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Golf Course Update

The weather has been the hot topic of discussion to say the least. Last week we received a number of rain events that totaled over 4". Our golf course does have adequate drainage in the greens, fairways and some rough areas, but this amount of precipitation on a clay based property is beyond our capacity. The golf course is soft, lush, and spongy. Our focus has always been on playability and these conditions are not conducive to our theory of fast and firm turfgrass.

Greens - Obviously our greens are saturated and rather soft. This leads to larger than normal ball marks and slower ball roll. We have applied surfactants that draw the water down through the profile to help dry and firm up the surfaces. We topdressed on Tuesday evening and brushed the sand in, only to have it rain the next day and settle it into the canopy. The sand will help firm up and smooth the surface as well. These patterns of hot, humid and wet weather have increased disease pressure, we have had to apply more fungicide than usually required to our greens. Along with these fungicide applications we have applied a growth regulator to help slow down the growth that occurs throughout the day and to reduce poa seed head development. We have not yet consistently hit our target green speed of 10, but with these practices, some dry weather and the purchase of our new greens roller, we will be there very soon.

Tees and Fairways - We have yet to irrigate our fairways this season. Even through the hot stretch of weather, we were able to keep the water off and help those roots dive into the soil. The tees are enjoying the flushing rains and are looking good. We have consistent growth and good divot recovery.

Bunkers- Our bunkers have already had a long hard season. They have been severely washed out repeatedly. Just as we added fresh sand to the green side bunkers, we received 2.25" of rain and had considerable contamination. We have shoveled, raked, smoothed and added sand to a number of them, but this is an ongoing process. On a positive note, the bunker that we renovated on #15 with new drainage, liner, sand and "bull nose" edges did not washout or get contaminated. This may be a sign of things to come in our bunkers...

Overall I feel that the golf course is in good shape. However, it is not playing the way that I would like to see it. I learned a long time ago that there is nothing you can do about the weather, but we will continue to cultivate and "train" the turfgrass to play well even when the elements provide us with these challenges.

Also, as you can see from the blog page, I have started a Twitter page. This allows me to post quick notes and comments with regards to conditions, tasks and other points of interest. Please check in regularly to keep up to date on what's going on...

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