Cut While You Can (Oct 5)

October 5, 2015 – Once again, we should be careful what we wish for. Following a very dry August and September, some steady rainfall was welcomed. However, after five days in a row with precipitation, totaling 5.25″, enough is enough.

This time of year we are typically mowing greens every day, and fairways three times per week. Non-stop rain can lead to some tough choices: Should we cut wet turf and risk mechanical damage, or not cut and deal with potential scalping by removing too much leaf tissue when we can finally get the mowers out?

Fortunately, with well-draining, sand-based greens, we were able to find a break between showers and still get the greens cut every day last week. The fairways, on the other hand, went from Thursday until Monday without being cut.

Four days between mowings on fairways can be a problem. However, prior to last week’s rain, we made a pretty heavy application of plant growth regulator on the fairways to slow growth. Between this, and some very cool nights, growth was slowed, and we didn’t have to deal with “baling hay” this time.

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