Different Grasses on the Greens

Many will notice our greens look like a patch work quilt, this is due to the many different species of grasses we have on our greens.  Over the almost 100 years of our greens existence, the greens have evolved into what they are today through grass selection or the strongest survive selection.  All of the different looking patches on the greens, such as visible in the picture above, are a strain of Poa Annua.  This grass has been around forever and is the main intruder or weed in any green setting.  We cannot remove poa so we manage it the best we can and can obviously make it work well in our green setting.  The older perennial type poa's like we have, actually are a better putting surface than most bentgrass cultivars on the market today.  The problem with poa is that it produces seed heads and can impede smooth ball roll.  We time the application of growth regulators in the spring to inhibit or eliminate the seed from forming.

Mike O'Neill
GCS

Spraying for Poa Seedheads.

Today we applied our first chemical application of the season well over 2 weeks earlier than ever before.  This spray application is targeting seedheads that the Poa grass produces early in the spring.  The spray has to be timed perfectly to be effective in keeping the seeheads from forming and creating a very bumpy uneven putting surface.  We have timed the spray perfectly every season I have been here and we are hoping for another home-run on this years application.  This crazy weather has got us on the run very early in the season, hopefully the summer will not be as extreme as the late winter early spring has been so far.

Mike O'Neill
Superintendent

The Golf Season is Upon Us Early!

The golf course will open today, Monday March 12th at noon and will remain open for the foreseeable future. The weather forecast looks very promising for the remainder of the week as well as the extended forecast.  If the weather remains relatively dry we will allow carts in the near future as well.  The grounds crew we have will be working to make the course as playable and clean as possible.  We have accomplished a significant amount of tree "limbing" this mild winter and I believe many golfers will appreciate the new open to look to many golf holes.  See you on the course!

Mike O'Neill
Superintendent