This years weather has had its share of challenges, we started off spring with over 14 inches of rain, which was followed buy early season heat and humidity. We just finished up a stretch of hot and dry weather all of which has put an abundant amount of stress on the golf course, but primarily the fairways.
The weather can surely cause set backs, but when you combined that with continuous golf, golf cart traffic, and mower/equipment traffic you now have created additional stresses. When all these factors are added up we wind up with turf thinning, hard panned lies, and a stressed out golf course.
In the extreme heat like we saw last week and through the weekend, riding carts and even pull carts can damage turf when the turf is dry and wilting.
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| Pull cart tracks on #10 approach |
The maintenance staff has already begun seeding the fairways in areas where grass has been lost due to the water damage, additional seed has also been put in fairways that were thinning due to weather stress and excessive traffic. Several other areas have already been given additional fertilizer to promote extra growth and recovery.
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| seed germinating on #6 fairway |
In an attempt to help promote recovery the maintenance staff is going to take a more conservative approach to maintaining the golf course. Starting this past week the fairways have been mowed at a slightly higher height of cut. By raising the height of cut there will be more turf to help cushion and displace all related traffic . Longer grass helps the grass grow better roots and get stronger for the future.
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| slightly longer grass in the fairways |
The fairways will also be mowed less frequently, by doing this we are eliminating one of those additional stresses that were mentioned previously. Excessive mower traffic can cause stress on the grass, including over compacting soils.
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| Un-mowed on the left/ mowed on the right |
Once the turf gets stronger and healthier we will then begin to mow more often and potentially lower the height of cut down once again. Right now we want to have a thick stand of grass for the future and this has shown in a short period of time that it is working. We appreciate your patience, see you out there.
Respectfully,
Golf Course Superintendent
Nick Marfise
