Dear Potowomut Members,
Fairway turf on many fairways was taken out by turf disease gray leaf spot (GLS) during early and mid-August. The disease only hits perennial ryegrass, the most populous turf on our fairways. At this time, the only remedy is to plant new turfgrass. We are planting three varieties of creeping bentgrass seed with the seeder we purchased this year. Creeping bentgrass cannot get GLS and provides the finest surfaces for fairway turf in our climate.
We apologize in advance for running an important maintenance operation during golf. However, we need to get seed in the ground when soil temperatures are warm to ensure good germination. The warmer the soil temperature, the higher percentage of seed will germinate.
To date, we have invested over $ 4,000 on new bentgrass seed for fairways. To ensure success, grass seed needs to stay wet during the germination process. For this reason, we need to irrigate fairways during the day so it doesn’t dry out. If seed dries after being wet, it dies. In most cases, we turf off fairway irrigation before golfers arrives on a fairway, but mistakes have been made today (Thursday) and for that we apologize.
2012 marks the second year in a row that fairways have been affected by GLS. Looking toward 2013, we need to assume that GLS will arrive on Potowomut fairways in August, and plan two fungicide applications (@ $ 8,000 each) to prevent this outbreak. We no longer believe turfgrass pathologists who say that GLS hits the northeast once every ten years.
As with any disease to a turf area, fungicides are not the only remedy. Fairways have spoken to us these last two years and told us that we have issues with our fairway maintenance programs. Strong turfgrass that can breathe and drain excess water can fight off a disease pathogen. In addition to adding varieties of turfgrass that don’t get GLS, our fairway aeration program needs to be upgraded to help soils and fairways become stronger in summer which will also help to eliminate the threat of disease.
We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience.
Sincerely,
Patrick M. Gertner CGCS
Thursday, August 23, 2012
August 23
With the bulk of heat and humidity behind us, it is time to re-group and set the path for the next few weeks.
Summer 2012 will be remembered for its persistent heat and humidity similar to 2010 and 2011. Three hot and brutal summers in a row have been tough on turfgrass. Yes, turf people like me count and averages say we are due for a cooler summer or two in the very near future. We will be waiting.
GREEN COLLARS
Greens' collar turf is the toughest area to grow grass on any golf course. Think about it, every day the greensmowers turn around on the collars to reverse their direction. On delicate turf mowed at a low height of cut under summer stress, collars are always stressed. Potowomut collars are no exception as a few went south weeks ago.
After greens are aerated in September, failed green collars will be sodded with nursery grown bentgrass sod. Next year, we have plans to lessen turf stress to these areas.
A few fairways and roughs have been diagnosed with gray leaf spot disease (GLS). Yes, this is the same exact disease that was present on Potowomut fairways and roughs after Hurricane Irene last September. We cannot begin to convey our frustration with GLS and if we did, my blog wouldn't be appropriate for family reading. GLS is a fungal disease of turf that occurs late in the growing season after extended periods of hot and humid weather. Remembering last year, I will say that GLS was on our lists of things to worry about, but what shocked us most was its early August appearance. We were told by Dr. Nathaniel Mitkowski, the University of Rhode Island plant pathologist who diagnosed our turf samples that ours was the first documented case north of the Mason-Dixon line in 2012. Oh joy!
FAIRWAYS
GLS is usually a rare disease (seen once every ten years or so) that affects ryegrass only. It has occurred here two years in a row, causing this grass grower to throw that description right out the window. Our fairways are comprised of five different grass types, each shown here in their order of composition: perennial ryegrass, annual bluegrass, creeping bentgrass, fescues and common bluegrass. Ryegrass comprises the largest percentage of our fairway turf even though we prefer it not be.
Among plant pathologists and superintendents, GLS is also referred to as "blast" disease. The "blast" name has been earned by its habit of taking our turfgrass in spectacularly fast fashion....as in an explosion or blast! At this point, I can say the nickname is well earned. Afflicted fairways were in excellent shape during the weekend of August 4-5. We noticed slight discoloration on Monday August 6 and by Thursday August 9th, the disease had thoroughly devastated areas on seven or eight fairways. On the flip side, many fairways are totally void of GLS.
What are we doing about our GLS? For the short term, President Mark Marcantonio has authorized us to purchase fungicides ($ 8,500) to prevent any more 2012 damage from GLS. As of Thursday evening, these have been applied to damaged fairways and have stopped disease progress. **(GLS is not a disease we can observe one day and simply treat the next day to stop its progress, like many turf diseases we deal with. Fungi populations build slowly in plants all summer long and explode in a few hours....and kill turf. GLS fungi must be chemically prevented a week or more BEFORE any turf damage is evident.)
Why wasn't GLS prevented chemically in 2012? The main reason is the huge expense. Spending $ 9,000 for one fungicide application to prevent a disease that supposedly shows itself once every ten years wasn't an option during our advance planning for 2012. Believe me when I write that it was seriously considered.
Going forward from here, I believe we must find a way to fund at least one early to mid August fungicide application in 2013 and beyond. History is always our best teacher, and the teacher has already demonstrated way too many lessons about GLS.
To repair damage, fairways were fertilized last week to speed healing. This application was done three weeks earlier than planned. To establish new turf, we have been seeding afflicted fairways with the seeder we purchased this spring. We are planting creeping bentgrass plants....the grass that provides the best playing surface in our climate...and one that cannot get GLS. We expect to seed fairway areas twice, and plan on using 600-800 lbs of creeping bentgrass seed. (Almost 5 billion potential new bentgrass plants!) I expect fairways to improve with both cooler weather and because of the procedures we have quickly put into place.
On a positive note, Potowomut greens have performed extremely well all season!!
Quick notes:
-Greens aeration dates are September 10-14. This date is earlier this year for faster healing and better greens' health!
-We have pumped 15.3 million gallons of irrigation water to date. The season record is 18.1 million in 2007 and will be broken in late September or October this year.
-We were very fortunate with crabgrass control for 2012. Yes, there is a small amount in roughs and near bunkers, but we have heard some crabgrass horror stories from other NE clubs.
-Lots of low branch tree trimming work scheduled for winter 2012-2013.
-Many irrigation heads have settled since our 2005 installation and will be raised in winter. Settled heads=poor coverage. Also, all 1150 heads will have their stone and debris screens cleaned.
-Potowomut 1 Nematodes 0 I've been in this business for a long time and never had this level of success against this turf destructive enemy.
-Now is the time for those turf seeding projects at home!! Keep the seed wet 24/7, not soaked, and make sure it is surrounded by soil for great germination!
Thanks everyone for your patience and kind words all summer long. Please thank our hard working crew!!!
Patrick M. Gertner CGCS
Golf Course Superintendent
Summer 2012 will be remembered for its persistent heat and humidity similar to 2010 and 2011. Three hot and brutal summers in a row have been tough on turfgrass. Yes, turf people like me count and averages say we are due for a cooler summer or two in the very near future. We will be waiting.
GREEN COLLARS
Greens' collar turf is the toughest area to grow grass on any golf course. Think about it, every day the greensmowers turn around on the collars to reverse their direction. On delicate turf mowed at a low height of cut under summer stress, collars are always stressed. Potowomut collars are no exception as a few went south weeks ago.
After greens are aerated in September, failed green collars will be sodded with nursery grown bentgrass sod. Next year, we have plans to lessen turf stress to these areas.
A few fairways and roughs have been diagnosed with gray leaf spot disease (GLS). Yes, this is the same exact disease that was present on Potowomut fairways and roughs after Hurricane Irene last September. We cannot begin to convey our frustration with GLS and if we did, my blog wouldn't be appropriate for family reading. GLS is a fungal disease of turf that occurs late in the growing season after extended periods of hot and humid weather. Remembering last year, I will say that GLS was on our lists of things to worry about, but what shocked us most was its early August appearance. We were told by Dr. Nathaniel Mitkowski, the University of Rhode Island plant pathologist who diagnosed our turf samples that ours was the first documented case north of the Mason-Dixon line in 2012. Oh joy!
FAIRWAYS
GLS is usually a rare disease (seen once every ten years or so) that affects ryegrass only. It has occurred here two years in a row, causing this grass grower to throw that description right out the window. Our fairways are comprised of five different grass types, each shown here in their order of composition: perennial ryegrass, annual bluegrass, creeping bentgrass, fescues and common bluegrass. Ryegrass comprises the largest percentage of our fairway turf even though we prefer it not be.
Among plant pathologists and superintendents, GLS is also referred to as "blast" disease. The "blast" name has been earned by its habit of taking our turfgrass in spectacularly fast fashion....as in an explosion or blast! At this point, I can say the nickname is well earned. Afflicted fairways were in excellent shape during the weekend of August 4-5. We noticed slight discoloration on Monday August 6 and by Thursday August 9th, the disease had thoroughly devastated areas on seven or eight fairways. On the flip side, many fairways are totally void of GLS.
What are we doing about our GLS? For the short term, President Mark Marcantonio has authorized us to purchase fungicides ($ 8,500) to prevent any more 2012 damage from GLS. As of Thursday evening, these have been applied to damaged fairways and have stopped disease progress. **(GLS is not a disease we can observe one day and simply treat the next day to stop its progress, like many turf diseases we deal with. Fungi populations build slowly in plants all summer long and explode in a few hours....and kill turf. GLS fungi must be chemically prevented a week or more BEFORE any turf damage is evident.)
Why wasn't GLS prevented chemically in 2012? The main reason is the huge expense. Spending $ 9,000 for one fungicide application to prevent a disease that supposedly shows itself once every ten years wasn't an option during our advance planning for 2012. Believe me when I write that it was seriously considered.
Going forward from here, I believe we must find a way to fund at least one early to mid August fungicide application in 2013 and beyond. History is always our best teacher, and the teacher has already demonstrated way too many lessons about GLS.
To repair damage, fairways were fertilized last week to speed healing. This application was done three weeks earlier than planned. To establish new turf, we have been seeding afflicted fairways with the seeder we purchased this spring. We are planting creeping bentgrass plants....the grass that provides the best playing surface in our climate...and one that cannot get GLS. We expect to seed fairway areas twice, and plan on using 600-800 lbs of creeping bentgrass seed. (Almost 5 billion potential new bentgrass plants!) I expect fairways to improve with both cooler weather and because of the procedures we have quickly put into place.
On a positive note, Potowomut greens have performed extremely well all season!!
Quick notes:
-Greens aeration dates are September 10-14. This date is earlier this year for faster healing and better greens' health!
-We have pumped 15.3 million gallons of irrigation water to date. The season record is 18.1 million in 2007 and will be broken in late September or October this year.
-We were very fortunate with crabgrass control for 2012. Yes, there is a small amount in roughs and near bunkers, but we have heard some crabgrass horror stories from other NE clubs.
-Lots of low branch tree trimming work scheduled for winter 2012-2013.
-Many irrigation heads have settled since our 2005 installation and will be raised in winter. Settled heads=poor coverage. Also, all 1150 heads will have their stone and debris screens cleaned.
-Potowomut 1 Nematodes 0 I've been in this business for a long time and never had this level of success against this turf destructive enemy.
-Now is the time for those turf seeding projects at home!! Keep the seed wet 24/7, not soaked, and make sure it is surrounded by soil for great germination!
Thanks everyone for your patience and kind words all summer long. Please thank our hard working crew!!!
Patrick M. Gertner CGCS
Golf Course Superintendent
Monday, August 6, 2012
August 6 Update
The golf course continues to excel despite another warm July. July 2012 saw nearly identical weather as July 2011. The high temperature average was .2 degrees cooler this summer and rainfall was .2" less. We had timely showers in late July 2012 saving 500,000 gallons of irrigation water versus last July. Warm temperatures early this year pushed irrigation gallons ahead of last year by 3 million gallons to 13.2 million gallons pumped as of today.
Areas of greens' collars have failed during the summer. Most of the failed areas were comprised of weak perennial ryegrass, a turf that is improper for green collars because it cannot continually tolerate the low height of cut. These grasses were planted years ago, probably as a "rescue" seeding to establish turf quickly. We plan on lightly renovating these areas beginning this week with a machine that prepares a proper seedbed followed by seeding with creeping bentgrass, the correct plant for these areas in our climate. (Many of you already know that I am NOT a fan of perennial ryegrass for close mowed turf as it has NO business there. We have never planted a ryegrass seed to a fine turf area at Potowomut, nor will we) Planting bentgrass seed on collars provides no guarantee of success this time of year. (Think of greensmowers turning daily on collars...stressful) Anyway, if this light renovation fails, we will look to add creeping bentgrass sod to failed areas of green collars this fall.
Remember when we were worried early in the season about potential crabgrass infestation because of warmth in March? The infestation didn't happen here, but I have heard of and seen plenty of crabgrass this season. We worked fast to get all our pre-emergent chemicals down by March 23rd when soil temperatures were warming quickly. If your lawn has crabgrass, remember next year that an early application is better than a late one because once it become established it is very difficult to eliminate. Plus, last year's crabgrass plants have left plenty of seed in your soil to germinate next spring.
Yellow nutsedge has made its annual appearance in roughs and bunker bankings. This year, we have used a new control product and are very happy with our results. The best method we've found is for yours truly to carry around a mixed tank of herbicide in the back of my cart and stopping to spray the nasty, fast growing weed as I travel the golf course.
We have finally begin to catch up a bit so we will have time to start a few small projects. These will include minor repairs on cartpaths and continued clean up work on the #12 pond. Cattail population will be addressed this fall because they are choking out that pond, as well as the pond on #18 which needs to stay clear for irrigation purposes.
Aeration season is upon us with mid August approaching. We will double aerate tees when weather turns just a little cooler this month. Greens are scheduled to be aerated the week of September 10th, earlier than in past years. The earlier date will enable greens to heal earlier than in the past. Finally, each fairway and intermediate rough will be aerated twice with solid tines during September and October.
Thanks for reading and for everyone's wonderful support, and for following me at
PotoGreens on Twitter!!
Patrick M. Gertner CGCS
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