Thoughts from Superintendants re Paspalum Green Problems

[Bryan Izatt]

We're currently snow-birding in SW Florida and took a 2 month golf membership in a private gated community that shall remain nameless.  When we joined we were told the members had recently bought the course out and that there were some maintenance issues that needed to be addressed because of a lack of budget from the previous management company.  They mentioned some Bermuda encroachment in the fairways.  Not really much of a problem to me.  The previous super apparently left because of lack of budget.  I have no interest in the club other than as a one time seasonal user.

The course is wall to wall Paspalum.  The fairways are fine and as you'd expect from Paspalum - dense and rich green.  They also grab a lot as Paspalum does - but no real problem.  They are reasonably firm for Florida - no mud balls.

The greens on the other hand are amongst the worst I've ever seen.  All the greens are pitted with tufts of grass and bare spots mixed in.  There are areas where there is no grass at all.  They have been heavily top dressing for 6 weeks now.  The ball will hop and bounce all over the place because of the pitting.

More out of curiosity than anything I'm left wondering what could cause this pitting and what could be done to rectify it.  There are a couple of pictures below.  The large areas are obvious, the pitting occurs everywhere to some extent on all the greens.  When you try to fix a ball mark (which are hard to identify) the ground just crumbles.  The edges of the cups also crumble to some degree.

Could the cause be sod webworms?  Or some other insect?  Or some disease?  One person suggested that they didn't treat the water properly and that the water PH was wrong.

It's been in the mid 80's*F for a couple of weeks.  I thought the Paspalum would be out of dormancy by now.  The top dressing does not seem to have encouraged any fill in growth.  Do they need to start over?

I wonder what the chances are that they'll figure this out and have it remedied by next season?  Several people have told they are committed and ready to spend the money.

[Ron Smith]

Bryan,

Though I can't help you with the pitting question, I am familiar with the course and have played it numerous times.  A great layout that used to be in fantastic condition.  I have seen the greens slide pretty fast over the last three years and really hope the course gets back on track.  There are a couple other courses in the area I have noticed suffer the same issue, but on a much smaller scale with paspalum.  I would be curious as well as to what the cause is. 

[Anthony_Nysse]

Pythium Root Rot. El Nino Winter. way, way, too wet and cloudy in December and January. 300-400% more than average rainfall. Worst winter in 20 years. A lot of courses in FL got HAMMERED this winter.

[Pat Burke]

Pythium Root Rot. El Nino Winter. way, way, too wet and cloudy in December and January. 300-400% more than average rainfall. Worst winter in 20 years. A lot of courses in FL got HAMMERED this winter.

Just reading Pythium gives me chills....that's a nasty bugger

[Bryan Izatt]

Thanks Anthony.


Here's another closer picture.  What's odd is that there are many spots of healthy turf interspersed with dead turf.  Obviously there are also larger areas of dead turf. but the majority is quite spotty.





Certainly the Naples area was unseasonably cold and with record high rainfall in January.  Now, of course, it's unseasonably hot and humidity is very high.


I was at another club today, also Paspalum, and their greens were similar although not quite as bad.  Another course next door to here has what seem to be almost untouched greens but I think they are tifdwarf.  Would Paspalum be more susceptible to Pythium root rot?


Apart from fungicides, is there any other treatment?  Do they fill in with proper care?  The Paspalum fairways are certainly doing well in the current heat and humidity but the greens don't seem to be filling in appreciably.  Is it just a matter of time?

[Anthony_Nysse]

 Some of the randomness and/or pitting in the thin areas are from previous aerifications. Any water that was allowed to percolate better and not sit on the surface has a better chance of surviving and not stressing the turf.
  I know for us, this winter was touch and go everyday. Solid rollers, higher heights of cut, more venting, penetrating wetting agents,  tighter intervals on fungicide sprays and certainly a wide rotation of them. We topdressed a little less, rolled less and certainly didn't groom or cause the plant stress.
  Getting greens to fill in this time of year can be a difficult juggling act. Members and guests want fast greens, therefore there is less fertilizers being put down and higher rates of growth regulators. Once the golf slows down and aerification season starts, everything this should fill in quickly.