We face many challenges here at
golf course maintenance and the summer season brings with it a multitude of
issues we face each and every year. From the endless rains and Tropical Storm
threats, constatnt pressure from invasive weeds, to keeping up with mowing due to the fact the warm temps and rains keep
the grass growing non-stop couple this with the fact our equipment is in
constant need of attention to keep it preforming at high levels and you have
the makings for an interesting summer! The summer also brings with it
conditions that are perfect for diseases to infect our wonderful turf,
especially our greens which are the most intensely manicured, if you will,
areas on the course. One disease in particular is hitting us hard this year and
that disease is Fairy Ring (FR).
I know we’ve all seen the little
puffball mushrooms that popped up on the greens in the last two weeks these
puffballs are a result of a group of fungi classified as FR. This is a fungus
that lives in the soil and is found almost everywhere in the world! There are
three types of FR we deal with, types I and II, which we normally deal with
here in the spring before the rains start and the temperatures start to rise, like drier
conditions. These types show their symptoms as dry rings or arcs of weak, brown
or yellow turf. Now I want to take a minute to let you know that FR doesn’t attack
the turf itself but affects the soil in a matter that makes it hard for the
turfgrass roots to function properly by making the soil repellant to water or
hydrophobic. If the roots can’t take up water then they can’t take up nutrients
either thereby weakening the plants. What we have seen pop up on the greens
over the last couple weeks is type III FR which likes the wet, cloudy
conditions we have been dealing with most of the summer. While type III is the
most benign as far as the health of the turf is concerned the little puffball
mushrooms, which are the fungi’s fruiting bodies, are a little more than
annoying when they pop up on the close mowed turf of the putting greens.
Rest assured we have been trying to
get these pesky little buggers controlled since they first started popping up a
couple weeks ago. There are only a few control methods that can be implicated to
get rid of the fungus. One method we were using to rid the greens of this
menace to a smooth putting surface is actual physical removal of the mushrooms
using a small knife or ball mark tool. This is quite labor intensive and very
inefficient. The only other way to rid the greens from the mushrooms is by
chemical controls. Our agronomic program on the greens calls for preventative
fungicide applications every 14-21 days throughout the year to control a myriad
of pathogens that affect our greens year round. FR has specific products that have
to be applied at the right time in order to suppress the disease. The products
also have to be applied in a manner that will see the product moved through the
turf canopy and into the soil where the fungus is active and thriving. We
applied two applications of products specifically aimed at FR earlier this
spring and were successful at beating the type I and II FR we had, but when the
weather changed in favor of the type III those preventative applications were already
gone from our soils. Needless to say we applied a FR specific fungicide two
weeks ago and will be making another application this week and we will be going
to a seven day application schedule with a rotation of products, until the problem
has been taken care of.
I know that these puffballs are a
real nuisance but we are doing what we can to rid the greens of this issue. The
fungicides used to treat FR take some time to kick in and the application we
made a week and a half ago should now be kicking in full gear and we should see
the mushrooms subside soon. I appreciate everyone’s patience with this problem
and like I said before, we deal with FR every year during the spring and early
summer, we just have more type III this year than in years past. I hope
everyone has a great holiday weekend and as always if you have any questions or
comments please don’t hesitate to flag me down and ask!
Here is a link about FR with some
great info on this disease:
HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY!!!
Skip Connolly
Golf Course Superintendent
TPC Eagle Trace
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