Poa Cure Demonstration

As most everyone knows every April we battle Annual Bluegrass (Poa) thriving in the spring conditions on greens, especially number four. We have had much discussion regarding the best solution to this problem for the club.

Most recently we had discussions of digging it up, which would entail stripping the top several inches of turf and root zone. We would then have to add new greens construction sand and re-seed the green. The major downsides are the green complex would be closed from mid August to April the following year. The agronomic practices and how the green plays would be different from the rest of the golf course for a couple of seasons while it matures.

Before we get to that, there is another option we have initiated. There is a product in trial right now called PoaCure. It is not available for sale in the United States yet, but we have been lucky enough to get selected for a demonstration trial. After recently seeing the results other clubs are getting we feel this could be a game-changer.

Here's how it works: we sprayed two applications of the product this fall on the front half of the green. Then in the spring we will spray 4 applications on the back half of the green, overlapping the middle section. The spring treatments require more applications because the Poa is actively growing. The Poa that has been sprayed this fall on the front half of the green has gone off color (picture below). We won’t see it disappear on the front half of the green until the spring when the Bentgrass is actively growing. The results of PoaCure at other golf courses are showing reduction and elimination of the Poa on the greens. A research professor will be monitoring our green through the process.

The long-term outlook for the PoaCure is both curative (gets rid of the Poa we have) and preventative (work it into the annual spray program so the Poa stays out) throughout the entire course once it becomes available for purchase. In the short-term we are optimistic it will be the solution to #4. The results so far are promising!

Notice the spots turning yellowish-white on the left side and no color difference on the right side. The Poa turning yellowish-white is the PoaCure slowly killing the plant. 

Summer Stress

This summer was difficult for cool season grasses in the Mid Atlantic area. With over nine inches of rain in the month of June, the roots didn't have to move deep into the soil to find water, since it was available close to the surface. This means they didn't have the depth or structure like they normally would, which showed when it was hot and dry in July. With the weak root structure the stress is noticed on areas of fairways that have rock close to the surface which heats the plant from below and wilts.

This also allowed the disease Summer Patch to become a big issue in the Bluegrass intermediate cut and the rough. This is a disease we preventatively treat for in the early spring, which we did the same this year as to prior years. The weather conditions this year were ideal for Summer Patch to develop even with the preventative treatments. Once the disease is present their are no curative fungicides to control Summer Patch. The only cultural control for Summer patch is allow the plant to grow out of it by raising mowing heights. From mid July to the end of August we didn't mow Intermediates for this reason. Below are a few pictures showing when the disease first became active as well as after we raised the mowing height to help put less stress on the plant.

This fall we will be seeding Ryegrass into the intermediates around the greens because it is not susceptible to Summer patch. We are also doing some sodding in the roughs with Tall Fescue where the Summer Patch was the worst. Any large clumpy areas in the roughs will be areified and seeded with Tall Fescue.  The Kentucky Bluegrass always bounces back and fills in from Summer Patch during the cooler growing months. This means it will still be present and susceptible to it but the Ryegrass and Tall Fescue will decrease the amount of area affected by it.
Here is a link to a great article going more in depth about Summer patch. https://www.extension.purdue.edu/extmedia/bp/bp-115-w.pdf

Number 15 on July 24th

Number 15 on August 31st

To Replace Divots or Not to Replace Divots?

Every golf course usually has a preference weather they would like you to fill your divot or replace it. This varies from course to course because of different grasses or even different climates. Here at Piedmont we ask you to replace your divots if it is still in one piece and when temperatures are cooler(spring, fall, winter). If the divot is shattered into a bunch of small pieces and or during the warmer months of June, July and August we ask you to fill it with sand. During the warmer months the divot will usually die due to heat and lack of water. Where as during the cooler months the divot can recover and root back into the ground which would have quicker recovery then filling it with sand. If you walk and don't have sand with you we ask you always replace your divot. Attached are a couple videos from the USGA about fixing divots and ball marks. Thank you for all your efforts in helping maintain your golf course.



Fixing Divots

Fixing Ball Marks

June Aerification

The maintenance staff did a great job getting all 20 greens finished yesterday. We pulled a 3/8" core at a 2" spacing. We then applied a heavy top dressing of sand and brushed that in to fill all the holes. Thank you for your patience while the greens heal from aerification.

This picture is a great explanation of why we aerify. 

Please don't forget to repair your ball marks!

Green Side Bunkers

       The green side bunkers were redone in 2012. The Better Billy Bunker system was installed to help with wash outs, contamination and drainage. The Better billy bunker system drains so well the faces of the bunkers dry out quickly. To help prevent the faces from becoming soft we are implementing some new techniques when grooming bunkers.
     
        First, we are smoothing the faces with the back of the bunker rakes or by using a paint roller. If an area of the face has not been disturbed we do not touch that area the next day. The less disrupted the sand gets the firmer they will be come. We will also be doing some wetting agents on those faces to help keep them from drying out too much.

       Our membership can help with this by entering the bunkers from the bottom of the bunker. The maintenance staff will be placing the rakes at the bottom of the bunker where the golfer should enter. Please exit from the same spot. Doing this rather than walking up the face of the bunker will help firm up those faces even faster. Please help out your club by spreading the word, since this is a new practice we are implementing.

Poa Annua

Annual bluegrass or Poa Annua, is one of the most common weeds of residential and commercial turfgrass in the United States. Poa is particularly hard to control because each little plant will produce over 100 seeds. Poa is most active during cool weather, when bentgrass is not. This will allow the Poa to out compete the bentgrass during the fall, winter and spring. Any voids in the turf such as ballmarks or weak areas in the turf the seed heads from the Poa will find and germinate during this time period. The seeds from Poa are tough and can survive multiple seasons in the soil before germinating. Hot temperatures are the only thing that Poa does not do well in. Last summer was cooler and wetter than average which allowed the Poa to stay healthy all year and produce more plants this spring. The more seed heads we can control the less multiplying of Poa we will see the following year.

We are currently spraying to control seed heads throughout the spring when the plant is most active. We are also going to cut out or plug the Poa from greens throughout the golf course which are manageable. Number four green and the big putting green are past the point of being able to plug out. A few years ago in the rough between the cart path and green on #4 was mostly all Poa, this is one of the biggest reasons why number 4 looks the way it does today. The seeds we tracked onto that green from the rough by people walking from their cart to the green. This was all sodded out in the fall of 2012 to help prevent more contamination.

The long term solution for the 4th green is to re-grass the green back to all bentgrass. Obviously this will require a substantial commitment of both time and money, and it is an option currently under consideration.

Please remember to fix all you ballmarks and remind your playing partners to do the same! Thank you for helping the maintenance staff take care of the golf course!

Poa growing in a ballmark that was not repaired

Winter Projects 2015

This past winter we have been working on multiple projects throughout the golf course. One project that we started and will be an on going project through the spring is clearing out the woods between holes 6 and 17. This will help airflow to 6 and 16 green, which is a critical component of plant health. The lack of airflow doesn't allow the grass to dry out which creates humid wet conditions not favorable for the plant. Below are some pictures of the progress we have made.

When we were first getting started

Current view from #17 

Current view from #6

One of our other projects we recently finished up was the last two water cooler stations on #13 and #17. These were done in house by two crew members that really take pride in their stone work. Take a look at the before and after pictures below.

Before

After