Life and Death

Tragedy has struck our maintenance team. Barney Blackshear's brother
> passed away unexpectedly yesterday afternoon. I believe the cause to be a
> brain aneurysm. Services are this week. He did not have insurance
> therefore, the family is trying to do some fund raising for funeral
> services.
> Our Equipment technician Ryan Lee is part of their family and is with 
> the family. It is hard to stay focused at the task at hand. However, I
> must keep pushing ahead.
>
> I came in this morning to a failure in the pump house. No water ran last
> night after very hot Sunday temperatures. I am working on the fix with a
> short staff. Many greens wilted pretty heavily over night and we are
> working quite hard to get some recovery. I have parts being fabricated as
> I type and delivery will be this afternoon. I have spoken with our pump
> maintenance people and they are checking their schedule to fit us in to
> ensure the station is back up and running as well as it can.
>
> The pythium in the fairways has come back and we sprayed for it yesterday.
> The anthracnose on the greens is back and active and as soon as we can
> cool the greens down this morning we will be spraying for it. We are also
> adding a wetting agent to the greens to help retain some moisture during
> this record setting weather.
>
> It was the hottest July on Record with an average high of 89.2. That is
> 6.2 degrees higher than average. According to NOAA data, our July weather
> was the same as St. Petersburg Florida.
> We are doing everything we can under these horrific circumstances.

Hot and Humid

The LA Belle is now behind us and The Bellringer is just a short couple of weeks away. My staff and I are focused on the first week of August.  The weather pattern we are in right now has warranted some changes to our maintenance programs. The stress on the turf is very high during these extended hot and humid spells. We will be mowing greens every other day but we will roll every day. You may see a drop in greens speeds, however this is the sort of protocol we need in place to get our turf through this very stressful period. The irrigation system is running as best as it can. Once again, we really see just how efficient or non efficient the system is here at Lakelands. When the weather breaks, we will plan to replace the 2
isolation valves that failed last week. One valve is in 18 fairway about 30 yards from the green, and the other is right beside the cart path on 3 close to the green.

The forecast for the remainder of the week calls for highs in the 90's and lows in the 70's with very humid air. This is a perfect storm for another disease called pythium. Pythium can grow and kill a green over night. Hot, humid, moist conditions like what we are experiencing is the recipe for pythium and many other turf diseases as well. Basically, we have a petre dish of turf diseases waiting to express themselves when the right
environmental conditions are there . We have many different chemistry's on the turf right now and  we are on full alert scouting all turf areas for outbreaks.

The following information was sent out yesterday from the turf team at MSU under the direction of  Dr. Joe Vargas.

The hot weather is here and more importantly so are the warm nights. When the nighttime temperatures stay above 68 F, diseases like anthracnose and crown rot anthracnose, brown patch and Pythium blight become a problem. If the warm nights are accompanied by heavy rain showers, then summer patch will also be a problem. If you have not made preventive fungicide applications for these diseases they should be made now. If any of these diseases are already present, curative fungicide applications should be made before the diseases become worse. Remember, if the disease is present, systemic fungicides need to be applied so they can enter the plant and stop the fungus from destroying more tissue. Also, these hot temperatures will stop root growth and cause any roots already present to suberize. This means the turfgrass root systems will not be functioning very well. This is the time to bypass the root system and foliar feed the turf. Needless to say, these hot temperatures will require a lot of hand watering to keep the turf alive. Good luck to everyone and try to stay cool. Dr. Joe Vargas MSU Turf Team

The Heat Is On!!

As we head into July, the heat is on and no rainfall in site. The irrigation system is being well tested right now. Today we will dust the greens with a very light top dressing. Topdressing with sand helps firm the greens for smooth,true, fast surfaces.
Enjoy and stay cool.

Season to date

Wow it has been a busy Spring, needless to say for the lack of new postings! We received 11 inches of rain in April. In May, another 9 inches fell. Since the end of May the faucet turned off and the turf had been growing vigorously. We successfully aerified all the greens. Eliminated the right fairway bunker on 1 and have sodded many areas around the course that needed repair.
Yardage markers have been installed thanks to the help of members Mr.Saunders,Mr. Kinstler,Mr.Palmer and and the dynamic duo of Mr. and Mrs. Sterzinger. Thank you to everyone for your hard work and dedication to your club.
We have seen of late, a migration of turtles onto the course. It appears that both snapping and painted have come out of the "lakelands" to the course to find spots for egg laying and burying. If you see these reptiles, don't fret, they are on a mission and know just what they are doing and where they are headed. We have begun adding sand to bunkers  on 7 and 8 as well as the chipping green bunker.

April showers brought May showers

After 11 inches of rainfall hit Lakelands in April, we have had 4 inches thus far in May. It rained 1.75 inches alone on Friday May 13. Amazingly, we allowed carts out on Saturday May 14. We drain very very well on most of the course with exception of holes 7,11 and 13. While most clubs closed for the day after such a huge amount of rain, we were open and carts were out. Most all the bunkers were washed out. The cart path at 7 washed out and required about 45 minutes repair alone.

Additionally, when heavy rainfall hits us, we have a flooded maintenance facility. We have challenges with every step. We try to overcome these challenges with a smile and sense of accomplishment. The team looks forward to some sunny and warm weather.

New member of the turf team

The 2011 maintenance team roster is finally set. We had many apply to be part of our winning team and fortunately we were able to negotiate a compensation package that worked for both parties. Please welcome Reece Philip Matthews to Lakelands. He comes to us with 4 1/2 years of experience and is able to operate most every piece of equipment we have. His is an avid golfer and admits his favorite club in his bag is his driver. When you see him out on the course, please welcome him with a thumbs up.
The weather has certainly changed for the better in the last week. The course is looking great heading into May. Come out to the club and enjoy all that Lakelands is.

Greens Aerification

Healing from aerification typically takes 10 - 14 days. With the cooler than normal temperatures we have had this spring, and the 4'th wettest April on record, recovery is slow. As we all wait for sunny and warmer days, so do the greens. We continue to feed the greens and monitor their progression.
Our summer annual preventative weed and crabgrass applications have been made and the fairways and tees have been fertilized.  You may be asking what are all the flags along the drive coming into the maintenance facility? We are having a new communication cable installed this week. The rainfall of April delayed the installation. The cable will be trenched in right along the gravel road. It will be back filled and flags will be pulled. Greens expansions are growing in nicely. As we continue to work the areas, we ask for your patience with this process.