Problem A: Brown turf leading up to tree during a drought
Location: Columbus, Ohio
Turfgrass area: Between maintenance path and fairway rough behind a red oak
Turfgrass variety: Tall fescue
Problem B: Yellow area of turf
Location: Hawaii
Turfgrass area: Putting green
Turfgrass variety: Seashore paspalum
Scroll down for answers.
Problem A: Brown turf leading up to tree during a drought
This past September, this Central Ohio golf club experienced a drought that lasted over four weeks, during which time the course only received 0.2 inches of rain and endured very warm temperatures. This particular tall fescue area is located on the course between a gravel equipment path and a red oak tree that begins the rough area off the fourth fairway. When the horticulturist for the course was driving by this area, he snapped a photo and decided to quiz the director of grounds to see if he knew what could have caused it. The director of grounds knew what it was right away. As it turns out, the sprinkler head that waters this area is located just off the fairway, and when the irrigation head rotates, the stream hits this tree, which blocks the water from reaching the turf between the tree and the equipment path. During normal rainfall periods, it is not an issue; however, during this drought, the pattern became apparent. After the area received a three-day rain event of almost 3 inches of rain, the area quickly greened back up. Since it is an area that only the course workers see, nothing will be done to correct the issue.
Photograph submitted by Tim Hollowell, horticulturist at Columbus Country Club in Columbus, Ohio; J.R. Lynn is the GCSAA Class A director of grounds operations and 13-year GCSAA member.
Problem B: Yellow area of turf
This yellow area of turf is all too common in today’s world of cellphones and employee distractions. It’s hard to pinpoint exactly what the distraction was that caused the employee mowing this green with a triplex to miss his normal cue to raise the cutting reels in the middle of the cleanup lap. Perhaps it was due to excessive speed while mowing or a really good jam in his earpieces. Perhaps he was multitasking watching TikTok or reading a compelling text message. He also could have been sending mowing videos to Instagram or Facebook, which has also become a new favorite work distraction. Anyhow, that sweet window of raising the mower at the correct time was missed. This delay in action caused one of the mowing reels to dig into the collar a bit, causing this yellow area of turf. Since scalped paspalum is slow to recover, the mark remained visible for some time, reminding the mower operator to be a little more diligent in paying attention while mowing. If it was caused by a post, I am pretty sure it ended with an expletive.
Photograph from 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.