October 15, 2017

Update of condition of the greens on numbers 3, 5, 9, 17 and practice green.  These greens have been showing stress for 3 weeks now and raising the mowing height and cessation of rolling has not improved them.  We went ahead and pulled cores on Monday and topdressed on Wednesday so we could incorporate seed into the thin areas.  We had previously punched them with solid tines and applied additional fertilizer along with our regular program to fill in these areas.  Having greens that are not responding to fertilizer this time of year is very unusual.  They are behaving as if it is the middle of August. 

Certainly we were aggressive with mowing heights and roller frequency following our fall aeration leading up to our October events in an effort to achieve green speed. Temperatures reaching 90 combined with high humidity and nighttime temps in the upper 70’s may have predisposed us to some fungus even though we were on our normal fungicide preventative schedule. Whether this caused the thinning or some overlap with the greens sprayer is still yet to be determined.  We are being vigilant and are taking whatever steps we feel necessary to hasten the recovery of these greens.  Please feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns about this issue.

Sincerely,

Rob Wilmans

Golf Course Superintendent