Bermuda Suppression

As of today we have made numerous applications to the tees and fairways to suppress the bermuda. As I have stated before there is no guarantee what will happen and after this winter we will evaluate and see how we progressed. Because of the applications, it has caused some areas of the fairways to become thin and as a result of that we are going to back off for a bit and let the fairways recover. Once recovered we will resume the applications until the colder temperatures.

Around a few greens and bunkers we have been spot spraying the bermuda and this has worked really well. We are seeding these areas to tall fescue and they should resume there intended look within two weeks. If they are slow to establish we will go ahead and sod them for quicker recovery. Although unsightly and cumbersome this is what we need to do until there are better ways to eradicate this weed.

Course Update

With just one week to go, we are gearing up for our planned greens aerification on August 11th. The greens have over come some harsh climates during the most recent golf events with some thinness on our high traffic areas. Did you know that we received almost 3 inches of rain during the Member-Guest and Maryland Open in a 6 day stretch? And that the bunkers were a true testament to the brand we want Lakewood to be known for, with minimal repair to show case your course?  Although the greens roll very well the appearance is much to be desired for. This has been remedied by applying fertilizer to help the plant recover. It is true that this has been like this for a couple of weeks and we have been spoon feeding small amounts of nitrogen to alleviate the problem. But at the end of the day a well designed granular fertilizer application will kick them in the butt and on the road to recovery. We wanted to plan the application closer to our greens aerifiaction to decrease the time it takes to heal.  Not only will the greens be looking great at the end of this week but this will also help our recovery time after we pull a core and top dress next week on August 11th ,and yes we will be using small tines this go around. 

An example of thinning areas like this pictured.

The bermuda has been on roller coaster of suppression on the fairways and tees and we will continue to weaken it for the winter and will see the outcome next year.

There are some new club washers at the short game, these are very simple to use and only require you to dip your club in, they are a little tight but will break themselves in over time. The main thing is to stream line that process for your pleasure.

We have repaired the bridge traffic area on #7 near the green, this area receives a lot of traffic and actually began to dig itself a hole. We had already completed this on the opposite side of the bridge and just continued the theme.

Before

After 

Course Update

We have successfully made it through the Mens and Ladies Member Guest with a few more tournaments to go and before you know it we will be aerifying the greens here in August. Some notable topics, our third and sixth green have been doing well, but ultimately we have been fighting a battle where we had removed the sod for the drainage repairs. We new this was going to be an issue going into the summer so we are doing everything we can to limit the amount of turf loss in these areas. What essentially has happened is we cut off the roots when the sod was removed and trying to grow new roots at that time of year can be a problem until we get into cooler temperatures. 

The intermediate and the rough have been sprayed to suppress bermuda grass encroachment, the white areas that you see is bermuda grass contamination. Our goal is to keep the bermuda from growing and taking over the existing rough. Some areas are not as bad but the areas that contain more bermuda we will seed tall fescue. The goal is to do a slow conversion from bermuda grass to tall fescue with out effecting play. 

Right side of #1 rough 

Close up of the bermuda in the intermediate around the fairway

#10 Right side rough

July Course Update

The month of June was not very kind to us as it pertains to rain but we were able to overcome that and eventually received rain in early July. The member guest, both ladies and mens went off without a hitch and we have climbed one hurdle and ready for the next one. For the next few weeks we are expecting hot and humid temperatures. But before you know it we will be aerifying again and just a sign to us that the summer is winding down. I want to share with you a few things that will be coming up and that have already taken place. First topic is we have already started to spray our areas in the rough and intermediate that contain Bermuda. As in the second photo you will notice the Bermuda turning brown. You will see this for a few weeks until we seed into it here in August. Second the fairways will be spot sprayed for Bermuda starting in early August. Because the Bermuda is actively growing this will be a good time to round up these areas and will proceed to lay sod once complete. If you can recall how #1 fairway looked last year from the roundup I am pleased to say that we have shrunk it down to just a few spots in the fairway. Requiring just a handful of spots to re-sod.  A list of fairways that at this time that will require major action is #3, #9, and #11. Of course we have a few spots here and there but it does not compare to what these three holes have. This is a necessary process to sustain a pure stand of bentgrass in the fairways and we thank you for your patience. Please stay tuned for photos on this process.
For this week we are applying our organic fertilizer to the rough and will be making our gypsum applications starting next Monday to the entire golf course.