It is hard to believe it is already August. The theme this year appears to be weather extremes. We had single digit temperatures with 60 mph winds in January, followed by 80-degree days in February, a frozen March and April, rain most of May, drought-like conditions in June and 15 inches of rain in July! I know superintendents are always talking about the weather, but it is the most uncontrollable and unpredictable factor that impacts course conditions. The extended forecast is favorable temperature-wise, so I’m optimistic that the course will continue to hold up as days begin to get shorter.
In an effort to limit further disruption to the course, we have decided that the greens will not be core aerified. In lieu of coring, the greens will be aerified with a small 5/16” solid tine and verticut, followed by a light application of sand. This procedure will allow the greens to recover from the summer stress and level imperfections and increase turf density, too. Members should anticipate minimal disruption and a short recovery time of less than a week. During the recovery window, the greens will play significantly better than if we had core aerified. I wish we could forego any greens maintenance, but given the previous disruption caused by the winterkill of the fairways, this is the best route to promote the long-term health of the greens. During these times, we must remember that greens are a living, ever-changing system that require ongoing maintenance to preserve.
The fairway restoration efforts have made a big impact. An additional 10,000 square-feet of sod was installed on Holes #14, 15 and 18 the third week in July. The fairways now have just minor blemishes. We will continue to sod smaller areas over the next couple of weeks. The sprigged areas are mostly grown in and will continue to receive compost and fertilizer treatments. You may have noticed the goosegrass on several fairways. Given the winterkill we experienced, the decision was made not to apply a pre-emergent herbicide to prevent goosegrass and crabgrass. This decision was made with the considerations that the presence of a pre-emergent herbicide would have further delayed recovery and would have temporarily limited our overseeding options. All the fairways have now been treated with a post-emergent herbicide to kill the goosegrass. On August 6 and 7, the fairways were treated with a herbicide to also remove any cool season grasses, with the exception of Hole #12. This will prepare the fairways to be overseeded in September.
As discussed in the last issue of Turf Talk, overseeding the bermudagrass fairways with either ryegrass or HGT bluegrass is the best viable short-term option to produce more consistent fairway conditions. The major difference between the two strategies is the disease resistance of the two grass varieties. Given the disease susceptibility of ryegrass, the fairways would need to be chemically treated in late spring to transition back to bermudagrass, whereas the disease resilience of bluegrass allows it to withstand the disease pressure throughout the summer.
Perennial ryegrass can provide an excellent playing surface. Overseeding with ryegrass would improve playing conditions when the bermudagrass is dormant. However, playing conditions would be less desirable in June and July, as the fairways are transitioned back to bermudagrass. The challenge is knowing how much bermudagrass is still present prior to the removal of the ryegrass. If the ryegrass dies too quickly due to temperatures, disease or chemical application timing, large voids may be evident. A less common approach is to forgo chemically removing the ryegrass and attempt to maintain a mix stand of rye and bermuda grasses. Dr. Joe Roberts, a turfgrass pathologist with the University of Maryland, was consulted when researching ryegrass overseeding. Dr. Roberts indicated that, “while significant improvements in disease resistance have been made, perennial ryegrass requires a season-long fungicide program to minimize turf loss.” In order to minimize turf loss, an additional $30,000 would be necessary for fungicides. About 10-12 fungicide applications are required to maintain healthy ryegrass, and in many years turf loss is expected despite them.
Annual ryegrass overseeding is required to establish ryegrass each fall. The turf loss on several ryegrass tees at Hobbit’s Glen and Fairway Hills this year highlights the challenges and disease susceptibility of maintaining ryegrass. Our research and experience with ryegrass, thus far, indicates that this option would improve conditions from November through May, but may be result in a less dependable playing surface from June through September.
Over the past two years, I’ve been researching and testing an alternative two-grass system of bermudagrass and bluegrass (dubbed “bluemuda”). As part of the research, Joan Lovelace and I attended the University of Kentucky’s (UK) Plant Science Department field day. Professor and Extension Specialist at UK, Dr. Munshaw, has been testing “bluemuda” for several years and discussed the results, which were extremely positive.
Joan and I also visited two courses that implemented “bluemuda” three years ago, as well as Frankfurt Country Club, which converted from 100% ryegrass fairways to 100% HGT bluegrass a year-and-a-half ago. The observable results were impressive. It was clear that the fairway conditions at the three clubs we visited were a source of pride for the membership, especially over ryegrass or 100% bermudagrass fairways.
As noted previously, we have demonstration areas at Hobbit’s Glen. The fairway on Hole #12 and from 100 yards in on Hole #14 is now mostly HGT bluegrass, as the bluegrass, due to excessive shade, has out-competed the bermudagrass. There is a large square of “bluemuda” on Hole #18 fairway at the top of the hill. All of these areas are good representations of the conditions we are confident that we will provide by transitioning to “bluemeda”. Shaded areas will most likely transition to predominantly bluegrass, while sunny locations will be a blend of the two species. Additional overseeding would be necessary each year to maintain the blend in growing environments where the bermudagrass is aggressive, such as fall sun and southern facing slopes. Bluegrass is susceptible to turf diseases, but to a lesser extent than ryegrass. A season-long fungicide program is not required. Three to four applications of a fungicide, annually, will maintain a healthy stand of bluegrass.
Our collective research, testing efforts and feedback elicited from the green subcommittee is leading us to the best decision for our membership. We will continue to evaluate the two short-term options over the month of August, concluding with a presentation to the Golf Committee in late August. A final decision as to the appropriate short-term option will be made at that time.The initial overseeding of the fairways is tentatively scheduled for the week of September 17. Carts will be restricted from the fairways for two weeks post-germination, from September 24 to October 7. Although overseeded bermudagrass remains a viable long-term option, we will continue to research other options previously discussed, ranging from sodding to bentgrass to zoysia. Sodding the fairways would require grading permits and closing the course for part of the year. A fairway renovation involving sod would take two or more years from planning to implementation.
Several tees have thinned out, allowing goosegrass and crabgrass to emerge. Most, if not all, of these areas were predominantly perennial ryegrass. Turf loss in a ryegrass stand is expected, despite routine fungicide applications every two weeks and the application of turf health products, especially during hot, humid conditions on saturated soils. We will begin aerifying and seeding several tees over the month of August. Over the years, our bentgrass and zoysia tees have performed the best and the most consistently, however divot recovery is slow for both. The strategy going forward is to use bentgrass on tees large enough to spread wear, while utilizing the two-species turf combination of bluegrass and bermudagrass for smaller tees. The white tee on Hole #8 is being repaired, this week (Aug. 6) by sodding to HGT bluegrass. A comprehensive project to level and regrass several tees throughout the course is needed, for which we will begin the planning process and cost projections this off season. For the remainder of the season, we will continue our efforts to improve selected tees as time allows.
I mentioned this back in May, but it is worth mentioning again: Even when Mother Nature stacks the deck against us, our team remains unnerved and enthusiastic about tackling the challenges the season throws at them. I am thankful for every team member at Hobbit’s Glen and Fairway Hills and their dedication to serving the golf community. I am equally grateful for the patience and understanding of the membership as we work to improve the golf courses each and every day.
Nick Mooneyhan, CGCS
Director of Golf Course Maintenance
