Repairing Summer Damage
In
the summer of 2002 2nd year drought conditions stressed the greens. Heat and
disease took their toll. Fungus set in and slowly killed patches. An August
application of chemicals in extremely hot
weather killed large patches of the bentgrass greens.
The
dead spots were thatched and reseeded. It was hot and windy for a long time,
making it difficult to get seed to germinate. When it did it was patchy and slow
growing. It took most of the fall to get 1/2 coverage on just about all the
greens.
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Over the
winter it was thought that the fungicide used was acting as a pre-emergent
keeping the seed from germinating and restricting it's growth.
In the spring fungicide application was limited giving the new seed time to become established.
It took a long time to re-establish the patches.
By
the end of the season in 2003 the Puttgarden has still not been doing well.
After many attempts to rehabilitate it we now believe that the use of a
pre-emergent herbicide has been the culprit. The use of it is what has changed
over the seasons (from when it used to grow very well).
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