Golfdom, August 2010
Pow to Poa made three weeks after seeding Dont let Poa mature he says Dont allow annual bluegrass plants to get rooted Any yellowing can be masked with an iron application to green up the turf Sharp adds Educate your members and golfers that theyll see yellowing Sharp advises You want them to know the process is normal Kyle Jacobsen superintendent of Twin Orchard Country Club in Lake Zurich Ill attempted a fairway renovation similar to that at Danville but things went awry because of heavy rains Twin Orchard closed 18 of its 35 holes in August 2008 The fairways were sprayed to kill all vegetation They were then aerified and topdressed before being seeded Then the rains came about 6 inches in a few days and the seed washed out The fairways were reseeded but there was no time to do a re sterilization Alas plenty of Poa grew 56 Golfdom August 2010 in with the bentgrass Jacobsen wanted to spray Velocity on the fairways then but the weather turned rainy and cold and he couldnt do it Fast forward to June 2009 With the weather warming and the course getting ready to reopen Jacobsen sprayed two applications of 6 ounces of Velocity per acre at 12 days apart While there was mild discoloration to the bentgrass Jacobsen says the herbicide knocked back the Poa annua But the weather that summer which was cool and dry made for favorable conditions to grow Poa So Jacobsen decided to overseed the fairways with 1 pound of bentgrass per 1000 square feet and topdress them The bentgrass grew but so did the Poa Jacobsen began applying 2 ounces of Velocity per acre every month with a plant growth regulator application coming monthly two weeks after the herbicide applications He increases the PGR application by 2 ounces each time he started in May with an 8 ounce application Hell continue this program through mid September The bentgrass looks off for a couple days after each herbicide application but it bounces back much quicker and the Poa doesnt bounce back Jacobsen says The bentgrass has the competitive edge A J Powell a long time agronomist from the University of Kentucky says superintendents need tools to take out Poa slowly The problem with wiping out Poa in one fell swoop is that suddenly there are bare spots on a courses greens that need reseeding Powell says Golfers surely dont want that You dont want to kill Poa Powell affirms You want it to go away gradually Continued from page 55 This close up photograph of turfgrass at Twin Orchard Country Club shows healthy bentgrass growing over the top of stressed Poa annua plants one day after a 2 ounce treatment of Velocity and 14 days after a 2 ounce treatment of plant growth regulators
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