Another piece to the puzzle

Greens were lightly topdressed followed by a needle tine aeration on Tuesday.   This practice provides great plant health benefits and it is performed 2-3 times a season.

• Allows oxygen into the roots zone and toxic gases that build up to be released. 
• Improves water and fertilizer to enter the soil profile. 
• Reduces soil compaction

This is a minimally invasive procedure and as I write this post today the holes are almost gone. 

The sand helps dilute the thatch which keeps the greens firm and aids in ball roll.  This practice does slow the greens down for a few days since we are not mowing the greens with sharp blades.  Tomorrow I will mow greens with a sharp set of reels so I expect you will see a improvement on the putting greens.

The annual bluegrass weevil(ABW) first generation is almost completed.  I sampled a dead area of grass on the 8th fairway yesterday and found a 3rd instar, pre pupae, and a callow adult.  Callow adults are easily identifiable because they are reddish brown and found at the soil/thatch interface.

My hypothesis is that the wet and cool soils during May delayed egg laying and hatching of larvae.

These larvae are about the size of a grain of rice and if high numbers are present the larvae will kill the poa annua plants.  Consequently i feel my insecticide application was a few days too early and did not get the majority of the larvae.  The first generation is the most devastating of all three generations. I think this year the egg hatch was asynchronous which Im hopeful will result in less damage in subsequent generations this summer.

As you may have noticed the off color areas in the fairways and this is damage from ABW larvae.  I recently applied a light foliar fertilizer and wetting agent to the fairways and they responded well.

Overall the course is in great shape.  Please help me keep the course in shape by fixing your ballmarks, raking your traps, and picking up your practice balls when the golf shop is closed.

Ill see you out in the fairways!