A Rather Relevant Report

By now all of you who follow the blog are aware of the Scouting Report, a newsletter issued by Dr. Derek Settle, head agronomist for the Chicago District Golf Association. I cannot say, however, how many of you are aware that what is posted is not the full report. Subscribers receive an email that gives a brief summary of Dr. Settle's thoughts and provides a link that takes readers to view the full report. When I re-post what I receive from Dr. Settle, I include both the summary and the link to the full report, but I fear many people are unaware of the latter.

In this past week's Scouting Report, Dr. Settle addresses briefly but directly an issue that we are dealing with here at Cress Creek with a species called Poa trivialis that has established itself in our fairways and is now languishing in this year's brutal (and unprecedented) summer weather.  In his report Dr. Settle says: "Drought plus hot summer temps means Poa trivialis may now be very dormant." He also includes a pair of pictures that I am re-posting here with his comments.  While the lower picture was taken during his visit to Cress Creek earlier this month, the upper picture is not a Cress Creek fairway.

"Poa trivialis  that looks completely dead may still be alive if you take a closer look. Settle 7-17-12"

"A fairway looks very dead, but it isn’t. Bronze patches is sometimes dormant turf. Settle 7-17-12"

Click here to view the Scouting Report in it's entirety, and don't forget to follow the link on any future Scouting Report posts!

See you on the course!
Elliott Dowling