X Marks the Spot

 As you play the course, you may notice several areas painted white, in the shape of an "x" or "t" (depending on your perspective).  What's the purpose of these marks?  The short answer is that they are "ground control points" recently used for an aerial mapping of the golf course.

Next question:  What is the purpose of this mapping?  Well, with the golf course irrigation system now 35 years old, it seems prudent to start planning for future replacement of the system.  As the chart below indicates, given its age, the Club has definitely gotten its money's worth out of the original system.  

We are now undertaking the first step in the replacement process, by having an Irrigation Impact Study performed.  A detailed mapping of the property is part of this initial phase--thus the need for the white paint markings.

Replacing an irrigation system is obviously a long-term investment into the golf course infrastructure, and the decision on when the right time is to undertake this project, can often be tricky.  Currently, many irrigation contractors are booked years in advance, so replacement needs to be well thought out.  

The results of this preliminary study will provide us with long range planning recommendations, the sprinkler layout for a new system, as well as a cost estimate for system replacement.

Tech for the Tech

These days, you likely get most of your information from a screen, not a paper book.  The same holds true for our Equipment Technician, Don Robel.

With a quick glance to one side of his shop, Don can easily see the team members' job assignments, and know what equipment everyone is using.

If Don is repairing a particular piece of equipment, he can view the parts breakdown from a different monitor.  Gone are the days of having manuals the size of a phone book (for those who can remember them).

Golf course Equipment Technicians spend their time behind the scenes, making sure the fleet of equipment is ready to go.  For all of the mowers used on closely mown turf, this means checking them up to seven days per week.  The importance of this role truly can't be overstated.

It's getting warmer...

Without trying to attribute a cause, it certainly appears that things are heating up.  In the short term we can point to June, which had an average high temperature of 87.7 degrees--this is hotter than the month of July typically is.

Abnormal temperatures for a single month or two might be considered an anomaly, however a look at the USDA plant hardiness map shows New Jersey having shifted from 1990 to 2015:

While we aren't ready to start farming bananas and pineapples quite yet, evidence of these changes can easily be seen on the golf course.  Two examples of this are "warm-season" grasses which now call Laurel Creek home, and are shown growing in approaches:  

Dallisgrass

Bermudagrass

Ten years ago, it was rare to find these on the course.  Today, they are widespread, and it's a battle to keep them from encroaching into the close cut turf.    

Where's the happy turf?

 If you spend some time staring at the greens, they may appear to be completely spotted.  So what's with the lack of uniformity?  

Those dark green dots are last November's aerification holes.  While no cool-season turf is enjoying this weather, the bright green dots certainly show some healthier grass.

In contrast, the turf in a small "skip" last November has a much less vibrant appearance.  Despite the current weather, we continue to mow the greens seven days a week at 0.100", and roll the greens five times per week.  At times like this, the importance of aerification can't be overstated.

So Long June!

From a turf management perspective, June was a real stinker.  While we finally received some much needed rain during the final few days of the month, through June 25, we had less than one inch of precipitation.  This was on the heels of a very dry May, where we only received 40% of normal rainfall.  

In the first half of June, there were a number of storms that appeared to be heading right for us as they crossed the Delaware River, but somehow fell apart.  A couple of examples of this are shown below--these two events provided a combined total 0.05" of rain:

In addition to the exceptionally dry conditions, June was just plain hot, with an average daytime temperature six degrees above normal for the month.  To look at this another way, if 15 days of June were at the average temperature, then the other 15 were 12 degrees above average.

When you combine the heat and lack of rainfall, it obviously creates major challenges on the golf course.  A quick look at the driving range floor (or most people's lawn) shows that any area which is unirrigated is the color of straw:

However, unlike your lawn, the fairways are maintained at a height of 0.375", have significant mounding, and dozens and dozens of carts on them each day, all of which adds to the challenge.  In order to address this, we reallocated our labor to hand watering, devoting an unprecedented number of hours to this task for the month.

As we enter July, the recent storms have helped to rehydrate the turf.. Hopefully the next two months will be a bit less extreme than the past two were.