Dear members
We finally saw some improvement in the weather conditions however considering it was December it was still far from normal conditions for this time of year. Temperatures remained well below average up until the Christmas period where it was only then when we finally reached 30 degrees. The past week has been much more consistent with little rain, very warm temperatures and my stress levels increasing to coincide with the sudden change of weather. Getting hot weather between Christmas and the New year is always difficult as the public holidays see everyone away from the course for many days. Thankfully we got through it relatively unscathed and returning to more normal staff conditions is always welcome past the New Year break.
GREENS
Without a doubt the most positive outcome of the cooler weather prior to Christmas has been our ability to maintain the putting surfaces which up until December 22nd had not required any irrigation at all. Only in the past week have we seen the sprinklers turned on regularly which ironically has me now pleading for rain. This has seen a small drop off in green speeds due to applying more water while additionally not cutting and/or rolling as frequently to relieve stress on the plant.
We were able to undertake a few cultural practices throughout the month but we were limited due to a number of golfing days taking precedence over our maintenance program which is always a juggling act through the busier times of the year and lots of golfers are on the course. It is my hope that we will be able to give the greens a dusting of sand and a verti cut within the first couple of weeks in January.
With the forecasted hot conditions the greens received a granular fertiliser application just prior to Christmas to help with their heath and disease tolerance while also giving myself some piece of mind while the many public holidays took place. This also allowed me to focus more on applying the correct amounts of water (hand watering) during this period knowing the grass was getting the required nutrients over a more extended period.
My number one focus during the summer period is to produce healthy greens and so far we are on track. To see their current state after a week of dry and very hot conditions is really pleasing and we have them in a good place heading into the middle of summer.
FAIRWAYS/TEES/SURROUNDS
The current areas negatively affected are our santa ana surfaces which have yet to take off completely into their dense surface that we would normally see over the new year period. This by no means indicates they are in bad shape and they are still playing and performing really nicely, but compared to normal years they are yet to be at their typical best.
We have seen the emergence of poa (winter grass) into these surfaces due to the wetter/cooler conditions which typically would have died off by Christmas. Its my hope that it will be mostly gone by late January with the increase in temperatures to which we will then apply a pre-emergent to hopefully eradicate it once temperatures cool off. We also applied a fertiliser just before Christmas at a slightly higher rate than normal to try and give the grass a bit of help in developing the density we would hope for. With conditions now expected to improve I fully expect our fairways to be primed early into 2023.
On the flip side our cool season tees and surrounds benefited greatly from the wetter conditions up until Christmas however there has been a noticeable drop off in some of these areas in the past week as the temperature has spiked. The surrounds especially now becomes a juggling act to try and keep these areas healthy as they require more water than the greens need. Because the greens are always the number one priority the surrounds don’t get the required amount of water when conditions get hot which does see them suffer. Rainfall is certainly our friend at any time during this period of the year.
ROUGH
There have been few days over the past month where the rough mower and/or slasher have not been out on the course as we attempt to keep up with its rapid growth. Where our time was reduced on areas such as fairways and greens this past month it was quickly turned to this area of the course and keeping up has continued to be a real challenge. I can say that as of December 29th we have most of the course now cut to a respectable height which is one less stress to worry about.
The course as a whole is now in great shape and January is typically the month where it’s at its very best. I hope you all have a great holiday period that’s filled with a few games of golf at Drouin and that the New Year brings more of the same.
Ryan Hammond
DG&CC Course Superintendent.
