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Old 04-28-2024, 04:13 PM
Laraine Laraine is offline
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As far as courses outside the bubble, it's kind of hit or miss. We played Stonecrest Golf Club in March, and it was a little weedy, but pretty green everywhere and nicely mowed. Last week, it was burned out with a lot of bare spots in the fairways and roughs. This was explained in the pro shop as being from lack of rainfall, to balance their effluent irrigation, which tends to burn the turf. We had the same contrasts at The Monarch at Royal Highlands, going from good to bad in a month. Deer Island CC was in pretty decent condition, early this month, but that could change also. From what I'm seeing, maintenance quality, inside the bubble, seems to be more consistent, outside of the few problem courses. Of course, this only applies to the championship courses--the executives have had a lot of problems this year. A lot can depend upon timing and the type and quantity of irrigation water used at a facility. Effluent irrigation, which is very common in FL, can build up salts in the soil, which need periodic flushing by fresh water, to keep from burning the grass. The golf courses also have consumptive use permits, which dictate how much water can be used. These can vary even between courses within TV, so some courses may have plenty of water while others struggle a bit.

Regarding Evans Prairie, and the Riley Grove 9 at Palmer, the problem was an application of a chemical to kill Poa annua (annual bluegrass), the little clumps of grass with seed heads. Unfortunately, the chemicals have become less effective in killing Poa, but in this case damaged the Bermuda. The Bermuda is coming back, now that the weather is warm enough to promote growth.

On Havana, a 4" thick organic layer had developed on the greens, from years of little management. They have been trying to slowly bring them back by frequent aerification, but from what I've heard (don't know for sure), they possibly went in and did more radical work to them, after the USGA visited.

El Nino wasn't the cause of the problems, but it did drastically make recovery more difficult. Bermudagrass requires lots of sun and warm temperatures to grow, and we had little of either this winter/spring.

I too have played Evans Prairie, and found it to now be in pretty good shape, with just a few bad spots. I haven't seen Havana, but hopefully the problems are being addressed, and it will be good in the years to come.