July is almost in the books (thankfully) and in the coming few weeks days will begin to noticeably shorten and humidity will begin to trickle down (hopefully). I will use this post to summarize the past few weeks as it's been a while since I've put out a post.
This month has been filled with extreme heat, humidity and gross dew points. Those three factors make for very high disease pressure (dollar spot, brown patch, pythium, and grey leaf spot). At FCO, we are very susceptible to fungal disease due to the lack of air movement and having Perennail Ryegrass as the primary species of turf in the Tees and Fairways. To help combat the pressures, we closely monitor the moisture levels with our moisture meters and avoid over watering. Luckily, we've missed the majority of the 'pop up' thunderstorms that have hit hard south of the metro. Chemical controls are used as well to keep the turf plant healthy and disease free. To date, we have a few 'dings' in the fairways, but I would consider it a successful month with the conditions we were delt.
Greens Update:
#2: We removed the pieces of sod that got hot and re-sodded them and roped them off. That green is on the mend now and will no longer be an issue in the coming weeks.
#13: This green has filled in nicely and has made positive improvements weekly. Once the heat breaks, we'll continue to needle tine and topdress (all greens) which will aide in recovery and filling in.
#14: Since closing, this green has been overseeded with bentgrass seed three times. If you look at it, you'll notice all the newly germinated seedlings and see that it's filling in nicely. I foliar apply fertilizer and fungicide to this green weekly to help it along. I am on the green daily to scout for disease (melting out and damping off) which is a major concern given the amount of seed we've drilled into it. We are planning to re-open the green on August 11th, but will continue to monitor and open as soon as it's ready.
