Mother Nature Pushing Us Around

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.

First Hole in One on #11

Tony Ludwig is the first official person to ace the new 11th hole and it almost went unrecognized.  He mentioned to me in passing that he aced it the week before and I wanted to mention it on my blog since he is the first person to accomplish this feat.  He aced the hole on July 13th and used a 9 iron from 142 yards.  Congratulations!

Big Improvement in 2 Years

This is a picture of the 15th fairway.  When I arrived in 2010, this fairway was 70% poa, 20% rye and 10% bentgrass.  The white/light green patches are bentgrass and it shows how far we have come in a little more than 2 years.  This fairway receives little sunlight and air movement and the carts are all funneled onto the fairway which is ideal for poa.  My first 2 summers, this fairway has struggled and we have had to spray it more than all the other fairways.  Now that our bentgrass populations on this hole are near 60%, we have been able to keep it healthier than in the past with less sprays.  It will take a few more years for this fairway to reach our goal due to the lack of sunlight but we will get it there, but it shows that our programs are paying off.

Arcola Cup 2012

What a summer.  We have encountered numerous heat waves already this summer, no rain for almost a month and then the day of the Arcola Cup, Mother Nature finally cooperates and gives us much needed rainfall.  2 days before the event, temperatures were 103 degrees and the day of the Arcola Cup, the temps never made it past 72 degrees.  The crew has worked extremely hard keeping grass alive with no rain, a limited water allocation and extreme heat and when we could showcase the course it rained the entire day.  Here, the crew is getting water off the 18th green so the last group on the course can finish their 18th hole to make the tournament offical and the rain shortened event finished with one person breaking par.