There are a few topics I want to hit on here. First is the green speed. All the fertilizer we have been pumping into the turf while the weather was cold is really starting to kick in now that the soil temperatures have increased. Last week they were rolling at 9.10 in the morning then speeding up to around 10.7 as they dried up. This morning they were rolling 9.5 right after mowing, so they are slightly slower to begin with, but the big difference is that now as they dry up they are also growing, which is keeping them at the same speed throughout the morning and actually slowing them up slightly later in the day. We are adjusting mowers and scheduling a little heavier top-dressing and Primo Growth Regulator application to help increase the speeds again. But please remember that this will take a little time to get accomplished. I have also talked to several other Superintendents who are facing the same challenges with green speed right now.
Unfortunately, I have run out of time and need to head to our weekly staff meeting. I will try to get back to this later today or tomorrow morning.



Now that I'm back and have a few minutes I want to talk about the old cup plugs on the greens. My best cup changer Harry Ludwig has been on vacation for the best part of two weeks now, so we have been trying to break in a few new guy's at changing cups. We usually try to send these new guys back around to raise or lower the old plugs as needed until they get the hang of it. It's not the easiest thing to learn and get good at, especially when we have to do so many of them while it is still dark outside, because we go double tee or shotgun starts every day. Now between being one guy short on vacation and getting hit with that wind storm last week, we have struggled to find the time to get them back to do that. I don't think people realize how much extra work that wind causes for us. Besides all the extra cleanup around the clubhouse and patio areas, we must send one or two guys out with back pack blowers to blow the Pine needles off of several of the greens as the mowers do not pick them up. We also must send out both of our turf vacuums to pick up all the needles around those holes, which is also very time consuming. Hopefully you can see how bad it is from this picture and can imagine what it would be like to play through it if we did not clean it up.