Bentgrass Nurseries

The "dead" areas on the 15th and 16th hole are being established to the variety of bentgrass that will be utilized on new fairway and green surrounds for the renovation.  These areas were picked because the irrigation necessary is already present.  Having an on-site source of sod will be a huge advantage when we start growing in the new course.  To establish the new grass the staff killed the existing turf (w/ round up) and utilized an overseeder to seed in the new bentgrass.  An overseeder creates slits in the ground and drops seed into them, ensuring seed-to-soil contact (a necessity for germination).  The areas were then fertilized and watered.  Members will notice water running frequently here because seedling do not have the root structure that an established stand of turf does.  It's imperative that golfers do not hit shots from these areas and drop zones will be present shortly.

Also, half of our old poa annua nursery has already been converted to a bentgrass greens nursery.  We are in the process of converting the other half to bentgrass and already have germination occurring. 

15th Hole Bentgrass Nursery

Bentgrass Seedling under germination blanket in old Poa annua Nursery

June Weather

The month of June has been wet...possibly the understatement of the century.  Since June 1st MCC has received 4.62 inches of rain and more is predicted at the end of the current week.  With the high humidity, water is not leaving and disease pressure is skyrocketing. 
To combat these conditions the staff has suspended all night watering, increased fungicide outputs and relied heavily on hand mowing green and tee surrounds.  Syringing greens hasn't even become necessary due to the high humidity.  Windy conditions are ideal after heavy rains because they stimulate aerobic activity and in turn dry things out but rarely after these rains has the wind helped us out. 
The only time the irrigation system has been utilized is to water in chemicals that need to reach the soil profile quickly or they lose their effectiveness.  Namely, insecticides and wetting agents.  For example, the staff recently applied a wetting agent on greens and fairways to release tension between soil particles and allow these areas to percolate quicker. 
While these saturated conditions exist, the crew appreciates the memberships cooperation in regards to cart etiquette and respectful golf (particularly fixing ball marks on saturated greens).  We hope to get through this pseudo monsoon season and lets all cross our fingers for a drier July. 

Standing water 7.5 hours after precipitation event (the joys of heavy clay soils)