Summer Turf Update
28 JUN 2024
We have enjoyed some great weather over the last month, and for the most part, it has been what I would call ‘happy grass’ weather. The temperature and precipitation have been extreme, ranging from winter hat-wearing to extreme heat in just two days. Our Poa seed head flush has come and gone, and our greens are back to what we are all used to.
As many of you are aware, all plants make an effort to reproduce by going to flower or seed: trees, shrubs, our turf grasses, and even weeds. When Poa goes to seed in an effort to reproduce, we end up with bumpy greens, which is accentuated by the end of our day, 10 to 12 hours after we cut. Bumpy greens bring variance in ball roll, resulting in slower surfaces. Well, the flush is gone, and we are left with just turfgrass and no seedhead. It’s an agonizing 2 to 3 weeks!
Our weed spraying, fertilizing of roughs, annuals planting, staff onboarding and training, and many irrigation repairs from our spring start are all complete. We make every effort to get through the spring rush as it’s all about being prepared for the droughts and heat in July and August. We are entering the ‘dog days’ of summer, and beginning those two months with where we stand from a turf grass health front, we are sitting pretty good.
You may be curious about what is going on with some of the fescue/naturalized areas that were mown down. In an effort to clean up our fescue and get rid of the contaminant grasses, we are selectively mowing high play areas. Our fescue over the years has moved from a half stroke penalty to an all-out lost ball. Fescue in our area and on the soil that we have is susceptible to contamination of ‘weed grasses’. Barnyard, goose, blue, quack, etc. have mixed in with our fescue grasses and made those areas dense. Without killing it all off and reseeding, I have decided to try something a bit different with management. Cutting down in early summer with hopes that our contaminant grasses do not survive the heat will lead fine fescues. We are spraying these in play areas with herbicides to assist in the process of killing the weeds as well. Please be patient; we are not making the courses easier, just more playable and getting back to that ½ stroke penalty that it was intended to be.
Our construction on Sidewinder is moving fast… really fast! Our sand supplier is actually surprised at the quantities we are going through. We are nearing completion of two more holes, 14 and 15, and have even moved onto 13. Holes 16 and 17 are fully complete, other than some fescue seeding needed, but any more seeding will be held off until the fall where germination is much better. The schedule for construction will be 13, then 12, leaving a great finish to your round as holes 8 to 18 will be complete in two weeks’ time. From there, we will be moving into the stretch of 3 to 7. We are targeting hole 5 before the August thunderstorms arrive as it’s the furthest. And then we will be moving back ‘home’ from there. If the weather continues to treat us well for construction, we are expecting to be completed no later than October 1. It’s close! And again, thank you all for your continued patience.
As a reminder, please follow us on Instagram at @rattlesnake_turf as we will be adding some turf tips over the rest of the year!
Thanks, Bill