First, what's up with the brown spots in the rough?
A week ago I wrote a post about localized dry spots (LDS) that are common on highly manicured playing surfaces. But is this the same thing that causes some of the rough to turn brown? The answer is yes and no. While soils in the rough do become hydrophobic throughout the course of a summer, the roughs that turn brown are usually those areas that are comprised of creeping bentgrass. Bentgrass does very well in our area because of the non-stop rain we receive. However, throw in a dry, hot summer like 2023 and it struggles, big time! Take notice that you won't see our Kentucky Bluegrass roughs respond this way. KBG is much more heat and drought tolerant and one of the reasons we continue to remain committed to re-sodding areas through the winter with KBG or Tall Fescue.
Second, why do I see random green circles on the first few holes?
On the first couple holes, there are 2 green discs like this on opposite ends of the fairway, in the rough. As we get later into the season, we are losing a significant portion of daylight. This means for the first 1/2 hour of our day, we are working in the dark. These markers indicate the start and end of the first pass for the fairway mowers. Now, each mower can go to opposite ends of the fairway and know the direction they need to travel to mow the same stripes on the fairways.