This is a very informative blog posting but it is also me venting a bit. Okay...no rain for almost a month and the temps were so high with little humidity that we were throwing water like mad, almost in a losing battle to keep the golf course alive. Fast forward to July 20th, the Arcola Cup, and it has not stopped raining since. While the constant rain will avert water restrictions for a while.....it is not good for the grass at all! When the humidity is high like it has been for almost 7 straight days and you add in constant rain, the turf becomes puffy and lush....two things I despise. Also, when the grass stays damp, disease pressure is extremely high and that is when raising mowing heights and skipping a few mowings is the logical thing to do. We can push the greens as hard as we want, but if it is humid you will lose that battle. You can get greens rolling decent for a day or so, but long term it will catch us. This is the 5th green on Sunday afternoon after our second storm in 24 hours. We got 1.2" on Saturday and then another .6" on Sunday. When water sits on fine turf like this, eventually it will kill the grass directly or indirectly. While the temps look to level off in the mid 80s for the next week or so, humidity levels will continue to stay on the high side and this is when we have to be careful. When the weather is conducive for increasing green speeds, you know we will, but right now we have to keep our guard up.
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