Agronomic practices......explained

We do many things on the golf course which may leave you scratching your head.  Why do we put sand on the greens?  Why do we verticut the greens?  Why did we circle cut fairways?  Why do you spray greens so often?  Why is the rough so thick?

These are just a few of the questions I get, so I will try to answer as best as possible.

The reason we verticut is to remove excess thatch and try to control grain.  Along with verticutting we also use brushes mounted to our mowers to promote an upright plant.  It is crucial to verticut greens often.  During a grow in of new greens a Champion bermuda specialist told me this; If you don't verticut and topdress Champion bermuda it will grow itself to death.  This grass is very aggressive and we have to control it.  That statement has definatley stuck with me.  This is also the reason we put sand on the greens.  By doing this it fills voids in the turf canopy and helps smooth the surface, providing a better ball roll.

We circle cut fairways from time to time to get a better cut.  Since we are "old school" and mow fairwys with a gang mower it is tough to truly cut all blades of grass.  Our fairways aren't great, with dips and low spots which results in missed lines or "mowhawks" that the large reels just can't mow in straight lines.  So we circle cut, which really cleans them up.  We will have to do this once every 2 or 3 weeks during the growing season.

I know you have seen me on the red Toro sprayer driving around.  It is one of our most important pieces of equipment.  I prefer to "spoon feed" fertilizer and nutrients to the greens.  I spray small amounts of different products on a weekly basis, usually on Thursdays.  I feel as if I have more control of what greens are doing and what they need by doing this.  Weekly tanks usually consist of soluble fertilizer, micronutrients, fungicides and growth regulators.

Rough.  I know it's thick!  I have several responses to this.  We have had OVER 50" of rain through July(and it's rained an Inch this morning).  Combine that with heat and BOOM, we have the healthiest rough since I've been here.  Another response is the fact that our terrain is not good.  Rocks, roots, low spots, high spots are many reasons we just cannot mow very low.  Our equipment would be in the shop for repair on a daily basis if we tried to mow much lower.