GCM’s Photo Quiz is presented in partnership with STEC Equipment.
Problem A: Piles of soil on putting green
Location: Vicksburg, Miss.
Turfgrass variety: MiniVerde bermudagrass
Problem B: Three concentric rings of damaged turf
Location: Southeastern United States
Turfgrass area: Practice putting green
Turfgrass variety: Champion bermudagrass
Scroll down for answers.
Problem A: Piles of soil on putting green
It’s probably fairly easy to guess what caused these piles of soil — it’s mole damage. Over my years of doing Photo Quiz, I have seen a few mole damage photos, but it never ceases to amaze me how some of them can leave these mounds of soil in neatly spaced piles across a green’s surface.
In this case, the superintendent applied an imidacloprid granular insecticide to eliminate the mole’s food source. The damaged area was carefully backfilled, and staff members salvaged as much turf as they could and replaced the rest. The areas were then topdressed by hand. The damage occurred on the green for five days in a row until the mole’s food source was finally eliminated and it moved on to greener pastures. Thankfully, most golfers laughed off the damage.
Photo submitted by Jeff Harpole, a grounds manager at Vicksburg (Miss.) Country Club.
Problem B: Three concentric rings of damaged turf
These three concentric rings of damaged turf were caused by an inexperienced golf professional who marked targets on this course’s practice green with a non-turf paint. The target circles were also pretty irregular in shape when they were applied. This caused the superintendent at the course to wonder whether the targets had just been freehanded with spray paint from the hardware store.
Interestingly enough, as the damaged Champion bermudagrass began to recover, mole crickets found the thinner turf from the paint an easy place to excavate their tunnels, adding a little insult to the turfgrass injury.
Photo from author John Mascaro’s collection.
Editor’s note: Have a photo of an on-course anomaly? GCM would love to have a look! Email it to Photo Quiz author John Mascaro.
John Mascaro is the president of Turf-Tec International.