Instrata

With a break in the weather, this gives us a perfect opportunity to get out and spray greens with their final application for the year. Pictured above is our Assistant Golf Course Superintendent, Steven Blais on his trusty Toro spray rig. As I said before, this final application will need to get us through the remainder of winter and all she brings with her. The fungicide choice of many, Instrata, combines the three active ingredients (ai) found in Banner MAXX, Medalion, and Daconil,(Chlorothalonil, Propiconazole, and Fludioxonil). Put down at a rate of 9.6 oz/m, this fungide will keep our greens disease free until spring. Comparing this picture from previous posts, you can really see how November's weather has affected the turfs color. Having been one of the coldest since I can remember, the turfgrass has entered into a deep state of dormancy and is shutting the door on 2009. While it is our hope to be open for play this weekend, the last snow storm has provided the golf course with some much needed reprieve from this year's traffic. To all our members and guests, Happy Thanksgiving and here's to a blessed holiday season!

Pink Snow mold

You wouldn't normally think of winter months being a high-stress time period for the turfgrass by way of diseases, and for the most part, you'd be right. While most pathogens use heat and humidity to infect the turf, snow molds play by a different set of rules. Pink snow mold or (Fusarium patch) pictured, favors cold and wet conditions to wreak its havoc and does not require snow cover to be active. On the other hand, Gray Snow Mold, or (Typhula Blight), does require snow cover to cause symptoms and is most severe when snow cover lasts 90 days or more. Because of the weather fluctuations we have here in Colorado during winter months, the golf course is rarely closed due to snow cover for more than a month. Due to these temperate inconsistencies, it's not cost effective to treat the entire golf course with a fungicide application to ward off these pests. To get us through our 'Pink Snow Mold season', an application of Banner MAXX was made to all 30 greens at a rate of 2 ounces per thousand square feet, or 2oz/m, the second week of October. This application will protect the plant from Pink Snow Mold until a second application can be made around Thanksgiving. This second fungicide application will be a more compound chemistry to protect the plant from both molds for a much longer time period in case the winter weather continues to throw us curve balls.