2010 will be interesting

This year has already seen it's share of oddity, and for the golf course superintendent, I'm afraid it's going to get interesting.  The weather has set the stage for disease and decline in turf.  Several golf courses in the Fort Wayne area have sent turf samples off to Universities to be looked at.  It is my understanding that these areas started off bright orange, some then turned yellow, and they all eventually turned brown (death).  We are scouting the course carefully and this includes our chemical control plots.  These are areas where no chemicals are applied to suppress or control disease.  The infamous dollar spot is having a field day as the weather is perfect for that pathogen (sclerotinia macrocarpa).
We are still on the cart paths, and the mosquitos have taken a pint of blood as I write.  Impressive seeing how the winds are about 12 mph.
Enjoy the rest of the weekend,
Turf

-- Sent from my Palm Pre

Half inch of rain

Storms came through this am and dumped more water on our already soaked golf course and range.  We will be on paths today and a good chance on sunday.  The fairways were very soft to begin with, and just because there is no visible water does not mean that the soils are not saturated.  Traffic on saturated soils leads to heavy compaction and reduces the amount of soil oxygen that the roots of the turf desperately needs.  Comprimising the health of the turf in the early parts of the season may result in turf loss during stressful periods.

-- Sent from my Palm Pre

Return to normal......kind of

Looks like we are drying out to lift the path only restriction.  Some areas of the rough are extreamly wet and we may be paths and fairways on certain holes.  Bunkers are all pumped out, the new bunkers held up quite well, while the old ones have considerable wash-out.  Hopefully we will have the place put back together right before the forecasted thunderstorms this weekend.  Looks like today is the day to play, greens are cut and rolled.
You may notice several irrigation leaks, the ground being severely saturated allows for greater pipe movement.  We had to take the pumps down (off pressure) to avoid further damage.  If you notice any areas, please notify a staff member.  Hopefully, with the pumps down we can figure out what is a leak and what is simply drainage, this job sure stays interesting.
Tee it high,
Turf

-- Sent from my Palm Pre

Thursday Conditions

Rain and storms overnight.  Course is closed until noon today.  We will be on the path.  We are moving as much water as we can to try and make the course as playable as possible.  We have had three inches of rain since last friday.  Hopefully we can get some sun and wind now, we are due.  Oh yeah, and guess who is here.

Course closed

Well it doesn't happen very often, but it did today.  Rain closed the course, we will be busy moving water.  The staff did a great job of preping the course for the CWDGA South District Team Matches, and we were excited to show off our course, but after playing only one hole, the storms came.  I will post course conditions early tomorrow.
Turf

-- Sent from my Palm Pre

More rain with some creepy skies

More rain came today and put an end to sand hauling, rough mowing, and all sorts of otherwise productive work. With the ladies South District matches coming, tomorrow will be a long day.  Someone do a dry weather dance please!

-- Sent from my Palm Pre

Happy Father's Day

Should be a good morning for golf.  As you can see by the dew patterns on the fairways, soils are still saturated.  Traffic on saturated soils results in heavy compaction.  We are lifting the cart restrictions, but ask that you only drive in the fairways to your ball and then back to the path.  Please do not continue to drive down the fairways once your shot has been played.  Many low areas are still soft.  Please pay attention to the terrian and avoid driving in low areas.  Player cooperation with cart restrictions, helps us to be more liberal with cart usage.
I wish everyone a great day of family and relaxation.
Wish me luck as we head out to the warrior dash.
Turf

-- Sent from my Palm Pre

Course gets another inch of rain

We are open, and will be on cart paths only today.  Lots of standing water and soils are saturated.  Please keep all four tires on the path.  Thank you,
Turf

-- Sent from my Palm Pre

Cats and dogs

Well, a front went through and it poured on us for about ten minutes.  Just enough to screw up some of our bunker and hauling work.  Not enough to put us on the path though.  Photo is of the front passing over my neighborhood.  

-- Sent from my Palm Pre

Irrigation leak day 4

Wish us luck as we tackle this one, hopefully there is enough pipe inside the coupling to make the repair we are planning on.  More later...

-- Sent from my Palm Pre

Potential for disaster

11 pallets of sod are coming today as we make a push to finish the bunker project.  So, it would only make sense that we would find an irrigation leak on a mainline.  We are lucky that we have had some rain, as the parts to repair this 8 inch line are days away.  A leak like this mid-summer would have us jumping.  Looks like they are uncertain what the weekend will bring weather wise.  Cross your fingers,
Turf

-- Sent from my Palm Pre

Lucky lucky

We have missed most of the heavy rains that have been in the area.  We are still off the path and the rain looks like it will miss us to the south.  We are preping the course for play, and we will see what the afternoon brings weatherwise.
Pictured is a dying Oak, several years ago we experienced dry conditions that are now showing in the stress of many trees.  
The mosquitos are out in force, remember that insect repellant kills grass and you should stand on the cart path when you apply.
I have to run,
Turf

-- Sent from my Palm Pre

Weekend Update

We are catching up on the rough, bunkers are filling with sand, and some string trimming is getting done around trees. Yeay……..we finally feel like the course is taking shape. We have been very busy trying to keep up with the regular maintenance while finishing up several projects. As frustrating as this spring has been, I have been able to look back and see just how much we have accomplished this past winter and spring. I have a deep appreciation for my staff and I am very proud of their efforts. I probably don’t thank them enough, but they are the most amazing crew I have ever dealt with. I hope you get a chance to come out soon, the course is playing well, looks like some showers over the weekend may soften things up a bit, just as things were getting back to semi-firm.


See you on the tee,

Turf