USGA Turf Advisory Service Visit

Just got done with and all day Turfgrass Advisory Service (TAS) visit with Adam Moeller of the USGA's Green Section.

We had Adam come in primarily to assess our shade/tree issues on #6, 7, & 8 on the Lake Course and give recommendations for trees to be removed, but turned the day into a full day TAS. We came away with some good suggestions from an agronomic standpoint and a lot of tree suggestions. Overall, a day well spent.

If anyone has any questions about our visit, please don't hesitate to contact me.

Tee Leveling

We've started with some tee leveling this month.  We wanted to get started on a few earlier in the season but the weather didn't help us very much. 

Last week we completed the red tee on #13 Hill and that should be back in play by the end of next week.  This week we are doing the gold/red tee on #2 Lake and hope to have it completed before the weekend, and back in play in two weeks.  Next week, weather permitting, we'll head to the gold/red tee on #3 Hill.

To hear the process described, it sounds relatively simple, consisting of three steps: 1) remove sod; 2) level tee; 3) replace sod.  But all three are time consuming, especially steps 2 and 3 that require a large amount of finesse and hand work.

The pictures to the right are of the tee after the sod has been removed and leveling is just starting.  And the other is of the rolls of sod taken off the tee.

On both tees we have been able to enlarge the teeing surface a little bit.

Dollar Spot

Last week I mentioned that we had been holding up pretty well against dollar spot.  Well.........that didn't last long.  It sprouted up on the tees last night and with the forecast calling for rain at almost any given time until Thursday, we may see a pretty good outbreak by the time it can get treated.  But, unlike the anthracnose that hit #6, 7, and 8 on the Lake Course,  it is largely superficial at this point and will bounce back quickly after we hit it with a little propiconazole and chlorothalonil followed by another shot of fertilizer. 

What a summer!

Like most regions of the country, it's been quite a summer here in WNY. The long, hot, dry spell has put a tremendous amount of stress on our turf opening the door for anthracnose on #6, 7 & 8 greens on the Lake Course. The rest of the greens have handled it quite well with not so much as a splash of any other diseases out there.

Surprisingly, I have seen almost no dollar spot on tees and fairways yet this year despite having only one preventive application on tees and only the Lake Course fairways treated. We'll see what happens later this summer as the nights get cooler and the dew gets heavier.