Greens Renovations

We have completed the first stage of our greens renovations today thanks to some fine and dry weather. We verti-cut the greens twice which removed excess organic matter, applied the Profile, then topdressed. Tomorrow we will start aerifying and rolling. We anticipate that we should be completed by late Wednesday or Thursday dependent on weather. Fast recovery is expected.

Profile

Starting next week we will be introducing a product called Profile to the greens. Profile is a porous ceramic which has a number of benefits including increasing root mass, reducing nutrient leaching and increasing oxygen levels within the root zone to name several. Following verti-cutting next week, we will add the Profile to the greens and sweep it into the green before topdressing. Our topdressing sand will also have Profile blended into it, so whenever we dust the greens we are adding a little more each time - which will improve the greens long term.

There are many products around the market such as Profile which you may not have heard of, or realised that Superintendents are using in their maintenance programmes. If you are interested in reading more about it, click on the following link:

Profile Porous Ceramic

Greens Renovations

We will be renovating the greens starting next Monday the 28th. The process should see a quick recovery this year given the strength and condition of the greens following the wet season. We will be verti-cutting and topdressing. Following the topdressing we will aerate and roll. Recovery should be well within 10 days with favourable weather conditions.

Augusta National Changes

Masters time in a couple of weeks. I was fortunate enough to attend the Masters in 1996 as a guest of Mr Hall Thompson, the late owner of Shoal Creek GC in Alabama, and member of Augusta. Mr Thompson used to fly his employees over to Augusta for the tournament each year which was a great thrill. Golf Digest have put together a link showing the changes to the golf course over the years and what to expect this year.

Golf Digest Article

Unfortunately it is also the time of year where some Clubs go through the 'Augusta Syndrome' and expect their courses to look like what is on TV which places alot of pressure on their Superintendent. However it is possible to get that Augusta look. All you need is 100 staff and a $6 million budget. Simple!

Wet Weather

Well someone, somewhere, must have a voodoo doll of us and is sticking pins into it gathering by the rain which does not want to seem to stop. Over the past 20 days we have received over 750mm of rain with more continuing. The course is holding on well, but the wet conditions severely limit our regular maintenance programme. We are still able to cut rough as the mounds don't hold water and yesterday we were able to cut all but 5 fairways as they are still waterlogged in places. Fingers crossed for some sunshine soon.

Fertilisation

We have to watch our nutrient levels in this weather as the rain has a tendency to flush, or leach, nutrients away from the roots of the turf. Obviously we don't want to literally bomb the place with fertiliser and watch it wash away into the waterways, so the majority of fertiliser applications are made via foliar means which sees it directly adsorbed into the leaf. There are occasions however, when the rain eases which allows us to use a granular slow release fertiliser. Slow release is fertiliser which gradually provides nutrients to the turf for a prolonged period, ensuring that we have no rapid growth which is very important for this time of year as we don't want occasions where the grass is growing furiously and we are unable to cut it due to the weather. Today we applied a slow release fertiliser to the greens to maintain their good health in the poor conditions.

Continuing Wet Weather

Hopefully in the next day or two the wet weather will ease a little. Conditions on the course are very wet to say the least. I was hoping that we wouldn't see rainfall like we received in 2010 with 2.8m, but we have hit the halfway point of that now already this year with 1.4m received to date. Fortunately the course, and in particular the greens, is holding up very well.