As we discussed in the last blog, several greens have portions of Poa annua that have stressed out during the summer months due to heat, water quality, and in a few cases disease. Since then, we have switched to a more carbon based fertility program on the greens to help the plants with water and nutrient management. Along with that we implemented some deep flushing to get the sodium and bicarbonates through the profile and get them away from the root system. We are seeing improvement with these practices. Hopefully we will have a normal winter season this year and push off irrigation water cycles until April or even May like normal. As stated in the last blog, the watering cycles started mid-March this year.
As far as July projects, the cart path contractor finished up yesterday. During this phase, we repaired approximately 2500 square feet of cart path on hole #16 and one spot on hole #14. Along with that we had the bridge at #7 repaired and refinished. The only items remaining are installing new matting on #7 bridge when we receive it and blending the soil and turf into the new cart path edges. We have the next phase of cart path work scheduled to start October 11th. Below are a few pictures of the cart path and bridge work.
The last item we want to discuss is a reminder of the gate system we have in place to control traffic at the tee and green areas. Without some form of control, certain areas would turn to dirt due to the traffic patterns that arise on a hole. With that being said, we have noticed an uptake of people not using the initial gate off the tee for some reason. Please help us out with the golf cart traffic to control the compaction they create in high traffic areas.
Yours in turf,
Stacy L. Wallace, Golf Course Superintendent
Sonoma Agronomy 
Thanks so much for this great detailed update – keep up the great work! We appreciate all the hard work!
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