Course Update

January 1^st is the unofficial beginning of our peak golfing season, when the course is slammed wall-to-wall with play. It also happens to be the coldest time of year; and warm season grasses on Florida golf courses hibernate as soil temperatures drop below 65^o F.

Our winters are roller coasters with regards to temperature. Turf quality throughout Florida fluctuates up and down, as cold fronts can be followed by weeks of moderate temperatures. Several early frosts in late October/early November were followed by weeks of warm weather in December and early January, as daytime highs reached the lower 80’s. This created healthy green color on golf courses.  A cold front came in this week, and we were covering our plants, as temperatures reached the freezing point in some areas. Lower temperatures will now cause the turf to go off color once again, and, no doubt, there will be some grumbling by golfers over lack of color. Rest assured that the course will green up again as temperatures rise.

Pencil-tine Aerification

We  performed the first of four “pencil-tine” aerifications this Tuesday. Aerification achieves three things. It relieves soil compaction, it provides a method to improve the soil mixture around the highest part of a green’s roots and it reduces or prevents the accumulation of excess thatch. A pencil tine aerification is much different from the aerifications we do over the summer. A pencil aerification is simply more of a maintenance aerification, that punches very small holes to allow more air and water to penetrate the soil. The aerification is followed immediately by our rollers. Once the green is rolled, it is hard to see that anything was done. The disruption to the playability of the golf course is kept to an absolute minimum. The only disruption is that the Golf Shop must run straight tee times for us to accomplish this. This process will be done on the second Tuesday of each month through April.