The cabin fever is at an all time high in the maintenance department. January and February offered us time to finish up the items on our winter maintenance list and remodel the shop office, bathroom, and irrigation storage. We as a group are definitely ready for temperatures to start rising and the birds to start chirping.
With the temperatures next week being in the 40's, I thought that I would take the time to let everyone know about some upcoming maintenance activities that might affect your round. Today, we cut greens for the first time since January 19th. This should allow you to have smoother surfaces to putt on. I would like everyone to understand that we have actually had a winter this year, and cutting the greens when the underlying soil is frozen or the temperatures are too low is not an option. Secondly, the interruption in play will be from spraying.
We will start our Spring spraying schedule on the greens tomorrow Saturday, February 27th. We will be applying Proxy/Primo to the greens for seedhead suppression on the Poa Annua. Proxy and Primo are growth regulators. Proxy (Ethephon) promotes ethylene production from leaves, which inhibits cell elongation, but promotes leaf senescence (more leaves per plant). Proxy also controls seedhead development in Poa Annua. Primo is a Type II plant growth regulator that blocks the biosynthesis of gibberellin, which is needed for plant cells to elongate. Primo makes the turf more dense, more stress tolerant, and greener in color. The combination of these two products makes the Spring putting surfaces tighter, quicker, and more uniform by controlling the growth and seedhead production of the Poa.
We will also be spraying Roundup and Barricade on the dormant warm season turf to accomplish two tasks. The Roundup (Glyphosate) will take care of any winter annuals (Poa) that germinated last fall. Since the warm season turf is dormant, the nonselevtive herbicide will not negatively affect the turf. The Barricade (Prodiamine) is a preemergent herbicide that will take care of the summer annuals that will germinate in April. The summer annuals that can be invasive and an eyesore are Crabgrass and Goosegrass. This spray mix allows the tees, collars, and fairways to stay both pure and aesthetically beautiful during the golf season. When we start applying this tank mix next week, the tees will be closed one day (Monday). You will need to hit from the tee blocks that are located adjacent to the tee surface. The following day (Tuesday) we will close the back 9, as we will be spraying these fairways. After the back 9 is complete, we will reopen these holes and close the front 9. The day after the front 9 is complete (Wednesday), we will then spray all collars on the course, starting on the back and then finishing on the front. You will get to play all 18 this day.
I hope that this brought you up to date. The Pro Shop will be able to communicate what is going on with the process each day next week.
Thanks,
Shannon
