose on a few of the greens, we are going to be extremely cautious as we head into warmer and more humid weather.  Unlike last year, we are currently planning to mow at the same height, but our rolling frequency will be reduced.  We have also skipped an application of our growth regulator in order to promote some additional growth and speed the recovery process after a long week.

At this point, there is no reason to panic.  We are merely taking a proactive approach toward protecting the greens so that we can be ready to showcase the club for the 50th anniversary of the Walter O. Wells Invitational.

On Monday (7/18) the golf course will be closed so that a planned venting and topdressing of the greens can be done.  This has been done once already this year and has paid huge dividends with respect to the overall health and playability of the greens. 

More on venting in a future blog post.  Stay tuned!

Anthracnose: A Closer Look

Unlike Dollar Spot, Foliar Anthracnose (fungal pathogen Colletotrichum cereale) is not as easlily identified.  In order to poperly diagnose this disease, it takes a little investigation and some time crawling around on the greens with a hand lens and camera.  This not our first bout with this disease.  As many of you will recall, we dealt with Anthracnose about this same time last year and were able to recover after some necessary applications of fungicides.



The initial yellowing of the turf caused by Foliar Anthracnose

 Typical symptoms of Foliar Anthracnose are a yellowing of the leaves starting at the tip and decaying downward as well as the presence of black acervuli on the leaf blade.  Damage can occur on both Annual Bluegrass and Creeping Bentgrass. If left untreated, large areas of turf can be affected with the end result being a very inconsistent and undesirable putting surface. Acervuli and the associated bristlelike setae can be seen in the picture below that I took with my camera through a magnification lens. To see a larger version, please click on the picture.


Acervuli (black spots) and setae (bristles coming out of black spots) can be seen on the infected leaves

Other than preventative applications of fungicides, recent studies have shown that a regular topdressing program as well as proper fertility can help to prevent this disease. Nobody likes to deal with the greens being topdressed regularly or the increase in fertility levels which can lead to slightly slower green speeds, but a common ground can certainly be achieved while meeting realistic expectations. The fact that these two measures can help to prevent this disease speaks volumes of the importance of our management practices.