As many of you may have noticed from putting on the
practice green (P.G) recently, the playability is much different than the
putting greens on the golf course. On average, the P.G. is putting one to two
feet slower than the regular greens on the golf course. Although this is not
ideal for putting on similar playing surfaces to the golf course, it is the
only way to keep the turfgrass healthy in the current growing environment.
The
decline of the turfgrass on the putting green (Figure 1) is due to the limited
amount of sunlight it is receiving on a daily basis. Daily sunlight required for healthy “Champion”
bermudagrass is eight to ten hours.
Dave
Otis from the USGA said it best, “Trees can make it physically impossible to
grow healthy turf that plays well. Light is the fuel source that runs the photosynthesis
engine and trees block sunlight. Insufficient light prevents the engine from
running at or near optimum efficiency and this produces a weaker, less wear
tolerant turf.” The trees on the south side of the putting green create a huge
challenge in producing a dense, healthy and consistent turfgrass on the putting
green.
Several
short term steps have been taken to increase the overall health of the practice
putting green:
1) Over
the winter, the trees around the P.G. were limbed up to 35%.
2) The
putting green is receiving daily hand watering on weak areas.
3) We
are mowing the P.G. 40% higher than the height of cut on the regular putting
greens as well as mowing them less frequently.
4) The
implementation of growth regulators that decrease vertical leaf blade growth and
improve the plant’s shade tolerance have also been implemented.
5) The
green is receiving fertilizer applications to help grow in the weak areas.
All
of these things are helping to make a healthier turfgrass, however, this does
not make for similar playing conditions to the golf course.
The
long term action plan is to sod the weak areas on the south side of the putting
green and evaluate the trees and the location of the putting green. Figure 2 demonstrates,
using the Sunseeker App on the iPhone, that the current location of the putting
green does not allow for even 50% of the desired amount of sunlight that is
necessary to maintain a good playing surface. All options will be looked at
over the coming months.
The
other areas of the practice facility are improving with the warmer days of
spring coming. We have fertilized the practice tee and the chipping approach
two times in the last few weeks. The color and health of the ryegrass has
improved with these timely applications. Soon we will be transitioning from
ryegrass to bermudagrass.
When
summer finally arrives, the goal is to mow the practice tee very low and
topdress it heavily 1-2 times to help smooth the playing surface. With new
programs in place the practice tee should begin to improve.
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