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 ground when cooler weather sets in.  They will overwinter in the ground as grubs.  As temperatures warm in the spring, they will return to the surface and prepare for their pupation stage before emerging from the ground as adults in June and July.  They mate, and lay eggs which hatch and begin to feed on the roots in August and start the cycle over again.

The worst of the areas is by the red tee on 13.  Though the roots are damaged, the majority of this disruption was caused by a skunk or raccoon scraping the turf while preying on the grubs.  The areas that we have found have been treated with a product that will kill the grubs.  We suspect more areas to show as the days go on.  We will continue these applications as new areas are scouted.  Most of the damaged areas will come back after the grubs stop feeding.  This spot at 13 red tee will require some seed this fall for a full recovery.
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 up some debris from the high water marks at 3 tee and the creek on 1, and cleaning drains.  The course drained very well, but we did not take any equipment on the course yesterday.  We will be mowing everything today except the rough-which will be LONG until we get to it tomorrow.
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? Yet, we didn't exactly know how to handle it at first - this new month of Augtember. It would catch us a little by surprise - at midday we found plants were still screaming for water. The lesson? Cool temperatures do not equate to an immediate return of plant health or a Houdini-like return of things like roots. But now, two weeks into this wondrous weather, we are beginning to see some nice things happen.

Bentgrass greens with restricted air movement are finally looking good again - deep green color without chlorotic patches. Poa greens without roots are finally on the move - and that would be down! There is only word that best describes this technical physiological aspect of new root growth for Poa annua var. reptans. Yes! On the turf disease front, a favorite category, we are not seeing much. Daily reports from superintendents are sounding lack luster? "Disease pressure has been very low and there isn't much to report on that front." Or how about our current discourse on Augtember's weather? "45 degrees last night! It must be September!! Just a few more degrees and we would be having a frost." End of summer in 2012 and all I can say is Yes!

Click here to view the August 24, 2012 Scouting Report.

Enjoy a warm summer weekend feel... even has a pinch of humidity!

Derek Settle, PhD
Director of Turfgrass Program
630-685-2307
dsettle@cdga.org
Weather Blog

Timothy A. Sibicky, MS
Manager of Turfgrass Research
630-685-2310
tsibicky@cdga.org
Research Blog
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 will take place on October 8th.

Tees:  Tees will be done gradually throughout the fall.  We have already started the practice tees, and will begin the tees on the course shortly.

Fairways:  We will taking the same approach with the fairways as we are with the tees.  We will continue to work on them as time, golf and weather allow.


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, especially near the hole, isn't helping either. Bentgrass is as shallow rooted as we've seen, 2 to 3 inches deep isn't uncommon. Meanwhile Poa annua is as fragile as it always can be with current roots as shallow as 0.25 to 1 inch. Though I haven't complained often enough about Poa - bentgrass physiological decline got a neon light in 2012 - it doesn't mean we weren't frustrated. Poa's difficulty centers around its lack of temperature extreme tolerance, also known as a genetic inability to maintain robust roots.

Those who maintain greens often say working with Poa is more of an art than that of true plant science (used to make me chafe). However, after last weekend I learned of such art through a single lesson! On a bright cloud-free Saturday afternoon a wilt event would shock Chicago's rootless Poa greens. Humidity levels dropped rapidly requiring immediate midday handwatering. After that Art Institute visit it became clear we were not completely out of the deep end. In 2012 we treaded water longer than usual (March's rapid greenup to now). August has become a good father or mother with an outstreached arm in the pool, a brief rest as we swim in from the deep end.

Click here to view the August 17, 2012 Scouting Report.

Enjoy your weekend during a GREAT August.

Derek Settle, PhD
Director of Turfgrass Program
630-685-2307
dsettle@cdga.org
Weather Blog

Timothy A. Sibicky, MS
Manager of Turfgrass Research
630-685-2310
tsibicky@cdga.org
Research Blog
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 and felt on golf courses was bad, but it was much worse in other situations where automatic irrigation is not the norm. In Illinois, the phrase "total crop loss" was heard. Our farmland in central and southern Illinois would witness odd looking cornfields which were stunted and wilted on a backdrop of powder dry, hard soils having developed large, deep cracks. For city dwellers it was watching our lush urban landscape take a big hit - Chicago's golf courses just survived one of the most extreme summer seasons ever (1988 hot with drought; 1995 hot with humidity). However, often forgotten is that this summer of mayham represents 3-in-a-row. Our two preceding summers were also out of control (2010 and 2011 hot with floods).

Such super-hot weather is maybe only seen once or twice in a lifetime - we hope! It makes managing plant health both challenging and memorable. But it's over. As I write, an entire morning of cool air follows a day of cool rain. Our extended forecast is for more of the same. If you happen to manage cool-season turf... this turn of events is just what the doctor ordered. Yes!

Click here to view the August 10, 2012 Scouting Report.

Enjoy every morning of jacket wearing this weekend = a summer scorched landscape is now on the mend.

Derek Settle, PhD
Director of Turfgrass Program
630-685-2307
dsettle@cdga.org
Weather Blog

Timothy A. Sibicky, MS
Manager of Turfgrass Research
630-685-2310
tsibicky@cdga.org
Research Blog
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 blog was started.  Check that post for the specifics on the cicada killer wasp.  The wasp burrows the tunnel to bury a cicada that it has paralyzed with it's sting.  The cicada will be the food source of the newly born wasps.

When the cup in the top picture was pulled out, a cicada came out with it.  The tunnel is clearly visible just below the turf surface in the side of the hole.

We were able to get video of the cicada killer with a paralyzed cicada.


Here is another video.  This one is from 2010 and shows the wasp burrowing.


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 to the end.  Rather than have that water run off into the rough, a drain is preferred to move that water underground.  In this spot, the soil was removed and a gravel blanket with small drainage tile was installed to move the run-off water to the basin that was in place.
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 2011 were hot and humid with unusally ripe conditions for the varied fungal diseases of turf. In 2012 the heat just plain leveled plant physiology and we have yet to see recovery from golf greens, our most intensively managed turf system. A most telling quote of the week for me "They're on the edge like most of us this week."

Initially 2012 reminded us of 2005, then it was 1988 or 1995 and finally for some, 75+ years ago. Unusally warm early, then especialy dry and hot, if you happen to live in central or southern Illinois the magnitude of the current heat and drought resembles 1936, something Dr. Bruce Branham researched with turf in mind. In return lessons were hard-earned. On greens we saw our weak and rootless Poa wilt every midday (sometimes twice). We saw physiological decline of creeping bentgrass, especially given limited air movement. We spoke a cautionary note if greens were "vented", needletine aeration was surprisingly and suddenly too aggressive. A green's fact of life spoke volumes. Fewer and fewer roots held surfaces down for routine/beneficial plant health practices. Please be aware roots in Illinois have yet to recover in 2012. We are waiting...

Click here to view the August 3, 2012 Scouting Report.

Have a good weekend and next week's forecast 80s/60s is just plain good!

Derek Settle, PhD
Director of Turfgrass Program
630-685-2307
dsettle@cdga.org
Weather Blog

Timothy A. Sibicky, MS
Manager of Turfgrass Research
630-685-2310
tsibicky@cdga.org
Research Blog
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 the fence line, with some in the neighbor's property.  After permission was granted, we waited for an opportunity to get the work done.

One of the trees had grown through the fence over time.  That trunk will remain at this time.


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