The dome is up! (Well it was at the time this post was originally published, prior to Monday's deluge.)

If you looked quickly at the precipitation total for the month of June, you might say it was a fairly wet month.  However, if you dig a bit deeper (and hit hard soil), you'll see that the month was very much front loaded, since 90% of the rainfall came in the first 11 days.

For the past several weeks, there have been showers around us, but it feels as if a dome has surrounded the golf course, with only a scant amount of raindrops falling on site.

In this mid-June storm, heavy rain hit most of the surrounding areas, yet bypassed the course.

Ironically, from a course conditioning perspective, it may actually feel that despite a lack of rain, things are softer--and that would likely be correct.  Irrigation systems (particularly in our region) are designed to supplement rainfall, not replace it.  And while surface conditions may be slightly softer from irrigation, the buried soil sensors we have, show that we are continuing to irrigate at a deficit level, with the soil growing dryer day by day.  Recently, we have been losing close to .25" of moisture per day, and replacing less than half of it.

Fairway moisture levels peaked in early June and have headed south ever since.

In a timely article, the USGA discusses this issue:  The Course Seems Wet Yet it Hasn't Rained in Weeks

One thing is for sure--undoubtedly this is a great opportunity to see how good your irrigation coverage is (or isn't).  Any area which isn't receiving adequate irrigation is now dormant.

While the tees are doing well, the unirrigated path between them is looking toasty.

Of course the heat and dry conditions will end eventually.  However, at the moment, this weather pattern is keeping us on our toes!