This week at Sunset: 1-2-2017


Happy New Year from The SCC Golf Course Maintenance Staff!


The past two weeks of 2016 was a repeat of what we’ve been dealing with for the last month: Rain, warm temperatures, and not a lot of sunlight. Now that we are in January and the winter season is upon us the course will dry out a little slower than normal. The short-cut areas really have held on to the moisture and as a result we have not had to run a lot of irrigation.  I apologize for the lack of pictures, I was out of town for a week and wasn’t able to capture some for this post.

In the past two weeks, I have concentrated on adding some speed to the greens. Since Dec. 21st, we have been mowing and rolling the greens at the same time rather than splitting up mowing days and rolling days. I did give the greens a break and only rolled them on Dec. 29th and so that Kevin, our mechanic, can check the reels and bedknives for quality of cut. My plan is to mow and roll more frequently as we get warmer temperatures. Also, I plan to use a growth regulator that will cause the turf to grow more laterally. This time of year is primetime for Poa Annua to pop and I have seen a few areas in the collars and approaches. With our mowing schedule and the growth regulator this will keep the poa in check.

We also lowered the height on the fairways, tees, and approaches for Poa Annua seedhead suppression. This will also give you all a little more roll to your ball on the fairways. I plan to gradually lower the height of the tees, fairways, and approaches over the next few weeks. I don’t plan to lower the height on the greens until February in preparation for the Pot ‘O Gold.

Last week, I received the soil test and nematode tests results from the greens, tees, and fairways. The soil tests will dictate what we apply to the turf throughout the growing season. The pH levels on the greens are pretty good and are pretty typical for the kind of soil profile we have. The nematode count is low and not really a concern. I will however be applying preventative applications to fight the threat of nematodes.


Thanks for following us this week as we strive to get better everyday. As always,  please feel free to reach out with any questions/comments that you may have by using this blog, Facebook page, or emailing me at davisjoey@hotmail.com. Thanks for reading!


See you on the course!

Joey Davis



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