Summer On The Golf Course

Below is a video from the USGA sharing some of the factors relating to golf course management challenges during the summer months.   Enjoy.

Why Turf Dies In The Summer

What effects do high summer temperatures have on the health of turfgrass, especially low mowed turf such as golf course fairways and greens.   Enjoy the video.

Frost Delays It's worth The Wait

Summer Heat Stress and the Golfer

The effects of summer weather conditions can have a dramatic effect on closely mowed golf course turf (at thousands of an inch), much more so than on a home lawn that is mowed at several inches in height and does not have hundreds of people and golf carts driving over it.  Take a look at the following video.   Thanks

Graden The Greens

In the quest for firmer putting green surfaces it is necessary to control unwanted and undesirable thatch accumulation.   Newer technology in machinery, such as the Graden implement, are designed to aide in producing desired putting surfaces.   The question is "Does the golfing membership support the balance between necessary agronomic practices and the impact such practices may have on playing conditions for a week or two?"
                                          See the video below

                              https://youtu.be/E3nQglU1uEw

                                                     

Producing a Great Putting Surface

Beyond simply watering, mowing and fertilizing a tournament quality putting surface, a matrix of factors and agronomic practices combine to produce great putting surfaces.   Take a look a the video.

Driving Range Artifical Mats

Below is a video that relates to driving range usage and care.   At times we utilize our artificial surfaces for hitting.   This occurs during wet periods so that we can keep the range open for your use.  We also use the mats in the spring and fall when the turf is not actively growing.    Please take a look.

Ball Mark Repaiirr - Videos

The following video offers several ways to correctly repair a ball mark. 
Please take a look and use this procedure on every green.   Thanks for your
help.

Video - Bunker Consistency - Is It Possible?

The video below explains the questions many golfers have about bunker consistency.
Please take a look.

Video - Frost Delays and Damage

Thanks for taking a look at the video below.  It gives an accurate description of why it is necessary to delay starting times when frost is present on the golf course. 

Aerification Video - Why We Aerify

Aerification is one of the most necessary and basic turfgrass management practices.  As the video below illustrates, relieving soil compaction, improving oxygen availability and increasing penetration and percolation within the soil profile are just a few of the benefits of aerifying.  In our case at NCC, aerification also benefits the health of our turf surfaces (especially the greens) by allowing us to remove some of the negative elements that accumulate in the rootzone via the poor irrigation quality water that we use.  The aerification process that we implement today, aides our course conditioning in the future.



Aerification timing and methods vary from course to course depending on any number of factors: tournament schedules, amount of play, irrigation water quality, sand or soil rootzone construction, available sunlight and air movement to the green, weather conditions (cold and heat), etc.  The size of the aerification tines also varies with the desired outcome.  In or fall aerification, we use the larger coring tines that remove the cores from the rootzone.  In the summer months we use "needle" or small solid tines that do not pull out a core. 



The timing of aerification varies at different courses.  I have chosen the mid to latter part of September for four reasons:
1. Even though the weather can still be really favorable for play in the latter part of September, the volume of play decreases after Labor Day.
2. Aerifying while there is still a degree of warmer days allows for the aerification holes to heal and cover quicker.
3. Most significantly, next to aerifying in mid-August, September is the next best time for us at NCC because we have very clean, poa annua free, green's surfaces.  Aerifying later is a more optimum time for poa annua to invade our greens.  Keeping our surfaces clean with a pure stand of bentgrass is a key to our management and course conditioning program.
4. Aerification in the middle to end of September comes after all of the major tournaments at the club



Please take a look at the following video.

Video - Divot Repair

Incorrectly and unrepaired fairway divots are an eyesore to our otherwise pristine bentgrass fairways.  They also diminish the quality of the playing conditions of any quality fairway turf.  Nothing is more unfair for a fellow golfer than to hit a perfect shot right down the middle of the fairway only to have his or her ball come to rest in
an unrepaired divot.  It is the responsibility of every golfer to leave the course in better condition than he or she found it.

Incorrectly repaired divots in the fairway

Unless the replaced divot is pressed firmly back into place, it will dry out and die as exhibited by the dried out brown dead divot in the photo below.

The following video shows the best way to repair or replace fairway divots.  Take a look.

 

Hole Locations - Changing the Cupping Location

How do we change the hole locations on the greens?
We do this task each morning.  Here's how.

Why Does Turf Die In The Summer

The following video describes how and why turfgrass on golf courses can die in the summer?  Keep in mind that the level at which a golf course green or fairway is maintained is significantly different than the basic and simple work that is utilized to take care of a home lawn. 

For example, a bentgrass golf green may be mowed at a height of .090 one thousands of an inch.  Consider that bentgrass grows to a height of 10 to 12 inches in in natural state. When you put the intense pressure of shaving the turf down to almost nothing, starving it to achieve faster putting speeds, mowing it everyday, exposing it to golfer's foot traffic, ball marks, limiting water, rolling the green with heavy rollers for speed and intense weather conditions then you can see how both greens and fairway turf is under constant stress and pressure to survive.

Please take a look at the video link below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lg_CYn2YMvQ&list=TLGx6qJVUiTQA