Fusariummy

Last week I had a number of people come up to me complaining about the inconsistency of the greens. Overall they were consistent with each other but from day to day the speed was changing drastically. This was due to the fact that the growth rate of the turf quadrupled on April 23. This was due to the warmer temperatures we have been experiencing especially the warmer overnight temperatures. On the 23rd we applied a growth regulator (primo) to slow the vertical growth of the turf on the greens so that they will become more consistent day to day. Something that we started last fall was to monitor the growth rate of the turf with each mowing of the greens. I have a blog post here that explains the process. This is a really cool tool for us because we can see how quickly the turf is growing and how it responds to our cultural practices. The above graph shows the growth rate over time. You can see on the 20th the growth rate takes a surge. Prior to this date we were only cutting our green...

Here is one point of view regarding irrigation and minimalism. I don't necessarily agree with it 100% but it's an interesting concept either way. When in-ground irrigation systems were first used on golf courses a single irrigation line running down the center of the fairways was the norm. This was due to the fact that the heads usually had to be manually connected and there just wasn't enough time or money to water everything. As technology progressed and budgets increased multi-row systems became the norm. Along with these multi-row or wall-to-wall systems came the ability to keep all of the fairways and rough green year-round. So naturally the design of courses changed to include thick dense rough all through the course. If we had the ability to do it then why not? Single row systems keep it green down the middle where it should be! Courses that were originally designed with single row irrigation systems were often upgraded to multi-row systems so that lush green conditi...

The fairways at Pender Harbour are notoriously bumpy. When the course was constructed the forest was cleared and buried or burned under the current fairways. Over the years the buried wood has decayed causing the soil to settle in these locations. Since 2005 we have been working to smooth out the worst areas of the fairways. Our old process was to lift the sod on a large (300 m2) area and smooth the soil then re-lay the sod. This method of smoothing worked really well but is very time and labor intensive. With our old crew of 5, I estimated that it would take us 40 years to fix all the bumpy areas of our fairways. Typical pothole in a fairway caused by decaying wood and organic matter. As we now have a crew of 3 we have changed our approach to the bumpy fairways. Firstly we have begun to embrace the bumps. The bumpy fairways have become a part of the character of the course. Locals know where the bad spots are and play to avoid these areas. It is also very apparent when inter-club matc...

What is a weed? One definition I found was: A plant considered undesirable, unattractive, or troublesome, especially one growing where it is not wanted, as in a garden. On some golf courses weeds can be a constant battle. Turf managers often have to go out of their way to deal with the pesky plants. Often the weeds on a golf course are harmful to the turf and the environment. Invasive species for example are a major problem all over the world. In other instances it is the native species that are the culprits. The past few years that I have worked at the Pender Harbour Golf Club have taught me a lot of things. One of those things is how to deal with weeds. At Pender Harbour we might look at "weeds" a little differently than most other golf courses. Clover growing in the turf Take White Clover (Trifolium repens) for example. Our rough, fairways and tees are full of clover. Clover is usually a sign of poor soil nutrition and drought. This is very true especially for the rough ar...

A few years ago Pinehurst Resorts began a "restoration" of the No. 2 course. The aim of the restoration was to return the course back to the way it was originally meant to be played. Here is a great video showing what course architects Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw have done to the course during this restoration. The neat thing about this restoration is that they are moving more to a style of golf that Pender Harbour offers. We have only ever had a single row irrigation system and therefore our rough always burns out in the summer months. The rough transitions from thick dense golf ball eating grass into a sparse bumpy arid mess. Although the dense green turf might be seen as the most desirable playing surface they both offer the same purpose to the game of golf. They are both surfaces that are less desirable than the fairways. The dense rough that our course features in the winter months is not as easy to hit a golf ball out of as the fairways and is an appropriate penalty for...