They have arrived! Yes, the grubs have finally turned up and I have found some excellent examples this week of efforts by our furry friends that love to dig and eat those juicy white grubs - it's a pity that the efforts lead to surfaces that remind me of Mars. Mapping the problem locations out this year is crucial to next year's planning and making sure that you are managing water properly
Rainfall managed to hit most of us in the last week including central Illinois who [.....]
The greens have recovered from the scheduled aeration that took place last Tuesday. 8 days after aeration they are back to putting well. We did not push them back to normal due to the forecasted heat. The putting green has not been as rapid in its recovery. The heat and traffic that the putting green has been subject to has delayed its recovery. When the weather accommodates it, we will be able to fertilize the green and it will recovery shortly.
You will also see some white [.....]
Finish strong' may be the quote of the moment. Many of you have had a great summer and really gotten through unscathed or relatively compared to the last three years. Golf may have declined a little after the holiday and you are either in the middle of aeration or getting close to it. I think however it is time to consider that finishing strong and making sure that none of the aggressive dollar spot that can pit quickly here in the fall in Chicago takes hold. Along similar [.....]
Our greens were constructed with a sand mixture during the renovation project. From the previous post, this gives us the benefit of large air spaces in the soil. Those large air spaces allow for water to move through the soil profile very rapidly and space for roots to grow. Two very important benefits for an area that is subject to such high demands.
The picture on the right is of a profile from one of the greens. This profile is an example of how we want the [.....]
We were able to complete the majority of our scheduled greens aeration today. We have cored and cleaned all greens. We will need to complete rolling the back nine greens in the morning. Our electric roller is not able to finish the greens after an aeration due to how soft the greens are immediately following the procedure. Greens will be soft, bumpy and slow following aeration. They always are. But, they always get back to normal after a few days. Our first priority will be to get the [.....]