Minnesota Valley Country Club

If I were a corn grower right now, I'd be loving this hot weather! But I'm not, I live turfgrass, and it's sort of ironic that they classify the grass in this region of America, cool season turfgrass. Corn is a monocot too, but it loves really hot days. Turfgrass not so much. Yes, that's me in my in-laws cornfield a couple of weeks ago. They are Bill and Sharon Wintz of Milford, Iowa, and as you can see, they have a beautiful piece of America's heartland. They tell me you can almost see the corn growing on a real hot day. The classification of cool season turfgrass for our area is correct though, as we're growing grasses that grow best in cooler temperatures. This extra hot weather we're experiencing now, increases the need for irrigation of our turfgrass. We would prefer not to water as much as we've been forced to, as playing conditions and the health of the grass are both compromised. Soft greens occur when we have to cool the turf during the day, and roots actually become shallower and weaker with the constant availability of water at the surface. Each time we've attempeted to withhold water for the sake of playing conditions recently, it's come back to bite us, with wilt occuring in the hot afternoons. We're between a rock and a hard place, as the surface needs to be cooled, but the soils beneath are already saturated. Unfortunately no one wins under these conditions. We are also nursing along certain areas on greens right now that are suffering from a number of damaging conditions, including poor surface drainage, poor water percolation, weak roots, shade, and increased traffic levels. Turfgrass thrives in temperatures between 55 and 75 degrees, and we're well beyond that right now. Our turfgrass will hold up though in the majority of areas on the course and the course will continue to play nicely. We are evaluating some of the weakest areas on greens this summer, and determining what steps or procedures we can take to alleviate any poor conditions that exist that is contributing to the decline of turfgrass. Glass half full, as we will improve these areas once more favorable weather arrives and we determine the correct cultural methods to alleviate some the detrimental things occuring in those areas.