Portland area course conditions

[Seamus_MacDuff]

1 hour ago, jpdx said:

Played East Moreland over the weekend. For the amount of rain we’ve had, you would think the course was dried out and fast.

 

Not so fast my friend!

 

Whether it was over watered in preparation for the heat we were supposed to get or just the general lack of drainage there, it played more like late fall with rain. Greens were soft-ish, soft enough to have spike everywhere (i’m not the lightest guy, but also not the heaviest) from me and other group(s) in front.  many spots in the fairways were soft enough that my playing partners had a few balls stay in the pitch mark upon landing. 

Yeah, the extreme heat this summer has caused major problems with many area courses. Courses like Eastmoreland without more sophisticated irrigation systems end up having to overwater some areas just in order to keep the grass from dying in others. Willamette Valley CC has had some turf loss in the fairways, and I understand Waverley CC has had significant disease problems (Pythium) with a number of their greens.

[Kernel]

1 hour ago, jpdx said:

Played East Moreland over the weekend. For the amount of rain we’ve had, you would think the course was dried out and fast.

 

Not so fast my friend!

 

Whether it was over watered in preparation for the heat we were supposed to get or just the general lack of drainage there, it played more like late fall with rain. Greens were soft-ish, soft enough to have spike everywhere (i’m not the lightest guy, but also not the heaviest) from me and other group(s) in front.  many spots in the fairways were soft enough that my playing partners had a few balls stay in the pitch mark upon landing. 

Played Reserve South course yesterday and was shocked at how soft it was. They must be watering like crazy. Approaches onto the greens made massive craters and a number of areas were very soft and soggy when walking through. 

[mallrat]

For the soft conditions last weekend, everyone overwatered and is now scrambling to dry their courses out. I’ll give you some rough numbers as an idea. Courses with little play (most privates) will run their greens between 20 - 25% moisture during summer days (a touch over 25 during the longest or hottest days). Now say you are at 25% to start the morning, on a 100* day with no wind there is a good chance you are getting into the low teens, high single digits moisture % wise. This is when the grass turns that purpleish, blackish color at the end of the day and you can see every footprint or tire mark that has gone through it. Now if you take 25% moisture on an 80* day you will lose maybe 5 -8%, maybe, now you take and add a 10 mph wind and you are looking at the same as the 100* day. Now you take a 100* day and add 30 mph winds (what was projected, and Supers live by the forecast) and you have a recipe for Major turf loss. 
 

Hope this makes sense and gives you a little sympathy or understanding of the conditions this weekend.

[mallrat]

7 hours ago, Seamus_MacDuff said:

Yeah, the extreme heat this summer has caused major problems with many area courses. Courses like Eastmoreland without more sophisticated irrigation systems end up having to overwater some areas just in order to keep the grass from dying in others. Willamette Valley CC has had some turf loss in the fairways, and I understand Waverley CC has had significant disease problems (Pythium) with a number of their greens.

This has been a brutal year in many aspects. Having multiple courses in the area get Pythium, is crazy. I know of 4 that have it somewhere on property (6 if you include Central OR). What’s crazy is Pythium in Central OR is unheard of, it used to be unheard of in the valley. It comes from a combination of heat, moisture in the ground and humidity. Pythium is often a death sentence for greens, especially for a course without a major budget to throw a butt load of chemicals at it. WVCC has had a combination of issues on their fairways, I can go into details in private but they are being addressed. 
 

One of the biggest issues in the valley is billbug (we were hit hard this year). Billbug is newer to the valley, it’s only been a thing here for the last maybe 5-10 years. There are 2 major treatments for billbug before any damage occurs and it appears that the cheaper of the 2 had very little effect this year. 
 

Add in all the heat, humidity and play (which has a HUGE effect on turf) and it’s been a rough year. If you want to see what traffic alone does, look at any courses nursery and how pristine it looks. Now add in cutting cups daily and all the unfixed ballmarks (which is ridiculous) and a lot of greens are struggling. 

[jpdx]

3 hours ago, mallrat said:

For the soft conditions last weekend, everyone overwatered and is now scrambling to dry their courses out. I’ll give you some rough numbers as an idea. Courses with little play (most privates) will run their greens between 20 - 25% moisture during summer days (a touch over 25 during the longest or hottest days). Now say you are at 25% to start the morning, on a 100* day with no wind there is a good chance you are getting into the low teens, high single digits moisture % wise. This is when the grass turns that purpleish, blackish color at the end of the day and you can see every footprint or tire mark that has gone through it. Now if you take 25% moisture on an 80* day you will lose maybe 5 -8%, maybe, now you take and add a 10 mph wind and you are looking at the same as the 100* day. Now you take a 100* day and add 30 mph winds (what was projected, and Supers live by the forecast) and you have a recipe for Major turf loss. 
 

Hope this makes sense and gives you a little sympathy or understanding of the conditions this weekend.

thanks for the explanation. The problems have been exacerbated by the amount of play so many courses have. Good for the bottom line - i suppose, but tough for the turf. 

[Kernel]

14 hours ago, mallrat said:

This has been a brutal year in many aspects. Having multiple courses in the area get Pythium, is crazy. I know of 4 that have it somewhere on property (6 if you include Central OR). What’s crazy is Pythium in Central OR is unheard of, it used to be unheard of in the valley. It comes from a combination of heat, moisture in the ground and humidity. Pythium is often a death sentence for greens, especially for a course without a major budget to throw a butt load of chemicals at it. WVCC has had a combination of issues on their fairways, I can go into details in private but they are being addressed. 
 

One of the biggest issues in the valley is billbug (we were hit hard this year). Billbug is newer to the valley, it’s only been a thing here for the last maybe 5-10 years. There are 2 major treatments for billbug before any damage occurs and it appears that the cheaper of the 2 had very little effect this year. 
 

Add in all the heat, humidity and play (which has a HUGE effect on turf) and it’s been a rough year. If you want to see what traffic alone does, look at any courses nursery and how pristine it looks. Now add in cutting cups daily and all the unfixed ballmarks (which is ridiculous) and a lot of greens are struggling. 

Very helpful context. Thanks 

[spud3]

Played Langdon today.  The greens are in the best shape I think I may ever seen.  

 

Shame they are punching them, starting now...

[doc52]

11 hours ago, spud3 said:

Played Langdon today.  The greens are in the best shape I think I may ever seen.  

 

Shame they are punching them, starting now...

Ghost Creek's greens are in great shape right now and punched 3-4 weeks ago. They are also in the process of laser levelling all of the par 3 tee boxes.

Edited October 3, 2022 by doc52

[mallrat]

If anyone played out there Saturday, sorry I was in a horrible mood. 

[spud3]

Heh.  We played Sunday and the only thing we noticed was that whoever set the pins wasn't paying attention to the zone map for the day.  Probably half of the flags were in the wrong zone.

 

I blame that for my poor play on the front 9...

 

Greens are healing pretty nicely.  Another week or so with a good rolling and they should be in good shape.  Of course, the rains are predicted to start next weekend.

 

About time for the annual pampas grass beheading?

[mallrat]

Was it the front side that was mainly out of position? 
 

Yep, pampas comes down next week 

[spud3]

2 hours ago, mallrat said:

Was it the front side that was mainly out of position? 
 

Yep, pampas comes down next week 

No, I just played better on the back 9.  About equal number of wrong locations on the front and back. Not a big deal, as it’s pretty obvious where the flags were, but if the club is going to stick with the zone method, then they need to make sure they’re accurate.