Overcompensating

Someone (Mother Nature) has been overcompensating for something (the 2012 drought) this year.

A dark and very wet 7th fairway from this morning.


After last year, I vowed to not complain about rain, but it is starting to get a little ridiculous.  From April through June of 2012, we received 6.82" of rain (and only 0.35" in June) and pumped 9.5 million gallons of water through the irrigation system.  Fast forward one year... 20.47" of rain has fallen and only 1.4 millons gallons (mostly to water-in products) has been pumped.  With rain falling as I type and more in the forecast, we have officially topped 8" for the month of June.

As I had mentioned in the last post, we are lucky to have such a well draining course that doesn't have a waterway running through it.  However, the constantly saturated soils do present concerns for turf health.  Prior to the monsoons starting last week, we were actually seeing some areas in the rough drying out and these areas are those that stay the wettest the longest.  When roots can't access oxygen, they quite simply shrink towards the drier surface and that is precisely what happened.  Hopefully, the soils will drain well enough that this doesn't happen on a widespread basis to the fine turf areas, but it's a distinct possibility that could make it a difficult summer.  Luckily, it hasn't gotten as warm as was forecasted because nothing hurts roots more than boiling in waterlogged soils, and for now, we'll hope for the best.

In other news, we completed the sodding project by 18 last week and pleased with the results.  All of the rain has provided a strong test to the water diversion that was a part of this project, and we will have to make a few minor tweaks to get it functioning as we would like.  Until the roots establish and the rains stop, we will keep the sand bags in place, but they will hopefully be gone by next week.

The back left bunker on 18 is still washing out a little bit, but not nearly as badly as it has in the past.

Given the rains, we feel fortunate to have gotten the Pitch In for the Patio fundraiser and the TaylorMade Invitational completed over the past two days, and from what we've heard, both were well received.  Now, we have our fingers crossed for some dry days.



All About 18

It's hard to imagine two years that have started differently than 2012 and 2013.  By this time last year, we were probably already handwatering frequently and I was likely using portable sprinklers in the rough.  Not to jinx ourselves, but we have yet to water the course this June and have maybe run two full-course irrigation programs this year.  Despite all of the rain, the course has been holding up quite nicely, and it's times like these that we are thankful to have a course that drains so well.  Of course, luck plays a role with the weather, and we dodged some downpours on Saturday evening that hit areas south of Madison with an inch of rain.

As of last week, we were fully-staffed for the year, and in spite of having more new employees than normal, it looks as if we should have another great crew this year.  With all of the extra bodies, we are able to do more than just mow grass (which we've been doing a lot of) and some of the detail work that's tough to find time for in the spring is now getting done.  Plus, we're able to tackle some projects.

Two weeks ago, we removed eight arborvitaes that separated the 18th green from the 13th tee.  These trees unfairly punished slightly mis-hit tee shots on 18 and they also covered up some great views.  I think that the view from hole 18 down 13 is now one of the best on the course, and the picture below captures just that.

Tomorrow, thirteen pallets of sod will be arriving to complete the transformation on both ends of the 18th hole.  We will be leveling the ground with the cart paths that were paved by 18 tee last fall and by 18 green a few weeks ago.  Sod will also be laid in the area where the arborvitaes were removed, and the area to the left of 18 green will be receiving a more dramatic makeover that will improve it aesthetically and functionally.

It's no great secret the the back left bunker on 18 washes out frequently, and the main culprit causing this is water from the parking lot and service drive the rushes down the banks and into the bunker.  To impede the cascading water, we will be raising the backside lip of this bunker and lowering the valley behind both leftside bunkers to encourage the water to run towards the cart path.  We're pretty excited to not have to pump/fix this bunker after every minor rainfall, and it will subsequently play much more fairly, too.

One of the other more noticeable changes on the course is the straw matting that is between the ninth green and first tee (pictured below).  After removing invasive shrubs from this area two years ago, it has been our intention to improve this area further.  This year, we hired an ecological firm to plant a savanna prairie mix in this barren spot, and once the plants germinate and mature, we think that it will be a great looking addition to the course.

Otherwise, the annual flowers have been planted, and the fairways have received their annual granular fertilizer application.  It's hard to believe that in a few weeks, we will be celebrating the 4th of July and beginning our Japanese beetle grub preventative applications.  It's amazing how time flies when Mother Nature provides moderate temperatures and ample rainfall; let's hope that she keeps up the good work.