Time to de-thatch

Recently, many locations on the fairways have turned a little brown for a unique reason that has little to do with water.  As the bermuda in the fairways becomes thick and dense, it also becomes spongy and thatch ridden.  When our fairway mowers pass over these thatchy locations, the blades dip down and scalp the turf, leaving some brown turf.  These areas can take a few days or even a week to green up before they are mowed again with the same result.

The way we combat this scalping is by removing thatch and tightening the surface.  We do the same thing on greens when we verticut to smooth the surface and promote upright growth.  A fairway verticut is much more aggressive and messy.  Heal time is about 10 to 14 days, but it varies by location.  Normally, the turf will get a little brown and just a bit thin, but playability is not greatly affected in the short term.  Once the turf heals, playability can be greatly improved with firmer surfaces, young healthy shoots on the bermuda, and more upright than lateral growth.  Bermuda really loves this process.  

In addition to the improvement in fairways, verticutting creates many bermuda stolons that can be planted in thin areas.  We are experimenting with this process to the right of 18 fairway with more locations in the coming days.

Your patience is appreciated as we work to transition to bermuda as quickly and painlessly as possible. The trouble we are going through is already starting to pay off with improved conditions.