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. 

Some good news

It's challenging not to discuss the low hanging fruit this week--the weather--but we'll try to avoid that subject, and find something more positive to focus on.  

After spending many years on the golf course, it isn't often that we all see something, and just stop whatever we're doing.  One of the few exceptions to this is when we are visited by the majestic Bald Eagle, recently seen spending some time on #9 and 18:

For years, golf courses got a bad wrap as far as their environmental impact.  Fortunately, that view is slowly changing, and few can argue that the diversity of wildlife on a golf course is amazing.  One of Laurel Creek's often seen residents is this nesting hawk:  

While the bald eagle may have been removed from the federal government's endangered species list in 2007, it has remained on New Jersey's.  40 years ago, there was only one nesting pair of eagles remaining in the state.  With the current estimate of nesting pairs heading towards 270, New Jersey is now also proposing to remove the eagle from their endangered species list.  This is progress.

As we approach July 4, the eagle may rightfully come to mind as a symbol of our nation.  Having them here, also shows that golf courses can be part of the solution, not part of the problem. 

The Waiting is Over

 After months of waiting, we are happy to report that our seasonal H-2B team members arrived last week.  This year we have three returning workers, along with three new members.  Included in the group are Javier and his twin brother Gabriel.  There is no doubt that pairing the three first timers with the veterans has greatly reduced the learning curve.  

In an ideal world, we would just be able to sign up for the guys each year without much effort.  However, the reality is that the paperwork required to participate in this program is quite significant.  A screen shot of our H-2B documents folder for this season give you an idea of what is required.

Given the current nasty weather, the greens will be happier now that we have enough staff to use the hand mowers, and keep the riding mower in storage.

Early Summer Weather

Taking a quick look back at May, the words warm and dry come to mind.  For the month, we received less than half of the average rainfall.  Currently, unirrigated lawns look more like we'd expect in August than in early June.

This weather pattern obviously makes us rely more heavily on the golf course irrigation system than we typically would this time of year, and no irrigation system can apply moisture as uniformly as the water that comes naturally from the skies above.  

The good news is that eventually, it will rain.  However, it will definitely take more than a passing shower or thunderstorm to rehydrate some of the extremely dry soils. And yes, technically summer hasn't even started yet...

Going Above and Beyond

Sometimes a picture is truly worth a thousand words.  As with any job on the golf course, when a team member is tasked with servicing the ballwashers, there are certain expectations.  However, nobody is asked to climb up so they can remove the bird poop from the top of the tee consoles.

This act may be a very simple thing that few players notice, but it's rewarding to see people who still care about the quality of their work, and take pride in it!