From: Sun City Texas Community Association
Date/Time: 4/12/2019 2:35 pm
Subject: Cowan Creek Greens Update

Special Golf Communicator
Cowan Creek Greens Conditions
 
On the weekend of March 17, we noticed something just didn’t look right with the greens at each course. All three courses sent samples off on Monday, March 18 and the lab confirmed Pythium Root Rot. Cowan Creek was the most severely affected. That week we received just under an inch of rain and along with the cloudy weather we had a great recipe for Pythium. We also had the lab run a nematode test at Cowan which further led to the damage we are seeing there. Most of the issues are on the front nine greens. We sprayed for nematode and for the Pythium on March 25.
 
The week following our diagnosis wasn’t very good growing weather for Miniverde grass and we didn’t see any progress until the end of the first week of April. The #4 and #8 greens got hit the hardest and will take a little bit of time to recover but we can report that they have greened up quite a bit in the last week with the warm temperatures. We have been fertilizing weekly along with rotating fungicides to stay on top of this disease. We have done enough testing to know that this is not winter kill damage. 
 
As for the Poa Annua, we have thrown the kitchen sink at it and nothing has worked. We recently had a meeting with fellow superintendents with a round-table discussion on Poa annua, as it is a hot topic across the golf industry. Quite a few superintendents in the area are in the same boat as us regarding Poa Annua on putting greens as well as in fairways and roughs. The good news is when the temps get in the 90’s the Poa annua will die out on its own.  
 
We have a very aggressive plan in place to get the Cowan Creek greens back up to par and we will be monitoring them closely. If we do not see dramatic improvement in the next couple of weeks, we will consider closing down the front nine until they are properly healed. Thank you for your understanding and patience. 
 
Gary Wilson II
Director of Golf 
Office 512-948-7481
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