September Heatwave: A Tough Stretch for the Greens

Managing Bentgrass greens through a tough summer is always a balancing act. Interestingly, pure heat isn't actually our biggest troublemaker. The real issues start when intense heat pairs up with high humidity and heavy, poorly timed rain. Because this summer was drier than normal, we were actually able to keep the turf quite manageable. We made it all the way to late August and completed our aerification during one of the most perfect, moderate weeks I can recall, with daytime highs in the mid-80s and nighttime lows in the 60s.

As a Superintendent, if you hit the end of August with healthy greens, you generally feel great about the season. But the battle isn’t over until autumn truly arrives, and September has been incredibly tough on our Bentgrass this year. According to the National Weather Service, this September has started out as the third hottest on record.

6 Green

The month started with brutal weather—temperatures in the mid-to-high 90s all week and heat indexes hitting 105+. That heatwave wrapped up with a 3.5-inch Friday evening downpour. Within a few days, the trapped moisture forced the greens into an anaerobic (oxygen-depleted) state, leading to some yellowing and thinning. The hot weather didn't let up either; the next week and a half brought more 90 degree days, another inch of rain and severe winds that knocked down trees throughout the neighborhood.

The difficult to swallow news is Member Guest starts tomorrow and it is not the product we worked so hard for all summer to present in mid-September. The hopeful news is that the greens have stabilized. However, they have thinned and are still in a very fragile state. To fully turn things around, we just need some classic fall weather: daytime temps in the low 80s and crisp 60-degree nights. This drop is crucial to lower soil temperatures significantly, which will give the plants the opportunity to initiate new root growth. When the roots are happy and growing, a great playing surface is never far behind.

How You Can Help Us Protect the Turf 

While we wait for Mother Nature to cooperate, the greens need a little extra care from all of us. You can directly help their recovery by following these quick practices during your round:

• Fix ball marks carefully: Thinned, fragile turf takes much longer to heal from impact. A clean repair helps prevent bare spots.
• Watch your step: Avoid twisting your cleats or dragging your feet on the green surfaces, as the weak root systems can easily tear right now.

Thank you for your patience and support as we guide the course through this difficult stretch of weather!

September is Finally Here

Welcome to September! Our daylight is now shortening by about two minutes a day, and the shifting angle of the sun is making its rays a little less intense. Put it all together, and we are looking forward to cooler days and some truly ideal golfing weather.

A Challenging First Week of September

Unfortunately, last week did not go entirely according to plan. We faced a few unexpected hurdles across our courses:

Hydraulic Leaks

We started the week dealing with two separate hydraulic leaks. The first occurred on a brand-new fairway mower at the Farm, where a factory fitting worked loose and left a thin line of fluid across two and a half fairways. While you might assume factory quality control ensures all fittings are properly secured, experience has taught us otherwise. Our mechanics check every fitting on new mowers before they enter service, but this leak still managed to happen. One of our most senior and experienced operators was running the machine, but the leak was so faint it was impossible to see from the driver's seat. Fortunately, a fellow worker riding down the fairway noticed the oil, inspected it closely, and quickly flagged down our operator.

The second leak happened at Irving Park on an herbicide sprayer. Unlike mowers that travel back and forth—allowing operators to spot issues on a previous pass, a sprayer drives around spot-spraying, making it difficult to see what is happening directly behind the machine. Because of this, the leak went a lot further than we would have preferred. Equipment leaks are never welcome, but suffering two in the same week was highly unfortunate.

Aerification on the Farm Greens

It is not uncommon for us to aerify greens this time of year using small, solid tines that golfers rarely notice. This is done to unseal the turf surface and provide a better root-growing environment during the shoulder season, much like the non-disruptive aerification we perform in the spring.

However, unlike Bentgrass, which thrives during these transitional months, Ultradwarf Bermuda roots naturally slow down their growth at this time of year, making them susceptible to disease. Over the past several years, we have struggled with a disease on the Farm greens called Take-All Root Rot. As the name implies, this fungus attacks the roots in mid-spring and late summer when warm-season grass slows down metabolically. While past spray programs were only moderately effective, we recently upgraded our protocol and had been seeing great results. Unfortunately, during the last week of August, a few symptoms began to reappear.

To get ahead of it, on the first Monday in September, I decided to mix a few small coring tines in with our solid tines. This allowed us to apply our fungicide and water it deeply into the soil, which is the most effective way to treat the issue. With temperatures forecasted near the high 90s, I anticipated the holes would close up within 7 to 10 days. Today marks day 8, and while they will not be fully healed in the next two days, progress is being made.

With the 1909 Member-Guest right around the corner, I know many of you are concerned about the quality of the greens. Please rest assured that I am confident we have enough time to get the greens to the elite level you expect for this flagship event.

Nearly Back-to-Back Storms

As many of you who live nearby know firsthand, the Irving Park course was hit by two significant storms just three weeks apart. The storm on August 9th took down five trees on the course and dropped 1.25 inches of fast, furious rain. Last week’s storm did not fell any course trees, but it brought down an enormous volume of limbs and debris and 3 additional inches of rain. Sadly, several neighborhood homeowners experienced trees falling on their homes during both events. Clean-up for both storms has been highly labor-intensive. We still have lingering repair work at Irving Park, getting us a late start as we pivot our focus toward tournament preparation.