Disease monitoring...

We use dots of paint to measure whether a spot is growing and active. This area may be something as minor as stress from a muffler. We will monitor over the next few days to see if it is spreading.

Sprigging trials...

You will notice some shaggy looking areas on #8,9,&14 fairways.

We are doing some planting trials on those fairways using the same variety of bermudagrass that was used on #5 approach.

The grass was planted in one direction and then crimped again in another direction. Then those spots were rolled the following day to ensure good soil contact. You will remember that the approach on #5 was sodded; for bigger areas it is more cost effective to sprig.

We will adjust our pre emerge programs and fertility schedule for these areas over the next few months. Play should not be affected and is actually encouraged in these spots. Cart traffic and foot traffic will help with the real world trial.

Latitude bermudagrass...

The Latitude Bermudagrass that was sodded on the fifth approach seems to have survived the long, hard winter fairly well. I am impressed with the consistency of green up and the lack of any patch diseases. 

It could be that the plants are still young and spring dead spot has not been able to come in yet. Looking at the latest research from VA Tech, we will change up our fertility practices a bit along with some fall fungicide applications and see if we can keep it clean. Overall, not a bad playing surface for the first of May following such a tough winter!!!

High tide...

Even at high tide this morning, the lowest basin on #11 still has about five inches to spare.

As you can see the pond is also at the same level.

The drainage along Hingham Lane definitely relieved the pressure on the dirch running along the left of hole 11.  Barring any major flooding rain events we should be able to contain most rainfalls.

Sunlight!

Sunlight is an essential part of photosynthesis. Turfgrass needs at least eight hours of it throughout the day to survive and thrive in a golf course growing environment.

This picture was taken on #7 at 0845 on 21Apr2014. We are about eight weeks from the summer solstice so the hours of sun are only going to get better as time goes on throughout the summer. This is about the amount of shade that will be on this green eight weeks after the solstice putting us well into August. Selective tree removal around the green complex to allow better sunlight penetration is a large focus of our off season program. This green should show much improvement over last year due to this selective removal yet the play of the hole remains unchanged.

Rolling greens...

Finally, we are able to get out and start grooming the greens. It has been such a slow start to the spring, we had to wait to see some growth before we could begin our actual maintenance of the putting surface. With the temperatures rising this week, we will be mowing and rolling on a more consistent basis. The greens will become smoother and smoother as time goes on and the daily maintenance continues.