Heat and Humidity

We have been experiencing a number of days with high heat and humidity.  With these conditions, turfgrass diseases begin to show up, especially in low areas that hold moisture.  Our poorly drained soils also lend to the development of the disease after a rain event.  This was the case this past weekend when we began to see the formation of a number of patches throughout the course.  On the tees and fairways it was particularly evident.  The picture below exhibits what we call, in the turf world, Brown Patch.

The dreaded disease called Pythium was also seen.  This turfgrass pathogen is the worst of them all, for each grass blade that it comes in contact with will quickly die.  A picture of a patch of pythium is below.  Take note of the dark, greasy center.  

Thank goodness the patches were small and few.  Both diseases were sprayed for with two different control products (i.e. fungicides) and have shown signs of stopping the disease.  The Brown Patch areas are healing, but the Pythium patch is completely wiped out. 

We make preventative applications throughout the growing season for many turfgrass diseases, but sometimes when the disease pressure is very high our best laid plans may go awry.  Mother Nature can be a cruel beast at times.

Whose feet are these?

The Independence Day fireworks were fantastic as usual.  Every year Tony Davis seems to make the show even better and this year was no exception.  I thought the show was over 3 or 4 times!  Great job Tony!

Each year with the show, mosquitoes always seem to be an issue and because of that the mosquito repellents comes out.  Below is a picture of what can happen when your favorite "bug spray" is sprayed over your body while you are standing on grass. 

This burn area is on 14 fairway, along with a number of other spots on the fairway and adjacent rough.  12 tee also has multiple burn spots.  Right now, you might be asking, "Is this grass going to die?"  Well, it might, but hopefully it is more of a foliar burn or grass-blade burn.  Time will tell.  So, the next time you reach for that bug spray please consider what you might be doing to the grass below your feet.  The best solution is to always spray mosquito repellent on a cart path or hard surface.   

Look Out for Sinkholes!

Chikaming, as you know, is an old golf club.  Throughout the years, different material for drain tile has been used.  Today, high-density polyethylene (HDPE) is used.  Which is very durable and has an extremely long lifespan.  During the 2004 drainage project at the club, this material was used and any new additions since then and in the future have and will utilize the HDPE.

In the past, clay tile was used.  Clay tile was installed throughout the property and has been damaged during the multiple irrigation and drainage projects that has occurred over the many years.  As you can see in the photo below, our irrigation mainline (the blue pipe) was trenched through an old clay drain tile.  The clay drain tile still works, so each time it rains more soil washes down the drain until a sinkhole appears.  This mainline was installed in 1999 and it has taken all these years for this to occur.                 

Currently, we have a number of sinkholes  on the property in need of repair and all of them are associated with the clay tile.  They will be addressed as soon as possible.

What are those blotches on the greens?

You may have noticed the yellowish blotches on the greens.  These blotches are pearlwort.  Pearlwort is a herbaceous perennial that is often found in putting greens across the northern half of the country.  It looks very similar to Annual Bluegrass (our predominant grass on the greens) and is difficult to distinguish the two until you know what to look for. 

This spring we applied a fungicide call Rubigan to slowly remove the plant from our greens, but it seems to be working a little faster than expected.  2 to 3 applications were planned, but after some deliberation, we have decided to wait until this fall to continue the applications.