Want to know why the course is looking "HUNGRY?"

It is great to see everyone back enjoying the course again.  It was a long summer and I hope everyone is ready for some outstanding winter golf.  Although it has been rather warm these last couple of weeks, it definitely beats the alternative up north! I was speaking with a member this morning regarding the course and turf conditions and I thought it would be appropriate to share with everyone the conversation.  The member expressed to me that although the course is playing exceptionally well, upon returning from up north the course didn't really meet their expectations aesthetically.  All I could do is say that I completely agreed so I wanted to let everyone know what happened and what is planned to remedy the problem.

Hungry turf- Needs to be fertilized

If you take a look at the course with a broad view, it looks like it needs to be fertilized.  That's because it does.  I have actually been fertilizing the course all summer and fall, but something unusual happened a few week ago to counteract my efforts.  The reason why the course looks "hungry" has to do with all of the rain a few weeks ago.  In very simple terms, the rain flushed out all of the nutrients in the soil and left nothing for the grass to use to grow.  Under normal circumstances I make regular light fertilizer applications which applies just enough to give the grass what is needed to be healthy.  I only have to apply a small amount because the soil has a reserve of nutrients built up that will sustain the grass until the next application.  The rain wiped out the soil reserves.  Additionally I only apply small amounts regularly so I can control the growth of the plant.  The grass plant is like my kids with candy, they both do not know when to stop eating.  All of the excessive consumption translates into problems!  For the grass it means excessive growth.  The excessive growth means lots of mowing, thatch production, playability problems and long term issues. 

Excessive growth from lots of fertilizer during grow in after the construction project...not good long term

So imagine now that you are walking the line perfectly between just the right amount of food for the grass and not enough.  Then all of the sudden you get knocked way into the "not enough" side because what was there was flushed down the toilet by 15 inches of rain. Now the only way you correct the lack of that much nutrients in the soil is to apply a massive dose of nutrients.  Guess what I had delivered yesterday?

Fertilizer Dump Trailer

I was going to have the entire course fertilized today (11/17/11), but we are supposed to get some weather later this afternoon into tonight that might include some rain.  I didn't want to have some freshly applied fertilizer get washed down the drains and be back in the same boat.  So next week I will have my staff apply the material to the course.  I had the fertilizer custom blended to give the course a quick shot of nutrients from about 25% of the fertilizer.  The remaining 75% of the material is a controlled release material that will give a slow feeding to the turf over the next 3-4 weeks.  This issue of the course not being as pretty as it has been in the past couple of years is only a temporary issue.  Once the course is fertilized next week it will explode with color and growth and we will be back to our normal selves.