Wayward regulators & the end of Summer

This is officially the end of Summer. Melancholy for many and exciting for others as it signals the start of their favorite season Fall. It is a mixed bag for me. I enjoy Fall weather but the loss of daylight is a real pain. We usually lose help and the workload does not diminish so it becomes harder to get it all done. But the play slows down so efficiencies go back up. Amazing how hard it is to get anything done when the course is full to the max.

 

outside on deck and from inside through shade

The latest Univ. of Massachusetts update had a great description of the difference between cool and warm season grasses that I think you will find interesting. If you have ever struggled with crabgrass or were curious how it manages to look so good all summer click  HERE We have had a disturbing trend for Wednesdays lately. Last week we had two irrigation repairs and the fiasco of the bees nest. This Wednesday we had two more irrigation leaks. One of them let go and the water was shooting 30-40 feet in the air. Luckily no one was close enough to get hit by the debris as it was tossed around. We picked stones off the 4th fairway as far as thirty-five yards away. I told Murph one of us was taking next wed off to try and break the cycle. I have never been a fan of Murphy's law but hiring a Murphy may not have been the wisest decision for a superstitious person.

irrigation blow out

active dollar spot mycelium 

Will repairing a bend in the brush hitch

active dollar spot in rough to the right of 7 green

I was just informed the Cape Cod Commission voted to create a fertilizer DCPC for all of Cape Cod. They are looking to mitigate and possibly eliminate all fertilizer use to deal with the excess nitrogen in the water bodies. This is a knee jerk reaction to the Mass Estuary project studying the water bodies in the Commonwealth. They know most of the nitrates are coming from septic systems. They know that title 5 systems which were rammed down our throats starting in the 80's, I believe, are bad for the environment. They streamline nitrates right into groundwater and yet they are still mandatory.  They are looking to enact regulations that will be impossible to enforce are not founded in science and have the potential to do more harm than good. Let us hope the MV Commission does not feel the need to follow suit. I took a couple of pictures of our towns plans to deal with septic issues here:

wicking well installation 

Tisbury school playground

Tisbury's plan is to expand their treatment plant and dispose of that treated water into a series of wicking wells outside of the affected watersheds. The elementary school had some heavy equipment working to install these wells recently.

A reminder that we will be closed tues 9/3 for the day. We have several contractors coming to do work on the course and will be open the next day.