Dear Members,

The week of aeration went well with excellent weather and nearly a half inch of rain falling the following weekend. As far as weather goes, you couldn't ask for much better. Tees, approaches and fairways were aerated, top dressed and are again back to normal.

Unfortunately, however, a good portion of our greens are not recovering as expected. Holes 1-12, 18 and the practice greens are off color, growing slowly and looking subpar. Greens on holes 13 – 17 are looking normal and recovering as expected. It is my belief the affected greens are showing sensitivity to a product used to control the reeds in the pond over winter.

Our efforts to control the reeds included herbicide applications to inhibit future growth. We thoroughly researched the products used, discussed our plan with experts in the field and tested the pond water several times throughout the process ensuring the water’s safety for irrigation. The final test before using the water gave us confidence that it was clear for use. However, our bentgrass greens were sensitive to trace quantities of the product that remained in the water even though they showed to be well below the safe irrigation thresholds. Ryegrass in the fairways and roughs stand unaffected.

What we are seeing is a significant stunting of the bentgrass. The greens look unsightly and off color but if you look closely at the surface there are a lot of green shoots trying to push through. This is encouraging and I am confident recovery will come. It may take longer than normal, but it will come. Under normal circumstances I expect recovery from aeration in 3 – 4 weeks, but with the current situation we will most likely be delayed a bit longer.

Holes 13 – 17 are irrigated with a separate water source which is why we see no ill effect on these holes.

We continue to gently encourage growth with light and frequent foliar applications and reduce traffic whenever possible. Our efforts will be diligent, we will take great care and will do everything we can to speed recovery and return the greens to the conditions we all expect.


We appreciate your patience and understanding.

Sincerely,

Dale Engman

Mayacama | 1240 Mayacama Club Drive | Santa Rosa, CA 95403
www.mayacama.com