Well

The well has been running for about 4 straight days. It's amazing how dry it's gotten so quickly. Most of June and July we were soaked and it's like it just shuts off in August. 

Along with the well comes problems with sodium in greens. We increase our calcium inputs to help offset the impact from the sodium. We also need to make an application to Fairways. I'm going to try and get 1000 lb per acre of gypsum down this fall on tees and Fairways this fall. 

Brent Graham, CGCS

Two Rivers Country Club

1950 Two Rivers Rd 

Williamsburg, VA 23188

Office: 757-258-4606

Punching greens

We started areifying greens this evening. I wanted to get a head start because it looks like it might get pretty warm tomorrow. We will do a few in the morning, stop before it gets too hot, then finish up on Tuesday. So far so good. They look ok. This is the first time we have pulled a core in a year. I wanted to develop some more thatch so the greens could withstand traffic a little better.  It worked but they were to the point or really needing to be opened up. 

A few of the greens were a little squirly after the areation (5, 2) but should be fine after a few rolls. We verticut, mowed, heavily top dressed, core aerified, rolled, brushed, and fertilized. The holes filled in nicely. 

This is always the most anticipated (and stressful) aeration.  It marks the end of a summer and signals the start of a great fall growing season. The August aeration is by far the most stressful for me because the greens are at their weakest after a full summer.  You have to be careful with how much you beat them up. The root depth is shallow this time of year, but the aeration along with cooler nighttime temps helps with new root initiation. 

Brent Graham, CGCS

Two Rivers Country Club

1950 Two Rivers Rd 

Williamsburg, VA 23188

Office: 757-258-4606

Green speed

Th Greens are a lot slower today. We have a 9am 18-hole shotgun this morning. Didn't have time to roll behind the mowers and took a day off from mowing yesterday. We are grooming the last few mows which stands the grass up before the mowers go over them. Initially this tends to slow the speeds a little, but will actually help long term speeds.  

Also we sprayed a fungicide that we had to water in yesterday...so that little extra water tends to slow them down as well. 

All in all it might be a good day to take it easy on them. We will do about 150 rounds today. 

Brent Graham, CGCS

Two Rivers Country Club

1950 Two Rivers Rd 

Williamsburg, VA 23188

Office: 757-258-4606

Greens

It's been getting dry. The greens speed has really picked up with some drier weather. Friday they were really fast, and even after a water Friday and Saturday night, they were still keeping their speed. 

The Bermuda is getting really dry. Been watering it a little bit, but keeping it on the dry side to increase roll. Things are coming together. I love when this course gets dry......it plays so much better.

Brent Graham, CGCS

Two Rivers Country Club

1950 Two Rivers Rd 

Williamsburg, VA 23188

Office: 757-258-4606

Soil samples

Taking some water and soil samples today. Monitoring soil nutrient levels is important to know where you are, and where you need to go. 

Brent Graham, CGCS

Two Rivers Country Club

1950 Two Rivers Rd 

Williamsburg, VA 23188

Office: 757-258-4606

Greens and rain

We got .3" of rain this morning before mowing. It then got sunny and kind of hot. They were kind of wet, followed by a full day of play really beat them up. I'm glad we just punched some holes in them and sprayed fungicide on Monday. This will help prevent any algae from developing.  

If this was in July, a day like this would really have me worried. Thank goodness it's the middle of August and temps are not really that high.  Still... the roots are as short as they have been all year, so you still have to do everything you can to help protect them with these type of environmental conditions along with this amount of play. 

We really need to aerify greens , remove some of that organic in the top inch and replace it with some fresh sand. This will help develop some new roots and improve overall plant heath. 

Greens are still in pretty good shape with ball roll remaining it the 10' area. I've been really happy with the consistency of ball roll throughout the summer. 

Brent Graham, CGCS

Two Rivers Country Club

1950 Two Rivers Rd 

Williamsburg, VA 23188

Office: 757-258-4606

Greens

We double cut greens this morning. That's why they were a hair faster than yesterday even after the rain. 

These cooler temps for a few days are a welcome sight. It's not been a terrible summer but it hasn't been that cool either. 

This is the time of year when all the guys get a little irritable. Everyone starts hitting that end of the summer wall.  Those 11-12 hr days handwatering the the afternoons get old the 2nd month in. 

September and October are extremely busy months with tournaments but they are still a welcome arrival because they come with some cooler temps. I kind of like the tournament season because you can focus on really getting the golf course as good as it can be without loosing sleep at night fretting over greens and the weather. 

Brent Graham, CGCS

Director of Golf Maintenance

Two Rivers Country Club

1950 Two Rivers Rd

Williamsburg, VA 23185

Office: 757-258-4606

bgraham@tworiversclub.com

Here we go

I just hope the bunkers don't wash out. Greens are already a little wet from the 0.5" last night but nothing you can really do about that. The bermuda rough could use a little water. 

Brent Graham, CGCS

Director of Golf Maintenance

Two Rivers Country Club

1950 Two Rivers Rd

Williamsburg, VA 23185

Office: 757-258-4606

bgraham@tworiversclub.com

Rough

We lowered rough a 1/4" (one notch on the mowers) to try and make the rough a little less tough. It's still scalping a little and making a mess, but should.help a little. 

Tomorrow we are going to start making growth regulator applications in the rough. This isn't something we usually do...but anything to help. The wet June and July has gotten this stuff really, really thick. One growth regulator application should get us through August, which is usually the toughest month to keep up with rough. 

With the exception of the rough, the rest of the course looks pretty good. Greens are great!

Brent Graham, CGCS

Director of Golf Maintenance

Two Rivers Country Club

1950 Two Rivers Rd

Williamsburg, VA 23185

Office: 757-258-4606

bgraham@tworiversclub.com

Dry in a hurry

It's amazing how fast things dry out this time of year. I ran over 600,000 gal of water on the course last night. 

I'm sure many of you have seen us out there handwatering greens.  The greens are in really good shape, you just have to stay on them this time of year.  The front of 5 is struggling a little but it's a small fraction of what we usually see on that green every year.  The roots are as short as they will get all year long, so they can go from fine to wilting in a heartbeat. Especially with some heat and lower humidity like we had yesterday. 

Brent Graham, CGCS

Director of Golf Maintenance

Two Rivers Country Club

1950 Two Rivers Rd

Williamsburg, VA 23185

Office: 757-258-4606

bgraham@tworiversclub.com

Weather

Gonna be pretty brutal the next couple of days but should start to cool off in August....I hope. 

The greens are in really good shape for this time of year. We should start to develop some new roots with cooler night time temps that August should bring and with that firmness will start to increase. 

Almost out of the tunnel. Just have to take it easy on them the next couple of days. 

Brent Graham, CGCS

Director of Golf Maintenance

Two Rivers Country Club

1950 Two Rivers Rd

Williamsburg, VA 23185

Office: 757-258-4606

bgraham@tworiversclub.com