August Update

Club Championship season has come and gone. We hosted all of our divisions to great conditions. Congratulations to our champions.

Warmth and humidity have been the story for the last few weeks. Thankfully, after a stretch of high irrigation usage, we were blessed with a few rainfall events. Conditions in the short and medium term look to be trending toward more fall like weather. This will allow us to continue working on irrigation repairs and adjustments as opposed to application of water. Disease pressure has been quite high and has required diligent scouting and timely fungicide applications.

Adult Japanese beetles have been observed in trees and on turf, but we are not seeing the same level of damage as last year. Lindens that were completely defoliated in some cases last year are showing some infestation, but adult activity is nearly finished for the season, which is encouraging. Insecticide applications likely played a role, though insect populations and the damage they cause can vary from year to year due to factors beyond our control, making the exact impact of our treatments impossible to determine. To date, we have treated greens and fairways, with only tees remaining, which we sprayed this past Tuesday.

This linden on 18 was completely defoliated this time last year

We have added an extra apron cut around the greens over the past 6 weeks or so. I have found that the edge of the greens subject to more stress from our greens mowers turning and mowing right to the collar edge. With the ride on mowers, it is quite difficult to avoid scalping into the collar or not mowing close enough to it. Foot traffic from golfers walking on and off the greens contributes. Even the difference in soil: the green itself is of a high sand content whereas the collars have more clay. During hot and dry stretches the collars will wick away moisture from the greens edge, causing stress. Mowing at a higher HOC can help reduce this. 

Takes some time to dial in but looks great where we have it here