Winter Is Coming

 As you will have noticed our fall season is coming to an abrupt end as winter is rearing its head sooner than expected in the Midwest. While this year is going down as the warmest year on record, Kansas City did receive an early snowfall over the thanksgiving weekend. This added moisture is much appreciated as we go into the dryer parts of winter. 

    The colder temps have brought and end to the growing season for our warm season grasses such as zoysia and bermudagrass. As a result we are going to cart path only until the spring as usual to prevent any unneeded damage to the fairways while they are dormant. You will also notice our temporary tee boxes on all par 3's have made a return. This was very successful last year as a way to keep those tee boxes healthy going into the spring and summer months.

The Winds of Change

    

    Fall is in full swing at Swope Memorial and as always that marks the bookend of our traditional season. While a much-appreciated relief from the summer heat Fall does bring many challenges of its own to the daily maintenance of the course. With the cooler winds comes many exciting changes Superintendents love to tackle before the winter fully hits us. 

    Many tout Swope as the best place to play fall golf in Kansas City, albeit biased I have to agree. With the timeless design showcasing multiple scenic views, to the hundreds of mature trees changing to their autumn colors, not many courses can compare.

    Fall brings many opportunities for us as Superintendents to make changes to the course that will offer benefit to the golfers for seasons to come. As you will have seen there are many areas at Swope that have been seeded and are showing great germination. Like many neighboring course Swope also participates in the best turf practice of an early Autumn Aerification. This is crucial for the longevity and playability of the greens for years to come. We hope to see you out on the course soon to enjoy all that fall golf at Swope Memorial has to offer.

Tour-Like

Like many sports golf can be a game of inches. Golf and golf course maintenance are very alike in this way. A win at a Major tournament can come down to coming up short by an inch or stroking it perfectly. Similarly the maintenance of the course is also a game of inches. Many would not believe the difference inches make in the presentation and playability of a golf course. We see examples of this everyday in the height of cut of the rough, fairways, and greens. How many inches of rainfall also greatly affects the presentations for many courses as well as the playability.

The months of May and June at Swope have been very blessed compared to the hand mother nature handed us this time last year. We have been able to make many improvements to the course in the last few months which is not going unnoticed among our clientele. Common complements we are receiving are that the conditions are the best they have seen them while playing here. Our greens are getting a reputation for being very fast and healthy, two things not usually associated with one another. Rough is much cleaner than previous years and is playing true. Maintenance to our ageing bunkers took priority this May with close to 100 tons of sand added to bunkers to increase playability.

April Showers or Lack there of

Ask any Superintendent in the area and they will tell you the months of April and Early May are some of their favorite times for greenkeeping in Kansas City. This is no different here at Swope Memorial as we greatly look forward to the green up that  comes with the warmer weather and ample amounts of precipitation. However as many have noticed in the past several seasons the weather in Kansas City is becoming less and less predictable. Entering May we are already in pre drought conditions and have have several High temperatures in the 80's which is over 15 degrees above average.

There are however good and bad sides to this ever changing weather. Here at Swope Memorial our zoysia fairways and tee's have greened up earlier than expected and are regenerating quicker which will help combat the high number of rounds played each day. The lower amounts of precipitation combined with leading turf management practices have allowed us to increase our greens speed which has certainly not gone unnoticed by our patrons. Who have suggested the greens are faster than they have ever seen them!

With that all said we are looking forward to a great season at Swope, and will continue to fight the good fight as superintends no matter what he weather throws our way.

Zoysia clean-up 2023

     Over the past several years we have applied a combination of non-selective post-emergent herbicide as well as pre-emergent herbicide during the dormancy period of the zoysia. For years this process worked well. What we have found recently, however, is that we have developed resistant Poa Annua that is unaffected by even the highest rates of this herbicide.  

This is an example of how the herbicide was not controlling all of the undesirable turf this past year.

 

Without getting good control of the poa over the winter, the zoysia goes into the season with unwanted competition and is weakened in areas. 

    This year we have completely changed our approach with all new chemistries. Instead of the post-emergent glyphosate (roundup), we have switched to a different, stronger non-selective glufosinate (finale). In addition to this change, we have switched our pre-emergent herbicide to a much more effective combination product that utilizes Imazaquin, Prodiamine, and Simazine.

So far, the very early activity of the new combination seems to be exceptionally effective.

We look forward to seeing how well we can clean the zoysia up this year to have healthy, and aesthetically pleasing fairways and tees.