Implementing aeration strategies on cool-season turfgrass during severe summer stress may cause damage that requires weeks to recover. Simply because the date of aeration is on the calendar should not mean there are not other options. It is important for both superintendents and golfers to be flexible.

During the last two years, weather extremes throughout much of the country have provided major challenges for golf course superintendents and their ability to maintain expected playing conditions. The intense heat in the Southeast, the extreme drought and heat in the southern U.S., or flooding rains experienced in much of the Mid-Atlantic Region and portions of the Midwest, just to name a few, remind us that Mother Nature reigns supreme in the golf course business. In spite of these weather extremes, expectations for golf course conditions remained at a high level. This places the superintendent in a precarious position, and decisions are often made to satisfy immediate expectations when the goal should be to keep the grass as healthy as possible during stressful conditions. Short-term thinking usually contributes to turfgrass decline and deteriorating playing conditions that could have been avoided. What follows are a few suggestions for superintendents and golfers to limit some of the most common causes of self-inflicted injury.

Low mowing can create fast putting speeds but can be detrimental to turf health.

Golf course superintendents are tasked with providing good playing conditions. For putting greens, "good" playing conditions generally correlates to desired putting speed, smoothness, and firmness, with speed being especially important for some golfers. Putting speed has increased significantly over the years and is continually trending upward. There are a variety of techniques and tools for increasing putting speed, but the most common has been to simply decrease mowing height. Over the past several decades, equipment manufacturers have improved technology to produce sophisticated mowers that can cut at less than 0.1 inch. Likewise, turf breeders have developed varieties that can tolerate lower heights of cut. Yet, the envelope has been continually pushed and turf is stressed when maintained constantly at a low height of cut.

A significant shift in techniques for providing fast putting green speeds has been occurring over the past several years in the Florida Region. This new way of providing optimum playing conditions is radically different from traditional techniques. Whereas conventional conditioning through low mowing stresses turf health, this newer technique does not because it does not utilize low mowing.

For the 35th consecutive year, the annual Green Section Education Conference was held in conjunction with the 2012 Golf Industry Show (GIS). This year's program, held on March 2, addressed the theme, "Improving Your Golf Course Management Odds." The Green Section's staff totals 420+ years of experience, and the session highlighted some of the lessons learned and changes witnessed in the turfgrass management field.

At several golf courses around the United States, a problem concerning the gradual thinning and death of bentgrass greens has created a great deal of concern. Unexplained yellowing and elongation of grass blades has been a nuisance in some locations, while significant damage has occurred on bentgrass greens on other sites.

From 2011 through 2014, the USGA has committed more than $250,000 toward a range of research projects at universities to understand the cause of this problem and to elucidate effective treatments and best management practices to prevent the yellowing, thinning, and loss of bentgrass putting greens. Research projects are being conducted at Michigan State University, The Ohio State University, North Carolina State University, Clemson University, and the University of Rhode Island.

Many suspected causes of this problem have been suggested, including bacteria, fungi, viruses, and nutrient deficiencies. Efforts are underway to establish methods to diagnose the problem, as well as laboratory, greenhouse, and field experiments to determine if bacteria are causing the thinning and yellowing of the bentgrass. Bacterial investigations are focused on whether hormonal imbalances are occurring from hormones produced by the bacteria or a disruption of bentgrass's hormone metabolism.

The commitment by the USGA to work with university researchers and golf course superintendents over the past year and for the next three years is expected to help provide information on how to properly diagnose and manage this problem.  

For more information on this research please see pages 11-14 in the USGA Turfgrass and Environmental Research Summary. 

Establishing a control plot can be as easy as laying out a sheet of plywood prior to making an application. The corners should be carefully marked so that accurate repositioning is possible prior to all subsequent treatments.

It's amazing how seldom control plots are seen during site visits to golf courses. This ultimately means it is amazing how blindly some people rely on others to verify a product's usefulness and value. Clearly, the initial process of deciding to try a product comes from groups and individuals within our industry. This may include superintendents, sales representatives, university extension/research personnel, company tech representatives, or your Green Section agronomist. Yet, the initial favorable comments or testimonials from others should not be the enduring mantra. Establishing and closely monitoring untreated areas or check plots is the only way to verify a product's worth in your specific maintenance program at your particular location.