As I sit and write this update, we have had a few moderate days regarding the temperature compared to the majority of July. As we stated in the last update, it has been a challenging month. With that being said, we are seeing a forecast that will consistently reach the low 90’s starting tomorrow, so we will be taking some precautions with some of our problematic areas. For example, the north practice putting green has seen the worst effect from the heat and high traffic. Therefore, we are going to close it until it sees sufficient recovery. The south practice green will be open during this period. I realize this can be an inconvenience for everyone, so we appreciate your patience as we get through this period.
We have started a special fertility program to help the greens through the season due to the high heat and water quality issues that have been magnified this year. The spray portion of this program will be every 6 days. This will be a slow process that will continue through the fall months into the rainy season. As we discussed in the previous update part of the recovery program will be using plugs from our nursery at #2 to facilitate the process.
Monday, we had the north driving range tee closed to perform some overdue maintenance work. We aerated it with vertical blades in two directions, applied 300 pounds per acre of seed, and heavily top-dressed the surface along with a fertility application. For the time being we are going to use the synthetic surfaces Monday – Wednesday to help the tee recover from the heat stress and usage.
Next Monday August 5th, the golf course will be closed the entire day for us to take the opportunity to perform needed maintenance. One of the procedures for Monday will be the replacement of the sod at #8 approach and catch area on the left with a species that will be more conducive for fairway heights. We were able to procure the needed square footage to perform this repair. This will require a large portion of our crew to complete in one day, but several will be available for fertility and spray programs also to take advantage of the opportunity. Along with the golf course closure, the range will not open until 2pm.
For the remainder of the season, we plan on publishing a blog every week to communicate to the membership.
Yours in turf,
Stacy L. Wallace, Golf Course Superintendent
Sonoma Agronomy 