It's July and most people would say we are in the middle of
summer.
Golf Course Superintendents refer to this time of year as “The 100 days
of Hell”.
Superintendents expect that the months of June, July and
August will be the most stressful to our turf grass, and can cause the loss of
grass regardless of what tools we have at our disposal. We can’t bring our
greens in from the heat for a 30 minute cool-down in air conditioning the way
humans and pets can. We need to do everything in our power to reduce the stress
so the turf plant can make it through this extreme weather until we get to more
realistic weather patterns.
This damage was
simply caused from a cart driving over an area where the grass
was
under high stress and the weight of the cart
driving over the grass pushed it
beyond its ability to
make it through the day.
If you have been on the golf course lately you have, no
doubt, seen the fans running and been interrupted by staff watering greens with
hand held hoses, or by running the
overhead sprinklers. Just as a small breeze helps cool you down as you are
walking the fairways, air movement to evaporate water is imperative to the
survival of the turf grass during this heat. Water management must be monitored
very closely! Putting out more water thinking this will help cool the grass and
provide moisture so the grass can “have a drink” is a sure road to disaster.
Over watering will kill grass MUCH faster than under watering in the hot humid
days we are experiencing.
We are also venting greens, helping get life-giving oxygen
down to the root system and
helping destructive gases such as carbon dioxide
and methane escape the soil.
This is done with solid needle tines on our aerifier.
These solid ¼ inch
diameter tines perform the venting process.
Once we have
completed the venting, we roll to smooth
the surface with a
speed roller.
This is the putting
surface after rolling, most golfers
don’t even know we have put holes in the green.
Making sure our fertilizer and fungicide programs are in place occurred months ago in what we call
“pre-stress conditioning”.
The final thing we can do is to reduce the stress and allow
the plant to survive the heat is to eliminate all cultural practices and raise
the height of cut on the greens. This allows more leaf blade to perform
photosynthesis.
This also means slower greens compared to what we are used
to. But consistency is always what we strive for, so for the next while greens
will be noticeably slower; however will remain true for a nice ball roll. A few
minutes on the putting green before your round
and you will have them gauged properly.
Our new mantra here at Whitevale: BETTER A LITTLE SLOW….THAN
DEAD!
Staff are also feeling the heat. We remind staff every morning
to continually drink water, and take occasional breaks in the shade or air
conditioning. We understand that they
will not be as productive as during more comfortable temperatures. This
approach also prevents heat stroke and missed days due to illness. All staff
are told to take breaks as often as they feel they need to. An air conditioner
in the lunch room gives them a place to bring their core temperature down while
on break. We also tell them if they feel it’s too much to continue working they
are permitted to go home for the rest of the day. Some overly dedicated staff
have also been sent home early because we are concerned about the possibility
of them getting sun stroke. The skeleton staff that is left visits green site
after green site monitoring moisture levels and applying water as necessary.
If all else fails to help keep us cool and calm
during the extreme heat alert...............
maybe this picture of what the course will look like in 6 or
7 months will help. Stay cool my
friends!
