Course Info
September 3, 2010
Dear Richland Member,
September is finally here and it seems we have turned the corner on the hottest summer I ever hope to see. Thank you for your patience and understanding during this difficult time. Making the decision to close the course down and limit play on several greens has been one of the more difficult decisions I’ve had to make in my 12+ years at Richland. I’ve been reluctant to type a report in the last couple of weeks because I wanted to get a firm grasp on where our golf course was and what to expect in the future. Speculation and guessing is not reassuring to anyone.
Since we have closed down we have experienced some much cooler days and nights and this weather has been tremendously helpful to the health of the greens. At the time of shutting the course down, the root zone in even our healthiest of greens were no more than 1-2”. Since then, we have observed a dramatic increase in root health, length and density. This played a major factor in the decision to re-opening the course, even though 6 of the greens remain closed due to re-seeding and some of the greens remain thin in areas. With the change in weather, we have been able to get more aggressive with our foliar fertilizers as well as granular (root feeding) fertilizers. This will strengthen the plant enough that we can aerify as planned on Sept 13th and 14th. In hindsight, the course shutting down and limiting play was very timely, prudent, and beneficial for the long-term health of the greens.
Here is what you can expect in the coming weeks and months: On Monday and Tuesday, Sept 13th and 14th, we will be aerifying the greens with the same method we have used since the Master Plan was completed. This is a smaller hole with tighter spacing that actually impacts more surface area than the old “big holes” aerification. We have had very good success with this method and I fully expect the greens to benefit and respond well to this important cultural practice. We looked at doing this earlier than the planned date but the overall health of the greens would not have tolerated the mechanical stress of this practice, nor would it have tolerated the stress of brushing in sand topdressing. Now that we have been able to sufficiently and successfully feed the weakened plant, it will heal and respond much better to this practice. The newly seeded greens on #4, 7, 10, 13, 14, and 17 are now at a point that we will aerify them as well. As recently as last week, we were going to use a completely different (less aggressive) method on these greens, but the new seed is doing very well and the existing bentgrass on these greens is growing very well. The progress of these greens has been very encouraging. Initially, my goal was to get these greens playable by Oct. 1. With the increased growth rate and health we have witnessed, I feel confident we will be able to open them sooner than expected. We will re-evaluate these greens after we aerify them and make our assessment then but our goal has always been to get them open as soon as possible without sacrificing long-term health.
I would expect in the coming weeks and months that the areas that are thin will continue to be somewhat thin. My hope is that by the middle of October, this is all a distant memory and our greens will look and perform the way we all would like and expect. It is important to remember that we had visible scars on live tissue and they will take time to heal. Fortunately, there is good tissue in many areas that are thin I expect full recovery in these areas. The bare areas that don’t respond to seed, fertilizer and aerification will eventually be plugged or sodded, but we will give these areas a good chance to recover before we resort to this method. I will keep the membership abreast of our turf health as we get through greens aerification and evaluate where we are at that point.
Our normal fall activities are on target as well. We will be pre-emerging the warm season fairways and roughs and continue over-seeding our fescue areas through the next two weeks. Bear with us as some fescue areas may be a little wet during this process. We look forward to putting this summer behind us and enjoying a beautiful fall with excellent golf. Thanks again for your patience, support and understanding during this most difficult summer.
Brad Erickson
Golf Course Superintendent