update

The golf course is in fine shape.  This week we completed many different tasks.  The bunker to the right of 16 green has for the last few years held water after major rain events and the sand in the low areas was not very good.  We removed all the sand from the low areas, cleaned the drainage and installed new sand.  I am hoping that just repairing the low area will be a good option to consider for the rest of the bunkers that hold water.  I will continue to watch the performance of the bunker to see if this is a good option.  We topdressed the greens and approaches this week.  I decided to use a heavier rate then I would normally since the greens have not been done for at least 3 weeks.  Everything went well and the greens are in fine shape.


  The moss situation on the putting green is improving.  I am starting to see a few more plants filling into the moss areas.  Moss is not very easy to get rid of.  The spots that you see on the surface, do no justice to the moss plant itself.  As you can see in the photo there is a very thick matt that we need to get the bentgrass to try to the break go through.  Once this hot weather breaks a little we will once again verticut the green to open up more channels for the bentgrass to fill into.  Overall, there is good progress and it looks like we are on a good program.

In the next few weeks I will be doing some of our own research on the new fescue areas.  I am very happy with the growth regulators that were applied this spring but what I would like to see if we apply growth regulators now will that help in keeping the stand that we have now thin.  I will apply different rates and products in a few areas to help me evaluate the results.