Half Full Or Half Empty?

We are coming off our longest rain event of the year.  We received a little over three inches in three days and a couple quick showers today closed out a four day rain event.  We were planned to be caught up on all our mowing last Friday when “a lot of dry time” was forecasted.  Two inches of rain later and an additional three days with no dry down has the golf course looking like we’ve abanded it!  Unfortunately we don’t expect to start mowing fairways, tees, or roughs till Wednesday at the earliest.  The soil is saturated and soft.  Save some of you the anticipation of a cart path ruling... We will be carts on paths with no handicap flags for at least one day.  Also please don’t ask us in three days when  it’s finally dried down why the grass is so tall.  It will take us some time to catch up, but I am hopeful the golf course will be in good shape for the holiday weekend!

Now, with any situation you can still find a positive.  All this moisture will allow our new sod and plants around the clubhouse and golf course to finish rooting in with little maintenance.  It’s also going to hit the reset button for the rest of the playing surfaces which will result in healthy turf.  Finally, it also filled up our irrigation pond all the way to the top! So I would consider this hole half full not half empty.  Technically it’s about 3/4 full!  An example of our level of saturation.  Negatives of the rain are also challenging.  Our greens are constructed with no drainage so water builds quickly in the profile and stays there.  This makes our greens firm up slower hindering playability.  From a plant health perspective, this also has plants drowning in its own pool.  We took measures today to increase oxygen exchange and help dry the profile.  As we do throughout the season every year, needle tining greens were completed today.

New bunkers were easily put back into play!  Old bunkers will take some TLC to get into shape!