May 25, 2011 |
Depending on the weather, RCSC will begin removal of the winter ryegrass using an herbicide at Quail Run, North, Lakes West and Willowcreek golf courses as part of the summer transition process. Killing the ryegrass is the first step in the three-part summer transition process that RCSC started two years ago to improve the courses’ fairways. If the cool weather continues, the herbicide will not be applied until soil temperatures reach 65 degrees.
Removing the ryegrass with an herbicide is done to improve the health of the bermudagrass, which needs 100 days of growing weather without competition from ryegrass to improve in health. This is the first year that North golf course will complete this process, which will result in thin fairways and the possibility of bare areas on the course. It will look similar to how Riverview golf course appeared last summer. The process can take six to eight weeks until the fairways are filled in and covered with bermudagrass.
This transition process focuses on giving the summer bermudagrass more time to grow without competition from the winter overseeding and removal of organic matter that has built up in the fairways. It can take up to five years to complete.
After removing the ryegrass, RCSC will perform a hollow tine aerification of fairways. This aerification is similar to the aerification of the golf greens. The machine removes plugs of soil from the ground. Removed with this plug of soil is organic matter. This aerification will occur in June, so be sure and check sunaz.com for dates that golf courses will be closed for fairway aerification.
The third step in the process is vertical mowing of the fairways. Vertical mowing of fairways is also a process that helps remove organic matter. The vertical mower cuts with knives in a vertical plane removing organic matter in the top quarter inch of soil. This process will occur in late July to mid-August.
This can be quite an ugly time of year on the golf courses and causes disruption to golfers, but RCSC asks for golfers’ patience and understanding while the courses go through this transition program.