An ounce of prevention sometimes doens't pay off

By now you may have noticed that the course doesn’t have the normal luster it usually has this time of year.  Since we completed our last major summer maintenance week in late September and began priming the course for the season, we’ve faced two separate and unrelated chemically-induced turfgrass damage incidents, both caused by manufacture error.  The odds of one incident occurring are low since I only use well established materials and suppliers; the odds of two incidents occurring within a 45-day period are immeasurable.   The good news is none of the damage is permanent and numerous steps are already underway, as discussed below, and the golf course will return to our high standards in a relatively short period of time.  

The areas that currently look dry or have become thin is a separate issue from the tip burn that happened about 45 days ago and reported on my blog posting of October 30th.  The tip burn was a short term issue and has gone away. The problem causing the thin spots on the course now is from a chemical I had applied to the soil that kills weeds as they emerge from a seed.  This type of chemical is known as a preventative herbicide.    

The preventative herbicide compound creates a barrier within the soil profile, sort of like a chemical tarp.  When a weed seed germinates and starts to develop its first root, the preventative herbicide kills the root and the plant before it is ever seen.  That same chemical compound that kills the new weed plant root is also having a negative effect on the celebration Bermuda grass.    To confirm my theory, I had the manufacturer out to the course on November 9^th to look at the damage and they have accepted blame for the injury.  It was explained to me that when the compound is applied to high sand content soil, sometimes the compound moves through the upper soil profile where it is intended to the lower root zone where the grass roots are located.  The result of the material in the lower root zone is that it prunes the roots it comes into contact with causing decline.  This is what happened to us and other courses in South Florida. In the picture below of an area damaged by the preventative compound you can see the very small amount of organics on the top of the soil probe and the large amount of clean sand below it.  The chemical moved right through the small amount of soil organics (the dark material at the top) and into the sand profile below.

 

If you look at where the injury on the course occurred the explanation makes sense.  Most of the injury is on tee tops, green surrounds, approaches, ridge lines between drains, and mounded areas.  All of these areas either receive large amounts of sanding or are constructed out of high sand content materials.  Additionally, some of the affected areas have the problems enhanced due to other stresses added to the weakened turf.  The extra stresses like cart traffic, low mowing heights, shade, and low water holding capacity when coupled with the effects of the root damage caused by the preventative herbicide are simply too much for some of the areas to take.  The result of which is causing the turf to thin out and become even more sparse. Areas like the one in the picture below will be replaced with new sod paid for by the chemical manufacturer.

Another telltale sign of the problem being chemical damage is when you can see drain line patterns show up as if they were excessively dry, even though the area is wet as seen in the picture below.  Since the drain trenches carry water away from the wet areas, it would make sense that the compound would accumulate there as well.  The areas in the right side of the picture below have a very fine textured heavy clay type soil structure as compared to the very course sandy soil structure on the left.  Remember, the high sand content areas that drain very well is where the problems are.  The inconsistency of the turf quality, as it relates to the application of the preventative herbicide, is due to the widely varying soil structure all over the golf course and how the preventative herbicide reacts to the specific soil structure.

 

Preventative herbicide use is very common on golf courses.  I have been using them at CCN  for 4.5 years with no ill effects.  So this is not a new process, just a new compound.  The reason for the new compound is analogous to the way people use medicines.  If we took penicillin every day to ward off infection, eventually that medicine will become less and less effective for us.  The same principle holds true for use of herbicides.  The continued use of the same chemical compound year after year will result in the production of herbicide resistant weeds.  So in following best management practices, I rotated product chemistries this year.  It just turns out that CCN is allergic, so to speak, to the chemical I used.

We only have one more week of the six- week compound residual.  The good news is that the golf course is fully fertilized and ready for the residual of the preventative herbicide to wear off so we can push turf growth.  Once the compound breaks down in the soil and the roots of the plant start to recover, there will be plenty of food for the plant to feed on.  The manufacturer of the compound is also sending me some material at no cost to the Club that will aide in pushing turf growth and recovery.  As a comparison, the only celebration on the course that didn’t get any of the preventative herbicide is around the clubhouse putting green and the grass is beautiful.  Also, the greens received none of the herbicide and they are great. 

 

I can tell you definitively that the grass on the course is on the mend. The pictures below are of 14 red tee one week apart. As you can see, there is a definite improvement.

  

Some areas however, we will not wait on to recover.  Over the next several days, you will see my staff out doing sod projects where I feel the grass is just too far gone to wait for it to recover.  These areas will be replaced and marked as ground under repair.

As with everything I do on the course, my goal is to always have an informed membership on the good…and the bad.  The damage on the golf course is not a permanent position and it is already improving and will continue to do so.  Thanks for your patience and enjoy the extra roll while it lasts.