Anthracnose and the 18th Green

As many members have noticed our 18th Green looks weaker and thinner than any of the others. About a month ago we noticed some decline in the green and began to monitor the progress. Through numerous visits from colleagues and constant monitoring by management, it was determined that physical stress of a weaker variety of Poa Annua had caused the decline. The early, dry and hot spring put the weaker plants into an early onset of stress. Anthracnose is a turf disease that thrives on stressed turf grass. Even though we have been protected through Fungicide applications and fertility, Anthracnose set in on #18. We have sent samples into the Guelph Turf grass Institute to confirm our beliefs. Now that we are certain of the problem, we have began to bring the green back to life. Weekly venting and bi-weekly inter seeding with T1 bentgrass has already started to show promise of a full recovery. We will also be hitting this green in particular with a little bit more Nitrogen to aid in recovery. Luckily, the green is still playable. As always the patience and understanding of our membership is greatly appreciated.

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Winter is here...

Happy New Year! The winter weather has certainly arrived with sub zero temperatures and snowfall accumulating...We were very fortunate this fall with a balmy forecast, work continued right up to the Christmas break is steady fashion. Our most recent phase of drainage work was completed in due time. Dry and warm conditions made for clean and quick work. Areas of focus this fall were the rough, fairway and green on the 14th, some smaller rough areas on 11, 17 and the upper landing area of the 3rd fairway. Our tree management plan is in full swing with the removals of some dead Ash trees. An important part of our tree plan is to re-plant a more desirable species in these key areas. The trees have been tagged for delivery as soon as possible in the spring. Our winter greens preparation plan was completed in due time as well. We have performed all of our fall cultural practices and winter prep tasks to give our greens the optimal chance of winter survival. In addition to our ann...

Article of Interest..

Here is a link to an article that Robert Thompson of CandianGolfer.com authored on the devastation that has hit Ontario golf clubs as a result of the extreme winter that we all experienced... http://canadiangolfer.com/g4g/2014/04/25/ontario-courses-with-poa-greens-struggle-to-deal-with-cold-weather-carnage/

The Practice Range Tee

Last fall we utilized a “new to us” method of revitilization for our practice tee. Our contractor TDS, fraize mowed the surface of the tee to remove organic matter as well at to aid in leveling. The tee was then aerified and seeded to a new variety of creeping rye grass. We chose this type of turf grass as research shows rapid recovery and a low growth habit. We were able to get some great growth in the fall, but the tee is still not ready for traffic and full use. The plan is to utilize the mats until growth has filled in some of the voids etc. We will then begin to slowly set up hitting areas on the grass tee. For a while we will alternate between grass and the mats with a 50/50 ratio of use. Once the grass tee is established and is in adequate recovery mode, the practice areas will be back to normal. As always our membership’s patience is appreciated as we try to improve these areas for use.

HIGHLAND CC GROUNDS

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