The last 10 days have been extremely challenging on a disease pressure standpoint. As you have seen, our fairways have been hit (some harder than others) with a fungal disease called 'Gray Leaf Spot'. This disease is a seasonal disease (primarily August/September) and it only attacks Perennial Rye, which is the turf species we have on our tees and fairways. With the amount of rain/humidity that the middle of August brought us (10+"), it was a perfect brewing pot for the disease to take hold. This disease requires extended periods of leaf blade wetness which is what we're currently dealing with. If left untreated, it can wipe out a fairway in a matter of days.
What is being done? On Thursday (8-30), we made our second fungicide application to the tees and fairways to shut down any active disease. I have sent samples in for testing to confirm the diagnosis and just received conformation that it is indeed GLS that we're dealing with. With the rainy/humid forecast that is expected, fungicide applications will be made every 7-10 days to ensure that turf plant is clean of any disease. The areas affected have already been seeded and we should see germination in the coming days. I have been in contact with several university professors to make sure we have the correct course of action to ensure no further damage is had and the proper fungicides are being utilized. With their help, we have put together a plan of attack for the coming weeks/month.
We should now begin to see slow recovery, but this isn't a overnight recovery process. We will continue to monitor the situation and take the necessary course of action to make sure we don't lose ground on the disease.
Feel free to contact me if you have any questions.
No comments:
Post a Comment