DROUGHT

Had all kinds of snappy titles rolling around in my head this week as I was prepping for a new post. Fact is the elephant in the room is all the effects the lack of rain is having on the course. I did not prepare any stats for this post but suffice to say a quick scan of the numbers I have seen we are in the one of the worst stretches in my 17 seasons here. 2002 was the worst one when we had 1.22" from the middle of June thru the middle of august. That was the year we discovered the salt water intrusion in our well. For many years I would test the water often to track the extent of the salt intrusion. We still send out a sample to a lab a couple times a year and this year I have tested it myself a couple of times and it is as high as ever. With temperatures above normal since January and water usage at an all time high I have looked at it as inevitable and don't ask the questions you don't want the answers to. Our budget for potable water from the town wouldn't last a week at the rate we are applying so I have not even had them turn it on. I think the money might be better spent on a second floable gypsum application to fairways. I have applied one a year since 2002 as well as a granular app in the spring every year. For greens we have a regular every three week salt flush application that we have been on since 02 as well. This year our change in watering practices on greens has worked very well and I think is helping to keep salt levels lower. We used to water approx. 10 min daily. This year we have gone to deep cycles approx. 45 min every 4-7 days.  Last week i though i would be using the money to buy a new irrigation computer as ours has been giving me fits all spring. I think we finally got ahead of our problems since it has not crashed once this week. views from around the course:

drought? NO bug spray notice the foot prints? please spray on the path

not always about the grass

running portables trying to stay ahead

salt water damage to oak tree

the drought comes alive and creeps in from the edges

 You may have noticed some cart signs in the brown rough areas this week. We have started to skip some mowing's and even raised the height of cut on fairways, which no one noticed by the way, all in an effort to combat this stretch. So what can you do? please drive in the green grass. Try to break all the bad habits you have developed over the years and think about the turf first. As I am typing this I watched a member drive backwards on 1 to the end of the rope and sneak behind it and the mat. storage area just to retrieve a ball. That's not helping. Ropes and signs are put out for a reason and it is not to annoy you. We hate them more than you as we have to navigate them several times a day. We had two separate instances of drive carts on greens this week alone. The public is an issue but as a whole the members are worse, and that is sad.

Stay off the brown

Bonnie cares and is going outside the bunker with pull cart. the empty cart is in WRONG position

Walking is great and I love to have healthy members but if everyone walks in the same place it wears the turf out. Pull carts do not belong between a bunker and a green. the following are typical spots where this happens EVERY day: left of 1, 4, 7 and the right bunker on 8. Also these areas are trampled by pull carts or are areas to avoid: left bunker on 2 instead of on path, inside the ropes on 3, once there then everyone goes up the right collar. People get careless and lazy and are afraid to walk away from their pull cart. For example: it is OK to walk past your ball on the right of 2 green, leave it on the cart path and grab a couple clubs. It is nothing more than a vehicle to hold your bag same as a drive cart.

Creeping Bentgrass

  The good news is that creeping bentgrass loves this weather and our efforts to give this grass the competitive edge on greens is working. The Poa is alive but regulated and slightly off color, just hanging on while the bent is loving it and stretching over the weakened annual bluegrass.