From dry to wet

The weather is the single greatest factor for managing the golf course. It determines what we can and cannot do, when to do it, and much more. We have discussed how dry we have been. Now we have moved to the other extreme.

Over the stretch of days from August 10^th thru August 20^th we received 3.75” of rain. This is slightly above normal for that short amount of time, but not outlandish. However, based on how this season has progresses thus far, this was a large deviation. That rain total was actually more rain than we received for the entire month of July. Furthermore, when totaling the entire month of August rainfall, we are just .75” of rain less than all of June and July, combined.

Because of this rain falling in a short amount of time, the ground gets saturated quickly. Most of our operation is affected in some way. It limits the amount of mowing we can do or sometimes eliminates our ability to cut for several days. We push mow some large areas in order to try and keep up with turf growth, or we skip certain areas that are extremely wet and mow just areas that can tolerate the larger mowers. Similarly, when we can mow, especially on greens, we have to raise the mowing height to accommodate the accumulated growth.

We also must refocus labor towards cleanup. Sticks are always strewn across the property after storms, especially this year with cicada branches falling in just a gentle breeze. Bunker sand gets washed of the edges after intense rainfall and it must be manually shoveled back into place. As mentioned, we may not be able to cut large portions of the property, so putting the labor towards sticks and bunkers does not necessarily detract from something else immediately, but cleanup is always a multi-day process. Eventually we have to choose between cleanup and catch-up. We must balance getting the course trimmed back down and also still getting it repaired and tidy.

We definitely needed the rain. Spreading the rain over a longer period may have been easier to manage, but we don’t get to pick.

 

Etiquette Reminder of the Month

Please remember to remove any bunker sand that may be stuck to your spikes before walking on the greens.

Also, as part of a Golf Committee initiative to improve course etiquette, we have included links to videos teaching proper on course etiquette. Please take a moment to watch:

Ball Marks - How to properly repair

 

 

See you on the course!

Joe

jvillegas@bwrc.org