Maintenance Day & Behind 6 Green

Maintenance this past Tuesday went well, no damage or set back to the greens and feel a few spots look much improved. Today was the first day we mowed the greens since Monday and they will speed up each day over the weekend as the growth regulators set. We purposely let our growth regulators run out over this past weekend, hence a serge of growth this week which was needed. We have re-applied today and it takes about 72 hours to set. We are not raising heights or changing the routine on 17 of our 20 greens. Speeds will resume once the sand works through which may take another day or two.

Sand dulls mowers which in turn provides a poor cut which as a result slows green speed. The sand sticks to the rollers and makes more mess than it does good. By far the worst part of aerating. We are sharpening mowers today for a better cut over the weekend and will see much improvement in the next 24- 48 hours.  On holes 1, 6 and 17 we will be reducing the amount we mow and roll which will affect speed but will improve chance for recovery. These greens require more time to recover from the July heat stress.

Staff have been busy behind the 6^th green clearing the area to improve airflow.  I think it was long over due! There is a pocket of dead air at the back of the 6^th green. When the pin is at the front it flutters in the wind when the pin is in the back it is still. You can feel the humidity increase as you walk from the front of the green to the back and hope the clearing helps with our efforts on this green. We will be spraying the cleared area with round up, grinding stumps, clearing rocks and converting it into grass. It also opens another view that no one thought was there.

We are not the only club that gave their course a break this week several other private clubs in the area aerated greens, fairways and tees this past week as well.