TURF TALK FROM THE SUPERINTENDENT
May-June is the time of year when the grass should be taking off and the mowers are following that growth. April and May have been cool nights, some hot days but not enough to get the grass really moving. There are a couple of greens lagging coming out of dormancy such as the front of #5 and #17. I fully expect those greens to start moving and growing sooner rather than later now that warmer nighttime temperatures are on the horizon. As you may have noticed the fairways are a little thick and hairy and that is because our fairway unit has had some mechanical issues. I sent it to John Deere service in Fuquay Varina for repair and is scheduled to be back Tuesday morning, May 30th . The fairways will be mowed immediately thereafter and typically, twice weekly during the season.
On a very positive note, the approaches are coming in nicely, the tee boxes are coming in and getting fuller each day. It is our goal to have them as playable and thick with grass all season so fertilization and cultural inputs will be paramount and scheduled aggressively throughout the season.
On a few greens we are noticing the Mini-Verde coming out from underneath the U3 and or Tif- Dwarf original grasses that were planted on the greens in 1946 and 1965 respectively. This is a treat for me because that means I can continually take the height of cut lower and lower on those greens as long as the Mini-Verde is fully spread throughout the green surface. I realize this may be a lot of information for most of you simply because of the complexity of the transition of the grasses. But suffice it to say the Mini-Verde is a true Ultra Dwarf grass and it can tolerate low mowing heights much less than where we are today on our original green grasses. In saying that we are currently at a height of cut that is the lowest it has been in recent history at Coharie, and the putting surface is true and the ball rolls well on it. The grass that you have seen for many years cannot tolerate a low height of cut, so we will be systematically, mowing at lower cuts on holes 1, 9 and 15. I will monitor the health of the grasses each day/week/month to insure we do not harm the quality of either grass from a putting standpoint. If all goes well, you should start seeing more (I am already seeing it) and more of the Mini- Verde in the coming months, which is the darker green colored grass within and under the yellowing or lighter color grasses.
After the Club Championship, we will continue on our aggressive verticut, top-dress and roll program, which is already serving us well.
The golf course is really starting to show its true color and splendor, I am excited about what I am seeing so early in the season. Great things are coming, I hope you are seeing the same thing. Until next month…
Fairways and Greens!
Mike Monk, GCSAA, PGA