Maintenance Update 07/27/2012

It hasn't taken long to jump right in to 100 degree days.  We have been very busy maintaining and improving our golf course.  Here is a rundown on what we have and have had going on:

• The greens were aerified and verticut this past Monday.  As is typical this time of year, there is a great deal of grass on the greens.  Leaf blades are thick and succulent and it is difficult to keep the greens at a consistent speed.  Aggressive verticutting and aerification help to thin the turf, minimize grain and, coupled with sand topdressing, help to maintain a firm surface.  Since the course is free of play next Monday, we will topdress again to help smooth the surface.  We have been mowing and rolling daily since aerification to help with speed and smoothness.  I have no doubt they will be rolling quite well for the Club Championship next weekend.
• The course was also fertilized this past Monday.  This slow release fertilizer will feed the turf for the remaining growing season.
• Fleetwood Services has moved in equipment and started erosion control on the creek in front of #2 green and in front of #17 green.  They will use a combination of gabion baskets (like what is on #10) as well as rip rap (placement of large stone like what is behind #8 green).  Upon completion of the erosion control, they will then work to remove the gravel bar settled in the center of the creek.  All of this material will be moved to the large depression on #18 side of the creek.  Depending on weather, they anticipate finishing by the beginning of September, or shortly thereafter.
• We are currently in the process of re-building the green tee on #1.  We completed shaping the complex yesterday and will have sod delivered next Monday.  We will also be re-sodding the back tee on #12, re-sodding the center of #2 tee and shaping/re-sodding the back of #7 tee in the next couple of weeks.  Currently, #12 has diamond zoysia.  This type of turf creates a very tight surface, but does not hold up to overseeding and divots very well.  We will be sodding #12 and #7 with xeon zoysia which should recover a little better from divots.  I am working on plans to re-shape the tee on #2, so at this time we will just place sod in the center utilizing bermuda.
• We are currently in the process of really pushing the growth on the tees.  It has been hot enough for all of last year's rye to burn out leaving just bermuda.  We are using a combination of foliar and granular fertilizer, along with a soil penetrant (aids in water penetration) to help push the turf.  We may very well look at giving many of the tees a break on overseeding this year and just spread rye on a select number of tees.
• The week following the Club Championship, we will begin aerifying the approaches and green surrounds.  This will be a timely process and will likely take the entire week to complete.
• Next Monday, I will be making an application to the green and tee complexes to control goose grass, crab grass and nut sedge.
• I have also designed and ordered new flags for the course, which should be put into play in the next couple of weeks. 

As always, I appreciate any and all comments and/or suggestions.  Shoot me an e-mail or flag me down on the course!

Thanks and have a great August!
Chuck McCaskill, CGCS
aggieturfman98@gmail.com