Transition Zone Challenges

Any superintendent in the Transition Zone will tell you, cultivating healthy turf isn’t easy. Superintendent Clay Stewart, working at Idle Hour Country Club in Lexington, Ky., since 2008, knows this firsthand.

With 30 acres of fairways - some of the turf original to the Donald Ross design - Stewart referred to his charge as “Heinz 57” ... a little bit of this and a little bit of that.

“You name it, I’ve got it,” he said. “It’s a struggle. You want to work smarter, not harder.”

Normally running hot and dry, the heavy red clay required massive amounts of water to keep the turf healthy. Stewart said they’d run irrigation heads on fairways each night for 6-9 minutes and every afternoon from 2-6 he’d have crews out with their with hoses.

This is where a relationship with Sam Green from AQUA-AID really paid off. Stewart had known him for years, going back to his time at Muirfield Village (2003-08). “He’s one of the smartest people out there,” Stewart said. “When there’s a problem, he’s one of the first people I call.”

So when the call came in, what did Green suggest?

“He said, ‘give PBS150 a try on the fairways,’” Stewart said. “We cut nighttime watering to 3 minutes and don’t really hand water anymore.

“It’s been a lifesaver,” he continued. “It’s changed the way we do things. We’re not allocating 32 hours a day [multiplied by] seven days a week. We can put that back into the golf course.”

As for the procedure, Stewart said they target Tax Day for the first application of 5-6 ounces ... preferably after a good rainfall. In another 30 days, they follow-up with another 5 ounces. The target is 10 ounces, in all.

As for performance ...

“It far exceeded my expectations,” Stewart said, adding that he’s generally leery of any products that make grandiose claims. “Other products provide great control for a couple weeks, but then you’re scrambling before 30 days are up. PBS150 did what they said”

And the return on investment is “tangible,” according to Stewart.

“I’m irrigating with potable water,” he said. “It’s very easy to put a number on it. It’s worth its weight in gold.”