It's been a little while since I've updated our blog. The trend of cool and wet has continued through February. The positive spin to this is that we have identified lots of areas that have been holding water in fairways and have been grading in some small drainage swales to help this water drain off the fairways and into the roughs or holding ponds.
We fertilized the greens with a high iron and manganese fertilizer to promote color and antagonize some winter pathogens. We also sprayed the greens this past weekend to take advantage of what appears to be a warming trend. We're trying not to get too anxious to push the greens too quickly as the night time temps really need to be up in the 40s and 50s for growth.
Paspalum is a very different beast from Bermudagrass as it will put all resources into the roots before growing new leaves. To encourage the plant to grow new leaves, we will be spraying and fertilizing heavily with products that enhance root growth. In addition we will be some practices to open up the turf canopy to get light and heat to the soil.
I am out of town this week at the Services Agency for an Air Force superintendents training seminar. Some of the topics covered will be fertility management, water resources, and soil chemistries. With our hope to eventually utilize the water re-use plant on base this trip will be very informative and useful.
We'll see you out on the links this week!
Justin Wheeler, GCS. Gator Lakes Golf Course. (850) 200-7054
Justin, This my first visit to your bolg... AWESOME. It's refreshing to see the proactive approach you've taken with the course. I'm anxiuos to see how all the work you guys have done translates into spring and summer course conditions. Hopefully mother nature cooperates and doesn't hurt us this year
ReplyDeleteYour hard work doesn't go unoticed. You and Jeff are a great team and we are lucky to have you guys. Keep up the good work. I'm looking forward to a great year.
Brad Fuller