Breaking news...Huntingdon Valley closes...test results "inconclusive"

[Adam Clayman]

Ian. Could you enlighten us about pythium? Cures?

[Dan Herrmann]

I always thought (probably incorrectly) that pythium was a big issue for poa annua, but not so much for bentgrass.

[Anthony_Nysse]

I've been keeping up with whats going on in the northeast and I feel for everyone of the Superintendents up here. It hard enough growing quality, healthy, championship grass without have to deal with this stress on this level.
  Adam-There are several different kinds of pythium-blight, root rot and volutum to name a few. The following are photos in order;  

Blight;


Root Rot


Volutum


In the above photo, the grass sample on the left is the infected plant, the right is not infected.

[Tommy Williamsen]

Five years ago my club regrassed the fairways with a strain of bent called declaration.  The fairways are now a disaster.  This grass was supposed to be drought resistant.  I wish they would close the course or at least a few of the worst affected holes.  I played a public couse yesterday that seems to be weathering the summer very well  I don't know why some courses make it and some do not. 

[Ian Larson]

Good pics Tony. Adam pythium is another pathogen caused by a fungus that thrives on warm and wet conditions. It hits bent and poa equally hard in my experience.

The thing that makes pythium such a terror and REALLY something to worry about is how fast it can spread. If conditions are right it can wreak havoc across an entire green at night.

And because of the fungus spores foot traffic or mowing is just going to spread it even more. I won't be able to today but maybe Tony could put up a picture where pythium was mowed over and the pythium was just spread across the green like peanut butter from the mower.

It's all speculation but with the way pythium can spread makes me believe that's why HVCC closed down 18. Because foot traffic and mowers are just going to spread it around exponentially.

The weather conditions the east coast is seeing is perfect pythium weather. And these are the times where there's not a chance in hell I would want to be managing pushup greens. The supers that are, are at the mercy of mother nature right now with their hands tied behind there back with trying to keep a dry root zone.

[Anthony_Nysse]

This photo appears as though a greens triplex that drove through pythium.

[Sean Remington (SBR)]

  Pythium sp. fungi are water molds.  The worst case is having pythium move with water over a large are of a green or fairway. As Anthony shows there are many varieties.  I have heard some bad stories and seen some bad stuff but I do not think I have seen or heard of a course shut down by this disease.  We have some great tools available to us for preventative and currative control.  If there was s concern about traffic moving it around they could shut down for a day or so an make applications.  I don't think pythium is the problem.

  In the 90's Gray Leafspt cause havoc in the D.C. - Baltimore area.  This was a dixease of Ryegrass, not bentgrass.  This disease did catch folks off guard and did cause some closures but it was a regional thing. 

[Steve_ Shaffer]

Do any supers use Twitter?

http://www.nj.com/golf/index.ssf/2010/07/golf_course_superintendents_em.html

[Chris Tritabaugh]

Do any supers use Twitter?

http://www.nj.com/golf/index.ssf/2010/07/golf_course_superintendents_em.html

Yep...@nccturf

[Dan Herrmann]

Not good (PHL forecast).   Note the overnight lows:

This Afternoon: A slight chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly cloudy, with a high near 95. Southwest wind around 9 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%.

Tonight: A chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly between 1am and 3am. Some of the storms could produce small hail, gusty winds, heavy rain, and frequent lightning. Partly cloudy, with a low around 79. West wind between 3 and 8 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.

Saturday: A slight chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly sunny and hot, with a high near 101. Heat index values as high as 109. West wind between 5 and 13 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%.

Saturday Night: A slight chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly cloudy, with a low around 81. West wind between 5 and 7 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%.

Sunday: A chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly cloudy, with a high near 94. West wind between 7 and 15 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.

[Joe Bausch]

But some relief is on the way according to the NWS forecast:

Weather Conditions at 05:54 PM EDT on 23 Jul 2010 for Philadelphia, PA.
Temp(F)    Humidity(%)    Wind(mph)    Pressure(in)    Weather
========================================================================
  95          49%         SW at 13       29.88      Scattered Clouds

Forecast for Philadelphia, PA
602 PM EDT Fri Jul 23 2010

...Excessive heat warning in effect until 8 PM EDT Saturday...

.Tonight...Partly cloudy. A chance of showers and thunderstorms...
mainly after midnight. Some thunderstorms may produce gusty winds
and heavy rainfall. Lows around 80. Southwest winds 5 to 10 mph.
Chance of rain 30 percent.
.Saturday...Mostly sunny with a chance of showers and
thunderstorms. Hot. Humid with highs in the upper 90s. West winds
10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 30 percent. Heat index values up to
107.
.Saturday night...Partly cloudy. Lows around 80. Southwest winds
5 to 10 mph.
.Sunday...Partly sunny with a chance of showers and
thunderstorms. Hot with highs in the mid 90s. West winds 10 to
15 mph. Chance of rain 30 percent.
.Sunday night...Partly cloudy in the evening...then becoming
mostly clear. Lows around 70. North winds 5 to 10 mph.
.Monday...Sunny. Highs in the upper 80s.
.Monday night...Mostly clear. Lows in the upper 60s.
.Tuesday...Sunny. Highs around 90.
.Tuesday night...Partly cloudy. Lows around 70.
.Wednesday...Partly sunny with a chance of showers and
thunderstorms. Highs in the upper 80s. Chance of rain 30 percent.
.Wednesday night...Mostly cloudy with a chance of showers and
thunderstorms. Lows in the lower 70s. Chance of rain 30 percent.
.Thursday...Partly sunny with a chance of showers and
thunderstorms. Highs in the lower 90s. Chance of rain 30 percent.
.Thursday night...Partly cloudy with a chance of showers and
thunderstorms. Lows around 70. Chance of rain 30 percent.
.Friday...Partly sunny. A chance of showers and thunderstorms in
the morning. Highs in the upper 80s. Chance of rain 30 percent.

[Dan Herrmann]

Joe - True enough, but from what I hear, we need lower lows - in the 50's or lower 60's to prevent the disease progression.  It'd be important to lower that dewpoint too.

[Anthony_Nysse]

You need a mid to low 60 degree night, at least

[Powell Arms]

Lower lows would be great.  But I swore when we got 5+ feet of snow in February in Philly that I wouldn't complain about heat this summer.

On the positive side, we welcomed a lot of foursomes of HVCC members today at Philly Cricket - Militia Hill course.  And I overheard a trip to Rolling Green was in the works for next week.  Lemons to lemonade, I guess.

[Dan Herrmann]

Powell - you're right about lemonade, of course, but this WX is pretty scary for everybody in the area.  Turf health is in jeopardy, and we're all at risk.

[Powell Arms]

No doubt, Dan.  As was said above, there is a lot of defensive maintenance going on now as outlined in the GCSAA warning, and a lot of noticeably stressed grass emerging over the past 48 hours.  Unfortunately, having August weather in July is going to make August like whistling past the graveyard for many.  And, fortunately for all, we are at the limits of my knowledge of agronomy.

[Carl Nichols]

It's still 90 degrees here at my house in DC.

[Dan Herrmann]

Our low temp here in the far western burbs of Philly was 82F last night with calm winds and a dewpoint of 71F.  This has got to be the worst possible condition for turfgrass, no?

[Adam Clayman]

Anthony, Ian & Sean, Thanks for taking the time to edumacate us pythium peons.

I'd anticipate the argument that Scott's lean and mean methods are not as sound as the text books. However I doubt the argument would stand up to a full analysis that includes all costs, over the decades, and there's the play ability quotient, which IMO, trumps the lot. So, if you do hear someone questioning his methods, be suspect of the arguer's motives.

I also believe (speculate) that any member (golfer) who enjoys the play abilities, Scott's provided over the years, would understand and appreciate the closing. A perfect storm is just that, and has nothing to do with his methods.

[Sean Remington (SBR)]

Adam  - Couldn't agree more with you.  This is why I hate to see the speculation get carried to far down the path.  I don't think anyone will question Scott's abilities or his history with providing HV with some of the best playability in this area for decades.  I hope this does not provide an opportunity for somebody to twist things around to try and make a point.

[Steve_ Shaffer]

New update from Joe Logan: Test results "inconclusive"

http://www.myphillygolf.com/detail.asp?id=5737&pid=20

[Adam Clayman]

Steve. I can't access the link until I return home. Has the weather cooperated at all back east?

[Ian Larson]

The worst part about this isn't the course closure. It's flat out scary that there is something going on that can close a course down and nobody has clue what it is.

[TEPaul]

Ian:

I would stress what Sean Remmington said in Post #71, particularly the last sentence. I don't think it's remotely true to say they don't know what happened, and furthermore that is probably not a good or accurate message to send on here. However, it's a different matter putting together all the ramifications of why it happened as it did. It seems it's been identified as wet wilt, which as I understand it is not a disease but a condition brought about by a really unusual series of weather events----eg excessive combined heat and humidity followed by a few very unusual quantitative rain events. As I understand it this combination can in effect cause extreme oxygen deprevation essentially causing the plant to drown and/or given the really high combined heat and humidity, to essentially boil and drown.

[Anthony_Nysse]

Ian:

I would stress what Sean Remmington said in Post #71, particularly the last sentence. I don't think it's remotely true to say they don't know what happened, and furthermore that is probably not a good or accurate message to send on here. However, it's a different matter putting together all the ramifications of why it happened as it did. It seems it's been identified as wet wilt, which as I understand it is not a disease but a condition brought about by a really unusual series of weather events----eg excessive combined heat and humidity followed by a few very unusual quantitative rain events. As I understand it this combination can in effect cause extreme oxygen deprevation essentially causing the plant to drown and/or given the really high combined heat and humidity, to essentially boil and drown.

So, are you saying that Scott Anderson knows what happened but HVCC isnt telling the media? Id have to think that there is no reason to hide the truth.