Death from Above

If you were wondering what all the brown spots on 16 green are you have to look above. No, there wasn't a crazy party last weekend with spilled beer and liquor, that would be a travesty (Cause I wasn't invited). The damage is from our (un)friendly neighborhood Blue Herons. The fish that the heron consumes are highly acidic and moments after the bird goes the grass is destroyed. We have actually watered down the spots within minutes to no avail. Kevin will begin repairing the damaged spots using plugs from the LC green.

Looks like it's time for a motion activated water cannon!!

Late Season Aerification

In the coming weeks our staff will be aerifying greens, tees , and fairways.

The greens will be vented using a bayonet tine(1/4" X 1" X 6") which leaves a small slit on the surface. This process will help reduce compaction and more importantly help with gas exchange. The slit is wide enough to allow beneficial oxygen to enter the root-zone.
Later in December we will deep-tine the greens using a 1/4" by 10" tine which open channels to eliminate any standing water heading into winter.

 
The tees will be core aerified in November with 3/4" tines to remove as much thatch as possible heading into winter. We will top-dress heavily to fill the holes as well as cover the plant for winter protection.

The fairways will be punched using 3/4" solid tines in November as well as a two direction slice in December. This will aid in water removal as well as compaction.