Cleanup in Aisle 10

 When it comes time to aerify the greens, tees and fairways each August, we always pay close attention to the weather forecast.  Last Monday was a little nerve-racking as we tackled the greens during 90 degree heat, but both plant and man survived the stress.

The blowers were humming during Monday's greens aerification.

As we then looked to Tuesday's forecast, with only a slight chance of an isolated shower, it seemed like a perfect day to start punching fairways.

Things were going well, until a random, isolated shower popped up and parked itself over the golf course shortly after noon Tuesday.  We didn't see it coming, and had #10 fairway completely opened up with plugs from one end to the other.  After watching this turn into a river of mud, we headed home for the day, muttering that we might be better off relying on a Ouija board for a more accurate weather prediction.

Not a pretty picture on Tuesday afternoon.

The story continued on Wednesday, which was once again hot and humid, with little drying occurring.  We cleaned #10 as best we could, but truth be told, we were still left with a muddy mess. 

"Mud ball" would be an appropriate name after our cleanup Wednesday morning.

So, what could possibly help this situation?  Would you believe the answer was:  More rain.  Yes, just as they had done 24 hours prior, the skies opened up, and we got an additional inch plus of rain on Wednesday afternoon.  However, this time, all of that water washed the mud off the turf.

Another heavy thunderstorm helped clean #10.

We often say that aerification is never the same twice.  Changes in temperature, humidity, cloud cover--and rainfall--can certainly make the process interesting, and sometimes frustrating...