Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-10-17

ton, Stewart whaley, who has done 9
| fine Job Of keeping the club course in
good condition through the hot months,
| estimates he can water the fairways at
the Virginia club for an initial cost
of $4,000. Water Is expensive in Viz
| GINA, however.
Those pessimists who hold that the
grass roots on the fairways have been
| destroyed by the drought can take heart
| from the statements of DR.. Walter s.
Harlan and Fits, both authorities on
grass and the growing of grass. DR..
Harlan, who is in charge of the famed
Burning Tree course, says the grass will
come back rapidly after a soft rain
lasting two or three days. Fits says
the same thing, and DR.. j. T. McClena-
han, chairman of the Greens Committee
at Washington, insists that grass will
continue to grow after the usual Fall
rains, until freezing weather comes
along.
Meanwhile the golf courses are slowly
improving While the water courses
which traverse the layouts about the
Capital are almost uniformly dried up.
the heavy dews of Autumn and the light
rains we have had during the past 10
days have improved conditions ma
terially. The fairways are not good, by
any means, but they are not impossible,
as they were month ago.
The remarkable fact of the whole
drought situation, where 1t touches on
the golf courses about the Capital this
year, has been that the greenkeepers
have been able to keep the putting
greens in top-notch condition. The sea-
son has not been a bad one for brown
patch, and, furthermore, the various
fv~oo
come such an exact science that green
keepers have little fear of the fungus
growth that wiped out the greens at
Columbia two weeks in advance of the
national open championship of 1921.
Brown patch, as a factor in golf course
upkeep, is almost negligible, even though
greenkeepers must keep everlastingly at
It to prevent its spread.
BY raising the mower blades and per-
hitting heavy growth Of grass on the
putting greens and also by the liberal
application of water late in the after
noon and through the night, the putting
green's at the clubs about Washington
have been kept in excellent condition
during the heated spell.
Visitors to the Capital, used to seeing
bad green's during August and Septem-
Der, have marveled at the improvement
in the putting surfaces even through
the worst drought this part Of the
country has suffered in many years.
The Department. Of Agriculture also
predicts that little sowing will be IleceS-
sary to bring back the grass on the fair
ways If we have some light rains. Here
is what DR.. A. J Pieters, principal
agronomist Of the forage crops of the
department, says about fairway grass,
after receiving information from many
golf clubs in the drought area:
1.-THE conclusion arrived at so far rs
the result of our information IS that
only golf courses that lack fairway
water supply and are located on light,
sandy soil, or on soil which is extremely
well drained due to their elevation, sub
soil, etc, have lost enough turf to war
rant replanting.
"Clubs maintaining their courses
under average condition need not be-
come unnecessarily worried. Although
the Kentucky blue grass, fescues and
bents on the fairways look dead, In most
cases there Is still spark Of life for
cooler weather and shorter days are
approaching"
The last major event Of the season
for the Women's District Golf AsSocia-
ton was being played today at the
Chevy Chase Club. where some two
score women gathered to compete in q
combined match and medal play tour
ney for prizes donated by the associa-
ton and by the club professional.
A group of more than 100 members
of washington Golf and Country Club
are expected to gather at the club house
tonight to honor Frank X. Roesch, the
Plikable lad who recently won the Dis
trict championship and also annexed
the club title. The dinner was post
poned from the original date . week
ago because Of the death Of one Of
the members Of the board Of governors
0f khA cllib