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Focus on water management...

The golf course has dried out considerably in the last week or so. This is a good thing, up to this point (with the consistent rains, etc) the turfgrass has been "spoiled rotten" with water. Some areas of the greens, fairways and tees have turned brown with the lack of rain, some of the weaker species of grass have gone dormant (not dead) and will remain that way until the next rain. This is the grass' natural way of dealing with drought stress. Our staff has began to hand water some of these areas (mainly greens and tees), as there are some areas that need a bit more water than the irrigation can supply.

Playability of drier turfgrass:
As most of our members have mentioned, the golf course plays much faster in this dry state. This allows drives to bound down fairways and run out to great length. The greens are very firm, which allows for some interesting shot making as well. The turfgrass is very healthy in this state, it is much more resistant to disease, etc.

The fine art of hand watering:
When drier conditions are present you will see our staff out with hoses hand watering. This is a very positive practice that allows us to maintain fast and firm conditions and reduces water use. The theory is that to water these high and dry spots (with sprinklers) we would need to over water other areas of the just to supply sufficient water to the dry spot. This would be a very inefficient use of water and would be detrimental to the playability of the golf course. The only drawback that is that we are out on the golf course watering during play, this is the nature of the beast, we need to supply water to the plant when "the plant" needs it, not when it is convenient for all of us. We practice hand watering both preventatively and curatively, it all depends on the conditions and the time of year.

The tools in the tool box:
We use a few different tools to help aid in the penetration of water to the root zone. Wetting agents and surfactants are products that help wet a chronically dry area and also drive water down to the root zone of the turgrass plant. We apply these to our greens regularly. On fairways and tees we use similar products and apply them by injection through our irrigation system and in an applicator on the end of a hose. We also use a machine called the Hydroject, this is a machine that injects a stream of water to the root zone to aid in penetration. This works amazingly well and will be used this upcoming week on fairway spots.

As with any task on the golf course our staff do their best to stay our of our members' way. Unfortunately, there are times when interference is unavoidable. Our staff is doing all that we can to provide good consistent playing conditions for all of our members.

Comments

  1. 2ndSwingGolfJuly 3, 2010 at 6:03 PM

    Anything to keep them rolling fast and true works! Love to see how different courses keep the conditions in check.

    ReplyDelete

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