Summer Stress Continues

The summer temperatures and humidity have continued to make their presence felt here in the Kansas City area. It has been a huge challenge for my staff and I to try and alleviate as much stress on the turf as possible. The golf course has been holding up relatively well with all things considered. It is really important to watch your water management this time of year especially in these conditions. It is better to error on the dry side then to have things overly wet. Wet conditions encourage disease and insects to harm the turf, which puts the turf in a weakened state and then the grass can't survive the extreme weather. I have had a few people ask me about the small spots on the greens. These are called isolated hot spots and are a sign that that area of the green is drying out. It also tells me that I have the greens at a dry level and that I shouldn't have a lot of problems with disease although stranger things have happened. Hot spots recover with a little hand watering, disease spots do not so it is better to have hot spots then wet soggy conditions. I am aware of the spotting and my staff is monitoring these on a daily basis. These areas will recover over time and with cooler weather. We are starting to repair some of the collar areas on #2,6, and 7 greens. We should have these areas repaired by the end of the week. It is a little dicey this time of year to be sodding and I wouldn't encourage it to be done unless you have the capabilities to babysit it and keep it moist. Since it is around our greens areas and we are babysitting them anyway I thought what the heck we can get these done and out of the way. The tees are continuing to heal from the verticutt that we did to them a week ago. They are healing a little slower this time due to the extreme heat and humidity, but they are healing and with a little break in the weather should be back to 100% or close to by next week. I hope everyone has a great week and is able to stay cool!