For South Hills Country Club, 2020 was supposed to be a year of celebration. Constructed in 1920, the country club planned to host a centennial celebration, but due to pandemic restrictions, the festivities have been postponed to 2021.
Despite the uncertainty, one thing is for sure. The hundred-year-old golf course is still celebration-ready in part to the fantastic results from Foliar-Pak products.
Bryan Flaherty is a Pittsburgh native and worked at three other courses in the region before becoming superintendent of South Hills in 2019. He began experimenting with Foliar-Pak when he was the superintendent at Chartiers Country Club and implemented the products full-time after joining South Hills.
“It’s an older course with a lot of hills just like any other Western Pennsylvania course, and it has a dated irrigation system, which we are trying to update,” said Flaherty.
“The course has a lot of nitrogen and available nutrients in the soil. I wanted to use Foliar-Pak to build a budget-friendly plan for South Hills that would manage the release of those without regulating growth up top.”
For the fairways, Flaherty choice products are Foundation Forty, Carbosential Fe Turbo, Gold Standard 45, and Minors.
“On the fairways, in particular, there’s an amazing color response,” said Flaherty. “We have a double row irrigation system, but in some places, it’s a single row. During times of drought and stress, I’ve noticed an increased stress tolerance and the color staying on the fairways.”
“The plant density and rooting have also increased. Plus, you can use low rates of the products, which makes them easy to use,” he said.
“I really like the low use rates of Carbosential Fe Turbo. I have never used an iron product that lasts longer and gets that kind of vivid color.”
On the greens, he uses a combination of Foundation Forty, Armament Concentrate, Manganese, Boron, Calcium, Amperage, and CSi L.
“On my greens, I’ve noticed an even clipping yield, he said. “I don’t see the peaks and valleys that I’ve seen with other fertility products.”
Besides the fairways and greens, the tees have also received the Foliar-Pak treatment.
“If you have an active driving range and small par-3 tees, Grow-In mixed with Amperage gets the seedlings popping, and it’s perfect for recovering the range and par-3 tees,” said Flaherty.
“Foliar-Pak products are easy to fit into any fertility budget, and I love the fact that I see that it works,” he said. “Not only can I see the results from the surface, but I can dig in with my knife and look at the root density.”
With first-rate results from Foliar-Pak, South Hills’ fairways, greens, and tees will not only be stress-tolerant and in peak condition for play but will have stunning color for the centennial celebration this summer.
