organic golf greens...

[SWD]

Running a golf course on all organics would be a neat trick. I have used a mixed program successfully on a course which had an average of 64,000 rounds per year.
The one problem I ran into time and time again was that organic response was too slow and had to use synthetics to ease stress. An additional problem was most organic granulars I used, the amount necessary was interfering with play conditions on the course.

[woodycrest]

i used cracked corn, and it definately made putting a challenge

The other problem as mentioned earlier is the worm castings. The interesting thing i have found is that there are more worm castings on the 'bad' areas of the greens, and very few on the good areas. Its like the worms know where the soil needs help
THe worm castings appear during the overnight, so if the greens are cut in the early morning everyday, the castings are rolled flat by the greensmower. One could almost say that the worms topdress the greens for me.

THe problem with the corn on the greens could be solved by using fine ground corn meal instead of cracked.

Also consider the fact that these greens have no irrigation. If the corn is kept moist it decays alot faster. My ultimate goal is to get the greens in shape so they can survive and remain green during dry periods. Realistically all they really require is watering once a week, i could do that with a simple garden hose.

Another important thing is to keep the size of the course in perspective. I can cut the whole course(greens, rough and fairways) in about 5 hours. Trimming i can do in about 45 minutes.
I cut the fairways every 5 days or so, the greens i cut every other day, and the rough gets cut as needed.

The course is free to play(although there is a 'donation box'). So i dont get any complaints about course conditions. The course is getting better every season, so in the long run it can only get better.

It takes about 30 minutes to play a round, and is quite challenging. Water is 'in play' on almost every hole...there are all kinds of balls at the bottom of the ponds.

[rains]

I built the green early October this year and it's about 1 inch tall but I haven't cut the grass yet because of wet weather in Seattle. Anyway, I'm seeing brown spots all over the yard. As you can see in the picture, I sprayed cracked corn 10 days ago that hoping to cure this problem, but I'm not sure it will do it or not.
Could you guys help me? Thanks.

[timturf]

don't think crack corn will help, especially after cisease appeared! might be pink snow mold

[Dchall_San_Antonio]

The finer you can get your corn ground the faster the response will be. You need more surface area to grow more Trichoderma fungus. The finer the grind the more surface area. The increase in surface area from fine grinding is geometric in proportion to the particle size reduction.

I think what I just said is to use corn flour if you can find it, corn meal if you can't, and corn chops as a last resort. Whole corn kernels will give you a field of corn. Of course you will be continually mowing it down, but still, you don't want corn plants growing in your greens, not even short plants.