As summer fades away, and the sure signs of fall are all around us, now is the best time to be on the golf course. The weather lately has been absolutely perfect. This past weekend, the golf course finally received some much needed rainfall. A storm rolled in mid-day Saturday and dropped 2 inches of rain over 4 hours. That's 4.3 million gallons over the entire golf course. Plenty of water to replenish soil moisture and refill our ponds.
Assessing the course this morning, I feel like the course is positioned nicely for fall. Our Bentgrass greens are enjoying this weather and playing conditions very good right now. The quality of our tees, fairways and surrounds will improve as well due to increased soil moisture, warm afternoons, and plenty of sunshine. I like this time of year on our Bermuda playing surfaces because they healthy and green, but the growth is slowed down due to the cooler nights. These night time lows in the 50's acts like a natural growth regulator. We are currently mowing all Bermuda once per week, down from three times a week for tees, collars and surrounds. This frees up precious labor to tackle other details that had been postponed.
It's been two weeks since greens were aerated and I am pleased with the recovery so far. The holes have filled in and the surface is smooth. Now that the sand is completely worked into the canopy, the grounds staff has begun lowering the height of cut down from our summer height of .150" to .120". Currently we are .130". We lower the height .005" after every third mowing to ensure that the turf doesn't get scalped during this process. Greens will be verticut and dusted with topdressing sand, this week, to continue to smooth and firm the surface.
As always, if you have any questions or comments, don't hesitate to contact me at 918-272-1175 or email me at ccook@cityofowasso.com
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