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| March 31st |
As mentioned in the last post we began removing snow from the greens and finally completed the task this past Tuesday with minimal mechanical damage to all surfaces. There is disease again but not as severe as last year but still, IMO, way more than there should be. Realizing last fall tipped the scales in favour of disease development I was still hopeful that tweaking fertility would benefit the turf. Its a believe I still hold but I may need to start earlier.
I was always curious when disease started under the snow. I figured by removing the first couple snows last fall (Go HERE) would help limit the impact of moisture as well as potentially freeze the ground and slow disease.
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| 2016 Fall Weather Data From KGC Weather Station |
If you click on at the weather graph from last fall you can see the temperature really began dropping on Dec. 4th which was the same day it snowed. I didn't clean that snow off greens except for 15 green (Go HERE) so I could lay down tarp. Before the snow I went to select greens showing disease and marked the periphery of the disease so I could reference the size of the spot once spring came. A quick reminder - I applied a panic fungicide treatment at the end of November because of new disease popping up everywhere as referenced in the "Uncharted Territory..." post mentioned earlier.
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| Copy of My Spray Record - Note the "Spray Notes" Section |
Not necessarily the best spray combination but it was all I had. I think the spray may have helped control the disease but I should have removed that Dec. 4 snow from all the greens not just 15. If you read the comments I made on the spray record you'll see I specifically referenced 2 and 15 having active disease. This spring, disease wise, 15 green came through in good shape while 2 green has a fair amount and because I marked the edges of the disease last fall I'm confident in saying the disease developed over winter. Take a look:
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| Disease on 2 G this Spring |
One concern I had about keeping the greens open and freezing them was ice which, as everyone knows, can be bad. However, take another look:
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| Ice on 11 G - Note the X/C Ski Tracks from Some Ding-Dongs |
More than a few greens had ice but it was thin and melted quickly but still thick enough for us to use the bobcat to clear snow. Ice at the right time is not too terribly bad but if I saw this at the beginning of December last year I would be panicky.
This is some of what I'm seeing out there. Last year when we had problems I suggested the problem was not one thing and I stand by that statement this year as well. I haven't even touched on some cultural practices we've neglected to perform all in the name of not impacting daily playing conditions - a short sighted approach but sometimes easier than constantly having to listen to the B&C from the "better golfers". Also, I haven't even mentioned the shade...that is definitely another post. Oh and what about turf species? I got some great info on some messing around I did this year on our nursery where I ploughed the snow off a portion of that green until the end of January.
As I've said before, I right this blog mostly for myself as an exercise in record keeping. What
everyone really wants to know is when are we opening but, again, if I had the power to be accurate when making those predictions I'm not sure you could afford me.....lets just say soon....
