Cool Weather, Cool Soils...

Up until this year our staff and the majority of golf course maintenance staffs who had cool season grasses, such as bentgrass, enjoyed cool springs similar to the one we are having in 2013. Unfortunately for us, we would like the complete opposite of that this year. We looked up the research on soil temperature this afternoon and at a 2" depth the soil is averaging 64 degrees Fahrenheit, our past 5 year average is 75 degrees Fahrenheit and our 30 year average is 73 degrees Fahrenheit. With the cool and wet weekend ahead, we expect soil temperatures to drop two to three degrees. Warm season grasses such as bermuda and zoysia, start greening up when soil temps are in the 60's but do not begin vigorously growing until the soil temp is in the mid to upper 70's. We are pleased with the progress our Tees, Approaches and Fairways have this year and we attribute their progression to a Lime (calcium carbonate) application in January. Lime helps unlock the nutrients that were bound up in the soil by allowing the calcium to effectively knock sodium out of the soil. We also made multiple wetting agent applications throughout the spring, typically prior to major rainfall events. The wetting agent was a penetrant that allowed our staff the ability to equalize our soil moisture more effectively than in years past. As you can see from the picture of #16 below, our Tees and Fairways are significantly ahead of our Roughs, but I promise the Roughs will catch up.

These cool soil temps have allowed us the ability to maintain the overseeded Clubhouse grounds at a extremely high level. It still amazes our staff that the staple of southern landscapes, the azalea is just now coming into bloom. We typically see the Azaleas in full bloom the first week of April, but with the cooler soils this year we are a full month behind schedule. The picture below shows our overseeded Clubhouse lawn, with the Autumn Royalty azaleas in the background, and one of our seasonal color beds with American Pie vincas bordered by Scarlet begonias.

You will notice a blue dotted circle on every hole, typically in the Fairways but a few holes they are in the Roughs. Starting next week we will begin scalping these areas down and topdressing and verticutting them as we begin establishing these areas as our Temporary Greens. We will begin using theses Greens on Tuesday May 28th and use them until our Grand Re-Opening in early August. If you hit into these areas, please take relief from them as we want to be divot free so that we can provide a smooth and consistent putting surface for the summer. Here is a picture of Zach Abernathy, our First Assistant Superintendent, painting the area that we will use on #18.

Here is a picture of #5 where the Temporary Green will be placed in the Rough between the Forward Tee and the Bunker. 

Once again, thank you for your interest in our daily activities and if you have any questions, please feel free to ask. We hope the weather forecast are incorrect but we are looking at a washout over the weekend and we will be prepping the course tomorrow morning for the anticipated 3" to 4" of rain we will see over the weekend.