Update on warm season plugs

Eight days ago, I pulled some warm season plugs from three different types of warm season turf grass here on the property.  Old picture first, updated picture in the middle  plus a close up of the zoysia plug on the bottom.

2/20/14   Westwood bermuda, Meyer Zoysia, Patriot bermuda

2/28/14  Westwood bermuda, Meyer Zoysia, Patriot bermuda

The Westwood bermuda that was sprayed with Fusilade II is looking very rough.  The middle plug is Meyer Zoysia and the leaves are beginning to grow from the crown area of the plant.  The third plug is Patriot bermuda.  I cannot see any green up at this time in the Patriot but it normally is slow coming out in the spring.  

Close up of zoysia leaves emerging from the Meyer Zoysia plub.

Journey to Olympic Golf, Andy Reistetter

In late fall, Andy Reistetter set out on a journey from the last Gold Medal Matches in Olympic Golf here at Glen Echo CC to the next Olympic Golf Gold Medal Matches in Rio in 2016.  Andy just posted a nice story on his blog with pictures, interviews and information about his first stop @Glen Echo CC.

http://www.journeytoolympicgolf.com/pages/2164

Course will open Saturday, February 22nd!

The course will open on Saturday, February 22nd!  Still some moisture coming up on greens as we clean them up this afternoon but should continue to drain and be okay to open Saturday.  We are picking up debris but still many sweet gum balls, leaves and sticks on various parts of the course that you will encounter. All course supplies are still stored for winter with some very cold temperatures coming in this coming week. We will begin to move these products out on the course after this next blast of winter weather.

Enjoy your day on the course!

Course update, closed Friday 2-21

The greens have become frozen again at the surface from the drop in the overnight temperatures.  I would expect when the greens begin to thaw today that conditions will be too soft and wet to open for play.  We will be checking out all the greens this afternoon once they thaw to get a better handle on the conditions for a potential opening on Saturday.  The freeze has moved down through the sand layer so we are in good shape when it comes to not shearing off roots between the freeze and thawed line.  We did receive .38" of rain yesterday which does need to move through the green profile to insure that the greens are not like sponges with  water coming up from each step and deep foot printing impressions are not left on the surface of the greens.

As always I will keep you updated regarding the potential for opening the course for play.

Warm season turf, has it survived the cold winter season?

I think most of our warm season turf should survive this past winter but I'm doing a plug check in the window of the office just in case.  Some of my peers to the south are keeping their fingers crossed hoping the  bermuda greens that were hit with severe cold this winter were not severely injured.  Our zoysia turf is rated well below freezing for winter kill potential but our bermuda turf that contaminates many areas of our property could have been injured.  That is not necessarily a bad thing but if you lose too much turf at once, it could create some voids in our key areas such as fairways, green surrounds and tees.  Also, our long range tee has a bermuda grass that is known for cold tolerance but I have noticed it slow to grow in the spring following a colder than normal winter.

I do expect the bermuda in the fairways that I sprayed as a part of our bermuda eradication program to wake up at a slower rate than the non-sprayed areas.  The spray applied in early October right before dormancy injured it and the colder temperatures should have pushed this injury even further.  There were seven acres of fairways sprayed with this material.  I would expect these areas to delay in greening up.  As they begin to emerge and there are larger areas of zoysia in some of these sections, I will probably spray them again delaying there growth further and allowing the zoysia to begin to fill back into the area.  With The Invitational(Member/Guest) Tournament occurring the 2nd weekend of June, I will be working the spray application timing before and after this event to insure we have the best possible conditions for the event.

A word of warning to warm season turf owners.  Do not get in a big hurry this season to do anything to your turf until it begins to green up and require mowing.  Fertilization should always be delayed until you are sure all large patch on zoysia/bermuda is not actively growing.  Usually mid to late May in St. Louis at the earliest. Dethatching a warm season lawn should be delayed until the lawn is actively growing and needs mowing. Performing these type of practices too early to your lawn could injure and allow for the emergence of summer weeds.

Warm season plugs from left to right.

1.  Westwood bermuda from 1 fairway sprayed with Fusilade II/Turflon in early Oct 2013.  Stems are slightly green.

2.  Meyer zoysia fwy plug from #1.  There is green leaves showing and green in the crown.

3.  Patriot bermuda from the long range tee.  Stems are smaller than westwood but do seem viable, slightly green at this          time.

Greens, Course Update. Closed Thursday, February 20th

The course will remain closed today after checking a number of greens around the course.  From what I have seen today, I will expect the course to remain closed on Friday.  We will evaluate the course on Friday for the weekend.  I've attached a couple of videos to help you see the conditions for yourself.  We appreciate your patience as the course thaws out from the cold and snowy winter.

Splitting The Big Logs

The staff are working on splitting the big logs from the fence line oak from 12 tee. Huge logs that take some extra effort to split but a lot a great wood for next winter.

The staff cutting the large logs to split.

The finished product waiting to be stacked.