Yes that is snow on May 28th and Frost May 29th, not much more to say.
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What affects greens speed, a better question is what does not affect greens speed? There are many factors that affect greens speed and what we need to figure out is what works at Oakdale. There is no one answer that fits all, every course is different, every green is different. The goal is to get things as consistent as possible. Some of the main things to think about for greens speed and ball roll are as follows; · Mowing quality, height and frequency · Rolling quality and frequency · Fertilization quantity · Moisture management · Turfgrass species, health and growth rate · Growing environment · Drainage – surface and subsurface · Cultural Program · ...
With the extended lockdown we took advantage of the time to do extra vertidraining and overseeding of 6 of our greens (3 Thompson, 3, 5, 8 and 9 Homenuik and 3 Knudson). We started with a large/deep vertidrain and then swept sand into the holes to completely fill the channels. All these greens were overseeded in two directions and then surfaces cleaned up. We have kept them wet to help the seed get started and now have began to roll and cut them. After a few days the surface is looking good. Hopefully in the next week we will see some seed begin to pop. The overall goal of this process is to continue to modify the soil profile and introduce a new, more competitive variety of bentgrass to the playing surface.
Gypsy Moth is becoming a problem around the property. On many trees we can find the nests that the caterpillars will come from. The caterpillars will begin to feed and defoliate trees, leaving them vulnerable to diseases and other pests and can eventually kill the tree. We have assessed the trees around the property, picked many specimen trees and have treated them to insure they are protected. We still may see some defoliation and in the future may need to treat many more trees. To treat the trees we drill small holes in the tree and add insert a "plug" that has the product to control the pest.
We are taking advantage of the extra time before golf to get some cultural work down. This week we finished verticutting the Fairways and now have moved on to the Tees. This will remove extra organic matter from the profile and promote new growth. It also will stand the grass up to help get a better cut.
Each season sections of the cart paths are repaired. This season we worked on 1 Thompson Tee hill and 9 Thompson before the green in the trees. All existing base and asphalt is removed and new material and a deeper base installed. We will now tie in the grass lines along these paths to complete the job.
Original grass lines Sod and old sand removed Bunker liner installed and bunker boards used to establish new shape Sod and new sand installed All the bunkers around 9 Thompson have now been done. This makes them similar to the majority of the bunkers on the property. They will be easier for us to maintain and esthetically they look better.