Agronomy Department and Course Weekly Update
December 9, 2015
This extremely mild early winter has been the perfect
environment for winter weeds to germinate and get healthy. Chris Graves , Asst. Golf Course Superintendent,
successfully sprayed 17 acres of winter weeds around the course this past
week! It will take approx 14-21 days for
the herbicide to kick in and begin to kill the weeds. This will clean up a
majority of the winter weeds until we can begin our big Pre/Post emergent
application January 4th.
Speaking of mild winters… The
forecast for this weekend is calling for the low 70’s!! I hope you have a tee
time booked, I have a feeling this will be the last hoo-rah before the cold
temperatures set in across the state. The past few years we had already pulled
covers over the greens a few times. We have not pulled the covers this year and
the greens have not gone into dormancy. This season has been quite a challenge
in regards to green speeds. Typically, during the fall months, the greens are prepped for winter, this includes; raising
the HOC (height of cut), increasing fertilizer/fungicide applications and
reducing topdressing applications. Our goal going into winter is to be a 1-1.5
ft slower on the stimpmeter than our target speed, once the greens go dormant
the speed picks up considerably and there is no way to slow them down once
dormant. In past seasons, we have already reached dormancy in early December;
therefore, the reduced speeds only had to last a few weeks. However, we have
not reached dormancy this year and therefore we have to hold 10-10.25 for a
longer window.
December
is also the time we switch back to the plastic cup liners. These liners hold
the sharp edge of the cup better during dormancy. They also give the club the
flexibility to change hole locations less frequently, if play dictates that as
an option.
Please remember to be courteous to the
group behind you and when removing the pin, lift the flag stick straight up as
this won’t lift the cup and the liner.
If you have any questions, please feel free to email me at kmacdonald@valleycrest.com and for
more information follow us on Twitter @stivescc_vcsup and the Blog: http://vcgmstivescountryclub.blogspot.com/
See you on the course,
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