There was some chatter back in May and June that the greens were too fast and the fairways were too tight. Clearly, the weather was the contributing factor in our greens rolling in the mid 15s to 16 for a few weeks and our fairways yielding more than 30 yards of roll following tee shots. This is not normal for Arcola and while we thoroughly enjoyed seeing the course play to its full potential with little inputs, we knew eventually it would come to an end.
Growth regulators help control growth. They are a key part of most golf courses' management plans. They also help the greens retain speeds longer during the day, slowing growth down a bit. For fairways, we use growth regulators to reduce growth, but more importantly slowly lessen our poa populations. Certain regulators are harsher on poa than others and you have to be very careful with what chemicals you mix with them so you do not over regulate the poa and possibly eradicate it altogether. When humidity rises and rainfall is more often, growth regulators often become less effective due to grass remaining more lush and having less time to dry out. While we enjoyed several weeks of no clippings and firm conditions, we are now looking at lush green grass everywhere, regardless of our management practices.
The pile of clippings you see is from 1 and 9 fairway only. They are still tight but out growing the regulators we have on them. Extra clippings mean excess growth, so we will ride out this weather stretch until growth slows down and things dry out. We have put very little water on them in the past 14 days, despite the hot temperatures of late. You will now see a reduction in ball roll off the tee and on the greens. More rain and humidity forecast for this coming weekend, so no light at the end of the tunnel just yet.
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