Granular wetting agent

Like any industry, turf chemical companies are constantly coming out with new products. Sometimes they are novel active ingredients, or more often a combination of two well-known products, and recently lots of organic and much safer products as well. This year we tried one of these new products- a granular wetting agent and it has worked very well for us.

Wetting agents are chemicals that help to reduce or break the surface tension of water at the interface with dry soil. The chemical allows the water to infiltrate and percolate down through the soil. As with anything, there are many, many different wetting agents on the market- some alleviate drought conditions, some actually help move the water through the soil faster so that the soil can dry out; some are liquid, some are like a bar of soap and are mixed with water as you apply it, and some are granular that you can spread like fertilizer.

We use all these different types of wetting agents for a myriad of different reasons. This year we tried a new granular formulation in the rough around the greens to try and keep water available to the turf for longer, allowing it to survive between rain or irrigation cycles. Especially in the rough immediately around a bunker where there is excess bunker sand, the soil can dry out really fast. This year we added this wetting agent to our hand watering program. But we don't just spread the material wherever- we can’t and don’t do this with any pesticide we use on the property. Instead, we strategically map out the areas that need attention.

A picture of the map we use to apply the material.
The shaded areas are where soil can get dry. This
is where we put the granular wetting agent, rather than covering 
the entire green surround.

We see the course every day, over and over through the day. Certain areas of the course behave similarly each season when faced with similar circumstances and we notice and take note of these trends. In this case, we know specific areas around greens and bunkers that are typically the first to dry out and that is where we spread this new granular wetting agent. We have basic maps of the green complexes, and coloring in certain areas on paper, we can outline where to make the application. It isn’t GPS precise, but it is still very accurate for this purpose, and much better than spreading the material everywhere. Once per month starting in May, we applied the wetting agent in these known dry areas and the results were terrific.

This year has been dry- despite the few storms that we have had in mid-September, we are still well behind our average rainfall for the year. Despite the dry conditions, the driest areas around greens and bunkers performed better this year than any year in the past. Can everything be attributed to one single new product? Of course not. We had healthier grass in these areas starting the season, so it was stronger on its own. Nevertheless, combined with our hand watering, this new product maintained plant- available water in the soil and allowed these areas to survive.

Newer isn’t always better. In this case though, we did see an improvement by adding a new tool to our repertoire.

 

Etiquette Reminder of the Month

Please be conscious not to scuff your feet or drag your putter along the surface of the putting green. This can adversely affect other people’s putts and can damage the turf grass.

 

Also, as part of a Golf Committee initiative to improve course etiquette, we have included links to videos teaching proper on course etiquette. Please take a moment to watch:

Ball Marks - How to properly repair

Golf Cart tips

 

 

See you on the course!

Joe

jvillegas@bwrc.org