Course Update; The Arrival of Summer

Weather:

Summer heat and spring rains have teamed up over the past two weeks, a combination that usually proves difficult for turf management.  Across metro-Detroit there have been reports of rain incidents in the 3"-5" range, amounts that definitely spell trouble for courses with poor drainage.  This being said, we can consider ourselves lucky at MCC.  The majority of the rains and heavy storms have missed the Northville area (knock on wood) and Meadowbrook's weather station has only recorded 1.6" since the start of these storms.  It's common to assume that turf professionals are happy when it rains.  This is rarely the case and most superintendents prefer a dry season as opposed to a wet one.  Amounts of .2" are desired, but only if it's spread out over a long period of time.  High humidity and heat are obviously concerns as well.  These conditions, coupled with saturated soils, skyrocket disease pressure.  Pythium is a devastating disease and infection becomes likely in conditions similar to the present. 

Greens:Despite the weather, the greens have held up reasonably well.  A new topdressing sand started being utilized 2 years ago and an approximate 1" of this new material has been incorporated into the rootzone.  This sand is coarser and each particle is angular in shape (an important physical property to ensure stability) which benefits infiltration from the surface and also retains the firmness of the green.  After a heavy precipitation event, better surface drainage and firmness has already been observed on greens. 
The new topdressing sand has improved the previously mentioned aspects of greens but can only do so much for green speed after it rains.  To ensure that the greens are still rolling at an acceptable level the crew walk mows and rolls the greens daily.  Rolling has even been increased to combat the wet/soft conditions. 
Members have probably noticed the bulls eye like rings and the small irregular shaped yellow rings on the putting surfaces.  These are the result of two diseases called Fairy Ring and Waitea.  Fairy Ring (the bulls eye like disease) appears as dark green circular shapes.  The darker green circle (or "zone of stimulation") is the result of the pathogen breaking down organic material and making nitrogen stored within the organic matter available to the plant.  This disease will only damage turf during periods of heat or drought stress on the margins of the zone of stimulation.  Waitea appears as the irregular shaped yellow rings on the greens.  Rarely is this disease deadly either, but it is a potent thatch decomposer as well.  This is significant because, if left unchecked, the disease can leave sunken rings on the greens resulting in bumpier putts.  Both of these diseases have limited chemical controls but, on the recommendations of the MSU turf team, the crew has made a fungicide application that is expected to check the infections. 

Around the Course:
High heat, humidity and heavy rains are particularly worrisome for superintendents in regards to their fairways (mentioned in the weather section).  The majority of fairways in southeastern Michigan are not compromised of soils that drain well, namely silts and clays.  Besides the increase in disease pressure, saturated conditions themselves can lead to turf death.  If the rootzone stays saturated, aerobic respiration within the cells of the roots stops.  The plants begin to rely on anaerobic respiration which is extremely inefficient as compared to when oxygen is available.  The turf turns chlorotic (a general yellowing of the leaf blades) as more and more of the root cells die off.  Small, localized spots of this chlorosis are being observed on certain areas of fairways at MCC even with the relatively small amount of rain.  To combat these conditions, the crew aerifies these areas to open up channels for air exchange.  Recovery of aerification holes at this point in the summer is very slow so a smaller tine is utilized to expedite the healing process. 
The 14th and 15th tee perennial beds have been redone, as they were in a state of decline from an aesthetic standpoint.  The new species in these beds include:

• Knockout Roses (Yellow)
• Thyme
• Joe Pye Weed
• Variegated Japaneses Silver Grass
• Cranes Bill Geranium
• Japaneses Forest Grass
• Sedum Ground Cover 

The new Kentucky Bluegrass sod around green complexes was thriving during the month of May and early June.  The crew was hard pressed to keep up with the mowing demands of the grass in these areas but due to the higher temperatures, growth has slowed down.  The dense sod, maintained at a 2" height of cut, is aesthetically pleasing and provides a consistent lie around all the greens.  Prior to sodding, a multitude of different species surrounded the greens and golfers never knew what type of lie they were going to get. 

Tree Care:

Tree care is an on-going task for the crew year round.  During the summer, members will most likely see sprinklers running in the large evergreen beds to negate any possibility of drought conditions.  These chemically damaged trees need to suffer minimal stress in order for them to recover (if recovery is even possible).  Removals are continuing too, and some have significantly changed the look of certain areas.  In particular, the 17th green was surrounded by spruce and pine trees that suffered the brunt of Imprelis and 6 trees were removed from the area.  These removals opened up the 17th green for great views around the course. 

The previous 3 summers have brought extreme weather conditions, ones that do not make it particularly easy to maintain turf.  The summer of 2013 has proven to be mild, until recently, and the crew hopes this isn't a trend for the rest of the season.  During these wet and soft conditions we ask the members to be mindful of where they drive carts as compaction of soils can occur quickly when saturated.  Other than that, stay pin high and enjoy.