By: Larry Gilhuly, Northwest Director

Admit it. Every superintendent has been there when it comes to the use of mowers with hydraulic fluid — a drip, a narrow line or a massive blowout. Hydraulic leaks happen with every type of mower on golf courses, with the heat of the oil causing turf loss that often results in lasting visual turf loss for weeks or months, based on the time of the occurrence. Here in the Pacific Northwest we are in the “please don’t blow” phase of mowing, as any hydraulic leak at this time of the year will require months of recovery. This occurred recently at my home course due to the failure of an equipment alarm and the fact that the crew had to mow in the dark (early AM shotguns can cause problems!). Regardless of how it happened, the response by CGCS Scott Young, his assistants Mike Cupit and Jeff Jackson and the maintenance staff, may lead to a method that you can use when a similar incident occurs — without resodding or seeding. Interested? Read on for a step-by-step method to fix the damage caused by a stream of hydraulic oil from a triplex mower on a putting green.

Once the damage had occurred on two greens in late September, it was too late to seed. With the damage being just a narrow line — not more than ¼-1/2″ wide — the idea of narrow resodding was also dismissed. After putting their heads together, the group came up with a 9-step program (not as bad as it sounds!) to bring the weak areas back to normal playing condition. Full visual recovery by the end of November is expected, or approximately 6 weeks, when growth has greatly reduced. Here is how they did it.

by Dr. Micah Woods

In my work I have the chance to use different measuring devices and meters to measure various turfgrass performance characteristics. Every golf course superintendent is familiar with the Stimpmeter, and probably has one at the course. Here is some information about three other types of meters that golf course superintendents may find useful.

By: Vernon Thompson

The Pali Golf Course has just gotten a face lift that has long-time duffers scratching their heads and singing the praises of the City and County municipal golf course maintenance staff. “I have been golfing on the Pali course for 15 years and have never seen the greens look so good,” said Gordon Wong, as he wrapped up a day on the course. It’s a Zen thing. When Sean De Mello, the Pali golf course superintendent, talks about grass, it sounds like he’s talking about religion. “If we keep up our cultural practices, such as verti cutting, top dressing and aerating with scheduled fertility and fungicide applications; we will maintain a healthy stand of turf on our greens. In the world of golf courses, green is gold. That was not always the case at the Pali. Since it was designed in 1953 by Willard Wilkinson, this premier municipal course that lies in the bosom of the Koolau Mountains with a view of lush forests and the Pacific Ocean is plagued by inclement weather and lack of sun. Golfers learned to contend with weeds, barren patches, and clumps of grass. “If you are a bad golfer, it just didn’t matter that much,” said Wong, who is now worried word is spreading, and he will have to contend with more golfers dressed in funny pants and strange hats swarming the course.