Now the heat has arrived and the night temperatures are in the 60’s plus, the collars have progressed as expected. Currently we have aerified, topdressed, and continuedto fertilize the collars every two weeks to encourage growth. Next week we will apply another round of topdressing sand, but we will not need to apply as much as before. The collar surface should be leveled out with 1 to 2 more applications of topdressing sand. Fertilizing and spraying hormones on the collars every two weeks has increased growth and rooting to allow us to aggressively correct the settling and lack of growth from the spring.
Today we tried something new by increasing the width of the collar. Typically an 18″ walk behind mower is used to cut the collars one pass around the green, but now we are experimenting with two passes. The collars now have doubled in size offering a better playing surface and more forgiving surface to putt through. There will be some noticeable scalping in the second pass on some greens due to the turf being mowed at a higher height previously. The scalped areas should grow out and blend in in approximately 1-2 weeks where we can maintain this 2 pass pattern throughout the year.
2 Pass Collar
New Collar Width