Goldilocks and Water Management

 The course received approximately 50% more rain than average in June, so it probably shouldn't have been much of a surprise that July was going to be payback time.  With one week left in the month, we are way behind in precipitation, with only 28% of the normal rainfall total for July--which has also clearly lived up to being the hottest month of the year.  Yes, you might not be aware (if you happen to be a cave dweller), but it has been just a tad warm of late...

This extreme weather combination of high temperatures and lack of rain, makes water management critical.  Striking the right balance between too wet and too dry during this kind of weather pattern is challenging to say the least.

Few balls will be plugging on the dormant range field right now.

Most of the golf course, if allowed to dry down and go dormant, will recover without issue when temperatures moderate and available moisture returns to the root zone.  However, areas which go dormant and then have to deal with stresses such as cart traffic, may become severely damaged.  On the other hand, since water is a great conductor of heat, saturated soils can be no better for the turf than dry, with the potential for rapid root loss.  

Additionally, the course's predominantly short-rooted Poa annua greens are constructed primarily of well-draining sand, and will not last long if allowed to dry down.  Hand watering, checking sprinkler arcs and adjusting run times are currently a fulltime job for several staff members.

A slight sprinkler arc adjustment was needed on the back of #16 Champion tee.

So this is where Goldilocks comes into play--both too much and too little water can quickly kill turf at the moment--trying to stay in the "just right" zone for the varied areas and turf species of the course is like walking a tightrope.

While we continue to mow the greens daily at 0.10", we have backed off on other more aggressive cultural practices, such as double-mowing, verticutting, topdressing and rolling.  Course conditions are certainly not fast and firm; but with temperatures approaching 100 degrees and the golf course dominated by "cool season grass" species, this is one of the times of the year when playing defense is the only sound choice for the long-term health and survival of the fine turf.