Lasting Effects

We've had some picture-perfect days this week, and the view from the clubhouse to Lake Mendota never gets old.

Stepping into the 58-degree outside air this morning, it was hard to imagine that it was a little over 20 days ago that our daily highs nearly topped 100.  Needless to say, we're very glad to be in the midst of a "normal" stretch of 80 degree days and 60 degree nights.  While it may seem as if the effects of the extreme weather that we experienced from mid-July through early August should be gone, they unfortunately aren't.

In this profession, it's often said that the only thing that grass does quickly is die, and as I chronicled in previous posts, our turf lost a tremendous amount of its rooting depth during the heat.  And, while the current weather will encourage more root growth, deep roots won't return overnight.  Sunny days with low humidity and even just a little bit of wind can really dry out the upper layer of the soil profile, and without any substantial roots, we'll continue to keep an eye out for wilting turf.  Accordingly, just because the weather has broken, we won't necessarily be able to back off on watering the course, and it may not play with the firmness that some desire until the roots return.

Also, some of you may have noticed that the greens that suffered from winter damage this year are starting to look a little less than ideal.  It appears as if the cumulative effects of a cold spring followed by a hot summer are becoming apparent on 3, 6, 14, and 16 greens.  Although we certainly were glad to have creeping bentgrass fill-in the majority of these areas, the juvenile plants did not have very much time to establish themselves before they were thrown in the fire of the summer heat.  As the picture below illustrates, the undamaged, healthy plugs that we transplanted from the chipping green to number 14 are a vibrant shade of green, but the young bentgrass plants are thinning.



The dark-green circles of transplanted turf are starting to stand-out amongst the weakened juvenile plants.

  We are optimistic that the favorable nighttime temperatures, forecasted rainfall (crossing our fingers), and fertilizer that we applied this week will quell the thinning turf.  Otherwise, short of fast forwarding to fall, there's not a whole lot that can be done, but we will be babying these areas as much as possible.

With the slight respite from the craziness that Mother Nature has provided, we were able to remove some trees this week.  Two linden trees between 3 and 4 were taken down; one had a very large crack that made it an imminent safety hazard and the other was removed to allow for some sunlight to penetrate the thick canopy.  Next year, we might actually be able to grow some grass in this newly-lit area.  Ash trees to the left of 14 fairway and to the back of 10 green were also taken down.  These less-desirable trees were beginning to significantly affect several younger shagbark hickories, and their removal will allow the shagbarks to develop very nicely.  Finally, a large, out-of-play silver maple was removed from the back right of 16 green.  This tree cast significant shade on the putting surface for much of the day and has been a major contributing factor to the winter injury that the back-half of the green has had in recent years.  Once the stump is gone, we are tentatively planning on installing a perennial landscape bed with a walking path that will act as a shortcut to 17 tee in this area.  All-in-all, we believe that it will be an aesthetic improvement that should greatly improve the health of 16 green.

Lastly, many more invasive species (box elders, mulberries, and buckthorns) were removed in the wooded area that's between the lift and the cart path by 9 green and that entire area sure has seen a makeover this summer.

It's been another trying summer, but the light is at the end of the tunnel.  Soon, the leaves will be falling in earnest, and Camp Randall will be filled with 80,000 red-clad crazies.  Then, the turf (and its caretakers) will hopefully be able to breathe a sigh of relief.