Below is a course recovery plan provided by Course Superintendent Carl Teschke. However, in general, the USGA and CSGA have reported on the tough conditions affecting many New England courses due to the hot and extremely wet conditions experienced in July 2018.
AGC Course Recovery Plan
Step1: Core aerify and seed in August 2018. Seed is coming up now.
Step 2: Keep the height of cut up until greens are fully recovered.
Step 3: Send out soil samples to make sure our soil is in balance. A previous test of the soil in May 2018 did not indicate the stressed areas on the greens were associated with disease.
Step 4: Anticipate closing the course on November 25, 2018. Additional core aerification and seeding of the greens will then take place. This will open up and invigorate the soil for the winter and minimize winter injury.
Step 5: Resod the 4th , front of 5th and 7th Tees in September 2018. The soil pile used for topdressing and the divot mix become contaminated with weed seeds (goose grass) and needs to be removed and replaced. The contamination resulted from the pile being several years old and not properly covered.
Step 6: With the course closed this winter, weak areas on the fairways will also be aerified and seeded.
Step 7: Deep tine aerify in April 2019. Deep tine aerfication has not routinely been done in the Spring.
Step 8: The whole course will be treated for crabgrass in Spring 2019. It has been a while since has been necessary to do this.
Step 9: Develop a new soil storage area in 2019. As stated in Step 5, the area by the nursery has become infested with weeds, and is the reason why we see heavy weeds in the areas we use divot mix on (mostly No. 4 tee).
Step 10: Re-establish the nursery in 2019. With the weeds and thatch issue, it has become unusable.
Carl Teschke, Course Superintendent
August 2018
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