Busy Times

Vertical Mowing



The EPCC golf course maintenance team has been busy working this week, from verticutting and topdressing to hand watering and fertilizing.  On Monday greens were verticut and lightly topdressed to help reduce thatch, promote air movement into the rootzone and increased water penetration.  Light, frequent topdressing has also shown to help in thatch reduction and decreased disease pressure.





Aerifying #15



Fairway and rough aerification continues, I want to thank all members for their help with keeping carts off the turf as we go through this process.







My 1 year old lab Remi checking heads



Injecting Water Into A Hot Spot















Tests

Collecting Soil Samples On #2

Last week we took soil and water samples to be tested, this will help us determine how to agronomically improve the health and condition of the turf. 

Water Samples

Current Tasks

We are currently aerifying areas in the fairways and rough where we have weak turf and compacted soils.  This process will help improve water infiltration, allow oxygen to enter the soil to aid with root growth and alleviate compaction.



Aerifying #18 Fairway



Aerification Holes









Early Morning Watering Of Aerified Areas

We are also working on our weed eradication program of Annual Bluegrass (Poa annua) and winter/spring annual broadleaves when weather permits.  The high winds make it difficult for us to spray during the day, so most of our applications are being made during early morning hours when the winds are calm.  We can do some spraying during windy conditions using a hooded boom attached to a mower, however, we are only able to treat smaller areas with the hooded sprayer.

No More Wind...For Now

The harsh West Texas winds have left us alone for a few days now, with low wind speeds we are finally able to get the irrigation water applied where it needs to be.  With improved water distribution and warmer temperatures on the horizon, it won't be long until the golf course fully wakes up from hibernation.

If you have been out to the golf course in the last couple weeks you may have noticed we have been running our well on number 17.  Due to below average snow fall at the Rio Grande head waters and below average rainfall in the region, the irrigation district has reduced our river water allocation this season forcing us to run the wells.  We will be running the wells during the day to help dilute the high amounts of sodium and bicarbonates found in our well water and increase the amount of irrigation water we have available between river water deliveries.  We are currently exploring new ways to improve water quality and conservation.

With the completion of tee aerification we will now move to fairways and rough.  We will concentrate on areas where we have a weak turf stand and compacted soils due to winter kill and cart traffic.  These areas will then be fertilized and have a wetting agent applied to aid in water retention.  This will be an ongoing process throughout the growing season.

Too Cool!

This morning I took some time to take some soil temperature readings on tees, collars and fairways to get an idea on where we sit.  Our average soil temperature was 58.3 degrees Fahrenheit taken at random locations throughout the entire property, bermudagrass will not start actively growing until soil temps. reach 65 degrees and our overnight lows stay consistently in the 50's, we are still seeing lows in the lower to mid 40's.  I also took some soil profiles to examine moisture, I'm starting to see some moisture loss due to winds drying out the soil and interfering with our irrigation cycles causing poor water uniformity and distribution.  Not to worry, soil moisture is still holding strong!

Tee aerification is nearing completion, all of the larger tees have been punched.  All we lack are the smaller tees that we will aerify with a smaller "pull-behind" aerifier.  Once tees are finished, we will start on fairways and rough.

Tomorrow we will be spraying greens, collars and approaches with a spray grade ammonium sulfate (21-0-0).  This process is known as "spoon feeding" which by using a liquid form, the fertilizer is absorbed foliar through the leaf blade and quickly translocated throughout the plant.  Granular fertilizer is absorbed through the roots which takes longer for the plant to take up the nutrients, however, higher amounts of nutrients are able to be absorbed through the roots rather than through the leaf blade.  Foliar applications are used to give the plant quick "bump" that can be noticed within 24 hours and has a very low burn potential due to lower application rates.  Spoon feeding is a very common practice on golf courses during the growing season.