Week of May 24th
- Michael Curtin
- May 24, 2024
- 2 min read
Ipswich had a week of high temperatures with the daily highs being well into the 80's and even our first 90 degree day of the year. The agronomy team spent the week catching up on rough mowing, weed whacking, and a number of pesticide applications. Prep work for the 12th green walk on area also continued. Sod for this area is scheduled to be delivered next Wednesday, May 29th. After the 12th green walk on area is sodded the team's attention will shift to the turn around area on the 10th tee behind the blue tee.
Applications Made:
Tees sprayed with a pre-emergent and for annual bluegrass weevil
Rough pre-emergent sprays continued
Greens sprayed twice:
Wash in spray with fertility and for annual bluegrass weevil
Foliar spray with fertility, fungicide, and plant growth regulation
Greens:
At this point the greens have just about healed from aerification and the remaining top dressing sand has worked its way completely into the canopy of the turf. During the healing process we had been using our older greens mowers to keep our new Toro TriFlex mowers sharp, but will now be switching back to using our newer model mowers. These mowers have a better quality of cut. We will also be dropping our greens HOC (height of cut) down to our normal summer levels. Our regular season spray program for our greens has also started which includes consistent applications of fertility and plant growth regulation. This should result in a increase in consistent playing experience on the greens in the coming weeks. Now that the topdressing sand is fully worked into canopy regular rolling will also start to take place.
PSA:
Bug Spray Use
The picture above is of the large practice green. You might notice what looks like the green outline of a shoe in the middle of a patch of browned out looking turf. This is what happens when you apply bug spray to your legs while standing on turf. It is especially noticeable if done while standing on short mowed turf like a green or tee. When applying bug spray please do so while standing on the cart path. Thankfully spots such as these are generally able to grow out of any damaged occurred within a few weeks.
Walkers heading to the 2nd Tee: The area directly behind the 2nd gold tee along the road/sidewalk that contains a few forsythia bushes is not part of golf course property. This area is actually home owner property and golfers cutting through between these forsythia bushes have been causing damage to these bushes. When going from the first green to second tee please remain on the sidewalk and enter the tee area along the cart path the same way carts do. If necessary this area will have to be roped off to discourage its use.
Wildlife:
