‘We’re into June and the heart of the season but the difficulties of Golf Course Management keep on coming. A long spell of North and Easterly winds have caused problems with prolonged coastal mist, which has resulted in course closure. In addition to that, we have also been up against it trying to maintain the condition of the course.
The persistent dampness and humidity during the last couple of weeks has created the ideal environment for turf disease. Although we have developed the greens to become more resilient to these pathogens, when we experience 100% humidity combined with heavy dew for prolonged periods, there is really nothing that can be done to prevent an outbreak. Last week both Fusarium and Dollar Spot developed leaving us with the worst possible situation.
In recent years most fungicides have been outlawed leaving us with very few effective options, so in a desperate attempt to stave off the fungal diseases we applied a highly concentrated combination of mineral elements. Ferrous (iron) sulphate, Potassium sulphate and ammonium (nitrogen) sulphate were mixed and applied.
This mix was used to firstly acidify the surface to discourage the fungal pathogen, also to strengthen the cell walls of the plant and help prevent further infection and finally to stimulate some growth to aid recovery.
Fortunately it had the desired effect, knocking back the diseases very effectively. We now hope that we see a change in weather patterns away from the recent trend and that the risk of damage to the turf subsides.
Despite this unfortunate distraction, we have endeavored to keep on top of growth and keep chipping away at the backlog of jobs.
Although damp we have had to keep on cutting with all areas receiving attention. In the circumstances it’s hard for me to be unhappy with the current state of the course and I certainly can’t fault the effort of the team. That said it’s still not where I would like, but all we can do is keep plugging away.
In addition to the above, we have been able to get the air compressor repaired, rebuild the bunker on Warsett that had been washed away in the floods, thin out several areas of rough, begin sharpening the fairway mower cutting units and apply selective herbicide to all tees, fairways and approaches on the 9 holes under the railway line.
Next week will be much the same, with wetting agent going on the greens, more selective herbicide applications and also more thinning of rough areas in close proximity to play.
We hope you still are enjoying the course despite the poor weather this year and please do get in touch with any questions to [email protected]
Thanks
Greg