Above is a photo of a prism gauge, that we use to determine the effective height of cut on turf. You can see by this photo, that greens are being mowed under 1/8". Today also marks the first verticut and topdress of the season. This combination helps to increase the speed of greens and improves the smoothness of the putting surfaces. This morning, after mowing, the greens read 10.5' on the stimpmeter. Immediately following verticutting, they read 11.2' and following topdressing, they are up to 11.5'. If you use the search feature on the right hand side of the blog, search 'stimpmeter,' for an in depth description and explanation of how superintendents use a stimpmeter. This gives you an idea on how important these maintenance practices are and the impact they have on putting greens.
Above is a shot from the back of #9 approach. Due to the inconsistent temperatures we've had over the month of April, which included temperatures in the 30's as recently as last Saturday (4 days ago), our creeping bentgrass hasn't resumed active growth. We continue to lag behind. The Poa annua on the other hand, is thriving in these cooler temperatures. Once we get regular sunshine and heat, our spring fertilizer will release and growth will pick back up. I've received a lot of comments and questions about this and can assure you, that temperature drives grass growth. There isn't much we can do without the help of Mother Nature.