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Another tough summer for golf courses

Hawk

Hawk

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This was a pretty big issue in our area last year. Many courses lost good chunks of their greens. I noticed some damage on one of the nicer courses in the area over the weekend.

This is a news release from the GCSAA


Superintendents dealing with extreme conditions again this year
Persistent heat, drought and flooding strain golf courses nationally

Extended periods of excessive heat, widespread moderate to severe drought, and pockets of flooding have beset golf courses for the second consecutive year, putting a strain on revenues, golfers and the professionals who manage the game's playing fields – golf course superintendents.

"We saw widespread turf loss last year, and the feedback from our members is that this year has the potential to be as severe," Golf Course Superintendents Association of America President Bob Randquist, certified golf course superintendent at Boca Rio Golf Course in Boca Raton, Fla., said.
Researchers, university extension agents and golf course superintendents agreed that the conditions last summer were the worst in decades in terms of the geographic scope, Randquist said. The impact of this year's weather – although not as widespread – will not be determined for a few weeks, but he indicated superintendents are pulling out all the stops to counter the wrath of Mother Nature.

Superintendents have implemented a variety of management practices such as reducing green speeds by raising cutting heights and rolling less frequently; less mowing frequency; restricting cart traffic; increased hand watering; reducing/postponing verticutting and topdressing activities; if aerifying, doing so with small tines; and reducing of fertilization programs.

"The simple fact is the cool-season turfgrasses such as bentgrass, fescue, bluegrass, annual bluegrass (Poa annua) and others are stressed with sustained high temperatures and humidity," Randquist said. "Golf courses in many parts of the country experience this every year, however what made the situation so dire last year and now have been the high levels of extended heat and humidity, and the sizeable part of the country affected.

"Certainly homeowners, athletic fields and businesses suffer turfgrass damage brought on by these kinds of conditions. What makes it more difficult for golf facilities are the mowing heights are much lower and traffic is much heavier. That just adds to the stress on the turfgrass."
Also unknown is what the final impact of flooding will be. Some courses were under water for extended periods of time so the turf started the season already in a compromised position.

Randquist also cautioned golfers from thinking that water, whether from rain or irrigation, is the answer to the ills. There is a difference between heat stress and drought stress. Adequate irrigation will alleviate drought stress. Adequate irrigation will not alleviate heat stress. It is not only possible, but likely, for a turfgrass plant to be adequately watered and still suffer from heat stress under extended periods of high temperatures.

Randquist urged golfers and leaders at golf facilities not to panic. Every golf course is unique and thus reacts to the weather extremes differently. Variations in soil conditions, air movement, shade, water quality and availability, and budget make course comparisons a dangerous proposition.

"We know the weather conditions will become more agreeable," Randquist said. "What is important right now is to manage the golf course in a manner so that turf can be kept alive until that point. Pushing turf too hard might result in longer term damage."

GCSAA is a leading golf organization and has as its focus golf course management. Since 1926, GCSAA has been the top professional association for the men and women who manage golf courses in the United States and worldwide. From its headquarters in Lawrence, Kan., the association provides education, information and representation to 19,000 members in more than 72 countries. GCSAA's mission is to serve its members, advance their profession and enhance the enjoyment, growth and vitality of the game of golf. The association's philanthropic organization, The Environmental Institute for Golf, works to strengthen the compatibility of golf with the natural environment through research grants, support for education programs and outreach efforts. Find GCSAA on Facebook, follow GCSAA on Twitter, and visit GCSAA at www.gcsaa.org.
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Luckily I play on Bermuda. But it's still tough on them.
 
Big issue here too. Time for some drastic changes. We need to go to more brown, firm, and fast courses instead of the member friendly perfectly green, manicured, lushness members want.
 
I noticed it last week on my home course. We've been feast and famine hear with rain and then the heatwave we are having isn't helping. My home course had to replace two greens last year and this year the same two greens are looking pretty hard hit. I'm expecting when I go out tonight to find one of them closed to traffic.

Also, we have several holes beyond the normal par 3s that are marked "cart path" only but I constantly see people ignoring the rule. With the cuts at the club from a personnel standpoint (only hired three of the typical 5 rangers this year), it makes me mad that people aren't respecting the marked signs.
 
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Funny thing about last year was that the 'hacker' course stayed in the best shape all year.
 
Full turf courses maybe? :D

Course closest to my house is showing some real stress on their greens. Over 1/2 of each green is just burnt grass with sand. Not fun to putt on.
 
See it in Tampa too......:sad:
 
I was at a club last weekend in Louisville, KY that had the big fans posted on every green. They were loud but the greens were in very good shape. Not sure if this is the best answer, but it seems to be working for that club.
 
The resort course in southern Iowa is doing decently well. Only the tee boxes and greens have full irrigation systems. Greens are still turning brown. As the article says, water won't fix 20 days in the 90s and Heat Index in the 110 range. The fairways are bentgrass, so they are doing fine.

Unfortunately, its the rough that really has taken a beating. Last year, with all the rain, about 1/3 of the rough washed out. This year, they did a lot of work to reseed, and now we are in high heat, and the rough is again, taking a very large beating.

Crazy midwest weather.
 
Most of the courses I have played in PA haven't been affected too much by this crazy heat. Yesterday the greens were running solid even in 90+ degree weather. Fairways were soft too.
 
jefrazie said:
Full turf courses maybe? :D

Course closest to my house is showing some real stress on their greens. Over 1/2 of each green is just burnt grass with sand. Not fun to putt on.
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Don't laugh too loud, Jefrazie. Having turf greens wouldn't be that bad compared to the condition of some of these greens lately. Especially Rock Creek. And its one of the nicer courses in the area.
 
Mardin said:
Most of the courses I have played in PA haven't been affected too much by this crazy heat. Yesterday the greens were running solid even in 90+ degree weather. Fairways were soft too.
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We haven't had an issue with softness as much as the grass dying off in spots.
 
I'm interested in seeing my home course after we get back from FL. I haven't played on it in 3 weeks so I'm worried to see what it has turned into.
 
We had major issues with our greens when we were living in the Sarasota area. We haven't seen it as much here in Orlando, but I don't know if it's the courses, the area or just different from last year. Last year our home course got hit bad with some algae due to the harsh winter and then hot, dry summer.
 
Everything is lush and green here in the great state of North Carolina. We get a good pm thunderstorm about every day. Just enough to keep our bent grass green and our bermuda grass soft.
 
Private courses such as BCC are fine, but the public or semi-private (whatever they want to call it) course I played the other day seemed to be feeling it. Everything was overly lush and green. I think they're a little scared to cut it to short and have it burn out on them.
 
I am pleasantly surprised how well our courses are handling the drought down here in Central TX. The greens in particular are holding up really well, but the tee boxes and fairways are starting to show the effects of no rain. The irrigation system is set up as a supplement, but considering we haven't had measurable rain in months, it should be much worse.
 
The courses here on Long Island are actually in pretty good shape - especially the county courses, which are usually the first ones to go brown.

In fact, I went to my favorite grass driving range today which is part of two nice daily fee courses and everything out there is actually quite lush.
This is especially surprising considering that the place is surrounded by wide open farmland with very few trees to keep the wind down.

It hasn't been terribly hot here, but it has been dry overall so either the agronomy at these places has improved quite a bit or the irrigation is working overtime.
 
Course superintendents around this area have been dealing with this for several years. Courses here have usually been bent greens and Bermuda or zoysia fairways. Last year several clubs closed their courses for a few weeks because of losing their greens, ours were borderline but survived the summer heat. This summer is shaping up like that again with the guys out with hoses watering greens by hand all day long and the fans running around the clock. So we are playing on soft, lumpy, slow, greens through the hot months.

About this time every year part of the members start talking about putting in Bermuda greens and every year a few more go over to the Bermuda side of the argument. Many of the clubs down around Atlanta have gone that route already and I wouldn't be opposed to doing it here. Of course, the opposite problem occurs with Bermuda in that it goes dormant in the cool months. The guys opposed to Bermuda say it has to be over seeded but I think I have played on dormant Bermuda that wasn't over seeded and it played just fine. Or am I mistaken?

This is just another summer as usual here.
 
The course I play most has gone from keeping carts in the fairway to keeping them in the rough. We really need rain here.
 
Believe it or not, with the couple of inches of rain we have been getting the past 3 weeks, our course actually is in pretty good shape. Bermuda greens that have been overseeded and then punched 3 time this year are in fairly good condition.
 
TC said:
Everything is lush and green here in the great state of North Carolina. We get a good pm thunderstorm about every day. Just enough to keep our bent grass green and our bermuda grass soft.
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Some of the courses have gone to the Mini Verde grasses on the greens.These seem to handle the heat better.I noticed that even some Myrtle Beach courses are switching to this grass.
 
DawgDaddy said:
Believe it or not, with the couple of inches of rain we have been getting the past 3 weeks, our course actually is in pretty good shape. Bermuda greens that have been overseeded and then punched 3 time this year are in fairly good condition.
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When do they overseed? Yes our bermuda fairways and especially the rough is thriving in the heat/humidity.

tvrepairex said:
Some of the courses have gone to the Mini Verde grasses on the greens.These seem to handle the heat better.I noticed that even some Myrtle Beach courses are switching to this grass.
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I really liked the greens on courses with the mini Verde. It makes sense in the south to get away from the cool season grasses.

Our bent greens are showing lots of stress this week. The heat humidity is not unusual but it started so early this year that there is lots of stress on the greens already. They usually do not get this bad until the end of August. We have a good staff, we kept our greens last year when most around here lost their grass but this year is shaping up to be worse.
 
I just played a course this weekend that clearly is not taking the heat well. Brown spots and patchy-no-grass on the greens, then brown rough, hard pan in the fairways. The worst part though was the tee boxes. Some of them literally had no grass. It's weird to tee off of dirt. I was told that a mere month ago, right before the heat hit, the course was in great condition, beautiful and lush throughout. Can't wait for this heat to break in the midwest.
 
Our issue isn't as much lack of water as it is the heat.

As the article points out, cool season grasses, which is what you see around here, just can't handle the high heat and humidity. Conditions are going downhill quickly and we still have another historically hot month ahead of us.
 
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