Hello everybody, and welcome to my first blog entry. Today I wanted to throw some information out there about the benefits of verticutting our putting greens. This is a cultural practice that I plan to implement in the spring and fall each year. Our team performed this task this past monday before mother nature opened the flood gates. The process uses many thin vertical blades to cut grooves into the surface of the green and then a light sand topdressing is applied to fill the grooves. The cutting action removes thatch as well as a small amount of leaf tissue which allows better water, nutrient, and air infiltration. Another benefit is a smoother surface which leads to a truer ball roll. This is produced because the grain of the grass is reduced. This process adds stress to the bentgrass which is why I will only do this in spring and fall when I know the turf can recover well. Below I have added a picture of our practice green after the verticutting process.
In other news, my Assistant Golf Course Superintendent has started and is going to be a huge asset for Staley Farms and myself. His name is Grant Sherwood and I will be adding his bio on this blog shortly.
Mother Nature has told me that there will be no mowing this week and she is threatening me about next week being the same. Staley has received near 4" of rainfall in the past 4 days. We have been able to squeeze in greens mowing and that is about it. So we have worked on some details like sprinkler and cart path edging. Hopefully this trend will change soon or we will be dealing with a large clipping mess the next time we do get to mow. Until next time, hit em long and straight.
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