Course Update 7/15/24

A fairly long string of hot days seems to be the theme of July. Bentgrass greens are holding up well and we expect with our combination of consistent topdressing and deep, infrequent watering that they will continue to perform well through the summer. When it is this hot, we tend to get a little too wet in the fairways so we are watching that closely and will be trying to find a balance between reducing moisture in the low areas while keeping the higher areas from completely burning up. We will definitely be deploying plenty of supplemental hand-watering.

We are extremely excited to begin poa eradication with PoaCure beginning on July 29th. The last two years of very mild winters have fueled exponential poa seeding and growth. We have seen some fairways grow to an estimated 50% or more poa from very little three years ago. This chemical program will slowly stop the poa annua’s growth and cause it to basically melt away while giving the Kentucky bluegrass time to fill in. Most of this should go unnoticed for the remainder of this season. If anything, we may see some thinning in the early Spring.

The coyotes have been deployed on 18. Although the geese have not flown away, they seem to be very nervous and staying off of the turf on 18 hillside. This years hatchlings may still be a couple of weeks away from flying on out of here.