Some areas in the rough are beginning to show evidence of grub worms feeding on the roots of the plant. Greens, tees, fairways and the rough around the fairways is treated to prevent damage. Most of the rough is not treated due to it being cost prohibitive to make an application across all of the rough. The brown spots (in the picture) around healthy green grass is a typical sign of grubs feeding.
These grubs will feed on the roots this fall before burrowing deeper into the [.....]
We have been very fortunate this year to have been spared by heavy rains and storms. Those events usually result in several days of clean up to get the course back in playable condition. Sunday's all day rain gave us 3.2 inches of rain and some washed out bunkers. There was no wind, so we did not have any tree debris. Sunday's rain is nearly the same amount we received over the previous 12 weeks combined.
The crew spent Monday getting the bunkers back in shape, cleaning [.....]
Augtember: A Nice Month, Root Growth Returns, Greens With Good Color, Summer Patch Recovery Begins, Take-All of Bent, and Tim's Research Prose
Chicago/Northern Illinois Update: Derek Settle -
Yes! Augtember is what a friend of mine typed from Georgia the other day. Well, I liked it! And it spoke volumes - a period of cool tempertures has taken hold across a majority of the country. Dramatic. Yes, dramatic when you think about how it has followed the warmest July or how about the warmest month ever recorded in the United States? [.....]
We have started through the course with our fall aeration, and plan to continue until the ground freezes. We have taken the opportunity with the cooler than normal temperatures to begin aeration earlier. We are over halfway through the fairways with a solid time, and we have been through some areas in the rough twice. Here is an overview of the aeration schedule for this fall.
Greens: Only the collars and the outside edge of the green will be done on September 4th. The full greens aeration [.....]
August Helps Us: Recovery Continues, Still Shallow Roots, Wilt of Golf Greens, Fairy Ring, Summer Patch, Dollar Spot Jumps, and Tim Sees Spots in Plots
Chicago/Northern Illinois Update: Derek Settle -
A wondrous forecast came true. So, since August began, soil temperatures have now gradually fallen by about 10 degrees. We are now patiently waiting to see more than just roothairs on roots, normal potential of root length is needed. On golf green surfaces our two turf species are trying but both are still reeling after July. Intense daily turfgrass wear, [.....]
August is Nice: Recovery, Physiological Decline Dissipates, Type 1 Fairy Ring, More Summer Patch, Bad Poa triv, Peter's Dollar Spot, Tim's Bluegrass cvs.
Chicago/Northern Illinois Update: Derek Settle -
Recovery. So now we can say it, because it is over (peak midsummer heat). July, 2012 will be remembered as one of the worst summer months for growing things like turf - ever. It turned out to be the hottest July ever, as well as the hottest month EVER for our entire country (since 1895). Week to week, what we saw [.....]
A cicada killer wasp is causing us some headaches on the putting green. Several days over the past two weeks one of the cups has been full of sand in the morning from the wasp burrowing a tunnel in the green. This picture shows the hole into the tunnel and the very top of the edge of the cup. The rest of the hole is full of the sand removed from the tunnel.
The "Cicada Killer Wasps" post from 2010 has been the most popular post since [.....]
The cart path at 9 green was given a new look last week. Two drains were located along the edge of the path that drained into the existing drainage basin. Those drains had worn from constant cart traffic and needed to be replaced. We also wanted to give a look that was more consistent with other cart paths on the course.
It is important to have a drain along cart paths to catch access water from irrigation and rain that collects on the cart path and runs [.....]
Goodbye July: Weakened Greens, Shallow Roots, 1st Summer Patch, Brown Patch and Dollar Spot Return, Peter says Badgers, Tim's New Fairy Ring Project
Chicago/Northern Illinois Update: Derek Settle -
As we enter August, 2012 a choral breath of relief was heard. July had ended having broken records (super hot and super dry). Some things we already knew but others we would learn and relearn. It is actually three summer seasons in a row that went beyond the norm for golf courses. In itself that is an unprecedented fact. Both 2010 and [.....]
Cutting down the dead trees at 3 green has finally been completed. Our hopes were to have this completed during the spring months, but the rapid onset of warm weather moved our attention to the course before we made it to this. The guys spent a few day in the afternoons working to get these trees down and cleaned up.
After the effort to clean this area and lay sod last spring (Dramatic Changes at 3 Green), the dead trees came into view. The trees were on [.....]