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