Unfortunately, this picture has become quite common over the last two years in the Mid-Continent region. In 2011, this was most often seen in Oklahoma and south.. This year, however, it was commonly seen in Oklahoma and north.
The burn on the trees is from high quantities of salt in the irrigation water. You can easily see exactly where the irrigation water contacted the trees surrounding this green. As water supplies dwindled during the droughts, the concentration of salt in ponds and wells increased.
Monitoring the quality of your water is always important but even more so when water supplies are impacted by drought. Now is a great time to take a water sample from an irrigation head (not dipped out of the lake or wet well) and sent off to the lab for an Irrigation Suitability Test. Next spring, take another sample and compare it to the first. This helps identify fluctuations in the quality of the water should any exist. Poor water quality can affect the programming for soil amendments, cultural programs, and even fertility.
If you would like more information about a Turf Advisory Service visit and how we can help your facility with drought, water quality or other management issues, please contact me, Bud White, at (972) 662-1138 or at budwhite@usga.org. I look forward to being of service to you and your course.