Turf Scouting Report, August 2nd

Well, I think I deserve some credit for bringing the best weather in four years - I can't do much more to make life easier on the 1st of August! These last two weeks have been fantastic for turf and for golf and anyone that had an issue should be starting to see some serious recovery. As always this can change so continue to expect the unexpected! The date August 15th has been mentioned many times and it is now less than two weeks away with good weather forecast for at least 10 of those days. In many places I suspect grass should be basically jumping out of the ground!

To that end, while no one has made any comments about the roughs, they have been very healthy this year and so the push will continue to keep them under control. Financially they are costly from a labor and equipment standpoint. In many golf clubs the roughs will cause some discomfort for managers, the season opens and roughs are growing very well, this leads to complaints about the rough being too thick. Managers understand that the push of growth early will recede and with heat building, many rough areas will thin out and be in trouble later in the summer. Fertilization in the spring is common to try and combat this - and hopefully a slow release fertilizer is the only source of nutrition at that time. The issue however is playability, and so huge consideration must be given to turf health, balancing speed of play, difficulty and fairness of the golf course. However, this year, the climate has meant that your growth did not slow dramatically and roughs have stayed thick and very healthy. If you don't believe the complaints, walk the course, it always teaches you more than riding, also play it - you like the members will find the spots for sure. Communication with the members and architect are key to solving the problem long term.

Click here to view the August 2, 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
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