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 were still hitting temperatures above the 90 degree level. Temperatures seem to have moderated and hopefully soil temperatures will follow. Wrapping up club events and looking towards the winter education may be on most people's minds - make sure you get involved in the conferences and seminars - there is no better way to stay current on product safety and efficacy.

Click here to view the September 20, 2013 Scouting Report

As always if you have a question or query please do not hesitate to ask and you can call or email.

Ed Nangle PhD
Director of Turfgrass Programs
Chicago District Golf Association
www.cdgaturf.org
Follow us on Twitter @TurfResearch
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 dots around the edge of the green.  This is the last part of the aeration process.  We will leave the outside pass on the greens for a few days, then use the dots to keep the collar a consistent width on all the greens.  The grass will grow out of the dot in a few days as well.  Refer to this post (Soils and Water: Greens) to review the benefits of aeration.  8 days to recover during high heat is a small cost to the benefits of this practice.
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 lines ensuring that you have all materials for snow mold protection in the barn or at least plans to put them there may be also a good idea - summer has been too nice so winter might have the returning bite!

In saying that, the turn towards fall and cooler temperatures will have many of you exhaling and looking forward to other activities such as education seminars, networking events and getting the work week to somewhere under 60 hours! It is also a time of year to look back on how you went through the year and what adjustments you think you will need to make note of going into next year. Drainage maybe one area that many people will look at while irrigation systems may be another!

Click here to view the September 6, 2013 Scouting Report

As always if you have a question or query please do not hesitate to ask and you can call or email.

Ed Nangle PhD
Director of Turfgrass Programs
Chicago District Golf Association
www.cdgaturf.org
Follow us on Twitter @TurfResearch
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 profile to look.  Clean consistent soil throughout the full profile.  We can also gather from this that there exists an excellent root mass in the profile.  The root mass is dense enough to keep the sand profile in tact through the depth the core.  You can even see a tiny root sticking out the bottom of the sample.  Our objective is to keep this profile in this condition over the long-term.  This will allow for the consistent, high-quality playing surface the golfers expect.

Towards the top of the sample on the right, it appears to have a darker color.  This is the organic matter that exist in the soil from the constantly growing turf we talked about is the previous post.  This layer is why we intensively manage the surface with verticutting, topdressing and aeration.

This profile better displays the organic matter layer that is in our greens.  This is typical of greens that have been constructed with a sand.  This organic matter has built up since the greens were constructed.  It is not likely that we will ever be able to completely rid the greens of this organic matter, but we are able to manage its development.  From the previous post, I mentioned that organic matter in the soil has the ability to hold a large amount of water.  Aside from the myriad of agronomic issue that would be created if this organic matter build-up was ignored, the playing surface would become soft, spongy and inconsistent.  The problems arise when the consistent flow of water through the profile is inhibited by the amount of organic matter at the surface.  Our goal is to dilute or remove the organic matter through topdressing or verticutting and aeration.  By consistently incorporating these practices into the management of the greens, we can keep the organic matter at a low enough level to maintain the benefits of the sand based soil and a uniform profile.  This will then allow us to provide the firm and smooth conditions of a high quality playing surface.

This post comes a few days after we completed an aeration of the greens.  This picture shows the new sand channels through the organic matter.  We removed a core from the soil, let it dry, then dragged the sand off the core and back into the soil.  The organic matter that we removed does not break up and we are able to blow the debris into piles and remove it from the green.  These sand channels provide for a more consistent movement of water through the profile.

The consistent movement of water through the profile is the reason these practices are done.  The consistent growth of the grass is the reason that they need to been done as often as possible.
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 greens smooth again.  Soon after that, the familiar ball roll distance will be back to normal as well.
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