The theme for the year so far can be best described as cold and wet. Cold and wet temperatures have prevailed thus far as temperatures have struggled to break 70 degrees on most days so far this season. In addition to frustrating golfers, the weather has also hindered the golf course maintenance staff as well. Critical practices such as aerification, sand topdressing, and most applications of plant protectant materials require dry days with ample sunshine. Fortunately, the cold temperatures have not hurt the course as much as they would in a year in which we were attempting to recover from substantial amounts of winter damage. To be honest, we are thankful that temperatures have remained cool this week since we have received 3.50" inches of rain to date with more predicted over the next couple days. The standing water on fairways becomes temperatures warm into the 80's and the water serves as a magnifying glass that can cook the underlying turf.
We have taken advantage with important tasks such as the core aerification of tees which occurred the week after Memorial Day. The current stretch of wet weather looks to break by the weekend which should allow us to get caught up with mowing, sand topdressing of putting greens, and an application of plant protectant materials on the fairways.
The benefits of fairway drainage become apparent during extended periods of wet weather. Currently the best example of this is on 7 White where additional drainage will be added this fall to complete the fairway.
